++Cheerleaders! Blisters! Oversized Water Bottles! ...It Must Be Disney++ Feb 2011 TR

[PlutosRHM55]

I think I may be crazy by doing two TRs, but whatever. This trip is recent and it won't take too much remembering when I was just there only a week or so ago. Now, the title may not make sense now, but it will as I go along with this crazy adventure I call a TR (Yeah, it gets pretty crazy). I'll just begin by introducing myself (again) and this trip.

My name is Timmy. I'm a teenager in High School. Ever since my first trip to Disney less than a year ago, I've been extremely obsessed. I could go on for days talking about Disney, anything Disney. One of my big dreams is to actually work there when I'm older. Besides Disney, I love reading, writing, swimming, running, photography, acting and singing. My favorite book is City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. My favorite movies are Pirates of the Caribbean, The Blind Side, Princess and the Frog, Taken, Push, Secretariat and Sleeping Beauty. My favorite actor is Liam Neeson. My favorite actress is Dakota Fanning. My favorite band is Linkin Park. My favorite song is the Thriller and Heads Will Roll mash-up from Glee. My favorite Disney song is Can You Feel The Love Tonight? from the Lion King. My favorite TV Show is Glee. Yeah, that basically sums me up. Here is a picture of me (since I'm more comfortable now showing my face):

This trip has been in the planning stages since September. It was a trip I made with the school chorus and band (I'm in chorus). The trip only happens every four years at my school, which means this would be my only time to go. I loved Disney so much in April a few months before I had to go again and so I did.

It was a five day trip just like my previous trip. It went from February 24th through the 28th. We had a private buffet on Italy Isola, the first night, during IllumiNations. The band and chorus would be performing in Downtown Disney on the 25th, a friday, the second day we were there. We performed all in the afternoon on the stage across from the World of Disney. The Chorus performed first, then the whole band, then just the Jazz Ensemble Band. We left on the last day, early, so we only had four day park hopper passes to the parks. Besides those details, we were off on our own.

We stayed in the All Star Music Resort. We had rooms for two, which meant only two beds, so I decided to sleep on the floor. I roomed with three other guys- my best friend, Nate, another friend, Rishi and his friend, Nathan (lightly said, another Nate). I'll explain more about our room when I gets to it

I had been planning this trip for months ahead. Most people were depending on me as the itinerary for the parks. I kinda left Downtown Disney out of my itinerary since I never went there my last trip. The original plans were-

DAY 1- Magic Kingdom and EPCOT
DAY 2- Animal Kingdom and EPCOT
DAY 3- Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom
DAY 4- Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios

So yeah, lots of MK. The last two days were flipped around as earlier later (Hollywood- Morning MK- Night) So yeah that was how I thought of it all. Though that wasn't how it went over. I basically dumped the itinerary I made and just planned the day, the day before, with the group I was with. That group also was different than I expected as well.

It seem this trip took very unexpected turns for me. Though it all worked out in the end. Everything was still very efficient and we got tons done. Not everything I wanted to do, but still it was a big ball of fun. I would list the colorful cast of characters, but the list goes on and on. Remember 100 kids were on this trip and then adults.

Well that is my introduction to "Cheerleaders! Blisters! Oversized Water Bottles! ... It Must Be Disney" Trip Report. I hope you enjoy!
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction- Above

DAY 1

Chapter 1: The Longest Morning (And Afternoon) Ever- Page 1
Chapter 2: The Magic of Chargers, Plans and My Nemesis: Karma (Part 1)- Page 3
Chapter 2: The Magic of Chargers, Plans and My Nemesis: Karma (Part 2)- Page 3
Chapter 3: Timmy, Is It Over Yet? When Does It Get Better? (Part 1)- Page 3
Chapter 3: Timmy, Is It Over Yet? When Does It Get Better? (Part 2)- Page 3

