Part IV: Coast-to-Coast Disney Trip Report

After making some progress in the Golden State area, specifically Condor Flats, I headed back to the California Zephyr where, I thought, Sarah and Henry had ordered some ice cream. I was quite pleased with this development, as I recognize any time as a good time to eat ice cream. Much to my dismay, they had ordered non-ice cream food stuffs from the bakery inside the Zephyr. All of that thinking about ice cream got me in the mood for ice cream, so I decided to order some. Come to find out, Bur-r-r Bank Ice Cream wasn’t open yet! Heresy! My opinion of California Adventure instantly plummeted with that little misstep.

Somehow, I endured. I ordered a large Coke, and we made our way onward, first picking up Tower of Terror FastPasses, and taking a couple of photos outside the Tower. One of the biggest benefits of having someone else along with us is that we can actually get photos with both of us in the shot. Normally, for daytime shots at least, it’s just one or the other of us.

We then headed over to a bug’s land, where we rode Heimlech’s Chew Chew Train. Henry insisted that we do this attraction, saying that we should give it a chance, and that it was neat.

We shouldn’t have. It wasn’t. I almost feel bad putting it out there in public that he admitted to liking this attraction, because it should be embarrassing for him, but I feel compelled to report it. I may be overly optimistic about a lot of things in DCA, but that attraction is not one of them. It’s just odd.

The face of pure bliss, as he enjoys his favorite attraction!

After that traumatizing experience, we dismissed anything else in a bug’s land out of hand. It’s a neat land, I suppose, but it seems everything follows the formula of the least complicated Fantasyland attractions (and that’s really saying something, since Fantasyland attractions as a whole aren’t complex at all). On top of that, while Fantasyland attractions like Casey Jr. and Storybook Land Canals have an endearing quality about them, it seems like a bug’s land attractions are missing that.

We then strolled over to Paradise Pier. When we visited last year, I attempted to convince Sarah to try the Silly Symphony Swings, California Golden Zephyr, and perhaps the Maliboomer. It might have been the last one that really made her skittish about the three attractions, but I’m not really sure. Ultimately, our decision to see Aladdin twice really hindered our ability to do a lot of other attractions, so we didn’t end up making an effort to hit these. Even if I were to have made this effort, however, Sarah wouldn’t have done it. Even on this trip, Sarah initially said no to the idea of the Zephyr and the Swings. Henry, in his infinite wisdom, was able to convince Sarah to take a spin on both.

Perhaps he used a better strategy. Perhaps she wanted to appear brave. I will never know. Rather than suggesting the most thrilling attraction first (as I may have done with the Maliboomer), he suggested the more tame of the two, the Zephyr. It’s a good thing we experienced it then, as I only saw it operational for another half-hour, then never again on our trip.

The Zephyr was cool. Tame for the most part and mostly interesting for the view. I really wish we would have ridden it at night to see all of the lights on the attraction. I respect Disney for going out to get something historically accurate to the period, but I can never understand the sense in building attractions that are operationally dependent upon the weather.

She was brave for us, so we let Sarah pick the next attraction. Much to no one’s surprise, she chose Jumpin’ Jellyfish. This was something she wanted me to do last year, and I scoffed at the idea. Now I know why. Jumpin’ Jellyfish probably wouldn’t be exciting to many 4 year olds. I will grant it this, though: it has a nice, vibrant color palette and offers great views of the Pier. Plus, it was a walk-on.

After we endured the Slow-Motion-Upward-Movin’ Jellyfish (as the attraction should be called), Sarah owed it to us to do Silly Symphony Swings. This would prove a more difficult sell for Henry. The free hanging nature of the attraction did not appeal to Sarah, but she begrudgingly agreed to ride, anyway.

There are multiple pages in this Disneyland trip report installment. Navigate to the next page below!