It's Almost That Time.

I was lucky enough to be able to see all the fabulous things Disney World has to offer at Christmas.  And I truly do feel that it is something that everyone should experience at least once in their life.  It really did give me the warm fuzzies just looking at it and taking it all in.  The decorations on Main Street, the Santa hats adorned with Mickey ears, the millions of lights in Hollywood Studios, and of course, Cinderella's castle. 

Ahhh, Cinderella's castle - the most beautiful sight in Magic Kingdom at Christmas.  The thing gives you chills when you see it NOT lit up, but when the sun has gone down and it's time for the lighting ceremony - I suggest you have your hiney parked right in front of the thing and wait. You will not be disappointed. As a matter of fact, it will pretty much put you in a fantastic, euphoric mood for the rest of the night, if not for the rest of your trip.

It's the epitome of holiday cheer. It's the reason you you sought out Disney World at Christmas time.  It's the reason you and your family are hugging in the middle of the park for no apparent reason. But, it's okay... you aren't alone.

I can't wait until the day comes that I can head back and witness it all again. But until then, I will relive in pictures.  Happy Holidays everyone.

WHO DAT?!?

It's Sunday, which means it's GAME DAY in the Henderson household.  Before there was even a love for Mickey, there has been an  undying devotion to the New Orleans Saints.  We have been die hard fans way before they won the Super Bowl (wait, let me pinch myself again... my Saints won the Super Bowl!), and since we usually go to Disney World in the Fall, we are inevitably there during football season.  So we mix our love for the Saints and Mickey the best way we know how.

We make Mickey ears shirts adorned with Saints fun! And yes, those are Mickey ears on Drew Brees' helmet.  We wear these in the parks on Sunday and they get a lot of attention. We will see sports jerseys from just about all the NFL teams, and it is so fun to walk past another Saints fan and simply say, "Who Dat!" We get it. It's in our blood.

Having smart phones has made it much easier to keep up with games since they are rarely on TV in Orlando (Saints games).  But, when that just isn't enough, you can always head on over to ESPN Zone in the Boardwalk area.  But be sure and get there super early if you want a table! The place fills up fast.  There are TV's all over the place, so you will be able to watch your game on one of them.  It's a really fun atmosphere, too.  If you are on your way to hearing "It's a Small World" in your sleep, this can be a great break from the action. 

I'm telling you, there is a place for anyone and anything in Disney World. For those of you who may think it's simply childish and there's nothing to do but ride Dumbo and look at the castle, you are so mislead. We've been 5 times in 3 years and it's always an adventure and we always find something new. 

But, since I am home for this game, I need to start preparing for it. When we are home, we fly our yard flags, put a jersey on our dog, make nachos and watch the game from the best room in the house....

Coffee with Mickey

It's cold this morning - or at least by Louisiana standards.  And I love it. I was made for cold weather. The summers here make me so irritable and cranky that I look forward to the two or three months of non-sweltering heat.  And I don't have to work today! Woo hoo!  I've been working quite a bit these days, so being able to sit home in my red Mickey Mouse pajamas and sip my coffee from my Mickey Mouse mug is making me very happy.

I have a coffee mug addiction.  No, seriously... I do.  I collect them and I make sure to get a commemorative one from every vacation or attraction I visit. My cabinets are overflowing with mugs, but I just love them.  I now have 5 Mickey Mugs and they are by far my favorite (with my Saints mugs and Wizarding World of Harry Potter running close seconds).  Chris tells me I don't need to get anymore, but I can't resist. 

So, today I won't ramble on and on, I will just sit here and sip my Mickey coffee from my Mickey mug and stare at my Christmas tree.  It's just one of those mornings I need to have some quiet and relax.  I hope everyone out there has a great weekend.

Cheers!

Holy crap, what a terrible day at work today. What a terrible week. Dang, a terrible month!  Hospital life is tough, which is why I give thanks to Louisiana's own; drive-thru liquor stores!  I really don't think any other state has them, but we sure do like 'em down here! 

