We visit family in Southern California every spring, and have traditionally added in a day and a night in Disneyland for our two children (now 8 and 10 years old). This year, we decided to take advantage of the special Parkhopper multiday tickets, wherein you pay for three days and get five days' access to the parks. We have always confined our visits to Disneyland in the past, but this year branched out to California Adventure (DCA). What a pleasant surprise!

We had very little idea of what to expect, but were very impressed with the atmosphere (a careful recreation of several of California's historical "golden ages", from the Gold Rush (and modern recreation) in the High Sierra to the birth of the modern aviation industry (Condor Flats) to Hollywood, and finally a pleasantly sanitized version of Santa Monica Pier. The whole thing just works, in the way that Disney parks usually do.

There aren't as many rides as in Disneyland proper, of course, but what there is here is pretty exciting stuff. We started our visit with Soarin' Over California (which we revisited several times) -- a fun interpretation of the Omni-like experience -- you sit in a special seat, which swoops up in the air close to the hemispherical screen, and turns and banks with the action... complete with smell-o-vision (piped in scent of pine and orange, etc.). We also really enjoyed the (very wet) rafting ride, Maliboomer (a vertical-shot ride), and Screamin', which is about as extreme as my roller coaster tastes run. Finally, the Tower of Terror ride is in a class of its own, particularly on your first pass -- you don't know what to expect, but it's really something.

The ambiance is more "grown-up friendly" and generally much less saccharine than Disneyland (which we still enjoy, but can only take in limited dosages). The musical soundtrack is classic California (Beach Boys, Mommas and Poppas, Dick Dale-style surf sounds), and the quality and variety of food extends well past the basic theme park fare. We were there during the California Wine and Food Festival, and there were lots of small "tasting" dishes available, nothing like the chicken nuggets you might expect.

It probably says something about us, but my wife and I both found it very civilized that we could have a glass of wine over lunch, or a microbrew beer while the kids had a mid-afternoon snack in the Cannery Row-themed food area. There is even a very pleasant cocktail lounge upstairs over Ariel's Grotto, where we enjoyed a martini (adults) and excellent virgin blender drinks (the kids) in the gorgeous late afternoon sun, watching the world parade by.

Speaking of Ariel's Grotto: we always do at least one character meal, and this is the one we planned for this trip. From a meal perspective, it was pretty successful... the food is much better prepared than, say, Blue Bayou in Disneyland, and there were better / healthier choices (as well as a selection of wines by the glass. Trust me, wine-by-the-glass is a good prophylaxis against Princess Overdose). On the other hand, the whole Princess experience felt a little flat compared to other character breakfasts (Goofy's Kitchen at the Disneyland Hotel, or Chip 'n Dale's breakfast at the Grand Californian, which we really enjoyed). The princesses tried hard and were charming, but it was very orchestrated and not a lot of fun (versus the spontaneous party atmosphere -- if you're seven, anyway -- at the character breakfasts). Tip: You need to call Disney Dining well ahead of time for reservations if you don't want to wait a long time for a character dining experience.

As others have noted, even on a fairly busy day, DCA is less crowded than Disneyland, which made for relatively short lines for rides (and they still have FastPass available for the very popular rides -- Soarin' had a good wait yesterday). The park is well laid out, so you don't feel like you're stuck in a herd as often. And the staff were notably friendly and up-beat. We were lucky enough to be "invited" to stay for an extra hour one night after the park closed, and we really had a great time -- no lines, staff who seemed genuinely happy to be there and having fun.

We went in with no expectations, but we were really pleased with our DCA experience. Next year, we'll no doubt go back to Disney for a day of our old favorites (our kids LOVE the Indiana Jones ride), but we'll probably spend a whole day at DCA, too -- and we may well make the trek across the plaza at meal-time, too.