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Old 18 Nov 18, 08:35 PM  
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Pumba75
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4 go La La in La La Land - Day 15: It's the time of your life, so live it well

Wednesday 15th August 2018


After a couple of days away, it was time to get our Disney Park pants on again today. We had two days left on our park passes, and today we were heading back into California Adventure - as much as we were looking forward to it, we were also beginning to become acutely aware that our own Californian Adventure was entering it’s final few days.

We decided on a light breakfast today, as we were looking forward to the lunch we had booked at Lamplight Lounge and didn’t want to spoil it! We paid another visit to La Brea Bakery in Downtown Disney, where we shared a fruit cup and a yoghurt parfait, and then entered the park about 9.15am.




First stop was to get a fastpass for Soarin’. We then wandered round to Pixar Pier. Whilst the girls were deciding what to ride, Melissa decided she “needed” another breakfast! She had wanted to try the “Pixar Pier Frosty Parfait” (basically, an ice cream), but when we had been here on her birthday, the queue had been too long - now it was very short, so she felt she should get one (of course the queue was short, it was 9.30 in the morning - I mean who, apart from Melissa, eats ice cream at 9.30am?! ).

Melissa went off to buy one and the girls went to ride Goofy’s Sky School.




Once that had been done, and ice cream was eaten (Melissa said she really enjoyed it - light and refreshing and reminded her of a dole whip) Melissa and M then rode the Golden Zephyr. Ride connoisseur that she is, M described this as “average”! Not impressed then!

After years of Fastpass Plus in FL, we’d finally got our heads back into how to maximise the legacy FP system and, as our window for Soarin’ was now open, decided to go and nab ourselves one for Guardians of the Galaxy on the way there. Having got the fastpasses, the girls then decided they also needed a second breakfast, and picked up a churro from one of the carts on the way. They both enjoyed it - I have a feeling I may have lost out in the snack stakes this morning……




We arrived at Soarin’ to find that only one theatre was open. The standby queue was at 110 mins, and the fastpass line stretched back out of the ride building into the main park thoroughfare, which was a little annoying. We ended up queueing for 40 mins, but were pleased to find the pre-ride video still featured the legend that is Patrick - Nice work Pal! I just love this ride and there was very little difference (if any?) to the FL version. I’m glad that we also got to ride it in California.




Soarin’ done, it was time to head off to Guardians of the Galaxy. Melissa and the girls rode this and loved it - great theming and and a totally different experience to TOT in Hollywood Studios.




By now, it was nearly time for our lunch reservation at Lamplight Lounge. I was quite peckish, which was understandable, given that I was a breakfast down on everyone else!

When we had been planning the holiday, and looking at the food options, we had read a lot about the Lobster Nachos at The Cove Bar, and they looked awesome. Not long after that it was announced that The Cove Bar was shutting and being replaced by Lamplight Lounge as part of the Pixar Pier re-theming. When Lamplight Lounge “re”-opened, we were glad to see the nachos were still on the menu and booked a lunch there. There are two areas in Lamplight Lounge - upstairs, which is a bar area serving small plates, and downstairs, the table service restaurant serving the more substantial meals. The Lobster Nachos are on the small plate menu in the upstairs area, so that is where we had booked.



Again, we loved all the attention to detail.








We were shown to our table outside and set about ordering our drinks and food. M ordered one of the kid’s “mocktails” which looked quite impressive bubbling away when it arrived.




This was our view.




Then the girls started taking photos just like their Mum!




We ordered the Lobster Nachos and Potato Skins to share - they were really really good. Very tasty, and I suspect we could have happily eaten another portion of each!






After lunch we took a slow stroll round to Pixar Pier so the girls could ride Incredicoaster again, and, again, used the single rider queue.




We decided now was the time for our afternoon siesta, and headed out of the park, walking through Cars Land on the way, as we wanted to see the fastpass return time for Radiator Springs Racers. It was already showing a return time of later in the evening, so we picked some up for later on. As we headed out of the park we saw Mickey just wandering around in the street, and then Oswald was doing a meet and greet near the entrance, so the girls queued to meet him. We loved the way the character meets seemed to have a much more relaxed feel about them here - there were numerous times we had come across characters just wandering about and it was really nice.








After resting at the hotel for a couple of hours, we left around 4.30pm to grab some food and then head back into the park. Prior to arriving here, we had discussed going to Blaze Pizza - we’d read a lot of good things about this in Disney Springs, and discovered there was one right across the road from Hotel Indigo. However, on our route from the Hotel to the Disney parks, was another similar place called The Pizza Press, and this seemed to have even better reviews, so we decided to go here instead. The concept was the same as Blaze - you pay a fixed price for your pizza ($10.25) then pick as many toppings as you wanted and they then cook it for you. We were only sharing a couple between us, so it worked out a really good value meal, and it was great. The Pizza’s were lovely. Honestly, if we’d eaten here earlier in our stay, we could probably have gone back every day!




We re-entered California Adventure around 5.30pm and headed for the “UP Wall” for some photos after the queue a couple of days ago had been long.

