Carrie Fisher - Lightsaber Vigil In Downtown Disney (12/28/16)

Tower 260 and Christmas Eve 2016

On Friday night, December 23, I came to Tower of Terror after work. I wanted to go on Tower for the 260th time, with the Bellhops. That was my goal for Tower. Why 260? The Bellhops said I should have a 13 in the number. 260 is 13 times 20. So at the end of the night, I got to ride with my friends. Sarah G. helped set up the ride. This was a great Christmas present from the Bellhops. Tower means a lot to me and I'll miss it when it closes after January 2nd. My Bellhop friends have been awesome and I love them all. I'll come on the last day and see if I can somehow be the last "guest" to ride. 

Left to right: Alex, Juston, Jose, Travi, Sarah, Walter, Brisa, Jeff, and Felix

Now for Christmas Eve. 

I got to Disney California Adventure at 7am. I was able to come it with the Extra Magic Morning guests. Radiator Springs Racers did not open until 7:30am. I was able to get in the first car out of the station. The goal was to get 40 rides to reach 8300 all time.

I got 3 rides before they had a minor issue. I got on Racers 10 times by 10am. Then 10 more by 12:45pm. I took a brief break at 2pm and had another 10 laps at 4:15pm. Only 10 more to reach 8300. Three more rides before a break from 5pm until 5:12pm. Three more rides by 6:10pm. I got another 2 rides before a 30 minute downtime because of a single car issue. After 2 more rides, I hit the 8300 mark at 8:21pm. I was in Silver 2, on Luigi's side for race, and lost the race. I got 40 laps for the day. That was enough for this day. 

Throughout the day, I also went by to see some of my cast member friends. I visited with Jess and Minerva at Mater's, Tracie at Luigi's,  Amanda working the shop by Grizzly River Run. I also saw Desiree at Disney Junior. At night, I went by to see Cameo at Flik's and Lisa at the Viva Navidad parade. I got Merry Christmas pictures with them and pictures with my friends at Racers. 

When I left Racers at 8:21pm, I walked over to Tower of Terror. I took 4 trips to the 13th floor. I'm now at 264 times on Tower. I also got photos with Jessica, Tyler and Aubree. 

It was a pretty good Christmas Eve. I got 2 presents at the park. Getting to ride with the Bellhops at 260 and reaching 8300 laps at Racers. 

One week to go for this year. I'll be at the park Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday, New Year's Eve. I'd like to reach 8400 at Racers but also need to say goodbye to Tower. The friendship I've made at Tower has really been my Disney Magic.  The ride may go away but the relationships will last a lifetime. 

 

Minerva

 Jess

Tracie

Amanda

 

Desiree

Lisa

 

Jessica and Tyler

 

Aubree

 

Elizabeth, Amanda, Kristin, Lauryn and Wendy

 

Showing off the cookies I brought them: Amanda, Kristin, Wendy, Lauryn, Alex and Elizabeth

 

Cristian and Cidney

 

Rosy and Jackie

 

Jordan

 

Cameo

 

Bethanie

 

Megan

 

Jacob and Yafiet

 

Heather

 

Miguel

Christmas Week

This week I have Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday (Christmas Eve) off from work. I also have Christmas day off, but do not come to Racers on Sunday. 

Monday December 18th:

I got to Disney California Adventure at 9am. I first went to Tower of Terror. My friend Aubree was the Bellhop that dispatched me for ride 256. 

I got to Radiator Springs Racers at 9:38am. The single rider line was not that busy. Even with a 25 minute downtime for a show issue, I got 10 rides in by 1:22pm. Only 5 more to reach 8200 rides. I took an 8 minute break and got back in the single rider line at 1:34pm. It took until 4:05pm to get another 4 rides. I then got in line for ride 8200. At 4:41pm, in Silver 4, on Ramone side for race, I hit the 8200 ride. I also won the race. 

I went on Racers 5 more times in the day and ended at 8205. 

Desiree showed up and we went on Tower of Terror together. My 257th time. I left the park at 9pm.

The 8200 car

 

Aubree

 

Delaney

 

Carlene

 

Tracie

 

Sara

 

Giselle

 

Carlene 

 

Desiree 

 

Tuesday December 20th:

I got to the Parking structure at 6am. I got to Tower of Terror at 8:05am. I went on my trip to the 13th floor for the 258th time. 

I then got to Racers at 8:35am. No wait in Single Rider line. I got in 6 rides by 10:08am. Then the ride broke down. A single car issue that only lasted 10 minutes. 

Things went pretty smooth after that. I reached 12 rides for the day, by 12:30pm. One of them was with my friend, Kameron Rogers. She was visiting from Idaho with her husband, Chuck and 2 daughters, Bree and Alli. We all went in the single rider line. It just worked out that Kameron and I got to sit together. Kameron and I worked together at KDOC-TV in the late 80's. 

I went over to Tower and got to ride for the 259th time,  I also saw Sarah G. and got a picture with her, John and Kenny. 

Back to Racers at 1:20pm. By the time I left Racers at 6:40pm, I got another 11 rides. I ended up with 23 for the day. 

Kameron

Kameron, Bree, Chuck, and Alli

 

Jesse, Nicole, Teddi, Jacob, and Frances

 

Grace and Betoh

 

Delaney

 

Jess 

Wednesday December 21st:

Came into DCA when the park opened at 8am. Went straight to Racers. The single rider line was pretty empty most of the day. It startled to rain after my 14th ride of the day. Then on lap 15, I got soaked. Rain was pretty heavy. I was not prepared for the rain. I went to one of the gift shops and bought a poncho. I wanted to get at least 20 rides, so I continued to race. My cast member friend, Carlene, told me, "it's only water". I saw my friend Sara S. and her family visiting from Colorado. They were also in the single rider line. I first met them when I was at 6700 rides. My friend, Etsuko, also came by the ride. She was visiting from Japan. We went in the single rider line twice. 

