DCA August 2001

Disney's California Adventure

Anaheim, California

August 2001

I went to visit friends in southern California for an extended Labor Day Weekend, and decided to check out the Disney California Adventure while I was there. Since I'd read so much about it on this news group and other lists, I warned my friends that the kids (girls aged 7 and 4) would not enjoy it. Therefore, the children stayed home with Daddy while Mommy and I went. Penny is 39 and I am 41, and we are both life-long Disney fans. I've been to WDW many times for business conferences on property (Coronado Springs), and I always tack on extra days at the end of the conference for frolicking in the parks. However, I've only been to Disneyland in Anaheim once, several years ago, so I was interested in comparing the ambiance between the coasts.

First of all, we were still within the time limit for the So Cal resident discount. I expected that Penny would show her So Cal driver's license and get the $33 ticket, and that I would have to buy the non-resident $43 ticket. However, Penny approached the window and got TWO tickets for $33 apiece. And I gave her the $33 in cash right in front of the ticket agent, who did not blink or ask to see my ID (I'm from New York). So, that was a good surprise.

After the ticket booths are the big, golden yellow letters that spell out CALIFORNIA, and we noted that people were posing for pictures by sitting inside the "O". Since we had driven from Temecula with huge cups of coffee in order to be there close to opening, the first stop was the ladies room right before the Golden Gateway. Clean and new, and also noticed that the soap wasn't that awful powdered stuff that they use as WDW, so I didn't run around with dried out skin on my hands all day.

We went through the Golden Gateway and noted a sign saying that the Golden Zephyr ride was closed. I did not see a reason listed. I took this opportunity to tell Penny about what it means when a ride is "101" (can you tell, I've been on the Backstage Tour at WDW? :-) ) We hung a right into Condor Flats, and got right on line for Soarin' Over California. The wait was not long, and was less than the actual posted wait time. We were inside in our seats within 10 minutes. The corridor into the ride is lined with aviation related memorabilia and lots of photos. Penny's husband is a relative of Amelia Earhart (sp?), and we enjoyed looking at her portrait, noting family resemblance to her girls.

One of the advantages to being a party of two is that very often a cast member will come through the line seeking singles and twos, so we were moved up into the cue faster that way. The man on line in front of us kept making remarks to us about what we were about to see (I won't mention the remarks here, as they really were spoilers), and his wife kept trying to shush him. Finally, we get inside and strapped in. I was apprehensive because I don't like rides where the feet are dangling, but it was awesome! Not like swinging around outside with your feet dangling, not at all. Thoroughly enjoyed the "trip" around sunny California skies and vistas.

After that, we picked up our Fast Passes for the Grizzly River Run. The wait was only 45 minutes, so we went over to investigate Grizzly Peak Recreation Area. Penny kept looking at the big grizzly bear rock all day and saying that it looked more like a wolf than a bear! We proceeded to the rope bridges, taking note of the animal footprints and factoid signs along the way.. Somehow, we managed to start at the top of the ropes rather than the other way around. We saw people coming the other way, looking winded. The ropes were fun, but there is a disadvantage because some people are traversing them cautiously, holding onto the netting, while others, mostly little children, are leaping through them and creating bounce conditions for the hangers-on. Can't be fun for those afraid of heights. When we finished the ropes, I went to the rock climbing wall. I'm in good condition, as I work out and lift, but I discovered that the foot holds were REALLY TINY, probably meant for littler feet, and didn't complete it. Penny preferred to watch, calling out where to put my fingers, but my sneakers were just too big for the foot holds, so I quit halfway through.

By this time, our Fast Passes for the Grizzly River Run had come due. We put our stuff in lockers (free for the first two hours, with a charge after that), and got on the Fast Pass line, which moved quickly. The drops were brief and fun - and wet! We discovered the hard way that we were in the wrong seats if we wanted to keep our butts dry! Try to sit in the middle of the three -seater if you don't want to be sitting in a puddle. You just might avoid it that way. We were in a boat with some people wearing ponchos and holding plastic covers over themselves. This did not make sense to me. You are here to get wet! PS they got drenched anyway. However, it's not as bad in Anaheim as Orlando, as So Cal is a good deal less humid than Orlando, and you dry off fairly quickly.

After the Grizzly River Run, we saw that the Minnie Earhart show was about to start at Condor Flats, so we wandered over there to see it. A smallish crowd was gathered in the roped off area, and the performing cast members did a good job engaging the kids in the action. These were the best of the performers we saw all day; they had real rapport with each other and with the crowd. Penny sat herself on the fence, and I said, "I bet a cast member comes along and asks you to get down off the fence" as I'd had that experience in Epcot during the fireworks, but no one came by. In fact, I noted a decided general lack of cast member presence during the entire Anaheim experience. Layoffs, I guess. I was especially disturbed to note that once off the tram at the end of the day, I did not see ONE cast member at the garages. What if some little kid was lost, or some sort of emergency help was needed? There was no one there! We wandered away before the show ended (shopping tends to call to me in a Disney park...).

