Just a few months ago, a friend and I celebrated Disneyland’s 70th anniversary with a 4 day park visit.  Our first 2 days was spent at Disneyland Park and we did so much in those 2 days.  You can read about day 1 here and day 2 here.  Day 3 and 4 will be spent at Disney California Adventure Park (DCA).  This post will only focus on day 3 of our visit which is my 3rd time ever visiting this lesser known park.

Getting There

My friend and I went a different way to get to the theme parks this day.  We took a back route which ended being longer as it took us to the Disney owned hotels and the backside of Downtown Disney.  It was cool seeing the hotels up close including the new Pixar Place Hotel.

Since we had to go through Downtown Disney to get to the theme park, we quickly grabbed a few items at Wetzel’s Pretzels before going in.  By the time we arrived at DCA, it was already 1 PM, so we quickly looked around the entry area called Carthay Circle and headed to Grizzly Peak land area.

Redwood Creek Challenge Trail

(Grizzly Peak)

My friend went on the Grizzly River Run ride twice while I got to rest and pressure relief.  While waiting for our DAS ride selection (read about DAS here), we explored Grizzly Peak a bit and went to Redwood Creek Challenge Trail.  It opened in 2001 when DCA opened that year and is one of the park’s original attractions.

It is a forest themed play area.  There is a bunch of trails like in a redwood forest, with stairs and rope bridges, rock climbing wall, zip line, slides and an amphitheater.  The cast member at the entrance of this attraction told us that there are accessible trails and few areas worth checking out so we did until it was time for our ride.

Soarin’

(Grizzly Peak)

We then headed to ride Soarin’.  I did this on my last trip and remembered how fun and easy this ride was.  It is a flight motion simulation ride that uses a mechanical lift system, a giant curved screen, and artificial scents and winds to simulate hang gliding around the world.  This ride required my friend to lift and carry me in.

Once the big hang gliding seat lifted us into the air, the seat did lean forward and back making it really feel like we were in the air soaring around the world.  The real environmental scenes, combined with the wind and smells made this ride even more realistic.  I would definitely ride this again.

The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure

(Paradise Gardens Park)

This ride is wheelchair accessible as one of the clamshell ride vehicle does have a fold out ramp for my wheelchair to roll onto.  After boarding the clamshell, we enter a broken hull in Prince Eric’s ship and is greeted by Scuttle.  The clamshell spins around and goes through underwater passages passing by characters like Flounder, Ariel, Prince Eric and more.

I really enjoyed this ride because it is a slow paced accessible ride that really takes you into the world of the Little Mermaid.  All the main catchy songs are featured during this ride like “Under the Sea” and “Kiss the Girl”.  It wasn’t too busy and we got to ride it twice in a row.

Pixar Pal-A-Round

(Pixar Pier)

We looked around Pixar Pier while waiting for our next DAS ride selection.  We tried to take a picture with Rex, the green Toy Story dinosaur but just missed him.  We then went on Pixar Pal-A-Round which is the giant Ferris Wheel.  I rode this twice before on previous visits and both times chose to be on a swinging gondola.  So this visit I wanted to try the non-swinging gondola.

Out of the 24 gondolas on this Ferris Wheel, only 8 are non-swinging, while 16 are swinging gondolas.  To load onto a gondola, a cast member does put out a portable ramp and helps wheel me inside the gondola.  It is great having wheelchair accessible rides.  Since we chose the non swinging gondola, we focused more on the views from high above more.

Character Encounter

We looked around Pixar Pier a bit and happened to see there was a character encounter for pics.  It was Bruno from the animated Disney movie Encanto.  The lines weren’t too long to see him, so we did go to take a few pics.  My friend then went on Jumpin’ Jellyfish while I just waited on the side.

Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration!

(Pixar Pier)

It was almost 5 PM, and we wanted to make sure we got a good spot to watch Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration! parade.  This was actually the second and final show (first was at 2:30 PM) of the day for this parade so it wasn’t crowded at all.  We got front row spots and didn’t need to go to the accessible viewing area.

