Goodbye Homes, Hello Hotel! Today we packed up all of our stuff and went to The Rosen Hotel. The hotel is right across the street from where the convention is. All you have to do is walk across this bridge that goes over the highway to avoid traffic! Once we got settled in we ate at Sonics where you order in your car and people serve your food in roller skates. After that we went to an outlet mall. Another group went to a different mall with the same name so I didn't get to do a lot of shopping because I was the only girl. We ate dinner at Olive Garden and went to Wonder Works. Wonder Works looks like a building that is upside down. But inside there are cool hands on activities like an earthquake and hurricane simulator. They even had a ropes course above the arcade, so if you fall you'll be dangling above everyone playing games. We also played laser tag, at first I had the gun facing the wrong way and I was shooting myself. I ended up with a score of 175 points. I didn't realize we had different teams until the end so I was probably shooting everyone on my team. I even got to meet my Pen pal from Florida. Her name is Faith and she was so excited to meet me. She was jumping up and down and talking to her friends. I didn't get to talk to her much but I hope we will later. Tomorrow is the big day, Sweet 16! Ahhh! I have to wake up super early tomorrow to get the topic. Wish us luck!

We went to Universal Studios again today! Today was our last day of play before we start working hard. So we took advantage of this day to play extra hard so we work extra hard. What better way to have fun than to go to an amusement/ theme park. We went to the other part of Universal Studios which is more of an amusement park compared to The Islands. We rode rides and watched shows today. We went on The Minion Ride, The Mummy, Transformers, and Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket before we took a break. We also went on The Simpsons and ET. Lots of rides were simulators which are cool because you feel like your actually in the scene. We even watched shows like "Animal Actors Live" which had animals that were trained and in movies. We also saw the "Terminator" but I fell asleep until our seats dropped in the end. I was so scared. After we watched that we went to eat lunch and went to The Islands later. We rode on more rides at the Islands which included Ripsaw Waters. It got me soaking wet but I was wearing a poncho. That was probably one of my favorite rides out of the while park. You go on this big drop and go under a building and the. Come back up. You can even stand on the bridge and pay a quarter to shoot people with water coming by. Once we were all wet, we ate dinner at City Walk and called it a day. STN, here we come!

Today we went to Universal Studios! We went on a tour early before the park was actually opened. I learned the difference between a Theme Park and an Amusement Park. A theme park is based around themes and has a background story to it while an Amusement Park is a bunch of random rides. At Universal, themes change a lot, and you can easily tell by crossing over a bridge, listening to a different type of music, or seeing different types of architecture. We went on the Spider-Man ride which is like a simulator. First, we went on the ride with the lights on to see the screens and stuff. Then we actually went on the ride with the lights off. There is one part in the ride where it feels like we're being lifted up hundreds of feet but we're actually being lifted by a few inches. This effect is when the lights move which tricks you into thinking that you're moving. We also went on the Incredible Hulk Roller coaster which accelerates super fast! It was supposed to make us feel how the Hulk felt when he got mad. After that, we went on the Jurassic Park water ride which was kind of similar to the one at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. Mr.M all wanted us to go on the Harry Potter Ride because it's one of the best simulator rides ever! The Harry Potter ride is a simulator to make you seem like you were flying. I haven't read or seen the Harry Potter Movies but it was still really cool. We even got to try butter beer. It's hard to explain what it tastes like. It's tastes like a butterscotch cream soda. Due to the weather, our day at Universal was cut short. It was raining a lot so we had to go home and eat dinner so we don't get sick before the competition. Hopefully tomorrow won't be so gloomy and rainy on our last day at Universal Studios!

Today we went to Hollywood studios! We went on a tour to learn about imagineers and the importance of Science. Science has a lot to do with the attractions at Disney. Most of us think about the fun but there's much more to roller coasters than that. Science plays a big role in all of the attractions. We learned some vocabulary words which was like a review because we learned about energy in 6th grade. We went on rides that relate to energy like "The Tower of Terror" and "Rockin Rollercoaster. The Tower of Terror was awesome although I was really scared at first. The big drops were awesome! Rockin Rollercoaster was my first Rollercoaster with loops . It is a very quick Rollercoaster, you go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 2.3 seconds. At Hollywood studios, we also went in the Toy Story Ride. It was kind of like an arcade game where you have to shoot things and try to beat your partners high score. We left Hollywood studios and went to Epcot to be part of John Allen's proposal to his girlfriend. All of the Waianae kids and us lined up in front of the big Epcot ball to pretend like we were taking a picture and when she came we slowly separated and John's students held up a sign that said " Will you marry me?" It was written in Disney font which was really cute. She said yes! We went back to Epcot and split up into groups, our group wanted to see the Stunt show but they didn't have a how at the time so we saw a 3D mullet show. By that time, we were only looking forward to sitting in comfy seats. We ate dinner at Golden Corral and we were all exhausted.

