Ready to go!
We had another meeting with all the kids at 11pm, took a group picture, and then loaded the buses. I was nervous about sleeping on the bus, and even though it was a rough night, I did get some sleep. We stopped in Blythe at a gas
station with tons of bathrooms. Then we got back on the road again. We arrived
at the Hometown Buffet at around 5:30am, I think. We sat on the bus for a while
and didn’t go in until 6am. It was a nice breakfast.
Anderson Sims took this picture. He couldn't get the boys to look at the camera, lol.
Then we got back in the
buses and got to Disneyland pretty quickly. By the time we got off of the bus
it was about 7:10am. We got on the shuttle bus and got to the security lines.
They were super long. I asked Mike to choose our line at the turnstiles and he
made a great choice! It was a miracle we
got through the line that quickly, and I think by the time we got through the
turnstiles it was about 8:05am. By then most of the boarding groups were already
gone for Rise of the Resistance. Our boarding group was number 140 and I wasn’t
sure if we were going to get to ride it. I signed us up for a Matterhorn Fast
Pass because the Space Mountain ones were already for quite a bit later in the
morning. We stopped at the bathrooms to freshen up and then dropped our stuff
off at the lockers. The Space Mountain line was pretty long so we went to
Pirates instead. The wait originally said five minutes but by the time we got
there it was 15. The boys seemed to enjoy it. On the way to the Matterhorn, I
noticed that the line for the Dole whips was really short so we stopped there.
I watched everybody’s bags while they rode the Matterhorn. They really liked that
one. After that we went to the Mad Hatter Tea Party.
Then we had a photo op at
the teacup.
The boys wanted to go into the Mad Hatter shop and look around a
bit. We were originally going to go to Indiana Jones, but the Space Mountain
line was shorter and closer so we decided to go to that. We stopped at the
bathrooms and by the time we got to the ride the way it was 50 minutes instead
of 40. In reality, I think we were in line for closer to an hour and a
half. Everyone loved it, though, and
said that the wait was worth it.
After that we went to the Galaxy Grill for
lunch. I didn’t eat anything because I really didn’t want a burger. Then we got
on the Disneyland railroad and took that to Main Street. I always enjoy the
dioramas on the ride between Tomorrowland and Main Street. We only had about 10 minutes before they had
to meet up for the band workshop so they did some pressed pennies at that
little gift shop by the President Lincoln theater. We got them to their meeting
place right on time and walked them down through Downtown Disney over to where
the movie theater used to be. On the way back, I pointed out to Mike that the Monorail
entrance was right there and would take us to Tomorrowland so we decided to do
that. Unfortunately, we just barely missed being able to get on the first Monorail
that was there so we had to wait for the next one. I told him we could split up
so he opted to go find a place in Downtown Disney to sit and relax and I took
the Monorail to Tomorrowland and walked to Jolly Holiday Café. I got myself a
salad and some soup and some treats and sat down to eat. Then I walked over to Star
Wars: Galaxy’s Edge to meet Mike at Oga’s Cantina. My reservation was for 3:10pm
but I asked them if we could check in early at 2:30pm. She said it was OK. Mike
arrived soon after that. They were able to get us a table to sit down at. They
originally said they were going to take us to a bar but I did not want to have
to stand and neither did Mike. I was so glad that that worked out because when
we left there was a big long line to get in. I had the Jabba Juice and he had the
Carbon Freeze.
Oga's Cantina--so cool!
We walked to the Tomorrowland Monorail station. Once again, we
just missed the Monorail so we had to wait for the next one but it came in about
five minutes so we were fine. We made it to the meeting place for the kids
after their workshop in plenty of time. Andrew didn’t have too much to say
about it. He said they talked to trombone players but not baritone players. We gathered all the boys and
walked to California Adventure. They really wanted to ride the Incredicoaster
so we walked over there, but by the time we got there the ride was broken down.
A few of us got some Cookie Num-Nums (my favorite!) and the ride still wasn’t
back up so we walked over to use our Fast Pass at Radiator Springs Racers.
