My One Direction Experience.
It all started about two weeks before the concert on June 29th, in Tampa. My friends, Gio, Linh, and I made a secret group on Facebook about how we were going to find the boys, etc. Like their hotels, any clues or tips we got from other Directioners, etc.
On Friday the 22nd, exactly one week before the concert, Gio got an email about our Radio station doing a meet and greet contest at the concert. All you had to do was show your One Direction and 93.3flz pride. We spoke to our parents about it, and that same day went last minute shopping for supplies. We bought transfer paper, neon shirts, stickers, puffy paint, two purple and green posters, a three-panel science board, and just about anything else we could use. Gio ended up sleeping over and we were able to finish about half of our purple poster.
As time went by, I started designing our logos and arranging whatever we needed to print out. I printed out all that I could at my Grandma's, because her printer was low on ink.
On Sunday, my grandma told me to tell my friend Thalia to stay the week so she could take us to Bible school at church in the morning, I go to please my Grandma, so I said why not. I finished cutting out over 100+ pieces of papers that would go on the science, aka main board. They were 40 reasons why we love 1D, and 40 on why we love FLZ. And of course, an extra stuff.
I still didn't find the right arrangement for the board until Monday. So I arranged it all, and glued as much as I could after gluing on the title and tracing it with puffy paint.
On Tuesday after Bible school, Thalia helped me glue it all on. Eventually, we had the main poster down. We started finishing the purple one as well. Thalia didn't have a ticket to the concert, but she was helping me out soo much, considering Gio and Linh couldn't come over and I was left alone. I decided to get Thalia to join us in the contest, even though she didn't have a ticket and there were only two passes. Either way, it was only fair to include her, she really did help a lot. I still hadn't printed the rest of the designs, since I had no color printers, all the ones I knew of were out of ink or only black and white. Plus, we still needed Thalia's shirt at the time. My mom drove us to Michael's craft store, which was about 15 minutes away. It closes at 9pm, and it was about 8:40 when we left. We got there at literally 9 on the dot, and the lady would not allow us in. I told her I knew exactly what I needed and where it was. Still nothing. It was raining, it was one item, and it was just one damned minute after closing. That lady was freaking heartless. After that, my mom took us to her job to use her bosses color printer, and we were able to print some of the designs. But then the printer stopped working. And my shoe broke. And it was still raining. We decided to try FedEx, but they didn't do transfer painting. Talk about the best of luck, huh?
6.27.12: Surprise Visit to the Airport
On Wednesday the 27th, we skipped beginning of Bible school to try printing the designs at my mom's job again, luckily it worked. Then we left for the rest of Bible school, and eventually got Thalia's neon shirt from Michael's. The second we got home, we got straight to work and then decided to take a quick break after about 5 hours. I checked Tumblr for updates (1ddaily-updates) and found out the boys had a show in Charlotte, NC and were going to be leaving for Tampa right after their show. I immediately looked up flights from Charlotte's airport, to Tampa's. I found only one last flight, at 11:55pm. There were none for early morning, like 3am, since TIA doesn't have International flights. So we just decided to try our luck with the 11:55pm one. My friend Thalia had been staying over since Tuesday, because were were working on things for a contest to meet 1D. Once we read that they might be flying in that night, we asked my mom and she agreed to take us. It was about 9pm, when we started getting ready. We needed to wash our hairs, find a cute outfit, make-up, all that. I didn't finish till about 11:10pm. We then left my house to go pick up my friend, Jose. He's not even a fan of the boys, though he likes Zayn's name - he just wanted to get out of the house. We arrived at the airport, and made our way to the gates where they would arrive. I even brought a duffle bag, to make it look like we were traveling (Minors aren't allowed alone at the airport at late hours). Security totally fell for it, and even led us to the gates themselves. My mom soon arrived after parking, and sat with us to wait for the boys. I was pretty nervous the whole time, with about 50 different scenarios and possible outcomes racing in my mind. Like what would happen if they did arrive, or if they didn't. My thoughts were interrupted by my mom saying "You girls are the only two crazies here." The legit second she said that, about 11 more girls walked in and sat in the row behind us. We looked over at them and immediately asked each other the same thing, "Are you here for One Direction?" Let's just say we started fan-girling after that. Eventually, the girls wanted to start a prayer circle and asked us to join. We joined them, and I thought it was so weird, yet hilariously perfect. The girls and one of their parents convinced Jose to sit in the middle, and it was even more priceless. We had the strangest of looks from arriving passengers, but whatever. We all went around and said our names, ages, and favorite boys. We spent the remaining 15 minutes of the boys supposed flight to arrive, talking about them and what they could be doing on their day off. Sooner or later, the flight for Charlotte had arrived. We got up and went over to where passengers