FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX: Disney California Adventure

This morning's start was not as cruel! Again, as guests of the Disney Hotels, we were allowed early entry into Disney California Adventure. We went to the Grand Californian entry into DCA to discover that there was already a line. By the time 915 hit, the line had doubled in length.

Doesn't take much to make me happy. This sign was enough to bring on joy!

We walked straight on to The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure. I quite enjoyed it! Jonah loved it, because he could sing snippets of the songs that he knew. The day had already started heat up and so we lined up for Grizzly River Run, a white-water raft ride. The children giggled as they remembered how wet Uncle Jason got last December on the Kali River Rapids at Animal Kingdom. Jonah, unfortunately, was too short. As Daddy whisked him away to get fast passes for Soarin', he asked Elliot and Lara to laugh out loud for him whenever Oma and Opa got wet. Hmmm, I don't think the man remembered who babysits for us when we want to go out in the evenings....

We only remembered about Toy Story Mania AFTER we finished our very wet but refreshing ride. Yes sadly, we didn't really have a plan for today either. Fortunately for us, the line was only 45 minutes long. TSM was just pure fun. I blame Jonah for not getting a decent score! The rest of the family rushed off to Soarin'. The lucky sods got to go on twice in a row due to what turned out to be a fortunate miscount by the Cast Member. Malcolm was accidentally left without a seat and so was unable to ride with the family. Everyone else received the benefits! Unfortunately, Jonah did not meet the height restriction. So we had our own little adventure of NOT taking a photo with Buzz Lightyear, and NOT taking a photo with Mickey Mouse. Apparently, the chicken superhero was not so super after all...Mother was not impressed as we had to line up in the sun and wait a little longer while Mickey had his dunny break, only to have her child hide his head in her armpit and squeak. Oh well...

The afternoon went by very quickly. We sought refuge from the heat by entering as many indoor, air-conditioned attractions as we could. The mind boggles as to how people cope with the crowds and the heat in summer. Orlando would be that much worse. Anyhow, a surprise hit for the day was the Sorcerer's Workshop. Lara was in her element. She got to read lines from Aladdin which was recorded and subsequently played back with the animation. Elliot had his opportunity to provide the singing voice for Hakuna Matata. He got very upset when his siblings tried to join in....

Our first ride of the day!

Toy Story Mania trendiness

Soarin'

Lunch venue

So glad to be inside, in air conditioning!

Spaghetti Alla Vongole. Delicious! Jonah thought so too apparently, he ate half of it.

Cheeky Stitch!

Another hit with the whole family

An easy feat when TV screens are involved

Sigh...more screens

One of the few disappointing rides

A really fun place!

The little ones transfixed by which Disney character they are most like

The children have already asked if we could come back when Carsland open. How could we refuse them?!?!?

We are suckers for merchandise. We just HAD to have the misting fan...

We were really looking forward to seeing World of Colour (sorry I just cannot bring myself to spell it "Color"). We had booked a pre-fixe dinner package at Ariel's Grotto. This allowed us into the Disney Dining area which saved us having to obtain a fastpass for the attraction ourselves.The reviews for the food has been mixed so my expectations were low. I felt that although the meal wasn't brilliant, it was certainly decent and enjoyable. The appetiser platters were fresh and tasty. My entree of seafood cioppino went down quite well, as did the unlimited coca-cola. The dessert platter was a nice way to end the meal.

The directions as to where to go/line up for World of Color was surprisingly poor and very unlike Disney. Asking three different cast member, we were given three different answers. In the end, we just happened to be fortunate and we were standing in the right area to be one of the firsts in line. We decided to take a punt and went for the "wet" zone. It was a warm evening and the wind had died down. The gamble paid off. We had an unobstructed view. Many reviews had mentioned that the view from further back gave a different perspective of the show, so that will be for next time! I need to mention at this point that I had left my tripod and my wide angle lens back in the hotel. Arghh!!!! The plan was to return to the room to pick it up before the show but that plan never came to fruition.

The show was simply awesome. Disney truly is the master of details. The score arrangement, the lighting, the mood changes, the timing, the choice of imagery...I loved all of it. The 20 minutes went by very, very quickly. It was a great way to end the day. We returned back to our rooms and put the children to bed. We have been given time to go shopping at Downtown Disney by ourselves so got to go!