2006-10-Day

Walt Disney World

Symposium 2006

Orlando, Florida

October 07-15, 2006

I had been vaguely shooting for leaving at 9:00 am, but by time I evacuated the house, stopped for gas, and got on I-75, it was precisely 10:11 am. I started at 32,880 miles on the car.

There are stretches of I-75 that are nothing but scrubby pine jungles and forests. I began to amuse myself by observing the different varieties of road kill. I saw a dead alligator early on, and later the ever-present, feet up armadillo. Even later, something tawny that looked a wee bit too big to be a bobcat. By far, the most common road kill I saw was shredded tires. I didn't realize there were that many blowouts on I-75.

I also mused about the wheeling birds I saw in the skies. I think I decided that if it's alone, it's a hawk, but if it's hunting in numbers, it's vultures.

Around exit 195, there's a place called Nokomis, and it reminded me of a poem we had to learn in school -

Sated with love and unable to help it, the bugs were flinging themselves upon my windshield with joyous abandon. I guess it's the intoxicating ecstasy of afterglow that makes them do this; I can't think of another reason to choose death by spatter.

Gator Country 101.9 disappeared around exit 205 Arcadia/Myakka River State Park, and I had to flip through the stations for something else. Traffic started to pick up around exit 213; slowed down to 65 MPH! It's funny how that felt like "slowed down". On Long Island, our speed limit was 55, so 65 felt fast. Anyhow, flipping through the stations, I found NPR, which was broadcasting some sort of game show spoof that was pretty funny. They had the all time Jeopardy champ, Ken Jennings, trying to stump him. I stopped at Micky D's on exit 224 for a bio break and a snack, eating in the car while the NPR program finished. I took a couple of laps around the parking lot to appease my hips, and I was back on the road at 12:01 PM.

At long last, exit 261 - I-4! I called my friend Lisa to pass the time, as I knew she was home sick with a wicked cold and could use some cheering up. When I finally drove through "the pearly gates" of Disney, as she calls it, I think I screamed in her ear more than once; I was beside myself to be at Walt Disney World once more.

I drove up and a bell dude named Paul unloaded my luggage and the cooler onto one of his bell racks; he's from Imokalee, so he was able to sympathize with the long drive up here. I valet'ed the car, and away I went to check in. Another bell dude steered my rack up to the 9th floor, and when I walked in, I knew immediately that the Upgrade Fairy had paid me a visit. It's a balcony room!

I was doing the happy dance over my room - the balcony, the view, the proximity to the conference. I quickly unpacked my personal laptop, fired it up, and posted a hasty but heartfelt note to the Upgrade Fairy. I am grateful!

So now, here's another first - I walked down the Boardwalk to the International Gateway entrance to Epcot, so that I could buy my first-ever Florida Resident Annual Pass. On the way, I spied this tableau and took the shot, but resisted any other temptation, as I think I've pretty much photographed the Boardwalk to death on previous trips. Getting the pass was a breeze, and the new finger scanner was not a problem for me. In I went, and as I strolled up the Gateway, I had this sudden yearning for my youngest niece and her parents (Bro/SIL No. 2) to be with me. So I called them. SIL was happy to chatter for a while, but in the end, we agreed that 21 months is a bit young for the Disney World experience, and that we would wait until she was old enough to remember it before indoctrinating her.

I decided to make my way to the front of the park, because when there is a Festival going on, there is usually some sort of elaborate topiary display there. On the way, I stopped in a booth to pick up a Festival shirt and pin; there didn't seem to be a passholder pin for the Festival there, so on the way to the front entrance, I stopped at the big pin station. Nope, no Festival passholder pin there, either. I ask the Cast Member when the Festival had started, and he told me September 29th; maybe not all the merchandise is out yet. At any rate, I did see another passholder pin that I wanted (Mickey with a dangling key), and a Tinkerbell Halloween pin, and one that pertains to the 1964 World's Fair. It was held in Flushing Meadow, Queens, New York, and I remember it pretty well, considering how little I was. The CM cashiering at the pin station was horrible; she didn't know ANYTHING about the pins, where to find the passholder stuff in her drawer, how to work the register, etc. The woman before me had purchased the Mickey with the key pin, but when I got to the register, she told me she didn't have that one. "Yes, you do, you just sold one to the woman before me", and she rummaged through the drawer, amazed when she finally came up with one. "They all look the same to me," she shrugged.

Standing under the pin tent all that time, I had worked up quite a sweat, so made for Mouse Gear to check things out and cool off a bit. I browsed, made notes, but did not buy; later in the week, I will go to Downtown Disney to the big World of Disney store, to see if they have any of the same stuff there, and get my 10% discount for being a passholder. When I was sufficiently cooled and no longer sticky, I took a smoke break (first since getting out of the car - I'm doing good!), and then made in earnest for the front of the park.

After taking the pics, I headed for a spin on Spaceship Earth. I wonder what it will look like after rehab? I wonder when rehab will commence? I hope they don't change it TOO drastically...