got off the train. Every time a train would drop off passengers, we would ask them if the boys were on their flight and "welcome them to Tampa". They all answered no, or ignored us. Eventually, this one guy asked us, "You guys here for One Direction?!" We all answered "Yes!" He replied with "Well, you're not gunna see them!" We all started boo-ing and saying that was mean, etc. He then said "But hey, you get to see MJ from the Morning Show!" We asked him if he was MJ, and he was! MJ used to be the morning radio host for 93.3flz. He had retired a couple of months ago. We got some pics with him, and then asked if he knew anything about the boys (he was on the Charlotte flight). He said they most likely either took a private plane, or their tour bus. We thanked him, then waited a while longer. Eventually, we started calling hotels and lying to them to see if we can get information out of them. None of them seemed to be rooming the boys, or know anything about it. Eventually, we decided to go home at about 1:16am. When I arrived home after dropping off Jose, Thalia and I got right back to work finishing our posters, shirts, and shorts for 93.3flz' meet-and-greet contest. I decided to call the Hard Rock Hotel, considering they didn't answer my call at the airport. A lady answered and I made up a story to her, to see if she can give me any hints. Let's just say, she gave more than hints. She said, "Yes, we do have a band staying here, but their fans aren't allowed inside the hotel, nor scream. Plus, they're a boy band, not a rock band so there isn't much noise to worry about." I replied with, "So there won't be any disturbances?" She answered with "No, no disturbances at all, if they stay here." I feel as if she gave away the fact that boys were staying there, then tried covering up with that 'if'. Either way, I was freaking the hell out and so was Thalia.
On Thursday, Thalia and I had finished everything for the contest by 7am. When we got home from the airport, we didn't stop working till we were fully done. That meaning we only got to sleep until bout 11am - 5 hours. We skipped Bible school again because it was Thursday the 28th - 1D's day off, aka Hard Rock hunting time. At first, my dad refused to take me and I was legit in tears, I was so aggravated because I had this planned for 2 weeks now, and my mom dropped a surprise trip to Cuba for her job on the days of the search and concert. My dad doesn't understand my love for my bands, at all. That wasn't going to stop me though, I called my cousin and Thalia's mom and eventually got to the Hard Rock. My cousin Mallory, Thalia, and myself along with Gio and Linh who eventually arrived too, waited for hours just roaming around the hotel. We walked the whole perimeter, but found no tour buses or anything. The only thing that kept us going was that call with the lady from front desk, and the fact that my mom is friends with one of the dealers in the casino, and he confirmed he knew something about a band staying there. We met Ashley, who was also looking for 1D. Along with Ashley, several other girls too, after Gio and Linh left at around 9-10pm, though. Thalia and I didn't leave till 1am. Ashley had left to check out the Marriott, and she had some pretty good luck with hints. She went up to the 27th floor, and saw a man walk out of a room with huge silver plates from food and Starburst wrappers. All Thalia and I saw was that around 11pm, all this security flooded into the lobby. There were about over 20-30, and they were talking about us pointing at us while they were all huddled. Right after that, about 15 other fans flooded into the hotel lobby. We thought for sure the boys were arriving. But then out of no where, it all died down. They seemed to have literally disappeared. Nothing else happened. I was positive at least Harry was staying at the Hard Rock, because he was at the Coldplay concert, and the hotel near that venue was all filled up and there was no sign of any of the boys staying there (I called and lied again). Also, there were rumors that Harry was staying here. My friend Mason even told me that, because of his friends met Harry while he was golfing. Either way, nothing happened. We left to go home, and I definitely cried on the way back. It was so disappointing. Although, there was a British band staying at the Hard Rock. Their name was Wolf Gang, and they definitely gave us a couple of glances, we even asked if they were with 1D, considering they were British and looked like they were in a band, sadly they weren't, and were their own band. I came to the conclusion that they were the boy band the front desk lady was talking about, but they didn't sound nor look like a boy band. Once I got home, I really wasn't giving up on finding the boys hotel. I was determined, these boys have kept me happy the past 9 months of my life, and I needed to meet them. I searched any tags I could think of relating to them at a hotel, and eventually found some pictures of girls with Olly Murs at some hotel (They had just met him). There were rumors that the boys were either at the Hard Rock, Marriott, or Westin. Ashley was at the Marriott, and I had Hard Rock. No one we knew had Westin. I hopped onto my laptop quickly, and googled the Westin on Courtney Causeway. I looked at the exterior of the hotel in the picture, and noticed there were wooden walls, glass doors and walls, and green paintings. I then googled the lobby of the Westin, and guess what I found: wooden walls, glass doors and walls, and green paintings. Olly was staying at the Westin. I figured the boys would stay there as well, right? After finding that out, Thalia and I crashed around 5am and the woke up at 9am for Bible school.
