After cruising Disney Cruise Line earlier in the month with my husband and leaving my son behind to attend school, I felt it was quite necessary to take him on a quick Disney trip to California over his Fall Break. It was a whirlwind trip with 3 parks in 3 days and more fun packed in than either of us imagined.
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| California Adventure is a fun park themed after the great state of CA |
We started the day bright and early in brisk Denver, CO. As we walked to the airport from the parking lot in shorts, my son thought we were crazy to be wearing shorts in 30 degree temps. I told him that we were crazy but I wanted to be ready to hit the park as soon as we arrived. I knew our room wouldn't be ready at 10:00 in the morning and didn't want the hassle of finding a place to change. We made it to the plane with no frostbite and the next thing we knew we were landing in sunny and warm Southern California. Suddenly the shorts made perfect sense and we were ready and rarin' to go!
We caught a shuttle outside of LAX and began our drive to Anaheim. My son, Braden, was excited to see the LA area for the first time and I was surprised it was his first time. I pointed out the smog, which you couldn't miss, and he hoped to see the Hollywood sign, which he didn't.
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| Braden with Mickey & Minnie outside the Disneyland Hotel entrance |
We arrived at the Disneyland Hotel, our home for the next 2 nights, around 10 am, the same time that California Adventure was opening. I wished we could throw our bags to the curb and head straight to the park but I knew I would eventually regret that. Instead we checked into the beautiful Disneyland Hotel and left our bags with the porter since indeed, our room was not ready. I would get a text when our room was ready with our room number in a secret code. Cool! I love Disney technology.
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| The entrance to California Adventure |
My son and I have conquered Walt Disney World twice together so we pretty much consider ourselves theme park experts and we knew California Adventure would be no different. We were right! We did not get there for opening at 10:00 am as I had hoped but we still had a long day ahead of us since the park was open until 8:00 pm that night. We bought our tickets at the gate and headed in, full of excitement and anticipation.
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| Buena Vista street models 1923 LA, when Walt got there |
The key to our theme park conquering ability is to plan our adventure. We knew the Radiator Springs Racers were the hot ticket in town so our first stop was the Racer's Fastpass station to get a "reservation" to ride, therefore saving time in line. Our next stop was the highly anticipated Cars Land but on the way we saw a tempting ride with no line so we hopped on. And thus, Grizzly River Run, a thrilling whitewater raft adventure, became our first ride of the day. We got off the ride laughing and soaking wet. I knew it was going to be a great day!
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| Flo's Cafe has surprisingly delicious food |
The day was a picture perfect 82 degrees without a cloud in the sky so I knew we would dry fast. We made it to Cars Land and instantly felt like we had stepped into the movie, "Cars." We realized we were hungry for lunch so we stopped in at the one and only Flo's V8 Cafe. The food was surprisingly delicious. The restaurant was vintage 50's, fun and whimsical, and we were one of the only patrons in the place. It was about then that I realized we were going to get to enjoy California Adventure without crowds of people clambering to enjoy it with us. I rejoiced inside!
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| The Cozy Cone Hotel sold "Cone" treats |
After enjoying our lunch, we went for an ice cream cone at the Cozy Cone Hotel. We had a chocolate soft serve chocolate dipped cone. It was rich and creamy and the most delicious cone I've ever had. I talked about it for days! My son and I sat at a table in the warm sunshine enjoying ice cream together and I savored the moment as well as the ice cream.
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| Luigi's Flying Tires was a fun ride that literally floated above the ground |
Our belly's were full and we rode most of the rides in Cars Land. Our favorite, by far, was the Radiator Springs Racers, where your car gets ready for the big race and then actually races another car. We won our first race which made my competitive son very happy. I was just happy to be flying around corners at high speeds in the beautiful Southern California air enjoying a special day with my 10 year old boy, who is growing up way too fast.
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| The Disneyland Hotel has a great pool area |
I knew if we were going to keep going full speed all the way until the park closed, we would need a pool break. We walked back to our hotel where our room was now ready and changed into our swimsuits. Unfortunately, Braden and I had different ideas of what a pool break meant. While I was prepared to relax and bake in the sunshine, Braden wanted to play, which consisted of me throwing him into the water among other high energy moves. I finally talked him into a little hot tub relaxation before heading back to the park.
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| There is a huge Lego store in Downtown Disney |
Our walk back to California Adventure took us through Downtown Disney where a huge Lego Store beckoned my son each time we passed. We did stop in and then made it back to the park for more rides and more fun. Other than Radiator Springs Racers, our favorite ride was Goofy's Sky School. It was a quirky roller coaster that mimicked what it would be like to fly in a plane with Goofy. Not only was it clever but it was a blast! Since there were virtually no lines, (we never waited longer for 5 minutes for a ride), we rode the coaster four times. We also loved Soarin Over California where special effects make you feel like you are actually flying over the beautiful state and we rode on that one twice.
We rode many other rides too and really just had a wonderful day together. Being able to pick our next ride and virtually hop right on was downright luxurious and spending more time on rides than in lines was priceless! It was such a beautiful day in so many ways, from the detailed attractions to the precious moments with my son. I can't help but think it's scenes like these that inspired Walt Disney to create the theme park experience in the first place. I hope he got a glimpse of our smiles and high fives from heaven:-)
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| We crashed hard in the comfy beds after a fun-filled day |
We stayed for the World of Color show which is like the fountains at Bellagio in Vegas on steroids. In addition to fountains moving to music, color and cartoon scenes are added, with a little fire thrown in as well. I would have enjoyed it more because it certainly was impressive but my boy had hit the wall. He'd gone non-stop since we woke at 5:00 am in Denver so I couldn't blame him. We made it back to our room and Braden crashed out hard while watching TV. We both had an awesome and fun day together and I went to sleep with a smile on my face:-)
Click here for more pictures from California Adventure.
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| Cars Land was our favorite "land" in California Adventure |
I hope you have enjoyed reading my entry from this Traveling Travel Agent's travels. I am a travel agent because I love to travel and I love helping other people travel! Through strategic partnerships, I offer my clients preferred rates, complimentary upgrades and extra amenities like wine or shipboard credit. If you would like to receive weekly travel offers from my agency, Purple Palm Vacations, please sign up for our Exclusive Travel Specials.
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