The cast of characters includes myself, my darling 15 year old daughter Becca, the rest of the high school dance team (a total of 20 girls, including my dd), our coach, a retired teacher (coach's friend and fellow chaperone) and various moms and other family members.
We met at the high school just before dismissal Thursday afternoon. School rules say that the girls must travel with the coach, and most of the moms elect to travel with the team -- some of the moms fly down to Orlando on their own. The girls were all dressed in their team warm up suits. They (and their luggage) attracted a lot of attention in the lobby of the high school. In fact, one of the teachers got on the PA system and announced "Dance team, Jetblue just called, your flight's been cancelled."
We loaded the luggage into the school bus and then everyone found seats. Soon we were on our way to JFK Airport. Jetblue has a special desk for group check in, so we cleared security in record time.We found our gate, dropped our carry on bags, and let the kids go grab some food. Another dance team showed up at the gate just before boarding -- a team we have competed against many times, their school is in the next town over from ours (they were headed to a competition in Central Florida, but not to the one in WDW.)
Once on the plane, Becca hijacked my iPod (she left hers at home). The iPod earbuds work with Jetblue's sattelite TV system, and are far better than the free, disposable headphones the flight attendant hands out. (FYI on the flight home Monday, the flight attendant announced that JetBlue is phasing out the free headphones. In the near future you'll have to pay $1 for headphones.)
Smooth, uneventful flight. Before long we are in the bus, headed to WDW. and soon enough we have checked into the All Star Music Resort, the rock In building. by now it' s after 10 PM, just enough time to grab a quick snack and call it a night.
Friday morning. The girls had early morning dance practice, and the rest of us had breakfast at the food court and lazed by the pool for awhile before breaking up into small groups and heading out to the parks. I found myself in a group of moms headed to MGM. Some of the moms head for the Backlot tour, shopping and lunch. D and I head for Rock N Roller Coaster and then Star tours -- but I couldn't convince her to ride Tower of Terror. We walked around the park, saw street performers and all the scenery, and even stopped for McDonald's french fries..
It was 13 degrees in NY, but I was wandering around WDW in capris, a t-shirt and sandals. I couldn't help but send photos from my camera phone to my older daughter, Jen, who was at school that day (don't worry, her team goes to WDW on the 13th!).
Back to the hotel to change clothes and regroup, and then we boarded a bus and headed over to Universal's Citiwalk and dinner at Bubba Gump's.
During dinner the employees asked us trivia questions about Forrest Gump -- I won two prizes (a pencil and a lapel pin) and would have won more if they'd let me. I gave the prizes to Becca.
We had a "situation" on the bus going back to Disney -- one of the girls had a ring on her finger, it was far to tight, it cut off her cirulation. she had to go to the urgent care center -- they cut off the ring and she was fine, but the situation was a bit scary.
Anyhow, the rest of us headed to EPCOT and Illuminations. We got to EPCOT around 8, so we all had a little bit of time o ride or explore before the show. I rode Spaceship Earth, I wanted to see the changes they made when it was refurbished last fall.
Yes, the changes are improvements.
We watched Illuminations, then called it a night -- the girls had competition on Saturday.
So Saturday was competition day. The girls had to spend all day at the Milkhouse, either dancing or watching other dancers perform. I got a chance to hang by the pool for awhile, but eventually I found my way over to the competition. All the moms sat together and cheered for our girls.
Afterwards, we baorded a bus and went to a dinner theater near International Drive. Maybe we're all jaded, living so close to NYC and having access to Broadway theater, but this show was a bit of a disappointment -- too long and drawn out, and not enough interaction with the characters during the preshow. though it was funny when the actors chose one of the dancer's dad to participate in the show (he wound up in a funny wig!) and when the dance team girls asked another character to teach them the dance she'd done on the stage.
Sunday three of the girls on the team planned to do solos, so the entire team had to return to the Milk House today to watch them dance.
two of the other moms and I decided to head over to EPCOT, as we'd already seen the solos.
we got fast passes for Soarin', but never got back there to ride -- pne of the moms has a fear of heights. Next we saw Honey I Shrunk the Audience -- loved the mice, couldn't do the snake. Headed over to the countries, rode Mexico and Norway. Saw acrobats in front of...was that Italy or France?
