It was easy to see that the 8th graders at Day Creek Intermediate were upset that their end of-the-year trip was changed from Disneyland to Knott’s Berry Farm. The 8th grade Disneyland trip has been a tradition since 2004, when Day Creek was built.

“I don’t like it because that’s like our 8th grade reward,” said Marley Z., an 8th grader on campus.

“I’m very sad and kind of disappointed. In 6th grade, they told us that at the end of the year we will have an amazing trip [in 8th grade] and then they cancel it, so it’s just kind of a let down,” said Isabella G., another 8th grader.

The real question concerns why students are not going to Disneyland in the first place.

“I think the Disneyland trip was canceled because parents somehow didn’t have a way to pay for it or something, so now they’re asking the school if they can pay for it,” said Jordan W., a 7th grade student at DCIS.

“Because not many people have the money to pay for Disneyland.” said Marley Z. when asked what she thought about the Disneyland trip getting cancelled.

Mr. Apodaca, the assistant principal at DCIS, explained that the reason Disneyland was changed to Knott’s Berry Farm was because of money issues.

“It is a district decision and the principles come together and really, it was more from the superintendent looking at the price of Disneyland compared to the price of Knott’s Berry Farm, which is actually almost close to more than double the cost of what it costs to go to Knott’s Berry Farm than what it costs to go to Disneyland, so in the end it has to do with money,” said Mr. Apodaca.

Students feel that they could have raised the money another way. They believe we could have come up with new ideas for fundraising.  

“We could always do fundraisers, carwashes, anything,” said Isabella G.

“We could do a car wash or a bake sale,” said Marley Z.

Even though the 8th graders are still going to have a field trip, they are still disappointed that it is Knott’s Berry Farm and not Disneyland.

“I feel like they could have supported a fundraiser to go to Disneyland,” said Marley Z.

“It’s not really about where the kid is going, it’s really about who they’re with. I went to Etiwanda Intermediate School when I was a kid here and I didn’t go to Disneyland, I went to Knott’s. I didn’t remember that trip because it was Knott’s Berry Farm, I remembered it because I was with my 8th grade friends,” said Mr. Apodaca.

Most students at Day Creek think Disneyland is better than Knott’s, but at least Knott’s is better than riding the escalators at Macy’s.