Not just for college girls

All the college girls have these cute Vera Bradley zip ID cases, and I wanted one too. I don't need to worry about having a college ID at hand, but while I was at WDW, I wanted to be able to easily access my park pass and credit cards without taking forever to hunt around in my fake Prada shoulder bag.

The gift shop at the Swan had lots of Vera Bradley bags and accessories. I was torn between the case I bought in the Totally Turq pattern and another one in Paprika. At $10 each, I should have bought them both, but I only needed one -- I hate it when I'm practical. :(

Life is what happens when you're making other plans

After my Space Mountain adventure, George and I went to the Marketplace at Downtown Disney for dinner. We hadn't decided where we wanted to eat, but we had lots of options. We walked around for a little bit and finally settled on Cap'n Jack's for seafood.

George ordered salmon Alfredo and I chose jumbo lump crab cakes. We also ordered a cup of New England clam chowder to share. The chowder was excellent, probably as good as the chowder at Legal Seafood (which is saying a lot!). My entree was very good -- two large crab cakes, perfectly browned, and a good size serving of roasted potato wedges, all artfully drizzled with a Creole mustard sauce. I also had six beautiful spears of tender-crisp green asparagus. I love asparagus! Everything was delicious and my portions were so generous that I shared almost half of my dinner with George, except for the asparagus which I greedily kept for myself.

After dinner we walked around for a bit before we caught the bus back to our resort. I didn't feel the greatest, but I thought maybe it was just because I had eaten too much (I should have shared more of my dinner with George, but it was all sooo good!).

At 3:45 a.m. I woke up to the horrible realization that I was going to be sick. Unfortunately my illness was not to be a "one and done" episode, as I continued to be sick the rest of the night and all of the next day.

Before George left for the day, he filled up both of our mugs with Sprite and brought me back a banana and a croissant. Outside the sun was shining and it was a perfect 72 degrees, but I was destined to spend that beautiful day in the hotel room. :(

Tuesday was the day I had planned to go to Hollywood Studios. George would be out late at a team dinner and the park was open late for resort guests. I wouldn't have to worry about hurrying back to meet him for dinner and it would be my only opportunity to see the Fantasmic nighttime spectacular. I guess the title of this post says it all -- life is what happens when you're making other plans. Hollywood Studios would have to wait for another day.

Would you pay $14.95 for this mug?

George and I did. In fact we bought two mugs -- that's $30 worth of plastic. I know, it's really $29.90, but I'm pretty sure we had to pay tax, so actually it's even more than $30. It's not that we thought the mugs were that cute (they're pretty basic), but once we paid for the mugs, all of our fountain drinks and coffee and tea were free. That seemed like a pretty good deal. George was able to grab some coffee in the morning before he headed out to Lotusphere and I could have all the Sprite I wanted, which would prove to be very important on Tuesday.

Man does not live by theme parks alone

Throughout the years that he's attended Lotusphere, George has enjoyed lots of fabulous food. During that same period of time, I jealously listened to him describe delicious meals with co-workers while I fixed chicken nuggets and mac and cheese for the kids. That was about to change.

Sunday evening George had a meet and greet at the beach area at the Swan, so I wandered around the property, checked out the gift shop, and talked with Elizabeth on my cell until it was time for our 7:30 reservation at Il Mulino, an upscale Italian restaurant. George had eaten there before and he said it was excellent . . . he was right.

The hostess showed us to our table. As I sat down, she removed the white napkin from the table in front of me and handed me a menu. She did the same for George, except she placed his napkin back down on the table and then she walked away with mine. Hmmm, what gives? I said to George, "she just walked off with my napkin." So, he reached over to the empty table next to us and grabbed one for me. Problem solved. We were looking over the menu when I glanced up and saw the hostess walking towards our table carrying a black napkin, which she presented to me. She had noticed I was wearing dark slacks and brought the black napkin so I wouldn't get white lint on my pants. Obviously George and I haven't been dining at any top notch restaurants recently.

Our server brought a basket of warm crusty bread and an amuse bouche of marinated eggplant. We shared a salad of mixed greens, fennel, carrots, and red onions in a light vinaigrette. George chose the special -- striped bass with butternut squash puree and herbed gnocchi. I opted for Bucatini Amatriciana -- bucatini pasta with rendered pancetta and onions in a marinara sauce. The serving was extremely generous and I was only able to eat half of it. At the end of the meal we were both full enough that we regretfully passed on dessert.

It really is magic

Tomorrowland is so much fun!

I really like the focus on the future and action of Tomorrowland. I even enjoy the slow (some would say boring) pace of the Carousel of Progress. Stitch's Great Escape! is just scary enough and Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor is hilarious. This visit one of my favorite attractions was Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin.

Buzz Lightyear -- what a man! . . . errr, toy.

While I wasn't quite an outer space sharpshooter, I did manage to score a respectable 111,000 points to earn the rank of Interplanetary Pilot.

Of course, my all-time favorite Tomorrowland attraction is Space Mountain. My love for Space Mountain dates all the way back to last century, Spring Break 1978 to be exact.

