Day 1377: No Lost Time

In the face of a hurricane and the parks at Walt Disney World closed for the day, one might think there would be some lost time. Luckily, we're annual passholders, which means that it doesn't really matter what days we go to the park, and while I absolutely felt for those that missed out on a day at the most magical place on Earth, there was still plenty to see and do! 

Fortunately, we were staying at The Boardwalk for this particular trip, which was especially lucky since we were on the waiting list for months and it went through only weeks before our flight to Florida. This meant a couple of things. First, that we'd have the surrounding resorts to explore once the curfew was lifted, and second, that we had a few special extras offered at the resort while the parks were in lockdown, like Goofy and Pluto, who walked around The Boardwalk for hours keeping guests entertained! 

Plus, there's definitely something to be said about basically having forced time to spend at your resort. The resorts that make up Walt Disney World are all spectacular, unique in their own ways, and definitely worth exploring in their own, but even I must admit that they sort of get the short stick most of the time I spend in Florida. After all, there's usually so much to do in the parks that I don't spend much time at the resort, with the exception of frequently spending time around Old Key West. I spent extra time at Coronado Springs when I stayed there in July as well and between these two trips, I've really found a new enjoyment in exploring the places we stay.

So maybe next time spend a morning or afternoon looking around your resort, even if there's not a hurricane to force you to stay. Try out some of the restaurants, relax by the pool, or, if you're like me, get some work done in a little nook or cranny that most people don't recognize. It's a great way to spend an afternoon where you don't really want to mix and mingle with park goers and will open your eyes to a whole other side of Disney! I know I'm excited to explore a new resort in January - All Star Music! 

Have a magical day!

Day 1376: Hello Hurricane

In the weeks leading up to my October 2016 trip to Walt Disney World, the thought of a hurricane never really crossed my mind. In fact, I was so busy with school that I didn't even really realize that there was a hurricane heading our way until we were already on our way to Florida (my dad brought it up on the drive to the airport). Anyone who knows me knows that I hate storms too, so I'm pretty sure I lived in denial of an actual hurricane for the first couple of days of our trip. 

Once the rain really started though, it got harder to deny the seriousness of the situation. 

Hurricanes, like other natural disasters, are not something to be messed with, and everyone in Florida was blessed with Matthew's shift to the East late the night before landfall. If not for that shift, much of the state would have been dealing with a direct hit, and while it was definitely still close, things could have been a lot worse. 

I guess I didn't really know what to expect though. In Wisconsin we have snowstorms and blizzards, which are probably the closest we come to a hurricane, and Matthew didn't prove me wrong. The stores, as far as I could tell, were cleaned out and the roads were filled with people evacuating. At Disney, the announcement that the parks would be closing didn't seem all that odd, despite the fact that it's only happened a handful of times in history. The winds didn't really throw me for a loop either, and neither did the rain, because that was exactly what I expected from a hurricane based on prior knowledge. 

The most surprising part, I suppose, was the attitude toward the storm. On one hand you had government officials insisting that "this storm will kill you," and on the other hand you had the cast members at Disney keeping everyone calm and reassuring everyone that everything would be fine. After a few hours of watching the news in our wonderful room at the Boardwalk, it got sort of confusing as to what to believe, but I know for a fact that that was just a part of being a Disney Resort guest during the storm. 

When the curfew was lifted, we did venture out to various locations around Walt Disney World, specifically the nearby resorts and, in the evening, a brief trip to Disney Springs, which was crowded with resort guests wanting out of their rooms. Aside from some down branches and bark from the trees and the lingering wind and dark skies, everything seemed, once again, normal, and that was a trend that only continued over the following days. 

Overall, living through a hurricane wasn't anything what I expected it to me. I spent a good portion of the night, when the worst of the storm passed by, up terrified by the wind, but that's more due to my extreme fear of tornadoes and storms than anything else. I know for a fact that outside the limits of Walt Disney World, the story could have been and was entirely different, but I'm thankful that the damage from Hurricane Matthew, at least in Florida, was less than expected. 

Have a magical day!

Day 472: Wonderful Dreams Part 2

Yesterday we talked about how sometimes we just have these really really good dreams. Like insanely good dreams, such as the ones I talked about yesterday. But as I finished that blog post, I got an answer from my roommate as to whether or not I could blog about the awesome dream that she had, and she said I could. Or rather "YES YES YES." Our Twitter Conversations can get pretty entertaining.

Anyways, you may or may not remember that my roommate LOVES Newsies. Like, really loves Newsies, to the point where the songs are playing our room and now I like Newsies. It's a fun process. Granted, singing in our room just seems to be a given these days. We have a good time. Either way, the other morning I woke up and she was just like "Lizzie...are you up?" and I of course answered that I was, to which she just goes "Good, cause I have to tell you about my dream." Apparently it was a really good one, about how she was a part of the Newsies cast and she was singing the one song and she knew all the words AND, to top it all off, she was dating one of the cast members. 

Gosh, I'm eating hamburgers with Colin O'Donoghue and my roommate is dating Newsies cast members. Our dream lives are way better than our broke college student lives.

But let's continue to hang in this weird dreamland that seems to be better, or at least more interesting that the one that actually is in front of us. I wouldn't call this next dream good, but just...strange I suppose. It's been a couple years since I had it, so I'm a bit fuzzy on some of the details, but I remember enough of it to make it a bit of a story. Basically, I was in my high school, and I was Elizabeth Swann (from Pirates of the Caribbean), and for some reason Jack Sparrow insisted that I hide in one of the lockers (That happened to be the hallway my locker was in at the time...only I wasn't hiding in my locker). So I did, but eventually I got sick of waiting and left the locker and went out this set of doors that's a little ways away from where those lockers are. I go out them, and apparently my high school was a cruise ship, because that's where I was. Ultimately I ended up jumping overboard for some reason or another. The dream skipped around a little bit before eventually I was in this bedroom and Jack was sleeping on the floor? I have no clue, it was a strange dream, as I said.

The only other recent Disney dream I've had is one where I was at the Boardwalk Resort, but there was a cruise ship also involved in this one. Like we went on a cruise and then it docked at the Boardwalk, which makes no sense, and my brother and I were trying to figure out how to get back on the ship, so we're just walking all along the boardwalk, and then for some reason I remember being really sad. This was moreso just a confusing dream than anything else though. I really don't know what happened. But it must have been nice because I woke up in a great mood. 

Dreams are interesting things, that's for sure. I'll probably have more in the future, and if I have a really interesting one I promise to share. But you know how these things work, good dreams come and go, and you don't have one every night, so who knows what will happen!?!

All I can say is hopefully I'll share more hamburgers with Colin...or you could throw Harrison Ford in there. Or maybe a coffee date with Jennifer Morrison where we just talk about hair and braids for a few hours. Yeah, those all sound like great options.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on April 22 due to Easter).