6.29.12: Concert in Tampa
Thalia and I went to Bible school, and there I found out that my friend Erika's mom, is best friends with the manager at the Westin on Courtney Causeway. I asked her to find out for me because I was convinced that was the hotel, and she agreed and told me she'd tell me as soon as she did. Once back at home, Thalia and started getting ready. In able to have even more of a clear shot at winning the meet and greet contest, Thalia decided to learn some 1D songs on her guitar so she could play them at the Amp. She learned about 6 songs in less than 10 minutes. In the meantime, I was waiting for Gio, Linh, and my other friend Diana, to arrive. I was still getting ready on top of that. While getting ready, I got a call from Erika and she told me that Rose, the manager at the Westin, confirmed that the guys were staying there. I was so upset because I couldn't go, yet relieved that I had finally figured it out. Also, I had gotten a text from my friend Crystal (1ddaily-updates), that it was confirmed that the boys were staying there! Okay, so fast forwarding now. Thalia, Gio, Linh, Diana, and I are on our way to the 1-800-Ask-Gary Amphitheatre and as we turn to enter the gates of the Amp, One Thing starts playing on the radio. We thought it was a total movie moment, and thought luck was going to be on our side for this contest. We definitely put it on maxium sound, and rolled down the windows whilst singing along at the top of our lungs as if we were Rebecca Black or some shit. Either way, it was priceless and fun as hell. Once we arrived at 933flz's tent, where the contest was taking place, my confidence definitely dropped. There were maybe over 200 people doing the contest? I'm not too sure, all I know is that there a bunch - a whole bunch. Basically, we had just to stand there and dance or whatever we wanted to do until the judges walked by to chose their favorite five. The second they got out, I tried to get us all closer to them. One of them got right in front of us and I noticed that his eyes went right above our heads - to our main-3-panel-science board. He just stood there with his mouth kinda open jus staring up at it, until the other judge came by, noticed his gaze, looked up and said "Woah." My confidence rose up after that. Considering the judges were right there, I jumped at my only chance to explain the last four days of my life to him. I told him about the airport, about the Hard Rock, about only getting 4 hours of sleep at night because we'd be finishing everything, about trying to find out where they were staying for two weeks now, everything. He just laughed, and then said "Wow!". He then walked away, and I went to go get Thalia's guitar from my dad because I had noticed a girl was rapping for them, and then several girls had a dance routine. When I got back with the guitar, they had already gone back to the tent, sadly. The few minutes after that, was all a blur for me because out of nowhere, the judge who I had explained my last four days to, came right up to us, pointed at me, then to Gio, and said "You, you." then did the 'follow me' sign. At this point, I was spazzing. The only things that could escape my mouth were "Oh my God!" We had actually made it into the top 5 finalists! Although, there were only two passes, so he only let Gio and I in the little area for the finalists since we were the first two in the front. I was shaking the whole time, and not being able to say anything but "Oh my God" and a "I can't believe this" here and there. Now, for the winner, the crowd chose their favorite. Long story short, we weren't the crowd favorite - two girls with a life-size cut-out of Niall were. I wasn't surprised, considering they had a life-size cut-out of Niall. I was disappointed and all, but once I saw those girls cry of happiness, I was over it. They deserved it, just as much as I thought I did. But being honest, out of the top 5 finalists, I felt as if my girls and I had the most 1D AND 933flz pride, we evened it out between the two, not majority being for 1D, and a little for FLZ. But whatever! At least we made it into top 5, out of about 200 people, if I'm right. I was pretty satisfied. But I still wasn't giving up, I was determined to meet those boys. After Gio I thanked the FLZ crew for the opportunity, we got in line for merch. Thalia went to buy her concert ticket, and the Linh went to take off her tights. When Thalia got back, I told her to come with me to see if I could find a way into the venue, or at least to the tour buses. We walked to this grassy fenced area, only to find more girls doing the same of us. Two of them had actually snuck in through a hole in the fence, and were making their way to the Amp itself (doors for it weren't open till 6 - after those doors open, you'd go to the actual venue's door and wait for those to open). Thalia and I thought that was way too risky, so I just decided