I ended up with 27 rides today. I'm now at 8255. I got wet weather photos with my cast member friends. 

This day set up what could be another magical day on Christmas Eve. Last Christmas Eve, I got 52 rides. It is supposed to rain. So that could hurt or help the cause. 

Jodie, Rob, Sara

 

Etsuko

Carlene

 

Catalina, Tracie, and Alexsie

 

Tracie 

 

Meli

 

Kimmy

 

Desiree

 

John

 

Mary and Carolyn

 

Guillermo and Lainie

 

Jared and Rosanna

 

Carlos and Stephanie 

December 2016 week 2

This week I also have Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off from work. I also have Friday off. 

Monday December 12th:

I got to Disney California Adventure at 9:30am. It appeared less crowded than last week. I was able to go on Radiator Springs Racers 14 times. I also got on Tower of Terror, 5 times. 

Desiree

 

Lisa 

 

Josie and Sarah

 

Emily

 

Tuesday December 13th:

I read a Facebook post from Tower Cast Member Holden, about today being the last 13th day, on the calendar, that Tower of Terror will ever see. That motivated me to try and ride Tower 13 times. I got to DCA before the gates opened. I was talking with a family from Utah. We talked about my love for Racers and Tower. The Dangerfield family are from Utah. The mom, Mary even went to BYU like I did. They also love Tower of Terror. Once before that got to be the First Family to go on Tower of Terror to start the day. They got picked again and said they wanted me to be part of their family. That was very cool. We got to ride down to Tower in the Red Car Trolley. We also signed the Tower log that the every First Family gets to sign. When we went on the ride, their oldest daughter Ellie, asked if I would sit next to her.

I also saw Racers cast members being re trained at Tower. Andrew and Mikey. I got to ride with friends Angela and Clark once. At the end of the night I was 1 away from 13. My friend Michelle came to Tower and we got on Tower for number 13. I even made a crude sign with the number 13. 

I got on Racers 10 times. The single rider got long in the afternoon. 

As I was leaving the park, I ran into my friends Heather and Jon. Heather took a selfie of the 3 of us.

The First Family ride on Tower of Terror with (from left to right) Ellie, Cole, Ollie, Mary and Addie Dangerfield

 

Post First Family Ride : Cole, Ellie, Mary, Addie and Ollie

 

Mikey and Andrew

Lisa in front of Tower.

Meli 

 

Clark and Angela sad about Tower coming to a end

 

Maria

 

Michelle and I on ride 13 for the day

 

Michelle

 

Wednesday December 14th:

Today I was feeling a little tired, with it being the 3rd day in a row getting to the park early. I was able to get on Racers 11 times and on Tower of Terror 4 times.

The fun part was visting and getting pictures with my  friends. I went to see Amanda working at Sea Side. She was feeling sick, but I still wanted to say hi. I got a picture with Carina at the single rider entrance to Racers. It has been awhile since I got a photo with her. I got a photo with Catalina at Luigi's and a normal and goofy photo with Carlene at Racers. I went by Mater's and saw Jess. She ran over when she saw me. She was wondering when I would come by to get a picture with her. See has seen my recent photos on Instagram and was a little jealous. And after my last ride at Tower, I saw Giselle working in the Tower gift shop. It is very humbling to me that people like getting photos with me.

At the end of the day, my totals were 8161 at Racers and 252 on Tower.

Catalina at Luigi's

 

Carlene 

Goofy pic with Carlene

Marie

 

Carina

 

Kristin

 

Jess at Mater's. 

 

Rochelle at Mater's

 

Giselle

 

Friday December 16th:

I got to DCA around 7am. The Extra Magic Morning crowd was small, because of the rain. They let the few of us "normal guests" in with them at 7:15am. I went to Tower of Terror and got on 2 times. On one of the rides I was in the back row, all by myself. Not a big crowd there either.

I then went to Racers. The ride was having a few issues getting going. When they opened at 8:39am, I was lucky enough to get in the first car, out of the station. It was a great day at Racers. I was there from 8:39 until 2:20pm. I got on 24 times. That is a little better than 4 per hour. I'll take that any day. I got some pictures with my friends before they opened and some during the racing day. I also went by Flik's Fun Fair to say hi to Cameo. She was trying to wave me down and I was looking every where else except where she was. And I got a photo with her.

I then went back to Tower of Terror. I got on one more time. One of the shafts went down and they were only running one. You could also see the new paint on the outside of the attraction today. They have already started changing the ride over to Guardians of The Galaxy: Mission Breakout. 

After leaving DCA, I met up with some friends. Amos and Carlene. Carlene and I got something to eat at Earl of Sandwich. Amos had already eaten. We then met up with Catalina and her husband Deane. The 5 of us went to see Rogue One. This is the 2nd year of our little Star Wars Movie Club. We all went to see The Force Awakens last year. Hopefully we can continue the tradition with episode 8 next December. On opening Thursday this time. 

Amos, Carlene, Catalina and Deane

 

For the week, I ended at 8185 at Racers and 255 on Tower. Hopefully next Monday I will hit the 8200 at Racers and 260 at Tower. I also reached 2618 total rides for the year at Racers. Still have a shot to break my 1 year total of 2795, which I got last year. 

Jovany

 

Analeen

 

Alessa and Teresa 

 

Carina

 

Ruth

 

Catalina

Cameo 

Guardians paint