Graduation, Good Health & Giggles Galore About This Page:

[cattailmarsh]

Your TR is quite entertaining...looking forward to much more. Didn't the family learn their lesson with the firat garbage bag ripping open? Maybe they should just buy an extra duffle.

[benchley]

Oh my, a family and a half. Very entertaining!

[wheezie]

I am just giggling at your descriptions. I feel so bad for the anxiety ridden boy-I'm telling you, that would totally be me!

Glad to hear the one who had been left behind caught up with you all.

And oh my! That family of 12.....

[Colexis Mom]

Great start! Kudos to you for traveling with all the kids. DD went down in March with her band (there were 145 of them, kids plus chaperones) and the chaperones have my utmost respect (I value my sleep and could never survive on the schedule they had)! More please!

[SuperDave]

Glad the flight went well and that family of 12 finally behaved! Felt bad for the boy with the anxiety!

[xwewhisper]

Your post made me LOL! I'm looking forward to hearing more about the trip!


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[Cam22]

That poor boy, but totally that he called his mom so she could fly down and then ride a bus home with him.

[tcmary]

Love that you are all enjoying this TR. I was so blessed to have been asked to chaperone and delighted when my son agreed. Having known these children from their earliest days, longer than the teacher chaperones, I was fortunate that they were comfortable speaking with me, confiding in me and hanging out with me. Great memories all around.

[tcmary]

We arrived smoothly and disembarking was easy for us. These kids are so used to loading and unloading musical instruments and sports equipment that grabbing their bags from the overhead bins was easy peasy.

Two sky caps were waiting with wheel chairs to assist two of our young ladies with leg injuries. One accepted the help and one declined. Keep this in mind for our return trip. The sky cap and I watched over 50 bags while our group must have taken over the nearest restrooms.

Finally we made our way through the airport in search of the Magical Express check in. Imagine a photo of us riding the airport monorail, except my son is rolling his eyes so I won't post it.

The travel agent that arranged the trip met us downstairs as we got off the escalators. She took our Magic Express passes and asked that we wait for her. I immediately looked at MDE and tried for reservations Sunday night at 1900 Park Fair. Seating for 4 was available so I texted my son and asked what he wanted to do. He said Book it, so that's what I did! I was so excited I jumped up and high five his friend that would be dining with us. We cancelled our Trails End reservations and someone else rebook ed that for the 10 that still planned to go there.

The travel agent returned and directed us to a queue that was extra magical. We streamed past what seemed like hundreds of people waiting to load on their buses. We walked outside, waving to cast members, right to a waiting bus. Ok, it was a Mears bus, but that was fine. The boys helped load our luggage and we were ready to roll.

We had a super friendly driver that had us in stitches. He was telling horrible jokes insisted we ride It's a Small World. His wife works loading guests and loves to hear from her husbands passengers. Suddenly he had us counting down from 10. That's when I realized we were almost at the welcome sign. I missed that photo op, but please imagine a lovely picture of the blue sky and trees just beyond the sign!

We're here. I was as excited as a 5 year old and was bopping up and down in my seat. My seatmate, and fellow chaperone, wasn't quite excited as I was. He was talking about setting his alarm to complete the night time room check. What? You're going to be in bed early? I don't get it. The park is open late, why would you want to sleep? Well, he thought I was just as crazy staying until park closing. Let's see how that goes.

Our driver announced we were pulling in to All Star Sports. He told us to be sure to enter using the Red Carpet, as that's the best way to begin the trip. He parked and every one hopped off. Now, we were expecting a long red carpet runner into the hotel. Instead, we we re greeted with a 10 foot red carpet . Not exactly the grand entrance we envisioned. Too boot, it was covered with luggage from the group ahead of us.

We were asked to wheel our bags over near the bell hops and they would deliver the bags later in the day. The luggage was all stored in a portable locker that looked like a giant piece of luggage. The bellhops didn't seem thrilled to see us and were lacking the smiles we thought we would see. I stopped specifically for the young lady that had a scooter waiting for her. Her parents made the right choice to have one delivered to the hotel. It helped her tremendously. She tipped the bellhop and then took off like a crazy driver. She's been injured before and knew how to navigate on a scooter. Except she liked going the top speed of 6 mph. If you were in her way, I apologize for her. She loved scooting around people.

