Editor's Report: First Impressions
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Grizzly River Run and Disney's Grand Californian Hotel

What I Liked
There is a lot I liked about DCA. Actually, there's a lot I loved about DCA. I loved the themeing of the Golden State districts - especially Pacific Wharf, Condor Flats and the Grizzly Peak Recreation Area. What really got me was how well the Grand Californian Hotel fits in as a background for parts of the Golden State district. Paradise Pier at night is also a site to behold as is most of the park, frankly.

Grizzly Peak stretches above the Mondavi building

I loved Grizzly Peak. I don't mean the attraction (which is a lot of fun), but the mountain itself. It's stunning from a distance, up close and from every angle. My favorite part is how you can see it from many places throughout the park peeking up over whatever you're looking at. Grizzly Peak is awesome!

I loved Disney's Steps in Time. The show features several Disney songs but not a single traditional Disney character. It also makes good use of multimedia. I'll leave it at that and let you discover the rest for yourself, but be prepared - it's unlike any Disney theme park stage show I've ever seen. And I'm guessing it won't be a hit with everyone.

Inside Disney Animation. The screens show scenes from various animated films.
These are from The Lion King.

I loved the Disney Animation attraction. The courtyard in there is stunning. I could spend quite a while in there just watching everything. The Sorcerer's Workshop is so incredibly detailed you forget to do the interactive details because you're caught up looking at everything. And Drawn to Animation, which features a live Cast Member talking about film development with Mushu from Mulan, had me laughing out loud several times.

I really liked Soarin' Over California. The ride isn't meant to be thrilling, but I'm afraid of heights so it was the scariest thing I did all day. From my front row seat the view was spectacular - the effect really worked for me. I was gripping my railing like there was no tomorrow and during one sequence had to close my eyes until it was over. Now that I know I can handle the heights, this - more than any other attraction I did - is the one I can't wait to do again.

Eureka!

I really liked Disney's Eureka! The California Adventure parade. The music was fun, the floats lots of fun, and the puppets and live drumming (reminded me of Tapestry of Nations at Epcot) really appealed to me. I liked the way Muppet*Vision extends to the area around it to create kind of a Muppet mini-land.

I liked Golden Dreams. It easily held my attention the entire time even though it was a film, and the song and photo montage at the end made me cry - but I'm a sucker for photo montages. I also liked Pizza Primavera at Hollywood & Dine. It's the only thing I ate while in the park and I enjoyed it thoroughly. And my absolute favorite "little thing" in the park (though it certainly ain't little) was Dinosaur Jack's Sunglass Shack. How could anyone not love that face???