Nanette & Girl Scout Troop - June 2006

Day One, 6/15
... 3:00 am... Alarm sounded and I couldn't believe that I only got about three hours of sleep! With all of the planning I had done, I should have gotten at least six!!! Oh well, I am so excited about not only going to WDW, but sharing that Disney magic with my Girl Scouts. Amanda (DD) and I put the bags in the car and headed over to my co-leader's (Vicki) house to pick up her and her daughters. Since 16 of us are traveling together, the best plan was to meet at the airport. Four were traveling on their own as they didn't want to get home as late as we planned on Sunday. I wanted to make the most of this trip and booked the earliest non-stop flight out and the latest non-stop flight back. Anyway, after the 50-minute or so drive to Richmond, we arrived to the AirportParkingLot (yup, all one word) early. There was a Wawa across the street, so I decided to top off the tank and get a breakfast sandwich. By this time, I had been up for over three hours and was getting hungry. I knew I couldn't wait until we got to Epcot hours later! Amanda and I got a breakfast sandwich and joined the others in the van. We drove over to the parking lot and checked the van in and hopped on the shuttle to the airport. While standing in line at the Delta check-in desk, I keep hearing "Mrs. Boggs! Mrs. Harlow!" My girls have arrived!!! Everyone looked rather chipper for being up so early. It was so nice to see their smiling faces. We worked for five years for this trip and it was still such a surprise that the day had finally come to take the trip! The girls were really excited! We all kind of went our separate ways as some wanted to get something to eat, some needed to visit the restroom, and others just wanted to get through security. We did the restroom thing and then went to security. Well, can't take Vicki anywhere and not have some drama! Of course, she put off the buzzers and this was great amusement for her daughters. She ended up having to stand in a "box" (large wooden area blocked off) until they could "wand" her. They realized that her large metal barrette and the buttons on her coveralls were the culprits. We were finally on our way to the gate and got another great greeting from the girls and their moms. They all wanted to know what took so long! Ha ha

The plane ride was basically uneventful and very quiet. I know I tried to take a nap KNOWING I would need all the energy I could muster to get through Epcot! I know, you are asking why did I choose Epcot the first day? Well, I knew that everyone would be energetic and running off of excitement and adrenaline on the first day… why not use that to my advantage in getting through this huge park? We arrived at MCO earlier than scheduled which was great for us, but not so great for one of my moms that was due to come in 15 minutes after us. Since we got there about 15 minutes before our original time, we ended up not being on the same DME. Ah well, it all worked out! I have to say that the DME was a wonderful experience and I would highly recommend it. I have taken Mears before and that was okay, but I didn't have to bother with the luggage and that was a lifesaver when you are traveling with so many people. The girls got a kick out of the movie and were asking Amanda whether she has been there, ridden that, etc. She felt really special! The second phase of excitement set in when we arrived on Disney property… thanks for the announcement from our terrific driver! He couldn't have driven to the resort fast enough for them! When we got off of the DME, I got a picture of everyone in front of the DME bus and the wonderful driver being goofy! Everyone went in and sat down while I stood in line to check in. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see someone that looked really familiar… it was my mother-in-law! I adore her! She was coming to check in with us in the hopes of getting an AP or FL Res discount. Unfortunately, they weren't running any (boo hoo for my troop). I had originally invited her to stay with us and tag along to whatever she wanted. I had pre-warned everyone that it would be highly unlikely that we would get into our rooms before we needed to leave for Epcot so they were prepared for that. What I wasn't prepared for was my good luck! I was told that since we were checking in so early and that we were a Grand Gathering, we would get preferential treatment. I still figured (being pessimistic so I wouldn't be disappointed) that we would end up in Mighty Ducks or Love Bug, but we got Toy Story! My oldest son was SO jealous when I told him. We took him to visit the courtyard several years back and he just loved it (being a HUGE Toy Story fan). The only bummer is that Woody is being refurbished and wasn't "present" in the courtyard. That's okay though. We didn't have a courtyard view anyway, so it didn't matter. We were on the second floor of building eight overlooking the "green" area near the parking lot. Great for my mother-in-law who drove! I was just so thrilled… can't repeat that enough. Anyway, we checked our carry on bags and headed to Epcot. I had to visit the Group Sales window to pick up our tickets and meal coupons. Guess what? I forgot the confirmation receipt in my carry on bag at the resort! I think because I was so tired and hungry and because I knew 18 people (still waiting on two of them) were starving, I HAD to figure out a way to get these tickets without the confirmation paper. It took a few extra minutes, but everything worked out. Just a little panic attack and we were good to go! We immediately handed out the meal coupons to the moms and we were on our way. First stop, the Land to eat lunch! I had explained the meal coupons to everyone the week before at our last meeting, but I think some forgot. A few of the girls were getting kids meals. I re-explained this to them and their moms (nicely, of course) that they can get the combo meal or an entrée and a side dish, a dessert and a drink (any size). Yes, it turned out to be a lot of food… for everyone! We usually don't get desserts when we eat with the family, but since they were paid for, we splurged. Even if I just took one bite! I hate wasting food though, so it was hard to not clean my plate. Having vacationed in WDW many times in the summer, I know that you don't want to overfill yourself and then walk in the heat. Oh, forgot to tell you that I made my second mistake of the day… went to get Fast Passes for Soarin'… got a few and just didn't understand why it was feeding out a 10% off coupon for Living with the Land Tour. Ugh… I went to the wrong Fast Pass machines! I was so turned around when I got downstairs that I went to the wrong machines. Of course, since I did that, none of us could get Fast Passes for Soarin' if we planned on riding together. It was okay… it all worked out.

