Fiddlin'

I'm fiddling with the layout of the blog. If it looks like I'm not sure which direction I want to take the design it's because I'm not. I'm just fiddlin' at the moment. So excuse the mess.

And now for a completely random segway...

Alex, my one and only baby is in 8th grade this year. Part of being in 8th grade means your parents get to buy an ad in the yearbook to congratulate you on graduating to high school... and show you how much they love you.

Alex wanted final approval on whatever picture I might choose to use so I let her pick 10 pictures that would be acceptable. She didn't want me to use a picture of her in a princess dress so this ruled out almost every picture I have of her under the age of 5. She also didn't want me to use a picture of her making a silly face or joking around. This ruled out almost every picture I have of her. She finally settled on 5 workable options. Here are 3 I chose:



This is Alex at our local rock climbing gym. I feel like I spend half of my life driving her here. I'm always in awe when I have the chance to see people do something that they truly love. Alex has a true love and passion for this sport. 

This is Alex on our most recent trip to Disney World. She is standing next to Bo, the 1950s cut out.
No, I don't know why either. Which makes it all the more fun.

This is Alex when she was  2 years old. I'm pretty sure she was officially the cutest 2 year old ever to walk the earth.

So Today was the day...WDW turned 40!

Edit to add: You know what was really funny about this? I think after a certain point there are certain things I just kind of stopped taking pictures of because I had so many pictures for every possible angle... So it took me a while to remember the last year I took I picture of each these things without people standing in front of them... I just found that funny. okay... enjoy your day now.. 

In just three days...

In just three days Walt Disney World will be turning the big 4-0. And while I would love nothing more than to write a really long post about the history of this culture altering theme park, the people who created and how i have come to personally love it, I feel like all I ever do now is write.

I go to work and write patents. I go to class and write notes of the lectures. I come home and write papers on theology, and responses to articles and reflections on experiences and oh.. yeah.. I'm suppose to be journaling every night. After all of that I feel... wordless. Like my brain has exceeded it's maximum number of  characters... except here I am writing about not wanting to write?

ALL of that to say... I'm just going to post pictures of the People of the Park. Because to be honest, it's the people  from the Imagineers to the VPs to the everyday cast members who, more than any ride or show, makes Walt Disney World the most Magical Place on Earth.

Marty Sklar - Celebrating Epcot's 25th Birthday
 Vice Chairman and Principal Creative Executive of Walt Disney Imagineering
Started with Disney back in 1955 is the only person to have been involved with the design of every single Disney Park.

Joe Rohde - Celebrating Epcot's 25th Birthday
Executive Imagineer
Joined Disney in 1980 during the design of Epcot. He is most famous for designing
Disney's Animal Kingdom and it's signature ride, Expedition Everest.

That guy in the suite with the blue shirt is Jim McPhee,
That girl in the pink baseball cap is ME!
This picture was taken in 2008 during the fan celebration of Epcot's 25th birthday.
At the time, McPhee was VP of Epcot. He took time out of his day to take photos, shake hands
and answer both informed and ridicules questions. The man went above and beyond to make sure
a bunch of nerds from a message board felt welcomed into the History of his park.
McPhee is now leads the WDW Operation's team.

Eddie - Greater and all around awesome Cast  Member
at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort in 2008.
For years we have made it a point to visit the Grande when ever we are at the World.
Until our last trip, in 2011, Eddie was always there with a smile and story of what
was happening "in town."

Charlie - Main Street USA Cast Member
controlling the crowd for the Boo to You Parade
I'm not sure what his job title is, but he's the guy I always see before parades at the Magic Kingdom.
When people line up hours before the parade starts, someone has to keep the peace,
and Charlie knows how to do it. 

Dream House

Photo by Alex, 2011

I love this house. I love the size, the shape, the red door. I love the way it sits at the end of a long dirt drive way. I love the trees, the monstrous yard. I love that this looks like a cottage in the woods, when really its located in the middle of the city.

