Park Review: Disney's California Adventure
The entrance plaza to California Adventure: Plenty of shopportunities
The Maliboomer: Whatever you do, WATCH YOUR KIDS!!!!!
I gotta admit it: I am just not a "huge" fan of the Disney Parks.

It's not that I think there is anything "bad" about them; they are exquisitely run, the theming and landscaping is top-notch, and they put a lot of work into "Imagineering" some high tech and very well done ride and attraction experiences that can be a great deal of fun.

But as far as my reasons for paying the money to attend a theme park, or buy a season pass to one, and spending a lot of time there are the thrills. The coasters. The adrenaline rush I get from a well designed roller coaster or thrill ride. The more inversions or more edge the ride has, the better.

While Disney does really good rides and themed attractions, they are in my opinion a little lacking in the thrills department. Everything seems to be watered down to appeal to "rides for the whole family", and in recent years, most of their newer attractions seem to be getting tamer and tamer (e.g., dark rides based on G-rated movies, rather than attractions like Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, or Splash Mountain) and designed to be as gentle as possible.
However, back when they opened the new park, California Adventure, in the parking lot of the original Disneyland Park, I was pleasantly surprised to find they were actually putting in some rides that looked to have a "kick"-for example, a roller coaster that had a launch and a loop? A launching S&S tower? Wow. About the only thing they seemed to be missing here was a B&M coaster (which they could easily put in, as a lot of B&M coasters can be engineered to be rather family friendly as well).

I had heard a lot of mixed reviews of this park going in. One reviewer on e-pinions said that he would "rather have (a certain unmentionable part of his male anatomy) pounded with a hammer than visit the park again", and others raved about how great it was. I generally don't go by reviews, though. The reviews for the Silver Bullet at Knott's were just as mixed, and in the end, I loved the ride.

I had heard mixed opinions from the other two Johns, as well: John who I go to SFMM with a lot said it was overpriced and overrated with very tame rides and long lines. John who I go to Knott's with a lot said that while I might be let down by the lack of extreme rides, I would have a lot of fun there.

I went in with a positive attitude and an open mind, and while there was some truth in the statements made by both of my friends, I DID end up really enjoying myself. Not enough to want to shell out for an annual pass or pay full price to go again, but enough to say that I think everyone, and especially those who have younger kids or who do not enjoy super extreme rides should go for a full day at least once. In fact, I might go so far as to say this is a good park for people who are not sure about coasters, but want to kind of test the waters.
Evil Tower Watch Out!
And this is BEFORE the park even opened for the day!
The Saturday we went, I arrived with my buddy John O. at the park rather early in the day, on very little sleep and we made our way down to the entrance. We ahd brought a change of clothes in case the water ride soaked us later, but I left them in the car. We rode the tram to the Downtown Disney area and I was amused yet a little creeped by the overly cheery recording on the tram.

We arrived and I needed some caffiene from lack of sleep. Having only had an energy bar before we went, was a little hungry as well. After I bought my "twofer" ticket (which would get me into Disneyland as well within 30 days-a good thing as $57 for this park alone is a bit steep if you ask me) we got in the La Brea Bakery line. I was about to get a breakfast until I saw that it was $9.50 and some for a simple Croissant or Bacon and Eggs. No thanks. I did the coffee and we got in the HUGE line out front of the park.

We got in and I rented a locker for the day (I don't care if you can get away with cameras on the rides here, I am just not chancing it!) and then I wanted to do the coasters first. Since the back of the park was not open, we made our way to one of the "E Tickets" I was told not to miss: Soarin' Over California, which was open.
First impressions: the queue is very impressive and well themed, and I really was not sure what to expect. Then I see the "not recommended for those with motion sickness or fear of heights" warnings. While I don't get motion sickness usually, extreme heights CAN get to me. I figured it would still be okay, and we got down to the entrance, watched Patrick Warburton's video laying down the rules, and the door opened.

I won't spoil the surprise for you, but let's just say this is like an inverted motion simulator that simulates hang gliding over California. Yeah, the height aspect was a little freaky (even though the actual only takes you about 25-50 feet in the air, the visuals make it look as if you are thousands of feet up) but I just did my usual trick with heights; looked straight up, and I was fine.

What DID surprise me is that this ride made me very dizzy and a little nauseous, and that is a trick for me. I can ride coasters with inversions and tight turns all day (as long as they are smooth), but not since my experience on La Revolucion at Knott's did I feel this queasy. I still enjoyed my ride, and this is on my list of "must do if you go to California Adventure" attractions, but I found I had to sit down after this. I think it was the lack of sleep and food that contributed, but it was still funny to me that such a docile ride had this effect on me. That being said, this is a great experience that would do well at other parks as well.
I can ride X, Silver Bullet and Scream over and over and over, yet this one actually made me nauseous-and it's not even a coaster type ride!
If you're going to discriminate against those of us who smoke-at least give us more space!
Yeah, I smoke. Have no desire to quit, as it is along with coffee, one of my few vices. I respect those who don't smoke; I will not smoke in my friends' homes or cars, if I am hanging around a group of non smokers, I will step away for one; and I always put out my smokes in Camp Snoopy at Knott's, which is a non-smoking area, and I can tolerate the "no smoking in lines" rule at theme parks just fine.

