Last Weekend at Disney California Adventure: Radiator Springs Museum

Last Saturday morning was a beautiful sunny day in Anaheim, which was also a great excuse to get out and spend a few hours strolling around Disney California Adventure.

One of the attractions we enjoyed was the latest -- and apparently last -- exhibit at the park's Blue Sky Cellar, the Museum of the History of Radiator Springs:

We actually saw much of the exhibit in May, before it had received its new "Museum" name.

Below is the view of Radiator Springs from the Blue Sky Cellar patio. From this vantage point we used to have just a peek of Cars Land over a fence. It's wonderful to see the area so busy after the years of construction.

There's a fun plaque in the Museum from the Radiator Springs Historical Society:

Hmmm, these geysers didn't make it into the final version of Radiator Springs Racers:

The exhibit includes samples of everything from the faces on the tractors at Tow Mater's Junkyard Jamboree...

...to the record and jukebox artwork for Flo's Motorama Girls at Flo's V8 Cafe...

...to a model of Radiator Springs Racers:

In addition to rides on Radiator Spring Racers, Mater's, and the Little Mermaid, we spent a couple of hours simply walking around Cars Land and Buena Vista Street, carefully taking in all the interesting signs, windows, and tile work in anticipation of next month's MouseAdventure Road Trip game.

We ended the morning with our first-ever meal at the Paradise Garden Grill, where we tried the chicken and steak Mediterranean skewers.

The Moroccan Chili and Chimichurri sauces were good, as was the rice pilaf. The cucumber salad was refreshing on a warm day. I did think the pita bread was bland and would prefer a bread that's less spongy, with more flavor.

The meal provided more food than we could eat at lunchtime; a slightly smaller, less expensive meal would have been perfect. That said, I'd definitely eat there again, though I'd probably skip lunch that day and eat it at dinnertime!

Finally, one of my favorite colorful signs along Paradise Pier:

As always, I'm looking forward to visiting again soon! I'm hoping to see Disneyland's new Crowning Achievements exhibit on Disney Castles in the near future.