I don't drown my sorrows in alcohol, but on a dreary Friday with no work in the morning (that's a first in a few weeks), I decided to get Chris and myself a couple of frozen daiquiris.  Two for one. Woo hoo! 

So, why in the world am I even mentioning this?  Because it made me think of the tradition Chris and I have started on our trips to Disney World.  No matter what is going on at any other park, the first park we always hit is Epcot.  No, we don't skip over to the Magic Kingdom to witness Tinkerbell fly, or to capture the warm fuzzies of Main Street.  We head over to Epcot - for the beer.  After a long day of travel, the first thing we want to do is go have a quick bite to eat and some beer. Or in my case, a Grand Marnier slush in France.

Most people walk into Epcot and mozy over to Soarin' or Test Track, but we keep on walking - all the way to World Showcase and take a right (never a left).  We don't want Mexico's churros and margaritas.  We want fish and chips from London and a big ole honkin' Guinness.  The big beer, the one you've been practicing for.  We have our snacks, we have our beer and slush and we mozy.  We stroll.  We sit on a bench and take a deep breath and look at each other and say, "Whew.. we are finally here. Cheers!"

Then, the fun begins.  Each year we tackle it and each year we fail.  I know you've heard of it, and you may have even attempted it yourself.  Yep -  you guessed it....

This is when you attempt - and I say attempt - to hit every country in World Showcase and grab an adult beverage from each one. It may sound easy, but it is much harder than you think.  We get about half way through and can't take anymore. We never get drunk, just FULL.  We shoudn't start with Guinness, but how can we resist?  But it really is fun and by the time we make it over to Germany, I grab some of my favorite wine and am ready to sit down and people watch.

We get a good spot for Illuminations, watch the show (which always brings tears to my eyes) then call it a night.  To us, there is no better way to start out our Disney vacation.  Shoot, being tired from the travel then having our bellies full of food and drink, we sleep so well and actually wake up super refreshed and ready to tackle whatever we will be facing the next day. I suggest you try it sometime, you may actually enjoy it and you may be starting your own new tradition.

Now, if you'll excuse me - my daiquiri is melting....

The best Soarin' ever.

Chris and I are childfree - by choice - which really freaks a lot of people out.  We are one of those couples that had the discussion early on...


"Do you want children?"
"No! Why? Do you?"
"No."
"Okay, good. We can keep dating."


And it took forever for our parents to accept the fact that they would not be getting grandchildren from us. Thank goodness my sister provided two grandsons, and Chris' sister provided two granddaughters.  So, we are an Aunt and an Uncle, and we enjoy that role.  Have fun with them, but give them back.


We have a lot of people try to convince us of all the wonderful things we are missing out on by not having kids - and in turn, we have a lot of parent's sighing by the time we explain how wonderful it can be without them.  There is no right or wrong answer here. I wholeheartedly believe as long as you  make the decision based on your true feelings, all will be well.


I will admit that there are times when kids get on my nerves. My tolerance for screaming and crying is a lot lower since I have not had the opportunity to learn to deal with it (or tune it out).  But there are also times when I watch a child and my heart just fills up with love and joy for the sheer innocence and beauty they possess.  One such occassion happened to us on Soarin'.


As we were standing in line watching the boarding video, there was a kid who was about 5 years old talking really loudly to his dad asking him if he was going to go in soon.  This was one of those "on the nerves" moments.  He just kept asking and asking..."are we going in, Dad?  are we going in, Dad?"  You could tell he was excited, but geez.


So we go in and strap ourselves in for the ride.  I was on the left end of one section, the little boy on the far right end of the next, so we were across the aisle from each other.  He was still a little too excited for me, but the ride was about to start.  He was sitting on his legs so he could see and he had his hands placed on his knees. For some reason, I saw this and thought it was really cute. You could tell he was ready to go.  As we were taken up for our Soarin' adventure, that's when my heart absolutely melted.


