We woke early, in order to arrive at Disneyland for the 8am Early Entry opening. In the park by 7.50am, and there was already a large crowd being held at the end of Main Street, so we grabbed some breakfast from Market House Bakery to eat in line at The Matterhorn, which was to be our first ride of the day. Note: the delicious looking seeded bagel is garlic flavoured! I’m a fan of garlic, but not at 8am. Zachary did enjoy his Mickey Strawberry Shortcake Cookie though - the breakfast of Disney champions.
By the time we exited The Matterhorn, lines for other rides were longer than anticipated, plus, we aimed to be one of the first in line over at California Adventures, so we left Disneyland, walked across to the California Adventure Park, were through the gates and standing with the rest of the rope drop crowd by 8.50am, ready for a 9am opening.
Simon positioned himself to the left of the crowd, near to the front, planning to be one of the first in line to pick up a Radiator Springs Racers FastPass. Despite this, our return time was still 11.05-12.05am. It was going to be busy!
Our original plan - to ride Radiator Springs Racers first, then use the FastPass again later, was thwarted when the ride didn't open on time. Empty cars were racing around the track and the line was already long, so instead, we made our way over to Toy Story Midway Mania, waiting only 13 minutes to board, then only 5 minutes to ride California Screamin’, then only another 10 minutes for Mickey’s Fun Wheel. So, within the first hour and a quarter of the park opening we’d already enjoyed 3 rides, with a Radiator Springs Racers FastPass to look forward to.
Grizzly River Run was our next stop. This time we used the free lockers to store our belongings, and although Zachary got extremely wet again at least he wasn’t as soaked as yesterday. While we were at Grizzly River Run, we pulled a FastPass for the evening show, World of Colour. Fastpass sections are coloured. Blue is apparently the best section, we pulled a yellow section Fastpass, which actually turned out fine.
After Grizzly River Run, we walked back over to Cars Land, where we had a sit down and a snack at the Cozy Cone Motel - coffee, churro’s and ice-creams, before riding Radiator Springs Racers using our FastPass, perusing some of the shops, riding Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree then heading out of the park to explore Downtown Disney, something we hadn’t done yet.
We enjoyed some souvenir shopping in World of Disney, toured the lobby and grounds of The Grand Californian Hotel, built a racing car in the Lego store, then enjoyed salads and sandwiches for lunch at Earl of Sandwich.
The Chipotle Chicken Sandwich was voted the best, the Holiday Sandwich was also good. The Pepperoni Flatbread was tasty, as was the Thai Chicken Salad.
Whilst we were eating, Zachary spotted a young boy playing with a remote control car. The car looked as though it had been bought from Ridemakerz: a build your own car shop, which we’d passed as we walked through Downtown Disney. After much deliberation between that and the Star Wars Lego set we’d seen in the Lego Store, Zachary decided he would like a car for his upcoming birthday. So, after lunch, we headed back towards Ridemakerz, where he spent a fun half hour selecting the various components to make his new toy. Zachary loved the whole experience and was delighted with his design, so we were surprised to find the shop was no longer there when we returned in 2018.
As the remote control cars are not allowed in the parks, we returned to the hotel to spend some time by the pool before heading out to Mimi’s for another evening meal. The guacamole burger was delicious, although the fruit cup, which we chose as a chip substitute, was a little disappointing. We were expecting more than a segment of pineapple, melon and a slice of orange! The fish and chips were as tasty as last night and the grilled salmon was also good.
After dinner, we returned to California Adventure to watch the nighttime show: World of Color. A quick detour to see Cars Land at night, before we walked through Pacific Wharf to find the yellow FastPass viewing area. The central viewing area for World of Color is reserved for guests who have bought a dining package to include World of Color viewing. The blue and yellow FastPass sections are to the left (blue) and right (yellow) of this. Those without FastPasses are asked to stand at the back of the walkway, which runs along the back of the viewing areas. As we had the yellow FastPass, we headed towards the right, arriving about 8.10pm for the 9pm show. The FastPass area was already quite busy at the front, but we managed to find a quieter section a bit further back and moved all the way towards the left, to get a view that was as central as possible.
We’d taken blankets to sit on, and to keep the children warm, so we lay these on the ground and sat making glo-stick necklaces and bracelets while we waited for the show to begin. Once this area filled up enough for the Cast Members to ask us to stand, we stood to make room for others and to watch the show. Although it wouldn’t go down as one of my absolute favourites, World of Color is a great show with some fantastic effects, fabulous music and a bit of nostalgia thrown in too. Definitely worth a watch.
After the show, we slowly exited the park with the rest of the huge crowds and walked back to the hotel.