to try and walk the perimeter to reach where the stage was. Let's just say, security caught me, but was cool about it. He simply said the only way I could get there, was if I was on the other side of the venue, and I couldn't really walk the rest of the perimeter considering part of it (lawn seats) were on a hill, and that hill was right next to the highway. We just decided to go back to where everyone was waiting at the gates. After a few minutes of waiting, everyone started screaming and running to the front of the line, we had no idea what was going on, so Katy got on Gio's back, and Diana got on Thalia's, and all I heard was "Eleanor!" I couldn't believe it, so I got on Gio's back right after Katy. All I saw was some girl walking away, I couldn't really tell if it was Eleanor or not, but according to Katy, Diana, Gio, and everyone else who saw the girl, it was Eleanor. After that, we all just waited for the gates to open. My plan was, that as soon as the gates opened, we would run. Not to the venue doors, but past them. Soon, the doors opened at all of us started running. My shoes were on loose, since I don't tie them because they're high-tops, so I immediately took them off and started running in the street in my socks. We were all spread out through the crowd dashing through people, and were pretty much the only girls running. Eventually, we made it to the venue doors and everybody's lining up there, but I lead my friends right past it, down to where they park the tour buses. I only knew where they were because I had found out the place a couple years ago, when I went to see the Jonas Brothers (the show they canceled because of flooding). There, we got up against the fence and peeked in. But, security told us we weren't really allowed to be up against the fences peeking in (note - the fences had these black plastic things which made it even harder to look in), especially considering the fact that arriving girls saw what we were doing and started coming to the fences as well. I talked to the guard though, and managed to convince him to let us stay there for a while, he agreed (thanks to my witty charm, only kidding - maybe) as long as we didn't block the entrances of oncoming buses. Out of no where, Thalia started screaming saying "I JUST SAW ZAYN!" I didn't see anything - I'm freaking blind. Plus, no one was around except some guys sitting around a kiddie pool. Thalia claimed that Zayn came by, then left fast. Security then got a little insecure, and told us to wait across the road. So we did, and then after a while Thalia exclaimed "Who the hell just crawled by over there? Was that Zayn?!" And then one of us said "You saw that too?! I think it was Zayn!", I think it was either Katy or Gio, not too sure. Either way, we ran up to the fences. Security just let it slide again, because he knew we weren't going to give up. We waited, and waited, and waited. Before we knew it, the fences were opening up to let a tour bus in - Olly's bus! So we got to see Olly's bus arrive, but didn't see Olly of course, since he was already there for sound check. After Olly's bus came in, more girls started coming so the security guard was getting a little uneasy. He told us all to leave, or go wait across the road. Majority of the girls left, but we stayed. Only about 4 other girls stayed. As we were waiting patiently, Thalia goes, "Who's that?! There's someone riding a bike and there's a guy on skateboard holding onto the bike! Is that Niall?!" The second we heard "Niall", we ran right up to fences, we didn't care what the security guy had to say, he started coming towards us, but so was Niall. I was staring in through a little hole just waiting, and I didn't see a guy on a bike, nor one on a skateboard. We were about to turn back, but I kept staring. Out of no where, the guy on the bike drove right in front of me - it was Niall freaking Horan. I went "Niall!" not a scream though, just loud enough for him to hear. I was smiling so damn much, my cheeks were starting to hurt. I didn't expect him to hear me, but he did. He turned his head, looked right at me, and smiled widely and did that head-nod "wassup" thing, then continued riding away. Let me just say this, his smile is the most gorgeous thing on the face of this planet, and the fact that he smiled at me - lord. The things I would do for a smile like his! After he rode away, he didn't come back so security definitely tightened up and told us if we didn't leave, he'd call the cops and get our tickets taken away. Every girl left. Except us. Instead, we went around the corner of the fences, where there was no guard, and no way for us to be seen by one. Eventually, Niall came back around on his bike and Josh was playing baseball with some guys, and would occasionally look over at us (I managed to get a picture of him looking right at my camera). Oh, did I forget to mention that Niall was SHIRTLESS? Yeah, even more