Florida Part One: Epcot and the Four Musketeers
FLORIDA WAS AMAZING.
I had to say that first off.
I realized when I got home today just how amazing it was and how much I miss it now that it's over. I know we had some moments when it wasn't much fun, but even those weren't so bad. I remember when at one point i made a statement something like: hey guys, why are we all acting so bummed and snappish? it's a gorgeous day, the sun is shining, we're in FLORIDA, we're missing school, i'm with cool amazing people, and think of all the people who are jealous of us right now: not just the kids sitting in school right now while we complain about being bored of Epcot, but also all these other tourists who see us going by and think about how we are young healthy teenagers, off on our own, so cool. Let's be happy.
Now that I'm home, I'm realizing that this was one of my all-time best life experiences. And before I was really depressed (we won't go into any details) but now I've decided that it ended at the right time.
haha: this entry is such sentimental crap. but the funny thing is that it's completely true. so THERE.
and now for:
MAGIC MUSIC DAYS: A Brief Recap:
Thursday:
--school is basically a joke for anyone going on the trip. no one cares
--school ends and we load the buses. i wind up on the Lee-Height bus, with Alicia, Becca, Evan, and Todd. and YES, i DID put those names compulsively in alphabetical order.
--we head off into the not-quite-sunset
~interlude of fun times and boring movies on the bus~
--tennish: supper stop. becca and i get yoghurt, which will turn out to be our last bite of protein until we stop at the same rest stop tuesday morning and have yoghurt again for breakfast
--elevenish: everyone is peacefully watching a movie and/or sleeping as the bus is stuck in traffic and literally has not moved in twenty minutes, when suddenly the peace is shattered by several shrieks indicating that a man in a pickup truck has just gotten out of his car and is taking a leak in the middle of the highway. as evan puts it, "that just made my day." being cruel teenagers, we pound on the windows until he realizes that just because he can't see in doesn't mean we can't see out, and hurriedly zips up and jumps back into the pickup truck. soon after, we see two random guys running along the shoulder, except they only run a few feet, then stop, then run some more, then stop again and turn around, then run back the way they came, then come again, and finally go back the way they came for good.
--soon after midnight: we finish the movie (don't even remember what it was) and the girls head to the front of the bus and the guys to the back for "quiet time."
--soon after quiet time begins: i am awakened rudely by nate and chatterton in the seat in front of me and evan who have decided that now would be a "quite ripping time, old chap" to come up with a Gay British Couple routine on the spot. without opening my eyes, i groan "shut up," stretch my arm out, and give them and the rest of the bus the General Finger. i fall back asleep
--sleep is interrupted throughout the night.
Friday:
--four a.m.: we stop at at a gas station to fill up the tank and switch drivers. at this point, everyone decides that the segregation of the sexes is ridiculous and becca and alicia return to their original seats to cuddle with todd and hurley, respectively.
--soon after we cross into one of the Carolinas or Georgia or something (same thing, anyway), we are dropped off at a McDonald's for breakfast at tennish. we are irate, especially me the vegetarian, becca the anti-mcdonald's, and alicia the McDonald's employee who knows exactly how everything is made and refuses to eat any of it except a yoghurt parfait. we are then informed that one of the other buses has had a problem with coolant and our bus has gone back to the rest stop where it has stopped in order to see what it can do to help. i find it both irritating and amusing: amusing because it all has a vague air of danger and daring rescue and detours, and irritating because it means standing around outside for twenty minutes. i take a picture of a Piggly-Wiggly because it's just too hick to pass up the opportunity.
~more bustime fun, including our first, but not last or worst, encounter with the potential stink bomb power of the Toxic Toilet Lavatory from Hell. alicia winds up using her spoon ring to lock the door from the outside so that none may open it and unleash the Powers of Doom~
--fiveish: we arrive at our Disney All-Star Movie Resort hotel, greeted with a trumpet fanfare, VIP motorcade, red carpets, and confetti falling as thickly as a snowstorm.
just kidding.
we arrive and drag our crap to our rooms, which are basically like regular motel rooms, only smaller and without any kind of welcome/goody basket. There is pretty much nothing to indicate Disney inside the room, except for a framed poster advertising 101 Dalmations, and the wall lamp that, when off, looks like a box of popcorn stuck to the wall and when on is supposed to fade to white and look like a normal lamp. ours did not actually do this, but caleb and chris's did, which is how we know what it was supposed to do. minor fiasco with the room keys, as somehow chris and caleb have wound up with duplicates of ours in addition to theirs. they head off to return them to the front desk while we enter our room with kyle's key. when we then test out the rest of ours, none of them work, and when we try kyle's again, his too has been deactivated. he heads off to the main desk as well to try to sort things out as sean, ross, and i unpack.
--we have one hour to shower and change after our disgusting 25-hour bus ride and head back to the buses for our first visit to Epcot Center.
--Becca and I bond and people-watch outside of Mission: Space as Alicia, Evan, and Todd enjoy it. we wait for a half hour, then go into the gift shop, buy a freeze-dried astronaut ice cream sandwich, and then go hide on the off chance that they come out before we're done and we'll have to share. Todd spots us and becca decides to share. i am selfish and refuse to.
