A New Adventure - Disney College Program Internship

Last Thursday, Lauren began a new adventure.  She had been accepted into the Disney College Program in October, and she packed up her car and was on her way to live and work at Walt Disney World!

Thankfully, I got to tag along! Our adventure began!  

We stayed the first night in Frisco, TX, eating at our favorite Mexican food place, Pappasitos.  We stayed at relative's house, so that was nice.  We were trying to get into their garage, knowing that their key pad was a little temperamental. After about 10-12 tries, though, we realized we were at the neighbors house! No wonder it wasn't working!! That was the first of many laughs along the trip!

In Mississippi, Lauren commented how the police lights on their cars were pretty....all blue.  A little bit later, we were in some traffic and all of a sudden, the many cars in front of us stopped abruptly!  Lauren managed to miss the car in front of us, but the guy behind us didn't' miss us.  We had to stop for a little while, until the police came and filed a report.  I told Lauren it was her fault because she liked those pretty lights!  

Her car wasn't too messed up...just a few problems on the back bumper. The guys car (which was his girlfriend's!) got it much worse.  We were on the road again in about 30 minutes.  

We made it to Tallahassee that night, then to Disney World the next day!

That first night we had reservations at the Boardwalk resort.  It was so neat because we hadn't ever been to that area of Disney World!  We walked the Boardwalk and ate Italian food.

Lauren posed on the Beach around the Boardwalk on the Beach Club Resort area.

We stayed at the Port Orleans French Quarter Resort. I'm not crazy about Mardi Gras decor, myself, but I love "The Princess and the Frog" and Disney makes ANYTHING fun, whether that's your favorite thing or not! This was a GREAT resort!   The street lamps and names, plus the buildings' designs, gave it a homey feel.

One of Lauren's roommates for the College Program was actually staying at the same resort as us, so we met her and her parents the day we got there.  We met the others for breakfast on Monday morning before she moved in.  We all caravanned to check in!

 While the girls were in their check-in, they found out where they were going to be living.  They got their #1 choice!! Yay!!  We hung out at the parent's info area.

Disney had it all organized superbly...just as expected!

 The girls were back with us in about an hour and we moved them in.

After many loads and trips, everything was in the apartment.  Of course, we had to stop for another group photo in front of their new home!

These girls found each other through the College Program Facebook page, so had their plan to room together early on.  Many arrivals didn't have anything worked out in advance. They were just put together with roommates on the day of arrival. We were thankful for social media and God bringing these girls together!

 One of the girls brought this cute Minnie Mouse stuff for the bathroom.

 One made lots of homemade decorations, like this cute table runner with appliquéd Mickey heads.  They all contributed to decorations.

Lauren made them all decorated initial letters for their area of the room. She asked each of them their favorite Disney things and colors, then decoupaged those items onto their letter, along with a scripture and their name.  Everything was looking great last time I saw the apartment.  Lauren's bed area wasn't done quite yet, so I'm anxious to see it when it is!

After unloading everything, and before one of the parents and a sibling had to go, one of the dads had us join in a circle and pray for the girls.  It was so special....and teary!  I love the fact that these girls have grown up in homes where faith is important.  They each love God and Jesus and are planning to do Bible studies together.  What a wonderful thing!!  It's a comfort to us parents.

I flew home early yesterday morning, having to leave the resort at 3:40 a.m.  I was so thankful to be home, even though I know it will be mid-May before I see Lauren again.

I'm excited for this new adventure for her and her roommates!  They begin official training in Disney's Traditions today.  It will be a special time.

Lauren will be working at Epcot in the American part of World Showcase.  She's proud to be representing America in this way!  What a wonderful new adventure awaits her!

Happy Together

Our family was gone for two weeks during Christmas break.  It was the longest we had ever been gone at one time.  We went to Disney World (WDW), but this time, instead of flying, we decided to drive.  Driving, of course, adds several days to a trip when you're 23 hours away from your destination.  But, we're glad we drove this time.  You see lots of things when you drive - things you can't see from high up in the air.  Seeing God's beautiful creation all across several states is always a treat!