dying for me, ugh. Niall was such a tease though, it was not fair. He'd act like he was riding his bike right towards us, but then make a sharp turn! That boy was so getting a kick out of that. After a while of watching him ride around and taking pictures, I was pretty sure he was coming over to us since we were quiet the whole time. But then two girls showed up, saw him, started screaming, and guess what Niall did? Made a sharp turn and left. Ughh (although Josh was still there the whole time). Then those girls left, after Niall didn't come back. Once it was quiet again, Niall came back out. He would look over at us and smile and keep faking that he was riding over to us. In the middle of one sharp turn, I simply say "Niall." In an upset voice yet quiet voice, I was sad that he wasn't coming over and he kept teasing us. I didn't expect him to hear me that time either, especially since this time I said it at a normal conversation volume level. But much to my surprise, Niall slowed down his bike, looked over at me once again, half-smiled, shrugged, smirked, and then fully smiled and rode away. When he looked over, he did that half-smile and shrug as if to say "Sorry." Even though he was wearing shades, you can tell because his eyebrows rose when he did that little half-sorry-smile. He seemed like he wanted to come over, but knew if he did he would cause trouble, so he didn't and just continued to tease us. Katy and Diana were on the other side of a little gated area with two other girls, and according to them Niall waved when he rode by them! He didn't come up to anyone at all though, just nodded and smiled.. and teased. Teased, teased, teased. I was saying to Gio, "Niall is such a tease! Oh my God, ugh." But I didn't know that he was riding by until I looked over into the little hole thingy right in time to see him turn his head to look at us. Apparently he heard me call him a tease, because he looked over and smirked. Whoops! He seemed pretty damn happy and proud about being called a tease. I do gotta say one thing though, that boy has amazing hearing. Oh! I almost forgot, Linh had checked Niall's twitter and saw a tweet from him a few minutes before he came back out saying "I can see you sexy people". We hoped he was talking about us, haha. After a while, Niall eventually went to sit down with the guys around the kiddie pool. Then, Harry came out. Thalia started spazzing, trying as hard as she could to stay quiet. At one point, she started to screaming but Gio covered her mouth and I was shushing her. But then, I looked back at Harry and I screamed. I couldn't hold it in, I just had to, Harry was the one who got me into 1D, he was the audition I stumbled over many months ago, leading me to finding 1D. Gio and Thalia were looking at me as if I was some new alien species, so I quickly apologized and went silent again, as I started back at Harry. He was drinking something out of a red cup, and was standing, talking to the guys around the kiddie pool. He left quick though, so I didn't get too many pictures - but hey, better than nothing. A little after Harry left, Niall got up and left as well. By that time, people we already being allowed into the arena, but we didn't move. A few minutes later, I was looking at this corner section, that was blocked off by a building up against the fence we were waiting at, and out of the corner of that building, Zayn stepped out from behind it. I simply went "Zayn!" so the girls around me could hear me, and see him. Bad idea though, because in the time of waiting, more girls showed up, and the second they saw Zayn they started screaming and he quickly darted back to where he came from. Linh definitely bitched at those girls, she was real mad. The whole time, she was constantly telling them to be quiet, that they couldn't scream or they wouldn't come out. I was telling them as well, but not as assertive as Linh, haha. After a while, those girls got tired of waiting and left. We were the only ones once again, along with a mom who would come here and there to talk to us and be updated from us. She was the coolest mom I have ever met, she was so sweet! She had called her daughter who was inside the venue, and telling her she was with us and how we had seen Niall, Josh, Harry, and Zayn. Her daughter didn't believe her, so her mom asked us to email her the pictures, we promised to and sent them as soon as we could. Now back to keeping an eye out, the mom left after being updated, and we waited, and waited. In the mean time, I was snapping as many pics of Josh as I could. He's so beautiful to me. Niall eventually came back, but he went inside the tour bus along with some blonde girl, a contest winner. She was so lucky. He didn't come back out, so that sucked. But, Zayn did. This time, he was on the bike Niall was on earlier. He didn't ride around that long though, and he left a lot, for several minutes then would back out