We were awe inspired by The Hollywood Studios "One Man's Dream" This is the story of Walt Disney as told by a museum timeline complete with the facts and items he used to make the magic happen. It is followed by a 15 minute movie using mostly his voice to tell his story. It brought me to tears in parts and gave me good chills in other parts. All of it inspired me. Being trained as a Child and Family Psychologist, I can't help but seeing these things and trying to help others see it as well, because it can help everyone. What did I learn? Amazing things that everyone should hear and read... *When you see that even Disney is human enough to fail over and over again and then inspiration comes on a train in one moment and one thought and one drawing, you know that anyone can do well if they don't give up! *When you let your mind be peaceful, creativity comes to you and so do the answers you need. Also, just because someone took something from you. does not mean that something better isn't coming around the corner. Sometimes what we are not supposed to be doing needs to be cleared before the thing we are supposed to be doing can happen. Walt was on a train from New York to California after having what he considered one of his biggest failures and having someone steal his first animation project. As he was sitting on the train, a mouse popped into his head and he sketched it and the rest is history. *Sometimes the most inspired ideas come out of the smallest start. *Nothing is insignificant when it comes to creativity. *Running out of money as Walt did several times, does not equal running out of creativity. *Starting poor and without anything, does not equate with where you will end up or how much you will have. Walt shared the story of his brother Roy and how, even though the family had nothing, and Walt had to work at 9 years old on a paper route, Roy would be the one to make sure that Walt and his sister Ruth had a toy for Christmas. Walt came from nothing monetarily and he built something that has touch millions of people. He may have gotten "rich" from his ideas, but I think the richness was in his soul and his desire to share with others. *Focusing on your failures and working there is the exact wrong way to do things. Letting your mind open up and be creative after the failure is where the inspiration lives! *Wanting to do for others is the true root of all inspiration. Walt's main motivation in Disney was not profit and mountains of money. His inspiration came when he took his 2 beloved daughters out to go ride the merry go rounds at the carnivals nearby. While he sat there watching his kids ride, he felt that there should be a place where the parents could ride with their kids and then put his whole soul into that. It was for his kids. My Dad used to tell me that if you love what you do and you want to do it for others, the money will come, but if you do things for just the money, you will hate what you do and never be successful. I have always lived my life by this philosophy and I believe that Walt Disney also did and it looks like my Dad's advice to me, worked for him as well. *Family first. Walt's whole inspiration was for his daughters and for families to be together. I can't speak for all families, but I know that we get our strength and inspiration from each other and I like to help teach people how to get there too. There is so much other noise around all of us that can get in the way and distract us from what is really important. Blocking the noise and making sure you keep your family connected is where magic comes from. *Do you know that the first time Walt tried to submit his ideas to a newspaper, he got rejected. the reason the editor gave him was that his ideas were not creative enough! Never stop dreaming and never let anyone tell you that your dreams can't happen. We did not get to spend enough time there as we were trying to get to the Jack Sparrow attraction and we were the last showing of that for the night. I can promise that we will be going back to see One Man's Dream again and take our time to go through slowly and absorb the brilliance and inspiration and magic that came from one man who wanted to be able to ride with his daughters.