But no smoking outdoors in the WHOLE PARK aside from designated areas? Just my opinion, but that is a shade extreme. However, I can tolerate it, given that this is a "family park" with tons of little kids around. What I do not care for is the lack of good smoking areas and teensy weensy difficult to find ones if you are going to enforce this policy.

So I sat down in a tiny nook, and had my smoke. Once I did, and collected my head, I was able to move on and the temporary queasiness vanished. It was time now to experience the rest of the park. We walked around the Grizzly Rapids Ride, where I was thrilled to see that the rapids ride actually had a good 35-40 foot drop at the end, and looked forward to doing this later on. We made our way to the next destination, Paradise Pier and a ride on the coaster, California Screamin'. Despite a sign that said a wait time of 50 minutes, we were on the ride in 25 minutes.....nice!
First thoughts were that the queue was well put together, and the three train operation made the line move very smoothly. I was surprised my friend took loose articles on the ride and said it would probably be fine for me to do so as well, although I was glad I had stashed the camera in the locker.

We got the 9th row of the train, nearly the back. The on board audio as well as the prerecorded voice that seemed to be the same "surfer dude" voice on Maliboomer (more on that later) seemed to be working, and we made our way to the "launch". It counts down with the "5-4-3-2-1" and we were off. Not a very intense launch; but that is most likely because I have been on Xcelerator so many times.

What was great was the float out of your seat airtime coming down the drop after the top of the hill, and on the other three "big" hills. Even with the Over The Shoulder Restraints (so much for the "no airtime with OTSRs theory" I hear people talking about sometimes). The loop was not very intense at all, in fact it seemed a little rough and rattly on that first ride. The best part of the whole ride were the couple of nice little pops of air you get on the bunny hills over the games area (illustrated well as my friend showed me how his water bottle floated up during them). Ride seemed to end pretty quick, and a very abrupt stop before the turn to the station.

Overall, the ride reminded me of a launched version of Revolution at SFMM but not trimmed to death as Revolution seems to be these days. This is a good coaster; it's WAY more intense than Jaguar at Knott's or for that matter, anything at Disneyland, but still not anything super extreme. It IS, however, a lot of fun, and a perfect coaster to take looping coaster newbies on. This would turn out to be one of my favorite rides of the day, and I marked it down on the "let's ride this one again later if there is time" list. Another attraction very well done, and worth the wait.

The loop isn't that intense, but this coaster has some GREAT airtime moments!
Heed the big ugly grasshopper-This attraction might bug some of your younger ones!
We made our way over to the "Bug's Land" area to take in an attraction my friend had been telling me about, the "It's Tough To Be A Bug" show. I had seen some reviews of this on the Vegas Channel (sorry, I meant the Travel Channel) when they reviewed the Disney Animal Kingdom park in Florida, and all I knew was it was 3D and featured sensory effects. I remembered that Disney does 3D pretty darn good from the old "Captain EO" show they once had.

Again, I will not spoil the surprises, as that is part of what made me enjoy it. Let's just say that if you are bug-phobic, take heed. And parents-pay attention to what the signs posted all over the queue say; this show might freak out really little kids, to the point of tears as a few were when we saw it. Don't get me wrong-it is still very much a family attraction, but there are a few moments that a toddler might be very disturbed by. Heck, I am a huge arachnaphobic, and one moment made me jump.

All in all, this too was very entertaining. The 3D was good, the humor was above average, and the seat and the sensory effects were a nice touch. The fact that it was partially underground and the theming helped it as well. I would definitely recommend that you catch this one if you go to the park.
We then opted to take advantage of a unique feature I have not seen since the Busch Gardens parks used to have the Brewery Tours included as part of your admission to their parks: actual working factory tours. Call me weird (and I will take it as a compliment, of course), but here is a non coaster attraction I can really get into, as I find it interesting (in the same way I find the Unwrapped show on the Food Network interesting and the Made In America show on the Travel Channel cool). The free samples don't hurt either.

These are not "simulated" factories, but real operating plants that serve the restuarants in the park, which is a cool touch. Not much production was going on in the bakery, but the video with Rosie O' Donnell and one of the guys on "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"; I was trying to figure out his name all day but could not recall; it is Colin Mochare).