My favorite thing I was excited to see was palm trees!  This is a picture of my husband and I in Pensacola, FL, where we stayed the first night.  The Gulf of Mexico is in the background.  It was COLD that morning!

We added a special thing to our regular WDW tickets this time: Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. For this party, guests must purchase a separate park ticket.  Upon entering the "party" at Magic Kingdom, we were given special wrist bands that signified you were part of the "party". We attended the Friday, December 22, 2012, party - which was the final night of the event.  It was a lot of fun!

Party guests were served "free" hot chocolate and cookies throughout the night.  Since it was the coldest night of the trip, the hot chocolate warmed us up well!  I loved the little holly bow ties the Disney guys wore!

We rent a house, but couldn't get into the house until Saturday afternoon. A friend told us about this place.  Using our AAA membership, we got a great deal on a suite for one night.  It had a little kitchenette, three beds and a couch bed, too.  It would be a great place to stay at Kissimmee, if you're ever going that way.

We had lots of time to spare on Saturday, so we headed to Downtown Disney to look around.  It gave the kids time to go to the Christmas store there and begin picking out their yearly ornament.  I let them pick whatever they want because some day it will be theirs to take to their own homes.  The very first year I picked them out as a surprise for them.  To save space, we had the ornaments mailed to us. They should arrive this week.  Each ornament is personalized, as well.

To make the time go a little faster, my husband decided to rent a little boat for 30 minutes.  It really was a lot of fun!  Christmas music was blaring on the boat's radio and a skywriting plane was writing sweet messages about God and Jesus!  That is something that is always an inspiration when we are in Florida.  There is a skywriting plane doing that EVERY DAY!  Very, very neat!

We got to our house Saturday afternoon, went shopping for groceries, decorated a little for Christmas, and the kids enjoyed playing in the game room of the house.  

Sunday morning we drove to worship in Kissimmee and that evening we had a family worship time together.  The next Sunday we worshipped in a hotel.  It was AMAZING!  

The Orlando church of Christ sponsors the Main Gate church of Christ inside of the Baymont Inn & Suites in Kissimmee.  Each Sunday one of their elders/shepherd and one or two deacons attending the services held at the hotel. The preacher is always a guest from somewhere, who has been selected by the Orlando elders/shepherds via their website process.  The lowest attendance they had ever had was eight, I think. The highest had be 105 people, BUT on Sunday, December 30, there were 145 people there for worship!  We met people from 7 or 8 different states!  It was wonderful to worship with so many others who were vacationing,  but still took the time to worship God.  WHAT AN INSPIRATION!  What a great work the Orlando church is doing for others!

(Cinderella's Castle all lit up!)

Many years ago, I remember listening to a marriage/family seminar on tape.  It was the Breechen and Faulkner series.  Maybe you've heard them, yourself.  I remember Mr. Faulkner saying how great family vacations were - specifically he mentioned camping trips.  Mr. Faulkner was right.  Family vacations are wonderful.  You don't have to spend lots of money.  You don't have to drive to Florida.  What is important is that you spend time together.  Really together.  For our family, it takes going away somewhere to be really together.  If we stay home, there is too much to do to be together totally.  It's hard to say no to things when you're at home.  Getting away - far away - is very nice and very needed for us.

Someone teased that our 14 day trip was a lot of "together time".  I joked back that on days 10 - 14 we got on each others nerves.  That wasn't totally true, because after I thought about it, it was only days 10 and 11!!! (ha ha!).  Yes, there was one day we were tired and cranky and even tired of the togetherness.  BUT, it didn't last long and we got some rest and all was good again.  We had some GREAT conversations with our kids.  It was fun just relaxing and playing and seeing great things.  We ate some really good food - both purchased at restaurants and also prepared at our rental home.

This morning my  mind is humming the Carpenter's song, "Happy Together".  Our family time during Christmas break was just that:  A "Happy Together" time.  What great memories we'll have of Christmas Vacation 2012!!!  

Thank you, God, for the wonderful blessing of family and the time we had together during our vacation.

Walt Disney World - Magic Kingdom

Okay.....so I'm getting another Disney World post in and then will save the final one (Animal Kingdom) for next week.

