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

[jessidoll]

Great stuff so far!!Just started reading.

 

[RachelNinja]

Glad you were able to adjust to the change of plans! I think I would've gotten upset at first too! But of course, it's Disney, so ya can't be upset for too long!

Your AK fun makes me really wish I had gone there a few weeks ago! I'll be back next year for my Disneymoon though, so I fully intend on exploring the 4 parks very well!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

I am really enjoying your TR so far! You are braver than me-I have never went on Kali River Rapids! I don't like the idea of being drenched. Splash Mtn wetness- I can handle.

I'm glad you are enjoying it, Hannah. YES! I'M BRAVER THAN ANOTHER PERSON! Yeah, don't ride that if you can't handle Splash Mountain, its like that, but quadruple the amount of water.

Sounds like you all had a great time. I'm glad that you were able to this while in H.S. Can't wait to read more.

Thanks lucklady! Yeah, I definitely am happy I'm getting to do this though I may not be in chorus next year.

I'm loving your TR, Timmy! You're a REALLY good writer, and I love reading TRs with a lot of people in them. You're doing a fabulous job

I'm glad you LOVE it, Sara! Oh thanks on the writing, I write a lot in my free time, fanfics and stuff, and if you love TRs with a lot of people in it than wait until future chapters. The amount of people just gets bigger and bigger. I hope you enjoy what comes next.

Great stuff so far!!Just started reading.

I'm glad you like it, jessidoll.

Glad you were able to adjust to the change of plans! I think I would've gotten upset at first too! But of course, it's Disney, so ya can't be upset for too long!

Your AK fun makes me really wish I had gone there a few weeks ago! I'll be back next year for my Disneymoon though, so I fully intend on exploring the 4 parks very well!

Yeah, it really was kind of a slap in the face, when I had explained the plan so many times, especially for the first day, but yeah its Disney and I was travelling throughout the parks with a great, organized group so it was perfect.

Oooo... a Disneymoon... have fun on that! And yeah, definitely explore all four. No matter if I'm there a day or a week, I visit all four, so I advise all to do that as well.

 

[PlutosRHM55]

CHAPTER 3: TIMMY, IS IT OVER YET? WHEN DOES IT GET BETTER? (Part 1)

So, now we were beginning our journey to our last Animal Kingdom ride of the day. Kilimanjaro Safaris is basically the furthest away from DINOSAUR you can get. It takes like over a half hour to get from there to the Safaris. And where I'm not so hot at finding my way around Animal Kingdom, especially on the left side, so yeah, it wasn't an easy task getting over there, especially with three girls depending on you to get over there as quick as possible. Especially when one of them is desperate for a croissant from France in Epcot.

"Timmy, are you sure its this way?" "Timmy, I think we're lost" "Timmy, I think its this way" "Timmy" "Timmy" "Timmy, Timmy" "TIMMY!!!!!" Yeah, it was getting annoying after awhile. Though, there was the comic relief in between...

So after walking for awhile we went by the instruments that are out for anyone to play on or maybe a little bit past and a few birds were walking around. I'm not entirely sure if these were a form of pelican or something else. I feel like such a blonde when I say that. Ok, moving on... So we saw a bunch of them and we all took one picture, well that is Jocelyn, Taylor and I. Tina had to get a picture of each bird. We were trying to get to this Safari for her before we had to leave for Epcot for our dinner buffet. And SHE WAS TAKING PICTURES OF FIVE BIRDS THAT LOOK EXACTLY ALIKE!!!!! Oh my word! It was pretty funny later when we thought about it though. Here is the picture I took of the bird:

After we walked past the bird, we also found another Photo op. Tons of people also seemed to find this as well. A great spot to get a picture of the Tree Life. I must find where this is again and get a picture with my family, if we go back. It is such a great shot:

Isn't it perty? (LOL)

So we continued on our way and seemed to be so confused as to where we were as we moved along. We did ask for some help at one point, but mostly found Kilimanjaro Safaris on our own. I told you we were quite efficient

As soon as we got there, we kinda found ourselves in a bit of a longer line, but it shockingly went by very quickly. We got on the ride in twenty minutes, but remember the ride is like twenty minutes, so I was sorta freaking out that we weren't going to be able to stop at the gift shop at the exit like we planned. Also, Jocelyn and Taylor were getting irritable. Luckily I had Tina there to keep me hyped up and Disney-ified.

We got onto the Safari and we were off. Our guide was very nice and funny. She asked where everyone was from and we immediately went right up with where we were from. Yeah, we were a lot more open in Disney. Its pretty funny. I wish I'd remember this guide's name. She was just the perfect amount of cheesy and it made for an interesting ride. I definitely would like to have her as a guide again.

On the Safari I took tons of pictures. Hopefully I can post them all. They are a lot better than the ones my sister took from my last trip. Enjoy!

