Snowbird Sabbatical-Volunteering at the Marathon and Lynx bus travel to MCO

[szymcl]

Ha, that is funny, right now it is pretty chilly and I am wishing for some humidity!

 

[szymcl]

So far, Hollywood Studios is my favorite place for Holiday Cheer!

Even though it is a small park, there are lots of places to wander in the evening and just hear the Christmas music playing in the background!

For me, this evening I did my first ever Frozen Ever After Sing Along

It snows here at the end and caught some of the kids by surprise!! This was my first time at this show, it is quite entertaining!

The videos on the Tower are quite stunning and the snow is fun too!

After a trip on the Tower of Tower, and a Star Tour, I sat at the Commissary to eat some pumpkin bread and read emails. Then I wandered around listening to carols and viewing the decorations, saw the set up for the Dessert Party,

and went down the long lane to the Fantasmic Theater before calling it a night and racing the parking lot tram to my car!

Tomorrow, Epcot!

 

[szymcl]

Epcot is a perfect place to go alone, there are lots of singles hanging out, and the night I picked was a Neil Patrick Harris night for the Candlelight Processional, so it was very crowded around the America Garden Theater!

Yes, that’s him, sorry, I didn’t want to stand in line!!! I’ll bring a real camera from home on my next trip! A lot of people standing in the stand by line didn’t get in anyway, as there are SO MANY people who do the dining packages.

But I heard him and I heard the singers. When my daughter was working here, she auditioned and make it in the cast choir. They had to commit to 3 performances I believe and then could sign up for more if they wanted. She performed with Neil Patrick Harris, Marlee Matlin, Josh Gad, someone else I think?


For this night trip to Epcot, along with my walk, I went of Living with the Land in the dark for the first time!

There were lots of fun Holiday touches in the Land! I was also able to get a fast pass to Soarin, but actually, by the time I was finished it was a walk on anyway.

I was surprised to see all the holiday booths with food. It was nice, and the smells were wonderful.

Does everyone do this? It only takes one time, walking up and down looking for your car…

 

[ljcrochet]

Your Snowbird sabbatical seems fun.

 

[szymcl]

Your Snowbird sabbatical seems fun.

Thanks, it is fun, but sometimes I have my doubts, I have a lot to do at home! I am heading to some resorts tomorrow night!

 

[szymcl]

Well,

Now that my circuit of theme parks is over for the week, I still need my evening walk, so I headed over the try to see the decorations at the Wilderness Lodge. In the past, I have always had good luck parking there, just for a jog to Fort Wilderness and to catch a drink at one of the bars. But the night I tried to go to park, around 5:30 pm, there was a sign out that said guests only. I am not sure if it was just because they were all booked up, that is was a Christmas party night at Magic Kingdom, or just a general new policy.

So I changed gears and drove to mark at Hollywood Studios and decide to walk to the Boardwalk.

It was a long walk, but that is part of my goals for Florida, healthy living and lots of exercising! The walk was a bit different than usual, as there are lots of tall walls as you navigate around the temporary bus areas and around to where the actual walkway to the boardwalk starts. But once you are by the water, the walkway is the same, goes under the road, and meanders around to the back of the Boardwalk Villas. Boardwark Villas is my DVC home, so Welcome Home to me!

I saw two of these chairs in an obscure hallway and thought they had moved them out of the lobby for the Christmas decorations, anyone recognize them? But nope, when I looked back at my lobby photos, they are still there. I wonder how many there are in the hotel...Sounds like a treasure hunt to me!

I love these cottages, would love to stay in one sometime!


Next, I wandered over to the Beach Club to check out some decorations.

So much eye candy here at the Beach Club!!!

Now to check out the Yacht Club for the most beautiful tree award…

All in all, this was a great night, I logged about 10 miles walking!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

So far sounds like your experimental sabbatical is a huge success!!! What a fun idea.

 

[szymcl]

Annual Passholder Saturday event, Super Saturday at World of Disney and Cocoa Beach

I have seen the advertisements for the Annual Passholder events at Disney Springs and wanted to see what it was about! I got to Disney Springs around 8:45, parked at Team Disney,

and walked over the street, (World Drive?) and headed to the World of Disney. It was a beautiful sunny morning.

There was a big line, stretching quite a way around the store, so I went to the end.

I got in a conversation with a couple who had been to all of these events in the past 5 months, I guess there is one per month. They said this was by far the biggest line! They described the first few as having lots of samples of food, very generous portions and some discounts on some of the Disney Springs stores that rarely have discounts. I was underwhelmed by this event, but I am not much of a Disney Springs shopper, so the discounts were not relevant to me. There were a few samples, some Starbucks hot chocolate, a small dessert and drink from Art’s Homecomin’, a few other dessert type samples?

Just nothing very interesting and very big lines for the samples. However, if you are a World of Disney shopper, it would be a great hour of uncrowded shopping! The clerks were just standing around, not too much actual shopping was going on, it did seem very uncrowded in that respect.

Anyway, a good morning, as I had wondered what it was like! I’ll try it again after the holiday if there is another one in January!

This was my first beach day, so I had a lunch cooler packed and I got back in my car and headed for Cocoa Beach! I was scouting for a good place to park and spend the day on the beach. I found a nice park called Lori Wilson Park, it was about 2 miles from the Pier, had chairs and umbrellas to rent, a food truck with hot dogs, lifeguards, and restrooms.

