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As you know, we recently visited Disneyland, California, for the first time this past September. We’ve already walked you through our travel day one, introduced you to The Candy Cane Inn, where we stayed, and took you along for our Disneyland Park Day. Now we continue to Day Three – Disney’s California Adventure Day! Well, it was a half day because we were technically on this trip to participate in the Inaugural Disneyland Halloween Half Marathon Weekend! Coming soon!
Our shirts our both from Amazon! Brittany’s Believe in Magic Shirt and Mark’s Big Hero 6 Shirt
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Disney California Adventure
We got up early and enjoyed the complimentary breakfast at the Candy Cane Inn. Then, we took the Complimentary Shuttle to the parks and arrived just before the parks opened.
Disneyland truly does it up right with the Halloween decor in both parks. We loved being greeted by Oogie Boogie on the way into DCA. The park wasn’t officially open yet, so we took photos with Walt, Mickey, and the Headless Horseman and loved our magic shot with Oogie Boogie.
History and Origins of DCA
Even though I was most excited to visit Disneyland Park, I was also eager to explore Disney California Adventure because it truly is unique to California. There isn’t another park in the world quite like it.
Disney California Adventure opened in 2001 to celebrate the spirit of California. The park was envisioned to bring the iconic aspects of California culture, history, and landscape into a single theme park. The early years of DCA were met with mixed reviews, primarily due to a lack of classic Disney elements and fewer attractions. Guests felt it didn’t live up to Disney magic. In 2007, Disney committed to a $1.1 billion renovation, adding lands and reimagining several areas. This included the addition of Cars Land, a revitalized Buena Vista Street, and the transformation of Paradise Pier into Pixar Pier.
We are Disney Worlders used to four huge theme parks, whereas Disneyland and DCA are quite a bit smaller. While Disneyland is a full-day or two park, DCA lived up to the rumor that it could be a half-day or one day park. However, we absolutely loved the theme of this park, and it was worth the visit for the food and drinks alone.
Unique Theming and Attractions
Buena Vista Street: Inspired by 1920s Los Angeles, Buena Vista Street is where visitors can experience what Walt Disney might have seen when he arrived in California. It’s filled with Art Deco architecture, live entertainment, and nods to Disney’s early history.
Cars Land: Opened in 2012, Cars Land is one of the most immersive areas in any Disney park.
Pixar Pier: Transformed from the original Paradise Pier, this area celebrates beloved Pixar films. The land is filled with nostalgic boardwalk elements combined with Pixar themes.
Avengers Campus: Opened in 2021, Avengers Campus is the only Marvel-themed land in a Disney park in the U.S., featuring WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure, Doctor Strange’s Ancient Sanctum, and Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! It brings Marvel fans directly into the world of their favorite superheroes.
Hollywood Land: A tribute to Hollywood’s golden era, with entertainment and attractions that bring guests into the world of cinema and Disney animation.
Grizzly Peak: This land captures the spirit of California’s natural beauty, featuring redwood forests, rugged landscapes, and outdoor adventures.
San Fransokyo Square: One of the newest areas in Disney California Adventure, reimagining the former Pacific Wharf area with a vibrant theme inspired by Big Hero 6.
DCA Hollywood Area
We loved the vintage Hollywood feel when you first walk into the park. It gave off Hollywood Studios vibes and made us feel right at home. Overall, DCA made us feel like they combined elements of Hollywood Studios and Epcot – two of our favorites and the perfect combo!
We quickly booked our first Lighting Lane of the day for Guardians of the Galaxy but then walked right onto Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! – it was adorable! Monster’s Inc is one of my favorite modern day movies!
DCA Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout
Naturally, we had to get lots of photos of Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout. Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! is a thrilling drop ride reimagined from the classic Tower of Terror ride with a Guardians-themed storyline and six unique versions of the experience. This ride quickly became our favorite in both parks and might even rival our love for Hollywood Tower of Terror in Hollywood Studios, Florida AND Disneyland Tokyo. The ride queue theme, interactive pre-show, music, and sound effects were top-notch.
I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but IT WAS SO FUN. We loved it so much that we rode it FOUR times during the two half days we visited the park.
This ride was our first lighting lane of the day and we were also pixie-dusted when a cast member asked us if we wanted to ride it again without even getting off the ride. We just stayed in our seats and rode it again. It was a great surprise for our first visit and the first time riding this attraction.
RANDOM THOUGHTS: Anyone else think it’s crazy that Chris Pratt has something in EVERY theme park and basically has the best ride in all of them? Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind- Epcot, Mission Breakout – California Adventure, Jurassic World Velocicoaster – Island of Adventure Universal, Plus Legoland, and Mario World?!?!
DCA Avengers Campus
As we were walking through Avenger’s Campus, none other than Tony Stark, aka Ironman, aka Mark’s favorite Avenger, walked right in front of us to his meet-and-greet spot, and we just followed him and were second in line. I loved seeing Mark meet his fictional hero; it was another great experience and character interaction. Isn’t that what Disney is all about -bringing the magic to life?
