We had a wonderful time at Disney. In total, we had 57 homeschoolers and family members attend Disney World for the 2006 trip. I cannot even begin to describe everything that we saw. I will say that we visited each of the parks, Sea World, Disney Quest, and Typhoon Lagoon. If you have never been, you should really make a decision to go. I would count every bit of it as educational time. We saw so many historical and scientific exhibits. We swam with sharks and stingrays, saw oranges, lemons, and mangos growing on trees, went through aquariums, and saw many cultural exhibits including Africa, Mexico, Asia, and eating at a German restaurant entitled "Oktoberfest" where they had a German buffet, German singers, musicians, and dance. The weather was absolutely gorgeous ranging from 75 to 85 the whole time we were there, and there was hardly any crowd at all. It was beautifully decorated for Christmas with Christmas shows and Christmas music throughout all of the parks. It was really a spectacular trip. I did not get to go to the three-hour Y.E.S. Class, but the parents and children that did go said that it was really great. Here are some great pictures taken by Esther from Roamschooling: http://www.roamschool.com/Disney/disday1.html
Here are some comments sent in:
Hey Mom.
I had a great time at Disney World. Magic Kingdom was fun but I think younger kids Dae's age and younger would enjoy it more than I. My favorite parts about Magic Kingdom would most likely be Space Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Haunted Mansion.
Epcot was really fun as well. The class that we did at the sea exhibit was really cool. I really enjoyed the Turtle Talk show. I know that Dae absolutely loved it. Spaceship Earth was a fun and educational ride. It took a long time though. Soarin was very realistic. It was like a big moving Imax theater. I do wish that I would have gotten to ride on Test Track. My favorite things in Epcot are Soarin and Spaceship Earth.
Disney-MGM Studios was probably my favorite park. It had a really cool roller coaster called Rockin Roller Coaster. They have two other rides that I really enjoyed. One is called Tower of Terror and the other is called Star Tours. There were street actors from old MGM movies all over the park. One last thing. The Indiana Jones stunt show was absolutely awesome. I really wish though that I could have seen another stunt show that is at MGM. I can't remember the name of it though.
Typhoon Lagoon was my second favorite park. It had many many water slides that I cannot remember the names of. The park also has a huge wave pool. The wave pool pops out a six foot wave every minute and a half. The park has a water roller coaster called Crush en Gusher. It was a pretty wild ride. My favorite part about the park was the Shark Lagoon. At this attraction you get to swim with sharks, rays, and tropical fish.
There were many many games at Disney Quest. Virtual reality games, trivia games, classic arcade games. You name it and Disney Quest has it. I really enjoyed the virtual reality pirate game. There were also many Star Wars games which you know that I enjoyed. Many racing games were there as well. They were all linked together so that everyone could race each other.
Animal Kingdom was an amazing park. Expedition Everest was a very fun roller coaster. The Kilimanjaro Safari was quite amazing. It made you feel like you were really in Africa. Kali River Rapids was an okay water ride. Its Tough to be a Bug theater was really funny and well thought up. My favorite part about the park would have to be Expedition Everest.
Sea World was very very amazing. I absolutely loved Sea World. There were all kinds of animal exhibits, some of them hands on. There were all kinds of animal shows as well. They even had a few good rides at the park, the Kraken being the best. Journey to Atlantis was a fun ride too. I got completely soaked on it. Dad even lost his hat on Journey to Atlantis. Wild Arctic was fun as well. The Shamu show was just spectacular. So was the dolphin show. My favorite parts about Sea World would have to be Kraken, Shamu, and the Dolphin Show.
