Day 1
April 8th -departed Red River Parish, Louisiana 10:20 am for our 930 mile trip
School bus: 20 high school students & 4 chaperones
Following the school bus- Honda Odyssey: 6 students 1 chaperone
Meals and rest stops at groups’ discretion throughout the day and night
Sunday, April 9th- Showered at regular stop in Ocala (Pilot) 6:30am
Orlando by 10am -met our tour guide, Janice, at McDonald’s near one of the main WDW entrances- got park passes- parked at Epcot- ENTERED THE PARKJ
DS (18) who is visually impaired went to guest services and got his pass for front seating- very cordial CM
Headed to Mission: Space (nothing like breaking my students in early!)- wait was just under an hour- ride was fantastic as usual
Stopped at the ice cream kiosk so DD (12) and DH (38) could get their traditional post M:S ice cream- DD got the kiosk CM’s autograph (DD decided that this year she would get non-character CMs’ autographs since they are a big un-thanked and un-noticed part of the magic) CM was thrilled
Got fast passes for Test Track-headed toward Soarin’
DD had convinced all of my high school students that her favorite drink was Beverly, so we stopped at Club Cool for an international taste test- Six or seven of the kids drank some Beverly before word got round that they had been duped!
DD got two autographs from CMs (sweet ladies from Puerto Rico- were happy to sign) at Club Cool
DD met a security guard outside Club Cool and asked for his autograph and pix- he put his hat on DD for pix- very kind gentleman ( I never knew that on their hat’s shield is a Mickey Mouse ºoº)
Students began to gain confidence and break into groups of 4 to 6 and disperse throughout Epcot with cells programmed with my number- 2 or 3 stayed with my family and me
DD bought an Epcot Passport (really affordable souvenir around $10- passport comes with stickers and large button/pin) and got it signed and stamped in UK and Canada- DD will work on completing on next trip
DD thought CM- Michael in UK was cute
CM at Canada kiosk had a Youth Education Series pin near the register- we asked if we could see it (we did not know what the pin looked like because WDW just started the pin memento instead of tee shirts since our last visit and we had yet to take our Y.E.S. class)- the CM was unfamiliar with the program and ask DD if she wanted the pin- she did and since she knew she was to get one of her own once we took the class, she traded it!
DS and DD wanted to head to the Japan pavilion to shop for GF and cousins respectively and see the drummers- drummers were outstanding- such amazing stamina those athletes/artists/musicians have-DS got a wall scroll with GF’s name written in Japanese on it and a very pretty pair of chopsticks- DD took a picture with a CM in full kimono dress- got autograph
Met students at bus- went to Super Wal Mart to let students shop for snacks and/or souvenirs- checked into hotel- got cleaned up- ate at CiCi’s pizza- some of boys went to Hooter’s, but the wait was too long so they just did a bit of “sightseeing” and ended up eating with us!
Went to Magic Kingdom- rode BTMRR with no wait time (first time at night- the ride seemed more extreme in the dark)- went to Haunted Mansion- no wait- CMs totally in character even to the point of “accosting” people in front of the Hall of Presidents and asking them if they dare brave their 999 ghosts!
Rode Splash Mountain during the late Spectro parade- caught the last few floats of parade
Back to hotel- exhausted but happy- put in for early wake up call!
April 8th -departed Red River Parish, Louisiana 10:20 am for our 930 mile trip
School bus: 20 high school students & 4 chaperones
Following the school bus- Honda Odyssey: 6 students 1 chaperone
Meals and rest stops at groups’ discretion throughout the day and night
Sunday, April 9th- Showered at regular stop in Ocala (Pilot) 6:30am
Orlando by 10am -met our tour guide, Janice, at McDonald’s near one of the main WDW entrances- got park passes- parked at Epcot- ENTERED THE PARKJ
DS (18) who is visually impaired went to guest services and got his pass for front seating- very cordial CM
Headed to Mission: Space (nothing like breaking my students in early!)- wait was just under an hour- ride was fantastic as usual
Stopped at the ice cream kiosk so DD (12) and DH (38) could get their traditional post M:S ice cream- DD got the kiosk CM’s autograph (DD decided that this year she would get non-character CMs’ autographs since they are a big un-thanked and un-noticed part of the magic) CM was thrilled
Got fast passes for Test Track-headed toward Soarin’
DD had convinced all of my high school students that her favorite drink was Beverly, so we stopped at Club Cool for an international taste test- Six or seven of the kids drank some Beverly before word got round that they had been duped!
DD got two autographs from CMs (sweet ladies from Puerto Rico- were happy to sign) at Club Cool
DD met a security guard outside Club Cool and asked for his autograph and pix- he put his hat on DD for pix- very kind gentleman ( I never knew that on their hat’s shield is a Mickey Mouse ºoº)
Students began to gain confidence and break into groups of 4 to 6 and disperse throughout Epcot with cells programmed with my number- 2 or 3 stayed with my family and me
DD bought an Epcot Passport (really affordable souvenir around $10- passport comes with stickers and large button/pin) and got it signed and stamped in UK and Canada- DD will work on completing on next trip
DD thought CM- Michael in UK was cute
CM at Canada kiosk had a Youth Education Series pin near the register- we asked if we could see it (we did not know what the pin looked like because WDW just started the pin memento instead of tee shirts since our last visit and we had yet to take our Y.E.S. class)- the CM was unfamiliar with the program and ask DD if she wanted the pin- she did and since she knew she was to get one of her own once we took the class, she traded it!
DS and DD wanted to head to the Japan pavilion to shop for GF and cousins respectively and see the drummers- drummers were outstanding- such amazing stamina those athletes/artists/musicians have-DS got a wall scroll with GF’s name written in Japanese on it and a very pretty pair of chopsticks- DD took a picture with a CM in full kimono dress- got autograph
Met students at bus- went to Super Wal Mart to let students shop for snacks and/or souvenirs- checked into hotel- got cleaned up- ate at CiCi’s pizza- some of boys went to Hooter’s, but the wait was too long so they just did a bit of “sightseeing” and ended up eating with us!
Went to Magic Kingdom- rode BTMRR with no wait time (first time at night- the ride seemed more extreme in the dark)- went to Haunted Mansion- no wait- CMs totally in character even to the point of “accosting” people in front of the Hall of Presidents and asking them if they dare brave their 999 ghosts!
Rode Splash Mountain during the late Spectro parade- caught the last few floats of parade
Back to hotel- exhausted but happy- put in for early wake up call!