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When we moved, the one and only thing we were sad about leaving was my parents. They are not as enamored of life in Florida as we are, so we now share a long distance relationship. My mom's birthday is the same day as Chris' and he came up with a spectacular idea to say happy birthday to my mom. The vid is below and let's just say that the Disney cast members had a lot of fun with this one as did we! Btw...the story behind the word "ma'ah". When our oldest was very little, she could not say grandma and grandpa, so she said mahpah. That quickly turned to ma'ah and became the word she used for my mom. so we had to come up with on for my Dad. One of our fav movies was "Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation" and in that movie, Jimmy Stewart is called "Boompa". So that became the word for Grandpa, We like the name, but are very thankful that our kids have much better behavior than the little boy in the movie who uses that name! I've never been a fan of water I cannot see below. When I was 5 years old, I took the typicacal swim lesson at the YMCA and back in those olden days in the 60's, they favored the "sink or swim" way of teaching, where the adult brought the small child into the 12 feet deep and dropped them to let them naturally come to the surface. Well I sunk like a stone. Thankfully I came up, but traumatized. Needless to say, I had nightmares about it into my adulthood and while I have gotten over it and love to swim (in water I can see the bottom of), lakes, rivers, and oceans, still give me a feeling of vertigo. Florida and the Disney area is helping me to face that fear head on, and do it in a really wonderful way. Especially over at the Saratoga Springs Resort. One of the main attractions to being in this area for us, was the ability to walk in interesting places any time we wanted to, and to see beautiful, interesting things.around us. We saw Saratoga Springs as we rode the Sassagoula Riverboat one day from Downtown Disney and thought it looked just so wonderful and colorful. So we went to see it. We started to walk and turned a corner and there it was. The bridge. Ok, it was beautiful and your first thought is, "this is Disney so it is well constructed". When I saw it, however, there was this little part of my mind that went back to being 5 years old and I wasn't sure I wanted to walk across this. If there is one thing I have learned in my travels through life, it is that life is meant to be lived and fear might make you miss something you don't want to miss. So we went forth onto the bridge. The amazing thing about this bridge is that when you walk on it, you are going downhill toward what feels like walking at water level. You really aren't that low, as you can see when you look at it from the side, but the sensation is definitely going down. At night, the sensation is even stronger because you can't tell the height of the water easily. We got to the center of the bridge with water all around us and the really cool thing for me, is that although I had that small sensation of fear from my past, it was so beautiful around us, and that feeling completely knocked out the bad feeling. Our daughter was a little cautious for sure! The feeling on this bridge is one of just cleansing your soul. When you are on it and you look around at the peaceful surroundings and you hear the sound of the fountain and you see the lights and the colors of the buildings and the trees, it is truly a wonderful experience. I know that all of our trips to Disney in our past, were always too short for our liking and the thought of doing anything besides power hitting the parks and seeing as much as we could in the short time we had, was priority. I'm sure we are not that different from others in that way, but as you can see from this, there are so many hidden treasures all over the "World" that are not about the parks. Truly a bridge over wonderful waters! Your ad here My 50th birthday became the first birthday celebration in our family after moving to Mickeyland and there was only one place I wanted to spend it! We had a lovely day at the Magic Kingdom complete with lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern and a ride on the Liberty Belle Ferry Boat. Amazingly, after many decades of coming here since I was 9 in 1972, I had never been on that boat. It was truly a treat! The whole day was a treat, but at the end of the night hilarity ensued as we tried to get a candle lit for the couple pieces of cake we got to seal my Disney birthday with the traditional song. We bought the 2 wonderful cakes from the new Starbucks location on Main street. I guess I should not call it new, but rather the Main Street Bakery that has been there forever and now carries the Starbuck's sign on it. The only problem was that, although, they could give us a candle, they could not provide any matches or lighters to get it lit. I can totally understand that you would not want to supply the guests with anything pyrotechnic! LOL! So we figured we'd just ask around for a lighter once we got settled. So we tried to find a seat to do this and our timing happened to coincide with the beginning of the Main Street Electrical Parade so seating was in short supply. We made it to tomorrowland Terrace which was closed, but tables were available and many people were there. I began my quest for a small flame. Unfortunately, no one had anything we could use, so at first I thought we'd just do it without the candle, but that seemed wrong to me, especially for the first family birthday here. So I thought about asking a