Magic Morning

Or at least that's what they call it when you have a pass to enter the park one hour before the official opening time. We thought it would be a good idea to use this jumpstart to go on those rides that usually have the longest lines... which meant: the Finding Nemo Submarines. It was pretty neat and it was nice to have done it, but it was not a ride that the kids really cared about going back on.



So I don't know why I uploaded two pictures of it.



The kids' favorite rides in Disneyland were Buzz Light Year Astro Blasters, Astro Orbitor, Dumbo, and It's a Small World. They also enjoyed playing around the Pirates Lair on Tom Sawyer Island.



Here is a picture of us on the Jungle River Cruise which was a great ride for the family. The kids were enthralled and the adults enjoyed the tourguide's funny commentary. You can see that it was red shirt day, as chosen by Ella.



I have a lot of photos of the Jedi Training Academy because it was a real highlight for us. At the start of the show, some real live Jedis come on stage and choose children from the audience to be trained as padawans. Mason was a little too shy to put up his hand and even Ella wasn't too sure, but to our surprise, Tyson was chosen to go up and don the brown robe. The Jedi master was hilarious and really great with the kids as he instructed them in the use of their training light sabers. We were all cheering for Tyson, even though he was always a few steps behind the other students and required assistance each time the command to "activate" their light sabers was given.

Suddenly, the Jedi Master sensed a disturbance in the force and quickly gathered the children together just as two Storm Troopers showed up. Next, the entire stage began to lift up from the ground, revealing Darth Vader himself rising out of the smoke.



Darth Maul also appeared from somewhere but I didn't get a picture of him on this visit because I was a little intimidated by him.




The children formed two lines and each took a turn battling either Vader or Maul with their newly-learned skills. We felt a lot of suspence when Tyson walked up to face his adversary. He appeared to be as surprised as us when his light saber actually extended on the activate command.



Look at this next picture and try to imagine the invisible mental battle that is going on as a Jedi Master and Sith Lord each try to sway Tyson to their cause. Of course, Tyson had already made that decision before he was ever placed in the situation to choose. He surprised Vader with a few moves that hadn't actually been taught and returned to his group victorious. As he did, the Jedi remarked, "not bad for someone who just barely learned to walk".



Vader made one last appeal to the chilren to join him "and know limitless power", but they answered him by activating all their light sabers at the same time. The bad guys left and the padawans were presented to the audience and given their Jedi diplomas. I don't think I've ever been so proud of Tyson (uh, ignore the usafe saber handling you see. He would never do that with a real one.)



This last photo is kind of embarrasing. Here we are riding in a limo to a time-share presentation. A recruiter stopped me on the street while I was looking for icecream after we had finished in the park. The kids watched movies while Heather and I listened to the pitch. We got paid $130 for our time, but I still wouldn't do it again. It was high pressure and the salespeople looked at me like I had a third eye when I tried to explain that if I ended up buying real eastate, when I was really shopping for icecream, it would consitute a record-breaking impulse purchase - something that I have been trying to cut down on. I know that lots of people go to those presentations to get the free stuff - and it did allow us to splurge a bit more on treats and toys for the kids - but it's not for me. Back at the hotel, I apologized to everyone for the two hours of our lives that were lost.




- C