As the wind started to hit his face, his first word was, "WOW!"  As we started to fly over the trees, again, "WOW!"  At every turn, "WOW"  Then it really happened. He starts telling his dad, "WOW! Dad, I'm flying!  I'm really flying!"  And his dad said, "Yeah, you really are, buddy."  Goodness, I'm getting as choked up and teary-eyed now as I did that day. At this point, I was no longer even watching the screen, I was watching that little boy and his dad share his son's real, first flight.  I had NEVER seen a child so fascinated and excited over anything.  He kept telling his dad he was really flying and his daddy assured him he was.  I was in tears.


As we landed, he was still so excited and he couldn't stop talking about it.  After we unbuckled and started to walk out, I walked over to the little boy and asked him, "Did you like that?"  He looked up at me and had the most beautiful and sincere look on his face and said, "oh yeah.. WOW!"  My eyes were still so full of tears. I looked at the dad and told him, "Thank you for letting me share that with y'all.  Your son just made that the best ride ever for me."  He looked at me like he was a little embarrassed, but his son was saying, "daddy, I flew!"  and I think he got it.


I looked over at my husband and his eyes were full of tears as well. So, yeah - those are the things we know we are missing out on by not having kids.  Those are the special moments for parents.  We walked out and down that walkway hand-in-hand without saying a word. It was a special moment.  Then we got outside and my husband said, "Are you ready for a beer?"  "Yep."

I need a do-over.

My first trip to Disney World was in September 2008, and as I mentioned in other blogs it was the best trip I think I could have ever imagined.  I honestly have nothing bad to say about the entire vacation.  So, naturally, when something leaves that big of an impression on you, you just HAVE to return. Right?

Well, we did.  It took us a year, but we headed back in December of 2009 because it was time to experience Christmas in the parks.  Now, I had heard about the crowds during Christmas week, and since we were spoiled with little to no wait during our last trip in September, we knew we would have to go a bit earlier. So, we went the first week of December, and I can't describe to you how excited we were to go! We made Christmas shirts to wear to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. We picked new restaurants to try. We brought our good cameras because we knew the Osborne Family Lights were going to be spectacular.  Nothing was going to ruin this trip - it was destined to be pure magic!

Wrong...

This trip turned out to be so horrible.  Once we returned, I swore it was not worth it and I would never do it again.  Why, you ask?  First was Pop Warner Football kiddos.  I knew it was going on, I wasn't surprised by that when I got there, but I was shocked at the number of cheerleaders taking over the parks.  Loud cheerleaders.  Break-out-in-routines-in-line-and-yell-in-my-ears cheerleaders. They were everywhere.  I was a cheerleader. I appreciate the whole scene, but not in my face while I'm trying to enjoy the beauty of the parks.  Secondly, it was "crowded." I look back at it now and realize it wasn't crowded at all, but compared to no waits in September, a 20-30 minute wait was terrible. Thirdly, it was hot. Then cold. Then hot. Shoot, I live in Louisiana and experience this every day of my life, but I didn't pack right.  I had watched the weather forecast so carefully for this trip, but it was so off. I didn't pack enough short sleeves and way too many long sleeves.  And the last thing that made it horrible?  My foot.

I had had surgery on my right foot in October of 2008.  It went perfectly, healed well and I had no issues.  It was time for me to have the same surgery on my left foot, so I scheduled it in August of 2009 - 4 months before our trip - plenty of time for it to heal, just like the other one did.  Well, it wouldn't heal. Even a week before the trip I was still making trips to the podiatrist to figure out what was going on. I was in so much pain and so sick of walking around in that boot, I needed relief.  I was forced to wear a smaller boot while at Disney World, but every day I was nearly in tears from the pain.  My bones had been cut in half, re-aligned and held in place with pins.  Well, come to find out (once we got home) the pins had started to fail and separate from the bone without my bones being fused together. I was essentially walking on a broken foot bone. Dang! No wonder I was so freakin' cranky!  I was actually put back into a cast and back on crutches 4 months after the initial surgery... it was torture.

