Disneyland 2015

Stop 5 on the road trip was Disneyland.. Well, it was supposed to be stop 1, but we moved things a bit last minute to travel early!

We have stopped counting how many times we have visited "the happiest place on earth"..

When you are that happy, you shouldn't count!

The highlight of this trip was that our kids

- were not in strollers 

- we did not have to chase after them or worry about them getting lost as they had cell phones with them

- they eat faster and by themselves

- they don't need to be accompanied to the rest rooms

- and they were bold enough to go on "single rider" passes to bypass the long lines. 

Granted, going as single riders kind of defets the "family" aspect of it, but hey.. we stay in the same line till the ride point.. then we split up into differnt cars and we are usually within one or two cars in each ride. Once inside the ride, it is all dark and dingy for the most part and you are screaming your head off.. except for the little one, who missed squeezing daddy's hand during the rides we were okay. 

We started off the day with the usual pictures at the entrance.. 

 moved through the park and did as many rides as we could. We did stand in line for 40 minutes to go "as a family" in Space Mountain .. so we could buy the photograph they click at the end. We are so familiar now that we pose for the camera on Space Mountain. 

We ran back and forths, got fast passes where we could, split up to do different things every now and then.. basically let the kids decide.

we watched two parades and parallel processed one parade while standing in line for "it's a small world"!

Then the kids decided to wait in line for 60 minutes in Toon town for a 60 second ride while San decided to stand in line for a little over an hour to get a picture with Mickey... for old times sake!

I was torn between the two and did neither. Just sat at the fountain and took pictures for passers by.. 

Selfie sticks are banned in Disney.. and it is so sad to watch 8 people try to fit into a selfie. Did my bit of social service while watching the kids inch their way to the top of the line for their ride. Lot of good karma in that one hour in Toon town!

The kids knew I was mad after their ride because the sun had set and daddy had told them that toontown looks amazing just before sunset as the colors come alive! after receiving a little lecture and promptly forgetting that lecture, we moved fast to exit the park.. at 6PM.. that was a first! 

Good Karma sometimes doesn't come back right away. I took the picture above of the kids, then went stood there and asked this lady to take a picture.. we got this back. For some reason, she decided to do her own thing.. we are happy that the family was in the frame!

then came the best part. As part of the package ticket, my darling wife had got us this pass for "dining with characters" at Goofy's kitchen in the Disney resort. The kids took a short break to dress up and we went for dinner.. 

we had the time of our life watching them be so happy!

You can see from the video that the highlight was Goofy's kitchen..

We had shared iPhone photos from Disney on FB.. Had to come home to get this one from the Canon.. This one is going to be framed.

Next time, we should just skip the park and stay at the resort (we have never done that) and just have breakfast, lunch and dinner with the characters.. more fun.. more smiles!

One weird thing on this trip.. There were no desis in sight in the park. We were joking that someone must have sent a memo to all desis telling them that 30th was a no Disney day or something and we missed the memo! We saw maybe 3 or 4 desi families in the park all day. 

All four of us had a great time, yet again!

Mickey... we see you!

The little one had her first glimpse of Mickey mouse two days ago. This is her first trip to Disneyland where she can remember things. The last time was when she was 1 1/2. Not exactly the perfect age to get hyped on the mouse.

This time she watched Mickey and we watched her and it was truly amazing to see the kid believe. She knows her parents are the real Santa, but thinks Mickey mouse is real!

We drove all Thursday to Anaheim with a quick stop at the Malibu temple.

Friday was spent at Disney from morning to night and it ended with the fireworks and an exhausted bunch of kids and adults. We spent Saturday visiting friends and drove back. Our drive back was interesting as we made 2.5 miles in one hour on I-5. It was raining and at one point folks started switching off their engines. The next exit was 6 miles away and we thought we were going to spend the night on I-5! Thankfully it started moving again and we got home a good 2 hours later than planned, but got home.

There are tons of pictures and many won't make it to the blog..

This last photo sums up the excitement.

It was great to go with friends and family to a place where "your dreams come true" and "you believe in magic" and you watch that sparkle in your five year old girls eye as she gets up and blows kisses at Mickey mouse when she can barely stand up after "walking the most in her whole world life" close to 10 in the night..

For our family thanksgiving is about being thankful..

to Eisenhower for coming up with a highway system that can get us from SFO to LA in 6 hours (okay 9 hours but we are still thankful)

to Toyota for making a van that makes it worthwhile and bearable to have two little kids and a mother in law who need a comfortable ride get there without them taking out all their anger at the driver

to friends and family who make the trip memorable and finally

to Walt Disney for having the vision to make our birthday long weekends fill up with fireworks in November!

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From one world to another

My mother was standing next to me on top of the steps at Sri Kumaran stores in Mylapore during the temple festival. As I videotaped the procession of the various gods on their vaahanams(props, if you will) and the gods rolled past us one by one, with a pit stop or two at shades built for the purpose, an elderly uncle asked me a very simple question:

"Ange Americala indha maadhiri edhavadhu unda?"
(In America, do you have anything similar to this?)

His tone was suggesting that I would make him proud by answering in the negative. Being born with a disease called "dontknowwhentoshutuposis" my reply was

"irukku mama. USA-layum indha maadhiri oru utsavam irukku!"
(yes uncle. even in the USA they have something like this!)

My mother saw the mischievous glint in my eyes and took me six feet away from said mama and asked,
Mom : "where in gods name was there a procession like this in the US of A?".
Me : Mousaandavar Kovil-la idhe maadhiri oru oorvalam irukkamma.. (in the mouseaandavar temple there is a procession just like this!)
Mom : Adhu endha Kovil? (what temple is that? I don't remember)
Me : Walt-aalvaar kattina Kovil! (the one that the devotee Walt built for the Mouse)

When I calmly told her that the Disney parade is the american version of the Kapali utsavam, she started laughing.

Had that been said that to my grandma, she would have said "siva sivaa", "enna piththukuli thanam" or something to that effect and hit me on the head with some blunt object. Mom on the other hand actually liked that logic, especially after my other comparisons.

In the utsavam, the vinayagar and nayanamars go first and peps up the crowd, much like the initial clowns and characters that walk in costume at the head of the disney parade.

Then of course come the vendors selling popcorn, cotton candy, little flourescent toys, etc. much like the kaathadi, bangle and pori kadalai sellers who have a three minute time window, to use the artificial sense of emergency to make a quick buck.

This is then followed by the band (naayanam) and the floats with the stars of the parade. Different gods, different props. The priests hand over sacred ash, vermillion and fruits and flowers to the crowd much like the cartoon characters sprinkle glitter around. The disney parade is on motorized floats while the Kapali floats are carried by people and that seems to be the only difference.

People who have a zillion gods and godesses can have the luxury of selecting the parade favorites. If not, you have to go for funny ducks and adorable mice!

Mylapore -> Los Angeles
Vinayagar -> Pluto
Chandikeswarar -> Goofy
Karthikeya -> Donald duck
Kapali and his -> Mickey mouse and his
consort Karpagambal -> consort Minnie Mouse

It is almost one for one! Mickey mouse brings up the grand finale in LA while Kapali's entry back into the temple closes the parade in Mylapore. One has got to wonder if Walt Disney was a mylapore resident at some point.

When you accept the Dinsey Utsavam to be a replica of Kapaliworld, you are truly on your way to bliss!

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