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I was invited to attend Hunter High Schools Performing Arts Tour to Disneyland again this year! Yea! So fun!!!! We left at an insane hour of the morning Saturday, March 29, 2014 and headed south on a bus. My BFF, Kjersti, and I were prepared for a week of fun and hopefully no drama (psh! We were with teenagers....).
We arrived in California with enough time to get pretty and head off to Medeival Times. This year we were the cheering section for the Blue Knight... He didn't win, much to our chagrin. But the evening was delightful and the food was delicious!
Sunday Kjersti planned for a more relaxing day since we were away from home and many students wanted to be respectful of the sabbath. We spent the morning at the Getty Art Museum, it was magical. I lost my group several times because I got so caught up in reading all the descriptions of the artwork. I would love to go back someday and spend more time just reading and looking.
Beautiful view!
BFFs!!!
Matt and Daniel... Remember how I told you we were on a trip with teenagers?!
This was the visiting exhibit while we were at the Getty. I love Queen Victoria's story and loved seeing her pictures. I would have enjoyed more time there.
After the Getty we headed to the Santa Monica Pier for some relaxation, people watching, and sunshine.
Yea! We love the ocean!
BFFs!
The students were able to catch these tiny crabs by digging for them. They were catching tons of them.
Just like last year, several nutcases were out playing in the cold water.
The boys decided to start burying each other and seeing how long it took them to get out. It kept them entertained for over an hour. The chaperones even got involved.
Seriously, this lady was so much fun to have with us!
For once Kjersti and I were taller than one of the high school students. That hasn't happened for a long time!
One of my favorite pictures from the day. I love Kjersti! I love traveling with Kjersti! I honestly can't imagine Disneyland without her. I am blessed to have her in my life.
Sunday evening we chose to continue the fun by entering California Adventure. No Disney trip is complete without a stop at Earl Of Sandwich. We highly enjoyed our delicious sandwiches before heading off to conquer some rides.
Carsland.
Tour buddies... Josh, Kjersti, and me
We finished the night with ice cream from Ghiradeli. YUM! Little did we know how much we would need all the calories for energy. This tour trip turned into one of our most memorable. Nothing quite like traveling with teenagers....
Monday was our first full day in the parks. In normal Sarah and Kjersti fashion we wore our matching Snow White shirts from last year's trip.
Josh, me, and Kjersti on the Jungle Cruise!
Some of the girls had sweatshirts made for this tour. Of course Kjersti ordered one for both of us. Who could turn down a sweatshirt that says, "I'm 99.9% sure I'm a Disney Princess"?!
This brings us to the end of Day 1 in the Parks, and this is where the drama begins. Remember that we were traveling with teenagers? Well, Kjersti got a phone call from another chaperone- one of the students had passed out near the end of World of Color. People from First Aid were there giving her fluids. It had been a long, exciting day, everyone was tired, and we all believed that most likely she was dehydrated. From this point on, this particular student will be know as "Fainter." The stellar chaperone called a taxi to take the girl back to the hotel (a 10 minute walk from Disneyland) and Fainter was given strict instructions to go back and get some rest.
Tuesday morning while Kjersti and I were getting ready for the day (in matching t-shirts again, because we are just THAT awesome!) Kjersti's phone rang. A student from our group was calling to ask Kjersti to come to her room. Kjersti left for a bit and came back to inform me that this student had blisters on her feet from Monday. Kjersti asked to see what shoes this student had worn and she was presented a pair of worn out tennis shoes with holes in the soles. Kjersti asked if the student had any other shows and she showed her a nice pair of shoes specifically designed to be good walking shoes. Um, HELLO!! Kjersti gave student, who will now be known as "Blister" instructions to double up on socks, wear the nicer shoes, and go to First Aid when she got to Disneyland to get bandages, and if the day became to unbearable to think about renting a wheelchair. A little insight into Blister.... She's a nice young lady, but doesn't have many friends. She loves Disneyland, which is why she comes on tour, but she is often by herself, which is stricly against the rules. She is slightly awkward. The 2 students she had spent Monday with were boyfriend and girlfriend and had requested some time together in Disneyland on Tuesday.
Kjersti and I then made our way to the park to check in with all of our students. Blister soon arrived and immediately went to rent a wheelchair. Oh dear. One of the other theatre students offered to hang out with Blister and then got stuck pushing Blister in her wheelchair.
Alas, Kjersti and I went about our day. It had been determined that we would meet with a group of Theatre students to get a group picture on Tower of Terror. The time came when it was time to meet and we got in line. Blister arrived with her wheelchair, even though she wasn't a Theatre student, and went up with us. This is where I will insert my dear Kjersti's words:
As we were waiting in
line, Fainter started to pass out, luckily Blister had her wheelchair so we
helped Fainter into it. She wasn't completely gone, but she went with another
chaperone and waited at the end of the ride for the group to return.