This 15 minute parade initially started in 2024 and was reworked a bit and returned in 2025 for Disneyland’s 70th anniversary celebrations.  There are 7 main segments to the parade which features Luxo Jr., Turning Red, Up, Soul, Inside Out, Luca and the finale.  All the floats were bright, colorful and had great music with it.

Poultry Palace

(Pixar Pier)

We had some time before our next DAS ride selection so my friend rode the Incredicoaster and we got some food at a quick service place nearby.  He got food at Poultry Palace while I saved us a spot to eat at.  I got the 3 piece drumstick box that includes coleslaw.  I could tell the chicken was under a heat lamp and not cooked to order but it was still very good.

Toy Story Midway Mania!

(Pixar Pier)

Toy Story Midway Mania! is a wheelchair accessible ride and I have been on it several times over the years.  After being loaded on and locked in place, we are to put on 3D glasses for the duration of the ride.  Just like the other Toy Story ride at Disneyland, I am not able to use the blaster guns.

I would just watch my friend shoot the bad guys and rack up the points.  It was also fun riding in the ride vehicle as it spins around and moves along a track.  It was an easy and slow moving ride and we got to ride it twice in a row.

Jessie’s Critter Carousel

(Pixar Pier)

We then went to our next DAS ride selection which had almost no wait time.  Jessie’s Critter Carousel was wheelchair accessible and was very similar to King Arthur Carrousel at Disneyland.  I never been on Jessie’s Critter Carousel before and had to go on it so I could say that I have been.

It opened in 2019 and is just a re-theme from King Triton’s Carousel of the Sea.  The accessible spot was also at a ride bench.  The one side flips up so I can park my wheelchair in that spot.  My chair is then blocked by a weight piece so it wouldn’t move as the carousel spins.  This ride is more for kids but still fun.

San Fransokyo Square

San Fransokyo Square is a themed land area based on the movie Big Hero 6.  The area was previously named Pacific Wharf when it opened in 2001 along with DCA.  Since August 2023, it now is a vibrant locale with neighborhood restaurants and small shops.

One entry way to this area has a golden gate bridge.  We didn’t eat at this area but we did get to explore this area a bit and had a few picture opportunities.  There was a little shop selling a bunch of Baymax merchandise which I thought was pretty cool.

The “Sh-Boom” Moment

(Cars Land)

We then happened to be in Cars Land and saw a crowd of people waiting around for some reason.  People were telling us that people flock to this area minutes before so they can get a good spot to witness the “Sh-Boom” moment.

This refers to the daily sunset lighting ceremony, where the neon lights at Radiator Springs turn on to the song “Sh-Boom”.  The lights turn on one by one creating a magical moment as people are singing, dancing and having a great time.  We were right by Flo’s Cafe and enjoyed taking in the sights.

Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!

(Hollywood Land)

Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! was our next ride.  This attraction does have a wheelchair accessible taxi ride vehicle.  The front two rows is removed to fit a wheelchair in front of the ride vehicle.  My friend got to sit in the row behind me.  It is a slow moving ride as we go through Monstropolis.

This ride is actually closing in early 2026 to make room for a new Avatar themed ride.  We were lucky to get to ride this attraction twice in a row as I don’t think I will be back before it closes.  It was a fun ride and was glad to see all the characters from Monsters, Inc.

World of Color Happiness!

(Paradise Gardens Park)

We then went to Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout ride to see if I am able to go on this.  My friend went solo first to test it and thinks I should not go on the ride.  We quickly rushed to go see the 10:15 PM show of World of Color Happiness!  There was also a 9 PM showing but we didn’t want to waste valuable time as DCA closes at 10 PM.  It was better to see the late show when everything was closed.

We got a perfect spot at the wheelchair accessible viewing area.  This show debut for Disneyland’s 70th anniversary celebrations.  Similar to previous versions of the show, it features fountains, projections, lighting, and fire all moving and dancing to movie and music clips from Disney movies.  It really was amazing and magical.

Final Thoughts

It was another fun day for our 3rd of 4 day trip.  My friend and I spent almost 10 hours and seems that there isn’t much left to do except Avengers Campus.  We can tell Disney California Adventure Park is definitely smaller than Disneyland.  Look for my last post from this trip coming soon.