Band Trip!

[RCF]

Ok so this weekend was the BAND REWARD TRIP!

For our "reward" we finally got to go to California to see the epicness that is Disneyland, and Universal Studios and Hollywood!

Day 1

So Day 1 begins, and having taken a shower before I got to bed, I was able to sleep in. I woke up at around 4:10, and got dressed, making sure I had everything I needed and to wake my mom for the adventure that was about to unfold. So once we got my 125 dollars for the trip, I hugged my mom and walked onto our charter bus (Bus 2) so that we could head to DFW airport for our flight which was scheduled to leave at 7:40.

A photo of me and some friends on the plane to Cali:

After our flight that seemed to take forever (damn time change) we finally arrived at John Wayne Airport in Orange County California, and spent about 10 minutes waiting for our charter buses. When the finally arrived, it was time to drop off our instruments and bags at the super nice Double Tree Hotel that had about 20 floors. Then we headed right down the street to....

DISNEYLAND!

SO we started by getting on an awesome tram

and then actually got to the gates, met with chaperones and got our two day tickets (which I later discovered was responsible for 112 dollars of this trip) and finally got to Disneyland.

Have to get the castle. As soon as we entered the park, we immediately headed for the Hungry Bear restaurant as none of us had eaten since about 4 that morning. I ordered me a Bacon Cheeseburger with some fries and a Sprite. Twas good food albeit being expensive. After this we headed for our first ride of the day, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. I didn't get any pictures but I found it was an okay ride, would be a great ride for a kid's first coaster, but nothing special. We played the "penis" game and freaked out at the fake bat6s in the tunnel and it quickly became an inside joke. But anyway I give it a 5/10.

After a lot of bitching we headed to see if the teacups (**** Miranda) but the line was too long. And located next to the teacups was the Matterhorn, but sadly the sign said it was under ''Seasonal Improvements" so we decided to skip and head toward the Space Mountain section. But first we went to Autotopia to ride some cars. Shenanigans in the cars (as recorded by me) are as follows (****ty quality thanks to my phone)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vR2vDmUZ5fk[/youtube]

Part two:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8roVnDjssHQ[/youtube]

Will stop here for the moment and I will post more later.

 

[RCF]

Alright laziness over, we got off of Autotopia, and headed right across the way to

Space Mountain. The line wasn't too bad and only about 35 minutes but the line was moving pretty fast but we were able to pass the time by playing Ninja in the line whenever we could (and this became a recurring theme in lines to come) and we finally got in and once again played "Penis" on the ride and added a little more into it. More inside jokes came to be such as, "It's in my mouth" and "Ok joke's over, where's my pants?" and "IT'S IN MY RACCOON WOUNDS!" But overall it was a nice ride and a little disorientating. I give it a 6/10.

ORP from Space Mountain:

Afterwords we hung around the arcade next to the ride and chilled for about 10 minutes and then headed back toward the front gate to meet with our chaperones. Ok, meet up was done, which means it was time for California Adventure!

So we decided to head past this cool sign

And headed towards one of the most anticipated rides of the trip,

Will finish tomorrow. (Spoiler Alert: It's dark :wink: )

 

[RCF]

Another part in the band trip.....

SO from where I left off, we decided to head to one of the most anticipated rides (for me anyway) the Hollywood Tower of Terror. I'm not the biggest free fall person but I've wanted to ride this for awhile, so we got in line (which was only about 35 minutes) and, to pass the time, played Ninja in line. We got into the hotel right before the preshow, and saw some good theming and the seriousness of the ride ops, and liked how it went down. The preshow, nicely well put, very good in terms of theming once more, and the line to the "service elevator" was nice. We decided to ask for front row seats on this thing so we could get a good view. We got and, after looking at some scenes, were taken to the top of the tower, only to get a great freefall feeling, and it was a very fun ride. It blew my expectations out of the water and I thought it was a great ride. 9/10

Now, after waiting and anticipating (and for a Disney park this is somewhat something) we headed to my most anticipated ride

California Screamin'! was a really fast line (the wait said twenty five minutes but it only took us about 15) due to them using both sides, which was really efficient. What can I say? For Disney I thought it was a very fun ride and a really good one. The sound of those Intamin LIM's were pure awesomeness. But the launch was great, I got some airtime on the last couple of hills, but being in the back really gave us the sensation of being pulled over those hills and it made a very cool effect. The loop was not so forceful in the back but it was still nice and, here's the YMCA ORP:

And here are some pics of us on the launch section:

(In both we're in the very back).

