It was our last full day in Anaheim, and today we'd be visiting Disney's California Adventure!
Part 4: Flights Of Fancy & Hidden Realms
The guidebook I'd read said to hit up either Radiator Springs Racers or Toy Story Midway Mania as soon as you enter the park, and get a FastPass for the other ride. Since I loved TSMM the last time I was at this park, I convinced Heather to ride that one with me straight away.
After our noble duel, Heather went to go ride the Incredicoaster, while I opted for something tamer...
We then went to queue up for Radiator Springs Racers. We were nearly to the front of the line when... the ride broke down. After waiting a bit, they sent everyone away, but first they scanned our park tickets, giving us an extra FastPass we could use any time (once the ride re-opened, of course.)
So we headed over to Grizzly River Run...
And got totally drenched!
We did the bakery tour...
And (forgive me if I'm totally going out of order here, but at some point) we got some lunch...
Radiator Springs Racers soon got fixed, so we headed over there...
It's a fun ride! Toward the end, the cars go really fast and they go over several hills... yikes! Still, the ride was well done and I enjoyed it.
We rode The Little Mermaid - Ariel's Undersea Adventure...
In the early afternoon, Heather and I went in different directions. I had a FastPass for Soarin' Over California. I remember loving this ride back in 2010. Since then, they've updated their normal show to Soarin' Around The World... but this summer, it was reverted back to Soarin' Over California for some reason...
And, sadly, I was just not as impressed with the ride as I'd been 9 years ago. It felt dated. I wish I could have seen World...
At some point, I checked out PhilharMagic, a fun little 3-D show in a theater. (I think the Muppets used to be in there.)
I visited the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail...
I spent some time watching people get drenched on Grizzy River Run. (The park offers some convenient viewpoints for doing just this.)
I popped into the Animation Academy...
I rode the giant Ferris Wheel, aka the Pixar Pal-a-Round...
But I'm no fool...
Extra bonus: the line for the non-swinging gondolas was 10 times shorter than the one for the gondolas that slide around and make people scream.
Heather and I met up again. She asked if I'd seen the Beast's Library. My response was basically: Whaaaaat??
So she showed me! If you go into the Animation Academy, there's a ramp you can descend. It takes you into this room where you can play around with zoetropes and such. That's all well and good. But from there, there's a corridor, and another door...
And then it's...
!!!
This room, decorated to look like a mix between the Beast's library, his bedroom, and the ballroom, is an adorable hidden gem!
This picture on the wall and the rose both animate. In a cycle that lasts about 5-7 minutes, the room darkens a bit as the Beast runs his claws across the painting. The rose petals fall. After the last one falls, there are some magic effects, the scratches disappear, and the room becomes bright again.
Meanwhile, around the room there are computer kiosks where you can do a personality quiz & find out which BATB character you most resemble.
What a cool place!
Later, I joined a bunch of kids and families in line for the Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind ride...
It's a tame ride, but I still enjoyed it.
So I'd gotten another FastPass for Radiator Springs Racers, but for most of the afternoon and evening, the ride was broken down. I kept checking back (or checking its status on the app), and it was just never running.
For dinner that evening I had a delicious pot pie from Flo's V8 Cafe...
Mmmm! It was fantastic.
I went back to the Animation Academy, where I joined a class and learned to draw Winnie The Pooh's head...
I happened to glance at the Disneyland app and saw that Radiator Springs had finally just re-opened!
I rushed over to Cars Land. The line for FastPass returnees was enormous. I felt (a little) bad for the people who'd entered the regular line... they were going to be there a while.
Even with my FastPass, the wait was about 20-25 minutes. At last I got in a vehicle.
It was fun doing this ride at night! I attempted to look calm and cool for the ride snapshot they take, but all those hills at top speed unnerved me, and I ended up looking terrified anyway...
I love how happy everyone else looks. (Well, except maybe the kid in front.) The guy in front of me looks like he's rah-rah cheering, even! Buuuut I think he was just holding up his phone.
As I stepped off the ride, I saw that I had less than 10 minutes to get to the waterfront for the World Of Color show. Despite arriving just minutes before it was to begin, I got a pretty good viewing spot.
The show was not quite as impressive as I'd remembered (again, nine years is a long time), but it was still a nice show.
The park was now closing, so I made my way toward the entrance to meet Heather.
So you may have noticed that I did not go back to the hotel at any point during the day today... Mostly because it was a hot day and I just couldn't bring myself to make the trek. But I still found plenty of places and ways to relax.
I also did a bit of pin trading today. You can walk into almost any gift shop at Disneyland/CalA and ask to trade pins. They'll bring out a small selection -- usually nothing great, but sometimes you do find something cool. Here are some of the pins I either bought or traded for during this trip...
I also discovered that many of the gift shops have a secret stash of medicinals... you just have to ask for them. Somewhere between the macaroni & cheese bread bowl and the Red's Apple Freeze (not to mention all the goodies I'd consumed over the past few days), my stomach decided to get angry. I asked at one of the shops and was directed to another shop, where the castmember opened a cupboard full of goodies, including Pepto tablets. To my surprise, they were about the same price as I'd pay at a regular store.
At the end of the day, I think Heather and I were both a little sad that our trip was coming to its conclusion. But we had a lot of fun, and we knew we could always return....
So until next time...
(P.S., Thanks, Heather!)
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