Disney’s California Adventure Park – Spring Break 2016 Trip Day Three

Having battled the crowds across the Disneyland Resort yesterday, and the fact that we were still kind of running on EST, team Hayes agreed that it was in our best interest to take full advantage of the early extra magic hour at Disney’s California Adventure on Hunter’s birthday.  We arose around 6 am, got the boys some cereal, and made our way to the Grand Californian park entrance.  It turns out that another 2,500 Guests had the exact same idea, as the bag check entrance was wrapped around the building.  Thinking we could outsmart the crowd, we headed out through Downtown Disney to the main park entrance, only to find an equally long line to get through that bag check.  Although it slowed us a bit we still made it into the park well before the crowds.

Today was Hunter’s 9th birthday so we were on a mission to see how many of our favorites we could ride before our character breakfast at Storyteller’s.  Emily and the boys made their first stop at the new Disney’s California Adventure attraction Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters.  This was a really neat attraction, as the cars seem to move freely across the ground at the attraction, almost like they are dancing.  I took some photos from the sidelines while Emily and the boys rode.

After Luigi’s, we headed over to the Paradise Pier section of the park and rode one of Sawyer and Hunter’s favorite rides, Toy Story Midway Mania.  It was incredible because we were able to basically walk right on the attraction (something quite rare at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and also rare later in the day at Disney’s California Adventure).  Next, Hunter’s birthday wish was to watch Emily ride on California Screamin’, which she was happy to oblige. The boys and I thought it was pretty funny watching all of the riders scream at take off.  Emily was a good sport and took the GoPro on the attraction so we could see what it was like through her eyes (which you can see in the video).  She has ridden the ride before with her dad (for her 30th in 2009), but this was her first solo go.  After last year when we enjoyed watching the launch so much, the boys convinced her it would be fun if they were watching the launch with someone they know on the ride!

After Emily regained her equilibrium somewhat, we walked the rest of the pier and did a bunch of the attractions that the boys liked, including: Goofy’s Sky School, Jumpin’ Jellyfish, Silly Symphony Swings, The Golden Zephyr, and The Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Undersea Adventure.  It is such a perfect corner of the park if you have little ones because the rides are calm yet fun to ride.  You can also get some pretty unique views of the park from that area (as seen in the video).  A lot of wide open walkways made for a pretty nice and productive morning.

After making the most out of Paradise Pier, the boys wanted to head back to one of their favorite locations, Bugs Land.  We got our daily dose of Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train, and then went back to Cars Land to ride Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree.  These boys are such creatures of habit.  We were also continuing to work on our Easter egg hunt maps that we picked up the prior day.  There were several Disney Character painted eggs hidden around the park, and our job was to match the character sticker to the map where each egg was found.  It was a really fun way to see the park and have a scavenger hunt along the way.  We had energy for one more ride before breakfast, so we made our way through the Hollywood area of the park to the Monsters, Inc., Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! attraction.  Hunter’s favorite part was when Roz sang Happy Birthday to him at the end of the ride (see video).

We had reached our hunger breaking point, indicating that our breakfast at Storytellers’ could not have been timed much better.  Storytellers’ is in the Grand Californian Hotel, so we made our way back through the Grand park gate and prepared our stomachs for a delicious buffet breakfast.  Hunter was super excited about the Mickey waffles, and I was just excited about food in general.  We got a few fun photos with Chip and Dale and had a fun birthday brunch.

With our plan to stay out and see the nighttime festivities, we agreed that a mid afternoon nap would be beneficial and headed back to the room for a chill place.  This also gave me the opportunity to walk to Enterprise to pick up the car that we rented to take to Arizona on Tuesday.  The walk wasn’t bad as it was about one mile. I guess you could make that two miles because the place was closed at noon and I was there at 1 PM (someday I will be smart enough to call first… maybe).  Needless to say there were a few others things I would have preferred to do instead for walk two miles, extra steps that I didn’t really need today, for nothing.

When Hunter and Sawyer woke up from the afternoon slumber, Hunter really wanted his birthday treat to be building a car at the ever-so-affordable Ride Makerz at Downtown Disney.  Hunter was really excited to build a car with his brother which I thought was really cute.  Not sure how many of you have been through this Ride Makerz racket, but it is quite an experience.  I picture it much like checking into prison, minus the cavity check.  You basically hand over everything in your possession and you walk out with an extremely overpriced car and terribly expensive accessories that you know won’t last a fortnight.  The boys were happy, so that is all that matters… I think.  I am surprised they don’t try to sell you some form of Ride Makerz car insurance.  Definitely need collision coverage on the Bat-mobile.

We brought the cars back to the room and headed back into Disney’s California Adventure for a few attractions before we made our way to Disneyland Park for dinner at the Carnation Cafe on Main Street.  We had been waiting all day for our Radiator Springs Racers Fastpasses as this has become Hunter’s favorite ride throughout Disneyland.  I just can’t get over how stunning Cars Land is, and the entire rock formation that surrounds the ride is truly breathtaking.  After Radiator Springs Racers, Emily and the boys took on Maters Junkyard Jamboree for the second time of the day while I waited in a 25 minute line for ice cream cones.  We timed it just right as they were coming off the ride just as I paid for the ice cream.  It was the perfect opportunity for a quick sit-down snack break.

Emily and I agreed that all of this theme parking earned us a stop at the Wine Country Trattoria terrace for a soothing beverage.  The beverages hit the spot and gave us a much needed second wind.  We worked on our egg hunt a bit more, took another spin on Heimlich’s, and made our way across the promenade to Disneyland Park.

Possibly the best tip we received from the Concierge at the Grand Californian was to book a reservation at the Carnation Cafe at 8:00 pm and request the outside seating area to be seated in time to watch the Paint the Night parade and enjoy a delicious meal outside.  The weather was perfect and the food was great.  The boys really enjoyed watching all the beautiful floats go by with all of their favorite characters on them. This is a must see parade, as I think it is one of the best I have ever seen at Disney.  It is a super updated version of the Main Street Electrical Parade with really fun music and amazing, can’t-believe-your-eyes floats and entertainment.  Our meal ended just in time for us to make our way out to Main Street to watch the amazing fireworks, an unexpected surprise.  What an awesome night!

It is hard to believe that Hunter is nine years old already.  I am so proud of the little man that he has become.  Here is to many more exciting birthdays together buddy.  We love you!

If you are looking for more fun, be sure to check out our day one post where we visited Disney’s California Adventure Park.  You can also read our adventures from day two where we were all over the Disneyland Resort.  If you want to see all of the fun, check out the 2016 Disneyland and Arizona page to see our complete travels, videos and blog posts.  As always we love your thoughts and comments so if you love Disneyland as much as we do, let us know about it!

Disneyland Spring Break 2016 – Day 3 Photo Slideshow