When we met up with
them in the gift shop, she was acting incredibly loopy (almost in a drunk-like
state). But, there were two chaperones and she said she felt fine, so I left
with Josh (the band teacher) and my friend Sarah and we went to ride Soarin'.
After the ride I got a call from the chaperone saying that Fainter was acting
really strange and could I come take care of things. So, I sent Josh and Sarah
off to have some fun while I went to find out what was going on. When I arrived,
the kids were all surrounding her and she was acting incredibly drunk. So, I
sent the kids off, and I took Fainter with me. But, before I left- I asked my
student, Matt if he would take care of Blister and if it got too annoying to
text me and we would come get her.
So, I wheeled Fainter
into the Anamation Academy building and within 30 seconds she was no longer
acting like she was inebriated. We talked for about an hour and she shared with
my some hardships going on in her life right now. I gave her some advice on how
to deal with family stress and assure her that she is ok, and she needs to just
breathe and have fun.
After about an hour
anda half, she was feeling fine, so got some food in her, met up with her
friends at Paradise Pier and sent her on her merry way as I reunited with my
friends. Within a half hour the text had started again. She was passing out,
acting drunk, the kids were freaking out... During this time, I had a lunch
reservation at the Wine Country with the other directors and I was determined
not to miss it. So I told the kids to keep her hydrated and take her to first
aid if necessary. I was determined to enjoy my lunch.
No sooner had I
ordered and received my salad when the floodgates of calls and texts came
flooding in-"we've taken her to first aid", "she can't stand up", "I'm so
scared, I don't know what to do", "they've called the paramedics, an ambulance
is on it's way."
As soon as the
ambulance had been called, I left my credit card with Sarah and booked it over
to first
aid. Upon my arrival
I saw a group of students, huddled, crying and consoling each other while a
cast
member hurried me to
the back where the ambulance was about to pull away. I quickly jumped in the
front seat. While in the ambulance, I received a text from Matt asking me to
come take care of Blister- I replied, "I can't I'm in an ambulance right now
with Fainter on the way to the hospital." I then texted Sarah and Josh and asked
them to take care of the Matt/Blister situation.
On the way to the ER,
Fainter was having a jolly old time interacting with the medics. This is when I
really starting questioning the validity of her fainting spells. But, I was
totally calm, because what if there was something really wrong with her, I had
to make sure. I also kept thinking about the hefty ambulance bill her family
would be receiving... Disney had called the paramedics because they told her if.
She couldn't make it from the chair to the bed on her own then she would go to
hospital. Of course she couldn't.
At the hospital, they
put her in a gown and hooked her to the machine to take her vitals. I asked the
nurse how could she be dehydrated in 70 degree weather when she had been
drinking water? He said that sometimes it's an electrolyte imbalance. Soon they
took her blood, a urine sample and hooked her up to an IV full of fluid.
This whole time she
was coherent and very aware of her surroundings. Again, I was quite suspicious,
but was unsure. About an hour and a half in she asked me, "how long do we have
to stay here?" I told her "as long as it takes." She replied, "oh." In the
meantime, my phone was blowing up with concerned texts from students and texts
from Sarah and my friend Jeff (who kept me same during the whole ordeal). She
notices how often I am texting and she says, "are they all about me." I say, no
only some are. I then ask her if I should send outa mass text to the group
reassuring everyone that she is ok. She nods and I do this. Well, my phone is
about to die and I text Sarah and ask her to help find us a ride home. (A few
parents of the kids had come down separately from the group and had vehicles).
And then my phone died.
I was in the ER for
six hours total with this student. During this whole time we talked about a
myriad of things from her struggles at home, to coping with stress, religion,
and she informed me that she likes to manipulate people to get what she
wants...
The more time we
spent in the hospital and as the results starting coming back I soon felt like
this had all been a big charade for attention. There was nothing wrong with her.
Sure, maybe a little dehydrated, but I
doubt it.
I get things squared
away with the insurance and she is discharged. But before that she had told me,
"all I want to do is see the fireworks..." So I ask the nurse if she is ok to go
back into the parks as long as she remains in a wheelchair. He said that's fine.
Soon, our ride arrives and they take me back to the hotel and she is taken back
to the park.
In the meantime,
Sarah had brought my lunch to our room and I ravenously ate it while I waited
for my phone to charge a little. I was so hungry. I texted her and soon she and
Josh were back at the hotel and we swapped stories.
