We woke up in our RV park very excited. We got going and organized, connected with my sister so we could meet at the entrance and got our shuttle. The kids were so excited! My sister and her husband immediately got the kids lanyards for pin trading and autograph books for getting character autographs. And, we were off. We did the Matterhorn first. This was a good plan as Gage is often very nervous on rides. We didn’t really give him a choice — he elected to ride with Uncle Matt and loved it. Although, that might have been hard to tell since he got off the ride saying, “I’m going to throw up.” Greg and I knew he wouldn’t and was just exaggerating for effect but Uncle Matt looked a little nervous! It set the tone for the day though — Uncle Matty was the MAN! Every ride, between rides, walking around, eating lunch . . . it was all about Uncle Matty! We did Indiana Jones that day — great ride. We did the Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. The kids loved them all. We walked our feet off and had a great time. Jody and Matt treated us to dinner at the Blue Bayou and when we were finished . . . fireworks were just starting. Awesome! I have several stand-out memories of that day . . .
- Gage, after getting off Small World, says, “I hate that damn ride.” When we are all too shocked to respond, he says it again louder, “I hate that DAMN ride.” Everyone else walked off laughing so I had to explain to him that he couldn’t use that word — he was pretty embarrassed but it was SO funny!
- We watched the Parade of Memories and the Princess Float stopped right in front of us. Each and every Princess on the float found Ruthie in the crowd and blew her a kiss and waved at her. She was in HEAVEN! My sister and I had to put our sunglasses back on and wipe the tears away surreptitiously.
- In the Haunted Mansion, as you are waiting for the ride, you are taken into a room with no windows or doors, Vincent Price’s voice tells you that you have no way out except his way and the lights go out, there’s a clap of thunder and in the lightening, you look up and see a hanging body. Then the lights come back on. The look on the kids’ faces when that happened was priceless. Mouths open, eyes staring up. A total WOW moment!
Disneyland was wonderful. We got back to our motorhome around 10:30pm and CRASHED! Exhaustion! But tomorrow was another day . . .
PS. Gage’s hat was found safe and sound . . . it was in the classroom all along. Whew! It now has his name in it — just in case!
mother. wife. friend. teacher. writer. reader. photographer. birder. quilter. blogger.
Liza Lee Miller 
Awwww. Liza, it’s so sweet to see your children in Disney heaven. Your collage is great! Some of our best memories are at Disney in Orlando when Gina was 7. We went again when she was 18 and the little kid returned. We were all a bunch of kids. Love the rides! Spiderman is my favorite.
How fun! Disney is such a magical place, for kids (big and old alike!) and it is so special to hear about their reactions to it all. Glad the hat was found…whew indeed!
I was sure hoping you’d find Gage’s hat! What a wonderful time you all had. It’s neat that Gage has a special connection to his uncle. I would have teared up watching Ruthie too.
Looks like you had a fun trip. And, I will bet you have lots more photos to show!
Everyone looks like a happy camper in the pictures. I’m glad you all had so much fun; the kids are just the right age for it. I still have “It’s a Small World” music burned into my brain and it’s been 16 years…
Love the pictures and looks like you had a blast! Can’t wait to see how the other days went!