Our second day started in California Adventure Park which is a second park across from Disneyland. The line up to get in was much more manageable. We really like this park but it does have fewer rides and a very different feel from Disneyland. Entry was the same process as yesterday where they opened the gates at 7:30a and let us get part way into the park for the 8:00a opening. Our destination was the new 'Web Slingers' ride which is based on the Tom Holland version of Spiderman. When we lined up we figured everyone was headed straight there but we were surprised that many headed to Cars instead.
The ride itself was fun but not our favourite. It's based on the premise that some spider bots have gotten out of control and you need to help Peter capture them. The fun part is that you use your hands to shoot webs and you can capture them with a web or pull things around to crush them. The ride senses your hand movements and does a great job of knowing where you are trying to shoot. It's a 3D ride so there are a lot of screens and reminded me of a Universal Studios ride. The thing I ended up not liking was that I was so busy trying to shoot spiders I don't really know what happened.
After Web Slingers we had a bit of time before our next Genie Pass so Kerry and Carter got in line for Guardians of the Galaxy. It's a giant elevator so lots of up and down. I don't mind the up but am not a fan of the down. Unfortunately three of the six elevators were out of order so the lineup was much longer than advertised. They ended up having to give up part way through so we could get to our next ride in time. Callie and I wandered Avengers Campus which has a very different feel during the day and she found Antman. The good thing about the distance to the characters is she gets good selfies.
We wandered the board walk a bit and checked out the Bakery tour which is where Disney makes all of their Sour Dough bread. They referred to the 'starter' as the 'Mother Dough' which apparently is how they do sour dough even on a mass scale. I'm picturing a giant mason jar in a fridge though I suspect it's a bit more sophisticated than that. We also took a ride on the Ferris Wheel. It's 160 feet tall at the peak and a great way to see both parks from the air. There are two types of baskets. One is fixed and the other randomly falls on a smaller loop. We went with the non falling version.
For dinner we went to the Cheesecake Factory which is just outside the park. I had been previously when in San Diego but the family had never been before. Carter indicated their menu had an 'obscene' number of options. Ordinarily this would be risky but it was very busy so hopefully not too much food sitting around waiting to be ordered. Carter was impressed with his chicken burger sliders. We of course had cheesecake for desert. I'm glad we are getting in lots of steps during the day. They ranged from 400 to 1600 calories per slice.
After our break back at the hotel we headed back to the park and got on the "It's a Small World" ride. I'm assuming Disney has decided it's a 'classic' and will never significantly change. Despite being the slowest boat ride ever and taking up a ton of space it appears to be much like it looked when it was first built. The animatronics are very rudimentary and by the end you don't want to ever hear that song again. Somehow we still go back every time we come. I suppose it helps that the lineup is typically very short, mainly because so many people fit on each boat.
We took a quick detour over to "Galaxy's Edge" as I wanted to get some close up shots of R2D2. Unfortunately he was no longer in one of the shops like he was last time we were here. The attendant indicated he was 'unavailable' implying perhaps he comes out as a character. Will have to keep trying. I'd like some good closeup pictures as a friend and I are attempting to build one. If he does show up for pictures I'll have to explain why I'm trying to get pictures of his under carriage. There are several similar droids around but none are quite the same as R2.
We did a quick ride on Big Thunder Mountain and I finished my evening with the Matterhorn before heading back to the hotel. 11:00p is about my limit. Kerry and the kids stuck around and did a few rides including Splash Mountain. You want to try to make that your last ride before going back to the hotel because there is a good chance you will get very wet. Also despite us starting every ride saying 'Hang on to your hats and glasses' Carter failed to heed our warnings and lost his hat on Splash. He had it in the picture at the big drop and then it was gone.
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