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Disney World 2007

Posted in : Offspring, Road Treks on by : TetonTrekker Tags: , ,

Jackson Hole High School Concert Band

April 27th, 2007


A year and a half of fundraising, 110 students, 15 chaperones, 2 staff members, 5 days, 21 hours sleep, 5 blisters on my feet, and the opportunity of a lifetime! Each chaperone was in charge of 7 or 8 kids and their money. Thank God for cell phones, I don't know how group trips like this worked without them. We had a great time and brought home lots of good memories. I would highly recommend that any parent given an opportunity like this take it in a heartbeat!

The chaperone rules were that each chaperone group would travel to and from the parks together, meet all the kids for breakfast lunch and dinner, and give each kid his or her breakfast and lunch money in the morning and their dinner money at dinner. If any of the kids did not make a meal meeting place we would all eat then we could not go our separate ways until we found the missing kids as a group. Then those kids that we had to look for would have to stay with the chaperone for 1/2 a day. All the kids read the rules and signed them prior to the trip. My roommate and I had a total of 15 kids, 8 boys and 7 girls to coordinate.On day 2, the first day in the parks, breakfast was rough. All the girls were up and ready to go at the designated time and all the boys wanted to sleep in so they did not get up. Once we got them all to the bus stop we decided on a meeting place for lunch and reminded all the kids they signed a paper they would meet us prior to the trip. We were there early enough that we were getting on all the good rides with less than 20 minute waits. We went to Splash Mountain, it said it was a 40 minute wait on the sign. We had an hour and a half until me had to meet our kids for lunch so we got in line. OMG, the line was way more than 40 minutes but by the time we were in the line that long we did not want to get out. One hour and 20 minutes into the line we were 10 minutes from getting on the ride and 10 minutes from our designated lunch meeting time! It was a 15 minute ride, now way were we getting out of line now! We called all our kids and told them lunch is off, we were stuck in a ride and would not make it. ALL of the kids were at the meeting place or almost there, the CHAPERONES WERE LATE! After we got off the ride we found our boys first, the were eating near a couple of the other chaperones. Apparently that morning Dr. Elliot gave his kids all the money for the day and said "have a good time." SO! I gave all the boys their dinner money and said "have a good time, see you at the gate when the park closes." I found my girls and told them what happened gave them their money and told them to have a good time.





Day 1 - Getting There & Down Town Disney

Maria and I did not know each other prior to this trip other than seeing each other at school events. When I packed for the trip I put my new sandals in the suit case for Magic Kingdom day. I thought they would be perfect for the fast and wet rides. When we got to the airport I noticed Maria had the exact same sandals! Was this a case of 'Great Minds Think Alike' or just two women with impeccable taste?



Day 2 - Magic Kingdom

day 2 - hour 12
Day 2 - hour 12

No rest for the chaperones, day 2 was the longest with 20 hours on our feet. W were up early, the girls were ready but we had to wake the boys to go to the park. "you're not going to let a couple of old ladies out do you are you?" is how I greeted my boys this AM (all the other mornings I greeted them with money, that worked much better.) According to the 'Chaperone Rules' that we were given prior to the trip we were not allowed to leave the park with all the kids there, if we wanted to take a nap we were to call another chaperone in the park and tell them then let all our kids know... what a PIA, plus we did not want to miss a thing, we stayed at the park until closing. This was the night of our 11:30 pm - 2:30 am security shift. When we got back to the hotel with all the kids it was almost midnight, the other chaperones had ALL returned to the hotel at some point during the day to nap. "You guys stayed all day???!" We just looked at each other. Oh well, we had fun, what would we have missed if we took a nap?

Magic Kingdom

The first day out was in Magic Kingdom. I informed my gang I was stalking Jack to get a photo of him for my buddy Deb back in Wyoming. I found Jack the pirate!!! He looked EXACTLY like he did on the big screen. There was a huge crowd around him, because of that the line for the ride dropped from over 40 minutes to less than 20. So I said "screw the photo! Let's ride!" Sorry Deb, he would not have fit in my suitcase anyway.

There was plenty of Pirate paraphernalia to be had.
There was plenty of Pirate paraphernalia to be had.
Captain Jack Sparrow
Captain Jack Sparrow
He's waiting for you...
He's waiting for you...




