145 Middle Schoolers: Wicked Awesome or Epic Fail???DeParting-Such Sweet Sorrow p. 76

[Lalabubbles]

Can't wait to read more

 

[Ninja Mom]

The hardest part is waiting for the next installment!! I think you should abandon all future responsibilities and pound out this trip report!! Your family can eat hot pockets and wear the same clothes for a couple of days while you hole up and finish... Think of the rest of us, hanging on your every typo, waiting to find out just how it went.

We know you survived this trip, but was it just barely and were the police involved? All this and more is running wild through our imaginations. Don't leave us hanging!! Type, type, type and type some more!!

~!

 

[natebenma]

LOVE that pillowcase! Shows individuality with just a soupçon of rebellion.

I feel his pain - I struggled with our home ec assignment in Grade 8 (boys did shop, girls did home ec back then of course!) - sewing a drawstring bag, which s ironic since it was something I wish I still had as per your recommendation.

I love that the word soupçon has been used in my trip report thread. You just raised the class level by a few notches!!!

Looks like this is a good place for my drawstring bag to make an appearance. I try to put in a "Where is the drawstring bag" as a plug for DISser mickeystoontown who made it for me. Her bags are awesome, and inexpensive and she has the cutest fabrics- some of them are Disney themed, others (like mine) not, but she is always willing to sew the 3 circle mouse emblem on them.

Can't wait to read more

and thanks for the encouragement!

The hardest part is waiting for the next installment!! I think you should abandon all future responsibilities and pound out this trip report!! Your family can eat hot pockets and wear the same clothes for a couple of days while you hole up and finish... Think of the rest of us, hanging on your every typo, waiting to find out just how it went.

We know you survived this trip, but was it just barely and were the police involved? All this and more is running wild through our imaginations. Don't leave us hanging!! Type, type, type and type some more!!

~!

Doing the best I can. Sorry to inform you that this is one of those rare weeks when I am working every day!!!

 

[natebenma]

Who’s in Charge Here??? (Let’s meet my traveling companions)


Our walking group consisted of 6 chaperones with 14 boys. We had 3 dads and 3 moms including me. One of the other moms is also very knowledgeable about Disney, and several times on this trip she had better instincts than me! Two of the dads had previously been on the 8th grade Disney trips with their older children.

Nate is good friends with one of the boys. He doesn’t really hang out with any of the others, but is friends with 4 or 5 of the boys in the group. The rest are not kids he knows well or hangs out with. The only parent I know well is the father of Nate’s friend. The other mom who is a Disney pro has worked with me at a few school events.

I have a really nice picture of the 6 chaperones in my group, but for privacy purposes, I am not going to be posting identifiable pictures of people from our trip.

The boys in our group were awesome!!! Most of the time. There was no whining. Sometimes a little complaining when we weren’t moving because we were waiting for somebody before our group could pick up and go. There were no major behavior issues with the boys in our group in the parks or when we were at the resort.

But there were still challenges:

There were two sets of boys in our group with the same names.

There were three sets of boys who looked alike:

Two tall boys with dark hair
Two blond kids with glasses
Two boys with short hair, round faces and similar builds

This made the already Herculean task of counting to see if everyone was accounted for difficult, not including the challenges of 14 boys constantly moving or blocking one another.

My biggest surprise and frustration was how difficult it was to manage 20 bladders.

The class was booked on two Jet Blue Flights. We were told this was so if one plane went down, they would not have to lay off the entire 9th grade teaching staff in our district. I think they were kidding!

The early flight was from 12:45 PM to 3:50 PM

Our flight was 2:20 PM to 5:30 PM.

The meeting time at the middle school for my group was 10:15. Upon arrival, each walking group was handed a packet that included Park Tickets (20), Meal Vouchers (120) and ID cards for each boy (14).

Meal vouchers- good for entrée, drink and dessert at most counter service locations. Someone should have paid more attention to the “most”:

Guess who was elected to be responsible for the packet!

