August 23rd
2015 was supposed to be the start to an epic get away for 16 people. However in the weeks leading up to this date,
things started to change. We got within
one more person needing to fill a spot on our trip, but it never happened. Instead people started to back out for one
reason or another. Some understandable
and some completely aggravating reasons to not go anymore. Since the trip was still a few weeks away, we
worked to fill seats back up that ended getting dropped again and then refilled
once more. Departure day, we ended up
with 11 people out of the projected 16.
By the time
everyone showed up to leave, annoyances had already started to form between
members of the group. Nevertheless, we
jumped in the vehicles excited to rock this trip. Along the road, there were fun gas station
trips as two of the three cars tried to convince the third car that it was
haunted due to random “radio interference” we were picking up from them. At one point we actually thought they
believed us. We arrived in Anaheim
around 10 am on the 24th, which meant everyone was extremely tired
from driving through the night.
With
exhaustion present, one injury before the trip and one a few hours in, we
decided to relax for the day and get ready for the preceding three days that
would be Disneyland, which was sure to be beyond energy draining.
Over the
next two days (Tues and Wed) there was a noticeable split in the group of who
people wanted to hang out with. Tantrums
thrown, passive aggressive texts sent, sore bodies present, and everyone on
their last nerve, it was time to changes things up.
With these
feelings having spread through the whole party, a group of 6 decided we were
going to execute “Operation Phoenix Rising.”
The objective? Get one of the guys in the group, Tyson, who had been
stuck with the main annoyance of the group the whole time, one on one. From
there you had to get the two of you to Tom Sawyers Island in Disneyland, which
required you to ride on a motorized raft to the island that had no access by
foot. The rules? The only rules were that you couldn’t say
“Tom Sawyers Island” to Tyson. Also, you
had to wait until he got to the park in order to execute your plan.
Olivia,
along with others that had slept in, arrived at the park. She then texted Jake,
the person who had set the trip up, to let him know that Tyson had entered the
park with her. Jake sent a text out to
Shannon, Anali (Ana-Lee), Remington, and Calli who were the other members
participating in “Operation Phoenix Rising.”
The game had
begun! Remington asked what the rules on
alliances were. Anali quickly responded
that there weren’t any rules on alliances.
After this response, Calli, Anali, Shannon, Remington, and Jake stopped
at a restroom for the girls. While they
were in there, Remington and Jake quickly shook hands and created an
alliance. Out of nowhere, Olivia
appeared with others in tow. In a panic, everyone dispersed and scrambled to execute
their plans to get Tyson alone.
Believing we
needed to get on to the “Mark Twain,” an old style river boat, in order to get
to the island, each person had Tyson in their sights. Olivia was the first to get Tyson one on one
and to the waiting dock for the “Mark Twain” boat. While she was doing that, Jake was texting
Tyson to try and get him to meet up. Remington was also following Olivia and
Tyson the entire time. The entire
“Operation Phoenix Rising” group showed up to the staging area for the boat
except for Jake. Little did they know
however, Jake was sitting on the other side of the staging area and hadn’t been
seen by anyone except for Remington. We
boarded the boat and the main group went to the third (top) level of the
boat. Remington met up with Jake to let
him know that they were all on the wrong boat, and they actually needed to use
the rafts to get to the island.
After
receiving this knowledge, Jake sent a group text acting as if he had
masterminded the whole thing and that he knew the whole time that it was the
wrong boat, and that he wasn’t on the boat. In reality, he had no clue it was the wrong
ship. When the boat docked again, the
group made their way to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, while Jake followed
behind the entire time. Anali didn’t get
in line for the ride though. She,
thinking she also had an alliance with Remington, went to get a diet coke. Calli, Remington’s wife, also thinking she
had an implied alliance with Remington, felt comfortable going to the Pirates
ride with the group. Tyson and Jake
ended up speaking on the phone though. Jake
wanted to speak with Tyson one on one, and asked him to leave the line for
Pirates. Once they met up, they made
their way to the rafts. Remington,
having the true alliance with Jake, made his way out of line and to the rafts
as well. The three guys made their way
on a raft without anyone else and to Tom Sawyers Island.
The
remaining players made their way to the island, where we all celebrated the
events of the game. Jake and Remington
as the winners won a Dole Whip Float (AMAZING!!!). These seven later in the trip decided to form
what is now known as “The Order of the Traveling Phoenix” which will be
traveling to different destinations as a tight knit group of friends. The official birthday of The Order of the
Traveling Phoenix is Aug 27th 2015.
The rest of
the trip had major ups and major downs as buttons were pushed by some of the
other members of the group outside of “the order.” After returning home, it was decided that
certain people that attended the trip will probably not be attending anymore
trips with “the order,” while others would be more than welcome to join us.
We hope you
have enjoyed reading about how our little group got started. We will be doing introduction posts into who
everyone in the order is. Please keep an
eye out for post from our next trips and adventures together. Feel free to follow us on YouTube (vlogs),
Instagram, or email us suggestions for trips, different travel gear, or tips at
theorderofthetravelingphoenix@gmail.com