Fall is my favorite time of year, and even though the temperatures and humidity in Florida didn't feel like fall at the time, Disney World "felt" like fall because of the decor.  It was beautiful!

The Mickey's head jack-o-lanterns were the center of each wreath down Main Street USA.  They glowed at night.  I don't have a good picture of it, but as you were leaving "See Ya Real Soon" was also cut out of pumpkins and glowing over the top of the exit!

I got my picture taken with Mickey and Minnie for the very first time.  I was just as excited as a little kid!  My hair doesn't care for humidity, so it's all frizzed out and in a pony tail, of sorts!

For our last table service meal, using the Disney Dining Plan (DDP), Lauren and I decided to ride the monorail to one of the resorts.  We made reservations at the Kona Cafe at the Polynesian Resort.

I have to show you my dessert, first!  It was a white chocolate cheesecake with whipped topping and strawberry sauce swirled around.  The two long strips are white chocolate and then Mickey head sprinkles.  It was delicious and beautifully served!

Lauren's meal was a burger and fries.....pretty normal, but very tasty, she said.

My meal doesn't look very pretty on the plate, but the Panko-crusted chicken was delicious!  It had a coconut mango flavor.  The sticky rice was plain, but I really liked it.  The macaroni salad was good, but to me, doesn't go with the meal.  I learned in Home Economics class that you MUST have something green on your plate for a "proper" plate.  I suppose that is what the lime is for....although I could have used the juice for extra flavor, I suppose.

Lauren's dessert was a Kona Kone.  It's huge!  She didn't eat it all.

Oh, and it was so nice to be able to get close to the castle without such a large crowd around!

This was a new addition to the night time festivities...in-between the electrical parade and the fireworks.  They show pictures of people ON the castle while music is playing, then a computer-generated facade is put on top of the castle, making it look pencil drawn, crayon colored, and all kinds of things.  Such a great show!

And, of course......the beautiful fireworks show!

Leaving Main Street USA is just as beautiful as entering, although when it's your last night at the parks, it's a little bit sad!

The best part of this trip to WDW was getting to spend time with my daughter, Lauren - just she and I.  She's a junior and will be gone from home before long.  Thank you to my husband for this special trip for the two of us!  It was wonderful!

I think my three boys enjoyed us being away and them getting to spend time with their dad - just the four of them.  Just a few days ago, one of them said, "Dad, can you send Lauren and mom on a trip again some time so we can have fun together?"  Yeah, "Dad", can you???? :)  Lauren and I would go for it, too!

Walt Disney World - Epcot

Before I post about Disney World, I wanted to share with you this little devotional thought about worrying:

“Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere.” - Glen Turner

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Matthew 6:25-26

Now......on to Epcot!

In yesterday's post, I told you that my daughter and I went to Walt Disney World in a different way this past weekend. Different meaning it was only us two and that we stayed on Disney property. It was also different in that for the first day, instead of going to Magic Kingdom, we went to Epcot. The main reason we did this was because of the Extra Magic Hours.

If you're not familiar with what those are, it is extra hours - either in the morning or at night - that Disney Resort guests are able to be in the parks when the general public is not. One of the four main parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, or Hollywood Studios) has either extra morning or extra evening hours every day. It's a great way to get to do more within each park and for us, during this time of year, made it where the lines weren't as long (they really weren't bad anyway, since September is typically a "down" month).

Another different thing about the trip was that my husband bought us a Disney Dining Plan (known as DDP).  The DDP was very simple. Our plan included a table service meal, a quick service meal, and a snack.  In the past our family had only done character meals (where the dressed up Disney characters come to your table while you eat and sign autograph books and pose for pictures) and just quick meals.  Having a rental house, many of our meals were cooked/eaten in the house.  But not this time!

Our very first table service meal was at Epcot's "Via Napoli".  Neither my daughter or I were sure what to order, but we just decided on something that 'sounded' good.  Let me tell you:  It was DELICIOUS!  The pictures don't make a big statement at all....just looks like regular Italian food, but the taste was anything but regular and simple.  So very flavorful!  We both thought the dishes were great!

