My 2nd CRAZY FUN “THRILLED” 5th grade Adventure~ Islands of Adventure, Orlando

The first day with my fifth graders and new ‘chaperone’ friends : ) had been wonderful. BUT, the second day sealed the deal. We were all a wee bit tired after our first adventure filled day, but when we saw the sign for “Islands of Adventures” welcoming us, the thrill of adventure did indeed take over each and every one of us, and we were ready to embrace the day! 

On our second day we broke down into smaller groups, switched groups, formed new groups. It was SO wonderful to once again witness joy through a child’s eyes, but this second day was so nice, because friendships that had started the day before were reinforced and solidified. As the music teacher of these awesome students, I rarely get to know the parents well. What a WONDERFUL experience it was to find so many new friends: Mike and Jennifer, Hyacinthe (I love that name!), Jocuilyn, B.J., Shell, and so many more. I felt so blessed, and have come to understand after meeting these incredible parents, and now friends, why these kiddos were so ‘Crazy Special’! These kids were receiving some amazing love and careful guidance and direction from these people I am now honored to call friends. 

SO OUR DAY! We decided we would head RIGHT to Harry Potter’s “Wizarding World” since we knew the lines would be long. Before we got to Harry Potter, we passed through several ‘photo worthy spots’! I loved the whimsical décor in Seuss Landing, and although we did not stop there, I loved the whole ‘Seuss’ theme throughout . I love Dr. Seuss’ ‘childlike’ philosophy, and it is so beautifully evident by the creators of Seuss Landing. One of my favorite Dr. Seuss quotes: ““Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”~ Dr. Suess 

We also RAN through the Lost Continent, a Sinbad Themed section of the park. Fun to look at, but NO TIME TO STOP, as Hogwart’s was calling! 

I cannot tell you the sense of PURE ENCHANTMENT I experienced as we walked through the gates of Harry Potter’s World. I felt like I was being taken back into the books I had read aloud to my children, OH SO many years ago. Islands of Adventure, truly outdid themselves on this Village. I was thrilled to see the Hogwarts Express, Hogsmeade Village ~ where a stop in Honeydukes for family gifts, and a refreshing Pumpkin Juice for myself was a must~ Honeydukes was always such a big part of most of the Harry Potter series, and the thought of chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott’s Every-flavored Beans lured me in. The shelves are lined with all manner of colorful sweets, including Acid Pops, exploding bonbons, Cauldron Cakes, treacle fudge, Fizzing Whizzbees, and Chocolate Frogs, which contain a wizard trading card in each box. Inside the shop you can fill up a bag of Bertie Bott’s Every-Flavour Beans. I KNEW my family would love the treats I chose for them! 

herbology

Hagrid's Hut

Then the Hogwarts Castle loomed over me. I literally felt as if my breath was being sucked away from me. It was ALL that I had imagined it to be and more! We entered through the towering castle gates and made our way down the familiar passageways and corridors of Hogwarts. We saw Dumbledore’s office, the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, the Gryffindor common room, talking pictures and more. And then we came to the ride: 
“Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey”. 

It was SO much fun to feel as if you were soaring above the castle grounds with Harry and his friends. We met the Womping Willow, the Spiders (EWWW), magical creatures, and so much more. This was an unforgettably thrilling, one of a kind, ride experience. And had the line NOT been so long, we would have ridden twice. Crazy fun and laughter was experienced by adults and children alike! 

Next we took a quick trip through Jurassic Park, where many of the scenes looked as if they were straight out of the movie. I was very glad that we visited this part of the park during daylight hours. That T-Rex looked mighty hungry. We were starting to feel a little hungry too, but decided to continue on for a few more rides before a pit stop. 

