The House of Mouse

The whole family went to Disney World last week and had a GREAT time. The kids and grand kids have been a few times before and my first visit was in May of 2009. After that, I told Jerry he HAD to go. He wasn't crazy about the idea, but after 40 years of marriage, the man knows when to give up and give in. He enjoyed it, too, and was very impressed with it all.

The grandies were at perfect ages for it this year. Emery was finally tall enough to ride the roller coasters with Jess (and Grandpa) and all the other somewhat scary -- at least to me and Savannah -- stuff. So he was pretty much grinning from ear to ear for 4 days. His favorite was Test Track at Epcot and a close second was the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. He also enjoyed watching the filming of stunt shots for the Indiana Jones movies at Hollywood Studios. He even picked out an Indiana Jones action figures set at the gift shop and in the car on the way home, he buckled Indi into a seat belt in the back seat and told him, "Keep your arms and legs inside until the car comes to a complete stop." But he still had his favorites from before like Toy Story Mania and Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin.

Savannah had a terrific time, too. She (like me) is not at all into the big rides. So while the rest of the family went Soarin' (at Epcot) we were browsing around the gift shop. I bought her an autograph book and she was very excited to go about collecting characters' autographs the rest of the time. One of my favorite characters was Cinderella's step mother. She was dripping with condescension as she signed the autograph book and told how she was responsible for Cinderella's success. Then she pointed to Emery on the other side of the table and said to Savannah, "So, what's with your little brother there...is he married?" Savannah giggled and said he was not. Then she said, "He's kinda cute. I need to find someone for Drusilla."

And speaking of Cinderella and crew...the dinner with them was at the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. What a beautiful place!!! Inside and out. And the food was some of the best I've ever had. It was buffet style with crisp salad fixins', tender, juicy salmon, prime rib that melts in your mouth, etc. and then they brought out our "special" dessert (there were others on the buffet that Jerry had already sampled)...several scoops of ice cream with various toppings for all of us to share.

Our last night there, we went to a dinner show at the Fort Wilderness Campground. It was a lively little place and one of the cast members, a ditzy blond, named Claire duLune (or Clair the Loon...I'm unsure about the spelling) came and sat on Jerry's lap and was hugging on him. Righ...he LOVES the spotlight! :) But he was good sport.

The rest of us just enjoyed the time together, seeing the kids get so excited, the park itself, and so many "little" things...like the tornadoes in the area that missed us, catching a bus back to the resort before it started to rain, the beautiful day time temperatures, the food, etc., etc, etc. Disney World really is a "Magical" place.