Friday, February 19, 2016

A GREAT DAY AT RACERS

I was hoping Thursday February 18th would be a better day than Wednesday February 17th. I was only able to get on the ride 13 times on Wednesday. They had 3 downtimes, the longest one was for 1 hour and 45 minutes. Thursday ended up being one of my favorite days at Radiator Springs Racers. I arrived at the attraction at 9:25am. I was able to turn 4 laps (rides) before my first break at 11:15am. The single rider line was pretty good all day. After a few more laps, I was at merge when I met LeAnn Hogue. She showed me a picture of her friend Angela Sipe and myself holding the 4444 sign. I met Angela at a Run Disney event last year. LeAnn took a picture with me holding the 5900 sign and sent it to Angela. Pretty cool how LeAnn recognized me from a photo with Angela. 
After lap 14 for the day, I took another break. I went and got the new Passholder button at Stage 17. The month of February is Passholder month. Each week they have a new button they are passing out to Passholders. You can also get free water and popcorn. Plus take photos with a different Disney character. 
I got back to Racers at 3:52pm. After 2 more laps, I met up with Trish Bouldin and her family. Trish is one of the admins from the Drama Free Disney Facebook Page. It was great to finally met her and her family. As we were talking and walking in line, we noticed a group of people that looked familiar. I looked at one of the women in the group and knew right off the bat who she was. Actress Kate Beckinsale was with her friends, waiting to get in a car. She even walked right by us before she was sent to load. I was too nervous to say anything. I got to ride with Trish and 2 of her sons for lap 17th of the day and 5923 all time. After we got off we walked upstairs to the ride photo area. Kate Beckinsale was there looking at her ride photo. I thought, this is the only chance you will ever get to meet her. So I somehow got the courage to say "Kate, could I get a picture?". She was great and said yes. She also said, "Oh, you're going to take a selfie?" Which I did. Trish was there but I was too star struck to ask Trish to take a normal photo of Kate and I. You can tell how nervous I was by the shot being out of focus. She was very nice and I thanked her. I'm a big fan. I loved Kate In the Underworld movies. Also Van Helsing, Serendipity, and Pearl Harbor. I even have Van Helsing and Underworld action figures. It was cool to meet her. Trish and her mom thought I did a good job in asking for a photo. I got a photo with Trish and her family after our ride.
Throughout  the day, I got photos with my cast member friends. They are so nice with all the pictures we take. I was at merge getting one of these pictures and a lady saw me and yelled out, " I'm Tanya Albers and follow you on Drama Free Disney. Can my kids get a picture with your sign?". I said of course and she  took a picture of her 3 kids and me with the 5900 sign. 
So I ended up with 21 laps for the day and I'm now at 5927.
As I was sending out my Facebook post for the day, I got a text from my friend Sandra White asking if I was still at Racers. I told her I was done for the day and she said her and Jill Goodrich were at Disneyland. I met them after they got off Hyperspace Mountain. We went on Big Thunder and Indiana Jones. I met Sandra and Ken White, and Jill Goodrich in 2013, at 5am in the morning, waiting in line for the D23 Convention. And we've been friends ever since. It was great to see them both. It is amazing how Disney brings people together. It was a great ending to a great day, being able to hook up with them.
Now the focus is to reach 6000 laps on Monday March 7th. After that, I'll be racing towards 7000 laps to occur on a certain day. More about that later. 
I tried to reach 1000 laps before my Dad passed away. That did not happen. Now I would like to reach 10000 before my Mom passes away. She just turned 86 and is in good health. But I do not want to take anything for chance. 
My Dad told me everyone has 1 thing they are good at. Maybe my one thing is turning laps at Racers. I think this is what I'm supposed to be doing right now. Letting people know about this great ride and connecting with my Pit Crew friends. Also meeting the Disney groups. Disney has a way of connecting people who become family the first time they meet. I'm very lucky with everything that has happened at Racers. And can not wait to see what the future holds as I race towards 10000.

Kate Beckinsale 
LeAnn Hogue

Trish Bouldin and her 2 sons in car 5923

Trish and her family
Tanya Albers' kids
Catalina 
Aubrey and Andrew
Grace
Cristian
Holden 
Makinna
Teresa and Rosy
Heather
Stephanie 
Alessa
Kimmy
Bethannie
Tina
Sandra and Jill
Angela Sipes 
Passholder buttons
Kate Beckinsale waiting in line with her friends

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Countdown to 6000

Came into today needing 7 laps (rides) to reach 5900. I arrived at Radiator Springs Racers at 8:45am. The single rider line was only a 5 minute wait. Got 2 laps in by 9:15am and the wait time is now about 15 minutes. After lap 5896, the single rider wait is almost 20 minutes. Cars seem to be moving slow out of the load area today. Or maybe I'm just anxious to hit 5900. 
I took a quick 6 minute break at 10am to get a Fastpass for later. If single rider line gets crowded, I'll use the pass. When I got back to Racers, the single rider wait was 25 minutes.
At 10:44am, I need 2 more laps to reach 5900. Single rider wait still more than 25 minutes.
At 10:59am, the ride went down. I could see from my place in line, that a car faulted, on the low bank after race finish. They got the guests out of the car, then were able to get the car rolling again. The  attraction was working again at 11:15am. I got in line at 11:50am, for lap 5900. The wait looks about 30 minutes. Where did all these people come from?
At 12:26pm, in Purple 3, Ramone side of the race, I hit 5900 times on Racers. And I won the race. It was also the 333 time this year.
I'll spend the rest of the day, getting more laps and photos with my Pit Crew friends.