Epcot

Today the choirs and Orchestra went to Epcot.  At the beginning of the day the choirs had a workshop where we got to do a voice over from actual Disney!  The group I was in did Beauty and the Beast and it was so much fun.  We spent the rest of the day at Epcot and at the end we watched a really cool Illuminations show.  Overall, the day was great and we are very excited for Animal Kingdom tomorrow!

Universal Day!

Today we spent the entire day at Universal studios! It was my first time going to Universal, and I was blown away by the amount of rides there were in every park. My favorite rides included the Jurassic River Adventure, Revenge of the Mummy, and the Hogwarts Express ride. I loved The Wizarding World of Harry Potter because I felt like I was actually in Hogwarts when I was there.

Tomorrow we will be going to Epcot!

Universally a Good Time

Today we were at Universal Studios Orlando which was so much fun! The first half of the day was spent waiting in line for one roller coaster but the wait was almost worth the ride. We reconvened for a quick photo op and then we went to lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe.

After lunch we took the Hogwarts Express to Hogsmeade which was such a magical experience. I could feel Harry Potter and Hogwarts come alive. We walked around Hogsmeade and rode this somewhat terrifying yet equally thrilling roller coaster based on a trial in the Triwizard Tournament. 

We also had to go to Olivanders to get wands and then to Honeydukes for chocolate frogs. We then went to the Hogwarts Castle to go to the ride in there. I loved being in the castle and the whole ride was so cool because I was so confused where ever we went. Interspersed between the wizarding hijinks I managed to drink three Butterbeers (which I realize now was probably a mistake). 

Butterbeer #1

Butterbeer #2

Butterbeer #3

We then went to the water ride at Jurassic Park and there were about 25 D99 kids on one raft. We went through once and decided that it was just so good that one wasn't enough so we went on a second time and took an awesome picture!

After we were somewhat damp and cold, we trekked back to the Hogwarts Express. It was another awesome experience and when we got back we saw a huge crowd around a stage. As it turns out Diana Ross was performing which was cool to see even though she looks like a small red dot in the picture.

#D99learns

The hotel we're staying at is called Rosen Shingle Creek and my roommates and I were all very interested in why it is called Shingle Creek. It's named after the area that it's located in and the area was named for the cypress trees that lined the shores of the river in the 1800s. Cypress trees were often the material that created the shingles ergo Shingle Creek. 

total steps: 15,607

 7 Elder Wands out of 7 Elder Wands

 

 Beth

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Today was another magical day.  Our tour group visited Universal Studios today, which has many fun attractions.  My personal favorite was the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which made you feel like part of the actual movie.


Above: Senior Nisha Alberts prepares to ride the Hogwarts express.



Above: Seniors Julia Lambert, Natasha DaRosa, Liam Morgan, and Nate Doro enjoying ice cold butter beer.

The park also offered various items from the famous book and movie series, one of which being the delicious butter beer as seen above.  With multiple fast pace rides, and cute little window shops, it was a truly magical way to spend a truly magical day.

"Here [We] Leave Today and Enter the World of Yesterday, Tomorrow and Fantasy"

 Day two started off with an early, but not as early as yesterday, wake up call. My roommates and I all had packed our concert attire the night before so we were ready to rock and roll out to breakfast when the time came. Soon enough it was departure time and we all loaded our buses to hit up Disney's Magic Kingdom.

We ferried over the lake and we were met with the classic Disney picture: Cinderella's Castle

We got inside the park and immediately started going on rides. My group got through three rides before the orchestra kids had to bid adieu to the choir kids and get to our rehearsal.

We eventually got settled in with our instruments and then it was time for the wind to blow in. It was quite blustery and kept blowing our sheet music every which way. The Disney crew, like always, had a fix prepared already. We used fiberglass sheets to keep our music down so we could also read the music. 

We roamed around Disney Springs for awhile before attending the choir's concert.  We found some of the highest quality food trucks I have ever had the opportunity to eat. The choir preformed beautifully and they sang one of my personal favorites, "Light One Candle" by Peter, Paul and Mary. The soloists also did such a fabulous job on the Gospel tune! If you didn't watch the choir's performance, I would strongly suggest that you go watch it at your earliest convenience. 

We left back to Magic Kingdom but before we could even get everyone on the bus, a black cat crossed the street and not too far behind was Mr. Teague bounding after it. We went directly to Splash Mountain when we got back which was a great choice. The rest of Magic Kingdom is a bit of a blur because it all went so fast but my favorite part was buying Mickey Mouse shaped ice cream and Minne Mouse ears. 

There were some technical difficulties with the fireworks so we left to go to the ferry. We ended up lounging on the ferry and watched some of the fireworks from there and there was a floating light show. Today was definitely just as great as yesterday, it was so fun!

Cups of coffee I drank today: 4

Steps taken today: 26,463 (phew!)

10 Sparkly Minnie Mouse ears out of 10 Sparkly Minnie Mouse ears!

Con Allegrezza (with livliness)

Beth

Magic Kingdom Fun!

Happy Birthday, Will and Krista!

Today we celebrated Will and Krista's birthdays! There's not a better place to celebrate your birthday than Disney World - the happiest place on earth!