One of my favorite pictures. This guy came up so close and nobody could get a picture of him because he kept on ducking down... except for me! I was so happy when I got the picture. I felt accomplished (LOL)

So we had a great ride and saved a baby elephant from poachers. Once again, I felt very accomplished. Though there was the fact my friend Jocelyn kept on asking me when the ride was going to end, while I was trying to enjoy the ride *shakes head* As soon as we got off the ride we headed directly towards the entrance. At this point, blisters were now forming all over my feet. Last time I wear flip flops in Disney. To add to all that pain we got lost again. Everyone was indecisive as to wear to go, so we asked a Cast Member by the "It's Tough To Be A Bug" entrance and she directed us to the front.

I went past a few new places I hadn't been in Disney, which was pretty cool. Sadly I wasn't far enough over to see Camp Minnie Mickey and maybe glimpse the theater where Festival of the Lion King is. Sadly, we were being very good High School students and wanted to get to Epcot early for our buffet and didn't see the show.

The park wasn't very close to closing time so nobody was leaving the park, which was great since it wasn't like trying to find our way through a crowd when we left. We made it all the way to the entrance fairly well. Got lost again, but we made it and made a beeline right for the Gift Shop.

We all browsed around the gift shop and checked everything out. It was very quiet and nice. I love the obscure gift shops in Disney since nobody really goes to them. Taylor bought a sun dress to wear over her bathing suit when she wore it. Tina bought a baby Yeti to symbolize her conquering of Everest. I was on the search for Pins once again.

As I said before, this trip was basically my trip to really build up my collection and get more involved with the hobby since I never really did my last trip. I looked around a little and found a whole section dedicated to Expedition Everest pins. Most of them were Yellows, which are probably the ones I tried to stay away from as to not spend all my money. Though I did find a nice Blue one which I think looked a lot more aesthetically pleasing than the Yellows, though they didn't have the baby yeti. So I bought it. Here is a picture of it I found on the Disney Pin Trading website:

Doesn't it look so nice? I bought the pin and Jocelyn ended up buying nothing. She did a fairly good job at keeping it very frugal. We walked out of the park and went straight to the bus area. I can't stand how all the buses to parks are so far away from the entrance. It is annoying. Though, we were the only ones there at the time so it was the perfect time to sit down and relax.

I immediately took off my flip flops then and sat right on down. It felt so good to walk without my flip flops. Have I mentioned I will never wear flip flops again in Disney? I think this moment to relax really helped relieve some of the strain we had accumulated through the crazy morning. Disney has that great magical ability to do something like that. It also has the magical ability when we get to those moments to allow buses to arrive on time. WOOHOO!

We had the whole bus to ourselves. We talked like mad people on the way to Epcot. We were texting friends back in our home state and all that. The Disney Magic really was kicking in. Cinderella Castle or not, it was definitely kicking in. I couldn't wait to find out what awaited us at Epcot.

CONTINUED IN NEXT POST...

 

[PlutosRHM55]

CHAPTER 3: TIMMY, IS IT OVER YET? WHEN DOES IT GET BETTER? (Part 2)

The bus ride to Epcot was a bit long since Animal Kingdom is sorta far away from that area. Good thing we were sitting or I'm pretty sure my ankles and feet would've been super sore. No way would I be able to get through Epcot with them on if that happened.

We finally arrived at Epcot and as soon as I got off the bus, my feet were hurting so bad. The blisters were all over my feet. The buses, as usual were such a long walk from Epcot, which is almost a marathon in itself. It was not going to be good if I walked from here to there and have to take the detour to get my bag checked. Drastic times called for drastic measures and that meant, NO FLIP FLOPS!!!!!

I took them right off my feet and felt so much better. Jocelyn, Taylor and Tina were all "Seriously Timmy?" I smiled, because I actually found a reason to take off my shoes. So I walked with my friends up to the bag check with no shoes on (until I got to the bag check of course). Sadly, no funny bag check stories this time.

We took a quick look at one of the Gift Shop Carts right next to the bag check. I think gift shops were probably going to be my new thing at Disney. (LOL) So I just walked the rest of this way with flip flops on, no matter how much they made my feet hurt. We got to the entrance and went right through with our tickets. As soon as we entered, we grabbed some maps and then we all took the chance for a photo op of the lovely icon called Spaceship Earth:

After that, we checked our phones for the time and noticed we had a while before we had to be in Italy for our buffet. So, we decided to go on one ride. I said right off "Let's go on Spaceship Earth, its the ride inside the ball!" They all thought it sounded really cool, so we went straight onto the ride, I waddling behind because of my ankles and feet.

I really enjoyed Spaceship Earth during my last trip. I don't know. It isn't like a happy ride or a ride that has random Disney characters popping up (ignoring the Hidden Mickeys) but it is a nice ride and I love the end where you pick your future. I think it was the ride we went on the most during our trip. The line is never long so I thought it would be something to do so we weren't making circles in Italy, but had enough time to go get Taylor's croissant. The wait was only like 15 minutes which I found rare for this ride. Jocelyn immediately had to stop me with a question before we went on: "Is this ride boring, Timmy?"

