Holyland Trip News
Junior Missionary sponsored trip to
Daytona Beach, Florida and The Holy Land Experience, Orlando, Florida
Thursday, 4th – Saturday, 6th, 2016
Greetings!!!
The time is almost here for our trip to Daytona Beach and the Holy Land Experience! We are so
excited and ready for this trip and hope that you are too! In this letter, we hope to provide some
general information and timelines to help you adequately prepare for the trip. If you have any
questions, please do not hesitate to call or text us at any time.
Departure
We will be leaving the Concord Baptist Church Front Parking Lot at 2:00 AM on Thursday,
August 4, 2016. (Yes, that is 2 AM Thursday morning or Wednesday night if you prefer to think of it
that way.) Please arrive no later than 1:30 AM to allow time for us to load everyone’s luggage and
prepare for the road so that we can leave on time.
We have total of 67 people going on this trip. There is one charter bus, one rental van, and some
families going by private vehicles. The charter service and travel arrangements are by ASAP
Tours/Diamond Diva Tours or some of you may better know them as George and Sabrina Halmon.
Travel on the charter bus has been reserved in the order in which you paid your deposit for the trip.
Everyone who signed up after the bus was full was notified at the time of your deposit. For you, we
have secured one of the newer Ford Transit Vans with Enterprise Car Rental and Jackie Bridges will
be your driver.
The same fun activities, games, and prizes will be available on both modes of transportation. We
have planned stops about every 2-3 hours or more frequently to allow everyone a chance to stretch
their legs, use restrooms, and pick up anything you want or need. On the way down, in addition to
rest stops, we will take breaks for an early breakfast at a Shoneys and Lunch at the Potters House
Soul Food Bistro in Jacksonville, Florida (http://www.thesoulfoodbistro.com). Other than the Chick-fila
lunch being provided on Friday at the Holy Land Experience, every individual will be responsible for
their own meals.
Luggage
When considering what to pack… August is normally very warm, with highs in the 90s and lows in the
70s, during this time of the year. Parents, please make sure our children pack appropriate clothing
and bathing suits. Remember, these types of trips show and teach our young people how we, as
Christians, can represent Christ and our church and still have lots of fun. You are welcome to bring a
small cooler that will be stored under the charter bus, but please do not bring extremely large coolers
as this will present a problem for storing luggage. All of the seats on the bus are taken, so space is
limited to the seat in front of you and the overhead compartment. The bus can be very cold at night,
so you may want to bring a light blanket or jacket for the trip.
Hilton Daytona Beach Resort
We should arrive at the Hilton Daytona Beach Resort (http://www.daytonahilton.com) in the middle of
the afternoon on Thursday. Smoking is NOT permitted inside this hotel. To keep things orderly, room
keys will be distributed on the bus/van and everyone will be free for the rest of the afternoon and
evening to explore the hotel and the many close surrounding beach activities. Upon arrival in your
room, you will be asked to do a quick inventory of the small appliances in the room (iron, hair dryer,
coffee pot). If you are missing anything, please let us know immediately so we can make the hotel
aware of it so you will not be held responsible for any missing items. If you would like to plan ahead,
there is a lot of information on the hotel website and the Visitor Bureau website at
http://www.daytonabeach.com. For the really adventurous, there is public transportation available and
information can be found at http://www.votran.org.
The Holy Land Experience
A final detailed agenda for the weekend will be provided at the beginning of the trip. At a high level,
everyone is asked to eat breakfast on your own early Friday morning. Please wear your t-shirt if you
purchased one. We will leave Daytona Beach at 7:30 AM in order to have adequate time for Orlando
morning traffic to arrive at the Holy Land Experience by 9:30 AM where our group leader will greet us.
Everyone will receive their entrance ticket and a refillable souvenir cup while we are still on the
bus/van/cars. Please hold on to your cup, as you will be able to get unlimited free drink refills all day
at the designated retail outlets inside the park. As mentioned previously, a Chick-fil-a lunch will be
provided at no additional cost around 1pm. There are other options available in the park for snacks
and meals, but would be at your own expense. All are encouraged to attend “The Passion of the
Christ Live Drama” at 4pm. We will exit the park and load up to leave after the conclusion of the play.
You may want to go to the website to plan ahead to identify what exhibits you would really like to see
as some say that you can not see everything in one day. http://www.holylandexperience.com
Special Note: Only small purses/bags are allowed into the park and are subject to search. The
following items are not permitted inside The Holy Land Experience: backpacks, luggage, coolers,
outside food or drinks, pets, children’s wagons, bathing suits, costumes, alcohol, illegal drugs,
weapons, or other items that may be deemed inappropriate. There is also no smoking or vaping
inside the park. Wheelchairs and motorized scooters are not available in the park. If you think
you may need either a wheelchair or scooter, please let us know ASAP so we can help you make
arrangements in advance to rent one from a local medical supply store that can be delivered/picked
up directly to/from the hotel.
Friday evening, everyone will be on your own.
Departure
Saturday morning we will depart the hotel by 9:00 AM. We will make a stop at the beautiful Daytona
Beach Flea & Farmers Market (http://daytonafleamarket.com) for some final budget souvenir
shopping before heading home. Similar to the travel to Florida, we will make frequent stops on the
way home. We should arrive back at Concord late Saturday evening by 10pm.
All of this information and links will also be uploaded to the church website under Youth News. We will
keep it updated with any new or late breaking news. If you have any questions at all, please contact
Jackie Bridges (864-425-2033) or Kathy Littlejohn (864-491-7669).
