Day 12 - Tuesday, June 23 - California Adventure - Part 4
So as we were finishing up our meals at wharf area, Princess and Buddy were both chomping at the bit to ditch the group and head over to California Screamin’. That’s pretty much my favorite roller coaster these days, so I didn’t waste any time volunteering to join them.
(I LOVED roller coasters as a kid, but the older I get, the less fun I have being jolted and jerked around… especially on wooden roller coasters. But California Screamin' is a different story, you get all the thrills of a traditional roller coaster, but the ride is absolutely smooth. So nice!!!!!)
So yeah, the three of us rode it together first. Luckily, it was only about a 5 minute wait. They wanted to ride again, but I wasn’t sure when the others would be arriving, so I stayed back.
(Here they are in the second car.)
Then they road it again.
And after 3 or 4 consecutive rides, we decided to pro-actively go look for the others...
Wouldn’t you know it? They were waiting in line to meet Donald Duck. Grandpa has been a huge fan of Donald since he was a kid, so he “had” to stop for a meet and greet.
We got some group photos too. (Gotta love that Photopass… It’s so worth it!!!)
After that, we explored the gift shop across from Ariel’s Grotto. We had fun looking at all the Diamond Celebration merchandise.
We had fun browsing, but decided to hold off on any significant purchases until later in the trip...
Next up, we decided to walk over and ride Ariel’s Undersea Adventure.
This is one of our favorites too. We rode it several times on our last visit, and we also road the new version at WDW last summer too. The ride is similar between the two parks, but I gotta say that the WDW version at the new Fantasyland blows this one out of the water (pun intended.)
Even so, we all still enjoyed this ride a lot!
It was now almost 2pm and we decided it was snack time. Who want’s a Mickey Bar?!?!?
Buddy didn’t waste any time asking for one. Yum!!!
Next up, we walked over to the Carthay Circle area and hopped on the Red Car Trolley. We rode it down and back, and we had a nice time relaxing for a while.
A weird thing... is that someone on the street reached out to let their hand drag on the side of the trolley as we drove by. The driver saw it coming and used her microphone to ask them not to, but they did it anyway. I guess as a policy, they must stop when anything even close to hitting someone happens. So she stopped the trolley, and the other cast member had to go out and circle around it and give the all clear before we could keep moving. The “culprit” looked confused and embarrassed, but they kept walking… I have no idea why I just shared that. Probably TMI, but oh well… there you have it
OK, after we came back, we realized that the Pixar parade was about to start. We decided to stay put and watch it. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of parades in general, but this was actually pretty good.
It was about 3pm after the parade finished. We figured it was time to go back to the Candy Cane Inn and have a rest for a couple hours.
We got into the habit of taking afternoon breaks back when the kids were little. We’d head back to the resort for an afternoon nap and a quick swim in the pool. We found that hitting the parks early when the crowds are smaller, taking a break in the afternoon when the crowds are larger, and then returning in the early evening really worked well for our young kids. They don’t need their naps anymore, but we’ve continued that tradition anyway, as we still find that some time at the pool and/or lounging in bed with the TV/iPad really does wonders for a long day in the parks. (Funny… Stephanie and I will still take a power nap sometimes even if the kids don’t.)
So yeah, after the parade, we headed back to the hotel for a break!