Dear Adventure Avenue,
Our first stop in California Adventure was Soarin’ Around the World. We always forget which row is the best. We ended up in B3 I believe, and we realized that B1 is the best one if you like to go high (i.e. no dangling feet in your way) and be in the center. After Soarin’, my brother and uncle went on Mater’s ride. My dad and I took one look at it and decided it went in one too many small circles for us to consider going on the ride.
After that, the three boys went on the very scary (to me) Incredicoaster while I went with all the 2-5 year olds on Jessie’s Carousel. I quite enjoyed it – the circular motion of the carousel doesn’t bother me like the teacups do.
Right next to these two rides is Toy Story Mania which we decided to do because the wait time was about the same length as our estimated wait time until we could ride Spiderman. My brother came out as the high score champion of this fun ride.
Avengers Campus
Spoiler Warning – If you don’t want Avengers Campus to be spoiled, this is the time to look away.
After we rode Toy Story Mania, I checked our wait time for Spiderman and saw that we had 35 minutes to check in to the ride. Not wanting to miss out on experiencing a new ride, we headed over to Avengers Campus and checked in.
Then we proceeded to spend 30 minutes in the sun waiting in line to ride. If it hadn’t been so hot, the line may have been slightly more enjoyable because there were lots of posters you could read and props to look at.
When we finally got inside we were greeted by Peter Parker in a style reminiscent of the Rock n Roller Coaster featuring Aerosmith from Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida. After being told that we were to help destroy these multiplying robotic spiders (basically Tribbles for my Star Trek fans), we were funneled down a corridor to be boarded.
The ride itself is similar to Toy Story Mania in that you are shooting webs at these spiders, but different because instead of a blaster, you use your hands like Spiderman would to spray his webs. Needless to say, it was a bit of an arm workout, but it was fun. My guess is that the boarding group will not last very long on this ride as it is so similar to a ride like Toy Story Mania, and not exactly an ‘E’ ride.
After the ride, my uncle and brother went to find some frozen lemonades and some shade. Meanwhile, my dad and I explored the rest of the Campus. We were a bit disappointed. It isn’t like the Star Wars land where you feel as if you’re transported to a galaxy far, far away because Avengers Campus is on Earth in an environment we know well.
There wasn’t much to do there other than eat at Pym’s Kitchen (which had a line longer than Space Mountain – Okay, slight exaggeration, but it was long for food). After a quick walk around the land, we headed out to get my dad an iced coffee at the stand he discovered during Touch of Disney.
Then we (regrettably) waited in line for Goofy’s Flight School. The line was fairly short, but the ride itself is very jerky and not altogether fun. It is a similar (if not the same) ride as one in Legoland which means it’s like a box set roller coaster – not Disney Imagineering at its finest. However I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that this ride was added during the time when the parks – particularly DCA – were being ignored. There’s a good documentary on Disney+ called The Imagineering Story which I think talks about this era.
After this ride, we took a short break before reconvening with my brother and uncle. We went over to try to go on the Car’s ride but the line was 75 minutes long and in the sun, so we decided to save that one for next time and headed back over to Disneyland.
To be continued,
A
A Return to Disney: A June 2021 Disneyland Adventure Part 1
A Return to Disney: A June 2021 Disneyland Adventure Part 3 (coming soon)
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