JakeHughes.com

Senior Trip 2009 – Day 6 (Saturday) March 8, 2009

Well, the trip is at last over. After a fun night, we woke up Saturday morning and had our last devotion of the week, led by Lauren Bryant. Then, we went to check in our flight at the flight check-in desk in the lobby of our hotel. Because of computer errors, many people in our group were missing luggage tags and/or boarding passes, so we had to get that straightened out there. Unfortunately, several of us (including myself) could not check in at the hotel because the computer had two different names on file for us (such as Jake/Jacob, Alexis/Lexi, etc.). We found out about this after wasting an hour in line. I have to give the “cast members” credit, because they tried to change our names and everything, but alas nothing would work.

After a quick lunch and shopping session, we left on Disney’s Magical Express to the Orlando airport. We happened to get to the airport two hours early, so we had about an hour to kill. Our flights went without a hitch during the day (and we checked in just fine), and we landed in Memphis about ten minutes before scheduled. I think everyone’s luggage arrived successfully. I’m pretty sure everyone was glad to see their friends and family. I sure was; my parents brought my girlfriend, Haley, to meet me at the airport with them. So, we had a good time.

[I took about 500 pictures during the week. If you're my friend on Facebook, you can see them on there. If not, email me and I'll send you links where you can view them.]

Senior Trip 2009 – Day 5 (Friday) March 7, 2009

Quite an interesting day. Today, we were given the option to split into groups and go to any park of our choice, and we could move from park to park. Of course, I was in the largest group (with 15 others), so staying together and deciding what to do was a challenge. Many people in the group had official titles (and character names from the TV show “The Office”. Kevin Clark (Michael Scott) was voted to be the leader of the group, and I (Jim Halpert) was voted to be the transportation engineer/”Tom-Tom”. Kelsi Alexander (Ryan Howard) was voted to be my assistant and Josh Vance (Dwight Schrute) was voted to be Kevin’s assistant. Other people in our group without official duties but with names included Lauren Bryant as Angela, Lauren Yokell as Meredith, Kurt Nicholson as Creed, Shelby Rumble as Phyllis, Jeff Thompson as Kevin, and Eric Walker as Oscar (not because he’s gay, but because he has Mexican heritage).

First, we went to Magic Kingdom and rode Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and the teacup ride. Then, after a short hop on the monorail, we went to Hollywood Studios. We ate lunch there and had time to ride Rockin’ Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror one last time. Then, we left for the hotel.

That night, we went to a Houston Astros vs. Atlanta Braves spring training baseball game at Disney’s Wide World of Sports. A few of the guys wanted to go early to watch batting practice, and I went with them. Thanks to Disney Transport (the system of buses that transport Disney guests from their hotels to parks and other attractions), it took us over an hour to go 5 miles to the stadium. However, we were soon appreciative of it because the others were stuck at the hotel because the bus service ended at 7 PM. As a result, Ms. Smeltser had to arrange for seven taxis to come pick them up. They missed the entire first inning of the game.

It was quite apparent that the game was a blowout when in the 5th inning the score was 13-0 (Braves winning). We decided to leave at the end of the 6th inning, riding taxis back to the hotel.

Back at the hotel, our curfew was extended so we could have more fun. While I won’t describe everything in detail that happened, some fun events included watching the first Harry Potter movie, straightening Josh Vance’s hair and giving Kevin Clark a faux-hawk, and watching Shelby attempt to wash Kevin’s hair after that.

We are looking at a full day ahead of us. We have to vacate our rooms by 10 AM but don’t leave our hotel until 1:05 PM. I have no idea what time our flight leaves. Watch for the exciting conclusion tomorrow night!

Senior Trip 2009 – Day 4 (Thursday) March 5, 2009

Today, we went to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Opposite of yesterday, I thought that this was my favorite park. As soon as we arrived at the park this morning, we went directly to the Expedition: Everest roller coaster and rode it. Then, we rode it again…and again. Also, we rode an indoor ride based from the movie Dinosaur. There will be many great comments on the pictures from that ride. After that, we traveled to the other side of the park to participate in the Kilimanjaro Safari. Contained within the park is a huge, thousands-of-acres wildlife reserve-type area with many animals such as lions, giraffes, elephants, and other animals typically found in Africa. The Safari is an open-air ride throughout this area, of course providing many opportunities for pictures. After that, we had the bright idea to ride a river rapids ride “because it is so hot.” Of course, as soon as we rode it, we were drenched. The two Lauren’s and Kelsi were so wet that they bought dresses at a gift shop near the ride exit and wore them for the rest of the day at Animal Kingdom. That’s all I’m going to say about that; you can see the pictures on Facebook. Then, we rode Everest one final time and rode another small roller coaster before leaving the park.

