What to Do First at Disney California Adventure Park

We have written about how we like to be in Disney California Adventure Park and Disneyland Park before they open for the day. As the sun lights Buena Vista Street, we enjoy the calm magic of Disney California Adventure PArk just before rope drop. But once the attraction queues open, we get moving and take advantage of all those short lines! So which attractions do we go to first, and what should you do in the early morning at Disney California Adventure Park? We are covering that today!

Where to Start Your Day in Disney California Adventure Park

Early morning is our favorite time to visit Disney California Adventure Park (second place goes to the time just before closing) We love that crowds are low and our energy is high. We use the first few hours after opening to pack in lots of rides and re-rides when queues are (relatively) short, and we prioritize popular attractions that we know will draw long waits later in the day.

As much as we like to head straight for the popular attractions, we do not go for what is (arguably) the most popular Disney California Adventure Park attraction. Here is why.

Skip Radiator Springs Racers at Park Opening

As low as the crowds are at the beginning of the day, a large percentage of those early risers are going to race right for Cars Land and its headliner attraction.

Even years into its existence, Radiator Springs Racers remains one of the most popular rides in Disney California Adventure Park. It is also not included in the Lightning Lane Multi Pass, so anyone looking to skip the line at Radiator Springs Racers will need to buy a Lighting Lane Single Pass or spring for a Lightning Lane Premier Pass.

For these reasons, many guests are speeding to Radiator Springs Racers as soon as it opens. Unless you are in the front of that pack of rope-dropping guests, you are probably still going to encounter a long wait for Radiator Springs Racers (even if it is your very first ride of the day). Additionally, Radiator Springs Racers has a bad track record when it comes to unexpected shut downs. This ride is notorious for closing for maintenance, and this often happens in the morning.

Early morning minutes in the parks are incredibly valuable. We do not advise you to spend a large chunk of them waiting for Radiator Springs Racers or racing over there only to be turned away because of an unscheduled ride closure. Instead, we encourage you to experience multiple attractions with practically no wait during that same period of time. Wait for Radiator Springs Racers later in the day, when the parks are busy anyway.

One Early Entry Exception

We do make an exception to our recommendation to skip Radiator Springs Racers early in the morning. If you are fortunate enough to have Early Entry for the day, you might be able to position yourself ahead of that rope drop crowd without too much trouble.

Radiator Springs Racers is not part of the Early Entry selection of rides. However, Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree—also in Cars Land—is open during Early Entry. So, Early Entry guests are allowed into Cars Land before regular park guests. If you can make your way to the Radiator Springs Racers queue just as it opens but before the guests admitted for official opening make it there… well you might just hit the sweet spot for minimal wait with minimal effort.

Timing this correctly will take some luck, and we do not advise wasting previous Early Entry minutes in hanging around the queue entrance. Sometimes the Radiator Springs Racers queue opens before official park opening, and sometimes it opens late due to maintenance issues. We would not advise planning your morning around it.

Still, if you are exiting Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree and you see that queue opening without a pack or guests clambering around it… jump in line!

Whether you make it to Radiator Springs Racers in the morning or not, try to visit again after dark. Cars Land is spectacular at night (see our article What is Sh-Boom Time at Disney California Adventure Park) and Radiator Springs Racers feels like a different ride at night!

Prioritize Your Favorites First at Disney California Adventure Park

In our article What to Do First at Disneyland Park, we enthusiastically suggested starting the day in Fantasyland. Our advice for what to do first at Disney California Adventure Park is not so straightforward. We like Fantasyland as a starting point in Disneyland because the rides there are mostly short and clustered tightly together while also providing a quintessential Disneyland experience. They can also draw long waits later in the day, so we think they are a good use of early morning time.

There is no area of Disney California Adventure park that fits the same profile, so we are going to share some general advice and a few suggestions.

Generally, we advise you to visit your must-do rides in the morning. If you plan on spending the day in Disney California Adventure Park (and the crowds are not heavy) you should be able to do your favorite rides twice this way. If you have a shorter day or heavier crowds, at least you will get to do your must-dos.

Visit Rides That Are Close Together at Disney California Adventure Park First

Outside of that general advice, we would advise you to look for areas of the park where rides you want to do are clustered together and do those one after another. By picking rides close together, you do not waste valuable early morning minutes traveling between attractions. Later in the day, you may want to zig and zag across the park to take advantage of short waits or to keep your ride reservations. In the morning, focus on less time traversing and more time riding.

Option 1: Avengers Campus and Neighbors

The first (small) clusters of rides we would recommend is around Avengers Campus.

We like to start with Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! and then move to WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure; both of these are in Avengers Campus.

From there, we might go to Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree and Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters in Cars Land. If we do not go to Cars Land, we might do Guardians of the Galaxy again and loop back to Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sully to the Rescue! in nearby Hollywood Land.

This plan to start in Avengers Campus might not be for you if you are traveling with young children, as the height minimum for Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! is 40 inches. If you do have people in your group under 40 inches and you prefer to stay together for your first rides, we recommend option 2.

Option 2: Pixar Pier

The second cluster of rides we recommend is in Pixar Pier.

Toy Story Midway Mania! is a very popular attraction, and one that people of any height can do. We would start our day ant Disney California Adventure Park with Toy Story Midway Mania! and then head over to the neighboring Pixar Pal-A-Round ferris wheel. Pixar Pal-A-Round is not on the top of our list for favorite attractions, but the line can get very long later in the day, and the kids do ask to ride it every visit. In our opinion it also has the most unpleasant queue area in the park, so the less time we can spend in it, the better.

Following those two Pixar Pier attractions, you can work your way through some of the other attractions in Pixar Pier and onto Paradise Gardens Park. Goofy’s Sky School can have some long waits later in the day: kids seem to love this while adults seem to hate it. So, maybe get it over with?

Keep in mind that many of the Pixar Pier rides—like Goofy’s Sky School—do have minimum height requirements. If you are looking for nearby attractions for riders of any height, head to Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind, Jessie’s Critter Carousel or Golden Zephyr. The last of these is actually in Paradise Gardens Park, and you could visit the all ages The Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Undersea Adventure next.

What NOT to Do First at Disney California Adventure Park

We already advised you to skip Radiator Springs Racers first thing in the morning (with some exceptions), but there are a few more attractions we would not visit during the early morning at Disney California Adventure Park.

We would save shows like Mickey’s PhilharMagic and Turtle Talk with Crush until later in the day. Usually these shows do not open with the park but maybe an hour later. We would wait even longer than that to see them; we go midday when crowds are peaking and our energy is cratering. These are high capacity shows, so they handle crowds well. You should go see them, but save them for when you need a little fun relaxation.

We would also save Grizzly River Run for later in the day. This is another ride that may not open with the rest of the park. Even when it does, we prefer to do it midday. You are almost guaranteed to get wet on this ride. We do not like starting our park day dripping wet, but of course your preferences may differ.

Thank you for reading our suggestions on what to do first in Disney California Adventure Park.

We hope you have found this post helpful. You can read our companion post on what to do first at Disneyland Park here. We have a post on Disney California Adventure Park’s official and unofficial opening here. If you are currently planning (or considering) a trip to Disneyland, check-out our Step-by-Step Disneyland Prep.

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