Nanette & Girl Scout Troop - June 2006

Day Two, 6/16
This was another early day, but it was exciting. Not only did we get to do something special, I actually got to do something that I had never done before! I got up first, showered and then got up Amanda and Cheyanne. We got ready, ate something in the room, and then met everyone at the bus stop for the Animal Kingdom at 7:50am. We chose this time just in case we weren't the only ones waiting for Animal Kingdom that early in the morning. Since we had to meet the Youthgroups tour guide at 8:30, we didn't want to take any chances in being one minute late. We boarded the bus which wasn't nearly full even after stopping at All-Star Sports and All-Star Music. We arrived at Animal Kingdom and made our way to the flag pole where we were to meet the tour guide. We were very early, so we took the opportunity to take a bathroom break and have a picture moment. Vicki and I made wonderful shirts for the troop and the girls wore them that day. So, we took a cute picture of all of us wearing our shirts! While we were waiting, I could tell it was going to be a sticky morning. The weather the night before was so glorious compared to the weather I experience in July and August ever year! It was getting sticky and hot and the girls were getting tired of standing around in the sun. Finally, we saw three women dressed as if they were ready to go hiking approaching our group. They handed us special lanyards to wear (unfortunately, we couldn't keep them) and a microphone/speaker system so we could hear the tour guide. I was thinking that they really needed these three years ago when I took my husband on the Keys to the Kingdom tour!

We entered what I like to refer to as the jungle (the Oasis). The tour guide pointed out birds and other creatures when we could see them. The program that the girls picked was based on conservation and how to conserve our natural resources so that living things can remain on this planet. That was my take on it anyway. At this point, the girls were getting a bit bored. They were yawning and trying to cover their mouths so that they didn't appear rude. It was hard. They were up for more than 20 hours the day before! Finally, we ended up right behind the herd of cattle getting ready to enter the park. We were there before park opening, but we were learning along the way and then waited with everyone else during the opening ceremony. Our tour guide had us hang out under a shaded area while the "herd" plowed by and then we made our way over to Discovery Island. We did some activities and took a scenic and not crowded tour through Discovery Island before heading over to DinoLand. The tour guide was very informative and she knew her lines well! She told us a very creative story of how DinoLand was created and how Hester and Chester built their "amusement park." It was cute. We made our way into Dinosaur and walked past the long line that had formed. We walked right on the ride and fortunately for me, one of the tour guides was sitting beside me and she had her fingers in her ears. I asked if she was scared and is there something I should know. She said no, she has ridden it many times, but it is loud. So, I put my fingers in my ears after I announced it to the girls in my Jeep. Of course, they were all so chatty to finally be on a ride, so no one heard me. It was very jerky and I was prepared for this since the nice people on the TMFL board warned me of it. I was happy to get their advice though because we strategically placed Danielle in the middle of the middle section where she should get the least amount of impact. She did just fine. Only Kristin was terrified once the ride was over. She proclaimed that she did NOT like it at all. However, the ride was just what the rest of the girls needed… sort of pumped them up a little. We left there and the guides had the girls do an activity. They like hands-on things at their ages. This was an opportunity for me, Vicki, and Jamie to make calls. I called mom and checked on the boys and shared all the excitement from the night before. By the time I was done, so were the girls. We then walked to a secluded spot near Flame Tree Barbecue. The guides chose a covered eating area on the water where we had a great view of Expedition Everest. The girls were asked to fill out surveys and then the guides gave out goodies to all of us. Just about when they were finished almost as if it were planned for us, a boat comes by with Minnie and Pluto. They waved to us while my girls waved like toddlers! It was so cute to see! Of course, I took pictures! We then made our way over to Kali River Rapids for what all of us have been waiting for. I have never been on this or Dinosaur, so I was very excited. I love water rides and couldn't wait to get on it. Again, we didn't have to wait and walked right on. I love being part of a tour… you get treated so special! Our boat had seven of us in it with two strangers. It was me and Jessica, Amanda and Katelyn, Tai (by herself), and Vicki and Rachel. We went through the first dip and it was such a tease… not even a drop on me. By the time we got to the big drop, I don't think that Jessica and I were prepared for the fact that WE were the ones that were going to get soaked. We figured that based on where we were sitting, we weren't getting wet. We were VERY wrong! We got so incredibly soaked it WAS funny!!! Amanda and Katelyn got wet, too, but the rest of our group barely got a drop. Vicki was a little disappointed that she didn't get wetter, but I told her I would share! I figured if I gave her a big hug, she would be almost as wet as me! Hee hee We gathered together with the rest of the girls and realized that a few of them were just as wet as me and Jessica. It was hilarious and rather refreshing. We made our way over towards the Safari as that is where we were to meet up with the rest of the moms. We got our fast passes and then went to the Tusker House for lunch. I was highly impressed with this restaurant as this, too, was somewhere I had never been before. I chose this place because they had a nice variety of meals to choose from and they didn't have burgers! Amanda would live off of cheeseburgers if I let her. We finished up our lunch and visiting and then made our way to the Safari. I love Fast Passes! We all fit in one Jeep. I was so lucky to get the back of the Jeep and wishing I had visited the restroom before we got to the Safari! It was rough and bumpy back there! Me, Martha, Cheryl, and Jamie were tossed around all over the place. My pictures are rather humorous to look at. I have more pictures of animals' butts than ever before!!! But let us not overlook my pretty rock and the trees!

