Jon's Racers Update

Monday May 7th:

I started the day at Disneyland. I went to go see my friend Heather Frost. She works in the Horse Trolley on Main Street. I’ve known Heather for a few years. I was a groomsman at her wedding. I’m even going to Disney World with her and her husband Jon in January. While I was waiting for Heather to come on stage, I got some photos with some Disney Characters. Mickey Mouse was shocked by my Racers number. I also got photos with Daisy and Goofy. I went on a ride with Heather and “Holly” down Main Street and back.

I went into Disney California Adventure around 10:30am. I got on Guardians of The Galaxy: Mission Breakout a few times. I also saw Sarah Glovin. I asked her if I could ride with the cast members on Tuesday night. I also got a 300 photo with her.

I went on Radiator Springs Racers 5 times during the day. The ride had a few downtimes. I met my college friend Jerry Johnson and his wife Kim. Jerry is a fireman with the City of Los Angeles and Disneyland was allowing them to come in free. We were able to ride Guardians and Racers together. It was great to catch up

Tuesday May 8th:

I again went inside Disneyland first. This time I saw Heather and Jessica Gonzales. Jessica used to work at Racers. She now works Indiana Jones and the cars on Main Street. I went inside the Star Wars Launch Bay at 10am. I got a photo with Rey. She was very kind. She thought my sign meant I was done kind of pilot. She also thanked me for joining the Resistance.

I got over to DCA at 11am. Racers went down for a few hours and I only got on 9 times to bring my total to 10,426. I took photos with my Pit Crew friends during the stoppage times. I arrived at Guardians close to park closing time. I made a 313 sign. Not only was it that time on the ride but The Fortress has that number on the back of the building. Sarah organized the cast members to ride with me. After the 313 ride, she asked if I wanted to do a “No Show” ride. That is a ride in total darkness. No audio, video or doors opening at anytime. It was pretty cool. I thanked them all for letting me ride with them and Sarah was setting it up.

The cast members are truly my Disney Family. Whether it be Racers, Guardians or every cast members throughout the park.

Mickey can’t believe my ride total

Goofy

Daisy

Heather

Sarah

Jerry and Kim

Jerry and Kim on Guardians

On Racers

Pluto

Heather and Jessica

Rey

Minnie Mouse

Brittany, Jacob, Guillermo and Amanda

Mike

Meli

Heyse

Left to right: Travis, James, Arcadian, Christina, Sarah, Bradlee, Me, Kiki, Daniel, Elijah, Daphne, Emma, Walter and David

Sarah

Andrew

I became friends with Tara Cree through Carlene Beckius. Carlene is one of my favorite cast members that works Radiator Springs Racers. Tara and Carlene grew up together in Oregon. Tara came to Disney for a visit in 2015, that is when I met her for the first time. We even got to ride together. She came again a few months later to run in a Disney Run event. She brought her Mom and Dad with her, Mary and Mark. I became friends with them also. And then this last December, the whole family came down. Including her 2 sisters, Marybeth and Katherine. We even turned my 10,101 ride at Racers together.

At that time Tara told me they were having a celebration in Vegas to mark her Golden Birthday. She was turning 29 on April 29th. She invited me to come along. I could not turn down a chance to celebrate this occasion with her family and friends from Oregon and other states.

I drove to Las Vegas with Carlene. The rest of the group flew in from Oregon. After stopping in Baker for Jerky, Carlene and I arrived at Desert Rose Inn at 1pm. We were able to check into our room. We made sure they put The Cree family in the room next to us. The Crees got there around 7:30pm. Tara’s friend Elizabeth and Jonathan Egner got there after 10pm. They roomed with Carlene and I. Carlene and Elizabeth were in a room, Jonathan on the sofa bed and I had a room to myself.

We visited with everyone the rest of the evening.

Carlene, Tara, Elizabeth and I went on a tour of the other Wyndham resorts. They tried to sign us up for their vacation club. The reason we did it was to get $20 Mystere Cirque tickets. The $20 also included a buffet at Treasure Island. We were also able to get tickets for the rest of our party for $70, Show and buffet. While we were getting “the pitch” the rest of Tara’s family went on a bus tour of the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam.

After turning down the offer to join the vacation club, Tara, Carlene, Elizabeth, Jonathan and I went to Treasure Island hotel to get our Mystere tickets. We also got a bite to eat at Gilley’s BBQ. After we got back to the resort, Tara, Carlene, Jonathan and I went to see “Infinity War”. The latest Avengers movie. We saw the film at the South Pointe casino. Since I had the Cinemark App, I was able to get 4 tickets for $17. We also got free posters of the movie. I really enjoyed the film. A lot went on during the 2:37 minute running time.

We got back to the resort to meet up with the rest of our group. We parked the cars at Planet Hollywood. We walked over to the Belligio to watch the fountain show.

The next day we went down to Fremont Street. Tara wanted to go on the zip line. After they got tickets, the group split up for a little bit. I went with Tara and Carlene to see one of Tara’s friends working at a bar by Fremont Street. Tara even got up on the bar to dance. Back to the zip line. Carlene , Elizabeth and Katherine went on the sitting harness zip line. Tara and her friend Brian did the Flying zip line. This is where they look like they are flying. That zip line is at least twice as long as the sitting one, I got video of them and the ride had photos you could download. I wanted to also do the zip line but I was too heavy. I’ll use this as motivation to lose weight, so I can “zip” in the future. We also went in Binion’s to get a group photo with a million dollars.

We changed our clothes and went over to Treasure Island. We saw the cirque Show Mystere. It was pretty good. We then made our way to the Cosmopolitan Hotel. I took them to the Secret Pizza place. There was a little wait but worth it.

Then came Tara’s Birthday. We took it easy in the morning. Some of the group play some slots at New York New York. Later, we took the monorail down the strip. We made it over to Treasure Island to use our tickets for the buffet. It was pretty good, a lot to choose from. They even had cotton candy.

We took the monorail back. We got over to New York New York. Tara wanted to go inside the bar, Coyote Ugly. The girls wanted to dance on the bar. They had lots of fun.

Monday, we checked out of the resort. We took the monorail down to the Flamingo Hotel. That is where we connected with the High Roller Big Wheel. It took 30 minutes to do a full rotation. It is listed as the biggest Ferris Wheel in the world. We had a quick bite at the In and Out restaurant. We said our goodbyes. Carlene and I the drove back to Anaheim. Of course I had to stop at the Jerky Store again. I dropped Carlene at her apartment at 9pm and I got home by 9:30pm.

It was a fun trip. Getting to meet new people and getting to know the Crees a little better. I really was lucky they wanted me to join in their celebration. I’m sure we will all meet up again in the future.

Mystere: Left to right , Me, Elizabeth, Jonathan, Mark, Carlene, Brian, Katherine, Marybeth, Peter, Mary, Rachel and Tara