We drove from Utah to California and surprised Raymond
and his little brother, Henry, last Tuesday evening. We had come to town to take Raymond and his family to Disneyland for his birthday!
Apparently the weather man had not been made aware of our plans and he surprised us with a very rainy day. We made our first stop a souvenir shop where we purchased rain ponchos with the Disney logo and a Disneyland price tag. It was a wise move as it rained non-stop until about 4:30 in the afternoon. I didn't pull my camera out until we were under cover at what was supposed to be Jedi Knight training but became a meet and greet.
The Star Wars characters emerged from dry quarters and then lined up for personal conversation and picture taking. Did I mention that Raymond loves Star Wars (just like his uncles did/do) and that Star Tours and these moments were the highlights of his day?
Andrew is tall so Darth Vadar must be really tall or wearing elevator shoes.
See that button on Ray's shirt? I think that every Disneyland worker we came in contact with wished him a "Happy Birthday!" Gentleman that he is, he replied, "Thank you," every time.
Raymond wants to be a Jedi Knight when he grows up.
The carousal was also under cover.
Some rides were closed due to the rainy weather, but there was indeed a silver lining in those rain clouds. No lines! We basically walked on to every ride and we counted almost 20 rides experienced on the way home. Hate lines? Watch the weather, carry a rain poncho, and find some rubber boots.
This was about the time the rain finally stopped.
I took a picture of the rainbow that soon appeared, but unfortunately it doesn't show up.
We went to 'Toon Town to visit with Mickey Mouse at his house. Did you know that Disney characters stay inside during rainy weather? Not a fairy in sight. Good thing that this was a "boy" trip.
Mickey Mouse is a pretty short guy. Raymond is a very tall six year old, but they are still practically eye to eye.
The boys tried out Mickey's car.
Their mom snapped away. For more pictures of our day (she brought her waterproof camera) go
here.
Grandpa took the grand sons on board.
They honked the horn and checked out the view.
Disneyland was all decked out for Halloween. The Haunted House was made over as "The Nightmare before Christmas."
Notice the blue skies and sun glinting off the castle in the distance as the sun goes down.
I loved all the orange and yellow. It made me almost want to go back at Christmas time to see the decor.
It was after six and time to head back to California Adventure, which wasn't decorated for Halloween.
But it did have a new Little Mermaid ride and cotton candy for the birthday boy.
We waited on the bridge for the music, light, and water show to begin in the lagoon.
It would be Mickey's grand finale for the day.
And it was pretty spectacular. This was one of my first and last shots. I knew my camera just couldn't do it justice. You will have to make a trip to California to see it for yourself.
We drove from Utah to California and surprised Raymond
and his little brother, Henry, last Tuesday evening. We had come to town to take Raymond and his family to Disneyland for his birthday!
Apparently the weather man had not been made aware of our plans and he surprised us with a very rainy day. We made our first stop a souvenir shop where we purchased rain ponchos with the Disney logo and a Disneyland price tag. It was a wise move as it rained non-stop until about 4:30 in the afternoon. I didn't pull my camera out until we were under cover at what was supposed to be Jedi Knight training but became a meet and greet.
The Star Wars characters emerged from dry quarters and then lined up for personal conversation and picture taking. Did I mention that Raymond loves Star Wars (just like his uncles did/do) and that Star Tours and these moments were the highlights of his day?
Andrew is tall so Darth Vadar must be really tall or wearing elevator shoes.
See that button on Ray's shirt? I think that every Disneyland worker we came in contact with wished him a "Happy Birthday!" Gentleman that he is, he replied, "Thank you," every time.
Raymond wants to be a Jedi Knight when he grows up.
The carousal was also under cover.
Some rides were closed due to the rainy weather, but there was indeed a silver lining in those rain clouds. No lines! We basically walked on to every ride and we counted almost 20 rides experienced on the way home. Hate lines? Watch the weather, carry a rain poncho, and find some rubber boots.
This was about the time the rain finally stopped.
I took a picture of the rainbow that soon appeared, but unfortunately it doesn't show up.
We went to 'Toon Town to visit with Mickey Mouse at his house. Did you know that Disney characters stay inside during rainy weather? Not a fairy in sight. Good thing that this was a "boy" trip.
Mickey Mouse is a pretty short guy. Raymond is a very tall six year old, but they are still practically eye to eye.
The boys tried out Mickey's car.
Their mom snapped away. For more pictures of our day (she brought her waterproof camera) go here.
Grandpa took the grand sons on board.
They honked the horn and checked out the view.
Disneyland was all decked out for Halloween. The Haunted House was made over as "The Nightmare before Christmas."
Notice the blue skies and sun glinting off the castle in the distance as the sun goes down.
I loved all the orange and yellow. It made me almost want to go back at Christmas time to see the decor.
It was after six and time to head back to California Adventure, which wasn't decorated for Halloween.
But it did have a new Little Mermaid ride and cotton candy for the birthday boy.
We waited on the bridge for the music, light, and water show to begin in the lagoon.
It would be Mickey's grand finale for the day.
And it was pretty spectacular. This was one of my first and last shots. I knew my camera just couldn't do it justice. You will have to make a trip to California to see it for yourself.
Thanks mom, it turned out to be a pretty special day, rain and all. The boys are still talking about it. Looks like Henry will celebrate his 4th birthday in CT, we fly in the day before. He shares his birthday with his cousin Campbell, so it should be fun. Love you and loved your visit!
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