cast member. They were having their ice cream party across the way, so I asked there. If there is one thing about Disney that never changes and that I love so much, it is the amazing desire that all cast members have to go over the top and above and beyond to help and to make your visit more spectacular than you can ever imagine. This ended up being no different! The gentleman told us to sit tight and he would find something to get the tiny candle lit. So back he comes with this silver thing that looks like a gun. I held out my candle and he kicks it into gear and this blue flame comes out the front. It is clear that this is one of those jobbies they use to carmelize toppings on food quickly. I had this immediate image in my mind like a "Road Runner" cartoon of the candle melted in my hand and all of us with smoking hair! With that image fresh in my mind, I said while laughing hard, "you know what...I am going to hand you the candle to light it! Next a man with a lighter to the rescue! He comes up and says, "this might work better". We were all laughing and asked the cast member to show us the flame again, because it was just so hilarious! Of course having "Happy Birthday" sung to me on my 50th, during the Electrical Parade music, was a hard perk to compete with! What a wonderful place where people try so hard to make sure you are having the best time possible! The most hilarious time we have ever spent at the Haunted Mansion tonight bar none! We were there super late as it was open late, but on those nights, the crowd usually thins earlier. So we were in a group of us plus about 7 other people to go into the Haunted Mansion late at night. Becky was scared. Chris was energized. We were excited! We were reassuring Becky right outside the door so I think the guy inside heard us. So the doors open and cast member Nick is completely in character. He looks grim and almost dead. He gestures with his hand for us to go in and then follows closely behind us. We go into the first room where the picture turns into a skeleton and then into the "stretching" room. We're already kind of creeped out. Then he does something unusual in here that we have never seen before. Instead of telling us to drag our bodies into the "dead" center of the room like they always do, he tells us to walk towards him as close as we can. So we were already a little weirded out. He then starts to stare at Becky in the eyes and does not blink or break his gaze at all. She is starting to get really freaked out and kind of smiling at the same time. Then Wyatt gets his attention and the same creepy stare. At the end of what happens in this room, the lights go out and you can only see things by the lightening from above. Somehow, and I have absolutely no idea of how, unless he really is supernatural, Nick managed to be there when the lights went out and in 1 millisecond when the first lightening lit up, he vanished. I was so freaked out that he was able to be gone that quickly that I actually said, "Oh my G-d" out loud and I stood and cringed for the rest of the time the lights were out just waiting for what he was going to do next. Somehow, in the dark, in that millisecond, without making a sound, and without tripping over anyone, he ended up right behind me, silently, and I was not that close to him to start with. When the lights came on, I looked for him and he was gone. Then I turned and he was right over my shoulder. I screamed so loud! I think they could have heard me in Illinois! The whole room of people could not stop laughing all the way through the ride and afterwards, us included. I was so freaked out, but also had the best time ever! It was truly hilarious and he was just spectacular and stayed in character the whole time-even when I screamed. He did not break character. After the ride, I went to guest relations and told them that he was wonderful and we were so impressed and how much fun we had with Nick. I half expected when I walked up to the counter that they would say that they had no Nick working at the HM and that the ride had been closed for an hour. Eerie! The Absolute Best Fish and Chips We Have Ever Had! Yorkshire County fish Shop-Epcot, World Showcase8/20/2013 When you walk World Showcase at Epcot, there are many wonderful tastes and smells around you at all times. Over the years, we have eaten at several places there, but had not had the privledge to try the Fish and Chips at The Yorkshire County Fish Shop until now. I have had fish and Chips before and knew what they tasted like, so I was not ready for the mind blowing flavor and texture I was about to experience. The first thing you need to know about this wonderful fish, is that you should not just dive right in to take a bite as these are smokin' hot and fresh. Once you allow it cool for a bit, and you take your first bite, you know you are not eating just ordinary fish and chips. These are tender and juicy and moist and huge! Disney has a reputation for being on the pricey side, but I have to say that for this portion, and quality, it is fairly priced. Another thing you have to watch for here, is that it is so popular and so crowded most of the time, that seating is hard to come by. We got a table, but no chairs. To be honest, it was so good, I did not care about standing. Especially with the authentic British scenery all around us and a beautiful view of the lake. Onto the chips. My favorite thing about these "chips" was the amount of potato meat in them. I love thick potatos that have a ton of potato come out when you squeeze it. Real potato. Quite a generous portion of those too. Dessert is authentic British