You may remember our
good friend, Blister. Well Matt had been nice enough to take her to meet Anna
and Elsa while all of his other friends went to ride some rides. Because of the
new handicap rules at the parks, Blister waited at the front of the line, whole
Matt had to wait in the line... For two and a half hours. All while,
unknowingly, Josh and Sarah are watching the scene unfold. Blister gets up and
moves around, Blister tries to get peek inside Blister makes a cast member move
her into the shade... Finally they emerge and Matt come out first with Blister
wheeling herself behind. The moment Matt sees Sarah and Josh, a look of relief
washes over his face and they tell him to go find his friends. He takes off and
Sarah tells Blister, it's time to ditch the chair. (I may have to have write the
account here instead of me, I just can't do it justice).
This is where I insert my portion of the story...
After Josh and I finished lunch with Mark and Robin we decided to walk back to the hotel to wait to hear from Kjersti. Right as we arrived at the hotel I got a text from Kjersti saying that Matt was requesting we come rescue him and take Blister. Josh and I walked back to the park and found Matt standing in the line to meet Ana and Elsa chatting with some lovely young ladies. We got his attention and asked where Blister was. He told us that she was in her wheelchair at the front of the line waiting. We asked him if he wanted to go and he said he was ok to wait. Josh and I then found the exit to the meet and greet and waited. We watched Blister sitting in her chair in the sun, occasionally getting up to peek in the door. Eventually she had a castmember move her into the shade. Josh and I waited for over an hour and a half. Poor Matt! What high school boy wants to wait that long to meet Disney Princesses. We later found out that he had waited over 2 hours with Blister. Gold star Matt, gold star! We finally saw Matt coming out the exit in front of Blister, she was having to push her own wheelchair. Now, I know this is horrible, but I laughed. She had blisters.... BLISTERS! We've all had blisters! We've all survived blisters! She was in a wheelchair because of blisters! I was all sorts of fed up by this point. Matt approached us with this look of total relief on his face. He didn't say anything to us, and all I said to him was, "Please go find your friends." He didn't question me one bit, just quickly walked (almost ran) away. Blister wheeled up watching after Matt and I stopped her. Counselor Sarah kicked in and I knew it was time for some tough love, "Blister, can you tell that everyone is tired of pushing you around in that chair?" Head nod. "Can you tell that no one is having fun?" Head nod. "Then it's time for you to get rid of that chair." I informed her that she had blisters and would survive, and that Ms. Parkes was in the emergency room with someone with issues worse than blisters (probably not entirely true). Josh and I then followed Blister as she pushed herself toward the wheelchair rental place (nope, we did not push her) and waited for her to turn in the chair. She came and sat back down and I asked where her friends were and made her text the girl she'd been hanging out with. Of course no one responded, they didn't want to have to push a wheelchair! Then as Josh and I were chatting and both of us desparately trying to come up with a solution in our heads, Blister began to cry. OH MY! Yep, I was not my best self and just kept chatting with Josh. We had informed Blister that it was not appropriate for 2 adults to be alone with 1 student and therefore she needed to find her friends. Meanwhile I'm silently praying, "Please let some students walk by!" Not even lying, minutes later a huge group of our students walks out of the gates! All Josh and I did was look at each other and he jumped up to catch them and ask if Blister could join them. I turned to Blister and said, "You need to stop crying right now. Take deep breaths. These students are willing to hang out with you. You love Disneyland, you love the fireworks and the rides. You don't want to miss is. So, you are going to stop crying right now and go with these kids and enjoy your last night in Disneyland." No soft and cuddly counselor business! Josh, in all his wisdom, was able to distract this group long enough for me to get Blister calmed down and in the standing position. As soon as she was with them we took off back to the hotel. Kjersti was back!
Back to Kjersti:
So, back to that
evening, I couldn't believe the afternoon I'd had. We then went back to the
parks- watched World of Color and then we stayed out late so I could ride a few
rides. But, this time, of course, was not without incident. After the show, we
receive a text asking josh to give her a priesthood blessing, he declines a)
because it would be inappropriate for a teacher to do that and b)he was ticked
off at Fainter. He suggests they ask one of the Dads that was there on vacation.
Soon I receive a text telling me she has passed out again. I call her friend and
find out she's in her too. And I instruct her friend to have everyone leave her
alone. SHE IS FINE I JUST SPENT SIX HOURS IN THE ER WITH HER, SHE IS
FINE!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
We met up with 2 of the cutest high school students you've ever met on Tuesday night. Mark wasn't feeling well and texted Kjersti telling us that we could give away their World of Color tickets. We found Danielle and Tanner and they joined us for our evening of fun and rebellion.
After World of Color the 3 adults in the group decided that we had a bad day and just wanted to ride the rides dangit! So, that's what we were going to do and we were dragging Danielle and Tanner down with us!
Our next stop: Space Mountain!
We practiced our poses beforehand. MOST PAINFUL POSES EVER! And yet so worth it! Awesome!
It was a trip we will never forget. It was a day we will never forget. And yet the last 2 hours, even though we were very late for curfew were the best 2 hours of the entire trip!
Roll the credits.......
