Home Again...

Well, we made it back home from our whirlwind trip to Disneyland... We did get to ride the submarines. I was a little nervous for Teenage Son- it was his favorite ride when he was 4 years old... Would the new ride live up to his memories?

It did, and everyone enjoyed the 15 minute ride...

The park wasn't too crowded so we were able to do most of our other favorites as well: Space Mountain, the Matterhorn, Astro Blasters, the Astro Orbiter, Star Tours, The Jungle Cruise, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean (twice!), Tom Sawyer's Island, Big Thunder Railroad, and the Tea Cups... Since we stayed at the DLand Hotel we went back for a couple hours in the afternoon to swim at the pool, returning at dinnertime when we rode the monorail to the park.

On our last trip to The Happiest Place on Earth, Young Son was bound and determined to be chosen as a participant in the "Jedi Training Academy" show in Tomorrowland. It's actually a pretty entertaining, 1/2 hour show where 30 kids are chosen from the audience, clothed in brown "padowan" robes and issued light sabers. After learning a training routine, stormtroopers appear and the kids must each battle Darth Maul or Darth Vader (of course "the Force is strong with these younglings" and they manage to drive back "the Dark Side" every show!). So anyway, when we were there in February- Young Son managed to get chosen the 2nd time we saw the show. Unfortunately, 1/2 way into the program it started to rain and they cancelled the show before he got to light-saber fight anyone! It was worse than if he hadn't been picked at all...

So after conquering the submarines- we went directly to the 10:30 show. Young Son did all he could to get picked- he was wearing his Jedi Training Academy T-shirt (he had planned ahead), he jumped up and down and stood right in front (we had taken notes in previous shows to see how kids got picked). Lo and behold, the inevitable happened- his sister got picked. Young Son was understandably crushed, but managed to be happy for Teenage Daughter by the time the show ended at 11:00. We decided to try one last time and got some lunch while waiting for the 11:30 show- Young Son was too nervous to eat and just drank a soda instead (more energy for jumping!). Lo and behold a miracle occurred- this time he was chosen (trust me it was a "Thank you, Jesus" moment)! This time, the show didn't end early and he got his chance to fight Darth Maul... As far as he was concerned, it was a dream come true.

So over all it was a good time, there was some drama as well with tired kids (and parents), but mostly we had fun. Do I think we were crazy to spend two days driving for one day in the park? Probably. Would I do it again? Maybe- just don't ask me for a couple weeks...