Today we went to Epcot and Animal Kingdom! We woke up early this morning to go to an educational tour at Epcot. We got there before the park opened so there weren't that many people around for most of the tour. The tour was "Evolution of Technology" and how technology has transformed in the course of millions of years. We started off with an activity about the things you need to keep in mind while building something like government, technology, social, and more. What better way to create something yourself than to go to the Test Track. The Test Track is where you can design your own car and test it out in certain conditions. Your car is ranked and you can compare it to other cars. We then tried to figure out math problems in Roman numerals. It was really complicated and I'm not sure how people could do math back then without it being so hard. But now we have calculators which we take for granted a lot. We got to see how math is incorporated by flying to Mars! It's a simulated ride where you go to Mars. We also went on the ride in the Epcot Ball, we went back in the past and got to see a glimpse of what it might be like in the future! After the tour, we traveled around the world! There are all different kinds of restaurants based on a country. After Epcot, we went to Animal Kingdom where we saw a 4D show "Tough Life for Bugs" it was really cool to feel and smell what was going on (although some things weren't very pleasant). We rode on Kali Rapids and luckily I wasn't the person who got soaked. We also went on the Yetti Roller coaster ride which was awesome, I went on it twice! We walked around so much today that my feet are sore. We ate dinner at Wendy's and called it a day. Now for another early and long (but fun) day tomorrow!

Today was a very big day for us! We went to WKMG News Channel, Full Sail University, and the basketball game. This morning was freezing! It was about 48 degrees when we woke up! We went to WKMG local News Channel, they were the first News Channel in Central Florida so they have come a long way. We got to check out their News Van which has as much power as a house. In the van, they have satellites and and editing system. We got to take a tour around and it is really cool, they have archives of about 7 years! They are renovating their building soon so some rooms were empty like the editing room. After we took a tour we got to see their live show. It's very interesting how every second is important to make sure they can include commercials. Anchors also read the TelePrompTer at their own pace by using a pedal just like a car! That way, they can't blame the camera man of they mess up. Then we went to Full Sail University which is about 30 minutes away from WKMG. Full Sail university specializes in everything media. They are not like a traditional college, they travel at a fast speed. A person can get their bachelors degree in 2 years! After we went to Full Sail we went to the Basketball Game at Amway Center. It was Orlando Magic vs Washington Wizards. It was a pretty intense game towards the end, they went overtime. Unfortunately, Orlando Magic did not win it was 105 to 101. I had so much fun today!

Today was our first full day in Florida! We were able to sleep in till 9:00 today to get adjusted to the big time difference of six hours! We all ate breakfast at Aunty Lydna's house which is only a couple houses down from ours. We were supposed to go to a mall but we didn't have time so, we made it a study hall. I was finished with all my homework so I hung out in the game room. After that, we took a tour at Amway center. We are going to go there tomorrow to watch a Basketball game which will be my very first one! The Amway center is very new, they opened their doors on 10/10/10! It can even hold up to 18,500 people (or 20,000 if they add extra seats). They don't only have basketball games, they can also hold Hockey Games and Concerts. I saw on their banners that Miley Cyrus is going to have a concert in a week. We got to go down to the court and see where we will be sitting tomorrow. We went on all 7 floors, including a super lounge, booths, and much more! After that we went to the houses and ate Spaghetti for dinner. Unfortunately, we didn't go downtown Disney due to the time. It was a great day although we didn't do a whole lot of stuff but I'm sure we'll be loaded with a busy schedule for the rest trip.

  We are finally in Florida! After a long time of traveling we have made it to Orlando! On Tuesday evening we all met at the airport and flew straight to LAX. It was about a 5 hour flight which is kind of long. During the flight Halle and I watched Cathching Fire! It's such a good movie. Anyways, after we landed in LAX at 4 in the morning we had to wait for a few hours to transfer planes. During the wait we ate breakfast and played cards. We left LA at 7:30 and got to Florida at 3:30. I was knocked out during the flight to Florida. Once we got to Florida, we checked into our houses. We ate at Cracker Barrel which is an all you can eat buffet. After we ate we went to Super Target (not just Target, SUPER TARGET!) to get breakfast supplies. It has been a long time of traveling and I'm really tired now. Time to get some rest! Can't wait for tomorrow!

Cinematics is a video that I found on Vimeo. It is an interesting animation of a timeline of classic Films and Characters. I think that the transitions between characters and how they form into something else is really cool! I'm kind of curious of how thwy do animation like that. It seems like a really simple video with characters but there was probably lots of hard work that went in the process of making it. Check it out! Click Here.

   Florida is right around the corner and I'm more excited than ever! We are going to visit many different places and learn about many different things! I am most excited for competing at STN, visiting Full Sail University, and going to Universal Studios.

   The whole reason why we're going on the trip is to compete at STN (Student Television Network) which is a Media Convention. I have learned so much from the past Conventions and I can't wait to learn more in breakout sessions and during competition. I am in the Spot Feature Category which is one of the harder competitions. My goal is to meet the deadline and create a quality video. With so many Middle Schools, competition will be harder than ever so I want to do well! 

   I am also excited to go to Full Sail University which is a college that specializes in Media. My older brother goes to College so it will be cool to get a taste of what college is like for him. In the future I want to pursue Arts and Communications, so I'm already starting college tours early! It will be interesting what College life is actually like!

   On last year's STN Trip, we went to Universal Studios in Los Angeles and learned a lot about how movies are made at Universal while having tons of fun! I'm sure that Universal Studios in Orlando will be bigger and better. We all watch movies that are made by Universal so it's awesome to go behind the scenes and learn about how much hard work and effort goes into making movies and TV Shows. Not to mention that they also have rides!

   Our trip is less than a week away! I can't wait! We are going to have lots of fun and work really hard. We'll also make great memories that will last a lifetime. I'm excited for everything on the trip but I'm mostly excited for competing at STN, visiting Full Sail University, and going to Universal Studios.