After this exhausting morning, we made our way out of the park. Our next stop was to be Blizzard Beach, but because we ended up leaving Animal Kingdom later than we had originally planned, we decided to just go back to the resort and swim at the pool. Everyone was really okay with that. We needed rest and relaxation before our EMH night at the Magic Kingdom!

I went back to the resort to find my mother-in-law snoozing on the bed. She was waiting for us to get back knowing our next stop was Magic Kingdom and she loves that park. (Really, she just loves riding Buzz and for some reason, won't do it by herself.) I took another shower instead of swimming and then went over to check out the store. While shopping for my boys, I heard what turned out to be very strong rain. I assumed that the girls were all back in their rooms at this point. Thank goodness for cell phones! I called and found out that Amanda and Cheyanne were safely back in the room getting dressed and snacking as were all the rest of the gals. I made a small purchase and then waited out the rain in the food court with my mother-in-law. I was chatting with her and watching the torrential downpour while the sun was shining! Don't you just love afternoon Florida rain? The funny thing is that we found out later that it didn't even rain at the Magic Kingdom which is something I suspected. I just didn't want everyone to run down to the bus and get completely soaked. It was VERY strong rain. We decided to NOT meet at the scheduled time and decided to wait out the rain. This put us behind because we were supposed to have a bridging ceremony for the rising Cadettes on the bridge near the Crystal Palace. The later it got, I knew that this wouldn't be possible since they would be roping off for the parade. When we finally were able to get going and get on the bus, it was after 6:15. By the time we got to the Magic Kingdom, went through security, bathroom breaks, and then I made a point to go to Guest Relations to see if I could get a photographer to photograph the ceremony. They said that probably wouldn't be possible since the photographers have to stay in certain areas and where I wanted to go, wasn't one of their areas. I was very disappointed. By this time though, I was told that a few of the gals were hungry. So, we canned the bridging ceremony and headed for Cosmic Rays. (We will do a regular ceremony at home in September.) It was so nice outside; we decided to eat on the terrace. The girls were getting excited and couldn't wait to ride the thrill rides in the park. After we ate, I handed out the light-up bracelets again and we headed over to Space Mountain to get our EMH bracelets. Then, we split up into our thrill ride/non-thrill ride groups and went on our way with the plan to meet up on the bridge to Tomorrowland at 8:45. We stood on line for Buzz and then saw Stitch (what the heck is that?) and then met up with the group just in time to see the beginning of Wishes. Amanda was so thrilled to see Tinkerbell (her favorite). There were so many oohs and ahs during the fireworks… funny how Disney makes you act like you have never seen fireworks before! We all headed over to Splash Mountain after Wishes and were not able to ride because the wait was over 30 minutes! I know that isn't a long time, but we wanted to see SpectroMagic (ran twice that night). We had the perfect seats though. Since we were early for the parade, we sat right there at the end of the parade right near Splash Mountain. It was GREAT. The girls and moms were amazed. Some have never been to Disney World, so I thoroughly enjoyed watching their reactions to things. One of the moms kept leaning over to me commenting on just about every float. She was my one mom that I think was more excited about going to Disney than some of the girls! After SpectroMagic was over, we headed over to Splash Mountain. The wait wasn't long. I never did figure out if you could get Fast Passes during EMH. Now, I have been on this ride many, many times. It is a must for me whenever we go to the World and I have to admit, I have never gotten any wetter than a few small splashes of water on me. Well, one of the moms was sitting with me and she was terribly worried about her Vera Bradley purse and her knit shirt. She put on a poncho and put her purse in a shopping bag, but I kept telling her that I have never gotten wet on this ride, don't worry. Let's just say, famous last words??? I didn't get nearly as wet as on Kali, but I suppose the back wasn't the place for us to sit? I just couldn't believe we got wet!!! I don't think I'll ever live that one down! After Splash Mountain, a large group decided that they had enough of EMH and wanted to go back to the resort. The rest of us split up as they wanted to ride roller coasters and a couple of us can't/won't. So, I took Rachel (my co- leader's daughter) to see PhilharMagic while Martha and my mother-in- law went to the Haunted Mansion. Rachel and I made our way over towards the castle and had a nice walk. We didn't have to wait for but a few minutes to go in and then the fun began. I have to say, this is not the thing to do at midnight after the two days we just had. It was so relaxing in there and since I saw it already, I wasn't paying close attention. Rachel was laughing and seemed to really enjoy it. I had to fight to stay awake. We were to meet everyone at the Carousel afterwards. They were all riding, so we had to wait so that Rachel could ride, too. I think most of us were pooping out. A few of the girls were still running on adrenaline, I think. We decided much to the dismay of Amanda and Katelyn that we needed to go back to the resort. It was already Saturday and we still had a full day ahead of us.

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