Home now!
Well I just got back from a short vacation in Florida, 12/9-12/13. A vacation nobody but my mom knew I was going to join. So a few weeks ago my mom planned a weekend getaway to Disney World. She decided it would be a surprise so only my father and I knew. I wasn't going to be able to go because it was the same weekend I had finals. Enter a few weeks later when I have my finals schedule. A little light bulb goes off over my moms head and a plan is formed. If I can move my finals around then I could leave on that friday the 10th and be there that night. The word spreads around our extended family, but the people who don't know I'm coming are my dad, brother, and sister...well my bro and sis didn't even know they were going to Florida in the first place.
So the week of the trip comes my mom has kept her silence. I took my Marine Bio exam thursday afternoon and then I had my chem and ecology finals back to back friday morning. I flew out at 6:30 after a flight delay, but missed my connecting flight. I ended up getting into Orlando around midnight and then got to the hotel around 1am. Everyone except my mom was asleep so I just climbed into bed with my sister and fell asleep. The next morning I woke up to the sound of my brother getting up. He went into the bathroom and my sister woke up. Casey looked at me for a few seconds thinking I was mom then realized who I was. Colin came out of the bathroom and I saw him counting the people in bed. After counting five he saw me looking at him and rushed over to tackle me. We all whispered excitedly until my mom finally woke my dad up. He was wicked surprised and came over to hug me.
So the mission was a complete success. We went to Epcot in the morning to do Test Track and Mission Space. Then we headed through the World Showcase. Then we hopped a boat over to MGM where we had dinner, went on Rockin Rollercoaster, and then went to see Fantasmic. Afetr that we headed back to the hotel where we met up with my Aunt Barbara and her sons Brandon and Schyuler.
The next morning Colin and I went over to MGM to go on Tower of Terror and then back to the hotel. As a present my mom had booked me to go on the Aquatours in the Living Seas in Epcot. What I did was go into the big tank in the Living seas and swam along the top. I'm not SCUBA certified yet, but I was wearing a tank and everything. We were able to swim around freely for about a half an hour. Its so cool because all around the glass panels there are people waving to you. I waved to so many people and the kids were really cute.
On the pre-dive tour we were brought behind the scenes. The dolphins Calvin and Renier were checking us out as we walked past. Then we got to see the manatees. They swam right up to us and stared at us for a while. then they went back down and started play wrestling with eachother and came back up to see us again. They were so cute!
Now the funny part of this story is that my family thought I would be diving around 1pm. They didn't realize that all I could do was swima round the top. I didn't dive until 2pm, but apparently a girl was diving down who looked just like me and even had the exact same mannerisms as me. Of course my family was waving like crazy and she was waving back to them. Only after I got back to the hotel did they realize that they were waving to a complete stranger. I got a big kick out of that.
That night was Mickey's Ver Merry Christmas party so we headed over to Magic Kingdom. The park closed to regular guests at 6pm, but was open to those with tickets to the Christmas party which went until midnight. We ate at Liberty Tree Tavern which was delicious. Then we did some rides. At 6 we had to go to Tommorowland and stay there for an hour while the regular guests exited the park. We met up with Aunt Barbara and the boys again and went on Space Mt, Buzz Lightyear, and Stitch. Then we could go around the rest of the park. We watched the fireworks at 9 and the last parade at 11 then it was back to the hotel. We left Monday morning and now I'm home for a month. Yay! So Merry Christmas everyone and have a Happy New Year!
So the week of the trip comes my mom has kept her silence. I took my Marine Bio exam thursday afternoon and then I had my chem and ecology finals back to back friday morning. I flew out at 6:30 after a flight delay, but missed my connecting flight. I ended up getting into Orlando around midnight and then got to the hotel around 1am. Everyone except my mom was asleep so I just climbed into bed with my sister and fell asleep. The next morning I woke up to the sound of my brother getting up. He went into the bathroom and my sister woke up. Casey looked at me for a few seconds thinking I was mom then realized who I was. Colin came out of the bathroom and I saw him counting the people in bed. After counting five he saw me looking at him and rushed over to tackle me. We all whispered excitedly until my mom finally woke my dad up. He was wicked surprised and came over to hug me.
So the mission was a complete success. We went to Epcot in the morning to do Test Track and Mission Space. Then we headed through the World Showcase. Then we hopped a boat over to MGM where we had dinner, went on Rockin Rollercoaster, and then went to see Fantasmic. Afetr that we headed back to the hotel where we met up with my Aunt Barbara and her sons Brandon and Schyuler.
The next morning Colin and I went over to MGM to go on Tower of Terror and then back to the hotel. As a present my mom had booked me to go on the Aquatours in the Living Seas in Epcot. What I did was go into the big tank in the Living seas and swam along the top. I'm not SCUBA certified yet, but I was wearing a tank and everything. We were able to swim around freely for about a half an hour. Its so cool because all around the glass panels there are people waving to you. I waved to so many people and the kids were really cute.
On the pre-dive tour we were brought behind the scenes. The dolphins Calvin and Renier were checking us out as we walked past. Then we got to see the manatees. They swam right up to us and stared at us for a while. then they went back down and started play wrestling with eachother and came back up to see us again. They were so cute!
Now the funny part of this story is that my family thought I would be diving around 1pm. They didn't realize that all I could do was swima round the top. I didn't dive until 2pm, but apparently a girl was diving down who looked just like me and even had the exact same mannerisms as me. Of course my family was waving like crazy and she was waving back to them. Only after I got back to the hotel did they realize that they were waving to a complete stranger. I got a big kick out of that.
That night was Mickey's Ver Merry Christmas party so we headed over to Magic Kingdom. The park closed to regular guests at 6pm, but was open to those with tickets to the Christmas party which went until midnight. We ate at Liberty Tree Tavern which was delicious. Then we did some rides. At 6 we had to go to Tommorowland and stay there for an hour while the regular guests exited the park. We met up with Aunt Barbara and the boys again and went on Space Mt, Buzz Lightyear, and Stitch. Then we could go around the rest of the park. We watched the fireworks at 9 and the last parade at 11 then it was back to the hotel. We left Monday morning and now I'm home for a month. Yay! So Merry Christmas everyone and have a Happy New Year!