The really really cold applies not only to the outside but also to the cinema. Went to see Glass today (an intriguing film) and yet again the cinema was freezing. Absolutely freezing. We had coats and gloves on and the management's response - oh yes we know. It's a problem that has just happened. No, it isn't - it has been like it since before Christmas and if you know certain screens are freezing are you not honour bound NOT to show films on them.
Hey ho. Other than that a busy time here. We were up early as I had the doctor's very early and he was lovely. I went to have my toe looked at and said I really didn't feel I needed the op at this point and he agreed. He said he couldn't lie, a partial nail avulsion was a nasty procedure and I am not at that stage - yet! He also gave me a good check up - which I didn't ask for but it was lovely he did that - and I passed with flying colours. My blood pressure was even normal (it is usually very low but I was so stressed in case he said I had to have the operation that it hit normal for once)
We then went and started the mammoth job of clearing Nigel's mom's flat. Today we did the very not contentious or upsetting food cupboards, fridge, freezer and bathroom. Most of it went int he bin as it was out of date or half used sadly. It is not going to be an easy job for Nigel to deal with. I am not sure if it is harder or easier that he is having to do this before she passes. I remember what an awful job it was when I had to clear Mommy and Daddy's house and I didn't have very long to do it as it had to be sold and we were both working ungodly hours at the time. Life is just hard sometimes.
I have new things to share today - just a couple of pages
This is the Trinitarian church in Concord which I have always loved to see.
This is a digital page using a fabulous collection by Reginafelango called L'hivres des Roses and it is utterly gorgeous. The baby is little Benjamin Lovatt - so adorable
and this one is of us having fun with the sculptures at Art of Animation.
Today I am thankful for
- a good, if cold, film
- starting clearing - it has to be done
- a lovely doctor - feel very lucky
Tuesday 30th October
The One Where We Met
This morning saw more new things for us. I need to set the context first. In 2000, when we visited the Animal Kingdom, I bought an Explorer Mickey – the cute one with the pith helmet and the binoculars. I also bought a Teddy Bear passport. My aim was to get the children in my class to take him, and his passport, when they went on holiday. The deal would be they had to try and get his passport stamped and they HAD to have photos taken with him in famous places and holiday destinations. I never expected it to take off as it did. He became the ‘must have’ companion and I had to draw lots every holiday for who would take him. He went on weekends away, he met famous people, he travelled to every continent and visited places I will never see. And it was all captured in photos, displayed in the classroom every year. He enjoyed 16 years of travel until both of us retired. What a well travelled mouse. Consequently, high on my agenda was meeting explorer Mickey and the only place you can do that is Tusker House.
So we rose early and we headed off to the Animal Kingdom for our Tusker House breakfast. The restaurant is lovely – I had no idea it would be a beautifully themed. The food was lovely too with some unusual food items as well as old favourites and also the great iconic juice which was beautiful.
We were able to meet all of the characters in their safari outfits and, most importantly, explorer Mickey. It was well worth the visit.
Satiated we headed off for one of our favourite shows, the Festival of the Lion King. It doesn’t matter how many times I see it, I love it. It is so vibrant and full of energy, the music is fabulous and I absolutely love the tumble monkeys. The show was as good as ever.
We headed off to the safari and it was a good one with lots of photo ops for animals though I really felt the loss of my camera for that ride. You cannot zoom effectively with an I phone and I am used to a camera with a 30x zoom.
After the safari, we headed to the new bird show featuring Doug from UP!. We always loved the bird show but were saddened to see its new incarnation. Like so much at Disney it seems like they have dumbed it down. We used to love the educational side of the parks but it is harder and harder to find it, especially at EPCOT (but more on that on EPCOT day). We found the show facile and not a patch on what it used to be.
Disappointed we headed to our Everest fast pass which was NOT disappointing at all. It was awesome as always and it still shocks and excites me.
We had time to kill and so Nigel suggested we head over to Pandora and then made the rather stupid suggestion of saying as we had time before our fast pass for flights of fantasy we should queue for Na’vi River as we might as well wait there as anywhere. To be honest even he agreed he was wrong. We could have waited somewhere pretty with a nice cold drink and watched the world go by rather than a 75-minute queue for a five-minute journey which, to be honest, isn’t that good. Personally, I don’t think it is a good as the little mermaid boat ride os mall world – or even Living with the Land.
Anyway – straight out of there and to Flights of Passage. When we had ridden it last year it was with a little bit of apprehension as we hadn’t known what to expect. This year we knew exactly what was coming and we loved it – so much. It is a superb ride. Too much preamble which irritates, but the ride is amazing. The sensations are incredible and it is so beautiful and smooth and just plain wonderful. If this is the way technology is going then I am all for it.
We left around 2.30 and went back to the resort and spent a little bit of time by the pool, but to be honest, the sun had largely passed over and so we didn’t stay as long as we expected.
We decided to try the French Quarter for dinner. We had a lovely walk round, trying to find all the villain pumpkins on their Halloween trail which was fun and then we enjoyed a great dinner. We were also keen to try the beignets (which were lovely but I agree not a patch on the beignets in New Orleans) and Nigel was given a free King Cake for his birthday. We really liked French Quarter for dining. Sassagula Float works was far quieter than Riverside Mill and felt more upmarket as there was proper crockery and silverware. We will be back.
We opted for an early return to the room and quiet time relaxing – we have done little of that this trip so far.
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