We Survived The Mouse!

Well, we made it back safely from our trip to Walt Disney World in Florida with our daughter and her two girls. It was a fun trip, if tiring, and the girls had a great time, so it's all good. Here are a few of my observations about the trip*, along with the obligatory pictures ...

Florida is hot, with a capital H. It is beyond doubt the place where God stores all the heat He doesn't need anywhere else in the universe. If the official state sport isn't competitive sweating, it should be. I used sunblock, although not nearly enough, and am still limping because I managed to burn the soles of my feet on the pavement around the hotel swimming pool.

Which leads me to Bilbo's Second Law of Automotive Thermodynamics: if two children are in a hot car, one will be melting and want the air conditioner turned up as far as it will go, and the other will be freezing and want the air conditioner shut off immediately. Both will let you know this at the same time, at top volume.

The weather was beautiful almost the entire time we were there, except for the day we visited the Animal Kingdom. I needed to take Agnes back to the hotel, and on the way there we were treated to a tremendous deluge of nearly biblical proportions ... it was raining so hard I couldn't see to drive, and I knew we were in trouble when we were passed on the interstate by an ark. It was so bad that we gave up and just went back to the park ... where our daughter informed us that it hadn't rained at all! Next time, I'll pay the extra surcharge for a rental car with oarlocks and lifeboats.

We had four-day passes to the various parks that constitute Disney World, and still weren't able to visit everything. We hit the Magic Kingdom, the Disney Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and Disney's Animal Kingdom, all of which were wonderful, although the Animal Kingdom had the most shade (refer back to that comment about the heat, above). Agnes and I had one of the employees take a picture of us there ...

On the first day at the Magic Kingdom, I was trying to squeeze into a small patch of shade while waiting for the ladies to come back from one of the rides. Suddenly, a group of Disney characters in costume came running up to me, shouting "Here's Waldo!! We found him!! We've been looking EVERYWHERE for him, and here he is!!" while they ran in circles around me and pointed as other onlookers clapped and took pictures. That's positively the last time I wear a red-and-white striped shirt to a Disney park ...

One of the things my daughter wanted to do was ride the "Twilight Zone Tower of Terror" at the Hollywood Studios park. We got there early enough that we breezed right in without having to wait in an interminable line, and all five of us did the ride ... which is indeed terrifying. The downside was that we only thought to bring a change of clothes for the children ... here are my daughter Yasmin and I, with Leya and Elise, after surviving the Tower of Terror. You will note that I am posing behind the stroller so as to hide my soiled pants ...

If you visit Epcot, be sure to look for the tea kiosk across from the China pavilion. It sells a concoction that consists of half coffee and half tea, mixed with a generous dollop of whiskey and topped with whipped cream. Yasmin and I both agreed that it was one of the high points of the day.

Of course, Disney is all about movie characters, particularly princesses. Leya and Elise bought autograph books, and over the course of our four days in the various parks, they met and collected the autographs of luminaries like Snow White ...

Cinderella ...

Belle (from "Beauty and the Beast") ...

Aladdin and Jasmine ...

Mulan ...

and many others, including Minnie Mouse ...

and Rafiki (from "The Lion King") ...

My daughter managed to arrange reservations for us at one of the "Dinner with the Princesses" seatings, and Leya and Elise got all dressed up to meet with their favorite princesses over dinner (you saw their beautiful dresses in some of the pictures above).

I even made a new friend at the Epcot Center's Norwegian section ...

We didn't stay at one of the Disney Resorts, but at a hotel a few miles down the road, which had a wonderful pool ...

I did have a little trouble with some of the local fauna, though (Leya arranged and took this picture!) ...

In addition to our time at Disney World, we were able to wedge in a visit with my brother Mark and his family, who live in Kissimmee and who we haven't seen in seven years. This is Mark and I with his children, Danny and Valerie ...

And so ...

We spent far too much money, sweated off enough weight to create at least two new people, took many hundreds of pictures, and had a great time watching our grandchildren have a wonderful experience.

But I think I'll wait a few years before doing it again. Maybe about 20 or 30.

Have a good day, fellow Mouseketeers. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

* Those of you who are my friends on Facebook may already have seen some of what's coming. Sorry about that.