After a break at the hotel, we returned to Epcot to ride some rides again and attend “Illuminations,” a laser light/water/fireworks show. While we were there, we also rode Test Track twice and Spaceship: Earth once. We also learned about Shelby’s amazing screaming skills.

Back at the hotel, we decided to have a game of piggyback rides. Many people participated, and it was a fun time. After that, a pickup game of soccer started and lasted for about an hour.

Tomorrow, we are planning on hopping to all the parks for a little while then attend a spring training baseball game. Watch for the post tomorrow!

Senior Trip 2009 – Day 3 (Wednesday) March 4, 2009

Another rather short post. Today, we went to Epcot. In my opinion, it was my least favorite of the parks; there were only a few good rides, such as Mission: Space. We walked through the different “countries”. After browsing the futuristic park, we came back to the hotel for some down time, then headed back to Hollywood Studios to ride a few more rides and attend “Fantasmic!”, a unique stage production that really cannot be put into words.

Tomorrow, we are going to my most anticipated park, Animal Kingdom. Come back tomorrow night for a recap!

Senior Trip 2009 – Day 2 (Tuesday) March 3, 2009

Kind of a short blog today. After a quick devotion and meeting, we travelled to Hollywood Studios. While we were there, my group rode the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and the Rockin’ Roller Coaster twice. Also, we saw former FACS student Shane Bizzell perform at the new attraction American Idol Experience. This stage show is quite similar to the American Idol on TV: the stage is similar to the TV set, the format is the same, etc. Plus, the winner of the day receives a “dream ticket” that enables them to go to the front of the line at a real American Idol audition. We ended the day by watching an Indiana Jones-themed stunt show and a block party parade.

After a break at the hotel, we went to Downtown Disney for dinner. Downtown Disney is a non-ticketed attraction that is similar to an outdoor mall. We ate at Planet Hollywood, then we walked around and browsed for about an hour and then left for the hotel.

Tomorrow, we are going to Epcot during the day, attending “Fantasmic,” some sort of stage show, and possibly playing mini golf tomorrow night. It should be a fun day!

Senior Trip 2009 – Day 1 (Monday) March 2, 2009

4 AM: I am on the way to the airport after waking up at 3:12 AM. We already had to go back home twice: to get a nutri grain bar and to get my driver’s license. Oops. My parents are, of course, going through the eternal list of questions like, “Do you have your money?” “Do you have enough underwear?” So far, we’ve passed 6 cars all the way down poplar to the interstate. Well, it should be a fun trip! I’ll post more updates hopefully tonight.

11:30 PM: Well, a tiring yet exciting day is over! My first time flying went just fine – all the flights were on time and the skies were clear. We got to our hotel around 1 PM (eastern time) and ate in the hotel’s cafeteria. It wasn’t that great (especially for $20), but anything is good after hours without any substantial food. Then, we went to our rooms. At that time, only a few of the guys rooms (and none of the girls rooms) were available, but luckily ours was available. After a little downtime, we headed to Magic Kingdom.

After a short bus ride, we arrived there. The park was rather crowded, but not too bad. My group (Lauren Bryant, Lauren Yokell, Raquel Walker, and I) rode every good ride in the park, which included Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Haunted Mansion, and, of course, Pirates of the Carribean. As the day drew to a close, we watched the fireworks show at Cinderella’s castle (or temple as I accidentally called it more than once today), “Wishes,” next to a children’s choir from an unidentified Middle-Eastern country. After the 15-minute show, we all met up and returned to our hotel.

One interesting tidbit: the extremely diverse tourist base visiting the area. In addition to the choir described in the last paragraph, I personally heard German, Spanish, Japanese, British English, among many others.

We are looking forward to going to Epcot and Downtown Disney tomorrow. Stay tuned for updates!

Jake