ANIMAL KINGDOM & HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

Safari at ANIMAL KINGDOM!

We saw rhinos and lions and gazelles...

The Lion King show was amazing!

ROCKIN' ROLLER COASTER (Tari, Kiana and Sayuri)

We started off with an early morning heading to Animal Kingdom. Our lack of energy was quickly changed when we met our tour guides for the day. We were split up into four different groups and started our journey. In our groups, we got the chance to ride the infamous Mt Everest in Asia. The suspense made it so much fun and unpredictable! After visiting Asia, we went to Africa on safari. All the animals were absolutely beautiful!

Next we got a “back stage pass” to go see all the behind the scenes work with our tour guides. It was so interesting to learn about how much work it takes to keep the animals healthy and comfortable; they are so spoiled! We also learned about many opportunities for jobs and internships they provide at Disney.

After a full morning at Animal Kingdom, many of us scarfed our lunch down on the ten-minute bus ride to the second park of the day. Next stop: Hollywood Studios!!! We made sure everyone got a chance to ride the “Tower of Terror” and “The Rockin’ Rollercoaster”, so we went there as a group right away. The memories will never be forgotten while we waited in line for all our rides during the day in the beating hot sun.

Some of us took on the challenge of the all-mighty TURKEYLEG!! Our good friend Walter even bought a shirt with a Turkeyleg on it. His shirt is encouraging others to try one in Epcot tomorrow. We can’t wait to go and get a taste of home from some of our own countries in Epcot. The adventure keeps coming!

Until tomorrow!

Tari, Tanja and Kiana (Group Journalists)

MAGIC KINGDOM!!!

Mickey and Minnie :)

Welcome to MAGIC KINGDOM!

Eng and Eve in the gallows

Heta and Val becoming mini Minnie's 

Splash Mountain

Mine (our BLOGGER) in front of Cinderella's Castle

The Cinderella Castle

Emilie with Walt and Mickey

The castle during the night show!!!

What a day!

“Close your eyes and make a wish...with a little faith, trust and pixie dust...your dreams will come true. Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo!” the lady said while she sprinkled some glitter on us. Guest what? It’s time to turn back into a kid!!!  

This morning we were so excited and were not afraid to feel like 9 years old kids because we were going to a place that is full of fun, imagination, joy, and dreams...Magic Kingdom- the fantasy land of Walt Disney World, Florida.

We rode the monorail to go into the Magic Kingdom that is located on an island. There are so many rides there that I think we need time (like a week) to ride all of them. The lines were so long and the wether was so hot (like an oven), but we did not mind that. We began with lots of pictures and a few rides on our own. Then we rode the Space Mountain, an indoor roller coaster in space theme, together. Some people thought that was the best ride! After that, we went to wherever that we want to go. We went to “It’s a small world”, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Walt Disney World Railroad, Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh.... We got to watch many wonderful shows like Mickey's PhilharMagic (3D movie), Dream-Along with Mickey, and Main Street Electrical Parade. And of course, we did not forget to take a group picture at Cinderella’s castle!

Let’s talk about food( yummy P: ) For lunch, we ate various foods in Mickey Mouse shapes and juice and soda with a Mickey straw(adorable). We got to try “Dole whip” that is a type of soft-serve ice-cream made of pineapple. Makena told us they only sell this one in Hawaii, Disneyland, and Disney World. 

At night after the parade, we waited to see “the Magic, The Memories and You!” that is a projection show that transforms Cinderella Castle into many forms and picture of guests who went today. It was awesome and people keep saying that it is incredible!!! Then we saw “Wishes Nighttime Spectacular” that is the big fireworks show with lights and a story and music. 

In the end of the day, we were exhausted. Anyway, this has been the BEST DAY EVER!!!

    

“Believe in your dream and wish it out loud”-- Mickey told me to tell everyone :)

Mine Phensri

Thailand

TRAVEL DAY TO ORLANDO, FLORIDA!

Makena, giving us the information for the day on the bus...

Choi is ready for the journey!

Movie time!

James- our wonderful driver- drove us 9 hours today!

Amanda hanging out on the bus

We're ready to meet (the real) Mickey!

Hello!

Today we woke up ready to hit the road…destination: ORLANDO with the legendary Disney World! Although we had to say goodbye to the beach, we were excited to reach the land where all our dreams will come true. The bus ride consisted of a lot of talking, laughing, music, movie watching, and most of all, sleeping! 

We couldn’t believe this was our last travel day together. The time is flying by so fast! None the less, we are making more and more memories until the moment we part. We don’t need a lot to have a good time. With this fun group, the smallest moments have been made to last. We won’t forget all the laughs the girls have shared waiting in line for the bathroom. After all, we have almost 80% girls in our group. 

No matter what time we got back from our busy and tiring day, we always asked what time the pool closed. There is nothing like spending quality time at the pool with great friends. Amusing habits have developed, such as: eating bagels for breakfast and lunch just to save money to spend on souvenirs. The American fast food eating schedule hasn’t totally taken us over, yet.

