One of the very first rides we went on was California Screaming. Evelyn hadn't ridden it yet--she was just tall enough to--she was excited to try it because I had told her it was like riding a dragon. She showed absolutely no nervousness the entire time we waited in line and skipped onto the ride with a smile. But as soon as it "Zoomed"--in her words, she screamed, "I HATE THIS RIDE!!!!" over and over until the ride was over. Then she cried for 20 minutes. Poor crushed dreams.
We spent a lot of time doing Piratey things, standing in line, me trying not to run over anyone on my scooter (people love to cut off motorized wheelchairs...I don't know why! I don't have brakes, people!!!). We watched the parades, the fireworks (which were extremely disappointing after the 50th anniversary one) and Fantasmic. We traded pins--mostly on Friday because the pins were all boring the rest of the week. We ate churros, a turkey leg, gumbo, Ghiradellies, and went to Tortilla Joes 3 times. We gave Evelyn glow sticks to wear and pass out at her leisure at night, and Marde Gras beads in the day. She made quite a few friends that way, and found courage to go on quite a few rides that used to intimidate her. We played twenty questions with Disney characters. We came up with a Disneyland Scavenger hunt while riding Pirates for the 12th time. It was a great vacation.
Here's my picture diary:
This was Evelyn's original feelings about Thunder Mountain, but as soon as she got off the ride she yelled, "LET'S GO AGAIN!" She did this every time we rode it. It is her new favorite ride, even though she can't remember its name.
Evelyn was hesitant to get up and participate in the street performances, so Michael got up with her. He was the only adult who did, but it didn't stop him for playing around with the green army men and kids.
But when they had him salute, he was really the only one up there who looked like he knew what he was doing. He made those green army men look like...well toys.
I think they knew he was a real soldier, so of course they had to use him more. They gave him a tambourine and called him "Private Tiddlywinks." The rest of the day random people would pass him in the park and say, "Hey! There's Private Tiddlywinks!"
That wasn't the only show Michael got to participate in. They also called him out of the audience in the Golden Horseshoe Review as the "Town Drunk." Michael had fun playing up his part and stumbling around and calling out, "I'll drink to that!" every time someone finished a sentence--literally. He was only supposed to say it when they tapped him on the shoulder, but he threw in a few more just for fun.
These pictures turned out really funny/cool. It looks like we escaped from the haunted mansion.