We were then off to Toon Lagoon. It was hot and we decided that a ride on the ‘Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls’ ~ a water log ride, would be just what we needed to cool off. Unfortunately it was a very LONG line as everyone else had the same idea, but it was worth the wait! The setting is the Canadian North Woods. And with a Dudley Do-Right ride you can expect the usual characters: The villain: that notorious scoundrel Snidely Whiplash. The hero: bumbling Royal Canadian Mountie Dudley Do-Right. The “I NEED RESCUING” Nell Fenwick. This ride is so much fun visually, and the plunge to the bottom at the end? GUARANTEED to leave you breathless and ummm… WET! And I did not mind the crazy, long line (2 hours), because it gave me more time to bond with my new friends! (You know who you are!) The kids were sweet as pie, which to me was a testimony to the fabulous parenting and character building these mom’s and dad’s are giving these kiddos! 

Next we decided to head over to “Marvel Super Hero Island” where we rode “THE HULK” YOWZA

You accelerate from zero to 40 mph in two seconds flat, with the force equal to that of a jet taking off an aircraft carrier. It is simply WILD! The world 

turns upside down as you experience a weightless "zero g" roll. Then you feel a surge in power as you pick up speed and a menacing roar fills your ears. All you can do is hang on as you experience the rage, power and fury of the Hulk, smashing through the sky and plummeting down to earth on a high-speed roller coaster rampage of destruction. This a must ride in Islands of Adventures…. Next stop… 

“Dr. Doom’s Fear Fall”! This ride made my hands sweat as I waited for my turn to sit down and fly up into the clouds, and then take the plunge. Again, the set up and ‘attractions’ before you hit the ride are so much fun! 
All hail Doctor Doom! 

With menacing Doombots watching your every move, you are strapped into your seat. The ‘scariness and tension’ build, and, suddenly the countdown reaches zero and you are rocketed skyward, 150 feet into the air, then hurled back down faster than the force of gravity itself! But never fear, the drop is a bounce drop, so it is not a roaring crash to the bottom! 

Blondie's looked like a fun place to eat also!

And alas, time for lunch! We ate at the “Comic Strip Café”. All your favorite comic strip characters line the walls of the Comic Strip Cafe, a fun cafeteria-style food court where you have your choice of Fried Chicken, Fish & Chips, Hot Dogs, Burgers, and even Asian & Italian Dishes. The café was cute and the Meal Deal once again was definitely the way to go. We certainly needed to 
re energize for the rest of the day. 

After lunch we stayed in Marvel Super Island and Rode “The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman”. This ride will make you laugh and laugh and laugh, and maybe squeal and scream too! Join your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man in an amazing 3-D adventure that has you swinging and soaring high above the city streets. You feel as if you are right in the middle of all of the action, I will not spoil any of the surprises, but there are quite a few things ‘thrown’ at you that will keep your eyeballs bulging! The best part is the simulated 400-foot free fall at the end of the ride. I literally laughed my way through this entire ride! 

After the ‘Spidey’ ride, we had fun shooting some of our own ‘comical pictures’ under the ‘thought bubbles’ in Marvel Island. It was so much fun watching everyone running around to find the thought bubble they liked best. Of course I chose a thought bubble to facebook to my family back home! 

We then met up with one of my most favorite people in the world Cassi, and she led us to the BEST RIDE EVER: 
Popeye 

& Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges~ 

a water raft ride! Set sail for uncharted hilarity.  

Brave white-water rapids as this twisting, turning raft ride makes you wish you'd have brought your spinach... and a towel. Don't be surprised if you’re completely soaked when it's all over! We rode this ride 2 times in a row, and we were all wet, from head to toe,or the rest of the evening!!!! 

The moments were ticking away, so we decided that we would have time to choose just a few more things we wanted to see. Our group decided on the “Dragon Challenge” back in Harry Potter’s World. We made a mad dash, well as fast as we could move in wet clothes! As we approached the coaster, I must admit, I did feel some heart palpitations! This coaster looked ‘crazy’ insane! 

You will definitely need the courage of a Triwizard Tournament champion as you mount one of two dragons – an aggressive Chinese Fireball or a ferocious Hungarian Horntail – that twist, loop and nearly collide in an intertwining roller coaster chase across the sky. Dragon Challenge is actually two high-speed roller coasters – each "dragon" is a completely different ride. 

