9. Park Strategy, Part 2 - DCA

Question 9: What if we want to spend the day in California Adventure?

There is actually plenty to be done in California Adventure these days. With the addition of Cars Land, as well as plenty of other attractions, DCA has become a place that is easy to spend all day in. So if you have an entire day to spend there, here are my tips to get you everywhere you might want to go in the park!

• Where to go first: There are a couple of things that you're going to want to do before doing anything else in DCA, especially if you have only one day in the park. Both of those things have to do with FastPasses. 
• Radiator Springs Racers: Near the entrance to Bug's Land, you'll find the FastPass machines for Radiator Springs Racers. These go incredibly fast. I'm talking gone within the first couple hours of park opening fast. If not faster. RSR is a truly awesome ride, and those FastPasses are really valuable. If you hope to get one, you're going to want to send somebody there very first thing when you get to the park. Don't worry though, not all hope is lost if you don't make it in time. There are other ways to get on that ride quickly, but I'll get to that later.

These pretty babies aren't easy to come by!

• World of Color: These aren't necessarily as urgent as the Radiator Springs Racers FastPasses, but I still always make sure to get these earlier in the morning. Although you can still see World of Color from areas that aren't designated seating, you really do get the best experience if you get a FastPass...which actually is just a ticket to the viewing areas, rather than a normal FastPass. The machines for the World of Color tickets can be found next to Grizzly River Run. 
• Breakfast: If you're on the park early in the morning you might want to grab a quick breakfast. There are a few places on the park that are great, however a lot of my favorite breakfast items in DCA are seasonal. 
• Cozy Cone Motel in Cars Land is one of my absolute favorite places to eat when I'm in DCA. They don't have a ton in the way of breakfast, unless you want churro bites (which I may or may not have eaten for breakfast before...). However, when I went in December a couple years ago the Cozy Cone had breakfast cones! They had scrambled eggs, pico de gallo, chorizo and more all wrapped up in a yummy bread cone! I went the next February and they didn't have them however. I think they were seasonal, for the Feliz Navidad celebration.
• Fiddler, Fifer, and Practical Cafe is essentially a Starbucks on Buena Vista Street. It has a bunch of breakfast sandwiches and pastries, and it is definitely the place to go if you need any kind of coffee. Their cinnamon rolls are awesome!
• Fillmore's Taste-In, also in Cars Land, is a great snack shack, and an awesome place to stop if you want some fresh fruit or juice for your breakfast.
• Flo's V8 Cafe is the place to hit if you want a homestyle breakfast. With items like french toast and scrambled egg platters, you'll want to stop here to get a full hearty meal early in the morning. 
• Pacific Wharf Cafe has awesome pastries and breakfast sandwiches to start your day with a light yet filling breakfast.
• Schmoozies in Hollywoodland has a selection of smoothies and blended coffee beverages for something quick and fruity!
• Lunch: After you've gone on some rides in the morning, you're probably going to be looking for some lunch! I've got a few places I really like:
• Cozy Cone Motel. Yes I'm going to put this place down for basically every meal. They've got so much to offer for any time of day! For lunch, I really like their garlic pretzel twists with a Redd's Apple Freeze. 
• Award Wieners in Hollywoodland has some really creative hot dogs! 
• Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta - exactly what it sounds like. They have salads too! I end up here a lot, because their Caesar salads are super good and huge!
• Cocina Cucamonga Mexican Grill is pretty tasty but I would recommend taking it easy for a bit after you have a meal there!
• Corn Dog Castle is my 15-year-old brother's favorite place to eat in the park. Which I actually don't blame him for, because their corn dogs are huge and really delicious! And it's the only place in the resort to get a spicy corn dog :) 
• Paradise Garden Grill is awesome if you like Greek food!
• Smokejumpers Grill (formerly Taste Pilots' Grill) is an awesome burger joint located in Grizzly Peak (formerly Condor Flats). Their burgers are awesome, and I like their onion rings too!
• Entertainment: There isn't a ton of entertainment right after lunch, like there is in Disneyland. But there is still a TON to do besides riding rides in California Adventure!
• Animation Academy: There is SO MUCH to do in this little place! It's a favorite of my family's, we spend hours here every time we go to the park. And it's so beautiful too. You can draw your own animation strip, you can take a quiz in Beast's library to see what Disney character you are, and you can even add your own voice to Disney movie clips in Ursula's grotto! You can also learn to draw various disney characters and depending on the time of year you can meet special characters too, such as Anna and Elsa. Plus, Turtle Talk with Crush is in the animation academy. That's always fun to see! Wow. Lots to do! Even with all of that though, my family and I just like to take a seat in the lobby and listen to the music. They project scenes and concept art on the walls and play really beautiful arrangements of the music from the movie being projected... if that makes sense. It's just really awesome in there.

Scenes and art from Tarzan, accompanied by a lovely rendition of "Two Worlds"

• Five and Dime is a travelling show, and it's so much fun to see. A five piece jazz band, accompanied by their singer, Dime, cruise Buena Vista Street in their old jalopy. Every once in a while they'll stop in the Carthay Circle and Dime will hop out to do the Charleston with a zoot-suited Goofy! 