Just as I pay for mine and Amanda's food, my cell phone rings and it is our last two stragglers finally at Epcot. By this time, I am shaking I am so hungry. I couldn't even tell you what time it was. Amanda and I walked out to the gate to get the last of our group (remember, I had their tickets!) and head back to the Land. It worked out well because since Amanda and I hadn't eaten yet, they didn't have to eat alone. The others went to stand on line on Soarin' saving the rest of us a place. In hindsight, that probably wasn't the best idea as we ticked off a few people. The group behind us was okay with it (some of my moms explained the situation to them while they were standing on line), but those that we passed weren't too pleased. If they only knew the circumstances! The ride was awesome as always! Only one mom had a problem as the motion really got to her. She was okay a few minutes later. While 19 of us headed over to Turtle Talk with Crush, I sent Vicki to get Fast Passes to Mission Space. I wasn't riding and she was, so it was only fair that she get them… right? The only thing was that she has never been to WDW before. Thank goodness for maps and the fact that it couldn't have been easier to get there from the Land. We had a picture moment with the Finding Nemo exhibit and then listened to a CM tell us the difference between all of the shells she had in her display. Okay, on to see Crush! We stood on line and one-by-one ended up visiting the restroom before we got to see the Dude-man himself. I laughed so hard… just like last year. My moms really enjoyed the show and the girls were saying "Dude" for hours (heck, me and Vicki were doing it on the plane back home!!!) After we bid Crush adieu, the thrill riders went to Mission Space and the non- thrill riders went to Spaceship Earth. Of course, it is a very neat ride and it has changed to reflect the advancement in technology, but for those that had never been on it, it amazed me how much they enjoyed it and some of the girls wanted to ride it again! The only disappointment for me was walking into that empty room where AT&T used to have their display. I knew they wouldn't be there, but I thought it would have something in there… decorations of some sort or another, but it was completely blank. Just not Disney-like.

We were supposed to meet up at Club Cool… thinking that everyone would need a cool, refreshing drink before our trek across the World Showcase. Our group went inside… taste tested the colas. Stay away from Italy!!! Germany was the best. Several of the girls got a frozen Coke, but may I say that they need to have a frozen Diet Coke!!! I bet they would sell just as many of them as the regular!!! Well, we waited… and waited… and waited. We went to the restroom, visited some characters (set up in the general area of the bakery), and I checked out the pin carts (my souvenirs). I finished looking and we were still waiting… finally, I decided to pick up my cell phone and find out where the heck the "other" group was when they appeared. Now, you say, woo hoo, they are here, we can go to World Showcase, but no, they need to check out the colas, the characters and use the potty, too! Ugh… it was at this point I realized the worst part of traveling with such a large group… all the waiting around! I was actually getting a little irritated, because I think I was getting hungry again. We didn't do a lot, but it had been about four hours since lunch by this time! I got snapped at by one of my moms when I went into Club Cool to retrieve my daughter (only to find out later why…). We were finally on our way to World Showcase!

The girls, unbeknownst to them, have been working on a badge and one of the things they needed to do was ask a person in each country how to say "hello" and "goodbye" in their respective language. Fortunately, I have some very outgoing girls and they took the lead (they are the younger ones, too) and asked away in every country. We were good through Canada, UK, France, and Morocco, but when we hit Japan, it was shopping time. Moms and daughters would go off and no one would know where they were. They would reappear and then someone else would be missing. This went on through the rest of the day. It all worked out, but it got to be tiresome for those that stood around waiting. The important thing to me is that they were enjoying themselves.

Well, it is dinnertime and we chose Liberty Inn at the American Adventure (mostly because it was the only restaurant in World Showcase that accepts our meal coupons). I had this worked out ahead of time and warned the moms that it was an "All-American" meal. We all got our food and sat down in the same area. We were eating and talking and taking in the air conditioning. The CM would come in and make his announcements, "Here ye, here ye…" Until he made THE announcement of the night. "Here ye, here ye… we have a Girl Scout troop here from Virginia and they would like to recognize their leaders for getting them to WDW. Thank you Nanette and Vicki!" Okay, if that weren't enough… two of the girls delivered a card to me and a card to Vicki. What the girls wrote in the cards were so touching that I will cherish the card forever, but they put in a nice gift card to each of us with a very hefty sum of money on it… $275 each!!! Can you believe that??? The two literally brought tears to our eyes. Then the hug-fest began. You know, when you spend as much time as we do with these girls and their families and have seen them grow up from the second grade to some now entering high school, you get a little attached. A few weeks ago, we received awards for being Outstanding Leaders nominated by our girls and now this? We certainly are blessed to have the loving caring girls and parents we have. It was kind of hard to keep going after this emotional experience, but we managed to trudge on. Everyone was starting to lose their steam though. It was close to 7pm and most of us had been up for over 16 hours! We visited the rest of the countries and then staked out our spot between Mexico and Norway to watch Illuminations. I handed out those light-up bracelets (pack of 15 at the dollar store… had two tubes for each nighttime show) and then we watched Illuminations. They really enjoyed it a lot. As we left Epcot, I shared with them the lighted sidewalk outside of Innoventions (thought this was very cool) and then we made our way to the bus. Now if I had to complain about anything about our trip, it would be waiting for the buses… not a surprise though. I had called the resort during dinner to find out our room numbers and realized there was a complication, but nothing that couldn't be worked out when we got to the resort. All of the carry-on bags were delivered to my room and once we dispersed them and fixed some refrigerator problems (supposed to be in the room and not there… requested months in advance and paid for it already), everyone settled in to bed. Another long day is ahead tomorrow…

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