I asked the bell hop if they would deliver the bags to the room or did the kids need to pick them up before heading to their room. The man assured me they would deliver the bags for them and they had nothing to worry about. I went inside to find our group had moved from the lobby to the cafeteria.

My niece texted me to say she was 15 minutes away and would come inside to meet us. I met up with my son and his friends. They were grabbing snacks, as the rest of the group was getting full lunches. They knew we had lunch plans coming up.

At this point my chaperone duties kicked in. I met up with my 7 girls. I distributed their Magic Bands, the ugly gray ones, and reminded them to text me at noon, 4, 8 and when they switched locations. Yup, pretty simple. Every one had to stay with at least one person, but most were starting out in groups.

My niece had arrived and met up with my son and friends. They were introducing one another and by the time we exited the building they were all friends. My niece had her SUV, as she is a north country girl, used to driving in the snow. Fortunately, it had room for the 6 of us. This meant we were able to skip the buses. My temporary handicap pass from my surgery came in very handy.

So who we are:
Me: Favorite Character - Eeyore
DS: Pluto Lover, left his Pluto hat home because it messed his hair
DN: Minnis Mouse fan
DGA, Disney Girl A, Cinderella fan
DBB, Disney Boy B, became a Donald Duck Fan
DGC, Disney Girl C, Loves Tigger

Our Plans:
Epcot without FP
We hope to do
Turtle Talk, Finding Nemo, Soarin, Test Track, Lunch Alershus, Shop, Spaceship Earth

Evening Animal Kingdom
FP: Expedition Everest, Primeval Whirl, Dinner Tusker House, Safari
Hope to Do: Kali River Rapids, Dinosaur, Lions King Show, Jungle Book Show, Shop

Next Up: I'm Hot, Your Hot, She's Hot, He's Hot

[DMA]

Yay! You have arrived! Great plans for the day! Can't wait to hear how it all played out!

[Colexis Mom]

Glad you made it to the hotel! Hope the rest of the day went well!

[cattailmarsh]

That are some massively ambitious plans for day 1...you all definitely were going to make the most of your time. As for that chaperone who suggested sleep - my answer is never in WDW...sleep when you are dead motto as per Bon Jovi and I definitely live it when we are in the bubble. Great score on the dining change.

[bfth]

Originally Posted by tcmary

Hi All, Thanks for the kind words and good wishes.

I SURVIVED and we had an amazing time. I’m simply exhausted! We were on the go constantly and sleep was not the most important part of the trip. We arrived home around 10:00 PM Tuesday night, so by the time I caught up with my DD and DH, handed out souvenirs and talked about our trip it was almost midnight. Getting back to work was tough but I managed.

We had Senior Awards Night at the High School on Wednesday. Most of the children on the trip had to attend, as they were receiving awards and scholarships. They were happy and congratulating one another, but boy were they a lethargic bunch! One of the things I have loved about this class is that they have been challenging and encouraging each other for years. They would study together, yet at the same time, didn't want to be outscored. They were very conscious of their grades and were always working to out do each other in class placement. As parents it has been fun to watch the dynamics.

We were very proud of our DH, as he was honored with three scholarships, two academic achievement awards and a special administrative honor. This is the same kid that never turned in homework while in middle school. In the 7th grade I told him “I’m not going to fight with you. If you decide you want to be mediocre, get it out of your system now, because when you get to high school, this behavior won’t fly.” His grades and attitude about school changed the minute he walked into the high school. He looks back at middle school and admits he was lazy. Fortunately he understands the value of hard work and being successful in all that he does is important.

Next Up: Loving Our Community Airport

Whatever is in the air there; pass is along here. My son is a middle schooler and I think he needs some of that high school mentality!

[Cam22]

You've made it inside the bubble!

[SharonK0527]

Sounds great so far! Can't wait to hear how your day plays out!