This house, my dream house was recently sold. I am now hoping against hope that they owners love this house the way I do. That they will live in this house and make it a home. But I'm afraid that like so many other houses in our city the owners look at this lot and see just that... a lot with land on which to build a McMansion. 

Day Last

On the last day of our holiday we woke up early to catch the monorail to Polynesian.

Blueberry pancakes and Kona coffee were calling my name.

We killed some time at the Magic Kingdom before we had to go to the airport. Here is a line from A.A. Milne which I saw while waiting in line for Winnie the Pooh's Adventure. It seemed appropriate for the day.

Later, while we waited for Grandma and Grandpa to turn in their scooters I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. Could it be? Ye Ol' Pay Phone complete with Phone Book! Amazing.

I'm not going to lie, I was sad as I watched our Magical Express bus drive away after depositing us at the airport. I don't know when we will get to go back. Absence makes the heart grow founder... or so I'm told.

Day 6

This was our last full day at the Walt Disney World Resort and all the hip people wanted to rent speed racer boats and head out on Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake, but I don't have any pictures of that because my mom and were at the Magic Kingdom.

We went on the Jungle Cruise which is an all time favorite before hitting all the rides in Fantasyland. Yep, this is a picture I took of Fantasyland. They are expanding and reimagining this space which will open some time in 2012... or later.

Everyone met up with us for lunch after the boats. We ate that the Plaza  which is a little restaurant on Main Street, right across from the castle. Sigh, isn't it beautiful? I hope Cinderella is living happily ever after in there....

After lunch I had to attend to some business so I went to the Business Center at our hotel. There wasn't a lot of stuff there to take pictures of so I present a wall of clocks, showing the current time in every Disney Park. I know, EXCITEMENT! Really the best part of my time spent there was this lovely couple who were shipping three gigantic boxes of presents to their grandchildren back home in Mississippi along with a huge, $12,000 Thomas Kinkade painting of Bambie. The most memorable quote, "If something gets mixed up its okay, we all live on the same 32 acres." That's code for they all have trailer homes on the same plot of land. I know this because some of my best friends live in double wides on their parent's property. I'm not passing judgment, only it leads me to wonder if they were really spending the settlement they received after their son died in an industrial accident wisely.

Day 5

On day 5 we went to Epcot again with the rest of the family and headed straight to the Land Pravilion to ride Soarin. I took this picture from the entrance of the ride, and yes, those people up stairs are in line. I started to explain ride cycles, but realized that if you care you probably already know. Let's just say the capacity of Soarin is low which makes wait times insane.

Then it was back to the World Showcase where we stopped in Japen to see the candy lady. Here she is making the candy monkey that Alex requested.

When the afternoon Florida sun was just too much we went back to the hotel for a nap to play in the arcade. Lots of games equaled lots of fun.

The evening closed with cheese and ice wine from Canada. Wonderful.

Day 4

Alex and I ditched the rest of the group on day 4 and headed back to our favorite park - Epcot.

After riding some rides in Future World, we headed to the World Showcase, where we teamed up with Kim Possible to save the world from evil villains.

After reporting to an Agent Station you are given a Kimmunicator. This allows you to talk to Kim, her sidekick Ron, and their technical guy Wade. Here we are in Germany where the villain is using special salt on pretzels to control the minds of unsuspecting citizens.

And now meet Duffy the Bear. No, he's not a Disney character, but he has invaded the parks. You see, you buy the $30 bear and then you can buy all sorts of $20 costumes to dress him up in. I didn't buy one because, I don't need a $50 stuffed animal, but he is cute - and everywhere  - so I took a picture for prosperity.

Finally, before we left the park we stopped at Innovations. Innovations is meant to be that part of Future World that really lives up the the Epcot mantra of keeping up with the newest technologies so the space is a made up of interactive exhibits that are easily changed. Our favorite was the build your own roller coaster exhibit. You start with an introduction about how roller coasters work and then you get to step up to a computer and build your own virtual coaster. At the end you are strapped to the end of a robotic arm and you get to experience all the twist and turns of the track you created.