I was actually nervous about this question for this ride. While I loved it, I was very classical Disney and was a fan of most dark rides. Most they probably would've liked, but this one was educational and fairly slow moving and long. It may not have been there cup of tea, but I thought it wasn't going to be mine either and ended up enjoying it as did my mom and DYS. So I thought it would be great for them as well.

Though, at this hesitation Tina stepped in. She wanted to go on another ride in Epcot that she was desperate for. This was one ride that wasn't exactly on my list and it was... Universe of Energy. She really wanted to go on it and tried to get us to go on that, though I had this funny feeling they probably wouldn't like it since that was a "show" ride and it was all educational. So, I pulled them all into the line for Spaceship Earth and we got on.

Things weren't starting out as planned for our Spaceship Earth adventure. First, right before we got on, the ride started slowing down and stopped. Of course it had to break down and this ride needed awhile for it to speed up again. They got the ride running again and we hopped right on. I sat in the back with Taylor, while Tina and Jocelyn sat up front.

The ride was fairly slow for the most part and stopped in front of one scene. Throughout the ride I noticed that they were making some changes. Like little effects were covered up and some mini-side scenes were missing. It wasn't as great as last time. Jocelyn was definitely disappointed about 1/5 through the ride. She asked me "Timmy, when does it get... BETTER?" It was awful. Taylor and Tina seemed to enjoy it a bit at some of the cool parts and especially at the end. When we got off the ride, we sent our little postcards from the future to our emails. The reason I loved that ride! And now, they had more options for your future and sending the picture to your email was a lot easier. So happy there!

After all that excitement, Jocelyn went all out and saying it was the worst ride ever. I guess I'll never bring any of them onto Spaceship Earth again. Definitely a family ride though, definitely. When we got off, we only had half an hour to get to Italy, so we started making our way to World Showcase for Taylor's croissant in France. We saw some other friends from the school there, walking to go to one of the Kim Possible Stations to play the game since they probably had enough time to do it. We continued onward to France. And once again, I forgot about the dead end the right side of World Showcase leads you to if you don't go over the bridge to France. So, another mess-up there.

We got over the bridge and were brought up right in front of france. We walked right into the plaza of the place all the way back to the French bakery. Though Taylor was the only one buying food we all went into the bakery. It smelled so good and there and the desserts looked delicious I wanted one, but held off since we were going to a great buffet on the Italy Isola for IllumiNations soon and needed a big appetite for that. We were shuffled out of there quickly and finally TAYLOR HAD HER CROISSANT! So, after a bathroom break, we went to Italy since it was almost that time for us to meet up with our chaperones to get our wristbands so we could get into the buffet.

Most of the school was already there. Everybody was sitting around, talking and telling stories about their day. I first saw my friend, Trysten and said Hi. She was travelling with my best friend Nathan who sadly wasn't there yet though his entire group was there. They had been in Epcot all day so I'm sure he was running from place to place enjoying what he had found during the day. Trysten was running around talking to a bunch of juniors so I walked away from her, got my wristband and went with the rest of my travel group to talk with our other friends, Gwen, Sam and Lindsay. Like everyone else they had been in Epcot as well and had probably the freakest story ever for us.

They told us when they were spending sometime down by the Red Phone Boxes in the UK, Lindsay got into one of the booths and answered the phone. When she answered the phone someone was on the other line asking about Pizza. She thought it was a joke and got all angry at the guy about him not ordering Pizza and such and that wasn't the Pizzeria. After she hung up, a guy, a drunk guy was nearby and said how he ordered a Pizza an hour ago and somehow they never got his order. It totally freaked them out. I definitely think that story kicked our bag checker guy story.

I talked with a few other people. We waited around awhile, even after everyone came to the Italy Isola. I took off my flip flops than and started rubbing my feet again I was waiting for so long. These Disney people ALWAYS making us wait. May I have a fastpass please? (LOL) My friend, Nathan finally showed up with a huge baguette in his hands from the French Bakery. He was very excited and talked it up with me before I turned away. I just kinda paced a bit then. After awhile, I took some pictures of Spaceship Earth since it looks so nice at night:

I also took a picture of the Tower behind us at Italy. I loved how everything looked at night:

I waited some more, bounced from friend to friend asking how their day went. Its great how many crazy fantastic stories will occur in Disney. It may be the best part about the place Finally, a few minutes after 8pm or I forget what time it was, everyone raced to the end of the bridge as a CM let us into the Italy Isola buffet. (Added note, I put my flip flops back on)

My group of friends got a whole table to themselves. It was pretty awesome. Once we had claimed our seats, we went up and got food. The buffet wasn't huge but the selections were varied which was nice. They also had a buffet just for drinks. I don't think I could've asked for better.

It took me awhile to get from my seat to the buffet, through the buffet, to the other buffet, through that buffet and back to my seat. Then, I had to get up again for forks and other cutlery. It seemed destiny wasn't allowing me to eat my food. Curses!

When I feel got to my food, I couldn't be in more in heaven than I was then. The food was amazing. It was mostly pasta, but the pasta was amazing. I always know Epcot will knock my socks off with their amazing food. I think I had triple seconds or something, it was so good.

