Day 1 - California Adventure

The California Adventure is underway properly, and as is becoming common, by the time we got to the end of our day of arrival, it was suddenly time for sleep yesterday, and so no blogging took place. Our journey here was straightforward - we made it to Heathrow in plenty of time, parked, and had no queue at check-in. Straight through security and the traditional airport breakfast was enjoyed. Our gate was displayed on time, and we didn't have to wait at the gate, but boarded straight away, meaning that there wasn't the usual faff of sitting around and getting called by row number. Flight was a smooth ride - Netflix subscription definitely did well with both of my travel companions watching downloaded shows. I read three books (Michael Lewis's 'Home Game', 'Detective Cross' (bookshot), and 'The Sunshine Cruise Company' by John Niven). The captain did a good job of sounding breezy about some malfunction or other in one of the engines, but it didn't seem to matter, and the flashing lights kept a respectable distance away when we touched down at LAX! Orlando could learn a thing or two from the immigration team here, and it wasn't long before we were on the shuttle bus to the car hire. Annoyingly the hire desk put the optional extra on our hire so we had to argue briefly to get that removed ($110ish) before taking the car. The old sat nav, having been loaded up with US road info, worked fine, and we were at the hotel after about 45 mins.

We decided to get park tickets for each day, and so after a brief rest headed in to Disneyland, via a stroll through California Adventure. First stop was something to eat, which was at the Carnation Cafe on Main Street, and then a quick go on Buzz Lightyear, so that we could say we'd done a ride on the day of arrival. (And, even better, I got top score!)

That was about all we were going to manage before jet lag kicked in, so we headed back to our room to call it a day.

Some of us slept better than others, but we were up and out by about 7.30 this morning, and first stop was to have a look at Cars Land, as it was still being built last time we were here. We went straight on the Radiator Springs Racers, which were lots of fun, followed by breakfast at Flo's V8 cafe - some mighty fine (and not small) pieces of banana bread.

After breakfast, a stroll back over to Paradise Pier, and to Toy Story Mania. I was unable to repeat my scoring success of yesterday (Jake won this time) but still lots of fun. A quick roll-a-ball horse race (Jake again) and then on to the big wheel, where we decided to go for the moving/rocking option. This seemed fine as we did our first loop, when the ride was still in load mode. Then, the second, non-stop loop was a slightly different experience. Wow do they rock a lot!

To calm the nerves, Nicky and I went on a few rides aimed for small people (Golden Zephyrs, The Little Mermaid), before meeting up with Jake and going on the Monsters Inc ride and Soarin'.

Having declared that sufficient park success, we headed back to the hotel and Nicky and I relaxed by the pool for a while, before we made our way over to the nearby outlet shops, and had a late Johnny Rockets lunch. Outlet was ok, but not Florida standard. Jake got some tops in Ralph Lauren but that was about it.

This evening we've been back into the park for tea and to watch the World of Color water show, and now it is time to turn in again.

To finish, two photos, one taken today, and one taken seven years ago!