Friends, Alcohol, and Romance?? **The Finale!!!!

[froggy33]

Background info
Nov 20-Nov 24 2003

Disclaimer: This trip was taken two years ago...I know what you are thinking.."Why is this poor child writing this now?" Well, I didn't know of the DIS boards then ! Plus this may help a few people get their Disney fix and it kills time at work! This was such a great trip, with a little fun and excitement, romance and magic, and of course the ever present difficulties!

Cast: Me, 21 (all at the time)
Julia, 21 (the only other girl!)
Christian, 22
Jothi, 21
Matt, 22
Roger, 20
Andy, 22

We were all students at the University of Missouri-Rolla and members of the Student Council. This was actually a trip for a Student Government convention. We could choose between San Diego or Orlando....and of course I voted for what any good, crazy Disney fan would!!! (obviously I won). I love all these guys, but am very good friends with both Roger and especially Andy...hint hint

Location: Coronado Springs Resort (my first time on site! and Christian, Andy, Roger, and Matt's first time in Disney World!! - why they waited this long I do not know! )

 

[froggy33]

aka...Plane Delays and "What?! No car?! No room?!"

We all drove from school to St. Louis to fly down. We had a later flight, so that we wouldn't miss too many classes...we are of course incredibly devoted, studious college students

Our first hiccup of the night was a flight delay in the Dallas airport ( I have never not been delayed there)..but we made due by singing "Deep in the Heart of Texas". When we finaly go to board my e-ticket wouldn't scan..but all was soon well and we were on our way. Us waiting in the airport (we're getting a tad sleepy)

We finally arrive in Orlando Whoo hoo!!! It is now approximately midnight, so we make our way down to the car rental (I can't remember which one). Now, I must add here that none of us made any of the arrangements. Our secretary took care of everything..much to our dismay. Well, it just so turns out that even if it is midnight, and so Nov 21 and you have a reservation for Nov 21 you won't get your car because in reservation speak it is still Nov 20 (more on this below). Well, okay so give us a car and we'll pay the extra day.."oh wait none of you are 25? well then it will be $600 for one car, for 4 days!!!" Well, we need two and that is just crazy, so since we are staying on property it will be okay.
We then mosey (sp?) on down to Mears and get someone to take us. It will be $24 round trip per person...okay just get me there already. So we wait for like half an hour and here is our driver! Yippee! We finally get to the hotel and all line up to pay, but wait inflation took effect in the half hour drive over..so now it is $28 round trip! We are tired (it's now 1 am or so), we pay.
Andy is so not thrilled about this.

We go to check in..remember the whole reservation speak I told about above, works the same way at Disney World. So we have to wait around to get a room for the night..Disney handles this pretty well.. and we all get our rooms.
Us waiting..at least the resort was decorated nicely for Christmas.

We still haven't eaten, so we order a pizza and finally get to bed around 2 am. We have to be up early the next day (same day) for the conference! (at least we are college students and used to staying up late for ...studying ) Soon I will see the World!!

Day 2 to follow

 

[froggy33]

aka...We are here for a conference...right??

Well, we were there for a conference, and we actually did attend..I have pictures to prove it. The meetings were at the hotel and I am sure they were very informative, but to tell you the truth I remember very little...but we did go: you can just make out the name tags and other people.

That evening we had dinner (well, light hor'derves - no idea on sp) and we got our first taste of the wonderful world of Disney. Yeah!!!

We spent a little time during breaks to enjoy our hotel and the area. Here is a pic of Andy and me...

..which signals it is time for a little more background. Andy and I had been really good friends for about two years at the time. We both were in other very serious relationships, but were always together as friends...really nothing ever happened. But a trend may appear in later photos that leads one to ask "Why in the heck are they always next to each other and look like they are on their honeymoon?" More on that.

Anyway. We didn't have time or tickets for the park that day, but the light hor'devers (whatever) didn't really do the trick so we headed on over to DTD for shopping and food. It took a while for all 7 of us to decide where to eat, so finally I mentioned Planet Hollywood and we all agreed. I really liked it here, I love movies!!!

And wouldn't you know it, Sly, was there and he just happened to be dressed a Rocky (weird, huh?)

Well, day 2 wasn't nearly as exciting - but we had gotten like no sleep the night before, so we got some necesities from the local gas station:

and headed on to our resort.

Day 3...Our first day at a park! Whoo hoo!

 

[SuAnne]

Love the title and all your pictures! Can't wait to read more as we are at CSR in a little over 2 weeks. Glad to see they have some Christmas decorations up!

 

[BlueBayou]

Can't wait to hear the romance part!