This is probably my favorite show on the whole park, besides World of Color!

• It's Tough To Be A Bug is a really cute 3D show in Bug's Land. You get to meet all the different bugs and there are awesome effects!
• Depending on what is going on in the world of Disney movies, you may or may not actually get to watch It's Tough To Be A Bug. Lately, Disney has been showing sneak previews of upcoming movies in that theater, such as Zootopia or the new Jungle Book! They even use the effects available in the theater for the sneak preview, so it's still a great experience.
• The Pixar Play Parade is really the only parade I like to stop and watch in its entirety. The Pixar movies are the ones I loved most as a kid, so that's just what resonates with me. And the parade is just so much more fun than any other, in my opinion! This usually only runs once a day so if you want to see it make sure you plan ahead! Additionally, the parade is a little different each day (by way of including/not including some of the floats/characters) so don't be afraid to watch it more than once if you really loved it!

This was one of my favorite elements, but there are lots of really awesome floats from almost every Pixar movie!

• Places to explore: There might not be as much to do here in DCA as there is in Disneyland, but there are still some really cool things to see.
• Boudin Bakery Tour. DCA makes some really dope sourdough bread, and you can tour the bakery where they do it! Plus you get a free sample :)
• Blue Sky Cellar. This is a cool place to check out the ideas for upcoming projects for the Disney parks.
• Redwood Creek Challenge Trail is an awesome park to explore! There are lots of things to do in there and things to climb on, and if you do all the right challeges Russel and Dug will make you a Wilderness Explorer!
• Must-hit rides: California Adventure has been expanding pretty quickly since it's overhaul a few years ago! There are tons of rides to ride, many of them more intense than the ones you'll find in Disneyland. But don't worry, there are plenty for the small kids to go on too! Remember, if there's a certain seat you want on the ride just ask for it :)
• Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Oh man this one is so much fun, and just the right amount of creepy! Would not recommend right after a meal, this one shakes you up quite a bit! (And seeing Rod Serling in the intro video is a delight)
• Saddest update EVER: The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror will be leaving us soon :( It will close its doors January 2017 and later that year will open up as a Guardians of the Galaxy ride. I have many, many feelings about this, none of them good, but what's done is done. In the meantime you can catch the "late check-out" on Tower of Terror and experience it in complete darkness. Kinda cool, but I'd rather keep the ride forever please and thank you.
• California Screamin'. This is one of my absolute favorite roller coasters of all time. You blast off from 0 to 60 in a matter of seconds, with Neil Patrick Harris there to psych you up. No joke, it's his voice that narrates anything on the ride from how to put on your restraints to "Five, four, three, two, one, SCREAM!" It's so amazing. For real. And if the line is long, consider the single rider line!

As you can see, my family is very photogenic on roller coasters.

• Toy Story Midway Mania is probably one of the best things to happen to DCA. The line is always really long, and it doesn't offer FastPasses. But it is so worth it! You're flinged around, stopping at different stations to play virtual midway games. That might not sound super amazing but I promise you it is so much fun!
• Ariel's Undersea Adventure is an awesome darkride. You sit in little shells and it takes you through the story of the Little Mermaid. It's pretty new, so the animatronics are really good!
• Mickey's Fun Wheel is the most terrifying ferris wheel I've ever been on. It has some swinging cars that put you right on the edge of the wheel hanging over the bay. It's fun, it's just a little scary at first! But it has a breathtaking view of California Adventure, it's totally worth it.
• Radiator Springs Racers is pretty incredible. It takes you through Radiator Springs, and you get either new tires or a new paint job on your car! Then the best part is at the end when you race with another car, which was either in front of you or behind you depending on your timing. It's so much fun! And I'm obviously not the only one who thinks so because its FastPasses are always gone within an hour of park opening. If you want to get on the ride faster and you weren't able to score a FastPass however, consider the single rider line. You definitely aren't going to be riding with your party, but you still get to go on the ride and that's what matters (to me at least)! Since the cars have rows of 3, and it's really common for a party to have even numbers, there are lots of extra seats. That's where the single rider line comes in, they'll just throw you into whatever seats are empty. The line moves really fast. If you're not too concerned about getting a picture with your whole group, or even riding with your group at all, I would definitely recommend the single rider line.

Once again, my photogenic family...

