SPL's Blog

We had a marvelous 5 days @ Disneyland (that link is supposed to be a guest pass -- am trying embedding the guest pass in the blog post as a new strategy -- not sure if it will work though -- let me know!) in August.   SPL is 6 years old now and was both still into the characters and being together as a family and beginning to show his independence.  His favorite ride was the Splash Mountain (photo above)  We rode it many times, getting soaked during most of them (we hadn't thought to bring ponchos like many of our fellow visitors). John had to schedule a quick trip to NY before our vacation so we caught up with him in LA.  Here SPL and I are to SFO.  And here is (already absorbed in his iPod video :-) from John Wayne Airport.  (SPL couldn't be bothered -- too busy with his video).  He took to the hotel like a duck to water -- they had old time and we had to wait for it but we got the best seat in the house, looking out on Downtown Disney We had a blast riding all the rides -- many more than last year: the new Star Wars ride (we rode 3 times which was no small trick given the line was usually 1.5 hour+ long and the fast passes were completely given out by 9:30 am), , California Screamin' (the loop-to-loop upside down rollercoaster that blasts off at the beginning!), r and   We even tried Tower of Terror but it was neither a fave of SPL's nor of mine :-/. Here he is (after riding the King Arthur carousel :-)  And he loved Toon Town, especially visiting Donald Duck and Goofy's houses.  Here he is Another funny moment, waiting for the Disney parade we were sitting near a Chinese family who was speaking Mandarin.  Little did they know that the Caucasian boy nearby was   We ended up talking to them afterwards and telling them that SPL speaks Mandarin.  Here is one of my favorite photos too:   We also stayed out later this year as SPL had more stamina and we decided to stay at the Grand Californian so that made mid-day rests a bit easier.  We saw both the @ CA Adventure and (on a different night of course) the Disney show Fantasmic and fireworks' show.  Turned out we could hear and see some of the fireworks from our hotel too :-) SPL still loves the characters and this year we were able to meet many more: , , , and . SPL also loved the Jedi Training session though he refused to raise his hand to participate (ever the observer :-).  of the fun My three favorite moments though were these (in no particular order): 1) with other Disney Dads and the Mad Hatter, and 2) SPL riding solo for the first time on the Toon Town roller coaster, (like is mama, he loves the roller coasters :-), embracing the world.  And here's another (my vantage point :-) 3) seeing 2 sets of friends: our long time friends from high school, who were traveling from TX and who we knew would be @ Disney AND our local Menlo Park friends who we just randomly saw @ California Adventure :-). John wrote an insightful and poignant account on his blog too. Looking forward to next year's trip!