Bookends

First Day..WDW…Last Day

The trip started on Thursday, the flight through Salt Lake took from  1;10 P.M. at Seattle to almost 1:00 A.M. in Orlando.   Getting into bed about 2:15 Orlando time is not what we planned ( flight delayed) but we had an interesting encounter on the way.  The pretty young woman beside me was very busy reading what looked almost like a Bible, but definitely not in English. She had colored pens, little post it notes and a notebook where she was writing out verses.
After our snack and a little nap,  we got a little acquainted.   Ingrid was born in Norway and about 3 years ago she came to Orlando and  has been working at the Norway exhibit at WDW.  That  is where  she saw  Sean and it was like love at first sight.  Sean is studying to be a doctor and Ingrid goes to Salt Lake every two weeks to see him.  They are engaged to be married , but not for at least a year. She is studying to become baptized in the Morman  religion. That is required before the marriage can take place in the temple.   She was raised Catholic and  her father is not very happy about her decision. Her mother is fine with it and comes from Norway at least 3 or 4 times a year to visit. 
That is the serious side to the visit.  Then she encouraged us to come to her Norway Exhibit for lunch on Sunday. This is a huge buffet of typical Norwegian foods and since we were on the dining plan, it would be one of the dinner choices.  Done!    See you at noonish.
we laid our heads down on soft pillows about 2:15

Friday :
What to wear:  Very cute brown sparkle Mickey shirt and tan capris.

Where to start:  The lodge has a large cafeteria and nice selection of quick meals.  But the best part is the music.   The Dixie Land style tape that has been playing every year includes “His eye is on the Sparrow”.   I am in the restroom washing my hands when I hear it for the first time and can you guess if I sing along?  What a way to start the day.
How do we get around: There is a shuttle service to all places Disney. Today while we are waiting for the shuttle I notice  some white streaks in Darrell’s hair.   ( only  some of the product he used this morning). I decide not to mention it.   It is not long before a young man also notices.  “ Looks like a bird made a drop on your head”.  He says.   Darrell  figures out what it really is and I am glad that I was not the one to mention it. 

  Where to go: MGM Studios.  
Favorite attraction:  Beauty and the Beast, the play.   There is also a fun 3-D Muppets show. Yes, we like the kid stuff.
Where to eat:   Favorite lunch spot, Prime Time Café.  You enter what looks like a 50’s  kitchen.  Your waiter calls you “ cousin”  and takes you to a table where  you have your own little black and white TV that plays little segments of  “ I love Lucy”,” The Donna Reed Show”, “Father Knows Best”… you get the

idea.   Silverware is on the table and you get to set it yourself. 
While waiting for our food, I feel the air conditioning a little strong on my head.  I fuss with it a bit.  More than once.   It is later that Darrell tells me that one of the waiters was hiding by the next table with a long thin stick and was poking it in my hair.  He ducked when I turned and I never saw a thing.   The atmosphere is very fun.” Did you wash your hands?”,  “No  elbows on the table”, and “ clean your plate before dessert”.  

Where to shop:  Downtown Disney has a huge store and we found a few things there, as well as the best key lime pie  in the  whole park.   Captain Jack’s restaurant.  
There is also a boat dock where we can catch a ride back to our resort,  Port Orleans, Riverside.

Return trip :  This is where I get my first shoe picture.  Two young gals are very happy to pose with me and then ask me if I have seen “Toms”  .  As a matter of fact, I thought I was seeing the same lady over and over again.  Yes, I have seen TOMS.   Not to be confused with Tom Anderson, or Tommy Hilfiger  or Tommy Bahama.  Just plain TOMS.   For every pair  you buy, a pair is donated to a child in need.  One of the gals said she had two pair. They are so comfortable .  They cost $40.  and up and look like those thin canvas shoes my mother used to wear.   They have them at Nordstrom, but you have to go on  a waiting list.

