The Happiest Place on Earth
Disneyland. After eighteen years of avoiding the place, we finally succumbed. I can now remove this one item off of the list of items “one must do” as a parent. We rode all of the classics: Space Mountain, Dumbo, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Much to our dismay, our five-minute ride on “It’s A Small World” turned into a painful thirty minutes. Wow. That was seriously traumatic. If Obama needs another Guantanamo I strongly suggest strapping prisoners to a boat and making them listen to that awful song over and over again. I give them forty minutes until breaking. Mission accomplished!
Although we were on “vacation” our Smart Home was busy working. Before we left we put the home on “vacation mode status.” This setting simulates an occupied house (lights turn on and off as if we are home, etc.) thermostats are off and all security cameras are on and accessible remotely. We left for our vacation in confidence that our home was safe and secure.
Once at Disneyland our Smart Home continued to work diligently for us.
While in line to ride the “Indiana Jones Adventure” I used my iPhone to check on our home. I accessed the outdoor cameras that pan our front driveway and porch using an application on my iPhone. While viewing the real-time pictures, I noticed a package sitting on our doormat. Since we were not expected home for a few more days I sent my neighbor a text and asked her to pick up the package and to keep it safe upon our return.
While in line for the Autopia ride we remembered that we forgot to record our friend’s BBC America show premiere, “No Kitchen Required.”
With the speed of lightning my husband whipped out his phone, found the Disneyland Wi-Fi network, and turned his iPhone into a command center for our TiVo DVR. In 30 seconds he located Kayne’s show by channel, date and time and set our Season Pass to record the program. Unbelievable. Equally unbelievable included the twenty dollars I spent for bottled water and two ice cream cones, but I digress….
While in line to catch the shuttle back to the airport my husband, again via his iPhone, put our home back on “the normal mode” setting. As we drove to the airport our home busily prepared for our arrival. With our thermostats turned on, lights and home electronics initiated to their regular mode of operation, and the children’s morning wake-up alarm activated, our home welcomed us back with open arms from our journey. In my comfortable, line and crowd free haven I felt grateful to return to truly the happiest place on earth –our home.