Climb aboard and hold on tight as the two dragons twist, loop and nearly collide with each other in an intertwining roller coaster chase across the sky 

We were crazy enough to ride this ride 4 times in a row. When we finally headed back to catch our ride to the hotel, I had a hard time walking, but OH the laughter, the “do you remember’s”, the smiles and joy radiating and beaming from each tired face! We adults laughed at the fun we had AS adults. For one day, we had escaped from, and forgotten about all of our ‘adult’ issues, and we became kids. WOW! It was an a-ha moment for me as I realized how relaxed and at peace I was, and it was at that moment that I decided to make sure that I have more “kid days”, more play days! And you know what? I already have my next day planned. I do believe a day at the beach with my kids and their friends is in order. I cannot wait to splash in the waves, search for some seashells, and take some MORE pictures, because I am DYING to share my Crazy, Beautiful, Pensacola Beaches with you! NEXT BLOG! : ) 

I hope you have had fun traveling through Islands of Adventure with me. You really must take a trip there for yourself. Here is a great link to their site, with all the rides, attractions, eateries and deals. And if you can’t make it down to Orlando, Florida, there is no reason why you could not come up with your own PLAY DAY! I would love to hear all about it! Still living, laughing, and loving the memories…

~Patti~

Great Link to Islands of Adventure:

http://www.universalorlando.com/Amusement_Parks/Islands_of_Adventure/Attractions/attractions.aspx

My CRAZY ADVENTURE! With 5th Graders… LOVED IT!

I am SO thankful I applied all of my stress techniques in preparation for my trip!  Thanks to my “SUPER DUPER STRESS” techniques, (last blog), I did manage to get to bed early with ALL things accomplished.  I had all errands run, all lessons taught, all last minute tasks accomplished, and laundry and packing completed!  AH!  What a wonderful sense of peace, and a lovely night’s rest.  And when the 4:30 alarm went off, I was ready to get up and going!

I launched myself out of my comfy bed, answered facebook messages, showered, put my makeup on in the car (my husband WAS driving ~ no worries) and arrived at the school RIGHT on time to load the bus.  I must admit that I was filled with joy as I was introduced to the parents of students I have so enjoyed teaching for the past two years.  And I squealed with excitement as I greeted each student with a hug.  The exhilaration was palpable, and so obvious from the smiles radiating from the kids faces.  The parents… most carrying coffee, also looked excited (well most of them! lol)

Most people looking at the prospect of an 8 hour bus ride with 24 ~ 5^th graders, and 3 days chaperoning them at 2 theme parks, may very well run in the opposite direction as fast as they can ~ NOT ME!  I Love the “Calvin and Hobbes’ quote “That's the difference between me and the rest of the world! Happiness isn't good enough for me! I demand euphoria!”~ Bill Watterson


 Yes I am a CRAZY and CHILDLIKE enough myself to totally look forward to spending time with my wonderful 5^th graders.  The fact that we are headed to Orlando for a stop at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventures, only sweetens the pot!  Oh yes, I am an avid Roller Coaster Rider, and have already done the research as to which rides are at the top of my list.

Although the coach bus had a bathroom, we did have a ‘rest stop’ break for the adults (grin) and of course I found some pictures I could not resist catching! 

Maybe I should have been on a leash???

  We are now BACK on the bus, headed for the first stop, Taco Bell in Live Oak, Florida for lunch!  Wonder if we will see the Taco Bell Chihuahua????  More later!

Lunch… it was Taco Bell, and I am not a huge fan of anything but the cinnamon crisps, so I was a happy camper!   The rest of the bus ride was spent napping, and I awakened to see Sponge Bob Square Pants greeting us at the entrance of our hotel.  CUTE and the kids loved it.

