I knew we would like Disney’s Californian Adventure as soon as we crossed through the turnstiles and entered the park.
What made our visit to Disney’s Californian Adventure even more exciting than normal, was because it offers a Disney experience and attractions that are totally unique to this Californian park.
After taking in the sights and sounds of the park, we made our way to our first ride of the day – Radiator Springs Racers located in the iconic Cars Land section of the park.
The theming of this land is so impressive it was like walking onto the movie set with signs for Route 66, Flo’s V8 Café, the Cozy Cone Motel and more.
I would go as far as saying it was equally as impressive as the recently opened Pandora area of Animal Kingdom in the Orlando parks.
This is where staying on-site at the Disney hotels has its benefits, not only were we only a short walk from the entrance to the parks we also had the opportunity to take advantage of Early Morning Hours – when else would you see Cars Land this quiet!
We were all totally in awe and soaked up as much of it as we could as we made our way to the first ride, Radiator Springs Racers – after all you couldn’t visit Cars Land without a road trip.
As we climbed inside our car, lightening McQueen and fastened our seat belts, we set off on a pleasant drive where we met some of the characters from the film such as Mater before setting off on some serious speed as we raced around the track against another car.
It was such a fast paced thrill ride and was the perfect way to start our day, we loved it.
Another favourite, Luigi’s Rollickin Roadsters can also be found at Cars Land. As we sat in our 1950 style cars, they started to dance to the Italian music, it was so much fun, especially the ending, where all riders wave their arms in the air for a final spin.
Tip – If you wear an Italian flag or Porsche logo on your clothing you can skip the line – how cool is that!
Cars Land is stunning during the day but at night it really is breathtaking with the neon signs lighting up the Route 66 landscape.
There was really something for everyone here at Disney California Adventure. Over our two days at Californian Adventure we experienced the thrills of Goofy’s Sky School, travelled under the sea with Ariel, joined Mike and Sully as we helped get Boo back to her bedroom before helping Buzz and Woody defeat Zurg at Toy Story Mania in Pixar Pier.
The entire area has been transformed and here you will find the parks flagship attraction, the brand new Incredicoaster and Pixar Pal-A-Round a giant ferris wheel.
Later we caught the Frozen Live show at the Hyperion theatre. Nothing in the Orlando parks comes close to this 90 minute production which was of Broadway quality, one of the many highlights for the girls at the park.
Part of the park is themed as Fishermans Wharf in San Francisco and if I tried hard enough you could imagine being back there.
The girls loved stopping off at their favourite chocolatier Ghirardelli for ice creams and their free chocolate samples while at Boudins bakery we tried their famous sourdough bread.
Other must-sees are being shrunk to the size of a bug at Bug’s Land, Soarin around the world and taking a spin on the Silly Symphony Swings to the dramatic music of “The William Tell Overture”.
Getting drawing tips from a Disney animator at the animation academy was fantastic and don’t forget about the character meets and greets.
Once the girls had bought their Disney autograph book, meeting the characters throughout the park and collecting their signature was just as important to them as experiencing the rides.
To end the day, one of the best experiences we had was watching the world of colour, where Disney characters soar out of the water in this amazing night time show – just don’t sit too close to the front or you’ll get wet!
There was definitely more than enough to fill two full days visiting Disney California Adventure, the only problem we had was deciding how to fit everything in!
We loved Disney California Adventure so much it has become our favourite of all the Disney parks, including those at Florida and Paris.
Now we are determined to visit all of the Disney Parks across the world. Which one would you recommend next Hong Kong, Tokyo or Shanghai?