DAY 2

Chapter 4: An Honorary Cast Member For The Day! Yes! (Part 1)- Page 4
Chapter 4: An Honorary Cast Member For The Day! Yes! (Part 2)- Page 4
Chapter 5: An Extra Magic Hours Discovery- Page 6

DAY 3

Chapter 6: A Fulfilled Promise, Another Miracle and Catastrophe! (Part 1)- Page 7
Chapter 6: A Fulfilled Promise, Another Miracle and Catastrophe! (Part 2)- Page 7
Chapter 6: A Fulfilled Promise, Another Miracle and Catastrophe (Part 3)- Page 8
Chapter 7: Three Parks! Technical Difficulties!! Dissapointment!!! (Part 1)- Page 8
Chapter 7: Three Parks! Technical Difficulties!! Disappointment!!! (Part 2)- Page 9
Chapter 7: Three Parks! Technical Difficulties!! Disappointment!!! (Part 3)--> Continued Here- Page 9

DAY 4

Chapter 8: You Know That We Are The B-E-S-T!- Page 10
Chapter 9: The Search For Tom Morrow And Some Familiar Faces (Part 1)- Page 11
Chapter 9: The Search For Tom Morrow And Some Familiar Faces (Part 2)- Page 11
Chapter 9: The Search For Tom Morrow And Some Familiar Faces (Part 3)- Page 12
Chapter 10: Farewells, The Calling of the Monorail and the Most Annoying Phone Call!- Page 12
Chapter 11: What We Call The Night Life- Page 12

DAY 5

Chapter 12: The Attack of Receipts, Luggage and Pin Trading!- Page 13
Chapter 13: I Get Lucky... And An Extended Stay... As All Good Things Come To An End- Page 14

WRAP-UP

Chapter 14: It's The Time of Your Life! You Don't Need to Stop, It's Your Chance, Live It Up!- Page 16

OTHER

An Update of Many Things Posted 5-5-11 (Page 9)
Chorus Life Outside of Disney (And Some Other Stuff) Posted 6-18-11 (Page 12)
Tons of Fun in the Summer Sun- A Day at the Water Park! Posted 7-21-11 (Page 14)
On The Waterfront- Three Days on the Lake Posted 7-26-11 (Page 14)
Into the Wilderness And Swimming with Ducks- One Awesome Week--> Continued Here Posted 8-5-11 (Page 15)

 

[LondonUnderground]

sounds good! i'm in, bro.

 

[MickeyisBeast]

I'm in
No way would I be able to go to Disney as a school thing... that many kids would probably drive me crazy. But still, sounds fun!

 

[Monorail Fan:)]

I'm in Great job on the intro!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

sounds good! i'm in, bro.

Awesome, Eimear!

I'm in
No way would I be able to go to Disney as a school thing... that many kids would probably drive me crazy. But still, sounds fun!

It was crazy, but that was mostly going through the airport, getting on the Magical Express, etc. Things that were done as a group. Though, it wasn't as crazy as I expected. They went through how everything was gonna go many times before the trip so we were prepared.

I'm in Great job on the intro!

Thanks Drew!

 

[RachelNinja]

I'm in! I'm excited to see how your trip goes with so many kids. My mom wouldn't let me go to WDW when the marching band went in high school (I played the flute). I've been there a lot though, and I plan on going as often as I can in the future to make up for it!

 

[lnk1229]

Sounds like fun- there weren't many schools there during our recent trip in January.. when did you go?

I remember there being schools the last time we went which seemed strange since it was the summer.. but this trip the only large crowds we had to deal with were from foreign countries and boy were they rude!!

I can handle school trips because they usually break off into smaller groups.. but just picture a group of 75+ rude foreigners and you can see why I was missing the school kids!!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

I'm in! I'm excited to see how your trip goes with so many kids. My mom wouldn't let me go to WDW when the marching band went in high school (I played the flute). I've been there a lot though, and I plan on going as often as I can in the future to make up for it!

My mom was so nervous when I went on my trip after I told her that chaperones weren't going to be very lenient (I think I spelled it right).

