When we used to go to the West coast we found the jet lag not too bad after a 12 hour flight. Unfortunately retuning it used to take us about 5 days to get back to normal which was terrible when you had to go back to work straight away.
We think your idea of an admission ticket excluding big thrill rides is a great idea since we have realised we just cannot ride them anymore. Thanks for a great trip report. Enjoy your one day a week teaching.