I think it was the right decision, but I have to say that the pressure of being in charge of all of these important items almost drove me to the brink. I can’t tell you the number of times I counted to 14 or 20 during the week to make sure I had everything we needed.

The students were only permitted to have carryon luggage. They were not able to check their bags. One suitcase and one personal item. The suitcases had to be delivered to the school the previous week so that school officials could go through them to make sure there were not any contraband items. Which included cell phones, ipads or anything that could be connected to the internet.

Our 13 and 14 year olds would be without electronics for 5 days!

We boarded chartered buses and arrived at the airport around noon.


Next: We haven’t even left the airport and the EMTs show up


.

 

[Laffites Landing]

Here and subbing naturally! I think my son (who along with being a normal stubborn boy ... Just finishing fifth grade... Also has Asperger's) is going to hate having to sew someday! Wowzers! Better get him ready now!

Can't wait for the rest of the trip!

 

[MickeyT]

Wow.....You took Ninja Mom serious. Up at 4am pounding out on a keyboard. Keep it coming. Your fandom awaits. (Now you know how Stephen King must feel).

 

[natebenma]

Here and subbing naturally! I think my son (who along with being a normal stubborn boy ... Just finishing fifth grade... Also has Asperger's) is going to hate having to sew someday! Wowzers! Better get him ready now!

Can't wait for the rest of the trip!

Surprisingly, he did better during the sewing term than he did during the cooking class.

I'll see how much of the trip I can get through before your trip! It's coming up soon!!!

What are you doing up so early (or so late) BTW???

 

[natebenma]

Wow.....You took Ninja Mom serious. Up at 4am pounding out on a keyboard. Keep it coming. Your fandom awaits. (Now you know how Stephen King must feel).

I love Stephen King, but that dude is nuts! Yes, I know how he feels.

 

[DrMomof3]

I get stressed out with managing 5 park tickets and 5 heads to count. And they all belong to me! Of course you know what a wonderful job we do of keeping track of our own children.... (Although, in reality, it's only my Nate that seems to get lost...)
The bladder problem. Sounds right up my alley!

Amanda

 

[JanetMom]

The control freak in me would have been all over being the keeper of the tickets (and the OCD part of me would have counted and recounted at every opportunity.)

No checked baggage! There must have been some female teens that had to learn how to deal with that rule! And that must have stressed some of the chaperones too!(but not Dee, the wonder packer)

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Oh this trip gets more exciting with each installment
Mind you I'm still trying to figure out what showed up before you'd left the airport EMTs ?

Have to agree with Janet-the control freak in me would also want to manage the packet but I too would be constantly checking it

 

[creativeamanda]

Wow, Dee, you are one brave lady for taking over those meal vouchers and tickets! I looked at the choices, and I would have been fine. Disappointed int he lack of Epcot choices, but fine.

Great background information!

 

[natebenma]

I get stressed out with managing 5 park tickets and 5 heads to count. And they all belong to me! Of course you know what a wonderful job we do of keeping track of our own children.... (Although, in reality, it's only my Nate that seems to get lost...)
The bladder problem. Sounds right up my alley!

Amanda

Same here! We go nuts with just the 4 members of our family.

My Nate is the one that gets lost, too.

The control freak in me would have been all over being the keeper of the tickets (and the OCD part of me would have counted and recounted at every opportunity.)

No checked baggage! There must have been some female teens that had to learn how to deal with that rule! And that must have stressed some of the chaperones too!(but not Dee, the wonder packer)

Well, the chaperones did get to check luggage, which was good. We could carry the bag of sunscreen.

I lose the Master Packer title- didn't have enough t-shirts (had to buy one) or undies and although I packed a really decent rain coat I didn't wear it the night I really needed it.

Ah, keeper of the things. TGIFP (Thank Goodness I Fanny Packed)

I also had one room key for each of the 4 rooms the boys in our group were staying in. So I had 5 room keys as well.