Spider-Man at DCA
Next up, we chose Web Slingers as our next Lighting Lane. WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure is an interactive 3D ride where guests use their hands to sling webs alongside Spider-Man to accumulate points. This was actually really fun. Usually, I’m not too fond of interactive competition rides; I’m more of a sit-back and enjoy-the-ride person, but this was pretty awesome. Our arms were super sore afterward, though!
On the other side of the Web Slingers building, you can often find Spider-Man interacting with guests and performing acrobatic feats in a show called Amazing- Spider-Man. The show runs multiple times throughout the day and is a live stunt show featuring Spider-Man, showcasing impressive acrobatics and high-flying stunts.
We just so happened to be walking by when it started and got a great view of another of Mark’s all-time favorite comic book characters. I’ll be posting some fun videos about this performance on our socials.
Pixar Pier at DCA
Pixar Pier has to be one of the more iconic and stunning areas of the theme parks in California. Most parks have icons like castles, the Tree of Life, Spaceship Earth, or the Chinese theater. Here at DCA, it’s the Pixar Pal-A-Round Ferris wheel. While I will NEVER get on that death trap of a swinging Ferris wheel ride in a place prone to earthquakes, it sure is pretty to look at!
Overall, Pixar Pier was my favorite area of the entire park. This area’s details were stunning and unique compared to any other park in the world. A Pixar boardwalk carnival so detailed from so many good movies you could spend all day and not notice them all.
Incredicoaster
Of course, we took lots of photos and then headed to the best rollercoaster at the West Coast parks: Incredicoaster, a thrilling ride themed around the Incredibles family. We again used this as a lighting lane attraction and walked right onto it. This ride was surprisingly fast, and I loved the view of the pier. The theme was so well done; it is the most thrilling coaster Disneyland offers.
We walked around, taking in the sites and sounds around Pixar Pier before heading to Paradise Gardens Park to ride The Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Undersea Adventure. There was no wait and we walked right on; it was another well-done ride for a classic Disney movie. We grabbed another lighting lane for Soarin’ Around the World before it was time to eat lunch.
Pixar Pier Lamplight Lounge
Disneyland Dining Reservations can be secured 60 days before your trip. Unfortunately, one of the most popular places in Disney California Adventure is where I wanted to go, and they had no reservations left when I checked before our trip.
There is sometimes a walk-up list for guests without reservations, and it never hurts to ask, so we approached LampLight Lounge with our fingers crossed. Another bit of Disney Magic as they added us to the waitlist, and we were called for a seat in less than 10 minutes!
Lamplight Lounge has two main seating areas — an indoor dining area upstairs and an open-air patio downstairs. The patio offers views of Pixar Pier, where they seated us with a perfect view. It was a record heat wave, but the patio provided a lot of shade and fans, and there was a breeze on the water, so it worked out well for us. We were hungry, ready to sit for a while, and felt lucky to have a seat!
LampLight Lounge Brunch
Pixar Pier’s Lamplight Lounge served their brunch menu, so we indulged in the Mimosa Flight, Abstract Thought coffee cocktail, New York Avocado Toast, and Lamplight Chilaquiles. Everything was incredible, including the view. The cast members also brought us a continual flow of ice water. It was over 100 degrees, and our Halloween races started the next day, so hydration was the most essential part of the day.
I honestly can’t wait to return to LampLight Lounge again someday and try the regular lunch and dinner menus – this was a must-do place for me, and it didn’t disappoint!
After lunch, we decided to walk off our meal and check out one of the newest areas at DCA – San Fransokyo Square. We grabbed some champagne and walked through this wonderfully themed area that is a mash-up of Tokyo and San Francisco from one of our favorite Disney movies – Big Hero Six. By chance we also got to see BayMax and Hero at their meet and greet. This fantastic area is full of great details, unique food, and snacks. But it was HOT.
Race-cation vs. Vacation
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, we only spent half a day at Disney California Adventure. This trip was a RACE-Cation, which is very different from a vacation. We were mindful of how many steps we were putting on our feet while trying to hydrate, fuel, rest, and relax before the races as much as possible.
At this point, it was the hottest part of the day, and our next two days would be filled with a 10K and Half Marathon in record-breaking California heat, so we called it a day. As we returned to the hotel, we stopped in Downtown Disney and ordered carry-out from Naples Ristorante e Bar so that we wouldn’t need to leave the room again and could still appropriately carb load for the races.
We spent the rest of the day relaxing in our room before our 2 a.m. wake-up call. Stay tuned for my next post about the Inaugural Disneyland Halloween Half Marathon Weekend and the Thrills and Chills Challenge!
Total for Day Three:
Steps – 11,792
Miles- 5.18 miles
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For just a half of day at the park, you got a lot of things checked of your list!
so proud of you on all this running, what dedication!