Sounds like fun- there weren't many schools there during our recent trip in January.. when did you go?

I remember there being schools the last time we went which seemed strange since it was the summer.. but this trip the only large crowds we had to deal with were from foreign countries and boy were they rude!!

I can handle school trips because they usually break off into smaller groups.. but just picture a group of 75+ rude foreigners and you can see why I was missing the school kids!!

I went in February about a week ago, the dates are in the title.

Oh... that doesn't sound like fun. Yeah we basically broke off into small groups. It wasn't a hundred kids travelling in a pack. I was with 3 others, 4 on our last day at the parks. There were never times when we were a big group in the parks and it wasn't bad when we were. I think because this trip was so well put together it wasn't a big issue. My school has been doing this trip since 1998 and I don't think they'd be doing it this long if it wasn't enjoyable.

There weren't really any other schools when I went. There was a cheerleading competition going on I know (hint, hint). And we weren't the only group that performed in Downtown Disney. There were dancing groups and a few others. It was all for promoting the Performing Arts.

 

[PlutosRHM55]

CHAPTER 1: THE LONGEST MORNING (AND AFTERNOON) EVER

So this trip begins the morning of February 24th, 2011. I was supposed to be in school this week. I tried to make up quizzes and tests with my teachers ahead of time before the vacation (since February vacation was after this week), but it didn't work so much. The itinerary for this trip said that we had to be at the High School before 4:30am. So yeah, those who weren't even going on this trip got to sleep in. I was very excited so waking up wasn't a problem.

I went through the morning pretty normally as if a school day except my mom and I were the only ones up in the house. I said goodbye to my sisters (who will go by DYS and DOS again- DYS- younger sisters DOS- older sister) though DYS wanted to get up in the morning to say goodbye to me. I love my DYS! She sadly never got up. I wasn't in the house very long. I'd packed the night before and did little things before I left. I was only allowed one checked bag (under 50 pounds and 62 inches of combined dimensions) and two carry-ons (I only had one). We'd done all that scaling the night before and my mom and I were out the door by 4:00.

We arrived at the school exactly at 4:15 (I think). There were tons of people there. I was shocked. I thought I would be one of the first. Of course, NOT! I first saw my friend, Trysten. She told me she'd been there before anyone else at like 3:00 in the morning. Poor her

My mom still was following me. She just didn't want to go (or rather she wanted to come with me, LOL). I had to find my chaperone, Dr. Jim, to get my Magic Express tag before so I had her come with me for that since I didn't really know him too well. We found him pretty quickly, when my friend Nate (I'll call him Little Nate, since my other roommate is wicked tall. He will be Big Nate) directed us to him. We found him. I got my tag and put my bag under the bus then climbed on behind Little Nate.

I live in the Northern area of the U.S. so it is very cold up here. It was freezing that morning and I was so happy to get on the nicely heated coach bus. Little Nate had set up an area for all of us friends at the way back of the bus. I got to my seat and found out, my carry-on was small enough to fit under my seat. No overhead bin for me on the plane or the bus.

Soon my various other friends came on the bus. My other best friend, Jocelyn, her friend, Taylor, my other friend, Rishi and many others came on the bus. Most of them were in Band, so they had to use the overhead bin for their instruments. Poor them with two carry-ons. Jocelyn sat next to me. I decided to take out my camera and take some pictures. (Since I haven't asked permission of friends, pictures of them will be minimal to zero)

I look so bad in this picture. Probably because I'm tired, but pushing myself to stay awake.

I sat on the bus talking to my friends for a bit, when I heard a tap on my window. I ignored it then I heard another one. I turned around and there was another friend of mine, Mat. He was trying to tell me something though I couldn't hear at all. I was so confused. He finally came on the bus and gave me a picture from like 3 years ago of me. I hid it immediately, because I didn't like how I looked when I was younger without braces.