Yes, I counted and recounted constantly and assigned one of the dads to be my wingman and make sure I had everything and recount for me. Had a couple of panic moments...

After obtaining a set of FP, I was missing 3 park tickets. I counted and counted again. They were in my pocket, not my fanny pack where I was storing them.

Another time I thought we had lost 6 of the boys' ID cards. I counted and counted again, and I got 13 each time (one boy was in sick bay). I couldn't figure out why I didn't have 19. Anyone see the flaw?

20 people total, but "only" 14 boys.

And then the other chaperones at times wanted to carry their own stuff and their sons' stuff, so I had to account for that in my count.

Count Me Out!!!

Oh this trip gets more exciting with each installment
Mind you I'm still trying to figure out what showed up before you'd left the airport EMTs ?

Have to agree with Janet-the control freak in me would also want to manage the packet but I too would be constantly checking it

Yes, Airport Medical paid a call to our group. Tune in tomorrow!

 

[natebenma]

Wow, Dee, you are one brave lady for taking over those meal vouchers and tickets! I looked at the choices, and I would have been fine. Disappointed int he lack of Epcot choices, but fine.

Great background information!

sorry. I missed your post this morning. There are some decent selections for meals but I wish I has glanced over the list before heading to Epcot in a downpour. I assumed all of the countries were included. Silly me.

 

[15isto2]

No electronics for 5 days.... is that legal????

 

[jenneth79]

I'm a late arrival to the party, but hey Dee, really looking forward to reading all about this one!

I'm 100% with you regarding counting things over and over to make sure they are all there. My DH sometimes makes fun of me over it, but we haven't lost any important paperwork (yet)!

Got me worried about that EMT comment......

 

[jakeybake]

Hey Dee!!

I'm subscribing! I need something to tie me over until my BC trip in August!!

Looking forward to reading up!!

Jay

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Wow no electronics for 5 days!
My DS15 wouldn't make it. I would love to see him do that though!
Is the DDP different for the YES program? The DDP should just include every restaurant if you ask me.
Keeping track of that many kids even w/ 6 adults must be stressful
It must have been nice having someone else that's in the know. At least you didn't have to do it ALL yourself
Can't wait to hear MORE!!!!

 

[natebenma]

No electronics for 5 days.... is that legal????

Fortunately, the prohibition on electronics applied only to the students!

I was still able to text and surf away!!!

I'm a late arrival to the party, but hey Dee, really looking forward to reading all about this one!

I'm 100% with you regarding counting things over and over to make sure they are all there. My DH sometimes makes fun of me over it, but we haven't lost any important paperwork (yet)!

Got me worried about that EMT comment......

Counting. Counting. Counting.

Hey Dee!!

I'm subscribing! I need something to tie me over until my BC trip in August!!

Looking forward to reading up!!

Jay

Glad to have you here! Looking at my chapters, it really could take me until August to write this report.

Wow no electronics for 5 days!
My DS15 wouldn't make it. I would love to see him do that though!
Is the DDP different for the YES program? The DDP should just include every restaurant if you ask me.
Keeping track of that many kids even w/ 6 adults must be stressful
It must have been nice having someone else that's in the know. At least you didn't have to do it ALL yourself
Can't wait to hear MORE!!!!

The kids did really well not hooked up to their devices! Never heard one complaint. They were probably too tired!

It really, truly was stressful to have a group that large, even though they were good kids. Yes, it was nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of, even if we didn't always agree.

The coupons were similar to the QS dining choices- you get an entree, drink and dessert for one coupon. I didn't see any restrictions on what we could order. I wanted to try out the lobster roll at Columbia Harbor House, but we didn't dine there.

Not many of the countries in EPCOT took the coupons. So that is different from the dining plan.

 

[Feckless]

I think the no electronics rule was awesome! I can totally imagine why they did that.

I'm in awe of you keeping track of all that stuff. It would be enough to drive me to the brink! I was stressed enough with my two and their KTTW cards, gift cards and arcade cards.

Looking forward to the next installment!