No showers, but that’s ok, it was free parking!

I spent the whole day, watched a wedding on the beach, walked to the pier, probably 2 miles, and then stopped at Ron Jon on my way out of town.

On my way in town, I passed a strip mall that had Disboards on it! Did I know that the Disboards office was near Cocoa Beach? I should have taken a photo...or stopped by...I did pass one of the Disney Cruise ships in Port as I drove by…

Dreams Unlimited Travel has a customer service office in Cape Canaveral, FL – just 1 mile from the Disney Cruise Line terminal.


Located inside the DISBoards.com Welcome Center, this location will serve as a place where you can come for a visit, enjoy complimentary refreshments and snacks, as well as complimentary Wi-Fi.


Dreams Unlimited Travel staff are on hand to assist you with anything you may need - from suggestions on what to do in the Cape Canaveral area, making priority seating arrangements at Walt Disney World and a host of other services.


You can also take comfort in knowing that this location is staffed whenever a Disney Cruise Line ship is in port – should something unexpected happen and you require assistance from Dreams Unlimited, we’re just a phone call away.

The Welcome Center is open Monday, Thursday and Friday from 10AM to 5PM, and on Saturday and Sunday from 9AM to 3PM (these hours are subject to change based on when Disney ships are in port). You can call the center toll-free at 855-227-3155.


The address for the Welcome Center is 6550 North Atlantic Ave, Suite B, Cape Canaveral FL 32920.

 

[pucknasty]

I FOUND YOU! this made my day.

 

[szymcl]

Thanks!!!
Come visit!!!

 

[tinkishspiffy]

please tell your Daughter and Son-in-Law not to fret or fear!! I'm going on 15 years post ENTIRE colon removal surgery and have had a great and full life!! i do not have an ostomy bag but an internal J-Pouch that gives me the ability to hold things until I find a restroom (something i'd lost the ability to do before having surgery)... having my entire colon removed was the best decision! it isn't for everyone but for me - it definitely gave me my life back! When I first received my diagnosis I did not understand! neither my parents nor I had ever heard of ulcerative colitis and crohn's disease.. that was in 2000... I know their road is tough right now!! Will keep them in my thoughts n prayers until they get their understanding and things level out!! It is a frustrating and embarrassing disease!!

enjoy your new winter home!! my boss likes to spend his summers in Michigan (as we are from southern Louisiana and it gets HOT and miserable).. I think you will enjoy your winters in the warm Florida!

Best,
Heather

Daughter here!

Thank you for the kind words and sharing your story! It is really amazing how many people have been affected by crohns/ulcerative colitits/ostomies. My husband will have his reconnection surgery next month, and then we'll just have to see how things progress from there.

Definitely a frustrating and embarrassing disease. Needless to say we make a lot of poop jokes in our household!

 

[tinkishspiffy]

Loving the trip report! Looking forward to being apart of it next week!

 

[pucknasty]

Thanks!!!
Come visit!!!

I'll be there February 25,26,27,

 

[szymcl]

I'll be there February 25,26,27,

Great! Hope I see you!

 

[szymcl]

My son plays in a few bands, so I had to stay in Indy for their Christmas Show! December 23, my husband and I hopped back on a plane to Orlando! We knew we didn’t want to do much park wise, since the crowds would be huge! So we went Parkless for the next week! Resorts were on tap though!

For the Christmas holiday this year, I had planned to meet my cousin and her husband in Winter Garden as they finished up a month long trip to Europe. Originally my adult children were going to join us, but things happened and they didn't make it. Some of them live far away, so I did have to send this sweet airport photo to them…

But some cousins, brothers, sister in laws and a niece and her fiance made it fun. No theme parks, but we did end up at Trader Sam's one night!

We explored Winter Garden, my cousin was staying at the Edge water Hotel. This hotel was historic, quaint and the employees live in the hotel and are super nice.

After a fun visit to see their hotel, I’ll post photos later, my cousin’s husband, who has never been to Disney, wanted to ride the Monorail!

So we had a fun day wandering resorts, and found my sister in law and niece at the Poly, they came over from their Magic Kingdom Day. It was grand!

 

[pucknasty]

LOL! One of your adult kids sent me this! Hysterical. (I agreed )

 

[suse66]

I just binged your report and loved it! You are living the dream....so fun!

 

[szymcl]

I just binged your report and loved it! You are living the dream....so fun!

AW, thanks! I am having fun! Sometimes you just have to take that leap and do something! There have been some very amazing things that have happened out of this trip so far!

 

[szymcl]

LOL! One of your adult kids sent me this! Hysterical. (I agreed )

Ha, Ha! Hope to see you soon!

 

[szymcl]

Got my photos in order for the Winter Garden Day. What a cute town! Part of my focus on the Sabbatical is to find a future home. My husband really fell in love with Winter Garden, with the shops and the trail, the cafes outside and the friendly people. So we did end up at a realtor's office, got some information and some calendars!
The Edgewater Hotel was great, very vintage feel and great staff. My cousin and her husband stayed 5 days in this beautiful hotel. The staff lives on the 3rd floor!

The Edgewater has beautiful rooms and lots of common areas for relaxing. The staff was very friendly! At only about 25 minutes from Disney, this would be a good option for a stay for people who might only want to visit a park for one or two days and just enjoy the outside on the other days!

There is a farmer’s market here on Saturdays, I still haven’t made it to that yet!