IllumiNations was going to begin soon. They were announcing the time every 5 minutes. It was so annoying. And right at the five minute mark, I had to go to the bathroom. So I had to run from Italy Isola to Germany than back. Yeah, it was nervewracking, since there was no way I was going to miss the show.

I did get back in time, almost just as the show was about to begin. I had finished all my food, except the dessert portion and my drink when the show started. We had a great viewing point, though I was at the far end of the table. I got tons of pictures, so enjoy more scrolling:

Yeah, so after the show finished, all insanity broke lose. I threw away my stuff then went after my friend Nathan as he raced through World Showcase. I looked so awkward running with these steaming blisters, so I took off my flip flops and basically ran through all of World Showcase and most of Future World with nothing on my feet. Good thing we were at the back of the mob, but ahead of the rest of our schoolgroup. We would be first on the bus for our school and probably not have to wait in a huge line.

When we got near the exit, I put my flip flops back on. Now, this is another story where I need to bring it back to pre-Disney trip. On the DIS, there is a member on the Teen Board, which is where I spend the majority of my time on here, and her username is wicked.witch.of.wdw. Her real name is Cali and she just joined the DCP right before I went to Disney, so she was going to be working when I was down there. She told me she was working at the entrance to Epcot, so I had to remember to stop by and search for her. Now, when I hopped through the exit, I gave a high five to a short girl CM with black hair and wearing mickey hands when I left. I didn't give much thought to it, until I found out later, Cali happened to be working the exits that night and I had actually seen her there. I find it totally awesome that I met another DISer at Disney. So I just had to mention that.

After we got through the exit, my friend Nate and I walked a little since I put the flip flops back on and my feet were stinging more and more. We walked from the exit until we were at the edge of the bus-waiting area. Then the flip flops came off once again and we raced to our busline. We were the only ones there and the first of the school there, so we could wait around since the bus took forever to finally arrive. Other people from our school and some of my friends arrived. They were way behind us and had to stand on the bus, while Nate and I sat. It was great LOL

The bus ride wasn't very long and this was a direct bus to the All Star Music, so we didn't have to wait for people to get off at the All Star Sports before we could get to our resort. We got off and went straight to our room, but we were so tired. Though, we noticed that we didn't have a key and I think only the room captains had keys, which was Big Nate. So, we waited in the lobby until him and our other roommate Rishi arrived.

It was awhile, since Big Nate took his time getting to the bus and arrived a few minutes after us. During the time, while we wait we went up to the concierge and asked for a cot to be delivered to our room since I didn't feel like sleeping on open floor, but we didn't have our room number which was a problem, so we had to wait for Big Nate with his key. He did have his room key which was great, but we found out we had to pay for the cot, so we decided to ask for extra bedding instead. She said we could do that from the room so Rishi, Nate, Big Nate and I all walked to our room together. We first, picked up our stuff from the chaperone's room then went straight to our room, which was in probably the room furthest away possible from the lobby. When we got inside, we found that all our stuff had arrived. Mousekeeping also left us a little gift:

I also took a picture of our room:

Now, the curfew tonight was right after the show so were basically stuck in our room. Either way I was tired and wanted to go to bed. Though, I had decided to sleep on the floor so I needed to get my extra bedding. My extremely socially active friend, Nate called to get some extra bedding as soon as we got there, since I'm a terrible talker. He, of course, has just a way with words so it wasn't a problem.

I waited around for awhile as my roommates all took showers and I decided to wait until morning since I took one the morning of this day. Our chaperone finally arrived at our room with our room keys and dining cards for tomorrow. He also told us our day was going to go about since we had performances tomorrow, which meant we didn't have a ton of time for parks. Though, our curfew was pushed back because of Epcot's EMH. After that whole schpiel, I was in for a long night.

Everyone got showered, I got changed and brushed my teeth, but couldn't go to bed, no matter how tired I was because the mousekeeping didn't come with my extra bedding. Nate called them about three times that night because of it. I though did have time to organize my bag out, add my Expedition Everest to my bag of pins and let my feet heal after the day they went through. Finally at 12, they came with it and I could get to sleep. Nate and I were the only ones awake by then and Nate was going to be up awhile on his iPod, but I passed out right away.

As I dozed off into unconscious, the whole day ran through my head. After thinking it through, I knew I was in for probably the craziest and most fun rollercoaster of a week ever. And I was totally along for the ride.

CHAPTER 4: AN HONORARY CAST MEMBER FOR THE DAY! YES! coming soon...

 

[Disneypolyprincess]

Sounds like you had a good day, well minus the blister! Those really suck!! The story your friends told you is a bit crazy! That would have freaked me out haha

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Sounds like you had a good day, well minus the blister! Those really suck!! The story your friends told you is a bit crazy! That would have freaked me out haha

Yeah, it was wicked fun and I think those blisters made it better. I can say I walked through most of World Showcase, barefoot. YEAH! And I know right! And something like that to happen in Disney, WOW!