Lunched at Liberty Tree tavern, shopped for green tea in Japan, walked over to Canada and saw a great movie starring Martin Short.
Walked back to the American Adventure for soft serve ice cream. took the boat across the lagoon, saw them loading the fireworks barges for Illuminations.
Headed back to the hotel, then over to the Milk House for the awards ceremony -- the dancers were visited by some Disney superstars.
afterwards, the kids headed back to the hotel for dinner at the food court and hanging out by the pool. I took off with a group of moms to Downtown Disney. A bite to eat at the Earl of Sandwich followed by dessert at Ghirardelli, and a shopping trip into World of Disney (got a great Tinkerbelle pillow for my older daughter Jen -- she played tink in the 5th grade play all those years ago, and she's never outgrown being the mischievous pixie!)
Monday morning is taken up with hotel check out, stoing luggage, etc. after breakfast Becca, two of her friends and I headed over to the Magic Kingdom for a last hurrah.
first up, Space Mountain. now, I've ridden that ride a dozen times, I generally love it, but...just before we reached the front of the line, my stomache started doing flip flops and I thought "this isn't such a bright idea". so I opted to meet the girls after the ride.
next was Haunted Mansion.
Becca hated Huanted Mansion when she was little, and she made a great pretense of still hating it...but secretly loved it.
Next up was Fantasyland. The only ride Becca wanted to do was Peter Pan, and the ride was DOWN!!! Peter and Wendy were posing for photos in the queue area:
Then it was over to Big Thunder Mountain. By now I was feeling better, so I rode this with the girls. We skipped Splash Mountain because no one wanted to get wet. Then we walked to Adventureland and rode Pirates of the Carribean. (did I mention that I'm in love with Captain Jack Sparrow?)
then back to Fantasyland to shop for souvenirs. Becca bought mouse ears for her best friend and had the name embroidered onto the hat. and she bought Minnie Mouse ears for herself -- flashback to 2000, when she was 8 years old, and bought a Minnie Costume in Magic Kingdom and wore it to our Illuminations cruise.
We posed for photos in front of the castle -- here's me and my baby:
Then it was time to head back to the hotel to meet up with the rest of our group...and take the bus to the airport
We met at the high school just before dismissal Thursday afternoon. School rules say that the girls must travel with the coach, and most of the moms elect to travel with the team -- some of the moms fly down to Orlando on their own. The girls were all dressed in their team warm up suits. They (and their luggage) attracted a lot of attention in the lobby of the high school. In fact, one of the teachers got on the PA system and announced "Dance team, Jetblue just called, your flight's been cancelled."
We loaded the luggage into the school bus and then everyone found seats. Soon we were on our way to JFK Airport. Jetblue has a special desk for group check in, so we cleared security in record time.We found our gate, dropped our carry on bags, and let the kids go grab some food. Another dance team showed up at the gate just before boarding -- a team we have competed against many times, their school is in the next town over from ours (they were headed to a competition in Central Florida, but not to the one in WDW.)
Once on the plane, Becca hijacked my iPod (she left hers at home). The iPod earbuds work with Jetblue's sattelite TV system, and are far better than the free, disposable headphones the flight attendant hands out. (FYI on the flight home Monday, the flight attendant announced that JetBlue is phasing out the free headphones. In the near future you'll have to pay $1 for headphones.)
Smooth, uneventful flight. Before long we are in the bus, headed to WDW. and soon enough we have checked into the All Star Music Resort, the rock In building. by now it' s after 10 PM, just enough time to grab a quick snack and call it a night.
Friday morning. The girls had early morning dance practice, and the rest of us had breakfast at the food court and lazed by the pool for awhile before breaking up into small groups and heading out to the parks. I found myself in a group of moms headed to MGM. Some of the moms head for the Backlot tour, shopping and lunch. D and I head for Rock N Roller Coaster and then Star tours -- but I couldn't convince her to ride Tower of Terror. We walked around the park, saw street performers and all the scenery, and even stopped for McDonald's french fries..
It was 13 degrees in NY, but I was wandering around WDW in capris, a t-shirt and sandals. I couldn't help but send photos from my camera phone to my older daughter, Jen, who was at school that day (don't worry, her team goes to WDW on the 13th!).
