If you’re thinking of a trip to this great amusement park, get ready to be blown away. There are enough rides here to fill a small pamphlet, so it’s important to make the most of the day and make a beeline to the best of the best. Those lines can be long, but certain (i.e., insanely popular) rides provide a “Fastpass”: an electronic device to lets you know when they’re ready for you at no extra cost. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the top 5 best rides at California Adventure:
Grizzly River Run The only water ride in the park, it’s worth the distinction. You’re in a spinning, white-knuckle raft and you’re heading down rivers…FAST. You’ll be ready to get wet, of course, but hold on for the sudden drops. Fastpass. Minimum height 42 inches.
Twilight Zone Tower of Terror You’re in the long-ago abandoned Hollywood Tower Hotel. Pay attention to the “Tower” part. A rickety freight elevator zooms you up the tower 13 stories, and drops you from there. The kids will like this one. Fastpass. Minimum height 40 inches.
California Screamin’ So you walking past to look up and see a rickety, wooden roller coaster of yore. Yawn…Until you get on. Underneath all of that ra-ta-tat-tat wood is an all-too-modern, sleek steel framework that makes this roller coaster a strap-down nightmare and a voice-box buster. Fastpass. Minimum height 48 inches.
Jumpin’ Jellyfish Ok, Ok. So she doesn’t like rides. Fine. This is one that looks kinder and gentler, and it really is. You sit on many-colored jellyfish that gingerly scoot you up high. Once you’re up, the jellyfish open like so many parachutes and you gently float down. C’mon, try it once. Minimum height 40 inches.
Soarin’ Over California You’re sitting in tilting and lifting seats that give you the feeling of being in mid-air as wind blows and you even smell orange blossoms. In the midst of an 80-foot, 3-D IMAX domed screen you “fly” over the great wonders of California. Fastpass. Minimum height 40 inches.
Bonus ride:Goofy’s Sky School Here’s a seemingly tame roller coaster that snaps corners just a tad too quickly or, maybe, just right. Minimum height 42 inches. Print this list and you won’t have to wonder what are the California Adventure best rides once you get there—
Just make sure to laminate it.