At this point, I was wondering when moon rise would be. I recalled that last year, I'd been wishing I'd arrived at the fountain show sooner, so that the moon behind the sprays would have been lower in the sky (and therefore, larger to the eye). I figured I would stick close to the area between the Fountain View bakery and the Gateway, so I could stalk the moon a bit easier. I knew where it would appear in the sky, I just didn't know when.

I visited the Festival Center, and coveted all the lovely kitchen stuff that has grapes on it. I have a sort of a grapes motif going on in my own kitchen. I bought a Mickey head ice cream sammich from the ice cream vendor, and sat for a while at the Fountain View, watching the fountain show.

Still eating my ice cream, I wandered over to The Living Seas, thinking to take in the Nemo theme that's been installed there. As I was sitting there on a bench, finishing the ice cream, I suddenly, and with a terrible itch in my brain, remembered the Mulan bronze.

Return readers will recall that not once, but TWICE, I have walked out of The Art of Disney without purchasing this piece. Where I got the self-discipline to do that, I don't know, but I did it - TWICE. I have since seen this piece on eBay and on collectible sites on the web, going for exorbitant prices. I've seen both the painted and unpainted versions with the price all jacked up, and thought it was because they are all sold out from Disney directly, and therefore supply and demand was setting the price.

Forgetting about Nemo, I began to march purposefully back toward the front of the park, and into the Art of Disney store. I marched right up to the glass display case where it had been, and... it was gone. I began circling the other display cases, looking for it. As I rounded one corner, I thought I had found it, but the bronze horse legs I'd spied turned out to be Hercules. Damn! How sad was I?

Well, I decided to ask, just to be sure. The CM said, "Sure, I have a couple left in the back. Did you want the painted or unpainted version?" My heart leapt with joy! I said I'd like to see them both, but knew that I'd probably go with unpainted, as the casting medium had been part of the appeal for me. The CM went into the back and returned with two boxes, showing me the painted version first. It was lovely, but not what I was after. Yep, nakey bronze for me, thanks. Here's the credit card. Can you send that back to the resort for me, please? Thanks!

After exiting the store, I consulted the park schedule for the day and determined that The British Invasion was about to launch a performance in the UK. So I walked back toward the Gateway and into the lovely little town square, where the band had just started. Little kids were running in and out the hedge maze, people were drinking and rocking out to the tunes. I thought the guy they had playing George Harrison really looked like George Harrison, at least from somewhat of a distance.

There are certain memories connected to certain Beatles tunes. All My Lovin' is connected to my first kiss when I was 15. I was even younger than that when Bro No. 1 and I sat on the swing set in our backyard, belting out Ticket To Ride in an effort to drown out a recording of Goodship Lollipop emanating over the back fence from our neighbors. Yeah, if you were a kid in the 60s and you had a radio, you have a couple of memories attached to a few Beatles tunes, too.

Sometimes when I sit in this little square, I wonder which window Peter crept in that night, to entice the Darling children into learning how to fly away with him to Neverland. Probably the white house, with the little balconies outside the windows. Which rooftop was it where Bert and his friends entertained Mary Poppins and the children, leaping over the chim-chimineys to the tune of "Step In Time"? I'll probably never find out, but it's fun to wonder!

I decided it was time for the traditional first night French bakery dinner, so I strolled across the English channel to France, where I got a ham and cheese croissant. They no longer sell glasses of wine inside the bakery itself; you have to go across the way to the wine shop. So I did that, and the girl recommended a medium dry white, which was delicious. I sat at a table in the courtyard, and noted that the incoming clouds were probably going to interfere with my stalking of the moon tonight.

Once I emerged from France, I suddenly realized that the World Showcase was shoulder-to-shoulder crowded. Well, that's no fun. So I headed back out the Gateway toward the resort. Night was falling fast, and I was very tired, so I figured to put my jammies on and let myself fall asleep at a decent hour for once. I stopped when I got to the Beach Club because the Boardwalk looked so pretty, all lit up across the water.

I kept taking pictures as I walked around the lake, making my way to the Dolphin. At one point, I turned around and saw the moon! Enormous and orange, it sat just under the cloud line, and I was able to get a couple of shots before it disappeared under the billowy blanket in the sky.

On my way into the Dolphin, I took some photos of the enormous double-dolphin and sea shell fountain out front. It's really pretty all lit up at night - and really loud!

I stopped in the Buffeteria on the bottom floor of the Dolphin to get some milk for my coffee in the morning, depositing it in the ice chest in the closet - the ziploc bags were still full of ice, I was surprised to see. So I didn't need to make an ice run. My feet were tired, but my hips and lower back were feeling nice and loose due to all the walking I'd done. I went to the balcony to enjoy the night view of the resorts, and that's when the fireworks started in Epcot! After the fireworks were over, the clouds parted briefly for a view of the moon, now risen high in the sky.