Jon's Racers Update: 10101 and The Cree Family

I first met Tara Cree in September 2015. She was visiting from Oregon. She is Racers Cast Member, Carlene Beckius’ best friend. It was right around the time I was close to 5000 rides. I even got to ride with Tara. We became friends instantly.

Tara came down to visit the next time in November 2016. She came with her aunt to participate in the Avengers Run Disney weekend. I did the 10K that weekend. Tara did the half marathon and Carlene did the 10K and half marathon. Catalina Simpson (Pit Crew Cast Member) and I came out to support Carlene and Tara as they were doing the half marathon. We cheered them on from several race locations.

I also got to meet Tara’s parents Mark and Mary Katherine. I got to go on a few rides and spend sometime with them in the park. We also got some pictures along the way. They made me feel part of their family. At one point, I was waiting to go on Tower of Terror while they got photos in front of the hotel. Tara came over and told me “ you’re part of this group. Come get pictures with us”. It was great spending time with them.

I also had a special ride while they were here. The 8,000th time on Radiator Springs Racers. Tara and her mom were part of the big lap. They got in the car with Carlene. Catalina, Heather Hebenstreit and myself. I was lucky they got to ride with us. Tara even took a selfie from the front row.

Tara and I kept in touch with text messages. She would always encourage me in my training for the Disney Run events and to just ask how I was doing.

When I reached 9700 rides she told me I only have 401 to go. It took me a second but realized she meant the 10,101 ride with her and the rest of her family. Tara, her Mom and Dad and 2 sisters, Katherine and Mary Beth. It will be the first time I will meet her sisters. That is one of the reasons I set a date for the 10,000th ride. I needed time after the milestone lap to get to 10,100 before we ride on December 8th. I’m so excited for this ride that I had to make 3 signs before I settled on the one to use.

On Monday December 4th, I was at 10078 rides on Racers. I started out pretty good. I had 8 rides by 10:35am. Then the ride broke down. Single car fault for only 19 minutes. I took a couple more laps and took a break. Some other friends from Oregon were down visiting. Michelle, Lindsay, Nicole and Hannah and their moms. In fact Nicole went to school with Tara and Carlene. We went on Guardians. It was there first time and my 118th time. They love it as much as I do.

I came back to Racers for 2 more rides and it went down again. Got on for the 10085th time then took a break from 3:01 to 5:26pm. I met the ladies again. This time at Disneyland. We were about to get on Big Thunder and it broke down. We then went to Indiana Jones and were able to ride after it just came back up from being down. We took some pictures and said our goodbyes. It was great to spend some time with them. Some of them are coming back in April.

I got back to Racers and it broke again as I was in the single rider line. Took in 2 more rides and it broke again. I think I was the bad luck for Racers and rides in Disneyland. I ended up with 15 rides for the day. That put my total at 10094.

On Tuesday, I was able to get 6 rides to reach the 10100 mark. I went over to Disneyland to visit with my friends Jessica and Heather. They were working on Main Street. Heather with the Horse Trolley and Jessica with the Main Street Cars. I also went on Star Tours. And got a picture with Chewbacca in The Star Wars Launch Bay. I went back to DCA to walk around and go on Guardians a couple times. That put my total to 120 rides. I went back to Disneyland and walked around with Heather after she got off work. She did some shopping. Then I went back to DCA and went on Soarin and Monsters, Inc., before calling it a day.

Thursday night. I came to the parks after work. The Crees flew in from Oregon. We met and went into DCA. Carlene was with them in a Lion Kind onesie that they brought for her. We all went on Guardians. It was the first time for Tara,, Mary Beth, Mary, and Mark. Tara loved Tower of Terror. But I think she likes Guardians now also. We also went on Heimlich’s train and Luigi’s. We got a picture with Snowy Mater before heading over to Disneyland. Carlene left us since she had to work early in the morning on Friday. The rest of us went in Star Tours. It had all the new scenes from the Last Jedi. I think I was a bit of bad luck. The ride would not start. So we had to move to another transport. It was Tara’s first ever ride evac. But not the one she was hoping for. After, I said my goodbyes so I could get to bed and rest for tomorrow’s big ride with the Crees.

We meet up at 10:15am on Friday. Tara handed me a shirt to wear. We all ha e matching shirts celebrating their visit this year. We went on Guardians. My 122th time and we got “Give up the Funk”. Just like last night.

We walked over to Racers. We used a Fastpass to go on the ride together. So at 11:45am, in Purple 3, on Ramone side for race, we turned the 10101 lap. We won the race. I’m glad I was able to share this special ride with them. They even gave me a Lightning McQueen plush car. They all signed the car. We took pictures. And Carlene could not hold the sign upside down. It is the same back or front or upside down.

As soon as we got out of the car, the attraction went down. I could hear Rosanna (Cast Member) yell out I broke it.

We took a food break at The Pilot’s Grill. We also saw the Coco Preview. We got on Soarin. We then met up with Carlene after she got off work. We all went in Guradians and got the song, “I Want You Back”. I also got to say hi to Sarah G., who grouped us on the ride.

As we were walking over to Disneyland, we got pictures at the DCA Christmas Tree. We had dinner at The Pizza Port. We then went on Big Thunder. It was my 100th ride. We also went on Indiana Jones and Jungle Cruise. We got photos in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle. We were able to see the Fantasmic show. The Crees had not seen the new update. We went on Buzz Lightyear and fit on Space Mountain. On our way out of the park, we took pictures in front of the Disneyland Christmas Tree. We said our goodbyes for the evening. It was a great day. A milestone lap and spending time with my “family” from Oregon. We plan to hook up again on Monday.

The 10101 ride