Family Time In Orlando

Hi! You know the drill by now - most recent pictures at the top, oldest at the bottom, captions under the picture. Hope you enjoy!

I promised myself I'd have a "real" tree for Christmas whenever possible and this year was no exception. I bought a small Norfolk pine and with the help of decorations from home and gifts from family, we celebrated Christmas in Orlando.

Our RV park got into the spirit of Christmas in a big way. Most units were decorated - especially by those who owned park models or those who spend the winter in this park. This was one of the most elaborate.

December 18 - This is the cabin we rented for the kids at the RV park we were staying at in Clermont. It came with its own pet gecko which Chris informed us is a sign of good luck. At Universal Studios we saw Shrek 4-D, Twister and my favourite, the Revenge of the Mummy. We also watched Macy's Holiday Parade before we headed back to Islands of Adventure for the Pteranodon Flyers ride and the kids' cold and wet ride down Ripsaw Falls. All this made them hungry so Mel & Clayton enjoyed two special treats - a giant turkey leg and funnel cake. We'd finally had enough of the Islands of Adventure so we made our way over to Universal Studios where we were greeted by 2 giant snowmen. It was chilly for Florida, but not snowman chilly! There should be evergreens in the background, not palm trees. This is Doctor Doom's Fearfall - 150 feet up and 150 feet down (with 2 stops)! My favourite ride on Marvel Super Hero Island was the Amazing Adventures of Spiderman 3-D ride. You ride a roller coaster while things fly out at you - quite a thrill!

This ride reminded Mel and Chris of the Tea Cup ride at Disneyland years ago so they decided to try it again. At Universal it's called the Storm Force Accelatron. I guess that sounds more exciting than the Tea Cup Ride. Ted and the kids loved the Incredible Hulk Coaster; it was so exciting they had to do it twice. I sat this one out, too. I don't mind roller coasters in the safety of darkness, but I do not want to see how far I'm going to fall! This is the Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls Ride which drops 75 feet into the water. It was still pretty chilly so we decided against it as we did not want to walk around wet and cold for the rest of the day but Chris, Mel and Clayton decided to make it their last ride of the day. It was a cold, wet ride home for the 3 of them as they were soaked! We just had to buy this picture as a memento of the Jurassic Park River Adventure. Clayton got drenched as the child in front of him offered no protection from the splash at the bottom of the drop. The rest of us remained fairly dry. I think the expressions on our faces say it all! Our first stop was Universal's Islands of Adventure. At Poseidon's Fury, Poseidon regained his trident and the world was saved. Ted and the kids then went on the Dueling Dragons roller coaster ride. At 3 different points, the two roller coasters, Fire & Ice, come within 18 inches of each other. I sat that one out!

December 17 - After a day of shopping at one of the outlet malls and an early Christmas turkey dinner, we were ready to take on Universal Studios. They had a special deal - one day, two parks - so we took advantage. It was pretty chilly for Orlando that day - only +10 - so the kids were quite disappointed. It seemed like a breath of fresh air to me! December 15 - Time for another day off. As you can see, the kids were corrupting both Ted and Rusty! Bring on the crib board! After watching Fantasmic, an amazing mix of lasers, lights, dancing fountains and special effects depicting Mickey's dreams and nightmares, we walked over to the Streets of America to see the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. The lights are synchronized to holiday music and it was spectacular. It wouldn't be a Christmas parade without Santa! The Hollywood Holly-Day Parade was great - all the Disney characters were there, including Miss Piggy decked out in her finest.

What would a stunt show be without someone racing a motorcycle through a fire and then ending up in flames himself? The Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show was incredible. We got a behind-the-scenes look at the techniques used to pull off car, motorcycle and sea-doo stunts. We thought drivers were doing some amazing stunts driving backwards and then discovered the cars actually had two drivers - one who drove frontwards and one who sat facing out the back window with his own steering wheel, gas and brake pedals. No fair! Cars split in half, drove on two wheels and soared over semis! Miss Piggy provided the background as we waited to go into the Muppet Vision 3-D show. We saw a reenactment of one of the scenes from Raiders of the Lost Ark at the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular. You could feel the heat from the flames! December 14 - After a day of rest, we headed back to Disney World - this time to Disney-MGM Studios. Ted and the kids' favourite rides were on Sunset Boulevard. On the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (above), you ride a hotel elevator up 13 stories and then make several plummets encountering various ghostly apparations before arriving safely back in the lobby. It's a scream! The other favourite ride (which they rode three times, me twice) was the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster which went from 0 to 60 mph in just under 3 seconds while listening to Aerosmith music.

One of the neatest thing about this beach is that you are allowed to drive on it (under 10 mph, of course). Ted was waved over by the Beach Patrol for driving in the pedestrian lane! Good thing there weren't many pedestrians! Ted was soaking up the sun on the beach. December 13 - Daytona Beach. After a long day at Disney World, we decided to treat ourselves to a day at the beach. It was a nice, relaxing day. You can see Melanie and Clayton and I am positive Chris was in the picture when I took it. I can only assume he's under a wave! At 6:00 we watched the Disney characters led by Mickey & Minnie light the Christmas tree and sing Christmas carols. At 9:30 we saw the most amazing laser and fireworks display entitled Illuminations - Reflections of the Earth. It was awesome and more than made up for the tired feet and exhausted bodies. I guess there's a little Viking in all of us. Norway had an interesting pavilion - a castle, a stave church, a bakery (mmm good), and a Maelstrom, a ride on a dragon boat through Viking territory.

