EVENT: Easter at Disney

Today, I needed a distraction. I wanted to get out of town, and I figured that I had some errands/goals to accomplish at Disney, namely: 1) get a couple pairs of Bug-Eyed glasses from Animal Kingdom's "It's Tough to Be a Bug" for my nephews, 2) ride the newly-refurbished "Gran Fiesta Tour" starring the Three Caballeros at Epcot's Mexico, and 3) goto Downtown Disney and return the Mickey feet my sister and I bought for the Inline Marathon.

1) I left at 8:15 AM and make it to Animal Kingdom in about an hour. Before getting the glasses, I went over to Everest. I saw the Dream Team Member passing out Dream Fast Passes to a small party of guests; I expressed some interest but was told that it was a random sweepstakes... SO CLOSE!... but oh well. I rode in the back of the expedition train, and from there I could feel the whipping at each of the turns and dips... pretty cool. Anyways, I went to accomplish my first mission, which wasn't too difficult with Stitch as my accomplice. I then briefly considered Festival of the Lion King (MFTM!) but decided to head out to Task #2 instead.

2) I had forgotten that the Flower & Garden Festival had just started last Thursday, so when I got there, I was pleasantly surprised to see the big piece at the front of the park - a Peter Pan, pirate-themed display - and all the other floral exhibits around the park. It's nice to see Epcot in full bloom, very actively educational. I stopped by the Festival Center and walked in on a presentation about orchids, sat down, and was able to pot a small orchid sprout to take home! Very cool. That was very close to Mexico, so I went in and accomplished my second task. The ride was very good. I thought: part "it's a small world", part "The Seas with Nemo and Friends". The refurb brought a lot of new energy into the ride, and I thought that it was a very successful, wonderful upgrade. And it's good to see Donald getting some love. I walked around the rest of the world looking at all the new decorations. China had some zodiac figures, Italy had some simple beautiful blooms, and France had a nice garden with a perfumed walking tour. It was a beautiful day, and I did take the time to stop and smell the flowers, to find the less-traveled paths and look at the world from new perspectives, and to just take small moments to just sit and enjoy where I was.

3) Downtown Disney was a whole different matter. The area was busy, and it took a good 15 minutes of driving around in circles to get a parking space. The World of Disney store was packed. I eventually found my way into a register line, and even being very patient, it was still a high-strung environment. Returning the merchandise wasn't difficult, but by then it was a little past 3 o'clock and I hadn't had anything to eat. Yes, I went the entire morning and afternoon without eating. This was my negative-balance Disney day. I returned shoes (accomplished task #3) at Downtown Disney, got a free orchid at Epcot, and um... "liberated" some Bug's Life glasses from Animal Kingdom (If you only knew how much my sister and I spent at Disney last weekend...).

Done. Done. Done.

Once I got back to Melbourne, I made a quick stop by Wendy's (I know they're not HRC-friendly, but I was hungry for their fries... sue me), went home, crash-napped, finished watching Season 2 of the Dave Chappelle Show (What? Yes. Okay!), started cooking the Bobotie, and dyed my hair.

Anyways, here are a few of my favorite pics from today (in no particular order):

The rest can be found at here at my fotki site.