It's a sequel, of sorts, as the beans bring you the story of the rest of their day at DCA!

Welcome back, Callies and Angelinos, to Disney's California Adventure theme park! In part I of our journey, the beans took you back to the Paradise Pier section of the park, but this time around they wanted to show you around the Grizzly Peak Recreation Area, which is themed like the beautiful forests of northern California. Of course, there's no camping back here, and s'more or no s'mores aside, don't even think about starting a campfire. (Take it from the beans: a scolding from Smokey the Bear has nothing on an angry Mickey staredown.)

Anyway, the featured attraction in this part of the park is Grizzly River Run (GRR - get it?), which takes an all-new spin on the classic river flume ride. Guests are loaded into 8-person rafts, and then are gently plunged into a raging river, where the odds of you remaining dry are about the same as the odds of the beans winning an Oscar anytime soon (i.e.: fat chance!). Anyway, since it'd be rude to not try the river rapids for themselves, the beans bravely strapped themselves into their raft and held on for dear life. And you'll be pleased to know that our beans didn't drown. Sure, they may have looked silly at the time, but the frijoles swear that the snorkel made all the difference in the world.

After toweling off the Yucky Ride Water from the river ride, the beans made their way over to Condor Flats, which honors all of the test pilots who risked life, limb, and dented bean cans by trying out the latest in flying machines. The beans have to hand it to these guys - the last thing they want to do is fly 35,000 feet in the air in something someone described as "experimental". I mean, does anything good ever come from the sentence "Let's take this baby a mile up and see if she holds together"? If it's all the same to you, the beans will keep their can on the ground and wait until all of the bugs have been worked out. Plus, that way they might be first in line for a first class upgrade.

But the most popular ride in Condor Flats (and quite possibly in the entire park) is this one: Soarin' Over California. The ride is simple enough in it's concept, but its effect is pulled off spectacularly. 87 people climb into 3 rows of seatbelted seats that look suspiciously a lot like hang gliders, and they're raised into the air where a really cool IMAX-style big screen movie shows. The feeling of actually soaring in a hang glider over California scenes is incredible - you fly over orange groves, the Pacific ocean, a Palm Springs golf course, the Sierra mountains, and other landmarks. It's well worth the wait in line, and best of all? No parachute required. Our frijoles really like this ride (gee, can you tell?), and would really like a "Soarin' Over Frijoles" attraction in their honor. Who do we talk to about that?

Hungry after all that river paddling and hang gliding, the beans went back to the Pacific Wharf section, which is home to some really tasty San Francisco-style lunches. (Sorry - no Rice a Roni.) It's here you can try genuine Boudin Bakery sourdough bread, fresh Mission tortillas, and a bowl of clam chowder so good that it makes you swear you're in the Bay Area. Alas - we didn't see any black beans on the menu anywhere, but we're working on that. The beans have a large envelope of "cash and prizes" ready and willing to distribute as needed. Hey - some people call it a bribe; others call it a worthless trinket given out in a futile attempt to lobby local chefs. Your call. Anyway, the beans really enjoyed noshing their way around the Pacific Wharf, and are glad to tell you that not one pelican or pigeon harassed them during their meal. Those giant bug zappers must be doing the trick...

But we're only kidding about their being oversized bug zappers here - why, insects are actually encouraged to invade DCA, and they're twice as welcome to come here, to A Bug's Land. Dedicated to the stars of the Disney/Pixar film "A Bug's Life", Bug's Land lets you shrink down to ant-size to experience some really tiny rides. The entrance to Bug's Land is an empty box of Cowboy Crunchies cereal, the street lamps look like fireflies, the bumper cars are shaped like pill bugs, and the park benches are made of used Popsicle sticks. See? They're resourceful and ecology conscious at the same time! And how do we reward them? DDT. The beans recommend that you keep that in mind the next time you reach for the can of Raid -- that nasty little cockroach you're about to snuff out might be designing the next Eiffel Tower made out of used toothpicks.

Finally, the beans drop by the Hollywood Pictures Backlot, which lets you experience the Hollywood lifestyle, only without the winos and hookers. The backlot is home to Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!, a dark ride dedicated to Boo's nighttime pals, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, which give you yet another opportunity to turn prematurely gray, and the Hyperion Theater, which is home to Disney's Aladdin Musical Spectacular. It's here that you too can experience the highly condensed story of Aladdin, Jasmine, and the blue ("Don't call me Smurf!") Genie in a speedy 45 minutes. The beans have always wanted the Genie to grant them three wishes, although they'd probably blow them on candy, ice cream, and really good Van Halen seats. Anyway, the beans had a marvelous time at Disney's California Adventure, and they hope you can make a stop by the next time you're in the Golden State. The beans will be here waiting for you, hoping that you're nice, friendly, and are packing an extra park hopper pass...