Sugar Cookies and all I can say is wow! I love all experiences Disney because they are so immersive. Everything you do here feels exactly how it should if it were real all the way from someone of British descent taking your order and serving you your food, to the flavors, to the surroundings. Our daughter who is a Harry Potter fan extrodinaire, loved meeting and talking with the people here as well! A real treat not to be missed! Enjoy the pics. I'm not sure why, but I forgot to take a pic this day of the actual place and since I only use my own photos for this site, for now, that will have to do. I have lots of pics of us enjoying the experience, the actual food and a video review from the fam. We went back another time later and I did take a pic, but I will have to add it later when I come across it. Enjoy! As we walked the Boardwalk one beautiful night, we walked past a group of the cutest, most brightly decorated 4-6 seater bikes we had ever seen. They were so old fashioned complete with the fringe on top and the striped canopies. We had just recently moved here to Florida from Illinois and due to a very greivous error on the part of the truck rental place, we ended up having to leave our bikes behind, which was heart breaking for all of us. So we thought that a nice ride on one of these all together would be a peaceful, wonderful way to spend the evening. Chris was reluctant and wanted to instead take a boat ride but these looked like too much fun to pass up although we worried it would be mega bucks. We went to check with the gentleman at the desk and it turned out to be quite reasonable, so we got signed up and got ready for our ride. We paid and the man took us over to the bike to explain things and train us in how to use it and where we could ride. He told us about the circle we would follow from where we were on the Boardwalk around to the Yacht and Beach Club and back around to here. He quickly mentioned 2 "little" hills on each side that we had to go over, and made sure to tell us that they were, "no big deal". So we got strapped in and started peddling. We were avid cyclists in Illnois so how could this be any different right? Well, at first, I thought something was wrong with the peddles because my legs were just spinnning with no traction. Quickly we found that if someone was peddling faster than you on the same chain, you would just spin fast. Our daughter was back there just peddling as fast as she could. We finally reached our groove and were moving along very loud and baudy so that they could probably hear us at the Magic Kingdom from where we were. Then we reached the first uphill incline. You know...the one the guy said was a "little hill". I'm not sure what his concept of little is, or maybe we are just major wimps, but let's just say that half way up the hill, we started going backwards, complete with screaming and laughing, until Chris got out to start to push all of us back up the hill, all the while laughing and muttering about the boat ride he wanted to take. We finally reached the top and then came the going downhill, which was equally as scary and maybe even more so. When we look at the video that we took from inside the surrey, it does not look like we are going that fast, but the way it feels is completely different. We flew down that hill, ringing our bell, trying desperately not to run anyone over, screaming and laughing out of control. People along the way were cheering us on and telling us "you can do it", laughing with us. I love that about Disney. The bonding with people you don't know out of happiness and fun! We took 2 laps because that is what you are allowed, laughing the whole way together. It was a blast! There is a part on the video where you can hear my son yell out, "I love this place!" I am thrilled that I will hear those words for the rest of our lives ringing in my head. I love that he yelled that out and that this is how he feels! I have included the video below. You cannot see much because it is at night, but the sound rack is hilarious and maybe it will help you decide if you want to give it a shot and try to tame those hills or not! Will we ride another surrey bike? Probably, although I don't think I will easily talk Chris into it. There are so many boats just calling out to him that don't require pushing! |
Sherri and crewWe lost everything and had to start over again, but we decided to do it with magic and style here in the most magical place on earth. We were scared to death. The destroyed economy made my "vanilla frosting" biz fall apart. You might ask what a vanilla frosting biz is. It is one defined as something people would love to do and should do bc it helps their kids to have a better future, but when the basics became hard to afford, the frosting was not attainable. We tried to use credit cards as a temporary fix to keep the only thing I knew how to do and had trained for my whole life floating, but the overhead was unsustainable and then the credit cards also became that way and so we fell. Lost it all. The house, the office, our lifestyle, which in retrospect now, we realize that although we were always happy together, we had gotten used to an unhealthy and boring lifestyle. That was all about to change thanks to our fall and amazing silver linings. The fall felt like I was letting go. Couldn't control anything anymore so I allowed myself, although terrified, to truly fall and see where G-d, life and fate wanted me/us to go. I allowed fate to see us through! I prayed a lot everyday that this fate would be a happy one. Archives
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