Us with Russ, his wife Ela, their
kids, and Great Aunt Molly; Russ with Paul and Jacob
Ally-Jane coloring with Paul; Beth
playing with Annika
At the conference, Ally-Jane performed
"When the Saints
Go Marching In" on her trombone;
taking inspiration from Yoda
We stayed at Disney's Grand
Floridian Resort
We loved our room, which overlooked
a lagoon
The hotel used Disney characters
in their decorating, from Tinkerbell on the bedspread, to
Mickey Mouse on the wallpaper...
... to Pluto, Donald Duck, and Goofy
in the carpet...
...as well as Minnie Mouse and Cinderella
The foyer had a pianist and a huge
wooden bird cage
We especially liked the outdoor
pool (with water slide), where we spent a lot of time!
Posing outside the Grand Floridian
The Magic
Kingdom is probably Joni's favorite place on Earth, so we got multi-day
passes
and started at Tomorrowland, where
we met Stitch,
as well as Chip 'n
Dale
On the Buzz
Lightyear ride, and spending some time with the incarcerated Emperor
Zurg
Near Cinderella's
Castle, on the Dumbo
ride, and taking a whirl at the Mad
Tea Party
On the Peter
Pan ride, and awaiting the show at the Hall
of Presidents
Taking inspiration from Bluebeard
at the Haunted Mansion,
and jamming with the Country
Bears
Beth and Joni on the Big
Thunder Mountain Railroad; spotting Captain Jack
Sparrow
on the Pirates
of the Caribbean ride
Riding the magic
carpets (and ducking the spitting camel--no, I'm not kidding)
and posing with the mural in the
walkway of the Cinderella Castle
After a day at the conference, we
went back to the Haunted Mansion, and visited
Ally-Jane's favorite Disney character,
Tinkerbell, who autographed her mouse ears
You're never too old to like Disney
princesses.
Here's Joni's favorite, Sleeping
Beauty...
...and Cinderella...
...and Belle, from Beauty
and the Beast.
I'm more inspired by a certain irascible
duck
The girls on the Pooh
Bear ride, one of Joni's favorites
Trying to wrest the sword
from the stone...
...on the carousel and passing the
Evil Queen on the Snow
White ride
Some rides, we couldn't get enough
of...
...such as Pirates of the Caribbean.
We also had a lot of fun at the
Monsters
Inc. Laugh Floor comedy show
We caught the nightly parade...
...which included Captain Hook and
his nemesis, Peter Pan
Because we were resort guests, we
could stay super late. We finally left at 2:30
On another day, we took in a live
showing of Beauty and the Beast
at Disney
Hollywood Studios
The girls tried out a booth that
showed what Disney character they were most like. No surprises here.
With Frozone
and learning how to draw Pluto at the Animation Studio
Seeing props from the second Narnia
movie and blowing a kiss to Prince Caspian
I mega-geeked out with the Star
Wars rides, exhibitions, and props
Joni by a fountain featuring her
alter
ego, and Beth singing in the rain
Having fun on some "movie sets"
We made three visits to Epcot.
We LOVE the Coca Cola store where, for free, you can try
sodas from Germany, Israel, China,
Mexico, Italy, and Mozambique
Half of Epcot is devoted to scientific
stuff, including a place where the
girls could play with Velcro shapes.
Ally-Jane got to make and keep this frog
On the way to Mission:
SPACE, a virtual reality ride about a trip to Mars
Posing outside two other attractions
we saw: Universe
of Energy (more fun than you
might think from the name) and The
Seas With Nemo and Friends (very cool)
By the way, inside that giant ball...
...is a ride about the development
of communications, with scenes from points in history.
These drummers, "The
JAMMitors," (get it?) were incredibly talented and put on a fantastic
show
My folks aren't Disney fanatics
like we are, but I had a feeling they would like the World
Showcase
part of Epcot, and I was right.
We went through "Mexico," "Germany," and "Japan"...
...and spent quite a while in "Morocco"
Actual citizens of each country
staff their respective pavilions, and Beth asked them
to write "Elizabeth" on her arms
in Arabic and Japanese
Ally-Jane at a phone booth in "England,"
and
showing off the mask she made with
charms
from each country's pavilion
As I mentioned, we made several
visits to Epcot. These photos are from the
Living
With The Land agricultural exhibit, where they grow actual crops
Making music with the interactive
Journey
Into Imagination exhibit
In "Canada," we caught part of the
show of
the Celt-rock band Off
Kilter
Feeling hungry (and sporting our
AMC convention shirts), we went to "France" for lunch...
...and were surprised when we got
to meet the "chef": Remy from Ratatouille!
This was probably the highlight
of the whole trip for Ally-Jane. The food,
having been prepared by real French
staff, was just as good as in Paris.
Hanging out in "China"...
...and "Norway"...
...and back to Morocco, where the
girls got some glittery henna tattoos
We had a great time at the Magic
Kingdom, Disney Hollywood,
and Epcot, and staying at the Grand
Floridian made it even more fun
Farewell--for now--from "Didney
World!"
