Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Day 1 - Tuesday 3/18/14 - EPCOT

Due to the snow and not knowing how much we would get and if the parking lot at school would be cleared the decision was made to move our departure location to the Liberty/Burger King Gas Station of off Rt. 11 and I-81. The Bus was on time – I repeat the Bus was on time and so were all of our students. Everyone and their luggage had been loaded by our set departure time of 3:45am and after lots of hugs, kisses and last advices given it was time for our 2014 World Strides Trip to begin. As usual the first hour on the bus was spent going over lots of important information. We handed out t-shirts, instructed the chaperons, had breakfast and got some time to rest. The drive to Reagan went as planned and we arrived at 5:50am. Our early arrival was a good thing as it took over 1 hour and 20 minutes to get all 50 of us checked in. Not sure why it took so long BUT once again we only had a few minutes to spare before the last call for boarding was made. The flight to Orlando was a little bumpy but overall went very well. Overall it was very quite as most of us fell asleep or chose to rest our eyes. Our first time flyers “enjoyed” the take off and the landing. Our luggage arrived on the carousel very fast which made up for the time it took to check in. “Welcome to the Sunshine State” – Kristen (our World Strides Guide) greeted us. “Today’s high is expected to be 77 degrees.” Yes, just what we all needed after all this snow and cold weather. We quickly changed into shorts, put sunscreen on and boarded the bus that would take us to EPCOT. Once through security and the park entrance we stopped for a brief group picture before heading off to lunch. Boy, everyone was starving and the food at “The Seasons” restaurant hit the spot. Now on to some rides. We learned about hydroponics and aquaculture among other things and got to see some great fruits and vegetables growing during “The Land” ride.







 Next we decided to taste a few different coca cola products from all over the world – some were good and others Yuk!!! Ellen and Bill Nye helped us learn a ton about all kinds of energy. What wonderful review from 6th and 8th grade about fission, fusion, solar and wind power, fossil fuels and hydroelectric power BUT most of all brainpower. Next it was time for Mission Space. Not everyone rode this ride that sometimes causes motion sickness. Those who did though had a great time. Free time was spent discovering the eleven different countries in “The World Showcase”. One group of 9 boys decided to put all of their dining card together and got themselves a great big pizza feast for dinner while visiting Italy. Others like the adults decided to go for a nice relaxing sit down dinner in Mexico. Dinner was great. By now most of us were running somewhat low on fuel despite having had a good dinner. Starbucks, chocolate and ice cream quickly became our very best friends to keep us going through the amazing “Illuminations” fireworks show. Wow!!!!






 It is now almost midnight. We have checked in, situated ourselves in our rooms, cell phones have been collected and lights have been turned out. Tomorrow will soon be here and we all need some well-deserved rest.

1 comment:

  1. Thank you so much for taking the time (when we know you are exhausted!) to update us parents back at home. It's greatly appreciated!

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