Drill Nationals- Florida

 

Mom was able to join Aysia for her last Nationals competition before graduating. She joined Shauna, Ashley, Janie, Melanie, Elena and Lexi who were all there to cheer their daughters on as well. It was definitely a trip and not a vacation but worth every penny and sore muscle from walking and laughing. The moms got in late Thursday night where we stayed in the Margaritavillle resort where all the girls were staying as well. 

DAY 1

We were all up bright and early to take our shuttle bus to the magic Kingdom. We bought fast passes to get on as many rides as possible. Space Mountain and Tron were on the top of our list. After a few rides we headed over to Hollywood Studios for Twighlight Zone and Rockin' Roller Coaster. We typically had over half of the girls with us. Those that wanted to move through the parks quickly and ride a majority of the rides were in our group. We headed back to magic kingdom to ride a few more rides and watch the fireworks. We definitely got our steps in each day.

DAY 2-3

Days 2&3 were the girls busy dance days. The first day consisted of preliminaries to determine placement for the finals in each dance. The girls did an incredible dance in all of the dances earning a spot in the finals for all 3: dance, hip hop and military. There was a lot of waiting around so the girls made use of their time and enjoyed getting some color in the sunny Florida Rays. The next day was Finals. They finished well in all 3 but took a top 5 placement in dance, beating out several of the Utah teams who had beat us at prior competitions. It was emotional for the Seniors as this would be the last performance at a dance competition together. Many hugs and tears, but the ending was perfect. Making it to State as well as all the finals at nationals was the cherry on top

DAY 4

It would be another day of running around the parks, but we were ready! We started at Animal Kingdom where we were able to ride Everest twice as well as Avatar. Avatar seemed to be everyone's favorite, but with the 90-minute line, we knew we only had time to ride it once. It was time for lunch and then a park-hop to Epcot where Mel got stopped by security which happened consistently every time she entered a park. We were smart and got a picture this time. We raced to ride Soarin' and Ratatouille where we were able to grab a crepe to eat while in line. It was off to the racetracks before heading back for bed.

DAY 5

Typically the Drill trip included only Disney parks, but this year the coaches agreed to let the girls go to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventures for a day. We were able to race through a majority of the rides early on and head over to Hogwarts and Hagrids for the best rides. We had to get our butterbeer and all the fun pics around Hogwarts. While in line, Shauna decided to help kill time and started a "Drill-Down" between the girls. A military guy in the crowd even joined in knowing exactly how to turn and follow commands. We definitely created entertainment for the remainder of the people in line. It made the time go much faster since we were waiting in a 75 minute line. We couldn't have asked for better weather. The entire trip was a great way to end Aysia's competition era!