It’s sad to think our journey will be ending in just a few days, but we are looking forward to going out of the trip with a bang. Disney World…we are ready for your magic to enchant us!

Kiana, Tanja, Tari, Emilie

MYRTLE BEACH, SOUTH CAROLINA!

Welcome....

...to MYRTLE BEACH!

Broadway on the Beach

Dinner at Planet Holywood

Tanja, Jonas, Kiana, Titus & Tari enjoying music at dinner

We're going clubbing!

“Lets go to the beach, beach...” this song was stuck in our heads from breakfast till dinner. After eating our first Donuts since the trip started, we headed to the paradise every American is dreaming of – Myrtle Beach!

The Sun welcomed us with an awesome temperature so we were able to enjoy the ocean early in the morning. The activities ranged from running into the water, taking jumping pictures, playing ball, and were simply tanning in the sand. The waves of the Atlantic Ocean showed us their strength and power in the shallow water, and eventually washed us up to shore. We enjoyed playing in the waves!

For Lunch, we had the freedom to eat at any of the places nearby along the beach. The food ranged from mussels to sandwiches with fries and between the eating we headed to the little shops along the way to get souvenirs. A special attraction was the ‘Gay Dolphin’- 3 stories full of little figures of, guess what, dolphins and other small presents.

We spent the end of the afternoon at the beach, tanning and swimming. Then we got back to the hotel after the usual group picture on the beach. It was time to get ready for dinner and… to count our sunburns! Surprisingly, not too many…

We went to an outdoor shopping place called Broadway on the Beach to shop around and then went to Planet Hollywood for dinner, this restaurant where you can eat looking at costumes and photos from famous movies. It was pretty awesome and a lot of fun. They played good music, too. Some people really appreciated the huge cookie we had for dessert.

After dinner, some of us went clubbing at Karma, a club for teenagers not far from the beach, while some others were rather having a pool party at the hotel or playing cards games!

Overall, it was a lot of fun today and we wish we could stay longer, but tomorrow we are going to Floridaaaa!

Tari (Germany) and Emilie (Belgium)

WELCOME TO WASHINGTON DC!

Everybody loved how beautiful the day was!

Vera (Germany)

Mine (Thailand) posing at the Washington Monument

Makena tried to sneak past the security guard to take a picture, but she failed...

The US Capitol building

Lincoln Memorial & location of famous 'I Have a Dream' Speech!

The Thai girls at the FDR Memorial...

Dinner and shopping in the neighborhood Georgetown

Finally!! we were at the capital city of the united states where the capitol is located,Washington D.C.

We left the hotel 3 minutes earlier than the appointed time! Yeah!!

First we got to take a ton of pictures at the Washington Monument and we went to the White House.

There was the funniest moment of the day when Mekana tried to go on the street to take a group picture of us but the security guard wouldn't let her to go on the street so she had to go across the street to take a picture of us. However she still snuck out and took a group picture of us on the street without any notice from the security guard!  But she still couldn't get lose enough to avoid the fence. 

Then we walked to the National Mall of museums, called the Smithsonian, ex: National Art Gallery and NAtional Air & Space Museum. Here we could choose where to go and learn some more about American ad world history. We went to the congress (Capitol building) and the Library of Congress too. We got to learn many things from a guide, Kara- she was wonderful. After this we started our way to the Lincoln Monument, it was awesome !! This was right next to the Vietnam War Memorial. It was so depressing. We saw our own reflection on a black granite wall of all the names of the dead and missing people from the war. We also stopped at the FDR Memorial, which is really pretty because there are many fountains and interesting statues, and there is a nice view of the Washington Monument.

Then it was time for shopping again!! Most of us went to H&M- they had a sale!! There was a lot of cheap stuff. We bought as much as we could (sorry mom and dad!). We were so excited. Later we went to Old Glory- a yummy barbeque restaurant, we loved it <3

It was a beautiful and sunny day and we loved to see the capitol city!

JUNE 14TH:

It's time to go to the beach!!!! Yay. Everybody came down to the lobby to have breakfast then leaving to Washington DC at 9 in the morning. We were so excited! Makena was talking in front of the bus about what we're gonna do today and telling us about funny story in the Hawaii trip last year. She always makes us laugh! We love her so much. We love Kristy and James too! :D We watched Back To The Future but some of us were sleeping. Then we stopped at a truck stop to buy some snacks and went to the restroom. And we stopped again to have lunch in Virginia. Some of us had Wendy's but some had Subway. Then we watched another movie called Juno while we were driving to North Corolina and South Corolina. And finally, we arrived at Myrtle Beach! It took around 8 hours to get here. After the long drive, we hung out in the hotel for a while then we went to Golden Corral for buffet dinner. It was so good! We love it! We also had swimming pool party at night! it was so much fun!

Chaya - Thailand

Tamtam - Thailand

Camilla - Chile

Thoughts From The Staff...

The Thai girls walking with Kristy in NYC

James (our motor coach operator) & Makena

Kristy in Times Square...