riding. He looked at us several times, but not too many times. Sooner or later, Josh left, and then all the guys sitting around the kiddie pool got up and left as well, by that time, Zayn was gone too. Why though? Because the opening act was on, we missed her waiting for the boys, we didn't care though. While waiting (we decided to stay longer, hoping to see Liam and Louis, or anyone else), this man came up to us and asked us if we had tickets to the show. We thought he was security, and was going to tell us to leave, so we said yes, even though it was true. He said "Oh, okay. Have a nice day, bye!" We said thanks and goodbye, and he left. Gio then pointed out that his shirt said "One Direction Support". I pointed out that he had a British accent. It then hit us we totally just missed a good chance to at least try and meet the boys, or anything really, because that man personally worked with them. I don't know how it was, though. Gio and Katy immediately got up to go look for him, and in the mean time I snuck a peek through the fence, only to notice him walking by the tour buses. We were all really let down, so I just simply said "Everything happens for a reason." The girls agreed, and sat back down in the grass and continued waiting. Eventually, an employee came by and sat on the steps of the little building against the fence (the one Zayn came from behind the corner of) to have a smoke. I was talking to Gio, saying that she should ask him if he could get the boys to come over to us. She did, and that man was so sweet. He looked like he really wanted to help us out, you can tell from the look in his eyes and on his face in general. We explained everything to him, all of us throwing in small parts at once. He answered us "I'm sorry girls, I really wish I could help you out, but the boys have very tight security around them, they wouldn't even allow me past security and I work here. If security wasn't so tight, I would have gone and see what I could have done, but security is just way too strict, I'm really sorry." We were all pretty upset, considering it was over a 100 degrees outside, and we had been waiting out in the sun, exhausted, drenched in sweat, thirsty as hell, and still trying our hardest to meet the boys whom we have been trying our hardest to the past two weeks. We understood though, so we thanked the man. Another employee came by, went up the stairs and into the building. The one we were talking to was getting up about to go inside as well, but then Gio asked him if he had any water so we were all dying of thirst. He said no, that he didn't, and that he was sorry once again. We were even more upset. But, as he was going in the little building, the other employee handed him a water bottle, and the man held it up to show us and said "Wait, never mind! You guys get our last and only one." He then tossed it over the 10 foot fence, and we all ran towards while thanking the man like we were some vultures. The things we do for One Direction. We couldn't be any more grateful to that man, he was honestly one of sweetest employees at a venue I've ever met. After he went inside, we decided to wait ten more minutes, because I really didn't want to miss Olly's performance. During those last ten minutes, nothing happened so we started making our back to the venue gates. There, we got our bags checked, and went to go get our tickets checked, until I turned around and saw Gio drinking cold water from a water bottle, one that was on the security's table, since they don't allow drinks in and they collect them from people. The lady who checked our bags noticed how thirsty we must have been because she asked us about how we looked, how we were all sweaty and out of breath. Apparently, she let us have as many water bottles as we wanted, as long as we drank them at her table. Some of them were ice cold, and I could have never felt better in my life. She was an angel. Although once again we felt like vultures and peasants, we did not care one bit. We thanked the lady over a million times, and then got our tickets checked and soon found our seats. One problem though, Thalia had a lawn seat, the rest of us had actual seats, but our seats were separated. It was three people, and then two people, along with one in the lawn - Thalia's. As Gio was getting her ticket checked by the lady at our section (16), Thalia snuck around behind her and managed to sneak next to the two seats (Katy and Diana). We all enjoyed Olly, and Linh and I saw his bus pull away right after his performance. During the break before 1D, Katy came over to us and we were talking about ways to be together for 1D. I then noticed there two empty seats next to Linh, who was next to me, and two empty ones right in front of us. I told Katy, Gio, and Linh, and then we called Diana and Thalia over. Thalia and I took the two seats in front of our row, and the rest of the girls took the seats behind