I think we all enjoyed California Adventure a tad better than the Disneyland Park.
Reason for this, is it's more of an amusement park.. Rollercoasters, ferris wheels, - the whole thing is like a midway, with a boardwalk etc.. We really liked it, and for whatever reason, the park was practically empty (we hit this one on Tuesday), so we experienced hardly any wait time at all for any of the rides.. This enabled the girls to continually loop themselves on the rollercoasters over and over again, which they loved.

This park had more of a feel like Universal Studios, vs. a Peterpan disneyland feel.
They had a mockup of a downtowm hollywood movie set, with shops and things, and several shows (we only hit the Playhouse Disney show, which the kids loved)..
They had several areas that actually showed the process of animation, and how movies are made. Very thorough and informative, if you like that sort of thing.. -- and a really neat 'Turtle Talk with Crush' (from Finding Nemo) 15 minute show thats a must do if you have little ones (sit them down in front so they can ask a question).

The Monsters Inc ride i thought was awesome.. it was as if we were right smack in the middle of the movie itself.
The Hollywood Tower Hotel, tower of terror was great (so i was told by the wife and kids who went on it, as i strolled the nightmare before christmas themed gift shop at the bottom of the hotel with the baby).
All of this was in the 'movie' section of the park.. PLENTY to do here, in this part of the park.
We then hit 'Flick's Fair', which is all 'A Bugs Life' theme.. Mainly for the real little kids.. TIP: if the line is too long for the Chew Chew train ride, skip it.. you WILL be mad once the ride ends, it's entirely too short, and completely uneventful.

After this area, it's off to the Midway.. now THIS was awesome. (this is also where Ariel's Grotto restaurant is, althought we didn't stop in ).. This is where the California Screamin' coaster is, the ferris wheel (which is actually WAY more than your standard ferris wheel. the cars actually SLIDE on their rails, down and back up, so you actually feel as if you are going to completely slide right off the wheel, into the water below, and it's a HUGE ferris wheel..)
they had some midway games, and a boardwalk, were you could win prizes, get your face painted etc.. we loved it!
There were several other rides here.. We just simply didn't have time to go on them all -- and the variety was nice.. some for little ones, bigger ones, and then flat out crazy rides (like Orange Slice, or something like that ) - a GIGANTIC spinning rope seat ride that there was NO way i was going on..... the kids didn't even want to attempt that one..

there were hardly any lines at all, on ANY of the rides. we couldn't believe it. I literally sat there while the baby fell asleep, so the wife and girls could just go on the coasters over and over, and over again.. good times.. good times..

We actually ran out of time at this park.. they closed at 8 this night, so we had to quickly wrap up by hitting the Grizzly Rapids ride, which we got thoroughly nice and soaked ! Liked it much better than Splash Mountain at the Disney Park across the way.
Also note, that in this part of the park, you have direct access right into the Grand California Hotel. They just stamp your hand so you can come back out into the park..

Had we seriously known this would have as fun as it turned out to be, we would have spent additional time here, instead of Disneyland itself.. Not taking away anything from DL, (because we all loved that as well) but at the end of the day, it just seemed like the kids had more 'fun' here at California Adventure.

I also need to point out, that in this park we actually saw Disney Characters.. We got to pose for pictures with Goofy, Pluto, the Incredibles, and Meet the Robinsons characters.
in Disneyland, we did not encounter, or see ONE character.
NOT ONE.. except for watching the parade down mainstreet.. which was totally different that the impromptu characters just strolling through the streets with all the kids...

This is a smaller park that Disneyland, but i liked that better, as you simply follow the areas around in a giant circle. no getting lost, and no havging to double back to hit an attraction that you missed. I found the layout of the park to be much much easier to navigate.

Don't miss it! your kids will thank you and you'll get to keep some great memories.

We chose to vacation at Disneyland/DCA this year instead of the Florida version again and were pleasantly surprised. The Aladdin show was just about worth the price of admission on its own and it's always good to see the Electrical parade. We skipped some of the more generic amusement park rides, no need to wait 45 minutes for a ferris wheel. Kids were disappointed that High School musical pep rally had been discontinued. We enjoyed California Screamin' and Soarin'. Tower of Terror was not as good as Florida's, but overall it was a nice change of pace having all the parks, Downtown Disney, and many hotels within easy walking distance.

We had 3 day park hopper tickets so we visited both parks during our stay in July.

Whilst I really enjoy Disneyland, I found DCA to be much more pleasurable to walk around as there are fewer people there so you get less hustle and bustle. Plus, it's a really pretty park with lovely landscaping and you really get the feeling of travelling through California - whilst not inherently 'Disney', you definitely get a taste of Disney magic with theming that only Disney can do.

There are fewer attractions here, but there are some definite must-rides for a trip to DLR. We love getting a soaking on Grizzly River Run - one of the most fun water rides I've been on, plus the soaking is much appreciated with that SoCal sunshine! California Screamin' is always fun, with the shoot off that takes your breath away! The only problem was that due to construction of a nearby attraction, Screamin' didn't open until at least 1pm so you had to time it right! We have been here 3 times now, and each time we have seen the Aladdin show, and each time it makes us laugh. The Genie steals the show. The effects with the pyrotechnics and the carpet etc mean this is really a scaled down
full-on production which could easily be on Broadway or the West End if it was made longer. Well worth seeing for some classic Disney theatrics.

Twice during our three days we were given Dream Fastpasses which were for both parks which was great and meant we got to ride even more!

I think too many people disregard DCA, but it's definitely worth getting a hopper ticket to visit.

We visited Disney's California Adventure but not Disneyland Park as we had been there in 2003, so we decided to visit the other half of the Disneyland Resort.

Our first impressions were certainly positive with the grand entrance. Our first ride was Soarin' Over California as we had heard so much about it. What a ride. It was amazing to see all the places in California that we had visited in the past like Yosemite and San Francisco. Not exactly thrilling, but an amazing ride at the least with excellent music.

Grizzly River Run was a fun river rapids ride which is ideal for the whole family. California Screamin' was another favourite for me, with it's smooth, long and airtime filled layout. Tower of Terror was fantastic as well. A great storyline with amazing effects followed by unexpected drops!

Other rides worth a mention are Maliboomer, Mulholland Madness, MuppetVision 3D and It's Tough To Be A Bug. Apart from Maliboomer, these rides are great for younger kids and the whole family.

Another highlight was the High School Musical Pep Rally parade. The actors were really good and entertained loads of young children by getting them involved. Definitely worth a watch if you're in the designated area.


In my opinion Disney's California Adventure is such an underrated park. People say it's not for young children or families, but I have to disagree. There were a lot of attractions for the whole family that everyone could enjoy. Especially Soarin' Over California.

Thrillseekers will love California Screamin', Maliboomer and Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.

The whole family will definitely like Soarin' Over California, It's Tough To Be A Bug, the Sun Wheel, Orange Stinger, Mulholland Madness, MuppetVision 3D and Grizzly River Run.

Younger kids will like Monsters Inc Mike and Sully to the Rescue, Golden Zephyr and attractions in the Bug's Land themed area.