Catching up

Where to begin?  I guess I should report on my mother-in-law Arden… she is still in a nursing home and not making much if any progress at all.  She wants to go home but is still unable to take care of herself at all, can not walk and can barely do anything.  Prayers still appreciated there.

And as I said in my last post, ten whole days ago, John said we needed to get away and get away we did.  We left Friday morning for our Disney vacation slightly postponed.  Our drive the first day was nice, not too much traffic and no wet stuff at all.  We didn’t rush to get on the road the next morning, we were taking a relaxing vacation, and I tried to stick to that schedule the whole trip. 

We stopped at our favorite BBQ place for lunch and then hit the road again, arriving in time for dinner before checking into our room.  We were supposed to be in Jamaica at the Caribbean Resort, but there wasn’t room for us there, so we were moved to Aruba.  It would have been fun to be in Jamaica because Mike and Kelly were headed there on their honeymoon, the real Jamaica that is.

The next morning we were off to the park, our first one was Hollywood Studios.  We started off with breakfast, John had to have his coffee and well we both needed to eat something, we had late lunch or early dinner reservations.  The Starring Rolls Café had just what we needed, and even available seating which was nice.  After that we waited in line for Toy Story Mania, long line but worth the wait.  I actually managed to beat John’s score and had a fun time doing it! 

We did the Studio Backlot Tour and didn’t get wet and then decided to see Lights, Motors, Action!  It wasn’t as loud as I thought it would be and kind of fun to watch.  Then we went to see how long the line was for Muppet*Vision 3-D, too long, so we checked in at Mama Melrose's, our favorite place to eat in Hollywood.  We had about a 20 minute wait and then were seated in the exact same spot we had two years ago, and had the same waiter too!  Lunch was delicious and filled me up for the rest of the day.

After we ate we got in line for the Muppets then meandered over to Fantasmic!  We had special seating as a part of our dinner package and got seats right smack in the center, something we’d never managed to do before.The show was great as always.

When it was over we headed to see the The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights  WOW is all I can say, I think it gets better every year. 

Now let me say one thing here… if you don’t like crowds you should avoid Disney World the week before and after Christmas.  I don’t and will admit to having more than one panic attack despite the magical pink pills the Doctor gave me.  At one point on the way out of the park after seeing the lights I thought I was going to be crushed by the crowds… John made sure I wasn’t. 

The next morning when we finally got up we headed to the Magic Kingdom.  After a yummy breakfast snack we got in line for Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin.  John was looking for revenge for me beating him the day before.  I let him win, and concentrated on taking photos.. not each in a spinning car… however that’s my fault, I kept it spinning to keep his score low, LOL!  After that ride we headed to see Laugh Floor.  If you haven’t seen this, I think it’s a must.  Characters from Monsters, Inc. do an interactive comedy show which includes members of the audience and can be quite a good laugh. 

Next was Pirates of the Caribbean but the line was too long for my comfort so we skipped it and went instead to the Enchanted Tiki Room.  Yes it’s old, but it’s still enjoyable to us. 

Then we found good seats to view Mickey's Once Upon A Christmastime Parade and then just kind of wandered around looking for short lines.We found one at the Laugh Floor, so went in to see it again.Yes, it is that funny to us, but it depends on the audience.

 

We had dinner reservations at Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary Resort so we hopped on the Monorail and checked in for dinner.  We had a short wait, less than ten minutes and were soon enjoying the buffet.  (Yes, Chef Mickey’s is expensive, but not if you are on the dining plan and the food has always been good there) 

 I even got a special birthday cup cake during the “celebration” and got kisses from Mickey himself as well as Minnie, Donald and Pluto. 

 After dinner we headed back to the Magic Kingdom to see the Electrical Parade and when it was over we headed back to our rooms… too tired to wait for the Nighttime Spectacular fireworks.  However, we got to see the air fireworks from Epcot at our resort when we got back there. 

More to come, next post!