So, my memories are not what they should be. I have some great ones (the toy soldiers in the Christmas parade, the Christmas tree at Grand Floridian, Cinderella's castle), but most of what I remember is being miserable and cranky. And looking back, none of those things listed above was even bad - they were simply bigger in my mind at the time. I was thinking the trip was a bust because I couldn't get comfortable and in turn, I couldn't see it for all it's glory.  That's not fair.  It's not supposed to be like that.  I don't want those to be my memories of Christmas at Disney World. 

So, in honor of the Christmas season, I hereby declare a do-over!  Hey, Honey... guess where we're going next year?

Now time for some real happy.

Ok, I couldn't leave it like that. I got all that off my chest and now I want to share some happy things.

Here is Cruella with her "puppies."  (Okay, I thought there were 4, there were 5)

And how can you deny a smile like that? We were in line to get candy! Treak-or-treating in Magic Kingdom.

And a lovely picture of the castle during HalloWishes! The 999 happy haunts always have room for one more....

Quit raining on my Disney parade!

Okay, so I was ready to talk about the lovely Boo to You parade, but that has changed.  I was reading some posts on Facebook today that really started to bother me.  I generally try not to let someone else's opinion of something get under my skin, because it is just that; an opinion.  Everyone has one and everyone is entitled. BUT, when you start talking trash about my beloved Disney World, I start to get a bit peeved.

In the past I have heard people mention that the whole world of Disney just isn't what it used to be.  They say food quality is has gone down, prices have sky-rocketed and the castmembers just don't have that sparkle anymore.

WHAT PARK HAVE YOU BEEN VISITING?

Ok, fine. Again, I'll admit that I'm fairly new to the Magical World of Disney, so I don't know what it was like 5, 10 or even 15 years ago.  Maybe it was better then, but I don't know.  But I can tell you this - everything within the last 3 years has been absolutely amazing.

How about a dose of reality?  I work in a hospital.  A hospital that provides free care to those who can not pay.  A Level 1 Trauma Center that gets every possible accident you can think of.  A place full of heartache, despair and even death.  I personally work in Hematology/Flow Cytometry.  What does that mean? I do the testing on people's blood that's tells a pathologist whether or not this 1 year old baby has leukemia.  I do testing on blood and tissues that will reveal whether or not a person has cancer.  I see results that will go to a person's family and change it forever.  I consider myself lucky that I am behind the scenes and never have to come face-to-face with the patient I am testing, but every time I get a positive test, I know someone and their family is about to get some horrible news.

So you know what? The dinner I had at Disney World was the best dinner I had all year.  The wait in line was the most fun and eventful wait I could ever want to have.  The prices may have increased, but welcome to inflation, my friend.  You can complain all you want about these things, but to me Disney World is my escape.  I don't have to think about that poor baby being rushed to St. Judes. I don't have to think about that  young person having yet another bone marrow aspirate.  I only have to think about which Mickey ears will be atop my head and which dessert will I try tonight?

Disney World is my happy place. Period.  I see and feel  too much joy and happiness there to let it be tarnished by the cynical.  So what if my dinner got to me a few minutes late? I'm in no hurry - I'm on vacation.  So what if I'm blinded by pixie dust? GOOD! That's what I want. That's the whole point.

With so much misery in the world, let me - and anyone else who believes in the magic - have it.  Let us have our escape. Let us have our happy place. Quit trying to smear your poor attitude on the noses of everyone around you.  Plus, a bad day at Disney World is a heckuva lot better than a good day at the hospital.

It's really not so scary...

I had all intentions of kind of writing a day to day walk through of my first trip to Disney and why it was so amazing, but I have been thinking of the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party all day.  We attended this party about midway through the vacation and were so impressed, it was all we could talk about for weeks.

Let me remind you that this trip was my first major visit to Disney World and my husband's very first. I was actually quite nervous about how my husband, Chris, would react to this trip and it took me quite a bit of work to convince him that we NEEDED to go to there.  In his opinion, it was too far (we live in northern Louisiana), too big, too expensive (or so he had heard) and pretty much for kids.  Of course, I had done my homework and came at him with all the ammo I needed to make him think differently.