--we wander some more. eventually we decide to get dinner at one of the three places on our free meal ticket. the first one we go to looks good to todd evan and alicia, so they stay there while bec and i bond some more on a long trek around the lake to the liberty inn in search of better quality food, once we find out that the other restaurant on our card is actually closed. i wind up with a salad, fries, ice cream, and coke as my meal, an omen of the high-class, healthy cuisine to come in the next few days.
--evan and todd meet up with us at the liberty inn, having lost alicia to hurley elsewhere. we eat until IllumiNations begins
--IllumiNations: I am made fun of as a hippie when I make a casual remark that Disney pollutes the environment horribly every night with their incredible wasteful displays of fireworks and lightshows. all the couples couple up under the romantic lights. becca and i decide that we feel left out, and begin swaying together to the music. this soon turns into a giant 'Lier Lovefest, and we all begin to sway in a line. Tara takes our picture.
--IllumiNations ends and we begin to stroll around the lake. Alicia and Hurley are still nowhere to be found.
--at some point, i call todd and evan away from becca for a quick conference, and we move to invite Beccalicia to the Four Musketeers as a single unit, the Female Representative. I make the formal invitation on behalf of the others, and she readily accepts, sealing the deal.
we soon pick titles for ourselves as well, and decide on:
Evan: the Republican Conservative Jew
Ari: the Brilliant Liberal Jew
Todd: the Atheist Homosexual Minority
we quickly set other ground rules, especially for Beccalicia: when Becca is present but Alicia is not, she is to refer to the other as Licia. when Alicia is present and Becca is not, she is to refer to the other as Bec. in this way, the 'a' is always shared, and the group cannot be complete in name or spirit unless both are there.
yes, we ARE dorks, and we love it.
--it becomes time to leave. we make our way out in an excited, expectant, hyper mood. we slap high fours with some employees in giant mickey mouse gloves as we leave the park. we also become distracted by the swirling lights in the sidewalk outside of Innoventions, and take a detour there to hop around and have our pictures taken. we leave and head back to the buses.
--quick round of truth or dare on the ten-minute ride back to the resort. Beccalicia kisses, and I go to second base with Jeff, among other hijinks.
--we get back. some head to the pool. i don't. some come to our room to hang out until lights out at eleven.
--soon after eleven, after mr. v has made his rounds, todd returns to our room through the nifty connecting door between our rooms and hangs with us for about a half hour until we all decide to go to bed. after all, we have an exciting and competitive day ahead of us at Universal Studios...........
~TO BE CONTINUED~
I had to say that first off.
I realized when I got home today just how amazing it was and how much I miss it now that it's over. I know we had some moments when it wasn't much fun, but even those weren't so bad. I remember when at one point i made a statement something like: hey guys, why are we all acting so bummed and snappish? it's a gorgeous day, the sun is shining, we're in FLORIDA, we're missing school, i'm with cool amazing people, and think of all the people who are jealous of us right now: not just the kids sitting in school right now while we complain about being bored of Epcot, but also all these other tourists who see us going by and think about how we are young healthy teenagers, off on our own, so cool. Let's be happy.
Now that I'm home, I'm realizing that this was one of my all-time best life experiences. And before I was really depressed (we won't go into any details) but now I've decided that it ended at the right time.
haha: this entry is such sentimental crap. but the funny thing is that it's completely true. so THERE.
and now for:
MAGIC MUSIC DAYS: A Brief Recap:
Thursday:
--school is basically a joke for anyone going on the trip. no one cares
--school ends and we load the buses. i wind up on the Lee-Height bus, with Alicia, Becca, Evan, and Todd. and YES, i DID put those names compulsively in alphabetical order.
--we head off into the not-quite-sunset
~interlude of fun times and boring movies on the bus~
--tennish: supper stop. becca and i get yoghurt, which will turn out to be our last bite of protein until we stop at the same rest stop tuesday morning and have yoghurt again for breakfast
--elevenish: everyone is peacefully watching a movie and/or sleeping as the bus is stuck in traffic and literally has not moved in twenty minutes, when suddenly the peace is shattered by several shrieks indicating that a man in a pickup truck has just gotten out of his car and is taking a leak in the middle of the highway. as evan puts it, "that just made my day." being cruel teenagers, we pound on the windows until he realizes that just because he can't see in doesn't mean we can't see out, and hurriedly zips up and jumps back into the pickup truck. soon after, we see two random guys running along the shoulder, except they only run a few feet, then stop, then run some more, then stop again and turn around, then run back the way they came, then come again, and finally go back the way they came for good.
--soon after midnight: we finish the movie (don't even remember what it was) and the girls head to the front of the bus and the guys to the back for "quiet time."
--soon after quiet time begins: i am awakened rudely by nate and chatterton in the seat in front of me and evan who have decided that now would be a "quite ripping time, old chap" to come up with a Gay British Couple routine on the spot. without opening my eyes, i groan "shut up," stretch my arm out, and give them and the rest of the bus the General Finger. i fall back asleep
--sleep is interrupted throughout the night.