Final  stop:   The family bar area has a pianist that is amazing.  He appears to be high energy as he stands up while playing and the piano rocks back and forth.  He sings loud and knows how to get the audience to participate.  Some of the kids start marching  in step.     Now we are tired.

Before going to bed I decide what to wear tomorrow. By now I realize that I could wear just about anything.  Today we saw a large family all wearing tie dye shirts. Another group was not embarrassed to wear  bright turquoise shirts with a large Elmo in front.   Many little girls wear their princess gowns. I took several photos ( usually with permission )
think I will wear my  red sparkle Minnie shirt with capris ( so my tattoos won’t show – O that’s right, I am not the one with tattoos )

End on Day One at Disneyworld.                                                                                                                            

Day two: Saturday we always go to the Magic Kingdom because it is open for the most hours. Why we got there before it opened, I don’t remember. Guess I read the schedule wrong. But it is fun to watch as a family from the crowd gets to “wave”  with big white Mickey gloves, as the gates open.
We go to Buz Lightyears three times and I beat Darrell every time. 

 

.  I ride the Carousel alone, twice. We are always moved by the President’s presentation
 It is a warm day and the crowd is small until about noon. 

 This little princess came from South America and her parents were very happy to have me take her picture

 Grandma and Grandpa provided Cinderella with her gown  ( often the case )

 Head to toe Aurora, waiting to board the boat to  the Grand Floridian

 A boat ride  to the Grand Floridian for dinner and the monorail back.  The GF is a beautiful hotel with fresh flowers everywhere and this year, a bride and groom were having a photo shoot.  Only took one picture of them, but it is a great place to people watch.

                               The Ceiling - four stories high, a domed crystal window

 The gardens at Epcot are amazing - huge lemon, tomatoes in the air, all conserving H 2 o 

Sunday.   Darrell read Psalm 139.
A new adventure, lunch at the Norway exhibit.  This is a fantastic smorgasbord and a character visit. So Darrell and I got our picture taken with Princess Belle and received a free 8 x 10 and four  4 x 6 copies!  Many little girls were dressed in their gowns and at the given time, they marched around the room, following all the "real" princesses.  Interesting to watch as one little girl was very upset with her food, her parents, her chair...and then along came Snow White. Night and day.  But most of the little princesses are very happy and excited.

But the reason we went, was due to Ingrid.  When we left her at the airport, she promised to make the reservations for us and we were not disappointed.  We only saw her briefly, long enough for me to tell her that I had been praying for her and the big step she is planning to take.  I left her my email address, later sent her the booklet with the book of John, but have not heard from her since.

Monday.  I have forgotten details, it is now the end of March/ April  and we went in February.  I am trying to win a laptop so I can take it along with me and make the notes as I go. 
The  Animal Kingdom has 3 favorite attractions.  The safari ride is the closest I will ever need to be to a ride in Africa.   The bird show is very fun, called “Flights of Wonder”.   It’s a Bug’s Life has a few surprises I always forget about.       That only takes ½ a day, so we have plenty of time to get back to the hotel and to the airport.

(When I took this photo I had no idea, that the little girl in the blue dress, waiting for the shuttle to the airport, would be sitting right next to me on the plane )

We say goodbye to WDW and are shuttled off to our flight.
Seated beside me, was a beautiful Cinderella.  Her other name is Autumn.  She and 12 other family members  had been to WDW for the first time. Also, for Cinderella and her  Mom, this was the first time on a plane.  I was charmed by this little girl, aged 10, in grade 5 from   Saskatoon, Canada.  We visited for a while. In between, she questioned  her mother about all the activity going on in the plane, with food service and movie options, etc.  She said the she and her sister had been to the “Bibbidi  bobbidi boutique “.  That  is where you get your hair all styled and sparkled. She looked very lovely. She said she loved music and math. She also talked about her siblings   We never  talked about the white cane she had, Autumn is blind.

Her joy was a highlight  to our trip.