Disney part 2

Two nights I began writing about our Disney vacation last week and I am settled at 10:20 to blog some more.  I did have a busy day with errands this morning, the doctor's appointment, and a trip to Pensacola Cordova Mall to pick up an order.

I've said this before - as do most retired people - HOW DID I HAVE TIME TO WORK?

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We ate lunch at The Plaza - the end of main street in the Magic Kingdom.  You get lots of food for a good price.  (Mom and I shared a Plaza Club and had plenty to eat.)  Get reservations!

Dad loves his chocolate shakes.

On the monorail, and again, Mom is cold but everyone else is comfy.  

In the Floridian listening to an incredible dance band. Oh my gosh, the intonation and balance was superb.  

Here is the band in the balcony.  They have bands/orchestras every day.  It is a pleasure to enjoy this fine music while relaxing your tired feet.

I had read, IF you asked - and IF you were lucky - and IF they have any left you could get the DVC slider for free for your Magic Bands.  They secure the band so that it will not drop off.  In case you are not a Disney World visitor you may not realize that everyone now gets a Magic Band in the choice of your favorite color.  There is an electronic chip that opens your room door, lets parks recognize you park ticket, and it can also charge on your chosen credit card - if you wish.

Tikki Birds - I think.

Waiting for the African Safari.  That was wonderful.  We enjoyed it so much and that is amazing since we live next to a zoo and see animals all the time. 

I will tell you, not only do these look like the real safari trucks but that bounce and bump like them too.  

Just a few shots from the safari.   White rhino.   We see these in our zoo.  (No they are not white.)

We do not have elephants here at the Gulf Breeze Zoo and they have quite a few.  They are so beautiful and all the space in the world to roam.

Termite mounds.  No thank you.

We had to stop and wait while several giraffes crossed the road.   Slowly.  Very slowly.   No hurry at all!

Next is the show FLIGHTS OF WONDER.  It is all about birds and they are trained to fly certain routes but are not asked to do silly things like riding bikes, etc.....    The show is so respectful of the animals and wanting us to respect their needs.   Bald Eagle - one very beautiful bird.

The owl flew over us and I could feel the air move from his wings.

Now, the show was about a travel guide that is afraid of birds.  Of course, by the end of the show she absolutely loves the birds.  But she pretends to get frightened during the show and run off the stage.  Whose lap does she end up in?  Yep!  My Dad!

This was so cute and funny.  Mom loved it!

Are we tired and done with our Disney Blog????  NO!   I have part three to put together yet.  

These two might look tired but we are just resting up for our next park.  

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Yes, I absolutely love Disney World and Mom and Dad have a great time.  They are 81 and 82 years old and are all over the parks.  And I do know some people don't get it but there are thousands and thousands and thousands  of us out these that believe what Walt started is magical!   We met people from many different countries that flew here just to spend two weeks at Disney World.

So, now with our DVC, we will be back in September.  I can't wait!

It is getting late - and as they say at the Polynesian....ALOHA!

Disney World 1-2016

Yes, this is me thinking.

I thought about how to approach this blog........and decided to start with a short explanation.  We now belong to the DVC (Disney Vacation Club which is their timeshare.)  The decision took several weeks of study but I realized the pros SO outweigh the cons with becoming a member.  

Last Monday we headed for Disney World and stayed in our home resort - the Polynesian.  We chose the Polynesian because:

• We LOVE that resort.
• It is on the monorail system.
• You can easily walk to the ticket and transportation area.
• Largest DVC rooms in Disney World.
• They were offering a lower cost of points for a short period of time - saved me money!
• Small enough that walking around the outside of the resort is a short walk.
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The first stop is at Best Friends on Disney Property.  Their kennel is cheaper for me to leave Kacey than the one at our vet.  But I like that she is minutes away IF there is a problem.  Yes, it is pretty fancy for the dogs.  After all, they are on vacation too!!

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Then on to the Polynesian.  Loved our room and the view.  We could see the Castle from the grounds and I could sit on our couch and watch fireworks from the patio windows.  

The room included a kitchenette.  Sink, toaster, coffee pot, microwave, fridge, and dishes.

Couch opens to a bed and was pretty comfortable.  Let's face it, the bed is the most comfy way to go but I give that to Mom and Dad.

Two bathrooms -  one with stool, tub, and sink.   The other with sink and an incredible walk in shower with the rain style shower head.  I was hooked!

The next two pictures were cool.  Looks like a pretty chest.  But when you pull on the drawer it opens into a twin bed.   Best for kids but an adult could sleep on it.  Just watch your head when getting up in the morning.

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We grabbed a tasty lunch at the Polynesian and headed off for the Magic Kingdom.  The weather was great.  Don't judge by my Mom with a hood on her head.   She is ALWAYS cold.  And if she is not cold, she is too hot.  But she has a great time.

It wasn't really crowded but I always think in January it should have less people.  But we never waited in line.  The most exciting part of the Magic Kingdom was that they still had the Christmas decorations up.   Even the ice cycles on the castle. I had not seen this before and was in awe of the beauty of the holiday decorations.  

The next day we began our day at Magic Kingdom and every single Christmas decoration was down - gone - holiday finished!!!!  I have read that putting up decorations and taking down all happens at night with a full work force but how amazing to see this change in person.