Sherry

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Hey Froggy,you're going to be at POR at the same time as us!!! We leave in 29 days too. Very cool! Love the report so far, keep it coming.

 

[THE HAT]

can't wait to hear the rest, but am really looking fwd to full story on you and andy next to each other in all the pics!!!!

 

[froggy33]

First I want to thank you for your replies. I try to make these at least bring out a little chuckle...and hope you do enjoy them (although I know I am not the best writer). The "romance" comes a little later.

”Epcot or bust…and Disney, alcohol and 4am, the perfect recipe for fun”

So, finally a park day! I am sure we went to some meeting that morning, but to tell you the truth I don’t remember. (I wasn’t really there for the convention, although I did attend all necessary meetings. How can you hold a convention in Disney World and expect people to pay attention!)

So off to Epcot we go! So I am the trip coordinator and tour guide , but wait…Disney has gone and changed everything in the last 10 years!? What’s that about? Like what is this hand and wand thing (I actually kind of like it)…

And the legacy stuff at the entrance, and just what happened to all the characters? I remember as a kid they were in each country dressed in the appropriate garb. So, I was a little disappointed in that , but otherwise it was a great time! We rode Mission Space (don’t think I will ever do that again! Motion sickness!) We managed to get a lot of group pics.

Notice Andy and I are again next to each other..it is a wonder someone didn't call us on it!
Were almost eaten by a very odd, giant man at Innovations.

Rode Test Track and Spaceship Earth...who knew it was so exciting?!

And, being the “nerdy” college kids from an engineering school, were totally enthralled by the fountain (I could watch this all day).

We raced around the world and had a great time. Watched Illuminations…it is nice to know that some things don’t change over time. And then said goodbye to Epcot. I never have enough time to just enjoy myself there and immerse myself in each country. (I will soon!!!)

But the fun didn’t end there. You can’t possibly expect 7 college kids to go back to the hotel at 10pm and just go to sleep now can you? And you must remember the necessities we picked up at DTD. Well, in case you forgot…

So, we made our way down to the grounds of CSR (the fun had begun in the elevator!)

Now, the high five, that is something you just don’t see as much anymore...especially while wearing a makeshift toga in WDW…

Note: Andy did not wet himself, he thought it would be fun to run through the sprinklers. Who says alcohol impairs your judgement!
so we boozed a bit more (we are actually very civilized drinkers…)

…we were not influenced at all by the alcohol, we meant to look like complete idiots.

It was a great day. And there is even more fun to come!

 

[curiouser]

This is such a fun report!! It makes me realize that I need to drag my friends to WDW!!

You look so super tiny in that photo by MS!!

 

[froggy33]

curiouser - thank you for the "tiny" part. I am very small. Five foot nothing!! I have come to accept it. I just figure when I am older, I won't look it!

Blue Bayou and THE HAT - there is a little romance brewing!

”The pleasure of Pleasure Island…and the beginning of the Soap Opera”

First and fore most this is what drinking until 4 am and then getting up to go to meetings will do to a college student:

Yes we took naps (Andy had to watch the Chiefs game; he has season tickets and had to miss this home game for Disney World. A fair trade I think )
No park today, very sad, but it was the last day of the convention!!! We weren’t going to fly out until Tuesday night so we had almost two whole days in the parks left!!!

To get our Disney fix for the day we went to Pleasure Island that night! All I could remember about PI from my childhood was a big sign of Jessica Rabbit (very cool, cause she had my name). So I was really excited. We had a lot of fun! We listened to a live band on the avenue,

did some dancing and drinking and Julia and I made a random friend (see in the background)!

We split for a while to do our own small group things…and Andy I had our first “alone” time. We went to the Adventurers Club. Nothing at all exciting happened (we were in other relationships), but you could just tell something was brewing, like that feeling right before a rain. But, alas, our time was cut short because one of us got in trouble and was asked to leave (not me)– but it wasn’t anything bad. We all decided to go with. (Everybody wore my hat that night)

But we didn’t quite call it a night…of course we went back to the hotel and boozed some more. Then some of us went to sleep and the Saga begins. "These are the Days of our Lives"....wait ha! Andy, who had been acting a little off all night, and I decided to take a walk around the huge lake. It’s like 3 am and we are the only ones awake in the world. We’re just walking and talking…although not talking too much – he’s being quiet. You could cut the tension with a knife!!! So we get back to the location of our rooms – and wait is that another soul at this hour? (yep one of our friends, but he is preoccupied on the phone). So we’re standing there…. ….and then he says “I think I am falling for you”. Whoa! Back it up! That’s what I am thinking anyway. I mean, yeah we were really good friends, and we joked about it. But we both really were in other, very serious relationships. Well, I don’t know that that was the reaction Andy wanted, so we sat on a park bench and talked for quite a while. As we were talking, it kind of hit us both…why hadn’t this come up before. I mean our significant others were great, but Andy and I are like peas in a pod.

