THEME PARK INFO & ADVICE
Disney California Adventure
California Adventure is the other park at Disneyland Resort and is home to a variety of attractions and lands including Cars Land and Marvel Avenger’s Campus.
Information and Preparation
- California Adventure is the other park at Disneyland Resort and is right across from the entrance to Disneyland.
- There are several immersive, themed areas like Radiator Springs (from the movie Cars) and Marvel Avenger’s Campus.
- Other areas are themed to look like a California beach boardwalk, old Hollywood, and a Northern California forest, giving the park an overall California theme.
- All ages will enjoy this park!
- Little kids will enjoy Turtle Talk with Crush, The Little Mermaid ride, the Redwoods play area, The Monsters Inc. ride, and several little-kid-friendly rides in Pixar Pier and Cars Land.
- Older kids and teens will enjoy the Avenger’s Campus including Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout (formerly Tower of Terror). Older kids and teens (and adults!) will also love Radiator Springs Racers, the Incredicoaster, Soarin’ Around the World, and many more.
Measure your kids and know in advance what they are tall enough for to avoid disappointment. “Pretty close” won’t cut it – they really do have to be over the height requirement.
(See full details for all attractions in the tab below)
No height restrictions:
- Golden Zephyr
- Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind
- Jessie’s Critter Carousel
- The Little Mermaid
- Monster’s Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!
- Pixar Pal-a-Round Ferris Wheel
- Toy Story Midway Mania
- Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure
- All the shows and meet and greets!
32″
- Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree
- Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters
40″
- Jumpin’ Jellyfish
- Guardians of the Gallaxy – Mission: Breakout
- Radiator Springs Racers
- Silly Symphony Swings (tandem swings only)
- Soarin’ Around the World
42″
- Goofy’s Sky School
- Grizzly River Run
48″
- Incredicoaster
- Silly Swings Symphony (single swing seats)
What Day of the Week:
What Time of Year for Lower Crowds:
Times that are most crowded are the last 2 weeks of December and first week of January, days around President’s Day in February, Spring Break season, and the week of Thanksgiving.
What Time of Year Based on Weather:
Southern California is known for it’s great weather! But with that said, it can get pretty chilly at night (sometimes into the 40s) in November – March. It is hottest during the summer months, but never as hot as summer in Disney World!
- Check the prices on the Disneyland resorts. There isn’t as big of an advantage to stay at an official Disney resort (unlike Walt Disney World), but there are still some nice perks such as early entry.
- Another great option is the Howard Johnson by Wyndham Anaheim. It has an outdoor water park and very close walking distance to the park entrance.
- For Marriott people, we like the Courtyard Anaheim Theme Park Entrance because it’s very close to the park and has a fun pool area with waterslides (when it’s warm enough). We also like Fairfield Inn Anaheim for it’s proximity and Element for it’s family suits with bunk beds for kids.
How many days?
- You can accomplish most of the park in one day.
- If you want a more relaxed pace or plan to take nap breaks, two days would be really nice and allow you time to do a lot of shows and meet and greets in addition to rides.
Park Hopper Tickets (visit both California Adventure and Disneyland in the same day)
- If you have limited time and want to do highlights from both Disneyland park and California Adventure in one day, purchase a park-hopper ticket. Hopping from park to park is very easy.
- A park hopper ticket can also be a good option if you have 3 days to spend between Disneyland and California Adventure, giving you about a day and a half at each park.
- Check for discounts and deals at Undercover Tourist to save on multi-day tickets
- You can only purchase one-day tickets directly from the Disneyland site
Lightning Lanes passes allow you to skip the regular queue and enter the line labeled “Lightning Lane” and have a typically shorter wait time – sometimes MUCH shorter. Lightning Lanes passes come in 2 forms –
- Lightning Lane Multi Pass – This pass lets you use the Lightning Lane on each elligible attraction one time. You have to book your attractions one at a time, starting as soon as you enter the park, and you return to ride the attraction during a 1-hour window. Once you redeem a Lightning Lane, you can book another. Some popular attractions can run out of Lightning Lane return times, so you may not get to use it on every attraction (see our advice below about what book in order of priority).
- Lightning Lane Single Pass – This is a pass for one attraction only. You will choose a time to return to the attraction and enter through the Lightning Lane for a shorter wait. At California Adventure, the attraction with Single Pass available is Radiator Springs Racers, a Cars-themed car racing ride.
How much do Lightning Lanes cost?
