California Adventure TR (kinda long)

[34Angels]

Hey All, I just got back from a day trip to CA so if anyone has any questions ask away! The park wasn't crowded and the longest we waited was 1 1/2 hours for Tower of Terror but that was because one of the elevators had technical difficulties for about 40 min. Seeing as I've never been to Orlando, I cannot compare this to the one there. We got a late start to the day (due to a roundtrip drive from San Diego, CA to Santa Clarita, CA for Magic Mountian the day before and a slight mess up on the alarm clocks) but had our dog checked into the DL Kennel Club by 1:30 pm. When we entered the park we rented a locker (highly recomend paying $4.00 for the all day rental and unlimited acess instead of paying $1 everytime you want to open it), and went straight to Soaring Over California to get our fast passes. We had about an hour and 15 min until our "flight" so we went to Grizzly Rapids where we were expecting to have to pull another fast pass but were pleasantly surprised with only a 40 min wait that turned out to only be 35 min. From there we went to A Bug's Land so the boys (3 of them ages 26, 22, and 20) could get really wet (the rapids was great but it seemed to work out that one or two people got saoked while the rest got only splashes) at Princess Dot's Puddle Park. They got soaked and were finally happy (all I heard while waiting in line was "this better soak me, it's hot, I'm hot" and after the Grizzley Rapids "man, we sat on the wrong side, we didn't get that wet" blah, blah, blah, I swear, they were worse than little kids!!) and from there we really started! We went to a 20 min wait on California Screamin', a 10 min (only because we wanted to sit together) wait for the Orange Stinger,to a 5 min wait for the Mailboomer, to a 10 min wait for Mulholland Madness and once we got off we went through the fast pass lane to ride it again switching who rode in front (one of the cast memebers gave us 4 fast passes in case we liked it, I think it was because 3 of us are in the navy and it was our second to last weekend before we leave on deployment). By then it was time for our "flight" and we went over to Soaring Over California, which is an awesome ride!! One the way over there, 2 of the guys wanted to smoke and there just happened to be a smoking area right next to a Goofy Character Greet so my b/f and I (non-smokers) stood in line to get our pics taken with Goofy (one of my b/f's favs!). From there we went to the Tower of Terror. The fast pass for it was closed but the wait was only 50....until the technical difficulties hit. Since we could see the entrance to the ride, we staying in the slower moving line. After about 30 min or so, the line picked up and we were off! After ToT we took a short break to relax and walk our dog (they don't handle the animals, you have to come back and walk them) and to eat. We just ate at the McDonalds in the park (I would have liked to go to Ariel's Grotto but we had spent WAY too much money at Magic Mountain the day before and I though Disney was exspensive!!). After relaxing for a bit, we jumped back into the CA Screamin' line (only 10 min this time!) and then we went to the Sun Wheel, well, 3 of us did, my b/f wanted to jump back on the CA Screamin' and meet us over there (originally wasn't going to ride the Sun Wheel). After about a 20 min wait (and my b/f's return and decision to ride it) we got onto the Sun Wheel, in a "swinging" cart. Yeah, I've never been more scared on a silly Ferris Wheel in my life!! These carts are something else! I enjoyed it more than I thought I would although being that high up and with the cart swinging, there was a pretty good, chilly breeze at the top, if you ride it at night (like we did) put a sweatshirt on! From there, my b/f and I got spots for the Electrical Parade while the smokers took another smoke break and another turn on the CA Screamin'. I was attempting to run (in new flip-flops mind you!) from Paradise Pier to the main gate to get our camcorder (we forgot to get it after walking our baby, we were too hungry to concentrate on anything but food!!) but I didn't even get halfway back before I realized that I wouldn't make it (plus I had popped the blisters on my feet by running in the flip-flops and my feet were really starting hurt! ) The guys found us just minutes before the parade started. They all really enjoyed the parade, especially since none of the 3 seemed all that interested in watching it (they went for me, pretty much the whole day was for me, I'm such a Disney nut!! ). I think what helped out was that we got A LOT of attention from the cast memebers in the parade. I got a couple of winks from Dumbo and a trunk wave (of course I'm sure it helped that I yelled out "Hi Dumbo!!" and waved my arms like I was trying to take off! ) and a wink from one fo the gentelmen at Cinderella's Ball (a really cute one!!), the boys had kisses blown to them from Cinderella and Alice and Grumpy all but stepped on my b/f!!! His phone rang during the parade and he answered it right when the dwarves got there and Grumpy stood over him until he got off the phone!! After that we hit up the Disney store in DTD so I could get my pins and from there we picked up our baby, and headed back to San Diego. All in all, a wonderful day! If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask, I'll answer to the best of my ability!

Danette

 

[Tink33]

Thanks for the report Danette. I hope all the happy memories will carry through the deployment. Go Navy.

A couple of questions:

1. How much did you pay for kennel services?

2. Could you share some of your day at Magic Mountain?

Thanks

 

[34Angels]

1. The Kennel was $10 for the day, no overnight boarding. It opens 30 min before the parks and closes 30 min after the last park closes.

2. Okay, Magic Mountain......CROWDED! If you're a thrill seeker, this place is a must! We got there around 1 pm and about died from heat exhaustion (okay, not really but it was HOT) by the time we got inot the park, decided to hit up a water ride first and found out that the rapids was a 3 hour wait but they they had a fast pass system, sorta. You spend $17 and you get 4 fast pass tickets and they only work on certain rides (they have a full list at the counter). Anyways, we got our 4 tickets and rode the rapids, big disapointment, the only reason we were wet was because we were splashing each other (along with the other riders) with the water that was in the bottom of the raft, waste of a fast pass. After we were nice and soaked (as good as we could get) we waited for about 2 1/2 hours for Deja'Vu, a good coaster. Starting with a straight drop with you hanging looking straight at the ground, you go through loops, twists, typical thrill coaster stuff, make a climb, stop, and drop through the coaster backwards. After the wait we ate some chilli cheese fries and some chicken strips, nothing much to speak of except that it was exspensive! AFter that we walked around for a bit, trying to plan the best attack sequence for the rest of the "good" coasters. Since we had 3 fast passes left and there were 3 very good coasters that accepted them, Scream, Goliath, and Viper so that's what we proceeded to do, after a quick pit stop. The boys (the same ones at CA Adventure that wanted to get wet) were hot (no surprise there) and wanted to ride Tidal Wave, here's a good hint, you don't get wet on the ride, you get SOAKED walking to the exit over the bridge. If you want a quick way to get wet and cool down, go to the exit of the Tidal Wave and stand on the bridge, don't waste time standing in line or burnin a fast pass on it. After they were drenched, we hit the 3 coasters in an hour, maybe an hour and a half with the slight wait line with the fast pass, the ride itself, and walking from one to the other. After viper we went on The X........THE BEST ROLLER COASTER IN THE WORLD!!!!! We only waited 2 hours for it (I say only because I've stood in line for that ride for 4 1/2 hours one time). Then, as a wind down ride, we hit up the carousel, picked up some fudge and carmel apples for the ride home, and headed out. The only ride I really wanted to ride that I didn't get a chance to (and have never gotten to actually) was Riddler's Revenge. Superman was closed but I've ridden on prior trips and it's pretty good too. But, like I said, The X is where it's at, that's the main reason we went up there, for one ride!! I know, silly kids!!

I hope this helps you out, any more questions, I'd be glad to help as much as I can!