Friday:
--four a.m.: we stop at at a gas station to fill up the tank and switch drivers. at this point, everyone decides that the segregation of the sexes is ridiculous and becca and alicia return to their original seats to cuddle with todd and hurley, respectively.
--soon after we cross into one of the Carolinas or Georgia or something (same thing, anyway), we are dropped off at a McDonald's for breakfast at tennish. we are irate, especially me the vegetarian, becca the anti-mcdonald's, and alicia the McDonald's employee who knows exactly how everything is made and refuses to eat any of it except a yoghurt parfait. we are then informed that one of the other buses has had a problem with coolant and our bus has gone back to the rest stop where it has stopped in order to see what it can do to help. i find it both irritating and amusing: amusing because it all has a vague air of danger and daring rescue and detours, and irritating because it means standing around outside for twenty minutes. i take a picture of a Piggly-Wiggly because it's just too hick to pass up the opportunity.
~more bustime fun, including our first, but not last or worst, encounter with the potential stink bomb power of the Toxic Toilet Lavatory from Hell. alicia winds up using her spoon ring to lock the door from the outside so that none may open it and unleash the Powers of Doom~
--fiveish: we arrive at our Disney All-Star Movie Resort hotel, greeted with a trumpet fanfare, VIP motorcade, red carpets, and confetti falling as thickly as a snowstorm.
just kidding.
we arrive and drag our crap to our rooms, which are basically like regular motel rooms, only smaller and without any kind of welcome/goody basket. There is pretty much nothing to indicate Disney inside the room, except for a framed poster advertising 101 Dalmations, and the wall lamp that, when off, looks like a box of popcorn stuck to the wall and when on is supposed to fade to white and look like a normal lamp. ours did not actually do this, but caleb and chris's did, which is how we know what it was supposed to do. minor fiasco with the room keys, as somehow chris and caleb have wound up with duplicates of ours in addition to theirs. they head off to return them to the front desk while we enter our room with kyle's key. when we then test out the rest of ours, none of them work, and when we try kyle's again, his too has been deactivated. he heads off to the main desk as well to try to sort things out as sean, ross, and i unpack.
--we have one hour to shower and change after our disgusting 25-hour bus ride and head back to the buses for our first visit to Epcot Center.
--Becca and I bond and people-watch outside of Mission: Space as Alicia, Evan, and Todd enjoy it. we wait for a half hour, then go into the gift shop, buy a freeze-dried astronaut ice cream sandwich, and then go hide on the off chance that they come out before we're done and we'll have to share. Todd spots us and becca decides to share. i am selfish and refuse to.
--we wander some more. eventually we decide to get dinner at one of the three places on our free meal ticket. the first one we go to looks good to todd evan and alicia, so they stay there while bec and i bond some more on a long trek around the lake to the liberty inn in search of better quality food, once we find out that the other restaurant on our card is actually closed. i wind up with a salad, fries, ice cream, and coke as my meal, an omen of the high-class, healthy cuisine to come in the next few days.
--evan and todd meet up with us at the liberty inn, having lost alicia to hurley elsewhere. we eat until IllumiNations begins
--IllumiNations: I am made fun of as a hippie when I make a casual remark that Disney pollutes the environment horribly every night with their incredible wasteful displays of fireworks and lightshows. all the couples couple up under the romantic lights. becca and i decide that we feel left out, and begin swaying together to the music. this soon turns into a giant 'Lier Lovefest, and we all begin to sway in a line. Tara takes our picture.
--IllumiNations ends and we begin to stroll around the lake. Alicia and Hurley are still nowhere to be found.
--at some point, i call todd and evan away from becca for a quick conference, and we move to invite Beccalicia to the Four Musketeers as a single unit, the Female Representative. I make the formal invitation on behalf of the others, and she readily accepts, sealing the deal.
we soon pick titles for ourselves as well, and decide on:
Evan: the Republican Conservative Jew
Ari: the Brilliant Liberal Jew
Todd: the Atheist Homosexual Minority
we quickly set other ground rules, especially for Beccalicia: when Becca is present but Alicia is not, she is to refer to the other as Licia. when Alicia is present and Becca is not, she is to refer to the other as Bec. in this way, the 'a' is always shared, and the group cannot be complete in name or spirit unless both are there.
yes, we ARE dorks, and we love it.
--it becomes time to leave. we make our way out in an excited, expectant, hyper mood. we slap high fours with some employees in giant mickey mouse gloves as we leave the park. we also become distracted by the swirling lights in the sidewalk outside of Innoventions, and take a detour there to hop around and have our pictures taken. we leave and head back to the buses.
--quick round of truth or dare on the ten-minute ride back to the resort. Beccalicia kisses, and I go to second base with Jeff, among other hijinks.
--we get back. some head to the pool. i don't. some come to our room to hang out until lights out at eleven.
--soon after eleven, after mr. v has made his rounds, todd returns to our room through the nifty connecting door between our rooms and hangs with us for about a half hour until we all decide to go to bed. after all, we have an exciting and competitive day ahead of us at Universal Studios...........
~TO BE CONTINUED~