The Chinese pavilion was filled with Tomb Warriors, Guardian Spirits of Ancient China. It was a beautiful pavilion, both inside and out, but we were too late to see their video. After eating in Mexico, we watched the Candlelight Processional and then saw a huge gingerbread house in the American pavilion. Too rich for my taste!! Talk about calories! It's getting late in the afternoon and we took a break in front of Japan's red torii gate by the lagoon before we headed back to The Land to go Soarin', an amazing ride where you feel like you are hang gliding over the California countryside. It wouldn't be Disney World without meeting a few of the Disney characters. Here we got up close and personal with the Genie, Aladdin and Jasmine by the Moroccan pavilion. Clayton managed to insert himself into my picture of the Moroccan pavilion.

The United Kingdom imitated a London neighbourhood with cobblestone streets lined with shops, pubs, cottages and courtyards.Hanging out in front of the Canadian Pavilion. Had to have a beer, hey! Canada had a great pavilion - totem poles, a large hotel (combination of Chateau Laurier and Chateau Frontenac), a miniature Niagara Falls and Butchart Gardens, a Circle-Vision 360 film (with only 30 seconds of the prairies - ignored again!) and a great Celtic band, Off Kilter. On our way from Future World over the bridge to Showcase Plaza, we stopped for a photo - Ted, Melanie, Clayton & Chris. Chris looked a little strange after his visit to ImageWorks. I'm not sure where his head is! The best part of The Seas were the huge windows which allowed us to spy on amazing sea life such as manatees (above), dolphins, sharks, all sorts of fish and even a scuba diver or two.

We visited The Seas with Nemo & Friends and climbed aboard a clam-mobile to help find Nemo once again. Our first ride of the day was Test Track where we sped up steep hills, zipped around hairpin curves and slammed on the brakes after reaching speeds of 65 mph. We then admired the car above, the AUTOnomy, the first vehicle designed from the ground up around a fuel cell propulsion centre. It's a GM - sorry, all you Dodge and Ford fans!! December 12 - Disney World Epcot. Chris, Melanie and Clayton arrived on the evening of the 10th so after spending a day visiting and getting them settled, we went to Disney World Epcot. As we came through the gates we were welcomed by Spaceship Earth, a 180' tall geosphere which unfortunately was temporarily closed for renovations. While at Titusville, we decided to take a drive across the Max Brewer Drawbridge to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge which is just north of the Kennedy Space Centre. It actually closes for 3 days prior and on the day of a space shuttle launch. We drove the Black Point Wildlife Drive and saw all sorts of bird species and an alligator. They have identified 310 bird species here; this picture is of a flock of Roseatte Spoonbills. December 10 - Titusville - Every morning from the 6th on, we'd wake up early and watch TV to see if the space shuttle was a go. Unfortunately on the 9th, we were very disappointed to learn that it had been postponed until January. We saw on the Kennedy Space Centre website that there was to be the launch of an Atlas rocket on the 10th at noon so we drove over to Titusville (which we learned is one of the best places to watch a launch) in the hopes of seeing the rocket take off, but unfortunately that didn't happen either. This picture is of the pier at Riverfront Park in Titusville with the Kennedy Space Centre in the background. The day improved, however; the kids arrived that evening!

December 6 - Cocoa Beach. We were so excited to learn that there was to be a launch of the space shuttle Atlantis while we were in the area. We made plans to go watch and then it was delayed. We decided to go to Cape Canaveral anyway just to check it out and see where the best place would be to see the launch when it did take place. While there, we drove down to Cocoa Beach for lunch and a walk on the beach. We thought this was an interesting sign - not one that we see at the lakes in Alberta! Perhaps it has something to do with the birds circling overhead! Birds were circling overhead as we hiked around Palm Island Park. It gave me the creeps; unfortunately we watched the Hitchcock movie "Birds" a long time ago and I've never felt the same about birds flocking together ever since. From Rock Springs we drove west to Mount Dora. The city is 184 feet above sea level and is considered to be Florida's equivalent of a mountain top town. I guess it's all a matter of perception!! This lighthouse is located at Grantham Point on Lake Dora and is the only inland freshwater lighthouse in Florida. It was built of bricks donated by the locals. Behind Ted is the cleft in the rock where Rock Springs Run begins. He looks so proud of himself, you'd think he was the one to discover it!!!

December 3 - Rock Springs, FL - A neighbour in our trailer park in Apopka suggested we visit the Rock Springs Run in Kelly Park and we were so glad we did. Water bubbles from a cleft in the rock, becomes a swiftly running stream which eventually slows to a meander. The best way to navigate the stream is by tubing, but we walked the mile long boardwalk that runs alongside. The spring has a constant temperature of 68 degrees.