Night of Joy and Rock the Universe are Christian Concert events put on every year at Orlando theme parks. Night of Joy is put on at Disney’s Magic Kingdom Theme Park. Rock the Universe is put on at Universal Studios Escape. They are both put on the same weeked so it makes it hard to be at both sometimes. There are artists like the Newsboys, Jars of Clay, Casting Crowns and many others that come out to these events. As a youth group we have gone to just Rock the Universe but this time we were going to go to both of them.
Friday September 8, 2000 Night of Joy
Once again it was a friday afternoon. I was looking forward to getting out of school because unlike other Fridays this one was going to be the start of a fun but tiring weekend. The youth of Venice/Nokomis United Methodist Church were meeting after school to head to Orlando, Florida and Night of Joy. I was also excited because Daddy was coming with me on this trip. On the way we were going to stop at Florida Southern Collage to pick up Holly Deegan and Laura Adams who were going with us.
By the time we got there it was almost dark. We were staying at one of the Disney Resort Hotels called All Star Music. Once we checked in and put our things in our rooms it was off to Disney’s Magic Kingdom and Night of Joy. This was going to be a night of concerts and rides and all around fun. When you go to disney its like becoming a little child all over again. There were different bands and artists performing throughout the park. Some of the bands there were the Newsboys, Jacki V., Plumb, Raze, CeCe Wians and Out of Edan. We went on many different types of rides. Some of the rides we went on were Its a Small World, Peter Pan Flight, Mad Tea Party, and the Many Adventures of Whinnie the Pooh. Then dad and I walked down Main Street and went into a candy store for some candy.
The event ended at 1:00 am in the morning. Before heading back to the hotel we took pictures with some of the Disney Characters.
Saturday September 9, 2000 Rock the Universe
My dad and got to stay in the same room together. This is usually against the rules of the youth group but I guess him being my dad was an exception to that rule. You see the rule is that boys and girls can’t sleep in the same rooms together. He had woken up before I did and went to get a cup of coffee and when he came back he woke me up.
After we got up and got dressed we went to the main building to get something to drink. Then we walked back to the room and called mom on the cell phone. You see Dad was alowed to bring his cell phone because he was a leader but the students were not allowed to have cell phones with them because our youth director Robin Deegan did not want us to lose them and she was not going to be responsible for them. Anyways after calling mom we went to get breakfast.
Once the others were up we went to Blizzard Beach. Bizzard Beach is one of Disney’s Water Parks. The rides are designed to come out of the side of a mountain. We got chased out early because it started to rain so we went back to the hotel.
That night we went to Universal Studios. The event there was called Rock the Universe. While we were there we got dinner. Dad and I had pizza for dinner. The slices of pizza were huge. They were like two normal slices put together. Anyways, we watched a few of the concerts and went on rides. Some of the rides we went on that night were Woody Woodpecker roller coaster, E.T., King Kong, and Back to the Future. After the event was over at 1:00 am again we went back to the hotel.
Sunday September 10, 2000 Heading Home
The final day of our weekend arrived and while I was excited to head home I always enjoy myself and wish the weekend didn’t have to end so soon. After breakfast it was time to head home. So once we packed our things and after loading up and taking a few pictures outside of the Western Boot in our section where we were staying we headed for home. I always enjoy these trips and can’t wait until next year.