Aulani Waves and Disneyland Days: An Ohana Adventure - Day 15 Is this the lightning lane?

[bambikate]

Introduction and Index

Day 15 - Is this the lightning lane?
California Adventure, Starbucks breakfast, Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout, Flo’s V8 Cafe and Cozy Cone, back to the hotel, Disneyland Park, Haunted Mansion Holiday, Matterhorn Bobsleds, snacks and a monorail ride home.

We had a bit of a more of a laid back start to the day, we got ready then walked to California Adventure and made it to Starbucks for breakfast at about 10am. We had breakfast muffins, breakfast croissants, iced white mocha with hazelnut syrup, lattes and strawberry açai. As always it was delicious



Ready to start another fun day, we walked right around the corner to Soarin’ for another trip around the world.

Next, we went on Webslingers - it was so much fun again but we didn’t get as good a score as the day before.





Then we watched the Amazing Spiderman Stunt Show.

And then on the Guardians of the Galaxy Mission: Breakout!





We did a few more rides and had a browse around Cars Land before lunch then Izzy and I went to Flo’s V8 Cafe to get a burger and chips and an Oreo Milkshake and Andy and Immy went to Cozy Cone to get a Mac and cheese cone and a chilli cone.







We met up inside Flo’s V8 and ate it all at a table - it was all great.

Next, we walked round to Pixar Pier and had some pictures

and then went on Toy Story Midway Mania for a rematch. This time, the scores were 113,900, 172,100, 144,300 and 217,400 for Immy, me, Izzy and Andy, respectively.





Next, we went to the Coco area and watched the Mariachi Divas whilst we had some ice water to cool off.





Then, we walked through San Fransokyo square and towards the entrance then stopped at Clarabelle’s for a hand dipped ice cream.

I’m sure they used to have more choices than this but you could basically get a freshly dipped ice cream with milk or dark chocolate then top it with chocolate chips, Mickey confetti, sprinkles or peanuts. Andy and the girls had milk chocolate with chocolate and I had milk chocolate with peanuts. It was pretty good but it melted quickly and in hindsight it was a bit too big - we probably should have shared!







We left the park around 3:30pm and went back to our hotel to refresh, change and relax ready to head back to Disneyland for the evening at around 6pm.

Ready to go



The queue to get through security was huge but surprisingly it only took about 10 minutes to get through.

We tried to get the monorail into Disneyland Park so we could scan our tickets at the monorail station and start right inside the park but there was a delay and although we scanned and got to the platform they said for those at the back of the queue (like us) it would realistically be 30-45 minutes to get in to the park. It was only a 10-15 minute walk, so we decided to abandon the monorail idea and walk to the park instead.



We arrived at a terrible time though, right in the middle of the parade - it was carnage and we were squashed for ages trying to get through into the park.







Eventually, we made it through and we headed straight to Alien Pizza Planet for some dinner.

This time, the girls had a pepperoni pizza slice each and then shared some chicken Alfredo pasta with us and Andy and I shared a cheeseburger pizza slice





After this, we explored the parks at night and did a few rides. There was a great atmosphere - I love Disneyland at night.

[bambikate]

Look at this gorgeous tree!



Next, we got in line for Haunted Mansion Holiday. It was 1 September and the first day the ride had opened with the holiday overlay this year so it was BUSY.

We had Genie+ and had managed to get a lightning lane for it. We walked towards the entrance and the queues were like nothing you’ve ever seen. Assuming it was the standby line, we were about to ask a CM where the lightning lane started but someone in front of us asked the CM "Is this the lightning lane?" to which she said yes and directed them to the back of the line and said there would be a CM with a sign showing the end of the line.

If you know where Haunted Mansion is in DL imagine turning to the right then walk all the way to the bridge that leads into the next land - this is where the queue started… and then in snaked around the grounds of the mansion too. I can’t even imagine how long the standby line was.

We joined the line, it was a bit annoying it was so long but we really wanted to experience the Holiday overlay as it was closed for refurb in 2018.



Getting there!



The queue was moving pretty well, annoyingly people were cutting in line into the lightning lane before the scanning point - a few people told them where to go and to get to the back of the line. It was chaotic but when we got into the proper queue line there were no issues with cutting. We joined the line at 8:30pm and were in the stretching room by 9pm - not horrendous.













We all LOVED the ride it was so fun - really glad we were able to experience it.







Next, we walked to Galaxy’s Edge and went on Rise - we loved it again - even the queue experience is so much fun!





Loved this Coco display







We went to Fantasyland and rode a few more rides then bought some snacks - a Mickey pretzel, some popcorn and some churros - going for all the classics tonight!







Black crowned night heron carefully watching for spilled popcorn!



We watched the It’s a Small World light show whilst we had our snacks.



We decided we were ready to go home and caught the monorail from the Nemo area in the park - we loved the Disneyland monorails! So fancy compared to the WDW ones - but they didn’t say “por favor manténgase alejado de las puertas”









We left the park about 11pm and walked back to the hotel to chill and sleep!

[Zomax25]

What a lovely day. Love that photo of how much your girls have grown! Thanks for sharing.

[bambikate]

Originally Posted by Zomax25

What a lovely day. Love that photo of how much your girls have grown! Thanks for sharing.

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Thank you so much! I know, it's so nice to look back and compare! TFR

[Wonder]

Another brilliant day, reading your trip report is going to ultimately cost me a lot of money as it's really making me want to emulate your trip! 🤣

[fletchie148]

How have I missed this, so glad I’ve found them
What a great trip

[smithlane]

Another great day, it seemed a bit more relaxed which you all probably needed at this point in the holiday!