Magical Days

Our Walt Disney World annual passes were due to expire March 15, and since we would be leaving the Orlando area a couple of weeks after that, there was really no point in renewing now but rather waiting until we returned at the end of the year. Of course, this meant we’d need to cram in as much time at Disney as possible over the next 5 days! Epcot’s International Flower & Garden Festival had started a couple weeks earlier with this year’s theme “Epcot Springs To Life”, and as you may recall from previous years’ posts, part of this annual event is the Flower Power Concert Series featuring entertainers from the 60s & 70s. The concerts are only held on weekends with three 35 min. performances held each night at the outdoor American Gardens Theater. This weekend featured The Guess Who (American Woman, These Eyes, No Time), with original founding member, Jim Kale (below left in the vest), and what a concert! We arrived for the middle show, stayed for the next one, and then caught the Illuminations fireworks before heading home.









The next day we didn’t arrive at Magic Kingdom until late in the day since it was open till midnight so we could catch the fireworks and one of their newest shows called “The Magic, The Memories, and You!”, which is tied in with the park’s theme this year of “Let the Memories Begin”. But first we walked around the park, caught Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, Carousel of Progress, Country Bear Jamboree, and rode a few rides including of course everyone’s favorite It’s A Small World.


It was now 8:30 and time to find a spot for watching the fireworks which would be immediately followed by “The Magic, The Memories, and You!” It was actually being shown twice that night and as we got closer to Cinderella’s Castle, we could see that the early performance was already underway so we got to see the last part of it and see what all the fuss was about. It definitely encouraged us to want to see more from the beginning! We moved to a better location, and after the fireworks, we were able to do just that…watch it from the beginning. There are 16 high-powered state-of-the-art projectors casting images from about ¼ mile away that seemingly bring the Castle to life during this 10 min. show. Nearly 500 images of guests that were taken that day by the PhotoPass photographers are the main focus but also included are video snippets and photos from Disney’s past. Though basically a 2-dimensional show, the Castle comes to life with color, dancing skeletons, bricks that seem to fall from the building, balloons that burst upwards along its face, and so much more timed to music that make it seem more 3-dimensional. Towards the end there’s a giant mosaic of all the day’s images, and the finale features a burst of fireworks that seem to start on the face of the Castle! This amazing spectacular is hard to describe and these few pictures definitely do not do it justice. We have been amazed by so much of Disney’s magic, but this is the most spectacular thing we’ve ever seen them do. It is truly a magical event that must be experienced.

Sun. we returned to Epcot early enough to see many of the topiaries during the daylight hours, and we’ll simply share a few photos with you.

We stayed long enough to catch the first two shows of The Guess Who, and since it was their last night, they seemed even more wound up! At one point lead singer, Derek, and lead guitarist, Laurie, carried the show out into the audience and up the aisle to the delight of everyone there. The Guess Who are truly master musicians and entertainers!

There were only two days left on our annual pass so we returned to Epcot late Mon. to watch the Illuminations fireworks, and then made a mad dash to catch the monorail to Magic Kingdom one last time. We arrived in time for the fireworks, another showing of “The Magic, The Memories, and You!”, the updated show at The Hall of Presidents, and some last minute rides as well as enjoying a yummy Dole Whip. We also finally used the rest of our gift cards from last year, and one of the things Russ bought was this cool shirt honoring Disney World's 40th anniversary! This was our last day at Walt Disney World as we were too tired to return to any of the parks the next day. Oh well, it’ll all be there next year!

Rhinos and Tigers and Bats...Oh My!

We finally made it over to Animal Kingdom, and what a beautiful day it was! We got there shortly after opening and made a beeline for the very popular Kilimanjaro Safaris. The sign said the wait was only 20 min. but looked longer to us, and before getting in line, we picked up Fast Passes so we could ride again without as long a wait…always a wise decision.

The animals were out in abundance especially on our first ride, and we were lucky enough to see the newest Pink-backed Pelicans in their nest, all fuzzy and white, well protected by the rest of the family in the nest. I won’t list all the animals we saw but will share a few photos including the best view we’ve ever had of the cheetahs!











After exiting Kilimanjaro, we walked next door to the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail where you’ll find birds, fish, a viewing area of the hippos underwater, meerkats, and so much more on this self-guided walking tour. Our favorite animals to see here, however, are the Lowland Gorillas. If you’re lucky, you may see a couple of them near the large observation window at one end of the enclosure, or you’ll see several of them along the trail out in the open brush. Last year right up against the window we saw the newest member of this Lowland Gorilla family, little 8-week old Lilly. We hoped to see her this year, and sure enough there she was clinging to the underbelly of her mama walking in the distance. (You can double-click on the photo above to enlarge it.) She found a spot to rest, and then Lilly was off on her own exploring…but not too far from mama’s watchful eye! She’s now a year old, and cute as ever though smaller than what we expected.

Next it was on to Maharajah Jungle Trek, another self-guided trail “through the ruins of an ancient palace inhabited by exotic animals”. Here we saw what seemed like a huge Komodo dragon, a lounging tiger, and numerous bats hanging from the trees in their enclosure…fascinating to watch!

Further down the trail was the aviary full of more birds than we’d ever seen there before...and so many colorful varieties. We must have timed our visit just right since so many were out and about. One of the most interesting was the blue-billed duck pictured at right (though the blue didn’t really come through as well in the photo as seen in person). We’d never seen anything quite like it.

After our second ride on the Kilimanjaro Safaris, we left “Africa” and headed over to “Asia” where we picked up a Fast Pass for Expedition Everest, the high-speed roller coaster (another hugely popular ride), and then walked over to catch a performance of Finding Nemo – The Musical. This original stage production is always fun to watch, and though it only lasts about 30 min., it still covers the entire story. Good songs and very cool staging, but would you expect anything less from Disney? From here it was back for our ride on Expedition Everest…we forgot just how intense this ride is!!

The park was packed so we decided to head on home for now and return another day for two of our favorites, Festival of the Lion King and It’s Tough To Be A Bug.

Full-time life in an RV isn’t much different than in a regular home. There are still repairs that need to be made on occasion, and sometimes it requires a learning process. Most of our windows have day/night shades, and once the string begins to wear (and eventually break), they don’t work so good. We had one repaired last year through a local camping store that cost us $40 just to have some guy restring it. Now we had 3 more in need of repair, and I had been researching on the internet hoping we could do it ourselves. Last week when Paul and Anne stopped by, we discovered that they had ordered a kit to try and repair one of theirs. We made plans to come by their place Sun. so we could see how it’s done. The kit had come with a learning CD, some grommets, and the required string all for $15. Paul had watched the CD before we arrived so he was ready to begin the repair when we arrived. As it turns out, it’s a much simpler process than any of us had imagined. Theirs was only a 2-string shade, and though we had one of those, we also had two 4-string shades which are a little more involved but as it turns out, not much. We borrowed their CD and went in search of the correct string. We found some masonry string at Lowe’s that we were assured by one of their associates would work just fine (he’s restrung several of these shades before). It was cheaper than ordering online and cheaper than the kit so figured we’d give it a try. If it didn’t work, we weren’t out much money and would probably order the correct stuff online since it’s nearly impossible to find in the stores. Paul and Anne made plans to come by Wed. afternoon to see how the 4-string was done, and before they arrived we repaired our 2-string shade and one of the 4-strings (thought we should be prepared before they arrived). Once again, the re-stringing was much simpler than any of us anticipated once you knew what you were doing. Hardest part was getting the shades out of the window boxes. Hmmm, maybe we’ve found a new line of work!