 

[becauseisaid]

Okay, I'm totally sucked in now and HAVE to find out how it ends. Who will get the rose? Will Timmy be voted off the island?! Or will the judges use their one and only save? I know *I'm* staying tuned!

Thanks for a great TR!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Okay, I'm totally sucked in now and HAVE to find out how it ends. Who will get the rose? Will Timmy be voted off the island?! Or will the judges use their one and only save? I know *I'm* staying tuned!

Thanks for a great TR!

Haha. Yes, the rose, the island and the judges. LOL

Your welcome, I'm glad you are enjoying it

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Ignore

 

[BrerColby]

Nice job, man! I really like reading your report and i love your EE pin. I don't have that one yet. I'm excited to read more.

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Nice job, man! I really like reading your report and i love your EE pin. I don't have that one yet. I'm excited to read more.

Thanks BrerColby! I'm glad you like reading it! I love that pin so much, I will never trade it. And I will try to add a new chapter this weekend possibly.

 

[luckylady]

All caught up now. You poor feet. Hope they didn't give you a problem walking the rest of the trip.

 

[PlutosRHM55]

All caught up now. You poor feet. Hope they didn't give you a problem walking the rest of the trip.

Awesome! I'm glad you are enjoyin git. Yeah, my feet were fine after. It felt so good when I took off the flip flops. I didn't wear flip flops the rest of the trip and the blisters healed fairly quickly.

 

[wicked.witch.of.wdw]

You know, considering I'm a part of this trip report (which was AWESOME, btw! If you come back between now and August, let me know and I'll try to actually recognize you, lol!), you'd think I wouldn't be so late in joining it. Forgive meeeeeee! D:

 

[PlutosRHM55]

You know, considering I'm a part of this trip report (which was AWESOME, btw! If you come back between now and August, let me know and I'll try to actually recognize you, lol!), you'd think I wouldn't be so late in joining it. Forgive meeeeeee! D:

It's ok, Cali. I know you have a lot to focus on. Disney is top priority of course I would've tried to find you that time, since I knew you were down there, but I was just lost in my Disney world (I make a pun!) If you go on more trips we should co-plan and then be on the search for one another.

 

[Vwdiva93]

Hey there, joining in! You're title caught my eye. I'm a former cheerleader and I've heard horror stories of the hoards of them that stay at the All Stars... I know how annoying we can be. I could barely stand the 20 girls on my team for less than a few hours

I love the pictures you got on the safari too. I can't believe you saw the lion actually awake! Every time I go that dang lion is always asleep. lol

Can't wait for the next update

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Hey there, joining in! You're title caught my eye. I'm a former cheerleader and I've heard horror stories of the hoards of them that stay at the All Stars... I know how annoying we can be. I could barely stand the 20 girls on my team for less than a few hours

I love the pictures you got on the safari too. I can't believe you saw the lion actually awake! Every time I go that dang lion is always asleep. lol

Can't wait for the next update

Yeah, those cheerleaders weren't too bad, especially with the story that I connect the cheerleaders too. It was basically where the quote of my trip comes in. But one time when I was by myself for a sec I got bombarded by them and I luckily escaped, but ugghhh... that wasn't fun.

Oh thanks! Really? Well, I went during the afternoon like around sunset so maybe take note of that. It also could be the time of year I went since it was a cooler time.

I hope you will enjoy what is yet to come!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

CHAPTER 4: AN HONORARY CAST MEMBER FOR THE DAY! YES! (Part 1)

So, it was the next day. Of course, I was up before anyone else in my room. So I'm stuck on the floor until its about the right time to get up and move around. I notice it is getting late, so in the darkness of the room (Darn shutters were closed!) I grab all my clothes and bring them into the tiny shower room. I take a nice long shower and get ready. I proceed to sit and wait for my roommates to get up, since we weren't allowed to walk around on our own. If I was found alone, then I would have to stay at the resort for the day. So I waited until they woke up.

Time went by and it was getting very close to check-in time, so I started ignoring the fact they were asleep and tried to make enough noise to wake them up. Finally, Rishi and Big Nate woke up, noticing the time. Then, Nate woke up, after, of course. I can't stand how people sleep in so much. You don't need over 16 hours of sleep thats like a full day of sleep. Also, those that apparently sleep 16 hours, get really angry when woken up. I just think its unnecessary.

They all woke up and got ready. I decided to text my friend Jocelyn, since my roommates were taking so long, and I was hungry. I asked to meet up with her at the boots with her roommates. I waited around there a bit and then they came out, though Taylor wasn't there. Jocelyn told me she was taking forever to dry her hair, so Taylor was just going to meet everyone up at the Food Court after us. I'm pretty sure she would catch up with this, if they weren't worrying about her being alone.

