An Overview of California Adventure
1313 S. Harbor Blvd., Anaheim
(714) 781-4565
Much of what California Adventure offers is totally new, but they did borrow a few attractions from other Disney parks. The It's Tough to Be a Bug! 3-D movie can also be seen at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Orlando, and Jim Henson's Muppet*Vision 3-D and Twilight Zone Tower of Terror were copied from Disney/MGM Studios in Orlando. California Adventure is also the home of what was once Disneyland's Main Street Electrical Parade (now called Disney's Electrical Parade), a Disneyland staple since 1972.
California Adventure will provide a family with about a day's worth of entertainment. It's a separate theme park from Disneyland and requires its own admission ticket. If it's the only thing you want to see, you can buy a single-day pass good for California Adventure only, or you can buy a pass that lets you travel between both parks using a single ticket (passport), a practice called “park-hopping.” You can read about ticket options and pricing in Chapter 6.
TRAVEL TIP
If you plan on park-hopping, be sure to keep your admission ticket handy and get your hand stamped as you leave each park. If you leave California Adventure and try to return later that day without a stamp, you will be stopped by security even if you're holding a valid ticket.
California Adventure's hours of operation vary by the time of year and day of the week, but it normally opens later than Disneyland and closes earlier. For the schedule during your visit, call Guest Relations or visit the Disneyland Web site at www.disneyland.com.
Whatever time the park officially opens, the main gate may open an hour earlier. On those days, you can shop in the area near the gate and enter Sunshine Plaza, but won't be able to go into the other areas until the official opening time. Some days, Mickey Mouse comes out of the Hollywood Pictures Backlot gate just as the park opens, wearing his California tourist attire.
FAST FACT
If you're staying at any of the three Disney hotels, one of the perks is that you can get into Disneyland and California Adventure one hour before regular ticket holders on selected days of the week. However keep in mind that the three Disney hotels combined have almost 2,000 hotel rooms and all the people staying in them will be doing exactly the same thing you are.