us. We were not going to see One Direction for our first time ever away from each other. Luckily for us, no one came to claim those seats. Now about 1D's performance, long story short: Best. Ever. After the show, we tried getting out as soon as we could and started running towards the tour buses. Myself, having a lot of concert experience considering the fact that I have been going to them for literally more than half of my life (I'm 14, by the way), knew that the boys left as soon as the boys finished their last song. Even though I knew that, and told the girls, we decided to go just for the hell of it (only because I told them about the one concert I went to, Justin Bieber in Orlando, that Justin was the last to leave - about 30 minutes after the show). We got to the fences and went to the spot we were at before, and I noticed their tour bus was gone. I knew which one was theirs because I remembered where Olly's was parked, and how Niall had gone into the bus right next to it. We waited for 10 minutes, even though we knew nothing was going to happen. Soon, parents started arriving for the girls. While Gio and Katy left with Diana along, Linh, Thalia, and myself went to go find Ashley, our friend from New York who we met at the Hard Rock. She had VIP passes, so we definitely wanted to see her again and here her experience! We soon found her, and then Linh left to go find Diana, since I was driving her home. Thalia, Ashley, and I got a picture taken together, and then said goodbye because she was leaving. Eventually, my dad arrived and we all left what was one of the best experiences ever - even if we didn't meet the boys.
6.30.12: Concert in Orlando
One Direction didn't stop for Linh and I, because we had floor seats for their show in Orlando, the day after the one in Tampa. My dad parked the car in some random parking lot in Downtown and the first thing I noticed was that there was another band in town, because across from our car, there was a white van with hundreds of stickers parked. Considering I'm a sucker for small bands, I recognize band guys and their stuff in a heartbeat. Plus, that van had a Glamour Kills sticker that was huge. I even saw some of the members. I knew they were members because of the way they dressed, looked in general, even walked, and how they had passes hanging out of their back pockets. I told Linh, and she was asking me how I knew all that, I just simply answered with "It's like I have a radar, I just know." After that, we walked our way to the Amway Arena, and sat down to drink the free monster we were given during our walk there. The whole time we were talking about sneaking from our rows in Section F7, to front row or as close as we could get (the fact that boys jumped into the crowd in Tampa really made us want to, and of course the fact we wanted to be as close as possible, basically, we still hadn't gave up). During our conversation, the man who works with the boys and offered us tickets, was brought up by me. We were wondering where the seats were, and what would have happened if we told him we didn't tickets and like how hard we've been trying to meet the boys, and if he gave us backstage passages, basically fantasizing and coming up with what ifs. Then, I casually said, "Oh my God Linh, what if we see him? Like what if he were to walk by right now?" Then literally two minutes later, I look up and guess who I see. Him. I started freaking out to Linh, and when she saw him, she started freaking out as well. I was completely breath taken, it was so strange how I said that, and then he just popped out of no where! Linh and I went up to him, and I said "Hi! Were you the one who asked us if we had tickets yesterday in Tampa?" He replied with "Yes, that was me!" We then asked him what he would have done if we said we didn't have tickets, and he answered with "Well I would offered you them, of course!" We thanked him for that, and then turned to leave. But then I thought, and told Linh, "Let's ask him what seats? What if they were like really good ones?" So we went back up to him, and asked if the tickets were lawn seats, he answered us with "No, they were seats." We thanked him once again, and made out way into the venue after having our tickets checked. We stopped by the bathroom, then to our seats. And once again, we missed the first opening act. Ugh, whatever didn't even matter anymore. Olly was great, like always. Linh and I had been talking to the girls next to Linh, Cathy and her friend (we didn't get her name!) and we told them our plan about sneaking to the front. They told us they would help us out by watching our stuff, and wished us luck. They were so sweet! Before 1D came on, Linh went to go check out the rows in the front. She talked to the people at the edge seats in 4 different rows, and they all agreed on helping to squeeze us into the row for the boys performance. God bless those people. During the