We're having a great day at Disney's California Adventure! It's our first day back to Disney parks on the West Coast in a very long time. It was a great morning, and now we're moving into the evening hours. Our Genie+ has come in handy, getting us on rides a lot sooner than if we had waited in the regular line.
Next, let's go ride a crazy coaster! Goofy's Sky School! Goofy tries to do so many things! Back at Walt Disney World he's a pilot at Goofy's Barnstormer and a train conductor on Mickey's Runaway Railway.
Finally, 40 minutes after we got in line, a cast member came by with a handheld scanner to give us a pass to return at a later time. Well at least we got to take a break to eat dinner.
And if it's our first time riding, you've got to get in that very front row to get the best experience. Theresa sits this one out and was able to get this photo right as we launched!
Hands are in the air and ready for some fun! They've done looping coasters before (the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster in Florida), but this one is outside and you can see it coming!
And how was it? Oh boy, did they love love love it!
Way back in 2020, on our very last visit here, Ian wanted to check his height for the Incredicoaster. He was just a bit short. When he hit 48" we were still locked down due to Covid, but he was excited because he was finally tall enough to ride. This ride, the Incredicoaster, was the highest ride on his list and the one thing he wanted to do most while we were here at Disneyland.
The Incredicoaster has been closed all day, but fortunately through looking at the app constantly, we saw it had reopened! All of us rushed over there to go on it! Not only is Ian tall enough, but Alli is tall enough too!
Ian - I think Test Track (his favorite ride at WDW) might have a challenger!
I'm glad it lived up to his expectations!
I think there is a pent-up demand for the Incredicoaster. When we left, the queue had stretched all the way out of the regular switchbacks and down the pier all the way over to the gift shop! That's the longest I've ever seen it go!
Next up, we made our way to another one of Ian's favorite rides. He loves the thrilling up/downs from the Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout. Show me those hands!
Alli and Theresa like to skip this one, so it's just the four of us.
But boy do we love it! This is an attraction re-theme that we love! We have the Tower of Terror at WDW, but the Guardians version is far superior!
After Guardians, Radiator Springs Racers was back up again! This time after we moved off from the main queue, we were loaded into a racing car and on our way!
We didn't end up winning, but we all enjoyed our race through Radiation Springs and Ornament Valley.
Earlier in the day, I made sure to snag reservations for World of Color. It's been so long since we've seen it and it's one of our favorite shows. It will kick off at 9pm tonight, so an hour before, we made sure to queue up. With the wheelchair, we could have went to a higher accessible section, but only the person in the wheelchair can be there, and everyone else has to go elsewhere. We're not going to split this family up, so we went to the next best place. An hour early wasn't enough to get on the rail in the center section. I picked the railing up near the water, out of the wet zone, but still close enough to see things.
The kids were excited to get treats for everyone (including themselves) so they got ice cream treats for whoever wanted them while we waited for the show to start.
It has been a while since we've seen this one. The kids don't remember it at all and actually I don't have a specific memory of them watching it with us. I know World of Color has gone through some significant downtime in its history.
Either way, they both enjoyed it, and were surprised by the portions of the show when there was lots of fire!
And you can't leave right when the show ends. Afterwards the water starts dancing and lighting up all sorts of colors. It's the perfect photo opportunity and it only lasts for a minute or so after the show. Gotta be quick!
Dancing to the upbeat music. "The Wonderful World of Color! So wonderful! So beautiful to see! Adventure is waiting! ... Each journey holds a surprise!"
Well California Adventure closed at 9pm tonight, but our day isn't over yet. Disneyland is open for a few more hours still.
Let's ride the superior version of Buzz Lightyear!
This one has blasters that separate from your space pod, helping you aim anywhere you want. Not those affixed cannons like at WDW. And look at Theresa putting up those high numbers!
She was 34th best score for the day, which is great considering it's after 10pm already.
Next, we were off to a galaxy far far away. Pop Pop and Gram have never been to the Black Spire Outpost or seen the full size Millennium Falcon first-hand.
And surely they haven't boarded the Millennium Falcon herself.
Or sat in the pilot's seats.
And navigated our way through the galaxy to help the Resistance. It was a bumpy ride, but we managed a few containers of Coaxium fuel.
There's plenty of fun things to do here, but let's try to squeeze in a ride on one of the mountains. Space Mountain has been turned into Hyperspace Mountain with the addition of Star Wars. It was a fun ride through space, though maybe a little loud for Alli.
At 11:53pm we were just getting off Space Mountain. The park closes in 7 minutes! What is close?
Not pictured is a ride on Indiana Jones. Using Genie+ all day has zapped my phone battery. This would be a regular occurrence on this trip. Any day we used Genie+, we were staring at our phone trying to get the next ride reservation scheduled, or trying to improve our current reservation time.
The Astro Orbiter! We hustled over and made it into the line just 2 minutes before a cast member roped it off.
Just as midnight struck, we boarded our Orbiters.
We took the last flight of the night and it was perfect. Flying with the kids laughing and smiling, the glowing lights of the castle and other lands, it was a great way to end the night.
What a fun day! I'm so glad we got to spend it together!
And honestly, we've been able to get a lot of big rides in even though we arrived at noon, thanks to Genie+ and a little extra help from a friend.
At 12:30am, the kids gave Gram one more ride through the parking lot back to the truck. They have been troopers today, not complaining and staying up late. Let's do it all again tomorrow!
All the hiking, walking, climbing, and bike riding prepared Ian & Alli for such a full and long day...lots of walking for sure! The family definitely squeezed in A LOT of attractions, especially since the day didn't start until noon...looks like you've mastered Genie+ (but too bad you have to spend so much time staring at your phone throughout the day :-( ) Lots of thrill rides in the 2nd part of the day...Incredicoaster was as advertised for Ian (and Alli), especially since it's a challenger to Test Track as a favorite now! Seeing all the color, water fountains, and fire makes WOC a favorite for many...like the really colorful dancing fountains after the show...the color comes through beautifully in the photo. Theresa is quite the Buzz Lightyear expert! The advantage of carrying your meal around is that you can eat it whenever and wherever!! Many "firsts" on this first day back to the parks...some great memories to cherish. EOM
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