Day 3 - Performance & Epcot

Tigger the Duck - Just as I thought it was safe to sit and eat a snack without my cat Tigger begging for a bite, I turn around and there is a DUCK at my back begging for a bite! Story of my life. Good thing we were not at the wild animal park!

Mr Dunham did a great job with all the kids, They sounded awesome! The dynamics were there, no obvious errors, all the flutes were in tune, and no squeaks from the clarinets. I was very proud to be a part of this group.


Day 4 - MGM & Down Town Disney

Maria & I - Epcot
We gave the waitress our camera to take our picture and she said "me first" and took a picture of herself!
We gave the waitress our camera to take our picture and she said "me first" and took a picture of herself!

By day 4 our bodies were complaining from all the junk we have been eating combined with the sleep deprivation, about 1:00 we could not go anymore unless we sat and ate something healthy. All the restaurants with real food were busy. The first place we stopped had over an hour wait. The nice lady at the counter looked in her computer and got us a reservation at the "50's Prime Time Cafe" with only a 20 minute wait. Just enough time to get there. The whole place was decked out like the 50's with 50's TV shows playing on the TV's in each room. The waitress pulled up a chair and gave us the "rules" for eating there... "No elbows on the table, no whining, no tattling, eat all your vegetables, and set your own place." She looked at me, motioned with her hand and said "elbows off the table!" Then she made us set out places before she took the order.

When the waitress was clearing the table next to us for desert she said to the mom at that table "you didn't finish your vegetables" loud enough that we could all hear. Then she scooped up a fork full of carrots and said "open wide... now everyone make the airplane noise." As every one made the noise she put the carrots in the woman's mouth. I'm sure glad I cleaned my plate!

We both had pot roast and root beer floats. This was the BEST pot roast I have ever had! The waitress said nothing about licking our fingers being against the rules.
We both had pot roast and root beer floats. This was the BEST pot roast I have ever had! The waitress said nothing about licking our fingers being against the rules.
MGM Tower of Terror
MGM Tower of Terror
Maria knew how to read a map, too bad Julie could not follow her directions.
Maria knew how to read a map, too bad Julie could not follow her directions.
Day 3 - hour 12
Day 3 - hour 12
Self portraits days 2 - 4
Saturday night Dinner at Down Town Disney
Saturday night Dinner at Down Town Disney

Quote of the week... Day 4, the last night we were there, most of the kids arrived at the hotel in time to swim. Cerfew was midnight and all the kids were wound from the weeks events. We received a couple of complaints about the noise by the floor below us and security was sent to ask us to keep it down. One of my boys was walking to his room saying "I just got chewed out by a security guard that got winded walking up two flights of stairs."





Day 5 - The Voyage Home

5 days, 21 hours sleep, 5 blisters on my feet... When my alarm clock went off on day 5 I had had 3 hours sleep. What a crazy ride! DANG that was fun!!!

Travel group 3 waiting for their flight home at the Orlando airport.
Travel group 3 waiting for their flight home at the Orlando airport.

I wonder why my voice was hoarse on the last day. Could it be from all the screaming?

Maria & I front seat Aerosmith Rock'n' Roller Coaster @MGM day 4
Maria & I front seat Aerosmith Rock'n' Roller Coaster @MGM day 4
Kyle in back + 7 other JHHS kids Splash Mountain @ Magic Kingdom Day 2
Kyle in back + 7 other JHHS kids Splash Mountain @ Magic Kingdom Day 2
Maria & I second seat
Splash Mountain
@ Magic Kingdom Day 2

On the bus ride to the airport one of the other chaperones looked out the window and said "Florida sure has a lot of water!". I replied "and it's $2 a bottle!"

This blog was updated 3/29/2022 to remove old formats and add the photos lost in the Kodak Gallery links.

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Mom, wife, computer geek, web designer, musician, board member, ski bum, bicyclist, camper, glamper, fishing woman, treasure hunter, bookkeeper, office wizard, blogger, vlogger, foodie, and Pampered Chef Independent Consultant, trekking through life in Jackson Hole, Wyoming

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