Fans Of The Dark Side

Months and months and months of listening to Ryder talk about getting to see and fight Darth Vader at Disneyland finally came to be.  Well, not the fighting part… turns out you have to be at least 4 to participate in the Jedi training.  So no fighting the dark side this trip.  Thankfully, getting to meet Darth Vader and everyone else was more than enough to satisfy him.  He was so so so excited to see the dark side!  Well, all except Darth Maul… that dude's make-up is legit and very freaky.  It didn't help that he growled at Ryder when he got close to him.  It was pretty much game over after that.  He got Darth Maul's autograph, but that was it… he would NOT go near him for a picture.  It was pretty funny.  The whole Star Wars meet and greet experience and getting to take him to watch the Jedi training made the trip for Eric and Ryder.

I love this picture… high top wearing Pocahontas using the force on one storm trooper while talking trash to the other.  Pretty sweet.

This was the moment that changed it all and forced Ryder to take about five steps backwards.

Disney Day Three: One Last Hoorah!

Our third and final day at Disneyland was spent riding all the rides we didn't get a chance to on day one and then re-riding or re-visiting anything that we absolutely loved and just had to do again.  We also caught the parade and a couple of shows that we didn't have time for on the first day.  Truth be told, we probably could have used a fourth day... that is just how much there is to do.  Not sure any of the adults would have been up for that though.  Three long days at an amusement park with the three kids was exhausting.  Totally worth it, but totally exhausting.  

Good thing we realized on the last day that we hadn't even taken a group photo... otherwise we wouldn't have this picture (which is one of my favorites).

We started the day off with a breakfast buffet (that got the boys' attention) with the characters (that got the girls' and kids' attention).  The food was awesome and the characters were all over the place.  I love that we just sit there and they come to us for play time and pictures.  No waiting in lines or fighting other parents for pictures and autographs.

We made sure to make it to the Jedi Knight Training show.  Savannah really really really wanted her daddy to see her participate in the show.  Thankfully she was chosen... seriously almost the last kid they picked to come up and train.  That would have been a bummer if she had to sit that one out and just watch.  As an added bonus, she got to fight Darth Vader this year.  Score!