SO definitely a great ride and we got right back on after our first ride and here's a not so great picture of our second ORP featuring the infamous thinking poses:

Too fun. In terms of Disney 10/10. Normally, 8/10 SO from here we just decided to hang out around the pier, and I said HELL NO!!!! to the fun wheel so me, Michael and Brandon headed for some (hopefully) more freefall on Maliboomer. (Not really a pic per say but this is the one we were on)

The little shield thing was weird but oh well. It was decent, I do wish they could have actually took you to the top and then drop you, instead of just the shot, but it was still nice. 6/10.

It was around this time we decided to just head towards Tower of Terror again, as it was almost meet up time and we didn't want to walk all the way to Disneyland. Afterwords, it was time to meet back at the front gate so we could leave the park for the hotel. Some shenanigans on the tram (as usual) followed and we quickly got on the charter buses to head for the hotel. We arrived and went straight to the Atrium of our hotel to have a pizza dinner and it wasn't ordered from anywhere. All I can say is that it was AMAZING and in the words of my friend Sean, "This is like, God's pizza, and Jesus jizzed in the sauce!" Had to get a picture

I know it doesn't look good from there, but it was pretty ****ing awesome. Here's a pic of Nick and Sean enjoying the awesome food

After this it was time for bed, so we could get ready for another day at Disney and the recording session. Will post the second day at Disneyland later......

 

[RCF]

ALright Day 2! (I forgot ride count for Day 1:
BTMR: x1
SM: x1
AT: x1
ToT: x2
MB: x1
CS: x2)

Oh god. I really have no pictures of the second day but here's how it went down.....

So about 8:30 we left for Disneyland, so we had about an hour and a half to chill around Disneyland before the recording session. So we decided to go to the teacups (because Miranda was whining like a little bitch and complaining that this was the only ride worth coming for) and after sitting it out because I was pissed we decided to head for.....

Matterhorn Bobsleds

Ah a little piece of history. It was only about a 25 minute wait and I don't remember what side we got on but I remember it was a nice ride for being old and classic and Arrow Dynamics but it was nice. I enjoyed it, a good ride. 7/10.

So after Matterhorn we decided to have some shenanigans on the carousel since we hung around Toontown since that was where we needed to meet up for the session. After some whipping of the horses and some stripper moves (age friendly my ass ) we decided to head to actual Toontown and rode the sexy kiddie coaster, the Gadget Go Coaster

Kiddie lift hill porn! I don't rate kiddie coasters but barely being able to fit in the car made it uncomfortable. We screamed our lungs out for the hell of it. :lol:

But anyway after that we hung around the fountains and ran into Goofy and got a full band picture (actually two) with Goofy.

Photo #1:

Photo #2:

And we also got a couple of photos around the fountain area with the firetruck (where the infamous thinking poses were shown)

and here's a photo of me and some friends on the fountain:

SO after that we headed to the recording studio and saw what it was like to be a recording artist. It was pretty damn cool tbh. So after that (and it took up 90 minutes and went by really fast) we just chilled around Disney's California Adventure for the rest of the day, but sadly I got no other pictures. But I continued to be in my pissy mood and was a douche to everyone (which was actually fun) and then we ended up buying lightsabers and had an awesome time watching the really good fireworks show that we had only seen through our hotel room window the previous night. The songs and just the fireworks was absolutely AMAZING one of the best shows I've seen.

Ride Count
BTMR: x1
SM: x2
CS: x3
ToT: x2
GGC: x1

And now.....

DAY 3: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

OK so we woke up around 6:30, took showers, and left around 7:30, as they said it would take an hour. But it actually only took around 25, and we also passed Knotts Berry Farm, and here's my crappy attempt at a long shot of it.

Sadly Xcelerator got blocked out but it had a big presence even from far away. So we arrived at Universal Studios right when it had opened, and, after being annoyed with my whole group, I decided to join a new group. Here's a shot of the globe:

and here's a picture of the band in front of the globe:

And a lovely picture of the sign:

ANd I also took a picture of this cool sculpture right after the entrance:

And as we tried to get away from the Bowns brothers (these brothers who are EXTREMELY weird) we decided to run through the empty park to see the nice view they have from the balconies.