The Tortilla Factory was a little more up close, as you were right in the actual production line and there was more going on, and the samples were literally right off the machine. Very unique concept, and I wish more parks had stuff like this.
The only theme park I know of that has actual factory tours in the park
A lot safer than the REAL Hollywood, and it has a cool dark tower ride to boot!
I was feeling tired again, so I decided to do the coffee thing and we stopped at a coffee cart.....only for me to find that the Iced Mochas were $4.00 each! This meant a stop at the ATM first for another $20.00. The coffee was decent, but $4.00 is a little steep for essentially the same drink I can get at Knott's or SFMM for about $2.50. We walked around the park some more for a few; did the obstacle course near the Grizzly Rapids ride my friend was not ready to ride yet. We did the course (which was fun; we had fun playing with the intercoms and wondering how much weight the climbing nets were going to take) and walked around the park; for such a small park there is a LOT of walking, mostly past shops with a ton of shopportunities and in my opinion, overpriced stuff. The paths could have been laid out better; when you go, bring comfortable shoes.

We headed to the Hollywood Pictures Backlot area to do another ride I was really looking forward to, the Twilight Zone Tower O' Terror. We ended up waiting about 45-50 minutes to get on.

Overall, it was an impressive ride-the queue was the most impressive part of the ride; I loved the detail. My friend told me, "This is kind of like Jaguar at Knott's in that the queue is very elaborate but there is not a whole lot to the ride once you get on" and I was concerned. The queue and the pre show are very well done, and the ride ops play their part very well.

The ride itself, while fun and startling (the first drop caught me totally off guard as I didn't think we had gone high enough to drop that far, and the drops/rises were fun) was too short, and I thought they could have done more of a show before the drops. I have heard the Florida one is much better in that regard. Still, it was an enjoyable experience, and I also put that one on the "Let's do this one again later" list as well.
We walked over and got a FastPass for the Rapids Ride, which put us in to ride a couple of hours later. Got an overpriced Mickey shaped pretzel (and why the jalapeno cheese with everything? Can't those of us who are hot food challenged have some plain cheese too?) and a Diet Coke, and while we did noticed that the "Golden Zephyr" (with silver cars.....and people criticize Silver Bullet for being improperly color matched?!?) was closed due to winds. So we went for the park's other coaster, Mulholland Madness.

The sign said a 55 minute wait, we got on in about 35. It was a fun little wild mouse coaster; the only theming element that really struck me as cool was the billboard that it looked like a car had crashed through. The feeling that we were going to end up crashing down on one of the tables at the adjacent restuarant was interesting as well. It was a little short, and as far as theming I did not think it was up to the standards I expect from Disney, but still worth the ride.

I was looking forward to the next attraction a great Deal: The Maliboomer. I was pretty excited about trying it as Supreme Scream is one of my favorite thrill rides. I expected it to pack a punch, especially with the launch up. Not only that, I think the way they themed it-as the "ring the bell" game, was quite creative.
This ride moves too fast to realistically symbolize LA roads.....
Don't let this one intimidate you; not nearly as scary as it may look.
This ended up being the second longest wait of the day; only one of the towers was running at that time. I found myself enjoying the views of California Screamin' we got from the line, but I was totally amused by the prerecorded message, giving all of the safety guidelines in the same "surfer dude" voice on Screamin's launch, one that seemed as if it belonged to a California dude with questionable smoking habits. At the end of the spiel, I hear, "Hold on tight, and WATCH YOUR KIDS!"

This made NO sense to me at all. Watch your kids? Watch them on the ground as you shoot skyward? Watch them freak out on the ride? Or was this some strange Disneyfied lingo referring to a part of the anatomy? In any case, that along with the "Boo-inn-nn-nng" sound effects when the ride comes back down provided some good amusement.

They eventually opened a second tower as we got on. Of course, we get the tower that JUST opened. Got on and got locked in and felt slightly stifled behind the plastic shield. Finally, we launched, and I hate to say that I was a shade let down. It was just not as intense I thought it would be, although I loved the feeling at the top when the car started to come back down. Overall it was pretty good; not as thrilling as I expected but still good fun.

However, lately with the way Supreme Scream at Knott's has been running-letting you down easy and not catching-this seems more intense in retrospect. Final analysis: Better than Supreme Scream when Supreme Scream is not working right; not as good as Supreme Scream when it is working right. It's a good thrill ride for those new to "drop rides", although I found the drops on Tower Of Terror a lot more thrilling.
We spent the remaining time prior to Grizzly River Run taking pics and video, then I bought a poncho for the ride on Grizzly Rapids (best $7.00 I think I ever spent!) and got in the FastPass return. We were on the ride in about 10 minutes or less.

Although I think Disney tames their coasters too much, they seem to me to outdo everyone on the water rides; Splash Mountain is one of the best log flumes I have been on, and this is probably one of the best rapids rides I have ever been on, particularly the drops. Very unique sensation and it adds to a very well themed ride with great attention to detail.

