Disneyland - the final chapter

I have one last funny story from Disneyland. We were on Pirate Island (aka Tom Sawyer Island) and it was closing down. As they cleared each part of the island, they had a man dressed as a pirate block the path and make sure that nobody went back to the area they had cleared. I was taking picture of Kim, Haylie and Leilani, and Mom was following Benjamin who was running around. When we caught up to them, Benjamin was crouched down like a football lineman eyeing this man who was blocking the path back into the island. I asked Mom what in the world he was doing, and she said she had told him to "go get the pirate." So I went around him to try and get a picture of how funny he looked - just like he was sizing this guy up and deciding if he could take him down.

Before I could get the picture, Benjamin launched himself at the poor man and slugged him. I caught him in mid swing with this picture.
Needless to say, I apologized profusely to the man and chastized Grandma for teaching him such a thing! (while trying not to laugh my head off) The "pirate" and my son made up and gave each other a high five before they parted ways.

This was the only cast member that Benjamin assaulted, and I blame it on Grandma. Otherwise he was very nice to everyone - except for some reason he didn't like Pocahontas. And the cast members were a blessing to me! Benjamin ran off several times the minute my attention was distracted (although most of the time he was well behaved.), and every time I asked "Does anyone know where Benjamin is?" a cast member would answer me. They kept their eyes on him better than I did sometimes. In fact, one time he ran out of the building where we were having a meet and greet with characters, and when I started to look for him the girl said, "don't worry, so and so has him playing out front." I was very grateful!

Here is the "mini"slideshow of our trip. The full length one was much too big to load on blogger, LOL!

Disneyland - part 3 - misc

They have a great thing at Disneyland called Photopass, which I would recommend to everyone who goes there. They have photographers around the park who will take your picture in front of everything and with anyone. It doesn't cost anything to get the pictures taken and you are not under any obligation to buy anything. They give you a card, and you just give it to the photographer each time you get your picture taken and they scan the pictures to your card. You can view your pictures at stores in the park and/or when you get home. This alleviates so much stress for us. It is so much easier to worry about getting the kids to pose for the picture and having someone else take it than it is to try and get them to pose and take the picture yourself. Don't get me wrong, we bring our own cameras too, but we let the Disney photographers take the pictures whenever we can. They have a great deal where you can buy a cd with all your pictures (unlimited amounts - we actaully ended up with 2 cd's and over 500 pictures each trip) and the copyrights for $59.95. You can combine photo cards, which we did last October with my extended family and did again on this girls trip. You get totally different treatment from the photographers if you tell them you are going to buy the cd. They take so many more pictures (probably because they know their time isn't being wasted) and you get such great candid shots. It tells the whole story that way. For instance, we have a picture here of Benjamin refusing to see Pocahontas...
and then one of his sister making him stand there for a picture.
Normally they just would have waited for the pose, clicked and been done.

We were able to get one free 5x7 each day because we have Disney visa cards. (An $11.00 value each time. Well worth applying for a Disney visa. You also get an exclusive Character Meet and Greet just for your family each day and a discount on purchases over $50.00 - including the photo cd) On Saturday when I came in to the store to pick out my free picture for the day, the girl showed me this picture of Benjamin that they had printed out. She said that they thought it was so cute that they had picked it to use as a demo picture. When we left I asked Kim, "Don't they have to get my permission to use my kid in a picture or something?" She said she thought they owned the copyright until I purchased the picture from them. Who knows? I didn't mind, I just thought it was weird to have people show me a picture of my son that I hadn't even ever seen before. I was very flattered that they thought my son was so cute, though!
Later that day we saw Dopey the Dwarf when we came out of the exhibit they have celebrating the 7oth anniversary of Snow White. Benjamin posed for a picture with Dopey.

Then, while everyone else was getting pictures with Dopey, Benjamin ran around behind the cottage and was peeking out and teasing everybody.
So, Dopey crawled inside the cottage and took Benjamin by the hand and then led him out and posed for another picture with him. I imagine people really hated to be in line behind us on this trip. In fact, it got to the point that Kim told me that she and Haylie were going to start going before us to see the characters, because we took too much time and Haylie wasn't as cute by the time it was her turn. But, it did turn out better to have Benjamin go first, because Haylie would copy him and not be as shy when she saw Ben doing something.

Disneyland - part 2 - Jedi Training Academy

We love the Jedi Training Academy show at Disneyland. Emilyanne and Leilani were able to do it last October when we were at Disneyland (Elisabeth could have, but she didn't want to), and Leilani was able to do it again this trip. She didn't get picked the first time we tried. You have to wear something that makes you stick out, and she took off her pirate mouse ears and was just wearing normal clothes. The second time she wore the Tinkerbell outfit and the gold mouse ears that she was wearing last trip when she got picked, and it worked again. I am actually glad she didn't get picked the first time, because I like the Jedi master that does this show (he is the same one we had last fall) better than the one that was hosting the first show we went to.

I started to video the show and her getting picked (it is too large a file to load here), and my mom's battery started to die. So we put in her back up battery.
This video clip shows the kids being taught to use a light saber. Unfortunately my mom's spare battery was dead too, so the camera died as I was videoing.

My sister Kim used her camera to video the rest of the show, since my battery was dead. I am very thankful she did, or we wouldn't have all this footage. Please excuse her videoing skills, though. Apparently she didn't realize that if you turn the camera, the picture will be turned too. The clips are short, because she kept taking her finger off the record button. But we love her!
This video clip shows Leilani using her lightsaber and then running off stage when they feel a disturbance in the force.
This video clip shows Darth Vader arriving, and then Darth Maul.
This video clip shows Darth Vader starting to fight the kids.
This is Leilani fighting Darth Maul, but Kim forgot to zoom in before she recorded and couldn't figure out how to do it once she started recording :)


Yeah, Kim held the camera normal this time! This clip shows the voice of Yoda instructing the jedi on how to defeat the dark side and then the jedi mind trick being played on the storm troopers. Then they graduate. It is a fun show. I wish I could do it. In fact, I'd like to go to Disneyland and get a job as one of the jedi masters! (My mom and sister told me I was weird when I told them that :) Can you believe it?)