Disney California Adventure Through the Eyes of a California Girl

Welcome to the first stop aboard Magical Blogorail Yellow. Enjoy the ride as we share with you the one Disney destination we have always wanted to visit but haven’t had the chance yet.

I grew up in California. When I was little, we lived in a tiny ranching community in the mountains just south of Oregon. I spent my middle years in Los Angeles (talk about culture shock!), before moving out to the valley just before high school. I may have lived in the flatlands of Illinois for my adult life, but deep down, I’m still a California girl. It’s just not the kind of thing you grow out of! I left for the Midwestern hinterlands in the fall of 2000, about 6 months before Disney California Adventure opened its doors.

At the time, I thought it was ridiculous to build a California-themed park in California. Dude, if you’re visiting Cali anyway, so go see the actual Golden Gate Bridge, not some industry mock-up! Tourists….. (yeah, that’s the valley accent coming out. Totally.)

Ok, I kinda get it now.

Disney California Adventure isn’t about seeing an entire state in 8 hours. It’s about celebrating and evoking the spirit of California, the place where so many dreams got their start. When I see the pictures of Disney California Adventure, I see so many iconic images from my childhood as I remember them – better and more perfect than they actually are.

Someday, I’ll take my kids to the real California. But I might just take them to Disney California Adventure first 🙂

Until then, I’ll share A Day at Disney California Adventure in a minute and a half:

Thank you for joining me today. Your next stop on the Magical Blogorail Loop is Magik Mouse.

Here is the map of our Magical Blogorail should you happen to have to make a stop along the way and want to reboard:
1st Stop ~ Return to Disney
2nd Stop ~ Magik Mouse
3rd Stop ~ DIStherapy
4th Stop ~ Delightfully Disney
Final Stop ~ Magical Mouse Schoolhouse