I'm John Hale, and I've been on Radiator Springs Racers
10,749 times and counting.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
I've loved the Disneyland Resort ever since I was a kid.
My first memory of Disneyland Park
itself was going on the Matterhorn bob
sleds, because that was probably my first roller
coaster I'd ever been on.
And I was scared to go on it, but once I went on
and I wanted to go on it again and again and again.
My parents went to Disneyland the first summer
that it opened.
Go ahead, mom.
Well my husband and I were married in February, 1955,
and that was our first time ever to go to Disneyland.
It was exciting.
We wanted to see it!
I think it's amazing what John has done,
and he's so persistent.
It's hard to believe.
Oh my.
Pretty much I got my knack of keeping
tallies and keeping track because my dad was
an accountant.
That's one of the reasons why I like numbers.
When I reached 10,000 it was almost a tribute to him.
He always said everybody has one thing they do.
I think my thing is kind of crazy, but it's also fun,
and I keep going more than 10,000.
We'll see what happens.
Where I work, I work Wednesday to Sunday,
so I have Monday and Tuesday off,
so I'll usually go spend pretty much
all the day Monday and Tuesday at Disneyland Resort.
We are ride operators here at Radiator Springs Racers.
The first time I noticed John was when he hit his 300th lap.
We had a couple of cast members come out and greet him,
and we took a picture with him and held the sign up.
It was pretty wonderful.
JOHN HALE: The reason I like Radiator Springs Racers,
it came along in a time where some things
were happening in my life.
I was pretty much kept to myself.
I was kind of an introvert.
I used to weigh over 400 pounds.
I don't know if it's because I was feeling
lonely or just feeling--
maybe I just gave up.
I don't know.
I don't know why.
It just, eventually the weight just kept piling on.
And my knees were so bad, I kind of got to the point
where I just, you know, that enough is enough.
We got to do something about this.
So eventually I had gastric bypass surgery.
A year later, after I'd lost 130 pounds,
I had double knee replacement surgery.
The day of the surgery was probably
one of the most happy days of my life,
because I knew we're going to fix me up
and we're going to fix me up good.
Right at the end of my recovery, a certain attraction opened up.
That first time I was like, can I bend my knees
to get in that back row?
And I did, and I fell in love with Radiator Springs Racers
right then.
I was like oh, this is the ride.
This is the ride for me.
This has really kind of opened the door for me,
kind of let me out of the box where I'm not afraid to talk
to people anymore.
This is all the collection I've gotten since I've started
Radiator Springs Racers.
Some of the things I've collected,
some of the things the cast members have given to me.
So this is from the Dr. Strange 10 K, Avengers 5 K.
Going on this ride so many times walking,
it kind of got me into doing some Run Disney events.
It keeps me healthy.
I did a 10 K on a Saturday, and the Sunday I did
the Star Wars half marathon.
Whatever I start, I want to finish it.
When I go on Radiator Springs Racers,
I usually have my Cars Land hat, so I
always turn it backwards so I don't want to have to fall off.
When I reached 1,300 times, my hat still fell off.
I was there that night.
At the end of the night we do walk the track,
and we found the hat.
When I came back to the ride the next day,
the cast members presented the hat to me,
and they had all autographed the hat.
All the cast members signed it for John.
So that was pretty magical.
It's touching that they would think of me that way.
They really are my second family at the parks.
CATALINA: I ended up getting a friend plus an older brother
that I never had.
When he hits his milestones, we also celebrate with him.
The latest one that we did was the 10,000 race,
and that was pretty fun.
They're my family and they are very special to me.
And I love them to death.
And if I didn't have that, I ... I don't know.
It's pretty much the community thing
that really keeps me going now.
Yes I want to get more times on the ride,
but it's pretty much going and seeing friends,
Monday and Tuesday.
So today we're going to Radiator Springs
Racers for my 10,750th time.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
JOHN HALE: I feel like Disney California
Adventure is also a home.
It's my second home.
CARLENE: This was his chance to be the person he wanted to be.
It's very empowering to be able to do something you've always
wanted to do and then feel like you can't, and then get
there and follow your dreams.
JOHN HALE: How's it going?
John!
JOHN HALE: Disneyland Resort really came at the right time
when I had the surgeries and I was
able to better communicate with people,
and really I wanted to prove myself.
I wanted to be able to enjoy things.
I wanted to be able to enjoy life.
And I was able to accomplish that,
and that made me enjoy Disney California Adventure
even more by having a way that I could get around all day long.
I'm John Hale, and I've been on Radiator Springs Racers
10,750 times.
And that makes me one of the many Disney People.