|
|
 |
 |
|
| This was a FIRST for Ana & Joyce. Neither had ever been to DisneyWorld before. The girls were able to visit all 4 parks in 4 days during the celebration of "100 Years of Magic" | The weather was great, the crowds were small, and this was a dream come true for Joyce and Ana. They spent the first day at the Magic Kingdom. | The second day was spent at the Animal Kingdom. Here they are in front of the man-made Tree of Life. | |
 |
 |
 |
|
| The third day, their birthday, they spent at the Disney MGM Studios. What a phenomenal birthday present this trip was! | Evenings were spent at Epcot, as well as the fourth and final day. It's everything that everyone has ever said it was. | One of the things they love to do is collect the autographs of the various characters. Here are Ana and Joyce with Robin Hood, autograph book in hand. Many more followed. | |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Here is some digital magic; this was two pictures of Joyce and Ana inside the alien spacecraft; magically melded into one image! | The parade in the Magic Kingdom was wonderful. There were all the traditional characters, and snow globes seemed to be the order of the day (Ana loved that!) Here was Mickey, the mouse that started it all. | The gals didn't get to ride it, but they always take a picture of the steamboat; this one is the Liberty Belle, just off Liberty Square. | |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Everywhere in every Kingdom, Disney has taken care to decorate every inch. If you're very observant, you can see so much detail ... it's incredible. Here is the most obvious example, the topiary, which is everywhere. | They couldn't let this opportunity go by ... Ana took a number of pictures of the flamingos in the Animal Kingdom ... only to find out later there wre more over at Epcot! | This was a tankful of beautiful fish. Ana wasn't sure if it would turn out ... she shut off the flash and shot right into the tank. What a marvelous display of color and light. | |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Another autograph, another park. | Ana loves lilypads, so she had to take this shot. | This opportunity to photograph a tiger this close up could not be passed by. Luckily there is a window between "them" and "us". | |
 |
 |
 |
|
| There's a topiary of Sorcerer's Apprentice Mickey with the run-amuck brooms pouring buckets of water colored flowers all over. This was the inspiration for the girls' Halloween costumes this year. | They had their Birthday Brunch at a'50s diner where Joyce met Minnie and danced The Swing with Pluto. She got lots of autographs, and the characters and waitresses sang Happy Birthday! | Joyce spent quite some time in the "Honey I Shrunk the Audience" part of the park ... a little too much time, since it seems she's been shrunk herself! Yikes!! | |
 |
 |
||
| The girls got their FastPasses to the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. Joyce told Ana she HAD to try to be one of the audience members chosen for the stunt. So when the lady said she'd pick three of the loudest people out of the audience of 2,000, Ana bellowed her very loudest ... and was selected! | Joyce wanted to ride the Hollywood Tower of Terror; it was with much trepidation that Ana agreed. After surviving the ride, they both agreed that would be the first and last time! | ||
 |
|||
|
The difference between the Fantasmic show in California and the one in Florida is that Florida has an entire stadium or arena built just for that purpose. It has seating for 8,000 and standing room for 2,000. We got there an hour before the show was to start. They have vendors who meander thru the crowds selling souvenirs and food. The crowds are fun and friendly. We even had all 10,000 people performing the wave for 10 whole minutes! It was unbelievable! The show was very similar to the show in California, with the exception of the Peter Pan scene on the Columbia. That was the only flaw. Here we see Mickey battling the evil Malificent, transformed into a giant dragon. Mickey wins, of course! What a show!!! |
|||
 |
 |
 |
|
| Mexico was the first "land" we visited in the World Pavilion at Epcot. That's Joyce on the steps of the Aztec pyramid structure. Ana had a pleasant surprise in the shop inside -- they had a whole area in the store devoted to ... flamingos! | Monet would have delighted in painting these lily ponds in front of the "land" of China. The ladies also watched the 360 degree movie of China inside this pavilion. | Here is the Italy segment of the World Pavilion. Nearby was the "land" of France. Ana and Joyce spent a few minutes watching the beautiful movie they had about that glorious country. | |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Here is Joyce posing with a Harlequin in the Italy segment. There were also other poseurs, one of whom was quite scary in a long hooded robe so you couldn't see his face. | Here is the Great Britain segment of the park. Right next to them was a band playing electric guitars and rock bagpipes; all the band members wore kilts -- their band name was "Off Kilter". Great music! | The IllumiNations fireworks show at the end of the evening were marvelous! What a fantastic way to end a tremendous day! | |