Day 3

Our trip fell during a time at Disney's Hollywood Studios known as Star Wars Weekends. DHS turns into one large Star Wars Extravaganza so on Day 3 we had to go and be a part of it.

I don't know if the insane lines for character meet and greats we saw on this trip are a reflection of the time of year (it's summer so there were a lot more kids than when we go in the fall) or if people have just really lost their minds. At one point there was a 60 minute wait to see Princess Belle and Aurora on main street. As a rule, I don't wait more than 30 minutes for anything, but I especially can't imagine waiting that long to see a person dressed in a costume. That said, Alex and I were really excited to meet two of our favorite celebrities, Phineas and Ferb while we waited for our Fast Pass return time for our favorite DHS ride.

We took a ride on a hunted elevator and lived to tell about it.

We ended the day with a nice wine tasting meal at the Wave restaurant in our hotel. I had three examples of Pinot Nior - New Zealand, California and Australia - California was by far the best. Oh, and I had stake too.

Day 2

On day 2 we lined up two hours early to see the Main Street Electrical Parade. There are a lot of advantages of lining up so early. Besides having the best viewing spot for both the parade and the fireworks is that you get to take pictures of random things that happen by... like balloons!

...and hot dogs....

...and wedding! No, these people aren't getting married, this is the picture of the happy couple getting a family wedding portrait  made in front of the castle. (Well, the back of their family anyway).

Alex bought a light up mo hawk. Sometimes its best not to ask why...

When the parade started I handed my camera off to Alex. I've taken so many pictures of night time parades, it was time to pass the torch... or lens...

One of the things I found really funny was the fact that no one around us knew that this was Elliot and Pete from Pete's dragon. I don't often say this, but parents need to do a better job educating their children.



Really, this is an example of why I love going to Disney World so often. I know for most people a trip to "the World" is a once, maybe twice in a life time event. They have five or perhaps seven days to see all four parks with all the rides, shows and parades not to mention shop and swim in the hotel pool. So for a lot of people a trip to Disney is whirlwind. While we were sitting there I actually had someone stop and ask, "Why sit on the curb for two hours when there is so much to do?" Because I've seen/ridden it all, well most of it, the parts I care to see/ride, and now I want sit with my family and make goofy faces and take pictures of complete strangers.

Day 1

On my birthday we left the house at the crake of dawn and headed to the most Magical Place on Earth.

When we arrived in Orlando we headed for our hotel, Disney's Contemporary Resort. The Contemporary was one of the two hotels that opened with the Magic Kingdom Park on October 1, 1971 so this year, as Walt Disney World celebrates its 40th, the Contemporary celebrates hers.

After check-in we caught the monorail to my favorite park, Epcot. Its no secret that Walt first concived E.P.C.O.T. not as a park, but as the Experomental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. It was Walt's dream to create the ultimate city of the future, but after his death it became clear that this particular dream just wasn't practical so it was left to the Disney Imagineers to figure out how to bring the spirit of Walt's dream to life. The Epcot of today is not a city, but a perminate World's Fair of sorts. Future World explores cutting edge technologies while the World Showcase celebrates the cultures of the eleven countries represented there.

 

We rode some of my favorite rides in Future World, including Spaceship Earth, Living With the Land and Journey Into Your Imagination. Above Alex is holding the famouse 18-story geodesic sphere that holds Spaceship Earth. Below are pictures of dragon fruite and a tomato tree taken inside the Epcot greenhouse as seen on the Living With the Land ride.


Then it was off to the World Showcase and a stop in Canada. We visited with the local shops and of course watched the movie, O'Canada staring Canadian Martin Short and featuring on of my favorite songs.

We toped off my birthday evening with a beer meal in Germany.

Self Portriat

boiling water

silky rich hot chocolate

soothing calming tea