 

 Dancing in the Polynesian.

Mom looking like Hawaiian royalty.  

Castle on Tuesday evening and afternoon.

I have lots more but it is getting late.  After this week at Disney, I know the correct decision was made financially to buy into DVC.  The room we had would of been approx. $500.00 a night and we could never afford that sort of luxury.  

See Ya Real Soon!!!!

The Holidays

TO THE TUNE "Oh, Christmas Tree"

Oh holidays, oh holidays,

     you went by too fast.

Oh Holidays, we welcomed you,
   Our doors were trimmed with decor from the past....
   

Our trees were trimmed and would sparkle and shine,

   with precious ornaments cherished like fine wine.

Our manger scene was displayed for all,

And a Church made by Grandpa with a steeple tall.

Oh Holidays it's been so fun,

     But sadly the holidays are done.

Enough of me trying to make up words to a song at 11:00 pm
I am including some pictures of our Christmas display outside.  Dad worked so hard on this.....even making a Church.  Tomorrow we will beginning the process of taking it all down.  

These pictures do not do it justice.   The lights around the house are not on, neither are the deer and manger lights.  It is beautiful!   A great memory of the 2015 Christmas in Gulf Breeze, Florida.
     Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Family, Shopping, The Gulf Breeze Zoo, and Gifts,

It is December 27.  What to do?  Check the Christmas sales and use the Beall's bucks.  We are completely ready for next Christmas with paper, bows, boxes, bags, and name tags.   Matter of fact, we have enough to last for 10 years!   It is just that if I see paper the is exceptionally beautiful, I must buy!!

We ate lunch at Subway - trying for healthy food again.  And I don't want to taste turkey for awhile.  I have forced myself to eat turkey sandwiches to not waste it but one can only eat so much turkey and then you want something with more kick to it.

Today it rains again with strong winds but we are fine.  It is still warm and humid.

There was only one activity I would of loved to have attended during the Christmas season and that is Winterfest in downtown Pensacola.  You ride a trolley and there are 11 stops with short performances.  For example, one is Polar Express, one stop is of course - SANTA CLAUSE and more.  Maybe next year we can attend.  It sounds so festive and fun.  But I am not complaining because we were so busy and had fun.

Christmas Gifts  

 Did we give and get Christmas gifts!

Some gifts we gave each other (5 of us and 2 dogs included)
Shirts, sweatshirts, jeans, crock pot, sandwich maker, Bath Works lotions, remote helicopter, makeup mirror, adult coloring books, food processor, gift cards for Walmart, Lowes, and Disney,  bones, doggy treats, doggy toys.
But we all agree, the best gift was that we were all together for the week to celebrate Christmas and enjoy each other!

 ZOO

One of the gifts Mom and Dad received is an annual zoo pass to the zoo.  So we went to the zoo on Sunday.  Here are some of the pictures. I took.   We only visited 1/3 of the zoo - more to come later.  I am sad to say that two of my favorites - Andrew and Patrick Chimpanzees have been moved to the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.  They do sign language - eyes, nose, ears, touch wrist for time to eat, head, ears, wave goodbye and more.  

Pretty Pink Flamingos

  Black Swans - they mate for life.

He can look out for food better from up here.

These guys are so entertaining.  Hmmmm....... but he looks grouchy today.

Natures perfection.

So gentle you can have a two year old feed them.

Having fun at the zoo.

Beautiful tigers.  The size of their paws is unbelievable! 

This silly guy wants a flower out of his reach.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas 1015

It has been so long since I have written on my blog that I am anxious to get pictures and stories up.    In November for Thanksgiving we had a large group of the Thomas/Kaiser/Basala  Family here. We had so much fun and so much food. Matter of fact I think we had a pie for each person that was here. After Thanksgiving Sandy, mom, dad, and I went to Disney World which was our first trip as Disney vacation club members. Wonderful time and  I am very confident that buying into DVC was the right decision.   Before we had left in early December to Disney, we have all the Christmas lights on in front of the house and the tree was finished in the house. Our neighbors have an equal amount of lights up so we have about five  or six houses together that are very festive for the holiday season.   Once home, we finished decorating the inside of the house and mom and I concentrated on shopping for Christmas. My brothers Dave and Ron came in a week before Christmas from Indiana and spent a whole week here. We had so much fun went to the movies to see the Star Wars movie,  we had so much fun went to the movies to see the Star Wars movie,  drove north of Milton to see a farm with the wind your fall holiday lights. This far muscle big that you drove your car through the light displays. I spent a whole day shopping with David  and Ron and we ate lunch at a restaurant in historic Pensacola that I have wanted to stop at for five years. 

 Mom and dad celebrated they are 62nd anniversary On Christmas Eve.  Yes, they were married on Christmas Eve.    Dad only had one week off from the Navy so Christmas eve was it. We ran over to the beach on Christmas Day and by the way all week long it was in the mid 70s But cloudy with fog. Christmas Day was supposed to be sunny but the fog was thick and the waves were very big.

 Well, this is it for now. I can't upload pictures to the blog from my iPad right now and for some reason the computer in the family room does not want to recognize my  iPhone where all these pictures are located. Very frustrating when nothing wants to work. Maybe it's all that fog. Well I hope everyone had as wonderful of Christmas as we did.   

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.