Makena & the Thai girls on the ferry to Liberty Island

Hello and welcome back to our East Coast Blog! Here is an update from the Belo Staff:

This trip is going by so quickly... We were meeting everyone six days ago and now we are all like a big family. The group is amazing- always laughing, singing, and enjoying every second of the East Coast together. We have been really lucky to have great weather all the days so far, except a little rain in Philadelphia yesterday. Today, Washington DC had the most beautiful summer day we've ever heard of! We also have a great bus driver- James- who likes to party with us in the bus, and can get around any city like he's driving a car. Needless to say, the trip is going very smoothly...We are loving the blog and the energy the students put into writing and sharing pictures. After only a week of the trip, we have had over 1100 page views from all of our countries! (Thank you for reading!)

Keep checking in for more... We still have 100's of miles, 7 days, 4 states, 2 cities and countless memories to experience before the end of our East Adventure!

See you soon...

Makena & Kristy (Belo Staff)

PHILADELPHIA! City of Brotherly Love!

Tam Tam posing with one of our Founding Fathers 

at the National Constitution Center

Welcome to PHILLY!

The oldest continually inhabited street in the US (And our tour guide, Jenn!)

We loved Elfreth's Ally because it was so cute! 

The smallest house on the street was only 3m (9ft) wide!

Today we had the best experience ever- waking up one hour later! (Leaving at 9 a.m.)

On our way to Philadelphia we watched the movie “World Trade Center” and it was the perfect way to say goodbye to New York City. And after two hours in the bus we finally got to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Although there’s a show called “It’s always sunny in Philadelphia" we found out that it is not always sunny in Philadelphia. We spent almost 2 hours getting some lunch and shopping for souvenirs. A lot of people took the chance to experience the “famous Philly Cheese Steak.” It was a nice way to relax and get some rest.

After this we went to the National Constitution Center, it was an amazing way to learn more about American History, especially for those who weren’t able to during the year.

At the end of this, we met our Tour guide, Jen, who had a booming voice- perfect skill for a tour guide. With her we made a tour for two hours. We visited the Liberty Bell, Benjamin Franklin’s house, his grave, and some of the oldest buildings in the US. It was cool and rainy so we had to finish our tour in the bus, but we still had the chance to run (walk) the Rocky steps...

At dinnertime we went over to an Italian restaurant, where we ate a four course, traditional Italian meal- gelato included. It was funny because we thought we were just getting the first two courses and we were still hungry, but then another plate came! 

This was the end of our Philadelphia visit, and from here we took the road once more- this time to Washington D.C. When we got to our fancy hotel, dropped our stuff in our rooms, and then most of us hung out in the lobby until bedtime, playing cards, jenga & pool.

Today was tiring, but we learned a lot and enjoyed our time together! :)

Camila & Valentina (Chile)

Valeria (Mexico)

Heta (Finland)

WE LOVE NY!!! (Empire State Building & Brooklyn Bridge)

North Manhattan from 86 floors up!!!

WELCOME TO THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING!

The Southern part of Manhattan...

We're on Wall Street!

We passed by the World Trade Center Project...Done in 2014. 

Reunion party?

Our BLOGGERS walking the Brooklyn Bridge!

The walk was fun and the view of New York City was amazing!

M & M World in Times Square (Julian, Emilie & Tari)

Hard Rock Cafe Times Square!

We <3 NY! It will be hard to say goodbye...

We started off the day with an exhilarating bus ride in 2 hours of New York traffic. Don’t worry, though, our amazing bus driver kept us highly entertained. James is simply the best.

First stop of the day, we discovered our inner King Kong and climbed the heights of the Empire State Building! We got a beautiful view of New York and lots of pictures. The best part was facing the angry tourists as we attempted a group photo in the small space on the observatory deck.

After a quick lunch break in South Side Sea Port, we visited the financial district with our tour guide. Juan has a perfect combination of a Puerto Rican accent, Bruno Mars smile, art history knowledge (including fun facts), and a hint of “funny”. We learned about the Stock Market and the building where George Washington was inaugurated. Then, we walked by the soon-to-be World Trade Center. It was interesting to learn about the Church of St. Paul that was completely untouched during 9/11 even though it was so close to the towers.

Next, we prepared ourselves for a hardcore workout with tennis shoes and lots of water; we were ready to take on the Brooklyn Bridge!! We got in a little trouble with the bikers when we were on their path, searching for the perfect photo opportunity. The view was absolutely breathtaking!

The moment everyone was waiting for… free time in Times Square! Most of us got a chance to experience the wonders of M&M world! The overwhelming smells and colors added to the unique qualities of the stores in New York City. If you were lucky, you got a few seconds of fame on the big screen in the middle of Times Square…SO COOL!!

At last, we ate dinner at the infamous Hard Rock Café.

With sore feet, full stomachs, millions of pictures, and a tear in our eye; we all waved our last farewell to the beautiful night skyline of NYC.

Blog written by: the fabulous four- Kiana (USA), Tanja & Tari (Germany), and Emilie (Belgium)