Well we are back from 8 wonderful days in Florida's Disney World resorts. Not for the physically weak or the weak at heart. We walked a lot, lost 2 of our kids for about 20 min., And were together 24/7 for 8 days in tight quarters.
All week long my line was (with great enthusiasm and sarcasm) "Welcome to Disney World!!!"""
Every time I saw a dad cursing at a stroller that wouldn't fold up correctly, or a child screaming because of the heat, or dissatisfaction in not getting the souveneir they wanted or fighting with siblings, parents fighting over the disappointment of their children. I was sooo thankful that we didn't buy into the whole ritual of taking them when they were 4 or 5 years old because that is
"the magical time", the time "when they believe in the magic"..... I am so glad we waiting until they could recall the magic of flying in a 737 and being terrified of the turbulence. (hee hee) when they could remember the awe of seeing Cinderella's castle for the first time. I am 46 years old and never realized how much I was going to enjoy seeing it in person....I Cried! It was quite magnificent to see this 1920's town with all its people dressed in the time period. I could have done without the heat and humidity of 90 degree days. I even enjoyed the people dressed up like Mary Poppins and Rapunzel, who stayed in character the whole time they were signing autographs. what a fun job to have....at least for a little while.
I enjoyed being with my family, with no real agenda, no responsibilities, no meals to cook or house to clean, no laundry to do. We really had fun just being together. Lovin on our kids on boat rides and relaxing in the hotel room. I really think we needed this time to re-group.
We enjoyed one full day at every park. One day we went to Hollywood studios where they have
an attraction called American Idol, the experience.
Scott talked me into auditioning. I passed the first one and went on to the 2nd audition for the producer and then he played a video on the screen from Ryan Seacrest that told me "welcome to Hollywood!" So then off to the real show, (well not "real") I went. It was a thrill to get my makeup done and have a vocal lesson and then we were walked through how things were going to go onstage. It was incredible how much like the real thing it was. I'm guessing the stage was only half the size, but it was an exact replica besides that. There was a live audience and three "celebrity" judges.
There were three of us competing and they were all really nice people. I felt bad because the one girl had never been on stage before. So, I won that round, it was really cool to feel that feeling. Then it was off to the finale. We got a little break in between that I could hang out with my family and tell them of all the things that happened back stage. And then I was back in there for the last show of the day. This show was all the winners from the five shows they had during the day. The same process of makeup and then a walk thru before the crowd came in.
There was a warm up guy before each show, for each audience, who was really funny. The last half of the day they changed hosts and judges....one of the judges on the 2nd panel was really mean....(the character he played) So while the other judges said nice things to me, I was preparing for the harshness that this guy was going to hurl my way. The judge before him told me that I reminded her of Ann Murray....so when it was his turn he said "yeah, and you bore me as much as she did too." ouch!, that kind of hurt, but I'm glad that I was expecting it.
Any who ... The winner was suppose to win a golden ticket to go to the "real" American Idol audition and skip the initial ones and go right to the celebrity judge audition. Sooooo, at this point I realized that I would not be winning, because I was too old (poor me... hee hee). I realized that the audience would have to take into consideration that whoever was going to win would have to not only be a good singer, but also young enough to compete. So, a young guy by the name of Grant Cullem won, he is in the service and a good singer. He had done this thing at Disney World before, gearing up for the real auditions. I wish him all the luck.
I'm so thankful that my husband talked me into doing it, it was a really fun experience and I'm glad I did it. It was funny that after the shows were over a lot of people were coming up to us on our way through the park or in line at a ride, in the bus or at our hotel and they were asking how I did, or telling me that they voted for me. It was fun for the kids I think, they kept saying "mom, you're famous" hee hee.
My favorite place I think of all disney world was epcot, I think....so hard to pick. But I loved being able to go to all the different places in the world and hear their language. We ate at a restaurant in France and had wonderful french food and got to speak the very little french we knew...It was so much fun to go through Germany and hear all the workers talking together in German. The girls liked going through England and the Norway boat ride....hee hee... The boys liked Test Track (the ride) and Mission space. We all found rides we liked and things we liked to do there. We ate soooo much good food at every park that we adults probably need to go on a diet. It was like being on a cruise when all you do is eat all day. Good thing we were doing a lot of walking.
So many wonderful desserts and main dishes.
it was fun riding all the rides with the kids....we had to force Casey on a few....some she liked, some she didn't... :-)
This was Big thunder mountain railroad....casey wouldn't go on this.
We all enjoyed swimming in the morning and at night when we got back to the room, sometimes at 1o or 11 at night...
Lizards, lizards, everywhere.....literally.....aaahhhh!!!
I was not fond of the heat and lizards like my family was. I saw a snake in the water carrying a fish and haven't stopped thinking about it since. I keep waking up in my bed at night, thinking I'm on the boat and looking over to see if there is a snake. I'm glad to be home although it's going to be hard to get back to reality. In fact, what am I going to serve for dinner....let the games begin...