From here we headed across to Grizzly River Rapids for the girls to ride, whilst Melissa and I took up a position on one of the bridges to watch (laugh?!) at everyone getting soaked as they came passed!




We then headed back into Pixar Pier for another ride on Incredicoaster, but it was down, so we decided to try the Big Wheel as we’d not managed it on Saturday. The queue was better this time, and we opted for the “non-swinging” carriages - there was absolutely no way I was getting on one of the swinging ones! It was a pleasant ride, and we took a few photos at the top, but unfortunately the bars got in the way - oops!



Another attempt!




We spent a bit more time walking around Pixar Pier.






Then, amazingly, we decided on more food - dessert this time, from Clarabelle’s. It’s only as I write this that I realise that Melissa had already had dessert today! We shared a Choc Chip Cookie and Hot Fudge Sundae between us - it was served in one of the “mini” Kitchen Sink containers and was delicious.




The sun was beginning to set now, and we headed off for our fastpass on Radiator Springs Racers. We were really pleased to have got these earlier as we’d all enjoyed this ride on Saturday and wanted to ride again all together, rather than via the single rider queue. It seemed faster this evening, with the light fading as we rode. This was definitely my favourite ride of the holiday, and would definitely be a great addition in FL one day (Hint hint! ).






We explored the rest of Cars land, and it just seemed to come alive at night.






It was getting late in the day now, and Melissa and the girls fancied just one last go on Incredicoaster, so off we went back to Pixar Pier. Happy times.




They met an American family in the queue, so that passed the time quite quickly as it was busy now. We took one last look at Pixar Pier at night, and then the girls really wanted to ride Guardians of the Galaxy again.




The standby queue was around 50 mins, but this was our last time in the park, so figured they should just go for it.




Melissa and I had the bright idea that whilst they were queueing, we would go and get a drink from the Carthay Circle lounge - she really wanted another Pimms Punch, but we then discovered it had literally just closed. Very annoying! As it was, we waited around the exit area of the ride and were able to watch some of the parade whilst waiting for the girls.




When they came off the ride, we started to head out of the park. The parade was still going on, so all the street lighting was down, and I managed to completely miss my footing on a kerb, and fell over. A cast member was quickly on the scene, and I was fine, apart from me feeling like a complete lemon!

We made our exit and headed back to the hotel, and all headed to bed.

We had LOVED California Adventure. Possibly one of our favourite parks. In our two days here we had achieved everything we wanted, and absolutely loved the theming. Incredicoaster had been a hit with Melissa and the girls, and I had loved Radiator Springs Racers. We’d had a couple of brilliant meals here too. Wouldn't have changed anything.

Lots of very happy memories made.

Thanks for reading.


Tomorrow: Disneyland Park again

Edited at 08:24 AM.
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Old 18 Nov 18, 09:17 PM  
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What a fantastic park California Adventure is! Also, excellent snacking today

Great day, apart from your stumble

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Old 19 Nov 18, 12:43 PM  
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Loving your report, thank you

We are staying at the same hotel in February so it's nice to see where is close by to eat and recommended!
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Old 20 Nov 18, 06:12 PM  
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Some great snacking there and the pizzas look lovely
Sounds like you did well with rides too
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Old 23 Nov 18, 10:10 PM  
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Another great day, those Pizzas look fantastic.

Loving the report.
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Old 23 Nov 18, 11:33 PM  
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If it weren't for the pesky fruit cup then ice cream would have been the first and the last thing eaten, Perfect for holidays! It really sounds like a lovely day. You did really well with the fast pass even with the long wait for Soarin.
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Old 24 Nov 18, 10:24 PM  
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Originally Posted by slow.jo View Post
What a fantastic park California Adventure is! Also, excellent snacking today

Great day, apart from your stumble

Jo x
It is a great Park - I think, if I was forced to pick between the two parks, then I'd go to DCA.

Originally Posted by penguin19 View Post
Loving your report, thank you

We are staying at the same hotel in February so it's nice to see where is close by to eat and recommended!
Pizza Press is all you need!

Originally Posted by i love jack View Post
Some great snacking there and the pizzas look lovely
Sounds like you did well with rides too
The Pizza's were awesome

Originally Posted by emmabanana View Post
Another great day, those Pizzas look fantastic.

Loving the report.
Thanks, it was a great day.

Originally Posted by Goldia View Post
If it weren't for the pesky fruit cup then ice cream would have been the first and the last thing eaten, Perfect for holidays! It really sounds like a lovely day. You did really well with the fast pass even with the long wait for Soarin.
Ha, yes, I hadn't noticed that about the ice cream

Thanks for reading all!
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Old 24 Dec 18, 06:45 PM  
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Cars Land looks fun.

Ps ice cream for breakfast is totally acceptable on holiday I think!
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Old 2 Jan 19, 11:02 PM  
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Originally Posted by mrsdjh View Post
Cars Land looks fun.

Ps ice cream for breakfast is totally acceptable on holiday I think!
It was delicious!

M x
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Old 7 Feb 19, 05:08 PM  
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I'm making note of that pizza place they looked so good! In fact all your food looked so yummy.

California Adventure looks amazing!

Thanks for another fab installment x

Edited at 06:10 PM.
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