boys first outfit change, during the little film, we started our mission. Sadly, we were busted right then and there. I was on the phone, pretending I was trying to get to my mom in the closer rows while Linh explained to two security guards what was going on. She was saying my mom had her phone, and she was in the 4th row. The whole time, I'm just saying into my phone "Wait, mom. Hold up, they're not letting us by." Etc. The lady and man kept saying we needed tickets, and weren't letting us in front without them, that we had to go back to our seats. Basically, we gave up eventually and I just told my "mom" to forget it. Either way, we tried. All the boys jumped in the crowd, but whatever. We did try, so oh well! After the show, we ran to the tour buses, and there were cops in front of the gate of the garage where they come out, apparently they were having police escorts. Much to our disadvantage, you couldn't see into the parking garage, it was all steel walls. Except at the bottom. At the bottom, it was this steel wall as well, but with holes! Many girls, including Linh and myself, got down on our knees and stomachs in the dirt and bushes, and were peeking through the holes. There was one bus left, and it looked exactly like the boys. Then again, there were about 3 buses that look like theirs. It was a 50/50 chance of it being the boys. The only people there, was venue security, and two random guys putting luggage in the bus with some random lady talking to them, and some guy in flip-flops smoking near the back of the bus. We couldn't see into the bus, obviously, so we didn't know whom it belonged to. The girls next to us started yelling at security to at least answer yes or no to that bus being the boys, they hear them clearly, but didn't answer. I then joined them, and so did a bunch of other girls. After 30 minutes of laying in the dirt, watching that tour bus, and yelling at security to at least answer yes or no, Linh and I decided we would just leave, because it seemed pretty hopeless. We met up with my dad (who was pretty pissed I was at the buses, let's just say he's had enough of 1D and my grandpa, ate at Five Guys, and then made our back to the car parked in downtown. The band that was playing at the venue next to our parking lot was leaving as well. I'm about 99.5% that band was Wolf Gang, the one that was at the Hard Rock. Talk about the freaking odds. Before, during our walk to the venue, Linh and I were joking to each other saying "You wonder if Wolf Gang fans look for them, and end up running into One Direction? Because every time we're looking for One Direction, or doing something related to them, we run into Wolf Gang instead." It was priceless. We soon left the parking lot, and made our way back to Tampa. The whole car ride, Linh and I were talking about everything that happened in the past weeks to us, and how our 1D future would be. We weren't giving up on those boys, they meant the world to us, and we were going to meet them, whether it was next year, or the year after that, or the year after that.
I am looking for 1D tickets for Miami and Sunrise, since my mom told me to look for tickets. Obviously, good seats are very expensive (I use Ebay). But I'm not giving up! It's definitely something I don't do. ;)
For all of you trying to meet One Direction, remember this:
Don't ever, ever give up. There will be times when you want to, and feel as if you have to, but don't. You never know what could happen. Just imagine if I didn't go to the tour buses after losing that meet & greet contest as one of the top 5 finalists. I would have never seen Niall, Josh, Harry, nor Zayn. And I would have never met that man that offered us tickets, nor those nice employees. If I didn't go to Hard Rock, I wouldn't have met Ashley nor the other girls I did meet! If I didn't do my research, I wouldn't have found 1ddaily-updates, and I wouldn't have become friends with Crystal and I wouldn't have gotten her amazing help! Which I'd really like to thank her for, she's a great person, and I could never thank her enough. She definitely motivated me to not give up, so I tired my hardest not to and look where it got me? I'd say I had a pretty damn good 1D experience, even if I didn't meet them. Just always remember, do not give up! Also, you have to do a lot of research, and have a lot of dedication! If you'd like any tips, or further details on how I got my research, or anything else really, you can always leave me a message here and I'd be glad to help you out. Or if you'd like to see the pics I took of the boys backstage, I'll gladly link you to them.
For the people who are wondering, I was the girl in the neon yellow Adventurous Adventures of One Direction shirt (Also in purple and green tights and jean shorts)! I got soo many compliments on that shirt, and three girls even asked to get a picture of it! I felt like a celebrity or something like that, haha.
