Disney Figures Out How To Get A Crowd at California Adventure

"We'll hide him where he'll never be found. Somewhere nobody ever goes. Disney's California Adventure."

-Homer Simpson

The attendance at the sister park to Disneyland has never been stellar, but I think Disney finally figured out how to pack the place out. Simply close Disneyland at 4pm and force all the saps, er, patrons who spent $63 to get in to go over to California Adventure. That's what happened on Sunday.

I had a hankering for some Tomorrowland Pizza Port spaghetti (the best you'll find anywhere, by the way) so we thought we'd run over there to walk around a bit and grab some dinner. We have annual passes so the entrance price is irrelevant. As we were pulling into the parking garage the electronic sign proclaimed that Disneyland had been closed at 4pm (it was 5:30). The parking attendant told us that a big travel industry convention was going on and the park was closed early for that special event.

We went on into California Adventure, and for the first time in all the years I've gone there, it was jam packed. The walkways, which are usually pretty open and free-flowing, were moving like the Hollywood Freeway at rush hour. There were waits of 1-2 hours for some of the rides and every food place had a huge line. It must have been miserable for the tourists who paid so much to get in. We left after 90 minutes or so after taking the grand circle walk around the park. We didn't even try to eat since that would have taken forever.

I must admit, I prefer California Adventure the way it usually is - nice and quiet. It's a good refuge when the other park is crazy, and I imagine that's the way it will be the next time we're up there.