The Complete California Adventure Ride Guide

The complete California Adventure Ride Guide—everything you need to know about every California Adventure attraction broken down land-by-land. A planning guide from The Happiest Blog on Earth.

Here I’ve listed out each ride, the seating arrangements, what type of seat belt or harness they have and how many are seated in each row or ride vehicle. Print out your Disneyland Resort Ride Guide to help you plan out which attractions are best for your group

California Adventure Ride Guide 3

Get your Disneyland discount tickets from my partner, Get Away Today before heading over to Disneyland Resort. Package

 

All the Rides in Avengers Campus

Avengers Campus joined California Adventure Park in 2021 after a long awaited reopening of theme parks. 

Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout!

 

Guardians MaxPass

 

  • Height requirements 42 inches or taller.
  • Seating in cage full of about 20 other people seated in rows of 3 or 4 with seat belts.
  • Waiting mostly inside with messages informing riders about the situation at the power plant.
  • What we love the new soundtrack can’t be beat!
  • What we loathe that our beloved Hollywood Tower Hotel is now a power plant.
  • Insider secrets the ride will feature one of six retro pop songs and you don’t need to be familiar with the movies to enjoy the ride.

WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure

 

WEB Slingers Seats

 

  • Height requirements any height can ride.
  • Seating in WEB Slinger vehicle with 4 across.
  • Waiting mostly inside with an awesome pre-show presentation by Peter Parker himself. Virtual queue may be required to ride.
  • What we love this entirely new land celebrating all things Marvel.
  • What we loathe the lottery system to ride.
  • Insider secrets you may get a chance to ride at the end of the day, even without a virtual queue spot.

Every Ride in Cars Land

Cars Land is the place to be, both day and night. Let this California Adventure ride guide help you race to the finish.

Radiator Springs Racers

 

 

  • Height requirements 40 inches or taller, this is one of the last milestones for growing kids in what they can ride at Disneyland park.
  • Seating in a McQueen-like car for up to 6 people, 3 per row with seat belts for each guest.
  • Waiting outside, some sun, some shade
  • What we love this thrill ride never gets old! It’s part rollercoaster and all adventure.
  • What we loath that it’s now Individual Lightning Lane for the shortest wait.
  • Insider secrets this is my favorite ride for a single rider line when the stand by line is long.

Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters

 

  • Height requirements 32 inches or taller.
  • Seating in a one of Luigi’s cousins from Italy. Each car has a different look and personality.
  • Waiting both inside and outside with a decent queue full of Cars details for about 30 minutes or more.
  • What we love even though it seems to spin and dance in crazy fashion, most people can handle the delicate motions (it’s not as bad as it looks).
  • What we loathe going to the outdoor queue after finally cooling down inside.
  • Insider secrets try to hit this ride early in the day for lower wait times.

Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree

 

Maters Junkyard Ride

 

  • Height requirements 32 inches or taller.
  • Seating in a little tractor for 2 or 3 people.
  • Waiting outside while watching people go for a spin for about 15 minutes or more.
  • What we love being silly and laughing as we get tossed about.
  • What we loathe squishing our littles on sharp turns.
  • Insider secrets pair two kids to ride together if possible (must be at least 7 years old).

California Adventure Rides at Grizzly Peak

California Adventure ride guide to Grizzly Peak offers an insight into uncharted territory. This remote and relaxing area offers tons of Disney fun.

Grizzly River Run


 

  • Height requirements 42 inches or taller.
  • Seating in a circular whitewater raft for 8 people and belt safety restraint.
  • Waiting outdoors wait times can be up to 60 minutes or more on hot days.
  • What we love getting completely soaked on a hot day.
  • What we loathe getting completely soaked on a cold day.
  • Insider secrets keep your back to the seat to prevent cold water from splashing over the sides and right down your back!

Soarin’ Around the World

 

 

 

  • Height requirements 40 inches or taller.
  • Seating in a large theater where you ascend 40 feet high in front of a giant projection dome for a flight around the world.
  • Waiting mostly inside where wait times can be up to 60 minutes or more.
  • What we love dangling and swinging our feet all over the world.
  • What we loathe sitting by someone who is deathly afraid of heights.
  • Insider secrets truly do not go on this ride if you’re scared of heights, and hold on to your flip flops!

All the Rides in Hollywood Land

California Adventure ride guide to Hollywood Land which isn’t too hard since we only have one ride here now. 

Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!

 
  • Height requirements any height can ride, including babies and pregnant women.
  • Seating in a taxi cab ride through Monstropolis.
  • Waiting outside and then indoors with some clever Monster props.
  • What we love the wild ride to take Boo home.
  • What we loathe this attraction’s days may be numbered if rumors are true about a complete Marvel takeover of Hollywood Land.
  • Insider secrets get here early and join in on the morning scream!

Every Ride on Pixar Pier

What you may remember as Paradise Pier is now Pixar Pier, this is your California Adventure ride guide to Pixar.

Emotional Whirlwind 

Pixar Ticket

 

A new family attraction at Pixar Pier (yes this is Flik’s Flyers rethemed and relocated).

