Gingerbread Houses Part 2

Saturday we went looking at houses, and Sunday we drove her to Cocoa Beach and Disney's Vero Beach Resort.

Monday morning Susan and I took my mom to Epcot, then took the monorail to the Transportation and Ticket Center. Work continued in the center of Future World.

From there we took the Resort monorail to the Grand Floridian, and enjoyed seeing the gingerbread house.

Because of the 50th celebration, they didn't put up the usual Christmas decorations at the Magic Kingdom. Afterward we took the boat out to the campgrounds to look around. Yesterday morning before work I drove my mom to the airport.

Gingerbread Houses

My mom came out to Florida last week and I took her around the parks for a few days. Thursday we went to Animal Kingdom, where she enjoyed watching some of the shows, walking the animal trails, and riding the train out to Conservation Station. We also watched the new Kite Tails show.

Friday I took her to see the shows at Hollywood Studios, then we met the rest of the family at the Ale & Compass restaurant at the Yacht Club for my birthday dinner.

We also spent some time checking out the Christmas decorations at the resorts, especially the gingerbread houses. At the Beach Club they had a gingerbread carousel on display.

Holidays in the parks

After Halloween, the decorations in the parks switched to the Holidays, and in Epcot, the Food and Wine Festival gave way to the Festival of Holidays after Thanksgiving. As they did with the Halloween parties, Disney held some Christmas themed After Hours parties in Magic Kingdom rather than Mickey's Very Merry Christmas parties.

 

The restrictions for covid continued to be eased, and more things returned. Recently Disney announced the return of the Cast 5K, and this morning Susan, Jennifer, and I took part. It was held in Animal Kingdom.

On Friday, WDW celebrated the 120th anniversary of Walt Disney's birth.

Wormsloe

 

On the way home from Charleston Susan and I stopped at the Wormsloe State Historic Site outside Savannah. Wormsloe was the colonial estate of Noble Jones, a carpenter who arrived in Georgia in 1733 with James Oglethorpe and the first group of settlers from England.

We spent about an hour going through the museum, and then another walking around the grounds.It was pretty interesting.

Earlier this month Jenn was promoted to a relief coordinator at the Emporium. Yesterday she and the other coordinators spent a day at Disney Springs and played a round of mini-golf at Winter Summerland.

Harmonious & Fort Sumter

I didn't get into the parks in late October or early November. Disney reopened the Sassagoula boats at Disney Springs, and a lot of cast members from the Friendship Boats were reassigned there, meaning those left behind worked a lot of hours. Last week, however, Susan and I were able to attend a special showing of Harmonious for Epcot cast members. We got to view the fireworks from a front and center spot, and even got some free snacks.

 

Susan and I made another quick trip to Charleston this week. While we were there, I took the ferry from downtown out to Fort Sumter to look around. Fort Sumter is where the Civil War started in 1861, with South Carolina troops taking the fort from Union soldiers.  

It takes a couple of hours to ferry back and forth across the harbor and walk around the fort, but it's definitely worth it for someone interested in history. While I went to Fort Sumter, Susan took two of our friends kids to the aquarium next door to the visitor center.

More 50th

Also for the 50th, Disney put out a set of collectible coins. Susan wanted to get them all, so in early October I stopped by several locations after work to purchase them. When I grabbed the ones in Animal Kingdom I also took photos of the 50th statues there. 

Last week, Jennifer got to do a behind the scenes tour of the Haunted Mansion.

Also as part of the 50th anniversary celebration, Disney premiered a new fireworks shows in Epcot, Harmonius. Jenn went to the park last night to watch it. Disney also added programmable lights all over Spaceship Earth.

Disney World's 50th

On October 1st, WDW began celebrating its 50th anniversary. In September, they added 50 golden statues of characters in the parks. Last Tuesday we went to Epcot to check out the 50th decorations and have dinner at Garden Grill.

 

Wednesday evening Susan and I went into the Magic Kingdom to see the Happily Ever After fireworks before it went away for a new show, Enchantment, premiering for the 50th. This weekend we met friends for dinner at Cape May Cafe.

Last night, Jennifer was asked to attend a special "Harry Potter" event at Universal's Islands of Adventure. It celebrated the 20th anniversary of the first movie. Jenn often posts photos on Instagram in Harry Potter outfits at Universal and someone in their marketing department must have noticed.

