By: Lori, aka Pongo

We have been looking forward to this day for years, ever since they started tearing up the Disneyland parking lot. We dropped our son off at school and headed for a preview day of Disney's California Adventure (DCA). We had decided not to take him with us as they had some thrill rides that we wasn't sure about riding and we did not want to miss anything. So, with the promise of a trip before the end of the year, we were off.

For those not familiar with Disneyland, unlike Disney World, it's not isolated in it's own area. Disneyland is surrounded with businesses mostly comprised of hotels, restaurants and gift shops. You can walk from an offsite hotel to the front gate in less time it takes to make the ½ mile walk from the parking structure. There really was no room for a new park until Disney built the parking structure on what used to be a long term RV park. The new theme park went up right in the old Disneyland Parking lot. Now when you walk out of Disneyland you simply walk across an open space and into the front gates of DCA. Off to the right is the brand new Downtown Disney that just opened mid-January. DCA celebrates California and it's history.

We arrived at 9 a.m. for a scheduled 10 a.m. opening. The plan was to go to the La Brea Bakery, just outside the gate, and get some coffee and a pastry. When we got there the line at the bakery looked an hour long so we decided to skip it. They were lining people up outside the gates in two lines, Annual Pass holders and others. The others were people whose company's are sponsoring exhibits or worked on the park who were allowed in for preview days. Within minutes the lines started moving but it was only to allow us into the turnstiles line. At 9:30 they let the other people in and about 2 minutes later the Annual Pass holders line started to move. The difference was that we were given special commemorative pins when we entered. They have the park logo with a dangle that says 'Annual Pass holder Preview' and a dangle below that with the American Express Symbol and the 'White Glove Treatment'. We entered under a miniature Golden Gate bridge to the blaring sounds of the Mama's and the Papa's singing California Dreamin. The rush when we entered was similar to the opening of Animal Kingdom, everyone went to the same place the section of the park called Condor Flats. Rumor had it that the best and most crowded ride in the park was Soarin' Over California and it seems everybody planned on riding that first. Only problem was that we were let in as far as rope barriers to each of the themed areas and there we stood until the officially opening at 10 a.m. At 10 the recorded voice came over the loudspeaker simply saying the park was now open and the stampede began. While the CM's were yelling for everyone to please walk, people were getting pushed and shoved so others could be the first to reach 'Soarin'. We simply walked over, grabbed a fast pass for one hour later, and got out of there.

Paradise Pier