We decided we were hungry, and crossed the bridge by the Bay Area to have lunch at Avalon Cove by Wolfgang Puck. I'd eaten at Pucks in Downtown Disney Orlando, and like the food there, so we decided to try it at DCA. We requested a seat in partial sun outside to facilitate the drying off process. The seat cushions are absolutely filthy! I was quite dismayed. I mean, this is a relatively new park, and there is no excuse for such stained seat cushions. Someday, if they decide to have a show on Paradise Bay, this restaurant would be a good place to be sitting while that show is going on. You can see the detail of the Grizzly Bear rock's face from this vantage point, and Penny said it looked even more like a wolf from this angle. The food was delicious, except the bread brought to the table was typical California sour dough bread, which I am not too fond of. Penny had some sort of roast beef sandwich, and she wasn't happy with the amount of horse radish sauce on it, and requested more. It was brought to the table in a gravy boat, and there was no extra charge. I had the praline salad, which was divine. Penny had a pina colada, and I had the strawberry daiquiri. Yum. We were a little sleepy after that.

We toddled back across the bridge and over to the Golden Dreams pavilion. The wait was only about five minutes to get in. I enjoyed the statues on either side of the stage that really resembled Whoopi Goldberg, and was delighted when their faces morphed into hers! The film was right up our alley, the history of California with Whoopi as the goddess/spirit of California named Califia. I have to say that seeing this film BEFORE having seen the Eureka parade make me appreciate the parade more. We were able to view the parade from the domed gazebo-type thing with the columns (what do you call that thing? I'm looking at the map, and it isn't marked) outside the California Dreams theater, so we were in the shade for it. Each float was some incarnation of Califia - an Asian one, a typical California girl in a convertible, hair streaming behind her, cool sunglasses, and then the one with the crown at the end, which is my favorite. There was one float with in-line skate ramps and the skaters were clearly having fun. But the best part was the float with the drummers on the bungee cords. Those who have seen the Parade of Nations at Walt Disney World's Epcot will remember the floats with the drums. Well, these were similar, but the cast members were attached by bungee, and could rappel themselves off the sides and fly through the air, coming back to hit their drums. They were having the best time of all! I was not as impressed with the walking "puppets" in this parade as I was with the ones at the Parade of Nations at Epcot, but then again, I seem to be a magnet for the Nations ones to come up to me a give a hug or a brushing with their big wings. Also, the dancers in the Eureka parade were not anything to write home about. They didn't seem very polished, didn't have a whole lot of snap. ON the last float, there was a guy cavorting around, rousing the crowd, who was a dead ringer for Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys. But he wasn't resting on his good looks alone - he really worked it, charging up the crowd.

After the parade, we cut across the Pacific Wharf bridge, and took note of all the eateries in the the food court there. Another very clean ladies room over there, and live music that is too loud. You can find a little nook around the corner from the fortune cookie place where the decibel level is a little more acceptable. We strolled through the street between the tortilla factory and the bakery (didn't stop for either of the tours) and enjoyed listening to a little mariachi band there (acoustic, not overly loud), and headed into Bountiful Valley Farm. I am an organic gardener, so I enjoyed the displays of growing vegetables and herbs. We took in the It's Tough To Be A Bug show, which I had seen down in Animal Kingdom at the Tree of Life, but Penny was new to it and enjoyed the gimmicks, especially the exit of all the "bugs" under our butts. After that, we went over to the Golden Vine Winery and enjoyed listening to Marston doing his electric cello thing. It's funny, it's just the fingerboard hooked up to an amp, so he doesn't have to drag the whole cello around with him. A bit of "bad show" involving him - he wasn't "in character" the entire time. We saw him coming from "backstage" and he was struggling into a piece of his costume. BAD SHOW! But we bought his CD anyway, the live album.

Back over the bridge we went to Paradise Pier. We got Fast Passes for California Screamin', and again, the wait was about 45 minutes. This was a major occasion for Penny. She has struggled with inner ear problems her whole life, and recently had surgery so that she wouldn't have inner ear and equilibrium problems any more, so a whole new world of roller coasters and rides has opened up to her. It's a little scary to start getting used to roller coasters at age 39! One advantage to Fast Pass - Penny remarked that it didn't give her time to stand in line for eternity dreading it. While we were waiting, we strolled the Pier and looked in at the games of chance and the shopping. The calliope music was VERY disturbing - it would have been better to hear songs like California Girls and California Dreamin' in their original forms. The calliope effect was creepy and annoying. Penny remarked that it was nice that there was at least one "everyone is a winner" game of chance, for the little kids who don't have many skills yet. Back to California Screamin' for our ride. An interesting thing, which may or may not be a "thing" that happens all the time at this park: while you are seated in the ride, but still on the ground waiting to "take off", there are people leaning over the railing above you, counting down "five, four three two ONE!" and off you go. A new tradition starting, maybe? :-) Overall, this was a great roller coaster, except I felt it should have stopped after the upside down loop in the Mickey head. But NOOOoooo, they have to treat you to those three bumps afterward that lift you out of your seat. It's kind of like Tower of Terror at MGM - 5 drops would be sufficient, but by numbers six and seven, you're going, "God, please, no more, I'm DONE!".

