Editor's Report
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Six Weeks In
A few weeks ago I used this space to let everyone know that Rebekah and I had picked up and moved from Southern California to Central Florida. It's been about six weeks now and I thought I'd give an update on how things are going - living in Florida from the perspective of a long-time Disneyland regular.
First, I have to admit, thus far the weather's been great. In fact, the worst weather we've experienced in the last six weeks was the four days we spent in Southern California for the opening of Tower and Terror and the announcement of Disneyland's 50th Celebration. Of course, that will change as summer approaches, but thus far the warnings about the weather have not come to fruition.
The best description I can give for what it's like to live here is "It's like living on vacation...except you have to work." This is such a tourist town (especially down where we live very close to property) that it seems everywhere you go, there are tourists and little else. And that's a good thing as far as I'm concerned. People are happy and looking to have a good time. You do need to be careful on the roads sometimes - anyone can do anything at anytime including the one car going the wrong way (British perhaps?) - but it's much easier than driving in LA. In fact, we've yet to encounter any real traffic (though I'm told there's plenty if I head towards Orlando). The same could not be said of our commute between Huntington Beach and Disneyland.
At Disneyland our favorite thing to do was simply to go to the Resort and have dinner, usually at one of the hotels. So living here is heaven. If my count is correct we've eaten at 12 different restaurants at 11 different resorts and Downtown Disney - and that doesn't include eating inside the parks. But unlike Disneyland there's much more to do here outside the major parks than eat. My favorite? On our last trip here in October we finally went to a water park and had the time of our lives. Since we've moved here we've been to Typhoon Lagoon three times and this weekend we're thinking about heading over to Blizzard Beach. We've also played a round of mini golf at Winter Summerland and ridden the watercraft between parks (some people call that transportation - I call it bliss). Some of things we've enjoyed in the past - an outdoor movie at Fort Wilderness, renting a pontoon boat, strolling the Boardwalk - we haven't even done yet. We're having so much fun outside the parks that I've thought about starting a new column, "A Day in the World," chronicling some of our non-park trips.
Disneyland has a huge base of people who go to the Resort on a very regular basis. As a result, I think the Cast Members (and specifically servers at restaurants) get used to seeing regular customers much like would be encountered in a regular restaurant. I'm not sure the same thing happens here since so many of the people are on vacation, not locals. At Disneyland it didn't take long for people to get to know us at the various hotels and restaurants. I anticipate it'll take quite a while here, if ever (not that that's bad - just different). I do find the Cast Members here to be very friendly, just like at Disneyland. In addition, I find them to be chattier than at Disneyland which I really enjoy. Maybe it's a Southern thing as I've found the same thing goes for employees at stores and restaurants outside Walt Disney World.
As for the parks themselves, we've been able to spend some time there, mostly taking pictures and just roaming around. In fact, I think I've been on less than 10 attractions since we arrived.. We've spent a lot of time at Epcot photographing the Flower and Garden Festival. We've had a couple of trips to the Magic Kingdom (where I always choose to use the ferry boat "transportation") including a fun time getting a family photo for Mother's Day. A couple of trips to Disney-MGM Studios to ride Tower and Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, and (unfortunately, only) one trip to Animal Kingdom. We do hope to get back in the parks this weekend for the start of Star Wars Weekends at the Studios ... if we can tear ourselves away from Blizzard Beach.
As I said, "It's like living on vacation...except you have to work...sometimes"
The Big Meet
On a completely separate note, we are planning on having our Annual
LaughingPlace.com meet on July 18th this year which is a Sunday. The time will
likely be 3:00p. Like last year we will be having an organized Disney event
which we'll need to charge for to cover our costs. The location has not been
finalized nor has the price which is why tickets aren't yet on sale. But please
keep the date and time available because the meet will definitely be taking
place. Last year's was great (we got a ton of positive feedback) and we plan on
this one being even better. And like last year, we don't want the cost to keep
anyone from going. So if you want to go but can't afford it for any
reason, just contact us after the details go up and we'll do our best to make
sure everyone who wants to come can come.
Discuss It
Related Links
-- Doobie Moseley
-- Posted May 13, 2004