The hotel was great for the kids.  Great pools, and character meals, and of course the Nickelodeon “SLIME” pool, and show.  The kids of COURSE were in heaven.  I was enjoying the ‘architectural aspects!  I know that sounds crazy, but that is the ‘right brained’ side of me coming out again!  I loved the lights in the lobby… so fun!

Deep breath, I will tell you that I am now on my plane flight home ~ the trip is behind me~ it was a whirlwind with NO time to write, so from this point on, I am going on pure memory and recall, and after the many roller coasters and death defying rides that I rode, my memory may not be so great.  Although I am not claiming it ever was!

The first evening we spent around the pool, lounging, swimming, eating pizza, and watching the infamous “SLIME” pool bucket.  I must admit to being one of maybe 2 of the many adults that was totally into riding the huge water slides. Can we say CRAZY FUN!  The kids loved it that their teacher was riding the waves with them! What does this mean?   I loved spending time with the kids and I LOVED just being a kid myself.  I think this trip allowed me to see how essential it is that we NEVER lose that childlike quality that is truly still in all of us.  Some might just need to dig a little deeper to find it, mine just happens to be out there for all to see, and I am so thrilled to live my life in that fashion!

UGH!

Quick change of topics here, but I find it necessary to give you the following warning!  I thought it was QUITE necessary to have a slight tan, since my legs look like a “neon beacon in the night” SO I purchased a spray on ‘tan’.  FYI, this lotion, which shall not be named, is being returned for the following reasons: 1) after following all instructions carefully, I did indeed look like the carrot my daughter assured me I would look like! 2) After walking out to the swimming pool and having my 5^th graders ask why my feet were orange, I decided that the product was faulty.  I mean REALLY???  How many 5^th graders are looking at their teacher’s feet, unless there is something OBVIOUSLY WRONG!  3) After several hours in the pool, I came out looking as if I had a disease involving white blotches which still SHOULD still have been the lovely orange shade they were BEFORE I got into the pool, But NO, I looked like a moldy carrot.  I have now decided a ‘neon beacon in the night’ is MUCH better than a moldy carrot!  So, my advice ~ skip the spray on tan! SO NOT WORTH IT!

ZZ TOP had me rocking on the ROCKIT! : )  I  also loved the TWISTER show since “Twister” is one of my favorite movies!  CRAZY I KNOW!  I love the line “WE GOT COWS”!  It was a great reenactment of the “drive in movie” scene when a twister devastated the town of Wakita!  I also loved the Simpson simulated ride.  We rode that twice and I am sure I cracked a rib from the laughter!

Our incredible leader Cassi, planned the whole trip beautifully!  And one of the smartest moves she made was purchasing ‘meal deal’ tickets!  We lunched at ‘Louis Corleone’s’ Italian Restaurant… Pizza Pasta salad ~ YUM!  I loved the décor: the vintage pictures, the stained glass lamps!  FABULOUS!  Dinner was eaten at “Mel’s Diner’, with an ‘American Graffiti’ theme, onion rings, LOVE IT!  The meal deal was the way to go.  We could eat as much as we wanted and got free cups for as many drink refills as we wanted!  Tis the way to travel the parks!

I really had a wonderful day at Universal riding the rides, eating the food, laughing until I felt like I could laugh no more, but how was I to know that the BEST part of the day would be the friendships I made with the other mom’s and dad’s, the joy the students were experiencing and the thrill of personally experiencing those childlike moments again!  And I had NO IDEA THE BEST WAS YET TO COME…  Islands of Adventure, but I will let you come back and visit me tomorrow to hear about the INCREDIBLE World of Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, Comic World and more… SO FABULOUS, and even more lessons learned!

I would encourage you to think about a trip to Orland to visit both Universal and Island of Adventures…  good food ~ the price of a meal deal, rides~ a thrill a minute, sunshine and beautiful weather~ fabulous, new friends, the happiness of your students/ children, being a kid again~ PRICELESS.  

Hope to see you back for Islands of Adventure!

Jaws Ride

E.T. Ride

Shrek 4D show~ too cool!

Living, Loving, and Laughing until my sides split!

Patti ; )