We walked to the food court and got right in line. I remembered one of the tips my Chorus teacher gave my class was to buy the mickey waffles. So, I found them and got some. I had candy strawberries put on it and bacon on the side. I decided not to get anything to drink. It was a good start on my dining card with only $8 spent

After we all bought our food, we grabbed our utensils and went to find seats. We sat by the front of the cash registers, so Taylor could find us. She was right behind us and was there fairly quick. Soon after, when I was finishing my waffle, which was delicious by the way! Definitely putting that on my list as Disney food to buy.

When they finally finished getting their food, I had just thrown away all mine and followed them outside to check-in with my chaperone. I went up to see if he had anything to tell me, but he was talking with other people and I'm pretty sure he saw me, so I went to find Jocelyn, Tina and Taylor. They were talking with their chaperone, so I just stood there until they were finished. Then, I sat down with them, when I noticed a huge group around Dr. Jim. They had finished, when I noticed them and I learned I missed a huge piece of information on how today was supposed to go. I went up to Nate and he told me we just had to be ready for the buses at 11.

It was around 9:30 by now, so with the time I had, I decided that I would go swimming since it seemed that was most people were doing since we couldn't leave to the parks yet. I told Jocelyn, Nate, Rishi, Tina and Taylor and they were all for it. So, I waited with Nate and Rishi, until they were finished, so we could back to the room together. Nate had some very teasingly delicious hash browns that I tried to snatch a few times, but it didn't happen. They took awhile to finish, so I just left and told them to catch up since they were almost finished. I ran up to Jocelyn, Taylor and Tina. I walked with them until we had to split off and I went to my room to get changed.

I got changed pretty quickly. My roommates arrived right after I finished. So I had to wait around for them. I'm still amazed at why people say I'm a slow changer. I'm waiting around for these pokeys. I got a text from Jocelyn saying they were at the pool, so I decided just to go. It wasn't a long walk and not very many chaperones were around. So, I went and met them up at the pool.

The pools at the All Star Music resort were so cool. One was shaped like a Guitar and the other shaped like a Piano. The Piano one was closest to us so I went in there. It was also the smaller one and less populated one. I saw basically everyone from our school in the pool. Jocelyn and Taylor were at the edge, Tina was sitting at one of the tables. Then I noticed I was missing one important thing: TOWELS! I didn't know if we should've grabbed them from our room or what. I checked inside the pool house, but it was only a laundromat. I guess I would just go to my room, dripping wet. I put my room key in my friend's bag (not knowing it is water proof) and went up to the pool edge.

So, I jumped in the pool and started relaxing for the time being. Disney was always very straining, while at the same time fun because of how much running around you'd have to do. Nate and Rishi came soon after me and I asked Nate to go get some towels. He ran to the front desk, got some towels and came back. I got to talk more with my friends about their day and how they were like Disney so far. I feel like such a veteran, even after one trip Haha

Nate came with the towels and then got into the pool himself. We were in the poolf for awhile until around 10:45. The bust was supposed to bring us to our performance around 11, so I got out and went to our room. I took a shower before anyone got back and then got changed. I luckily was the first in my room so long shower for me, but I still had to make a quick change. I also had packed my park bag the night before though I still had to put my clothes in that bag so I could change after my performance.

Now, thinking that we were starting to run late on time, I thought they would pick up the speed, take a minute shower and then come leave, of course not. They had a billion things to do and weren't very prepared. So glad I was going to be doing my other Disney travel with girls since this wasn't working for me.

As soon as I packed my clothes and extra stuff, I went out looking for where the buses were. Since I missed the whole meeting this morning, but soon I found out people were going behind All Star Music to a parking lot behind the building. I decided to just go myself since I would be near some other kids and it wouldn't count as me being alone. So I went over.

As soon as I got to the buses, I got a text from my friend, Jocelyn. She told me to go on bus one, which of course was full with kids who didn't have pokey roommates. Uggh... still my room mates were nice and probably were just all over the place by then. I went by it and decided to go on the last bus since Bus 2 was filling up fairly quickly. So, I finally got on a bus, well almost. My roommates ran up to me right before I got on. Wow, they must have sped up suddenly. Carl, the band director, came up and asked the band kids if they had their music. Rishi, of course, forgot his and gave his sax to me. I put it under the bus and got on the bus behind a few other kids.

We waited on the bus awhile and some other friends came on. I sat with Trysten. She was having such a fun time here. I knew from the moment I met her she was going to be a Disney person. Rishi was back with his music, his bag of clothes and camera. I took some pictures on the bus and took a pretty funny one of Rishi who was taking a picture of me with his camera when I was taking a picture of him. Since you can't see his face, here it is:

Its a pretty epic picture if you asked me. About fifteen minutes after we got on the bus, my chorus teacher, Pat, her husband and a few other chaperones joined us. The bus driver started up the bus and we were off to Downtown Disney. (Insert Excited Face by Timmy Here!)

So, this was a big part of the trip for me. Firstly, I was performing in Disney, second it was my first time in Downtown Disney and third, I got to share it with my friends! How awesome is that? The bus ride was a bit long since Downtown Disney was a good distance away from our resort since its basically half in Disney, half not in, in some ways. Then we finally arrived and my anticipation built as I took these pictures:

We were almost there. I was looking out the window, ready to turn into the huge parking lot when we turned away in the opposite direction by this other building. I was really confused as to where we were going. We ended up in this back area that didn't really seem like anywhere. We had to go through a special gate, so I asked one of the upper classman where we were going and they said we were going backstage since we were basically working for Disney that day and needed to be briefed.

