California Adventure

Day two of our Disney Adventure was more relaxed. Eric and I let our kids sleep in that morning since California Adventure didn't open until 10 a.m. We did get a couple phone calls that morning at 8:00 a.m. from the rest of the family wondering where we were! They were mostly up and out at least an hour earlier (or more) than we were, but that's okay. I really wanted to stay late enough to watch the Electrical Parade at the end of the day and if we'd pulled them all out of bed super early, they may not have lasted that long!

The day started with our Breakfast Comedy Hour with our Brother-In-Law Alan - joking about the craziness in the hotel breakfast area. I can't even begin to retell it, but it was hilarious! Maybe his wife will blog it, but she was a bit grumpy that morning, so she didn't find it as funny as the rest of us! No joke, there was a black lady in her pj's and a shower cap, loading up about 10 plates full of food - then 20 minutes later, she was back for more!

So, we headed for CA Adventure and got fast passes for the best ride in the park, Soarin over CA. Then we went to the Redwood Trail area and let the kids (and dads) run wild for probably about an hour. By this time, it's already time for lunch. Then we came back in the park and did Soarin. Eric's parents had never been to CA Adventure and they LOVED this ride. We also did the Bug's Life kiddie rides and the Ferris Wheel. We spent most of the afternoon hitting rides on Paradise Pier but we never made it to the Hollywood Backlot. (Monster's Inc was closed and only 2 people really wanted to do Tower of Terror.)

I pretty much spent most of the day on park benches while kids played in the kiddie areas, but that's okay. Disneyland is my park, CA Adventure is just a place to go to get a break from the crowds at Disneyland. I'm not into the crazy rides and am happy to pass on most of them. I did do California Screamin' which is awesome. I'm not into anything that's crazy high in the sky or has a free falling element. On the other hand, Eric LOVES California Adventure. He loves crazy roller coasters and even CA Adventure doesn't have enough to satisfy him. I think they build CA Adventure for people like Eric, who tolerate Disneyland because their kids love it, but really want to go on some BIG rides.

The highlight for me was at the end of the day - Disney's Electrical Parade. I haven't seen this parade since I was a kid and it was awesome. Everyone loved it - even with the pyscodelic 80's music that goes with it! I could have lived without the teenagers who walked up behind us just as it was starting and had every wise crack in the book to make.... oh well, you can't win them all, right?