So we decided to go to the ride next to these balconies The Simpsons Ride

A nice simulator ride, once again, due to the park just opening, there was no line at all, and we got right on. It was a good simulator, very fun, very Simpson-y (if I can say that) and it was funny as none of us knew when the ORP went off so we all looked completely serious in the ORP and it was hilarious. Sadly, no picture of the ORP.

But after the Simpsons we decided to take the hella long escalator journey down towards Revenge if the Mummy and Jurassic Park. ANd since it was the only coaster there (which no one knew except for me) we decided to get on, and it was a walk on, and there was no one in line at all. So we got on and I nabbed front row, knowing it's a launch coaster. I rose my hands and we were off. A nice launch, although when you first launch you can feel how fast it starts off but it slows down dramatically and that really ruined the ride for me. But it was a nice ride right before the backwards part, and when we stopped just short of the wall, I freaked. But then we were off, backwards, which no one knew was going to happen except me again, and it was nice. A short ride but it was alright despite the launch thing. And since it was a walk on, we decided to go once more, and we got everyone's hands up. So I'll give it a 7/10 for being average and the disappointing launch.

So since it looked fun, we headed right across the way to Jurassic Park. So it was once again a walk on, and we got in the front row, and my friend Hailey, made me sit in the part of the seat that was soaked, and my ass was cold and wet before the ride had even started. It was a nice ride, and no one thought we were going to get wet because we were stupid and did not see the drop that was located right next to the Mummy. And the animatronics were good, and we got everyone to raise their hands and surprisingly, I actually lifted out of my seat down that drop, and got soaked. Overall, a nice fun ride to ride at about 10 in the morning when it's 60 degrees. 8/10

So from there we took the LOOOONG escalator ride back up towards the main park, but not before getting pictures with the Apollo 13 crew.

I'm hiding in the background in between Kevin Bacon and Tom Hanks. But since the other people were taking forever, we headed back towards the Simpsons ride and planned where we were going to go next. We finally decided on

The House OF Horrors. Now I'm not a very big haunted house person, but we all braved it and went in there. We all went in one line, and about every other person was hiding or grabbing on to someone (I was holding on to my friend Mark, the big black guy you see in the Apollo 13 picture, while my friends Hailey and Ruthie were clinging onto my bag for dear life. I'm not gonna lie, I was scared ****less., but some people pussied out and left at the first emergency exit, but the rest of us stuck it out. Still, we got the **** scared out of us, and vowed not to do it again. 9/10 for making me almost **** my pants. (Sorry for the profanity).

So after the House of Horrors we decided to get pictures with Curious George, and hang around this little playplace, we decided to eat at this amazing Italian restaurant (where I got some pasta with meatballs, garlic bread, and a Fanta). After that, it was time for the meetup near the front, so we chilled around the gift shop near the globe, and after the meetup, we went to the Universal Backlot tour and saw some sound stages and sets used in certain movies. Here are some memorable places:

The courthouse used in Ghost Whisperer, To Kill A Mockingbird, Bruce Almighty, Back to the Future, and many other movies.

Fast & Furious cars with fire and water effects:

Alamo recreation used in different movies:

The original Munster house, repainted to use in Desperate Housewives:

And some photos from the airplane crash set in War of the Worlds:

And to end it, a piece from the Mummy that some people might recognize:

So after that we headed to

Shrek 4-D was somewhat of a long wait, but because the ride was so long. But once we got in, we discussed how I got pregnant (I'll explain later ) and finally got into the ride. The 3-d was alright, but I didn;t get squirted on as much as everyone one else did, so maybe my water squirter thing didn't work much. But it was decent so a 7/10 for me. SO then we headed to Waterworld which was about a 20 minute show. It was actually very good, and I actually got pretty wet as they sprayed us with water using their jet skis and throwing buckets of water at us. After that we just decided to hang around the front so we could meet up to go to the Hard Rock Cafe located in Universal City, which is right outside Universal Studios. A picture of the guitar outside the Cafe:

Now after all the hype I've heard, I was excited to try the, from what I've heard, AMAZING food. But, we got super pissed because, we were one of the first to order our drinks, the LAST to get our drinks, the third ones to order our food, and the LAST to get our food. And the food wasn't even that good tbh. It was alright, but not fantastic. But we found it weird how Megan and I ordered the same drink, the same food, and ate the same amount of cookies without even telling each other. Here are some pictures of:

Jimmy Page (of Led Zeppelin) and his double necked SG:

and Paul McCartney's bass:

So it's time for the:

Ride Count
Simpsons: x1
RotM: x2
JP: x1
S:4-D: x1
HoH: x1

That's all for right now. Tomorrow I will post the remainder of the trip, including Hollywood, and Huntington Beach.