Great water ride, just a little short. You go up a verrry long lift hill, and then through some caves and rapids before a first 15-20 foot drop into a cave. They seemed to be having some problems as we were stopped and had about three boats back up before the first drop. You go through some more rapids and then hit drop #2, a much bigger one of about 35-40 feet, into a huge splash, some cool geysers, and that's it. I only managed to avoid getting completely drenched and having to go back to the car to get a change of clothes only because of the poncho. This too is a must ride, especially if you love rapids rides, but unless you want to get very wet, take my advice and buy the poncho. If nothing else, save it and wear it inside out on water rides at other parks!
There is a raft under all that water; once again, Disney outdoes the others on the water rides
I thought of asking how to get to "Corn Dog Caverns" listed on this sign, but decided not to

We then went to get a FastPass to return to Tower Of Terror between 8-9pm, and then did the show I really wanted to see: MuppetVision 3D (which I thought had one of the most entertaining preshows out of all of the attractions, and like the Bug show, had a good mix of sensory and live effects going in the theater-if you were ever a Muppet fan don't miss it), and caught the last of the Aladdin shows in the Hyperion (which was a rather impressive production, although the inside of the theater nearly gave me vertigo up on that balcony). Ate at the hot dog place called "Award Weiners" in the Hollywood section. I was happy that I did manage to get a decent meal-Italian Sausage with Mozzerella and marinara sauce on a roll, fries and a Diet Coke for about $10.00.

We then got in what would be the longest line of the day, for a night ride on California Screamin. The sign said 90 minutes, we were on the ride in about 55 minutes. The crew seemed to be doing a good job with the dispatch (three trains) and was moving people through. Sat on the 7th row this time, and while we did not get the airtime on the drops this time, still got the airtime on the bunny hops and the loop was not rattly this time. Just as with other coasters, this one seemed faster at night. We somehow barely managed to get past the Electrical Parade (not very good traffic management there) and back to TOT in time to use the Fastpass there, they were just closing it and were nice enough to let us in with the passes. Again, fun ride. Nicely lit at night on the outside as well.

We made our way back out to the entrance plaza, bought one of the White Chocolate and Raspberry cookies at the candy shop at the gate (and although normally I would say $2.50 for a cookie is ridiculous, this one was worth it, I mean it was REALLY good) and then we took the tram back and left. Overall a fun day, at what I thought was very well put together theme park which pleasantly surprised me.

Overall, I am more into the more extreme coasters and thrill rides so I have more fun at a park like SFMM or Knott's. However, my friend told me not to expect anything like that at DCA but more of a themed experience, and when I went in with that approach, I had a great time. As I said earlier, I don't know if I would pay the full admission just to visit DCA more than once (I really think it would be better as an extension of Disneyland than a full, separate park, but since I got that deal with the twofer I am not complaining), and I cannot see buying an annual pass to the Disney Resort, but it was definitely worth it for the experience. I think the prices inside the park are a little high, but not too bad if you plan the day right and look around for decent deals on food/beverages and so on.

If someone asked me to recommend the park, I would say yes as far as service, overall atmosphere and a great place if you have younger kids or older kids who do not enjoy the bigger, faster rides. The level of theming, attention to detail and service made me wish more than ever that someone would build a park with a wide selection of rides (from rides for younger kids, rides for the whole family, moderate coasters and extreme coasters and rides) with the same level of theming and overall atmosphere and they would have a huge hit on their hands.

This looked fun but we unfortunately ran out of time!
Orange you glad this article is finally over?

I don't know that I was "underwhelmed" by this park, as it was not being overwhelmed (totally and completely blown away by everything). I was not going in really expecting to be "blown away", but rather to be entertained and take it for what it was, have fun and enjoy a park I had never seen. It was definitely entertaining and a lot of fun.

There were a few of the rides that I could see being a part of Disneyland (Soaring Over California seemed as if it would be right at home in Tomorrowland to me) as well as some of the shows, but overall the park did have a rather different feel than the original Disneyland or Disney World. The theming, as far as theming a park to the state of California, and representing the different aspects of the state, was very well done here.

I personally like a better mix of the rides from tame to moderate to extreme, but I was not really so much going just to ride the rides but experience the whole park, shows and attractions as well. As much as I love rides with lots of inversions, height, speed, etc. I also appreciate good theming and the immersive experience and variety in attractions(which is one the reasons I enjoy the original Disneyland now and then as well). If you're going for thrills and coasters, then spend the day at Knott's or SFMM. If you want a different experience that is mostly good theming and family rides, then spend a day here. It is good clean safe fun, and worth a look. Get the two parks for one price, and you'll enjoy it even more.
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