Disney California Adventure in 1 Day
For Spring Break 2025, our family of six headed to Southern California for a much-anticipated return to the Disneyland Resort. We had last been in Fall 2022. With eight full days to explore, we split our time between Disneyland, Disney California Adventure (DCA), and Universal Studios Hollywood. With kids ages 12, 10, 6, and 3, we knew we’d be balancing big thrills with little legs. That balance is tricky at DCA. While DCA offers tons of excitement, many of its headline rides are more intense or come with height restrictions, which can make the day a bit more challenging with a 3-year-old in tow. This is how we spent 1 day in Disney California Adventure.
Rise & Shine, It’s DCA Time!
We stayed at the Courtyard Anaheim Theme Park Entrance, which is absolutely perfect for our family. With two queen beds and a twin-over-twin bunk bed, it gives everyone plenty of space to sleep without playing sleeping Jenga. The hotel even has a small water park, which is a huge bonus for the kids. Best of all, it’s just a 10–15 minute walk to the parks. We left the hotel about 7:00 AM and our walk took us right past McDonald's and Panera, where we mobile ordered breakfast. It is our kids’ favorite spots to grab breakfast, especially on an early morning rope drop. After eating breakfast, we arrived in the esplanade about 7:30 AM and we were able to head into the park since it was 30 mins before opening. We joined the small crowd near the entrance to Avengers Campus and Cars Land, waiting for rope drop.
Launching into Pixar Pier
At rope drop, it felt like 90% of the crowd veered left toward Radiator Springs Racers in Cars Land. We zigged when everyone else zagged, turning to the right toward Pixar Pier. This meant that we could spend rope drop working our way down Pixar Pier with limited crowds.
The older kids and I walked right onto Incredicoaster. There’s nothing like kicking off your Disney day with an adrenaline filled, high speed rollercoaster! This was our first time on the Incredicoaster beacuse the older kids weren’t ready for it when we came in 2022. Meanwhile, Amanda and the littles happily spun around on Jessie’s Critter Carousel. Once reunited, we all went for a spin with those wild west critter pals.
We continued our way down Pixar Pier with the plan of jumping on the popular Toy Story Midway Mania before the line got long. However, one risk with our Pixar Pier rope drop is that Toy Story Mania doesn’t always open right away in the morning. The cast members out front informed us that, unfortunately, Midway Mania was currently down for the time being. We boarded the Pixar Pal-A-Round, non-swinging side, and enjoyed the view. Next up was Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind, which is a simple Disney, family friendly spinner ride. The kids always like posing with the different character statues (Disgust and Fear). Right before 9:00 AM, they opened Toy Story Midway Mania and we only had to wait about 15 mins to ride it. The Turnwald family winner was me with the high score of 125,800. After exploring the Toy Story-themed gift shop at the ride exit, we met Jessie and grabbed snacks at Senor Buzz Churros.
We kept the momentum going by riding Silly Symphony Swings, Goofy’s Sky School, Jumpin’ Jellyfish, Golden Zephyr, and The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure. By 10:45 AM, we had completed every ride in Pixar Pier
We were in DCA during Food & Wine Festival, which allowed us to see the Cookin’ with Jammin’ Chefs street performance. Pluto, Daisy, and Chip 'n' Dale brought a fun show of banging out music on pots and pans. The kids enjoyed dancing along to this 15 min show.
Baymax & Big Hero Bites
We crossed the bridge to San Fransokyo Square, a re-themed area since our last trip in 2022. Prior to the re-theme, the main reason to visit this part of the park was for food. It remains a food-focused area of the park, now with a nice Big Hero 6 overlay. Before eating, we got to meet our favorite personal healthcare companion, Baymax plus Hiro. It was a highlight for the kids to give Baymax a fist bump.
There are solid lunch options in this area, which is nice for a family of six to have variety. Amanda and I got food from the Lucky Fortune Cookery. Amanda got the Teriyaki Chicken with sauteed vegetables and steamed rice. I tried the Karaage-inspired Crispy Chicken Sandwich. The chicken itself was delicious, but the potato bun was stale. The garlic chips that came with the sandwich were surprisingly great. Next time, I plan on trying the Beef Birria Ramen. We also shared the very delicious Baymax Macaron, filled with chocolate-hazelnut spread and buttercream. The kids mostly stuck with the mac & cheese kids meal from Aunt Cass Cafe. All of the food was mobile ordered, so we didn’t have to wait in line at different restaurants. Our 6-year-old really enjoyed a Blue Raspberry Turbine Twirler from Rita’s Turbine Blenders. San Fransokyo Square was a great place to grab lunch, but make sure to have someone in your party scout out seats.