The pricing varies based on date, park, and experience. Basically, the more popular the park or ride, or the more busy the date, the more it costs. Prices for Multi Pass start at $32. Prices for Single Pass for Radiator Springs is usually $17-22 per person.
How to purchase Lightning Lanes
Multi Pass can be added on to a ticket purchase in advance OR can be purchased the day you visit as soon as you enter the park through the Disneyland app. If you purchase it as a ticket add-on, you still can’t book your first attraction until you arrive at the park.
Single Pass can only be purchased on the day you visit once you’ve entered the park.
Are Lightning Lanes worth purchasing at California Adventure?
- If you only have one day to spend at the park and want to do as much as possible – yes!
- If you or your kids aren’t very good at standing in long lines – yes!
- If you are visiting on a more crowded day – yes!
- If money is no object – yes!
- If you are visiting on a day with lighter crowds and you don’t mind a few waits over 30 minutes – no!
- If you have little kids who don’t meet the height requirements for some of the attractions on Multi Pass – no!
- Goofy’s Sky School (42″)
- Grizzly River Run (42″)
- Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! (40″)
- Incredicoaster (48″)
- The Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Undersea Adventure
- Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!
- Soarin’ Around the World (40″)
- Toy Story Midway Mania!
- WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure
- If you only have one day to spend at the park and want to do as much as possible – yes!
- If you or your kids aren’t very good at standing in long lines – yes!
- If you are visiting on a more crowded day – yes!
- If money is no object – yes!
- If you are visiting on a day with lighter crowds and you don’t mind a few waits over 30 minutes – no!
- If you have little kids who don’t meet the height requirements for some of the attractions on Multi Pass – probably not!
- If you have a day and a half or more to spend in the park and don’t mind a few waits – no!
- If you want to stay on a smaller budget because park tickets are expenisve enough – no! You can have a great time without them.
Some of the more popular attractions can run out of return times or they can get very late in the day. Because of this, we recommend booking your attractions generally in this order of importance, but also keep in mind you may not want to criss-cross the park too much.
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout
- Soarin’
- Toy Story Mania
- Web Slingers
- Incredicoaster
- Goofy’s Sky School
- Little Mermaid
- Monster’s Inc.
- Grizzly River Run (if it’s a hot day move it up in priority and aim for a mid-day time)
Dining reservations are not necessary, but if you like having a specified time to take a nice break at a sit-down restaurant, you can book a reservation in the Disneyland app or on the Disneyland website.
The sit-down restaurants in California Adventure are:
- Wine Country Trattoria – Italian, California wines, a kid’s menu, and a lovely porch if you want to eat outdside. This one is our family favorite!
- Carthay Circle Restaurant – this is a fancier and more expensive restaurant. We personally have not tried it yet with kids.
- Lamplight Lounge – signature cocktails, a small food menu but some tasty options, and waterfront views.
Always dress for the weather first and foremost! In fall through spring that usually means dressing in layers. I like wearing leggings with a phone pocket so you have quick access to the item you’ll use most. Your warm layer should be something you can tie around your waste or put in a bag if it gets warm.
In hot weather, wear what will keep you cool such as tank tops, moisture wicking material, running shorts, moisture-wicking bras, ect. During hot months you may also want to ride Grizzly River Run where you get quite wet so consider that when choosing clothes.
Themed clothing: If you or your kids have any Marvel or Pixar-themed shirts, this is the place to wear them! It’s also the place to wear Frozen-themed clothing because you can meet Anna and Elsa at this park.
Shoes: Wear what you can walk many miles in, because you will walk a lot. For most, that means socks and a good pair of running/walking sneakers. Make sure your shoes are broken in before your trip. If you plan to ride Grizzly River Run, you’ll want a change or shoes with you or wear shoes that can get wet like Crocs or Tevas.
Smartphone – You’ll need it to use the Disneyland App to view the map, see wait times, mobile order food, and enter the park if using mobile tickets.
A comfortable backpack or fanny pack to carry essentials.
Things you might want in your bag:
- Sunscreen (Face or body stick is great for putting on your family quickly on the go)
- External phone charger and correct chord. Something like this >
- Ponchos or packable rain gear if there is a chance of rain. These family packs are great. Waterproof shoe covers are also helpful to take with you if there’s rain in the forcast (take out if there is no chance of rain)
- Band aids (regular and blister kind)
- Medicines (Ibuprofen, Dramamine, allergy, kids Tylenol, anything you might need that comes in a small pill or chewable form)
- Chafing Stick (helpful for thighs if wearing shorts, helpful for males on sweaty days)
- Sunglasses
- Lip balm with sunscreen
- Snacks (plenty of snacks to purchase in the parks, but if you have picky kids or young kids that need snacks to entertain them at times, bringing your own will be helpful!)