Mike went with all the boys in one car and I went in a
different car. I had offered to do that since I’ve been on that ride so many
times. They had so much fun!
After that, we had some time to kill before our
next Fast Pass for Guardians of the Galaxy so we split up. Mike took Anderson,
Andrew May, and James to the Monsters Inc. ride. Andrew Maung and Nathan wanted
to go on Grizzly River run so I took them there and watched their bags. They
took ponchos so they wouldn’t get too wet.
Monsters Inc. had a long wait so
they went on Guardians of the Galaxy instead. By the time we got there, they
were already on the ride. Andrew Maung didn’t want to ride it so he sat on a
bench outside and I went on the ride with Nathan. I don’t really like that ride
but I didn’t want Nathan to have to go by himself. I had told the boys we needed
to ride that ride before dinner because it does a number on your stomach! Nathan and James both bought cool jackets at
the store that we have to walk through after the ride.
We went to dinner at Flo’s Diner. Then it was time to go to the Incredicoaster.
Everyone loved it! It was so fun!
After
that, we were done with California Adventure so we headed back over to
Disneyland. We ran into Mrs. Juarros on the way. She was excited to hear if the
boys were having fun, and they definitely were! The boys really wanted to ride Splash
Mountain so we stopped at the lockers first and went straight there. I held the boys’ bags by the ride pictures like I
usually do. They got off the ride and saw the pictures and got excited about
going again.
I told them that’s OK but we might not have time to do everything we
want to do tonight but they didn’t care.
They really wanted to ride it again so they did. They all put their arms
up so the picture looks great.
Our next ride was Indiana Jones. We had a Fast Pass
for Big Thunder Mountain in the morning, but the ride was down temporarily so
they gave us a new Fast Pass that we could use on that ride or another one today. I was excited to use it on Indiana Jones
because those Fast Passes ran out. When we
got to the ride, we were told we couldn’t use it for Indiana Jones and that there
are only certain rides we can use it for.
I was crushed! I had been counting
on using it for that ride all day because a couple of the boys had requested it
and I knew they would love it. I nicely
asked if there was any way she could make an exception for us, and she
did! I was so grateful!! The boys seemed to really like the ride. Next, we walked over to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
Earlier, when we were walking to Splash Mountain, we saw that the sign said
they were boarding groups 126 to 130 so we got pretty excited about that. As
soon as we got to the entrance to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, we saw the sign
that said that the boarding was closed for the night. That was a bummer! We
were so disappointed. I got a picture of
the boys with the sign. We tried!
Since Millennium Falcon is for six people, I
told Mike to take the boys and I will go find out what was going on with Rise
of the Resistance. I thought maybe there was a way we could still get on. They said the ride closes at 9:30pm and so it
was already closed down for the night. By then it was after 10pm, I think. I
walked back over to the ride to wait for them. When they came off the ride, we had some pictures taken.
By then, everyone
was completely spent. We rested and had some water. A little bit
after 11pm, we walked over to Big Thunder Mountain. Mike, Andrew Maung, and
James decided to sit that one out. The rest of us had a blast! The guy behind
us kept screaming like a goat and it was super annoying. After that, we walked
to the lockers to get all of our stuff. We went to the Toy
Emporium shop on Main Street. Mike bought a hat for Anderson but otherwise
nobody bought anything. We walked over to the meeting place outside of
California Adventure and checked in with Mrs. Juarros and then headed for the
shuttles to the parking lot. I got on the bus and got everything
organized and I slept most of the way home. We got to the school at about 7:45am. We got everybody
unloaded and Andrew put his baritone in the band room. It took me a while to
get off the bus, but luckily Mike had collected all the boys’ badges and put
them in the crate. Andrew helped move the instruments for the kids whose buses
still hadn’t arrived yet. Three buses arrived together, and then two more after
us. We got home by about 8:20am.
What a wonderful trip! I am still tired and sore, but I'm so glad I was able to go!!!
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