Following part one of last month's Disney road trip vacation (read part one HERE if you missed it), our good times continue with day two- California Adventure!
The next morning after our great day in Disneyland, we got up and out of the hotel early to make sure we could get our "extra magic hours" in at the park before it officially opened for the day. We were very hesitant after how poorly the magic hours worked out at Disneyland the previous morning, but we thought we'd still give it a shot.
Well, we were so glad we did. Really, there was almost no one there! It was strange, almost like a ghost town for that hour between 8-9, but hey- it worked out great for us! We walked into the park through our hotel entrance (guests that stay at the Grand Californian have a special entrance into the park, which is very convenient and one of the great perks of staying there), past the Up Wilderness Explorer Camp and right over to California Screamin'; one of my favorite roller coasters ever. And the best part? No line at all!
Then we headed right over to another one of our all time favorite rides...Toy Story Midway Mania! Once again, there was no wait. This one doesn't have any fast passes associated with it and the line is usually tremendous, so we were so happy to catch it bright and early during the magic hours! Of course we had to ride it twice in a row.
At that point Cars Land was calling my name, so we rushed over there to make sure we got to another one of my favorites, Radiator Springs Racers, before the line would get too long. It's still just as popular as ever!
Many more details to come about the rest Cars Land will be throughout the rest of the post...we're just getting started! Don't mind the over-abundance of pics.
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| Love all the details while waiting in line at Radiator Springs Racer |
For a little breakfast snack, we couldn't resist getting some churro bites (with cinnamon-spiced chocolate sauce) over at the Cozy Cone Motel! We hadn't had them before, but man they were good. Highly recommended!
After our little snack, we were able to just walk around and take in all the details of Cars Land. We walked the streets of Radiator Springs, spent a good chunk of time in the gift shops and tried to make time go as slow as possible. Given that I'm such a huge fan of Cars, I literally could just spend the whole day there in that area if I could...there's so much to see! The same thing happened last time we were there a couple of years ago; it's like a giant magnet that keeps pulling me in! We probably left and came back to Cars Land four or five times during the day (the below pictures are a combination of all those times).
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| Was very tempted to by this fantastic $150 Radiator Springs metal sign in the Curios Shop! But alas... |
For lunch, we had a delicious meal over at Flo's Cafe! We hadn't actually been in there before (last time we almost ate there though) so it was awesome to see the inside. I loved the retro 1950s diner feel to it! Such a fun atmosphere.
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| I got the BBQ pork ribs and Brita got the turkey dip sandwich...both really good! |
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| Our beautiful view of Willy's Butte! |
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| Love the waffles with Cars characters pressed into them- cute! |
I also explored another section I hadn't been to before...connected inside Flo's (just around the corner from where you order) is the Doc Hudson (Hudson Hornet) "museum" just like in the film! More seating for the diner is found here.
I thought these Cars and Cars 2 displays inside Sarge's Surplus gift shop were pretty neat! Some of the characters they chose to populate the dioramas were, admittedly, kind of random, but the displays themselves were very cool indeed.
DJ dance party!? Always a must.
Catch this reference?
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| My first pic ever with my main man, I mean ant, Flik! |
Loved this and all the details here. MU rules!!
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| Had to bust out my MU hat for this...it was a must! |
Our next stop was the Disney Animation building, often one of the most overlooked spots there in DCA. This place is really cool, with a bunch of mini-attractions...such as the classic Turtle Talk with Crush!
The Turtle Talk show is always a hoot...but this one was especially funny. I loved when Crush pulled out a Buzz Lightyear toy he found in the water. I hadn't seen that gag before!
More gift shops!
In one shop, an artist was drawing Mater for someone live there on the spot. Super cool!
What time is it? Time for the Pixar Play Parade featuring all my faves from Monsters University, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, A Bug's Life, Toy Story and Cars! I couldn't miss this one...I'm such a big kid. Honestly though, I'm not usually a parade person...but add Pixar to the mix and done. Sold.
Back to Cars Land- one last time!
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| Ticket price for California Adventure? $98. Brita in this picture? Priceless. |
I got such a yummy chili cone at the Cozy Cone Motel for dinner and Brita got some mac & cheese at Flo's cafe...both were delicious. You really can't go wrong there!
By the way- have you ever looked through the windows of the Cozy Cone Motel "office"? You can't go in, but it's fun to look in there. The main thing I wish was for sale in there is the traffic cone alarm clock, as seen in the film! I would buy that thing in a heartbeat.
Our last stop of the night was the classic 3D attraction, It's Tough to be a Bug!
Yet another phenomenal day at Disney with great weather, super fun times and no lines. This was an absolutely great week to go for sure. Thanks so much for reading, I really hope you're enjoying hearing about our adventures!
Stay tuned for tomorrow's post on day three of our epic Disney road trip- some Pixar related times at the Star Wars Celebration Anaheim 2015!
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