- In hot months, neck fans or portable fans are really helpful. I like these affordable neck fans that works great and won’t get hair tangled in them. Cooling towels like these are also great for hot days.
- Suckers (obviously not required but if your kids are getting bored in a line or waiting for a show to begin, hand them a sucker for instant delight that helps pass the time)
- Water bottle(s) (They give out free water at quick service restaurants, but having a few water bottles you can fill on your own is helpful. Use ones that won’t leak if they’re knocked over or bumping around in a stroller and ones that will keep water cool on a hot day.
If you have kids not tall enough for some attractions, but adults or older kids in your group that still want to ride them, use Rider Swap!
How Rider Swap works:
- Walk up to the attraction you want to ride and check-in with the cast member at the entrance of the queue and let them know you’d like to use Rider Swap.
- The cast member will scan the tickets/app/magic bands of the people who will be waiting with the non-riding child/children and tell you where to return after the first group has returned.
- One adult and up to 2 additional riders will enter through the queue, while another adult will wait with the child/children not riding.
- The group waiting doesn’t have to wait in the queue, or stay in a specific area. They are free to get food, use the bathroom, play around or ride a nearby attraction.
- When the first riding group returns, the waiting adult and up to 2 additional riders can scan into the Lightning Lane (or wherever the cast member told you to return to) and ride with a shortened wait.
- Sometimes cast members won’t mind if an older child rides the attraction both times – once with each parent/adult. This is a nice benefit for the older child/children, but this may not always be allowed.
- Paradise Garden Grill – high quality and delicious food with a nice outdoor seating area
- Flo’s V-8 Cafe – located in Cars Land with awesome ambiance and classic American food
- Lucky Fortune Cookie – Asian rice bowls
- Boardwalk Pizza and Pasta – Better than the average pizza and pasta for a theme park
- Corn Dog Castle – my daughter’s favorite! If you like corn dogs, you’ll love this classic!
End your day by watching World of Color Happiness! This nighttime show in honor of Disneyland’s 70th anniversary stars Joy and other emotions from Inside Out and features a incredible display of foundtains, lasers, ligtning effects, fire effects, music, projections, and more! It’s a wonderful way to end your day!
You will want to stake out a good spot in Paradise Gardens (in front of The Little Mermaid) to get the best views. Arrive here about 30 minutes in advance to ensure a good spot. If you don’t want to spend that much time waiting, you will also be able to see the show from other spots around the lake, they just may not be as good for seeing some of the projections and effects.
Touring Plan/Itinerary Recommendations
- Crowds are always worse in the middle of the day. To avoid crowds, arrive at the park BEFORE the official opening time and enjoy light crowds during the first hour of the day, AND/OR stay until the park closes and crowds are lighter at the end of the night.
- If using Lightning Lane Multi Pass, you’ll want to get to the park early because you can’t start booking attractions until you arrive and some of the most popular ones could run out or have very late return times. If the return times are too late, you can still book another attraction 2 hours later, but it will significantly reduce the amount of Lightning Lanes you’re able to book throughout the day.
- The attraction with the longest line is Radiator Springs Racers. Do this one in one of these ways:
- First thing in the morning (also know as rope dropping) which means arriving at the park before it opens and following the crowd also trying to hit this ride first thing.
- Jump in line for it during the last few minutes the park is open (if you’re in the queue before close – you get to ride! And it’s beautiful at night.)
- Purchase an Individual Lightning Lane. This option allows you to get a return time where you can enter through the Lightning Lane entrance and have a much shorter wait. Which sounds great, but the price can range from $15-20/person for just this one ride and that can add up with a bigger family.
- The best part of the Avengers Campus area are the shows. In the Disneyland app, check on the showtimes for the day and make a plan to see the ones you want around the same timeframes so you don’t have to keep crossing the park. For example:
2:30 – Dr. Strange: Mysteries fo the Mystic Arts (only offered in the afternoon and evening). Get in line for this one about 15 minutes early. This is the only one that fills up, the others are outside and easier to see.