 

[ECG]

So far this looks like it should be in the Trip Reports topic rather than Life Outside. Be that as it may, it looks like you all were having a great time.

 

[RCF]

So far this looks like it should be in the Trip Reports topic rather than Life Outside. Be that as it may, it looks like you all were having a great time.

Yeah I was debating whether or not this should be in here or in Trip Reports. If that is so, COPY and PASTE!!! :lol:

And yes we had a lot of fun and we all had a really great time.

DAY 3 (cont'd) Hollywood

So after Universal city (and almost leaving my friend Brandon in Universal ) we headed over to the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Chinese Theater! From the bus to the Walk of Fame we saw a Spiderman actor, who, upon seeing us, just jumped off the newspaper stand, took off his mask, opened a bag, and started smoking. Words cannot describe how crushed everyone was. :lol:

But anyway we went on the Walk of Fame and saw some pretty cool stars (literally :wink: )

Robin Williams:

John Travolta:

Matt Damon:

The Bee Gees:

Peter Frampton:

Regis Philbin (who I swear is going senile):

Sting (sorry for bad quality, not good lighting there):

The Harlem Globetrotters:

Aretha Franklin:

Cuba Gooding Jr.:

and the Kodak Theater:

And here's some peoples footprints and handprints in front of the Chinese Theatre (there's not very many due to bad lighting, but some of them will have bad lighting and I apologfize for that):

John Travolta:

Kinda hard to see but Humphrey Bogart:

Also a little hard to see but John Wayne:

Henry Fonda:

Jack Nicholson:

Susan Sarandon:

And the last one that I have deemed worthy of putting on here, Michael Caine:

Once again, sorry for the bad quality, I wish my phone had a flash. ANYWAY as we were walking up and down Hollywood's streets, we saw a number of weird things, the weirdest one being a hobo hugging a fire hydrant. ANd the awesomest thing ever happened on the bus. Where we parked, right across from it was a hotel or apartment complex or something like that, but anyway, as we were pulling out, this guy had his blinds open and was ****ING a chick right in front of everyone. It was SOO hilarious a couple of us were crying. But sadly, due to the fact that we ran out of time, we didn't get to go to Rodeo Drive or anywhere in Beverly Hills. So we just chilled at the hotel for another hour before lights out. And now.....

DAY 4: THE LAST DAY: Huntington Beach

So Day 4 were able to sleep in until 8 o'clock (thank god as we were all tired and sleepy and all these other things). SO at about 9:30 we checked out of our hotel, and headed for Huntington Beach, about a 30-45 minute drive from the hotel. On the way there I played Tap Tap for the first time on my friends iPod and destroyed. But then we arrived and after checking the weather, it was to be in the high sixties, with water temperatures being in the 40's.

Oh yes, I was going in.

A nice pic of the pier on the beach:

Ok, so as soon as we set down, I took off my shirt, and sprinted as fast as I could toward the water, and was the first to get in.

It was so freaking cold, I felt like my testicles were gonna fall off. So after a kamikaze run into the water, I got out immediately and layed out in the warm sand to try and heat up. After ten minutes of lying down, I decided to go back out in the water where a bunch of my friends were attempting at body surfing. I decided to show them how it was done. So we got in pretty deep and the waves were HUGE! I'd never seen waves that big, but we body surfed nonetheless (I was the best ) However, about 5 minutes in, the lifeguard called us out of the water because of the really strong current (which I began to notice as we started getting out) so the swimming part was over, and I sat down and watched the volleyball game between band kids. Shortly after that, we headed towards the pier and to the shops so we could eat and shop. After eating a delicious Meatball Marinara footlong at Subway, I headed back to the beach and joined my friends in a tackle football game, using a volleyball as the wind was insane and a football was out of the question. The game grew from about 5 people, to about half the band. Oh yes, it got intense. Here's some pics that just happen to have me in them:

(It got bigger than that)

And then, to cap the wonderful California trip, it was time for a group shot at Huntington Beach:

So from there, it was time ti head back for John Wayne Airport to wait for our flight, and that's my trip to California! I hoped y'all enjoyed it cuz I sure as hell did. Thanks for reading!