The bus was now getting into parking mode. We saw a few CMs outside helping us out. I was even more confused now. Why would we have to go back here? We were told once the bus was parked to wait on the bus. We waited a few minutes when a CM, in her twenties came on the bus and began to talk with us. She explained all that was happening today. She told us how we would rehearse here, since we were first to perform, take this bus to Downtown Disney get off, perform, then come back and watch the other performances. She also mentioned that in a sense we were honorary cast members for the day! That got me really hyped up (and her bubbly voice and composure). I've always wanted to be a cast member and now I really was. Now, I got to see some of the backstage area of Disney.

After the CM gave her whole shpiel (I think her name was Jo Lee or something with Lee and something that began with a J, I forget) we got off the bus and because the chorus performed first, we went straight into the girls dressing room (as J. Lee directed us) and went to practice. We ran through warm-ups and the first part of our song. At one point, in the middle of the rehearsal, Trysten's phone went off and she couldn't turn it off it was sorta funny while I wasn't happy that because of her we may not be prepared with the distraction. She finally did find it in her bag and turned it off. We, then continued to run the songs and then once we finished, we left the room and got back on the bus. I decided to take a picture of the backstage area before we left:

After that, we were soon off on our way to perform at Downtown Disney, part of the most magical place on Earth, Walt Disney World.

CONTINUED IN NEXT POST...

 

[PlutosRHM55]

CHAPTER 4: AN HONORARY CAST MEMBER FOR THE DAY! YES! (Part 2)

So... (where was I? just kidding) we are on the bus to the parking lot near Downtown Disney or just on the other side of the extremely well-hidden backstage area. I mean seriously, you couldn't even find that stage from parking in the lot back there. Now, that's what I call magic

Moving on... we drove out of the backstage area to this building in front of it, which I'm guessing was where most CMs hung out, since I think I saw about 6 hanging around there when we got off the bus. We had to walk along the sidewalk and through a crosswalk to get into Downtown Disney, where we awkwardly waited while J. Lee and my chorus director, Pat went off for some reason. We waited for about ten or fifteen minutes on the right side of World of Disney facing the construction walls that were around where the Lego Store once stood. From there you could see the Lego Lake Monster. I totally had to get a picture next to that thing! That would have to be after my performance since all my stuff was on the bus and I wasn't getting a picture with it, wearing a white collared button-down shirt, black pants and a tie. Especially with a tie and its windy out. No way!

So, when Pat finally came back, we walked out up besides the stage in front of World of Disney. I got to look around a bit and was completely awestruck by World of Disney. It looked like a kingdom of Disney merchandise. It was so cool to look at. They announced us and we came on stage through the announcements. I looked into the audience once I was in place and saw a few recognizable faces. The band had a whole section to themselves then one of my friends who was in neither band nor chorus was there. It was pretty awesome!

Now, is for the performance. First, I must say it was the best performance has EVER done this year, even with probably most of the chorus not there (some that were really good singers). We sounded great, the stage was set up very nicely for us and whenever I looked up at Mickey and Minnie on their little flying contraption, it helped so much. I think the only issue we had was the wind which blew all of our chorus teacher's music to the side. This didn't phase us at all and we even attracted a few people just moseying on by through our performance. It was turning out to be a great day so far.

After the performance, we got out of Downtown Disney fairly quickly and headed straight back to the bus to take us back to the backstage area, which I found out was a long drive even they were only like a 1/10 of a mile apart. On the way there, the CM (J. Lee) gave us the whole "Awesome job! Good Work!" shpeel and then gave my chorus teacher a Pin that gives her a trophy with Mickey in his orchestra wear. I should take a picture of it because it is pretty awesome and I stare at it every time I come to Chorus class now. Here is a picture of us performing since it doesn't really point out individuals:

After the giving of precious gifts, she also gave us instructions on getting changed in the backstage area and then going back to watch the band perform. Now, there was one kid in chorus, the accapella class after school, who did band as well. He had to get off the bus and rush to get changed and get his instrument together before any of us. He looked like such a mess running off the best where they dropped him off.

