Our California Adventure – Day 3

For Day 3 of our California Adventure, we actually went TO Disney’s California Adventure Park.

One of the first things that struck me about this park was in the ways it was markedly different from the Disneyland Park. It had a definite “California” vibe to it, complete with many songs by the Beach Boys. I was pleased to see Goofy in the park, since we had missed the photo op and autograph with him the day before. In this park, however, he had on a Hawaiian shirt rather than his normal garb.

Adrianna had her Minnie Mouse outfit on, and she got a lot of smiles and comments from passers-by. Many people, when talking to her, called her Minnie. And oftentimes, I was instructed by Adrianna herself that she was Minnie Mouse and she would talk in a different voice and ask me if we were going to go to her (Minnie’s) house.

After a lunch of “Award Weiners”, we started to meander around the park. I love the movie Monsters Inc., so we had to go on the ride.

We spent a bit of time in A Bug’s Land. We went to the “It’s Tough to be a Bug!” show, which was really cool. It had a warning that it could be intense for young children, but Adrianna had been so brave the day before on the coaster so we decided to try it out, although we did sit near the exit, just in case.

We walked down the path into a building that resembled what an ant hill might look like on the inside. Over the speakers, popular tunes from musicals were played but with the humming/buzzing voices of bugs, such as “Tomorrow” from Antie (Annie) and “Beauty and the Bees” (Beauty and the Beast).

We were given bug goggles to wear, which rendered the show in 3-D. There were some intense moments where Adrianna indicated she was scared, especially when the theatre was dark and the “bad grasshopper” was calling out a bunch of large spiders which descended from the ceiling. I think the grasshopper also called on some stinging insects, at which point something poked Greg in the back! There was another point earlier in the show where a bug sprayed the audience with stuff from his nose and actual water got us, which was fun.

At the end of the show, we were instructed to “remain seated while all the lice, bed bugs, maggots and cockroaches exit first.” At this point, everyone felt bumps move across their seats, which was a great surprise!

After the show, Adrianna spotted the Irrigation Station. Knowing our girl’s affinity for playing in water, we let her play, Minnie Mouse dress and all.

After we were able to drag Adrianna away from the water (I think Greg had to actually pick her up and carry her away), we got some ice cream. Later, we took a ride on the Golden Zephyr in the Paradise Pier section.

At 4:20, we had a dinner date with the princesses, so off to Ariel’s Grotto we went. I am glad we had Adrianna dress up, because many of the other little girls in attendance were decked out in the princess garb. I know Minnie isn’t a princess, but Adrianna was happy to be dressed as her.

Adrianna was excited to meet the princesses, and got autographs and photos with each one. She wasn’t shy one bit and had lots to say. Her only disappointment was that Jasmine wasn’t among them. (Jasmine was the only princess pictured on her autograph book that wasn’t at the dinner.) Each of the princesses played her part well and did a wonderful job interacting with the kids.

Ariel

Cinderella

Cinderella noticed that Adrianna’s name wasn’t on the front page of the book yet, so she had Adrianna spell it for her and she wrote that in for her.

Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty)

She made sure to tell Sleeping Beauty that she had seen her castle.

Belle

Snow White

After the princess dinner, we hung out for awhile at the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, which is a large area with bridges, ropes, and fun things for kids to run around and climb on. Lo and behold, we ran into John from Denver again. Seriously, this guy must think we are stalking him. LOL. This place is so huge that to run into him again just seems so weird.

Well, that pretty much concludes our Day 3. We ended it a little earlier than the previous evening since Adrianna was pretty tired and so were we. I know I am forgetting a lot of details, but I think I caught the highlights. 🙂