But, alas, we are grown-ups (close at least) and we make the decision to hold off. We have a lot of thinking to do. We both had these paths set out before us, and now we would have to jump the tracks! So, there was no infidelity or too much craziness. We just went on our way to wallow in our grief!

The saga does not end here folks, no it is just beginning….

Day 4 on the way (Magic Kingdom!!!! Whoo hoo)

 

[agotta]

More, More!!

 

[Figment's friends]

Ok, you have me hooked... Need to know.... please post continuing saga

 

[Viki]

OK, I'm hooked. Bring it!

 

[disneynutt1225]

Geez, I'm hooked!!!! more please!!! Type faster, LOL!!

 

[pongo&perdita]

This is like an episode of Real World, without all the fighting. So glad you decided to write this up! Don't keep us hanging . . . what happens next?

catherine

 

[froggy33]

Sorry to make you all wait! I do actually have to fit in some work during the day! Day 4 should be up within the hour!

Thanks!!!

 

[lucky978]

Has it been an hour yet? Cool report. Can't wait to hear more. Maybe you guys are married by now???

 

[froggy33]

”I had the weirdest dream last night…”

Okay, day four, our first full day in the parks!!! No more name tags or silly talks to listen to, just good times with the mouse. How seven college students with no sleep (and those nice hangovers) managed to all get up and get ready at a sensible time, I have no idea. We even ate breakfast! Aren’t I just adorable! I know, I know I look about ten! Let’s just say that is the last time I will have full bangs.

Then we stopped for a group pic. (You will notice a trend that Andy and I are right next to each other in almost every single pic. We hadn’t talked about anything yet, but sad to say we did the whole high school flirting thing. )

Andy and Jothi needed some pictures of them while attending the conference. For some reason there weren’t any from when we actually attended so we had to do a mock up. Pretty convincing, huh, since there are three people there! Needless to say, these did not make any brochures.

Anyway, our first stop was the Animal Kingdom! None of us had ever been there! Well, 85 degrees (in Nov!) and a big zoo just don’t mix for those of us socialites so after about an hour of “so, what should we do here” (note the closeness)

we decided to skip out and head over to the Magic Kingdom! Whoo hoo! So excited about that, I just don’t feel like I am at WDW until MK. So we hopped a bus and we were on our way (again this is what no sleep and alcohol will do to you: )

Yippee there it is! We took the ferry (Andy has a thing for boats). This was the first view of the castle for many.

And we were off. We did the mandatory rides, our first was Snow White’s Adventure, I don’t really know why. We also did It’s a Small World. Caution: really annoying song when mixed with little sleep! And a whole bunch of other rides! It was really a great day. No one had ever done Splash Mountain, so we decided to wait 2 hours!!!! to ride. (the wait was horrible but we preoccupied ourselves with pictures and jokes.) So all in all, not too bad. Like the ride, but doubt if I will ever wait that long again!

Notice how Andy and I look like we’re holding hands (well, we’re not! – doesn’t mean we don’t want to be). Plus, I am sure I am pondering the meaning of life, my life, considering that stupid look on my face!

Well, being the “kids” that we are we hadn’t made any ADR. (Believe me I know to now) So we at first were going to wait forever to eat at Liberty Tree Tavern

Didn’t happen. I think we got counter service.
We ended our night with Wishes, which I had to watch from the street while standing outside of a store, because Andy had to buy a snowglobe for his girlfriend! Talk about fun! But the fireworks were great!

All in all it was a great day, but a stress filled one at that. I mean we had a lot on our minds. No progress in that department, but there was a lot of tension and careless flirting going on. I know now that we really sucked at hiding it, having talked to the others in the group.
To be honest I have no idea what we did later that night. I think we swam a little (so cold) and I have a feeling we went to sleep pretty early…we could only take so much! There is a Day 5, although no pictures (I have no idea why). We spent our half a day in MGM!!! before flying home.

Stay tuned.

 

[curiouser]

curiouser - thank you for the "tiny" part. I am very small. Five foot nothing!! I have come to accept it. I just figure when I am older, I won't look it!

heehee, don't worry, you're adorable and I'd kill to be tiny!

I love this trip report.. I think it's going to be one of my favorites ever! (I'm a sucker for a good accidentally falling in love story!)

 

[ErinSLP]

Can't wait to read the rest of the story!!!! You have me totally hooked!!!!!!