Trysten soon came on the bus. We were all talking away very ancy to get to Florida. At 4:30 the bus started to leave and we were off. The airport was over an hour away and we arrived there around 6. We had to wait in a huge line to get our bags checked. OF course, my friends and I were at the back of it all. Uggghhh...

When we finally got to go up, we had to wait in a second line, but that was a quick wait and getting our bags checked took two seconds. I talked with one of my old teachers so that probably made the time fly in the second line. I thought it was going to take longer, because my teachers said to have an identification card but it wasn't needed. I was grouped with a few other kids after my bag was set and we went through security.

Security went by fairly quick, though it took me awhile to put everything down on the belt. Then I was off towards the terminal. I had time to spare, so I bought a second breakfast, so I wouldn't have to buy lunch, some gum for the airplane ride and took a quick trip to the bathroom. After all that, they were boarding and I was in the first five seats (Extra Leg Room) and a window seat! The school was flying JetBlue so we got TVs to watch as well. I was supposed to swap seats to be near my friends but it never happened.

During the safety run-through, the head flight attendant announced that my school was on the plane. It was pretty awesome, until he messed up which state we were in. We corrected him and then he was all whatever. I think 100 people on this flight were giving him the evil eye then.

After that, we were up in the air to Florida. I flipped through channels, watched a bit of House for awhile, checked where we are, but most of the flight, I was watching "Due Date". Now, I wasn't the only one. There were a bunch of us watching it. You could hear the whole plane laughing at certain parts. Robert Downey Jr is the man and this movie was the best! Here is a few pics of me on the plane:

The flight was only about 3 hours long and soon enough, we were landing at the Orlando International Airport. I was so happy. I was still in my jeans and sweatshirt though and it was very hot out, so I immediately took off my sweatshirt. I got off the plane fairly quickly, but I had to wait around a bit for others, as people got changed and got off the plane. Then we moved along. I checked in with my chaperone. Things were moving along very smoothly. I was the first group on the tram to the main terminal at the airport with all my friends. We had to wait around there as well. There was a lot of waiting around and I took those points to take some pictures:

I blurred my name out, since that is information I won't give out online.

Soon enough, our group was bustling along to get to Disney's Magical Express, as we would finally enter the happiest place on Earth!

CHAPTER 2: THE MAGIC OF CHARGERS, PLANS AND MY NEMESIS, KARMA coming soon...

 

[RachelNinja]

Good thing you guys flew! Can't imagine how long it would be with everyone on a bus for the whole trip to Florida! My high school did buses all the way from NY to WDW!

How many teachers were on the trip?

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Good thing you guys flew! Can't imagine how long it would be with everyone on a bus for the whole trip to Florida! My high school did buses all the way from NY to WDW!

How many teachers were on the trip?

Just two. Then, there were two other adults. And I think it was 10 chaperones. So yeah a small percentage to us kids.

 

[Monorail Fan:)]

Woah, it must have been interesting to go with that large of a group.

 

[canoe86]

I'm in, good report so far.

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Woah, it must have been interesting to go with that large of a group.

Yea it was. I was nervous when I found out we were going to an international airport, but it was a lot easier than I thought.

 

[PlutosRHM55]

I'm in, good report so far.

Thanks canoe86! I am glad you are enjoying this TR

 

[mickey'sbff]

I'm in! Was it fun going without parents?

 

[Mickeysgirl34]

You know I'm in!

You're lucky going to Disney with your friends!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

I'm in! Was it fun going without parents?

Awesome, Sarah! Yeah, though I feel Disney is more of a family place, it was nice without them. You get to see Disney through your friends' eyes.

You know I'm in!

You're lucky going to Disney with your friends!

Yes I do Haha LOL

Yeah... I was so excited when I knew my friends were coming. It wasn't a mandatory trip so my friends in band and chorus may not have came.

 

[Slatas]

I'm in too. Sounds like alot of fun.

 

[PlutosRHM55]

I'm in too. Sounds like alot of fun.

Awesome! Yeah it was tons of fun. Disney always is