• Soarin' Over California is a family favorite. It's so beautiful. You go into a big room, sit on some glider benches, and take off into the California skies! I absolutely love it. The music is just golden. I would recommend buying a Disneyland soundtrack (found in plenty of shops around the parks) just for the music from this ride. 
• Update 2016: This ride has gone through some amazing changes and is now Soarin' Around the World. At first I was sad that it was going to change, but it's so much better now. You'll visit places all over the world (obviously) and you'll experience new smells compared to the old ride! There are transitions between the scenes now, instead of a jarring cut to the next place! The best part however is that the new footage is in HD. They used a 5-camera system, invented by Disney Imagineers, to capture the footage. Some of it is the most high-definition footage in the world! Don't worry, Patrick is still your chief flight attendant, and the music has the same theme as the last ride. Definitely improvements, I'm very pleased with Soarin' Around the World.
• Dinner: There are some awesome eats in Cars Land! Once again I'm going to recommend Cozy Cone Motel and Flo's V8 Cafe for another meal. At the Cozy Cone you can score a Chili Cone Carne, garnished with fritos and served in a warm bread cone. Flo's is going to have some homestyle meals, like fried chicken or chicken pot pie. It's all delicious. Another recommendation I would make for dinner is to eat somewhere that offers a World of Color package. If you purchase meals at Ariel's Grotto, Carthay Circle Restaurant, or Wine Country Trattoria you can score preferred viewing areas when you go to see World of Color. Each of those restaurants are a little pricier (especially the Carthay Circle Restaurant) but if you're fine with that and you want to see World of Color, definitely go for that dining and show package. Those really do get the best view for the show, so it's totally worth it!
• Nightly Entertainment: In case you haven't already noticed, I really love World of Color. Just make sure that you plan ahead for that one so that you can get your tickets! Either use the FastPass machines in the morning or get a dining package sometime during the day. Just go see that one, okay? But there are other fun things to see at night! Aladdin's Musical Spectacular is pretty awesome. It's just Aladdin, in musical form. But it's done really well. They even have some original songs that aren't in the movie! This runs all afternoon too, so you don't have to wait till after dinner. It's a nice way to get off your feet for a while. But if you want to get a little bit crazy at night, make sure to stop by the Mad T Party in Hollywoodland for a sweet concert dance party! They also serve fun light-up alcoholic beverages there for those that want to get super crazy.
• Update March 2016: I'm so sad about this but Aladdin's Musical Spectacular is no more. It is in the process of being replaced by a Frozen musical. Nobody knows for sure if this is permanent, I hope it isn't, but starting in May 2016 (I think...) you can see the Frozen show. As of March 2016 though, there are not any shows at the Hyperion Theater as they prepare for Frozen.
• Update July 2016: Okay so I saw the Frozen Musical Spectacular. I can assure you that it is quite aptly named. I loved that Aladdin show, but seriously I'm not even mad about it anymore. The effects in the Frozen show are breathtaking, the performances are amazing. I cried twice. It was so much fun to watch, and the puppeteering for Olaf was seriously impressive! If you're at DCA, SEE THIS SHOW. Make sure you get tickets, they look like FastPasses and they're just north of the Hyperion Theater. 
• Shopping: See the previous post (Disneyland park strategy) for all my tips on shopping in the parks.
• Snacks: Believe it or not *sarcasm*, all my favorite DCA snacks are in Cars Land. Seriously that entire land is just incredible. You can hit up Fillmore's Taste In for some fruit, and you can go to Flo's V8 Cafe for some dessert treats. But for me the best snacks are at the Cozy Cone Motel. You can get churro bites with a yummy dipping sauce. You can get "popcone" that has different flavors every day! They also have just regular buttered popcorn too, don't worry. You can get a pretzel twist, but I would only really consider that as a snack if you're sharing it...it's pretty big! You can also get a soft serve ice cream cone on a hot day (or really any day). But my FAVORITE things at the Cozy Cone are the drinks. They have a few different drinks that are just ridiculously good. You can get Ramone's Pear of Dice Soda, which is pear-flavored. You didn't know you even needed that, did you? But trust me, you definitely need it. There's the Red's Apple Freeze, which is like an apple cider slushie. They also have Doc's Wild Grape Tonic, and "route" beer floats. But my favorite beverage there is easily Fillmore's Fuelin' Groovy Pomegranate Limeade. I'll drink four of those in a day and still want more! My entire family loves 'em. 
• FastPass System: I talked a lot about FastPasses during this post... I went into detail with them on my Disneyland strategy post, but I'll put the important stuff here too.
• Remember the two hour rule: When you get a FastPass for a ride, you can get a new one either when your current one is active or two hours later, whichever comes first. When in doubt, look at the FastPass; printed right on there is the time that you're eligible for your next one.
• FastPasses are limited. Only a certain amount will be made available for each time slot. That is why the more popular rides have return times much farther away from the current time... the earlier ones have all been taken! 
• If you have a large group, it might be easiest for you go give one person all the park passes and have them make a run for FastPasses. Think about the system and which rides you want to FastPass and devise a strategy. 
• Since the World of Color FastPasses are actually just tickets, you can get those whenever you want and it shouldn't interfere with your other FastPasses (i.e. you can go get a FastPass for a ride immediately after you get one for World of Color).
• Although I have not confirmed this myself, I've been told that you can simultaneously hold FastPasses for rides at Disneyland and rides at California Adventure. Go ahead and try this if you're all about park hopping, but don't make your plans completely bank on this fact unless you can confirm that first.

Well, those are my tips/reviews/what have you for California Adventure. There's a lot to do there now, and that park is still growing. It's really come to be something amazing. Have fun over there, and keep reading on to the next post for my ultimate park hopping tips!

Happy planning!