Disneyland 2026!

Disney 2026 with the Miner crew!

We wondered if 20 people would make it impossible to stay together throughout our days in the park, but it ended up being really great.

Our first day we learned the magic of matching shirts. We knew they'd be fun, but the way the cast members easily kept you together on rides was an unanticipated bonus. And no one is mad at you catching up to the big group of red shirts in line after taking a kid to the bathroom when you so obviously match the group. Who knew.

My favorite moments were riding Dumbo with Asher, watching my big kids love the Matterhorn (and Asher tolerate it), scheming with Ali and Jenny to make that Lightning Lane work for us, and seeing my dad and Michael go on Rise of the Resistance for the first time. Asher still talks about that light saber coming through the roof and I love when you just feel like their little mind is blown by something memorable. We had such a fun day together and I was shocked at how smooth it was. Our ONLY long wait of the day was when that ride broke down while we were in line and we decided to wait it out. But when you're with all your cousins, it doesn't even feel boring! Though they did make an announcement to stop roughhousing in line and that was 100% directed at us, sorry.

Day 2 was California Adventure, which I love. The Guardians ride makes me SO NERVOUS but Lydia sat by me and I even survived it twice :) Riding it with my dad was really sweet, he's been going on rides with us my whole life and I didn't expect him to brave so many on this trip. Bennett rode the Incredicoaster with him, a big group of his cute grandsons rode the ferris wheel with him, and it was just so fun to have them make those memories. We made the single rider lane work for the group for the Cars ride in the beginning and everyone rode it 2-3 times. Between strollers, Lightning Lanes, and single riders, we truly rode so many rides with very little wait. Jenny texted Ali and me in the afternoon to say how wonderful and smooth everything had been with our big group, and that was the moment that it alllllll fell apart haha. We don't need to dwell on it but we'll just remember: the dinner order timing failure, lost Lewis, broken down Incredicoaster, truly terrible lady coming at Grandpa, Elise and the lemonade, and trying to get the last of the rider switches back in on Incredicoaster during dinner mayhem. Wow, that hour. But then we all road Soarin' twice right at closing time and all was well!! Haha still very smooth and wonderful. Asher on Toy Story... so cute.

Then, we paused the parks for a beach day! Shelley so kindly set us up to have the gear we needed for a happy beach time -- boogie boards, sand toys, a tent for grandma and grandpa, and some chairs. She truly made our day so much more pleasant and I loved that my parents could be there and just relax and watch the grandkids play. Then some BIG ice cream before we got back to hit the pool, get some Mediterrannean takeout, and go to sleep blissfully early.

Disney day 3 was one of my favorite days of my life, for real. The lines were short the first half of the day. We rode everything. Asher's little scream on Splash Mountain was (sad, yes but) the absolute cutest thing. Multiple rounds of teacups in a row and Grandma jumping on with me because she was remembering how much I loved it when we were little. Riding the train around the park together. Hitting Peter Pan with a short wait time. The light parade! The light parade was magic. Michael found the best spot. I carried clam chowder across the entire park with Westin so we could eat before the parade, and honestly I even loved that part. Asher telling us "We should live here, right?" as he stared at the parade in awe. Staying late with the big kids to ride Matterhorn, Space Mountain, and Star Tours again.

We had the best day. We had the best, best day.

This trip will be a treasure in my mind forever.

Dumbo through the years :)

I love my family.