California Adventure - Paradise Pier

My photography issue here is that I take a disproportionate number of night shots. It does look good in the day, but lit up at night it is so magical!

Paradise Pier is modeled after an old California boardwalk, and as such has the most rides of any land in California Adventure by far. Even so, it has had a far amount of change, as there initially was not enough of a Disney imprint. I will try and track that as I go through the rides. It was good before, and most of the changes have been great.

California Screaming: This is a super long roller coaster, which is good because it goes so fast it wouldn’t be much of a ride if it was shorter. It's also a very smooth ride. The structure goes along almost the entire pier, so is a big part of the look. There is one upside down loop. 

Mickey’s Fun Wheel: This giant Ferris wheel works in sync with California Screaming to create the skyline for the pier. You can choose between sliding and non-sliding cars. The non-sliding cars go higher, but it is all pretty high, and you get a great view of the park. Initially the sun wheel, with a picture of the sun, Mickey's face now greets you, and is the focal point you want to have in sight when picking your spots for the World of Color.

King Triton’s Carousel: This is a standard merry-go-round with a sea life theme, but riding whales, otters, fish, and seahorses is pretty cool. Also, this is the one ride that was solidly grounded in Disney movies from the very beginning. While in general California Adventure is tied more to Pixar, the exception is The Little Mermaid (more on that later), which is tied to Paradise Pier. 

Golden Zephyr: You sit in a rocket ship shaped car and are swung around in a circle. That’s milder than it sounds; I love the flying feeling that you get. This one has not changed, and it is perfect as it is.

Jumping Jellyfish: There was one ride that was removed completely: the Maliboomer. It was a take-off on the midway attraction where you swing the mallet to ring the bell, where in your seat you shoot up to the top, like the part that rings the bell. It was fine, but didn't really add anything.

This is very similar. You sit in seats and ride up and down a few times, and it is very mild. I do thing there are two ways in which it is valuable, that has caused it to last. One is that the decor is kind of pretty, and it is reminiscent of jellyfish and sea life. The other part is that it is really safe and accessible for children. The get high enough to get a thrill (and a view) without getting shaken up or being in danger. For that I think it will always maintain some popularity.

Goofy’s Sky School: This is a wild mouse roller coaster. I only learned that term recently, but it reminds me of the old Mouse Trap at Oaks Park, and knowing that this specific type of coaster goes by that name, it all fell into place. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_mouse_roller_coaster

It was originally Mulholland Madness, based on Mulholland Drive. The rebranding put in some nods to an old Goofy cartoon, where he was trying to fly a glider. The changes are mainly in the manner of sounds and decor, but the actual rides did not change. The dips and turns are pretty thrilling. 

They way the seats are shaped, there isn’t a lot of leg room, so taller or larger people can ride but may not be very comfortable.

Silly Symphony Swings: And learning about wild mouse coasters made me realize I could probably find the proper name for this type of attraction, which is "wave swinger". I really like wave swingers. You sit in individual swings and are swung around. 

Originally it was the Orange Stinger, with sort of a spiral orange peel enclosing it, and a bee on top. This was a nod to both California history and Disneyland history, and the orange groves that came before. Now it references the cartoon, "The Band Concert", even using the same music, The William Tell Overture. It works.

Toy Story Mania: This was not part of the original boardwalk, but is an inspired addition. The shooting game gives you 3-D glasses where ride to different shooting challenges. You do get a score at the end, for both points and accuracy. It’s really fun, with less moving around but more interesting targets than the Buzz Lightyear ride in Tomorrowland. I guess Toy Story rides just want you to shoot things.

Ariel's Undersea Adventure: Back to that Little Mermaid bit. The building housing this ride was originally the theater for a movie about the history of California, Golden Dreams, hosted by Whoopi Goldberg. At Halloween it would switch to Golden Screams, which we never got to see. Interesting, but not generating the interest of a ride.

Now you ride through scenes from The Little Mermaid. It is the style of ride found more in Fantasyland, but it works here, and with more space, so the central area where they do the "Under the Sea" number is kind of amazing, and really cute. 

Games of the Boardwalk: Originally these were ordinary boardwalk style games, pitching softballs into milk cans for a giant cow, knocking over dolls, and skee ball. There are just four games now, all more Disney than before, and we still try them all even though we are not very good at games.

Goofy About Fishin' - This is a fishing pond, that works the same as the old version, but now the big prize is a Mickey in fishing gear, and, of course, it is Goofy fishing, not just fishing. We occasionally do okay here because it is just chance.

Casey at the Bat: Getting three balls through the small hole will win you a giant Casey or a hot dog, but no matter how many times we try, we are probably never going to get this one.

Dumbo Bucket Brigade: This is the cutest of the games. You squirt water to move the clown up the ladder to rescue Dumbo, based on that scene in the movie. The size of the prize depends on the number of players. We have won a few small games, getting a Timothy Mouse, but have never won a big game for a Dumbo.

Bullseye Stallion Stampede: This is a game where you roll wooden balls into different holes to move a horse across a board, and the first one across wins. We did surprisingly well here, winning several small and large horses. Sometimes you just get lucky.

There are several dining options as well. We did eat at Boardwalk Pizza and Pasta once, and it was reasonably priced and pretty good, but the Corn Dog Castle was great. Perhaps our expectations were low, but those were really good corn dogs.

One thing that is nice in general is that the type of options you have available seem like food you would eat on a boardwalk, so it adds to the atmosphere, where that's getting the corn dog, or some ice cream, and it was at Paradise Pier where I got my turkey leg, and ate it watching a water show. (The water jets and sound system they use for the World of Color are used during the day for smaller scale shows, Instant Concert - just add water.)

A friend was recently at Ariel's Grotto, and she did find that one more expensive, and less of a value in terms of food, but she said that is one you go to for the atmosphere, because you can find princesses there, and it is an experience, not just food. Also, she saw Adam Sandler there, though you can't count on that.

But seriously, try the corn dogs.