5. USA: Disney World!

The Magic Kingdom

Everyone Having Fun!

Mara; Thomas

Epcot; Roger Rabbit

Our Condo

Saturday, June 15, 390 mile drive, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Panama City Beach to Kissimee, Florida.  Sunday, June 16 to Wednesday, June 19, Kissimee.

Saturday seems like a long drive, as we head east along the coast, then south through the middle of the state to Orlando.  After the beaches we pass through beautiful countryside, including many horse farms, before finally arriving in Orlando. 

Our brand new second floor condo is a big hit after our rather well used motel room in PCB.  We are located just off one of the main drags, and have: a big living room and dining area, a kitchen, three bedrooms and two bathrooms.  Our only complaint is the huge spider we find one evening in the living room.  (Fortunately, I am able to capture it and toss it outside unharmed.)  We have two television sets and, most importantly, a washer and a dryer.  There are hundreds of tiny frogs in the grass outside and near the ponds, and Robert is just about in heaven.  We're getting used to living out of the suitcases, but the thought of settling in here for several days is a pleasant one, and I have less trouble unloading the car completely for the second time. 

On our first night we eat at Pizza Hut and I visit the supermarket for groceries.  Afterwards, snug in our new home, I try to stay up and watch the Dodger game on TV, but being in the Eastern time zone somehow the Dodgers and Cubs game holds less interest, and I don't make it very far in the game that starts at 11 p.m.

Disney World is of course the reason why we came, and we spend our first two days exhausting ourselves first at the Magic Kingdom, then at Epcot.  Nobody is disappointed by the Magic Kingdom.  Robert and Jeffrey get their juices going on the big rides, but, after Space Mountain, Mara nixes anything adventurous.  At about ten o’clock, completely beat after thirteen hours and dinner at Sleeping Beauty's castle, we head to our home away from home, the Suburban, just as the fireworks are starting.

Epcot is less of a hit, but more interesting to Cathy and me.  We have lunch at a pub and visit the French pavilion.  Although crowded, neither the Magic Kingdom nor Epcot place is near capacity.  I decide that if there are lines in the afterworld, Disney should run them: the lines are long, but there are always things to keep you occupied.  The weather continues hot and muggy and Cathy remarks that she's as hot as she's ever been.  Given the more temperate weather in Southern California, I decide I prefer Disneyland.

On Tuesday we visit the Kennedy Space Center, as recommended.  I think the tour of the rockets and launching areas is as good as anything Disney has to offer and is a great break from the frenetic pace of the theme park.  The children are not quite as entertained, though they like the floor to ceiling IMAX movie and a fabulous gift shop.  Jeffrey is the winner, coming away with a cotton jumper with NASA logos, just like the astronauts wear.

Wednesday is our last full day and we return to the MGM Studios at Disney World: Star Tours, the Indiana Jones show, a tour of the movie making department, including the setting for "The Rocketeer," "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids", and the streets of New York and Hollywood.  Our best meal so far on the trip is lunch at The Brown Derby (the Cobb Salad is delicious!), despite my discovery, mid-meal, that I've lost my Mastercard.  I almost panic, but restrain myself enough to calmly finish lunch, and my patience is rewarded, as the card is later found and returned.  The family outing is marred, however, when Jeffrey comes down with a terrible case of what Cathy dubs "souvenir sadness," when we draw the line at the $70 Darth Vader mask.  As we leave this wonderful place of fun and imagination in the early evening, reality intrudes almost immediately in the form of a torrential cloudburst in the parking lot.  Cathy giggles, the boys and I take our shirts off.  Everything, but everything, we have on is soaked, the parking lot is a lake, a reminder that it's time to repack and move on. 

Space Center

Traveling keeps us off balance, on the go, fear of losing things, looking for food, worried about where we are, which way to go, etc.  It's good for you once in awhile, but, a whole year?!