Disney World

So once again, I was selected to make two presentations at a national conference.  I know, crazy, I never saw myself as an "expert" able to present to others in Higher Education.  Well I guess I can and I actually sorta like it.  So last week I presented and the conference was held at the Coronado Springs Resort at Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida.  So Yes, I did do my conference and learned some things and presented, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to go the parks.  We were limited on time, so we only went to Epcot and Magic Kingdom but it was ... well Magical....

These are all pics of our time at Magic Kingdom....so the first stop to see Mickey...now the signs outside all said "Visit Mickey"  none of them mentioned her.....that one in the polka dot dress holding her skirt up like some sort of....sigh...ok, that wasn't very Disney like of me.  Kevin saved me so I didn't have to stand by her and I have to be honest and say I truly did ignore her and didn't even acknowledge her presence...

 But Mickey still gave me a big Kiss and Hug, he was so happy to see me (and the feeling was mutual)....I caught glimpses of him throughout the day, See all the pics below.

First we stopped to have our picture taken in front of the Castle...

I know I always say this...but I would LOVE to have a Mickey Topiary like this, in my yard....

They are building a new Fantasy land, and it looks like the castle from Tangled way in the back....

We also got to watch a couple of parades....

See anyone famous in the pic below?  That is right ME, oh and Mickey is in the background too

And we watched a show at the castle, we learned that dreams can come true, so keep dreaming out there....

Kevin and I also competed in shooting on the Buzz Light Year ride (twice)....Kevin won big time...he is just lucky we didn't get to go to Hollywood Studios because otherwise, I would have come out on top on the Toy Story ride....

And we went into the Haunted Mansion (again we got to do it twice).....the lines were not too long so it was really great.  Kevin even talked me into riding Space Mountain....I did, but I still do not like it....

And Kevin had a Giant Mickey Cookie

And yes he ate the WHOLE thing

And we road the train around the park...

And we visited the glass store, and starred amazed at the glass castle....

Then in the night we watched the castle change colors

Then we watched the Electrical Parade....for those of you who saw this years ago at Disney Land, this is the same show (music is the same, some small upgrades too)

We saw a show played on the castle, it was really cool, they showed a bunch of people's pictures they had taken throughout the day, they showed rides, and different Disney stories, it was really great, and nothing is cooler than the castle all lit up like the Fantasia hat...

Then we watched the fireworks.  I tell you the fireworks you see at Disney every night are better than most city or county fireworks on the 4th of July.  Leave it to Disney though to be able to tell a story through fireworks and music.  They are simply amazing. 

Sorry we didn't take any pictures of our time at Epcot and we actually were there two different nights, but we had a really good time there too.

We also didn't take many pictures of the Coronado Springs resort, till we were about to leave on Sunday and we decided to take a walk to the pool.  Yes that is a walk of about 10 min from our room.  The pool area was very nice, there was this huge water fall...

A play ground for kids

So that is that story....it was really fun, and while the time was short, being part of the Disney Immagination always takes you away to a simple time of fun, family, magic, and relaxation.