  • Height requirements any height can ride, including babies and pregnant women.
  • Seating in a core memory hot air balloon for about 4 or 5 people.
  • Waiting outside in a short queue.
  • What we love seeing Pixar Pier from above.
  • What we loathe the massive amounts of spinner type rides in the same area and into Paradise Gardens Park.
  • Insider secrets a great attraction for Rider Switch users at Incredicoaster.

Incredicoaster

 

Incredicoaster splash

 

  • Height requirements 48 inches or taller.
  • Seating two by two in a traditional roller coaster car with overhead, pull down harness.
  • Waiting outdoors in a somewhat shaded queue.
  • What we love the thrills of this classic and twisted roller coaster.
  • What we loathe it can make some people a little nauseated.
  • Insider secrets take your kids on the carousel next door if you’re using Rider Switch.

Jessie’s Critter Carousel

Jessies Critter

  • Height requirements any height can ride.
  • Seating on one of many critters available.
  • Waiting outdoors and usually less than 15 minutes.
  • What we love proximity to Incredicasoter.
  • What we loathe waiting longer than a few minutes for a standard attraction.
  • Insider secrets take turns with your kids on Jessie’s Critter Carousel while another adult rides Incredicasoter next door.

Pixar Pal-A-Round

 

Pixar Pier

 

  • Height requirements any height can ride.
  • Seating inside a spacious gondola with room for about 4 people.
  • Waiting outdoors and usually around 20 minutes.
  • What we love going up and over California Adventure Park.
  • What we loathe the swinging gondolas, notice the barf bags inside—not a good sign.
  • Insider Secrets opt for the stationary gondola aboard what many call Mickey’s Wheel of Death.

Toy Story Midway Mania!

 

  • Height requirements any height can ride.
  • Seating in a swiveling carnival car fit for 2 or 3.
  • Waiting mostly outdoors in a pretty boring queue besides seeing Mr. Potato Head.
  • What we love competing against others in this video game carnival.
  • What we loathe long waits for this very popular ride.
  • Insider secrets don’t waste your energy during the practice rounds, save it for the real thing!

California Adventure Rides at Paradise Gardens Park

In 2018, California Adventure took Paradise Pier and split it into two newly named lands, Pixar Pier and Paradise Gardens Park. This is your guide to Paradise.

Golden Zephyr

 

Golden Zephyr

 

  • Height requirements any height can ride.
  • Seating in a galactic gondola seats about 10 people, soft strap seat belt.
  • Waiting outdoors and usually less than 15 minutes.
  • What we love high flying spins with views of California Adventure down below.
  • What we loathe similar to other nearby rides.
  • Insider secrets you can easily complete this and other nearby rides during the first hour of park opening.

Goofy’s Sky School

Goofy's Sky School

 

  • Height requirements 42 inches or taller.
  • Seating two by two in a flight training vehicle with a pull down lap bar.
  • Waiting outdoors and usually less than 15 minutes.
  • What we love unexpected twists, turns and drops.
  • What we loathe can be rough on your neck.
  • Insider secrets kids ages 7 and up can use the Single Rider line while parents watch them wait in line from the exit.

Jumpin’ Jellyfish

 

Jumpin Jellyfish seat

 

  • Height requirements 40 inches or taller.
  • Seating on a colored jellyfish with a pull-down lap restraint.
  • Waiting outdoors and usually less than 15 minutes.
  • What we love going up and down over California Adventure Park.
  • What we loathe it’s a very short, 90 second ride.
  • Insider secrets you can easily complete this and other nearby rides during the first hour of park opening.

The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel’s Undersea Adventure

 

Little Mermaid seat

 

  • Height requirements any height can ride.
  • Seating in a clamshell fit for 2 or 3 with a pull down lap bar.
  • Waiting mostly indoors and usually less than 15 minutes.
  • What we love the classic dark ride elements and the retelling of this favorite fairytale.
  • What we loathe it’s not super close to Ariel’s Grotto where you’d expect it to be.
  • Insider secrets ride again and again if the wait time is low.

Silly Symphony Swings

 

Silly Symphony Swings

 

  • Height requirements 40 inches or taller.
  • Seating in a swing for 1 or 2 riders.
  • Waiting outdoors and usually less than 15 minutes.
  • What we love flying high above it all.
  • What we loathe it can be a little bit nerve wracking up there!
  • Insider secrets you can easily complete this and other nearby rides during the first hour of park opening.

Get your Disneyland discount tickets from our partner, Get Away Today before heading over to Disneyland Resort.

Now that we have covered all the headlining rides in California Adventure Park, broken down by each area, make note of rides you know you want to check out as well as those you could easily do without. These notes will come in very handy as you prepare to plan your daily itinerary inside California Adventure Park.

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By Jessica Sanders

Recognized authority on all things Disneyland Resort. Offering dynamic planning strategies and the latest theme park information since 2013. Jessica's insights have been featured on Yahoo! News, InStyle, The Washington Post, and many others.

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