Calgary

Last week Jennifer flew up to Calgary, in Alberta, Canada, to visit a friend. They checked out downtown and took pictures from a bridge over the Bow River.

They also drove west into the mountains to visit Banff National Park.

Finally, they spent time at an indoor water park.

Food & Wine and more

We continued to visit the parks in late August and September as Disney World prepared for its 50th anniversary. In Epcot, we checked out the Food and Wine booths. As it had last year, the festival had less stuff than before the pandemic. Several booths won’t be open until later in the fall.

 

At the Studios, we got another chance to experience Rise of the Resistance. We still had to wear masks, but it was a little better than the first time due to easing of the social distancing rules.

We also got to do a few more previews of Ratatouille. While waiting for our slot, we tried some crepes from the new Creperie restaurant. They were pretty good. 

Work continued in the middle of Future World, as well as on the new Guardians of the Galaxy roller coaster. Last week I took a ride on the Epcot monorail to check the progress.

Yesterday Creations Shop, the replacement for MouseGear, opened up in Epcot.

Ratatouille

Yesterday we attended a special preview of Ratatouille, a new dark ride at the France pavilion in Epcot. It's fun, although exactly the same as the one we rode in Paris back in 2014.

Last night we got to stay for free at the new Destino tower at the Coronado Springs Resort. It was benefit Disney gave to Susan for working during the pandemic. 

We had great views from our room high up in the tower, but unfortunately we weren't able to watch the fireworks that night because they were delayed due to a lightning storm.

August update

In the Magic Kingdom, Halloween decorations went up in August. Disney announced there would be no Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Parties again this year, but instead they would hold Halloween themed After Hours parties.

This weekend I went into the Magic Kingdom again and while there checked out the Tron site from the Peoplemover.

Meanwhile Bryan and Jenn flew to Seattle for their friends’ wedding. Jennifer was a bridesmaid.

July update

Susan and I didn’t get to the parks in July, but Jennifer did. Two weeks ago some friends came for a visit, so she took several days off work to go to the parks with them.

This Sunday, to celebrate her birthday, she and Bryan went to Universal with some UP friends who had recently moved to Florida.

She then invited a couple of friends to stay with her on her free cast staycation at the Grand Floridian. They visited MK Monday and Epcot on Wednesday. On a bad note, a couple days ago Disney announced the resumption of the mask mandate, beginning today. None of us are looking forward to asking guests to keep their masks on again. 

Happily Ever After

 

Two weeks ago, Susan and I spent an afternoon in the Magic Kingdom. We went in after a rain storm, did a few things, looked in some stores, and had a snack. Then we headed out.

Disney has been working on widening Floridian Way between World Drive and Seven Seas Lagoon, which will allow northbound traffic to go over those exiting the Magic Kingdom parking lot.

Tuesday afternoon we spent a few hours in Epcot, enjoying the Flower and Garden festival.

That night we attended a cast preview of Happily Ever After, the fireworks show at Magic Kingdom, before it returned for guests after being suspended for the pandemic.  

Space Center

We stayed at the JW Marriott Downtown. Bryan got upgraded to a two bedroom suite. It was really nice. 

We spent most of Thursday at the Houston Space Center. I enjoyed many of the exhibits in the main visitor center, but was disappointed in the tram ride.

I thought we would tour the astronaut training facilities, but it just went out to a rocket graveyard and a building holding an old Saturn rocket. Plus we got drenched by a summer thunderstorm on the way back to the visitor center.

We had some delicious barbeque for dinner, then went to another Voodoo. This morning we flew back.

Houston

Bryan's job required him to work in downtown Houston for several weeks. Susan and I decided to fly out Wednesday morning for a long "weekend" and visit him and do some things around Houston. Once we got to Houston airport, we stopped at the Hard Rock for lunch. This was the 29th HRC I have visited.

From the airport we headed out to the San Jacinto Monument. San Jacinto was the battle site where the Republic of Texas won its independence from Mexico. I had tried to visit it before in December of 2017, but it was closed for the Christmas holiday.

There was a museum with a film and an elevator to the top of the monument, with views of the surrounding countryside.

After dinner with Bryan, we stopped at a Voodoo Doughnut for dessert. Voodoo, which originated in Portland, has been expanding into Colorado and Texas, and Bryan has been trying to visit all of their locations.