Back to the hotel to change clothes and regroup, and then we boarded a bus and headed over to Universal's Citiwalk and dinner at Bubba Gump's.
During dinner the employees asked us trivia questions about Forrest Gump -- I won two prizes (a pencil and a lapel pin) and would have won more if they'd let me. I gave the prizes to Becca.
We had a "situation" on the bus going back to Disney -- one of the girls had a ring on her finger, it was far to tight, it cut off her cirulation. she had to go to the urgent care center -- they cut off the ring and she was fine, but the situation was a bit scary.
Anyhow, the rest of us headed to EPCOT and Illuminations. We got to EPCOT around 8, so we all had a little bit of time o ride or explore before the show. I rode Spaceship Earth, I wanted to see the changes they made when it was refurbished last fall.
Yes, the changes are improvements.
We watched Illuminations, then called it a night -- the girls had competition on Saturday.
So Saturday was competition day. The girls had to spend all day at the Milkhouse, either dancing or watching other dancers perform. I got a chance to hang by the pool for awhile, but eventually I found my way over to the competition. All the moms sat together and cheered for our girls.
Afterwards, we baorded a bus and went to a dinner theater near International Drive. Maybe we're all jaded, living so close to NYC and having access to Broadway theater, but this show was a bit of a disappointment -- too long and drawn out, and not enough interaction with the characters during the preshow. though it was funny when the actors chose one of the dancer's dad to participate in the show (he wound up in a funny wig!) and when the dance team girls asked another character to teach them the dance she'd done on the stage.
Sunday three of the girls on the team planned to do solos, so the entire team had to return to the Milk House today to watch them dance.
two of the other moms and I decided to head over to EPCOT, as we'd already seen the solos.
we got fast passes for Soarin', but never got back there to ride -- pne of the moms has a fear of heights. Next we saw Honey I Shrunk the Audience -- loved the mice, couldn't do the snake. Headed over to the countries, rode Mexico and Norway. Saw acrobats in front of...was that Italy or France?
Lunched at Liberty Tree tavern, shopped for green tea in Japan, walked over to Canada and saw a great movie starring Martin Short.
Walked back to the American Adventure for soft serve ice cream. took the boat across the lagoon, saw them loading the fireworks barges for Illuminations.
Headed back to the hotel, then over to the Milk House for the awards ceremony -- the dancers were visited by some Disney superstars.
afterwards, the kids headed back to the hotel for dinner at the food court and hanging out by the pool. I took off with a group of moms to Downtown Disney. A bite to eat at the Earl of Sandwich followed by dessert at Ghirardelli, and a shopping trip into World of Disney (got a great Tinkerbelle pillow for my older daughter Jen -- she played tink in the 5th grade play all those years ago, and she's never outgrown being the mischievous pixie!)
Monday morning is taken up with hotel check out, stoing luggage, etc. after breakfast Becca, two of her friends and I headed over to the Magic Kingdom for a last hurrah.
first up, Space Mountain. now, I've ridden that ride a dozen times, I generally love it, but...just before we reached the front of the line, my stomache started doing flip flops and I thought "this isn't such a bright idea". so I opted to meet the girls after the ride.
next was Haunted Mansion.
Becca hated Huanted Mansion when she was little, and she made a great pretense of still hating it...but secretly loved it.
Next up was Fantasyland. The only ride Becca wanted to do was Peter Pan, and the ride was DOWN!!! Peter and Wendy were posing for photos in the queue area:
Then it was over to Big Thunder Mountain. By now I was feeling better, so I rode this with the girls. We skipped Splash Mountain because no one wanted to get wet. Then we walked to Adventureland and rode Pirates of the Carribean. (did I mention that I'm in love with Captain Jack Sparrow?)
then back to Fantasyland to shop for souvenirs. Becca bought mouse ears for her best friend and had the name embroidered onto the hat. and she bought Minnie Mouse ears for herself -- flashback to 2000, when she was 8 years old, and bought a Minnie Costume in Magic Kingdom and wore it to our Illuminations cruise.
We posed for photos in front of the castle -- here's me and my baby:
Then it was time to head back to the hotel to meet up with the rest of our group...and take the bus to the airport