The bus then parked and we were let off. I ran right into the bathroom as every other guy went into the boys dressing room. It is nice to change without the noises of conversations you aren't involved in. Then, a whole other crowd came into the bathroom. I was the first guy out and so got to talk with my band friends. I also took some pictures of them, but I took one of the advertisement for the performances we participating in. They were called Magic Music Days:

And a picture of the sign out front:

I talked to them, when they called for us to get back on the bus, so we could be out of the way of the band. We got on the bus again and J. Lee came on again before we left. This time we were all in regular attire so it wasn't as irritating for her to be talking to us. I think I mixed up the times, she came on this time and gave us the whole shpeel and everything with the trophy and such, but whatever, here is the important part. She also told us we were getting pins with the Ears for the Arts on them, which meant we were part of a secret society of people who participated in the Disney Performing Arts. We also were getting awesome Disney Performing Arts bags. Then, J.Lee let it slip about Ghirardelli's free samples. I'm sure about the entire bus made a mental note of that and were thinking about that through the rest of the bus ride up until we got to Downtown Disney. Before I got off the bust I took a random picture of my friend's Trysten's stuff just because, also I love the old Disney mugs (weren't selling the new one's yet at ASM):

So, we got off the bus and walked straight into Downtown Disney. I brought Trysten, Nate and I along with a few other chorus members went straight into Ghirardelli's to look around. We got some free samples and they were the BEST chocolate I have probably ever had and I'm not a huge chocolate fan. Trysten then proceeded to buy a pack for her family. I took a picture of the place when we walked around, isn't it so gorgeously chocolate:

After that, we ran to go say hi to my friend, Trever, who came with his family because of his brother Mat who was in chorus. Trysten and Nate of course sprinted but I lagged behind and came up more maturely if I do say so myself.

Trever, his mom, his dad, his older sister and his grandparents were all there. I've met all of them before so I came in for embraces and small talk. They were like a second family to me. I've always had so many good memories. Trysten was getting to know them fairly quickly. Adults always love Trysten at first site. After some talking it was right in for pictures. I first got one with Trever because his sister, Chenais (prounounced Shanay) told me my mom needed an update so that was the only way possible. Then, a picture with everyone. I was definitely feeling very magical and happy at this point.

I looked at the stage and noticed the band set up was almost finished. Nate then tugged me away because he had to go to the bathroom in World of Disney. He couldn't be alone in there since it was so big, so I came along so he wouldn't get caught alone. I also wanted to see the place and needed to go too. I took a picture of the entrance on the left near Ghirardelli:

We ran through the store which was a lot bigger than I expected. We somehow weaved our way through everything and basically got lost with no clue to where the bathroom was. Wow, when I came back here to look for souvenirs, this place would be HEAVEN! We finally found our way to the bathroom. I was out before him and took some pictures of the posters outside:

Nate finally got out and we ran straight out of the Princess and Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique section to get our seats for the band. It seemed like it was almost time for them to arrive. We got some quick seats with Mat and Trysten. Since it seemed we had a bit more time, I went to grab a bite to eat at one of the stands near the stage (Did I forget to mention this stage was like right out on the water? Just a little extra fact) I bought a pretzel and then a drink. I quickly learned that the food shops in Downtown Disney didn't accept Disney Dining cards which stunk since it meant more of my souvenir money lost and I wasted it a ton on this. The Pretzel had no flavor. I think he took after I said "Unsalted" and "Plain" as a pretzel straight out of the oven no extra flavoring. Grrr...

About the time I got back to my seat, the band arrived to play. I took some pictures and since they don't point out individuals here they are:

The band did a fantastic job, even with some great trumpet players for the epic "Trumpet Shout-out" missing, they still owned. I'm guessing they thought they did a good job too. Once they had finished, I went to go spend some more time looking through the Disney shops. I went to check out the Pin Trading store, where I got a souvenir for my littlest sister (a sorcerer mickey pin), Ghirardelli again and got to look around World of Disney. While there, I bought my second pin of the trip, the 2011 one with the spinning characters. It was a Yellow which makes it the most expensive pin I have. I finally got a lanyard, a big step in my goal to become Pin Trader extraordinaire by the end of this trip We also goofed off a bit and I took some pictures inside:

I had a few more but they were with my friends and focused on them only so... yeah can't post that!

After our little adventures inside the World of Disney, we came back out just in time for the Jazz Band to start. I put all my pins onto the new lanyard and wore it around my neck so I could feel official (I'm such a nerd) Then, the Jazz Band came on! They did an amazing job and it was great to see the many freshman in it. Yeah, the frosh!:

After them, it was time to leave. I talked with everyone after this about going to Hollywood Studios (even with my recommendation and pleaing to go to Magic Kingdom) since it was a smaller park and we had lesser time at parks this evening. It was a unanimous decision and so DHS it was (Now to face my fears on the Tower of Terror). Trever left the family to join us for some Disney fun, though he would have to meet up with us at the resort since he couldn't go on our special buses. Pat would have a fit!

Chorus and band all made their way back in a huge mob to our buses by the CM hang-out. I took a picture from afar of the Lake Monster as we left and the rehab walls:

We all walked along that long sidewalk and got on the buses everyone talking very excitedly with some merchandise from probably the best shopping district in the world () Then, the bus was off and we were on our way home, I mean to our resort (Disney is home to me ). I took some pictures of myself and my lanyard on the way back just because:

Now, it was off to the mayhem that would soon ensue with some more planning changes, stuff to digest and everything that maybe isn't the best thing about Disney. Stay tuned!

CHAPTER 5: AN EXTRA MAGIC HOURS DISCOVERY coming soon...