Lauren got spaghetti and meatballs, which were probably called something else on the menu (pictured below).

I ordered some kind of cream sauce (didn't say Alfredo, but it was close) with Rigatoni and chicken.  YUM!

Dessert was good, as well.  Lauren got a pistachio, lemon gelato with an almond brittle cookie thing.  She really liked it, though it wasn't anything I would have ordered.

My dessert was an Italian cream soda with vanilla gelato.  So delicious!  What a super first meal using the DDP! 

Epcot is beautiful in the day time, but it is even more beautiful at night.  Just look as the ball is beginning to reflect on the pond.  Isn't that pretty??

An the nighttime spectacular showing of "Illuminations" is a must see on a trip to Epcot.  The music, fireworks, videos, and other special effects are magical.  This summer my sister and her family asked if I thought it was worth staying for.  I insisted that it most certainly was.  Afterwards she agreed.  It was one of their favorite parts of their trip, too!  So, if you're heading to Disney World anytime soon - don't skip Illuminations!

Next post:  Hollywood Studios!

Walt Disney World in a Different Way

I've posted about Disney World (WDW)a few times before, but never in this way.  This way was different....a lot different.  First of all, it was different because it was just my daughter and I on the trip. (See THIS post to hear about my "gift" from my husband.)  On our other two trips to WDW all six of us went, so only having two people was a lot different.

Lauren and I left Oklahoma Thursday after school and headed to Dallas to spend the night before taking an early flight to Orlando Friday morning.  Another different part of this trip was actually staying on Disney property - Animal Kingdom Lodge (Jambo House).  Our family usually rents a home for our stay, but since there were only two of us and also because Disney was running a discounted special during Feb./March when the package was ordered, my husband got us booked at the lodge.  What fun!

The lodge was beautiful!  The perks of being on Disney property are definitely worth consideration.  For example.....our luggage was checked in at DFW airport in Dallas, then we never saw it again until it was actually in our room at the lodge! Our carry-on baggage was stored by the bell hop while we headed out to Epcot.  Our room wasn't quite ready because we arrived in Orlando so early, but within 30 minutes, we received a text saying that it was ready!

 Of course everything Disney does is over-the-top, so it was no surprise that inside of the lodge was just amazingly beautiful!  Waking up and looking out over our savanna view was great.  There were giraffe's not too far away and we watched as the workers feed them and talked to them.  It was kind of funny listening to a giraffe smack leaves and strip them from the stem!

A Mickey Mouse head was on one of the beds when we arrived back "home" each day.  So cute!

Can you see the tiny Mickey shaped heads in the material on the bedding??  It was also on the carpet in the hallways and on the shower curtain.  You really didn't notice it unless you studied the individual pieces of material.

The bright colors made the room feel like you were truly in another place.....like the African Savanna it was portraying.

The lodge had a big swimming pool that many guests were taking advantage of.  We didn't have time to use it during our stay.  In fact, we had to make time to even go around and explore and take pictures outside of the lodge.

 

That is something to think about when deciding to stay on Disney property or not.....Will you actually be taking advantage of all the resort has to offer? Will you have enough time? If not, maybe it wouldn't be worth the extra money to stay at a resort. On the other hand, with the resort stay, you don't need a rental car. You just use the Disney buses to get where you are going.

I'm not sure how many rooms are in the Jambo House part of Animal Kingdom Lodge, but our room was in the 2,000 section, so there are a LOT of rooms!

Tomorrow I'll talk more about the Disney Dining Plan.  Unfortunately, we weren't able to (or didn't feel like we were able to, because of time.) eat at any of the Animal Kingdom Lodge restaurants. We left out really early each morning and got back late from the parks - taking advantage of the Extra Magic Hours....a wonderful perk of being a resort guest.  The Animal Kingdom restaurants are rated as some of the top ones in all of the Disney Resorts and Parks.  This menu is from the restaurant, Jiko.

Okay.  So now we're all checked in and I've given you a view of the Animal Kingdom Lodge.  Now, it's time to "Let the Memories Begin!"  I'll share more WDW pictures and information with you tomorrow!