The sign says Space Mountain, but on the day I visited the Magic Kingdom, it almost changed to Disappointment Mountain. Even though I picked up a fast pass practically as soon as I entered the park, my entry time for the ride was between 5:10 p.m. and 6:10 p.m. Throughout the day I enjoyed lots of rides and shows, but, in the back of my mind, I was thinking about riding Space Mountain. I wandered through Fantasyland, Frontierland, Adventureland, and more than a few shops until finally it was time for me to blast off.

As I approached the ride, there were crowds of people gathered around the stand-by entrance, but I wasn't worried -- I had a fast pass! Then I realized that there were also crowds of people gathered around the fast pass entrance and neither group of people were moving. Space Mountain was experiencing "technical difficulties" and the ride was shut down "indefinitely." Oh nooooo! I hadn't been able to ride Splash Mountain because it was "temporarily dry" (doesn't that sound like a drunk in between trips to the liquor store?) and now I might not be able to ride Space Mountain either.

I decided to camp out by the fast pass entrance and hope for the best. George agreed that he could be patient if I couldn't meet him for dinner at Downtown Disney at our scheduled time. Persistence paid off and half an hour later Space Mountain was up and running again, and it was just as incredible as I remembered it from twelve years ago. : )

For JuJu and Mamie : )

Pooh and Piglet and Tigger and Eeyore and Kanga and Roo and Rabbit and Owl and Heffalumps and Woozles -- this is a nice attraction, but I miss Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. :(

Always happy to oblige with an autograph.

Pooh says, "Try not to bounce when you sign your name."

This boy seems a little unsure about having his picture taken, but Pooh and Tigger are all smiles.

From high in the tree, Piglet has a great view of the crowds in Fantasyland.

I love a parade!

I didn't manage to see all of the parade -- I had a date with Captain Jack Sparrow and then I decided to cool off with a pineapple whip soft serve. So by the time I meandered out of Adventureland, the parade was already in full swing. Fortunately I found a good vantage point to see the last few floats.

Where's Mickey . . . and who are these people?

These girls match perfectly with Daisy's outfit!

The whole family turned out to meet Donald and Goofy in Frontierland.

What a little cutie with Woody and Jessie!

This little boy wanted nothing to do with Buzz Lightyear.

It's more than a little weird to walk around the Magic Kingdom without at least one child in tow or a friend or two. I was afraid that someone might ask why I was taking a picture of their child or their family, but no one seemed to think it was odd. I guess there are other people who want pictures of the characters and don't mind if those pictures also include strangers.

If it's Monday, it must be the Magic Kingdom

What a beautiful day to visit the Magic Kingdom! Apparently I wasn't alone in thinking that because the park was super-crowded. In fact I felt like I was visiting on the 18th of July instead of January. Part of the crush was probably because it was MLK Day, but lots of guests were from other countries (will the last person to leave Brazil please turn out the lights?).

Nothing says "Magic Kingdom" like Cinderella's Castle.

I love Tomorrowland. It's my favorite part of the Magic Kingdom.

It's the little details that make Disney World so much fun. While the kids are just excited about riding on the Mad Tea Party, the adults can appreciate the topiary and artistry that really bring the stories and fairy tales to life.

An Explanation

I had hoped to be able to blog in real time, but I'm having too much fun to want to run back to the room and post pictures and write about my (mis)adventures. So the new plan is to make a good effort to post a little something each of the next two days and then catch up with everything once I get back to cold and boring Illinois. Hopefully you all will be willing to wait for pictures and details. : )

Port Orleans Riverside

We are staying at the Port Orleans Riverside Resort at Walt Disney World. This is the first time we have stayed here. George usually stays at the Dolphin or the Swan, and as a family we have stayed at the Polynesian and the Beach Club. Riverside would be a new adventure for us . . . and it was.

Our flight didn't get in until 11:30 p.m., so by the time we got our luggage, found our shuttle bus (in a different terminal), and rode to the resort, it was very late. Did I mention it was pouring down rain? Even though it was one o'clock in the morning we were warmly welcomed by the Port Orleans staff. Everything was going great until it was time for us to head to our room. The desk clerk carefully traced the route on a map that would get us to our room. We were supposed to go over the bridge to Ol' Man Island, meander past the swimming pool and the Fishin' Hole, over another bridge, then turn right and we'd be there. (At this point how many people are humming "Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go"?) George asked the man if we could borrow an umbrella for the walk to our room. He acted surprised, asked if it was raining, and suggested we ask at the bellman's stand to see if an umbrella was available. Not only was there no umbrella, there was no bellman, so off into the dark, rainy night we went. Fifteen minutes later we arrived at our room. The next morning, in the very sunny daylight, we discovered a much more direct path that we could have taken that cut the trek down to a mere five minutes.

We are staying in Alligator Bayou.

Our room is on the second floor in the corner.

Alligator Bayou has a rustic Louisiana decor. There is a trundle bed under the other bed.

The obligatory bathroom photo. The shower and toilet are to the left and an open closet area is to the right. A curtain pulls across to close off the bathroom from the rest of the room.

It's my turn!

This has been a long time coming. Since 1995, George has been coming to Disney World in January for Lotusphere -- a week of meetings, presentations, and networking coupled with some fun outings and really nice meals at top-notch restaurants. Since 1995, I have spent every January in Illinois -- shoveling snow, driving kids to school, tennis, and swimming, and generally freezing to death. Now it's finally my turn for some fun in the sun and a little face-time with The Mouse.

: )