I Rocked my Disney Side... what'd you do this weekend?

Rock Your Disney Side 24 hour event

As a first time annual pass holder when I heard Disneyland was going to be open for 24 hours I convinced my mom and sister that we needed to go! To prepare for our trip I researched all I could about the two previous 24 hour events which included tips and what to bring. I also found blog posts about what attractions and food was available to make it through this glorious night/day! I pinned away all the information and made it through my four day work week. Then the day came, we decided to megabus it down to Burbank and then rent a car and head to Anaheim. I LOVE Megabus, it's easy, cheap and you get six hours of sleep! Our bus driver booked it from Oakland down to Burbank seeing that we arrived about 30 minutes early (both on our way there and back). We hit the ground running and loved every minute of the day. 

Improvements: Although this was Disneyland's third time hosting a 24 hour event I do have some suggestions for Disney
-  If they are going to have a 24hour event all rides should be available until atleast 5:30: we ran out of rides to keep us awake the rest of the night. This limiting of rides basically overcrowded the rides that were available and we ended up, at one point, on the Mark Twain boat just to pass the time away. 
- Radiators Springs Racers cast members need to be more informative: Before leaving the park for a little nap in the afternoon we passed the fastpass for Spring Racers and doubled back to get a fast pass, we missed the opportunity by two people. So when we asked when the ride would close, the cast member didn't know so when we ran for the ride after watching World of Color we were told they were not accepting any new riders (BOOOOO!!). I wish the cast member who we talked to before we left was more informed so he could tell us the correct information.
-California Adventure should have their rides hours of operation printed on their daily schedule that you pick up when you enter. 
OVERALL: Everyone was just fantastic! The organization and cast members were all great!

 Tips: 

- Bring a portable charger. Mine had a pretty good battery but there were 2 times where my phone was close to shutting down.

- Bring gel inserts for shoes. I got two very bad blisters.

- Five hour energy. This saved me in the middle of the night, only needed half.

-  Layer up(if needed) The weather was a little funky for May but my layers kept me warm.

- Take LOTS of pictures. I'm in love with many of the ones I took.

- Hit up the day portion hard on Friday and prepare for crowds of people at night into early morning. The daytime is the calm before the storm and we got a lot of rides in during this time.

- Get fast pass for World of Color at 3 a.m. Simply amazing!

- Bring people who will keep the energy high until that 6 a.m. closing. My mom was awesome, my sister and her boyfriend hung tough too.

- Check out the bands at the Mad T Party they were amazing, DJ not so much)

- Prepare your patience meter I did pretty good!

-Track your steps and EAT! We ended up walking 22 miles in totality which made eating burgers, dole whip and other sweet treats well worth it!

- Dress up! Everyone had such fun costumes. If I had more time I'd get a really cool Tiana costume but my last minute pirate was good! 

- Have fun with the cast members! their high fives and convos kept my spirits high!

- And ofcourse... HAVE FUN! 

 Now for some pictures!

Do you wanna build a snowman?

Rocked 14 hours!

First ride of the day!

One of my favorite shots! Big Thunder Mountain

Rockin my buttons and pins!

Single rider but sat next to an awesome person!

Luigi's Tires

Star Command, I'm going to need more time!

My disneyside outfit, Pirate!

Yummy burger from Tony Roma

Back to the park

First stop

Long line to get into California Adventure

1:15 a.m. mark!

You don't need to study scary, you just do it!

Preview of Disney's new movie Maleficent

OOOOoooo!

One of my favorites from World of Color Pirates

Tiki Room at 4 a.m.

5 a.m. Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters

5:30 a.m. ride on Mark Twain Steamboat

My mom and I made it to the very end!

The countdown to 6 a.m.

A present for my hubby!

 

For now...but see ya real soon!

 CAN'T WAIT FOR NEXT YEAR'S EVENT!

What did you do this long weekend??

Wordless Wednesday 5-21

Linking up with Sugar and Spice for Wordless Wednesday! With the end of the year around the corner, things are getting hectic in the classroom. We're working on report cards, end of year gifts, last week of school activities and our doughnuts with dads day. On top of all this work that needs to get done we have baby chicks in the classroom and today our yearbooks arrived! So much excitement is bubbling over at our school. What do you do for your students at the end of the year? Promotion night? Graduation? Yearbooks?

Five for Friday 5/16/14

Finally linking up with Doodlebug this month for Five for Friday! It's been a good while since I've been blogging. Between coordinating the yearbook and the Mother's Day tea party. Not to mention chicks hatching and going to Vegas, I can safely say I've been a very busy teacher! Now time for some Five for Fridayness! 

One

First up, our Mother’s Day Tea party. It was a complete success and I’ve gotten rave reviews from the moms and special guests. Thanks to Firstie Kidoodles, Michelle Oakes, Cara Carroll and Maria Manore for amazing printable packets for our tea party! I used a little from each one for mommy gifts and decorations. The one I felt was most useful was the Tea Time {A Mother’s Day Tea Program} by Firstie Kidoodles. She lays out everything that she does for her Mother’s Day tea program, it made it very easy to follow. We made hats for our moms, gave them a tissue paper flowers, gave them a coupon book a paper purse all about them according to their child, and a two cute pictures of them in their mom’s tea hat. I couldn’t help but spoil our moms because I kept finding fun gifts to give them. Then last minute I decided that we would sing two songs for our moms by Firstie Kidoodles. It all turned out fantastic! Best part was the raffle giveaway. We had three donations made by companies here in my little town. We were able to give away 2 strawberry rhubarb pies, a gift certificate to a local grocery store and I picked up some dollar stuff at the Dollar Tree. This was the first time I’ve taken on some leadership at my school for  a special event and it was awesome! Can’t wait for next year!

 

Flower Day

Two

Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week and man was I spoiled. We had flower day, teacher portrait day, child note to teacher day, treat day, and parent note day. Of course I loved flower day because all the kids really tried and brought in some beautiful flowers. I also loved their notes to me, it made my heart melt. My absolute favorite was the parent note. I know they appreciate the work I’ve done with their child but it was nice to hear from them how much I’ve impacted their child’s life.

Three

Two weekends ago I was soaking up the sun in Las Vegas! My college roomies/besties and I went on a mini vacay to see Britney Spears in Vegas. It was just what I needed to get me through the long month that is May. My friend and I dressed up as a Britney from one of her videos (mine is Womanizer) while the others just looked gorgeous! I love my friends and we had such a fun time in Vegas!

Besties since college!

Headed to the Britney Piece of Me Show

Saw the talented Childish Gambino the first night!

Four

Why couldn’t the chicken find her eggs? Because she mislaid them. Chicks, chicks, chicks. The kids are as squirrely as can be right now and with the chicks here it’s hard to get any work done. We incubated 42 eggs and we hatched 33! I teach in a rural area so a lot of the chicks are going home with the families at my school. They’ve even started naming and picking out their chick. Some names are Shelly, Miracle, Moonlight, Dottie, Muffball, Brownie and my favorite Ester.  We keep these cuties for 2 weeks and then their going HOME!

Five

This has been a hectic week with the chicks breaking out of their eggs and the end of school around the corner, I managed to take home my first graders water bottle. I didn’t even notice until I started to drink and felt the bite marks around the top. As I slowly pulled it from my lips and saw the name of my firstie peach I suddenly screamed in my car “OMG” Perfect end to my week, keeping my fingers crossed that he wasn’t sick!