We headed over to Mullholland Madness afterward, which was a total waste of time. First of all, it's really just a bunch of hairpin turns, and it's over too quickly. Secondly, it had apparently been 101 before we got there. The Fast Pass was all messed up, listing a time four hours from when we arrived. The standby line moved faster than that, but a cast member was taking the line s-l-o-w-l-y through the cattle gates to allow the Fast Pass line to catch up. Also, there isn't enough shade yet in this part of the park. Someday, the trees that they have planted will grow enough to provide better shade opportunities, but I was hard pressed to find a place to park it for a re-application of sunscreen.

We cruised through Pacific Warf again and got some Chinese food for dinner, chicken teriyaki bowls. Bad choice - it was absolutely tasteless, and required gallons of soy sauce to salvage it. DON'T EAT HERE! Get the Mexican or something else.

We then headed over to the Hollywood Pictures Backlot. We stopped in the Sunshine Plaza to listen to a Beach Boys - type cover band. From far away, it looked like they had the actual Mike Love singing and it also looked like John Stamos was playing drums. They turned out to be clever look-alikes, but they were good! They played some funky stuff from the 70's too. We were dancing and grooving to this band, as was everyone else. They were really excellent.

Then we entered Hollywood, and I was dismayed when I saw the ABC Soap Opera Bistro - I had clean forgotten of its existence, and we'd already had dinner. Bummer! We visited the adjacent ladies room, which was looking a little dirty. We ended up spending about three hours in the animation studio, which Penny tells me looks exactly like the real thing in LA. Easily, the best most fascinating part of the journey. Took the personality test in the Beast's library - contrary to my email moniker, I came out as a Mulan type, whereas Penny came out as Tinker Bell! We also went through the Cave and sang Hakuna Mattata. We were annoyed that there weren't' any "girl" songs on the menu, as we are both trained singers. Thoroughly enjoyed the art gallery section, as well as the little film with Robin Williams and Walter Cronkite, and the show featuring the metamorphosis of Mulan's little dragon pal.

By the time we came out of the animation studio, the Electric Parade was well underway around Sunshine Plaza. We left the park and went browsing through Downtown Disney for some serious "shop till you drop". A very, very nice thing happened to me in the World of Disney store. I purchased some small jewelry items for my nieces in one section, then wandered over to the stuffed toy wall. I've been on the prowl for a number of years for a Pinocchio that isn't in a perpetually sitting down position. I am in Orlando frequently, but I never found one there. Lo and behold, there he was! I have a stuffed Christopher Robin, and one of my nieces insists that he "needs a boy his own age to play with", hence the search for Pinocchio. I went to the register, and the cast member rung him up, but then saw that I was paying with American Express, and that I had another purchase in my hand. He looked at my receipt and said that if the total order was $50 or more, I'd get the 10% American Express discount. So he voided my first purchase, and rang everything up together, and I saved over $7, making the purchases effectively tax free. This was the only cast member during my entire DCA experience that actually behaved like a WDW cast member - friendly, polite, and looking out for me as a guest! Thank you Daniel, if you are out there reading. Does anyone know to whom I can write to commend this kid?

Overall, I have to say that the experience of Disney's California Adventure was good, but it wasn't what we are traditionally accustomed to as a "Disney Experience". I feel that the cast members all need to go to the Disney Institute and get trained on how to be a cast member in the traditional sense. You get the feeling there that the place is being run by surly teenagers - not impolite, but not overtly friendly, as a Disney cast member should be. Also, I feel that they are missing the boat on marketing the Grizzly bear rather than Califia. I could see Califia becoming a whole line of Barbie dolls - the Asian one, the California Girl one, and the goddess one with the crown. The grizzly just doesn't cut it as a "character", as he has not been presented in character form (yet - maybe in the future?). I feel that the park is NOT geared toward children, or even teenagers. Paradise Pier could become a local teenage hangout, but not for that price of admission. The basic concept of presenting a little bit of all the aspects of California in one piece of acreage is good. But once you put the Disney name on this kind of thing, expectations go way up. If anyone else but Disney had put this park together, we'd all be singing a different song.

Would I go back? Probably not any time soon, although I visit California at least twice a year. I'd probably wait until they put more features on the park. I'd also definitely go back regardless of new features, if they'd just come up with a one-day park hopper pass!

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