Anyway, I'm getting off subject.  Let's get back to this Halloween party.  I had read that a lot of people attend the party in costume, but we weren't sure as to the extent. We didn't want to be the only adults showing up in costume and looking like dorks, so we made simple Halloween shirts. Ya know, orange shirts with Jack-o-lantern faces painted on them - we didn't want to stand out.  Umm, I think we stood out for being so DULL!  You would not believe the creativity and imagination of the costumes we saw.  We were floored, and when I tell you we would have been just fine perching on a bench and people watching all night, I'm not lying.

There were so many activities set up around the Magic Kingdom that we didn't know where to start.  We hit a few of the dance parties - again, to people watch - then made our way over to the Villain stage show.  It's Halloween, so of course the Villains had to be in full force. After the show, there was a mix and mingle with the Villains themselves and I couldn't wait to meet Jafar!  We were waiting in line to meet him, and Cruella Deville was standing next to him.  Suddenly, Cruella starts dancing around and screaming and pretty much jumping for joy and we had no idea why - until we saw the family next to us.  They were all dressed as dalmatians.  She (gently) grabbed the little girl of group and lead her to the photo area and the rest of the family followed. The four of them gathered together while Cruella continued to dance circles around them and yell, "Puppies! More puppies!"  The kids were loving it, and so were we.

After hours of riding rides with no wait, and trick or treating at all the stations, it was time for the HalloWishes fireworks.  The music was great.  All of our favorite villain tunes and songs from Nightmare Before Christmas.  After the fireworks we headed to Frontierland to catch the Boo to You Parade.

The parade was made for me. It had to have been. The imagineers must have stolen my dreams one night and made a parade out of them just for me. I'll have to discuss that another day because I can go on forever and this is already too long.

But, why did this party become one of our most favorite things? For me, it was this....

...seeing my 39 year old husband wearing Mickey ears and being excited to meet Woody.  This smile didn't leave his face for the entire trip. Remember, this was a man who had no desire to visit Disney World because it was a place only for kids.  Well, we were kids that week and he didn't want to leave. 

This place truly is full of magic.

When it all began...

I'll admit, I'm a Disney World late bloomer. I wasn't one of the fortunate ones who was able to visit The World regularly - or even as a child. The one encounter I had was in 1990 when I was 15 and it was only for a day and a half on a trip down to visit my uncle who lived in Tampa.  The only thing I remember about the place was that we got lost looking for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and that Epcot was "totally boring."  And, honestly, I never even thought about the place again - until 2008.

My husband and I love to go on vacation. We go on at least two really fun trips a year, and have done so since we started dating in 2000. They mostly consisted of yearly trips to Destin, mixed with trips to Vegas, Breckenridge, Aruba and our usual trips to New Orleans for Saints games (Who Dat!).  But in 2008, something came over me and I had this dire NEED to visit Disney World.  I don't know why, but I became obsessed with taking a trip there. I just had to see that mouse.

We decided to go, but I was clueless. I was so intimidated with that place and understood nothing. I became completely overwhelmed while trying to even pick a resort. I didn't know how anything worked, and what the heck was a Fast Pass?  So, being the planner and slave to detail that I am, I started reading. And reading. And reading. 

Our trip was booked a good 6 months in advance. In that time I was doing so much research and reading that by the time we got there I had everything completely planned out. I had laminated cards for each day of our trip complete with park hours, dinner reservation numbers, Fast Pass attractions and "must do's" for the day.  I was completely ready to tackle this new adventure.

We landed at MCO on a beautiful September morning and made our way down to board the Magical Express.  From the moment the welcome video came on, and the tears welled up in my eyes, I knew this was going to forever be something special in my life.  Once we arrived at Port Orleans French Quarter and checked in, it was time to explore, as I had planned it all out  in the months before.

I won't go into the details of that first trip today - that will be saved for future blogs.  I can't let all the stories free at once now can I?  But, I can promise you this - of all the places my husband and I had visited before, there was nothing to compare to the sheer joy and FUN we had together at our first trip to Disney World.

So, what made at first trip so memorable and life changing?  I'll let you in on that later.