Orlando: The fun comes to a close

On Friday, the 53 Miss America contestants were up early and we were all on the bus by 8am- we were off to Disney World!

I was really excited- I'd been do Disney Lands in California and France before, but never Disney World.
We had an amazing time- meeting Mickey, Minnie, Cinderella, and Belle (my favorite princess) was so cool!

The first time I met Mickey, I was 7. 13 years later it was just as exciting! 

A few of us were pulled to the side to film interview that Disney and ABC will use in the lead up to the pageant in January. It was fun to be powdered and quizzed on our personal Disney experiences.

Miss Kansas is interviewed by the crew.

After our interviews and pictures in front of Cinderella's castle, we were split up into groups in alphabetical order and we got to head out to the rides!

With Katie, Miss Virginia, on the Buzz Lightyear ride!

Katie is ready to take down some aliens.

I might be ready.

Miss Texas, Miss South Dakota, and Miss Washington

My score is on the left. Katie's score is on the right. We know who has better aim.

Miss Virginia, Miss Vrigin Islands, and Me on Space Mountain!

That afternoon we returned to the bus, tired from all our fun!

Sleepy.

But our day's work wasn't done yet! We had about an hour to tidy ourselves up before the 53 of us were off once again! We met briefly with our teens, and then were bused to the Siegle Estate. David Siegel, is the owner of Westgate Resorts, has hosted a party and fundraiser for Miss America for the past 3 years. We were so thrilled that he and his wife welcomed us into their beautiful home for the evening!

On Saturday, we attended the final night of competition! Before the show, all of the Miss America contestants participated in an autograph signing outside of the theatre.

The show was absolutely fantastic- Justin Guarini of American Idol and Miss America 2010 Caressa Cameron co-hosted, and they did a wonderful job. 

I just want to take a moment at the end of this post (thanks for sticking with it!) to fully recognize how incredibly proud I am of Vermont's Outstanding Teen, Erin Connor. As Miss Vermont, I was proud to show her off to my fellow contestants, saying "that's my girl!" and cheering loudly whenever she was on stage. As a former VT OT, I was so proud of the way in which she represented herself and our state on stage- she was eloquent, graceful, charming, and demonstrated a beautiful and unique talent.

Most of all though, I want to recognize Erin for the outstanding character that she displayed all week in Orlando. She made friends with girls across the country, behaved in a way that was beyond reproach, and made sure that her fellow contestants were being supported on stage and off. I have such admiration and respect for my 'little sister' (even though she's 5 inches taller than me!) titleholder, and I feel so incredibly blessed to share this year with her. Erin, you rock!!!