2:50 – The Amazing Spiderman (no shows in the evening)
3:15 – Avenger Assemble (no shows in the evening) - If you have kids under age 12, they will probably want to spend a good bit of time in the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail area. It’s a really cool area, but can end up being a big time suck as some of the activities like the rock climb and tire swing can get a line. If you wait and go to this area in the evening it will be less crowded. Set a time and place for everyone to meet up because it can be hard to wrangle multiple kids in this big play area.
This itinerary is for families who want to prioritize doing as many attractions as possible and want to stay all day. It does leave out a few things (listed on the bottom) that appeal to young kids. Adjust as needed to fit your families needs!
- Arrive 30-45 minutes before park opening to have time to get through security and ticketing and start walking toward Cars land.
- Radiator Springs Racers – this will get a really long line later in the day. If you miss getting to the park early, you may be too late to beat the crowd. If the line is already over an hour, you can choose to do this one at the end of the night, during the mid-afternoon lull (usually around 3pm) or you choose to buy an Individual Lightning Lane for this attraction to have a short wait.
*If you did not get here early and beat the crowd – don’t head to Cars Land – go do Soarin’ first and Radiator Springs Racers last. - 2 other Cars Lands attractions – if interested, check out the two smaller attractions in this land – Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters and Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree.
- Incredicoaster – walk over to Pixar Pier and ride this fun roller coaster. Smaller children can ride Jessie’s Critter Carousel instead.
- Toy Story Midway Mania – everyone will love this fun shooter game!
- Pixar Pal-A-Round – there are two versions of this ferris wheel – one with swinging buckets and one without. If you’re prone to motion sickness, do the non-swinging one.
- Kid rides around Pixar Pier – There are several smaller rides that are fun if the lines aren’t too long. These include Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind, Silly Symphony Swings, Jumpin’ Jellyfish, Golden Zephyr, and Goofy’s Sky School. Goofy’s Sky School will have the longest line out of any of them because it’s a small roller coaster with low capacity. It is fun, but if you’re familiar with the pre-fab “mouse” style roller coasters – this is no different than what you’ll find in many other theme parks and you may want to skip it if the line is too long for your liking.
- Lunch – If you enjoy having a mid-day break at a sit-down restaurant, I recommend getting a table at Wine Country Trattoria. If you want a quicker meal to maximize your time doing attractions, grab a corn dog at the Corn Dog Castle.
- The Little Mermaid – a delightful attraction that rarely gets a long wait.
- Grizzly River Run – if you want to get wet, early afternoon is a good time to do it!
- Marvel’s Avengers Campus – head into this section of the park and aim to arrive in time for some of the shows (the shows are great and they don’t all run in the evening). Typical showtimes are below but check the app to make sure of the times on the day you visit:
2:30 – Dr. Strange: Mysteries fo the Mystic Arts (only offered in the afternoon and evening). Get in line for this one about 15 minutes early. This is the only one that fills up, the others are outside and easier to see.
2:50 – The Amazing Spiderman (no shows in the evening)
3:15 – Avenger Assemble (no shows in the evening) - Web Slingers and Guardians of the Galaxy – these are the two big attractions in Avengers Campus. Web Slingers will have the shorter wait and is good for all ages. Guardians is a drop ride (it’s the old Tower of Terror with a new theme) and even though the height requirement is only 40″, and even though it’s a more kid-friendly theme than it used to be, some kids may not like it. It will probably have a pretty long wait, but it won’t drop much as the day goes on.
- Disney Animation building – depending on time and interests, you can do the Animation Experience where you learn to draw a Disney character, and/or Turtle Talk with Crush where you get to talk and interact with Crush from Finding Nemo on a live screen. You can also explore the Sorcerer’s Workshop area.
- Monster’s Inc Mike & Sully to the Rescue! – a fun, classic dark ride with no height requirement.
- Mickey’s PhilharMagic – if time, this is a delightful 3D movie featuring classic Disney characters and songs. It last about 12 minutes.
- Soarin’ – your last attraction should have a smaller wait time by this point in the evening BUT if you want to see World of Color (the nighttime show), you’ll need to keep an eye on the time. During some times of year the park is open until 10pm and there is a 10:15 show so it could be possible to do both, but other times of year you may have to choose.
- World of Color – don’t miss this awesome nighttime show if you’ve never seen it! It’s the perfect way to end a great day! You’ll want to get a spot to see the show around the lake, with the best views from the side where The Little Mermaid is.