Thanksgiving at Disney - the 2009 Edition
I had to title this blog entry "the 2009 Edition" because many years ago my family spent another Thanksgiving at Disney World. At that time we were joined by my grandparents and we stayed at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort and ate Thanksgiving dinner at the Contemporary Resort... I'm not sure I remember much else with a lot of accuracy because I recall almost no lines to get on rides and my parents assured me that was not the case...
This year was a very different experience. The grandparents were not with us (unfortunately) but we were joined by Steve (fortunately) and we ate dinner at Mom and Dad's house just outside of Orlando (much better than I remember the turkey at the Contemporary being*)...
*I don't have a picture of the food (though I thought of taking one) so you'll just have to take my word for it that it was better. We enjoyed turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, pumpkin lasagna, dressing, and pumpkin and/or apple pie for dessert. Hmmm, now I wish I had taken a picture.
Our first day at the park we watched Mom perform in the Candlelight Processional at Epcot Center (featuring Isabella Rossellini). I didn't get a photo of that, but if you can track her down my mom has video footage of her performance that I filmed with her camera**. We finished the night with a tasty dinner at Morocco.
**On second thought, I seem to recall the footage being blurry and jumpy at points - I'm not sure I want to take the credit for it until it's seen a proper editing!
The next day was spent at The Animal Kingdom. Here's a picture of the family as we looked this year... enjoy it because we don't get together often enough and these shots of the full group are rare to find these days!
If you can't tell, left to right is Dad, me, Mom and Jon. Steve isn't in the picture because he was taking it... and he took over 50 more pictures before the day was over. You'll have to track him down for the complete list of those - this is the abbreviated photo tour!
FInally, on our last day at Disney, we went to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. This is something Jon and my parents had already planned to do before they knew I'd be joining them. Steve and I were able to score tickets too, and the evening was a blast. It was dark and chilly and there were cookies and hot chocolate all over the place. The best part was that there were MUCH fewer people and we were able to (mostly) walk right onto rides. Here's a shot of Steve and I that Jon took when we were on the Winnie the Pooh ride (it's not nearly as intense as the blurry background would have you think - just bouncy):
By this time, Steve was wearing a little thin - I'm not sure he's quite up to par with the rest of us when it comes to marathon Disney days. I will confess, however, that after this whirlwind visit I was mighty exhausted myself... still am...
Here's a shot of Cinderella's Castle all "iced" for the holiday***:
***This picture is a throw-back to a picture I took many years ago when I was part of an animation class at Disney. We were given disposable cameras to use throughout the day and one of the first pictures I took was of the castle. It's always been one of my favorite things there.
Alas, all good things must come to an end and I had to return home. I had a great time and I miss everyone already, but it's nice to be back at home where I can sleep in my own bed, move around without the crowds, and rest.
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