DISNEY CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE
RIDES, RESTAURANTS AND SHOPPING

Story and photos by Barb & Ron Kroll

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Why did we, two childless baby boomers, visit Disney's California Adventure? Firstly, we love everything Californian — Napa Valley wines, Hollywood, the Beach Boys, California cuisine, scenery and climate.

Hollywood Pictures Backlot entrance. Disney's California Adventure Park. Anaheim, California.

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

Secondly, we'd heard that Disneyland Resort's $1.4 billion expansion (the largest since Disneyland opened in 1955) was more adult-oriented than the Magic Kingdom. Downtown Disney, a free admission dining, entertainment and shopping district links the two parks and Disney's Grand Californian Hotel.

Hollywood Pictures Backlot

Located in Anaheim, California, Disney's California Adventure is much smaller than Disneyland, so it's easy to see on foot. We began our circular tour of the park in Hollywood Pictures Backlot. One of four lands in the park, it's located just left of the entrance.

Reality merges with illusion in this ersatz Tinseltown. Two gold elephants top the colossal archway entrance to Hollywood Boulevard, while a massive backdrop, at the end of the street, ensures perpetually blue skies.

Award Wieners restaurant sign. Hollywood Pictures Backlot. Disney's California Adventure Park.

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

Windows along Hollywood Boulevard's Art Deco façades showcase designer pet products for celebrities' pampered pooches. Would you like to buy a miniature doggie tuxedo and silk top hat? Four tiny paw-size rollerblades? Or a 'diamond'-studded silver fire hydrant?

One tongue-in-cheek sign reads: “Gone with the Chin Plastic Surgery Center. Dr. Nipandtuck — We Never Tell.” A hot dog stand boasts: “Award Wieners — Best Wiener in a Supporting Roll.” The fast food restaurant serves traditional hot dogs, as well as chili cheese dogs and Italian sausages.

At the Animation Pavilion, a computerized enchanted book matched our personalities with famous animated heroines and villains as we answered a quiz by touching its illuminated pages. The results? Beauty and the Beast!

We screamed our way down a 13-storey elevator drop at The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, then calmed our racing hearts in the 2,000-seat Hyperion Theatre, with the Broadway-style musical, Disney's Aladdin. For laughs we watched MuppetVision 3D and took a mad-cap cab ride, Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue.

Golden State

We exited Hollywood Pictures Backlot and continued our clockwise journey to the second themed land, Golden State. Dominated by a grizzly bear-headed mountain, it showcases California's diverse scenery, history, people and cuisine.

Soarin' Over California ride sign. Disney's California Adventure Park. Anaheim, California.

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

Soarin' Over California, the best ride in the park, is in the Condor Flats area of Golden State. Suspended in the middle of a massive dome-shaped IMAX movie screen, we and 85 other passengers took a simulated hang-glider trip over California's magnificent landscapes.

We soared over San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, skiers carving turns on Lake Tahoe's slopes, and surfers riding the foamy crest of waves at Malibu. Wind blew our hair as we banked over Yosemite Falls and skimmed a crest to dangle our feet over orange groves so close we could smell their citrus fragrance.

Whoopi Goldberg narrates Golden Dreams, a film about the history of California. Golden Vine Winery brings Napa Valley to the park, with a vineyard, a movie about winemaking and wine-sampling.

Pacific Wharf

The Pacific Wharf section of Golden State is a cross between San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf and Monterey's Cannery Row. Pacific Wharf Café showcases California foods like hot and fragrant sourdough bread from Boudin Bakery. In Mission Foods Tortilla Factory, a machine creates stacks of tortillas which chefs turn into tasty quesadillas at the Cocina Cucamonga Mexican Grill next door.

Boudin Bakery chef juggles sourdough bread. Pacific Wharf, Golden State. Disney's California Adventure Park.

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

Waterfalls cascade down the sides of Grizzly Peak. Whitewater rafts swirl down two precipitous drops on Grizzly River Run in the third region of the Golden State, the Grizzly Peak Recreational Area. Redwood Creek Challenge Trail is a fun place for kids to climb rocks, run along rope bridges, explore caves and swing from rubber tires.

A Bug's Land

Don't miss the hilarious 3D movie, It's Tough to be a Bug in a bug's land. Outside the theater, Flik, the blue ant star of the computer-animated movie, a bug's life, and insect-lover, Professor Melvin T. Fleasinger, trade quips with guests. A live stage show, The Ugly Bug Ball, and rides like Heimlich's Chew Chew Train in Flik's Fun Fair attract young children to this area of the park.

A Bug's Life star, the blue ant Flik. A Bug's Life Theater. Disney's California Adventure.

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

In nearby Bountiful Valley Farm, denim-clad staff stock fruit stands, while scarecrows guard plots of emerald green vegetables. We loved the yummy date shakes at Sam Andreas Shakes.

Paradise Pier

Mix a penny-arcade and a Coney Island-style midway with Venice Beach's boardwalk, and you get Paradise Pier, the fourth land in our circular tour of Disney's California Adventure. Beach Boys music sets the mood along a boardwalk lined with carnival games.

Colorful Jumpin' Jellyfish parachuted happy kids down a short tower, near a giant pink dinosaur sunglasses shop. We rode the massive sun-faced Ferris wheel, above the lagoon, and skyrocketed 60 metres in two seconds in the Maliboomer. The California Screamin', roller coaster accelerated us from zero to 88 kilometres per hour in just four seconds, then took us on a circular ride around Mickey Mouse’s head.

After all this adrenalin, we were happy to watch the Block Party Bash parade, which winds its way from Hollywood Pictures Backlot to the Orange Stinger swing ride area of Paradise Pier. Costumed dancers, trampoline performers, bikers and floats depict scenes from Toy Story, Monsters, Inc. and a bug's life. The music is so contagious that kids can't resist dancing with the parade performers and acrobats.

Our favorite time to visit Paradise Pier is after dark. What's the best place for viewing the thousands of colorful lights outlining the rides and reflected in the lagoon? We like Ariel's Grotto, a family restaurant, which faces the water.

Paradise Pier ride lights reflect in Paradise Pier lagoon at night. Disney's California Adventure.

Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll

WHERE TO STAY

Disney's Grand Californian Hotel (789 rooms and suites) is the only hotel inside Disney's California Adventure. It offers guests of any of the three Disney-owned hotels direct first entry into the park. Guests who want to re-enter the park can also use this entrance. With its soaring lobby, supported by massive log trusses and stone fireplaces, rocking chairs, handcrafted lamps, rugs and furniture, it resembles a Rocky Mountain wilderness lodge.

Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel (514 rooms and suites), is located opposite Paradise Pier. Disneyland Hotel (990 rooms and 60 suites) is the farthest from the park, but still within walking distance.

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TRAVEL INFORMATION

More things to do at Disney theme parks (Walt Disney World):
Disney Animal Kingdom Offers Family Fun

Walt Disney World Florida Honeymoon

Disney's Water Parks Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach Offer Family Fun

Disneyland Resort: www.disneyland.com

More things to see and do in California:

California Wine Country Romantic Getaway

Monarch Butterflies Migrate to Pacific Grove

Kayaking with Otters in Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary

California Camping – New Cabins and Cottages

Santa Barbara Restaurants, Cooking Schools, Wine and Beer Trails

Alcatraz Cruises, Ferry Services and Alcatraz Island Tours

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