Your son,
Dalton
Hi Debbi,
I thought that the program was wonderful. The instructors that worked with our group did an outstanding job with the class. We thought that it was a great way to learn and experience things that we normally could not. I hope that we get to do it again. I hope you and your family enjoyed it as much as we did,
Wayne & Denise Loyed
Deb,
I thought the Y.E.S. Program was very good and the kids learned a lot. We learned about how they train the dolphins to do the tricks and how hard it is for the dolphin. We got to go the top of the tanks to see the dolphins and some of the trainers which I personally thought was awesome. We also learned about how turtles can mistake a plastic bag as food and eat it which makes them full when actually they are not so it was very important to throw all trash away. Since obviously eating a plastic bag would make the turtle sick. They showed the kids how each thing in the ocean and in our world depended on each other and if one thing died it would slowly kill everything else over time and that it was very important that we take care of our world. We also learned that humans were not really in a sharks food chain, but it was mostly just mistaken identity when a shark attacked a human and we learned ways to avoid that happening to us. I thought the way the talked with the children and included them and interacted with them was really great. Everything they did with the kids was hands on which they all really responded well too, and I think helps to retain the information. We even learned that most sharks are fairly small, in fact some sharks are only about 2 inches long which I was really amazed by, and I think most of the kids were as well. The kids even got to put their hands into an aquarium with some of the fish and touch them, they were saltwater fish so most of the kids had not been up close and personal with some of these fish and they really liked doing this and seemed to really hate when they had to leave this part. They let the kids work together and put on a skit which Denise and I were supposed to choose a winner, but thankfully they never asked us to do that, for us it would have been a lose/lose situation. They were both great skits and the kids really worked together and enjoyed the time in my opinion. My kids are still talking about some of the things they learned there. There was just so much information and I was really sad when it was over, but of course they let us ride the clam shells as our finally and the kids really loved that!
Brianna really enjoyed Disney. Her absoultely favorite ride once we convinced her it was okay was Splash Mountain. Her favorite park is, are you ready, I know this will really suprise you, Magic Kingdom. She is really acting shy and I'm really having to drag info from her, but she had a blast. She really enjoyed Animal Kingdom as well, but she thought Epcot for the most part was a lot of walking and not a lot doing, she enjoyed some of the shows about the holidays we saw in the different countries, she absoultely loved the Princesses luncheon in Norway and that she got to see Cinderella, Snow White, Aurora, Jasmine and Ariel and got their autograph and picture. She really loves Soarin in Epcot and would do nothing else but it if given a chance. Of course, I forgot about Toon Town she really thought that was cool and we rode BarnStormer a couple of times and she thought that was one of the best rides also. We saw Minnie and Mickey's house which she thought was really cool. She rode the train in Magic Kingdom was a guest conductor for the ride which made her feel really special. She also was chosen to be the announcer for the Little Mermaid at MGM, but she was just too shy to talk, so they gave her a Magic Moments card and introduced her, but did not make her speak. We learned about so many different animals in Animal Kingdom, and have many pictures, but we have got to look up what they are because some we just can't remember now. We got to see bats eating and monkeys climbing across a cable which we watched for a long time, her favorite was watching the ducks that just roamed around and the baby ducklings that followed mama duck around. Also, after all last year not being able to get to Donald Duck we finally got him in the Animal Kingdom and she was overjoyed that day about that. She is ready to go again now that she has rested from the trip.
Thank you Deb for organizing this. We were really blessed and had a great time on this trip. We had so many learning moments, and the kids did not feel that it was learning because they had so much fun doing it. In essence the Y.E.S. program was well worth the time and the time spent learning. The kids enjoyed themselves and it was not anything like learning. It was in a fun hands-on environment, and the people who were leading the group were great with our kids and really knew how to draw them in and make them a part of the learning. They all really seemed to respond to them and enjoy the time.
Lisa McAnnally
My kids had a blast, loved the YES program! Would do it all again in a few years.
Teresa Walker
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Hey Deb,
We had the BEST time at Disney World!! I wasn't sure how the boys were going to do but they did so much better than I ever expected. Jackson enjoyed the Y.E.S. class and we all enjoyed the parks. It was the BEST vacation we have ever had! Thanks again for all of your planning and hard work. It was GREAT!!!
Julie Clement