Midday Magic
After lunch, we took to the skies on Soarin’ Over California. Always great to hear important safety information from Patrick Warburton. After a nice flight, we spotted Minnie Mouse in her Buena Vista Street best. She is always dressed to impress and the girls love getting to see her! It was 1:30 PM and the sun was making it too toasty, so it was time to head to indoor attractions to stay cool.
We headed into the shady streets of Monstropolis for a ride through Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! Just outside, we ran into Moana, who is a favorite amongst the girls. The kids couldn’t wait to tell her how far they'd traveled to see her. From there, we made our way into Mickey’s PhilharMagic to see Donald’s antics and enjoy the AC. Wanting to stay out of the sun a little longer, we wandered into the Art of Animation building. We waited to meet Elsa and enjoyed the sketches from Disney/Pixar classics!
By 3:30, the sun was still beating down. It was time to cool off on Grizzly River Run. Amanda and our 3-year-old grabbed a snack at Smokejumpers while the rest of us got absolutely drenched on Grizzly River Run. Next, we headed into Avengers Campus to help Spidey take down the runaway Spider-Bots on WEB SLINGERS. Plus we got to meet Captain Marvel in the ancient Sanctum.
Pit Stop at Flo’s
We strolled into Cars Land, stopping to meet some of its famous residents like Red the firetruck, Lightning McQueen, and Guido. We all went for a wild, whirling spin on Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree featuring the “Big Bulldozer” song
Dinner was a pit stop at Flo’s V8 Cafe. Amanda and I enjoyed the fried chicken and the kids stuck with the regular, hamburgers. We planned to ride Radiator Springs Racers next, but it had temporarily broken down. We walked around Cars Land checking out the shops and at the Radiator Springs Curio our 3-year-old picked out her very first MagicBand (Spider-man since she loves Spidey and His Amazing Friends), proudly wearing it like a big kid. We were also able to enjoy the sunset tradition of "Sh-Boom”. This is a magical moment in Cars Land when all the neon lights flicker on. The crowd and cast members gather at the intersection near Flo’s, Luigi’s, and Radiator Springs Curio. The cast members carry checkered flags and bubble wands, leading everyone in a dance circle while the song “Sh-boom” plays in the background, accompanied by the neon lights flickering on. It’s a fun bit of Disney magic that you can only enjoy in Cars Land.
Even better? Radiator Springs Racers reopened, letting us ride through Ornament Valley and race at full speed through the desert landscape. We capped off our Cars Land adventure by dancing along with Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters to “Eh Cumpari”!
Final Missions
As we walked back into Avengers Campus, Our 3-year-old lit up when she spotted Ms. Marvel. One of her favorite superheroes thanks to Spidey and His Amazing Friends. She was super proud of her Magicband, showing it off to Ms. Marvel. We also had the chance to meet Black Panther, Thor, Captain America, and Loki. I really appreciate the number of characters that they have roaming around and at meet-and-greets in this land.
By 8:30, we knew our time at DCA was winding down, but we had a few final missions left to complete. Our 12-year-old was set on one last spin on Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree. The big kids and I went for the spin while while Amanda and the littles grabbed everyone some ice cream.
We met back up in Avengers Campus to meet…Spider-Man! We had to play Weekend at Bernie’s a little bit because the 6-year-old had fallen asleep. Luckily, she briefly woke up as we were meeting Spidey. With the 3-, 6-, and 12-year-olds fading fast, Amanda took the tired trio back to the hotel.
The 9-year-old wasn’t done yet and she had one final mission.
Back in 2022, she had really wanted to ride Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!, but the timing never worked out. Tonight, she was determined. We stayed late, just the two of us, waiting just under an hour (wait time showed 90+ mins) to finally complete this mission. Laughter, screams, and music ensued, bringing to a close our day at DCA.
