Day 1105: Chillcation

To say we thought long and hard about what we wanted out of our latest trip to Walt Disney World would be an understatement, because planning for "Operation Dole Whip" started almost a year ago, soon after returning from our last trip to the most magical place on earth. Somehow we managed to convince our parents (Franks and mine alike) to let us head back home for an eight day trip only a year after our January Extended Family Vacation that included eldest sister Megan and younger brother Jonny. This time, however, the middle "siblings" headed out on our own with Mom.

Considering the fact that this would be Frank's (remember...her real name is Ashley!) third time to Walt Disney World, we put in some extra thought as to what we might make different about this trip in comparison to the other two. The first trip for my dear friend came as a part of the 2014 High School, and that trip, even by my standards, was insane. Not necessarily insane in a bad way, but just crazy busy as I attempted to pack as much into a few days and hours in the parks as possible. What we accomplished I'm still incredibly proud of, but it certainly didn't leave a lot of time to relaxing. Let's be honest, it hardly left time for walking.

Last January was a bit better, but there was still a lot they had yet to see, so we definitely kept ourselves moving then too, exploring resorts, hidden corners of the parks, and seeing as much as we could in our 9 day trip. I like to think they enjoyed it, especially considering the fact that we have pictures from that trip scattered pretty much everywhere we can find.

But this January was going to be different, and we knew that from the start. Keeping in mind that the operation name of the trip was inspired by our craving for Dole Whips, it shouldn't be surprising that we had plans to slow things down a bit. You know, enjoy the little things. And enjoy them we did. Our first day in Florida was probably one of the more relaxing days, and that's why I figured I'd share some of the things we did to kick off our "Chillcation." After all, there's plenty to do at Disney without really doing much of anything, and I firmly believe that those things are just as important as running yourself out of energy in the parks themselves.

In our typical fashion, we started out the trip by "chilling" by the pool at Old Key West, my home DVC resort and home away from home for the week. Having more or less grown up at Old Key West, it was awesome to be able to share it on such a deep level with one of my best friends, and I hope I can have the same opportunity with Shovell soon! It was, honestly, a bit cold by Florida standards for the majority of our trip, but the first day found us in the 60's and much warmer than the snowstorm and negative temperatures we'd left back in Wisconsin. 

Following our relaxation by the pool, we headed to Olivia's for some lunch, and boy were we starving. In fact, we were so hungry that we basically just told the waitress to bring us some food and ate it so quickly that we forgot to take a picture until after it was already gone. What was once on the plate was some spectacular buttermilk chicken, mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables, all with a delicious gravy on top. We actually loved it so much the first time that we returned on our last day for a second portion, and I definitely recommend it if you find yourself over at Old Key West! 

By the time we finished our lunch our room was ready, so we caught a ride with bell services and headed to our room for a much needed nap (I only slept about an hour the night before in between driving two hours to Milwaukee in a snowstorm and a 3 A.M. wake up call to fly down to Orlando). I honestly didn't really want to get up and already felt like I could sleep for a week, but even 45 minutes helped before we were off to my beloved Epcot. 

As you saw up above, there's always time to stop for pictures with Trash Cans, which is sort of an inside joke with my family (long story short my brother has a weird thing with Trash Cans), and pictures like that became a sort of standard throughout our trip, which I'm sure you'll see later in a few other posts. We really ended up documenting the off kilter things we did rather than the more common experiences posted by many, and that's certainly something I loved about this trip.

One of those off kilter experiences is certainly my ability to run into my favorite Disney artist, Larry Dotson. My parents brought home one of his prints for me in 2004, which still remains my favorite of the prints I own today, and they started a whole new addiction. Now I must own somewhere along the lines of 15-20 of his various prints from Walt Disney World, and I usually track one down each time I'm in Florida. Of course, I've also had the wonderful opportunity to meet him in person various times, and when I learned his last day for the winter would be at Epcot the same day I happened to be arriving, I made sure to stop in and find a new addition to my collection. 

From there we had plenty of other experiences, but there's seven other blog posts to help narrate the rest of my trip, but I think you can sort of get the idea. It's certainly amazing to see what you're missing at Walt Disney World if you slow down and look around, and that's what a chillcation is really all about. 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on January 22 due to travel).

Day 747: A Few More Favorites

Ahh yes, back in the land of the fast internet. Some people on campus say that our internet here at school is dead slow and I honestly wonder what kind of internet they usually have because this stuff is great. God forbid you wait a second for the page to load.

Try waiting ten minutes.

Regardless, that, along with the fact that the band trip video is officially wrapped up, means that I can come back and reorganize my blog before the new semester starts in just a day or two. So, since I have several blog posts to make up and there's still plenty of pictures from my trip, I figured I would share a few more of my favorites!

Jonny and I rarely both have a camera these days, as I've usually got my hands on the video camera filming for the vlogs (or partly, at this point, the band trip video), but when a shot in Animal Kingdom caught my eye, I stole my Dad's camera for a few minutes. We ended up having a camera war, but you know, that's normal with this family. 

Our first night of the trip was filled with lots of pictures, half because Dad and Jonny took forever while taking pictures of literally everything when we tried to slowly make our way our of World Showcase. The rest of us stopped for breaks every so often. The first time it was at a table near the Adventure Outpost, where we put our feet up and Jonny and Dad walked right by. The second time it was in China, where our sleeping on the benches obviously alerted them. 

And then we have this picture. I remember taking it and the four of us were standing there and I told Dad to take the picture and he commented on how it was a difficult picture to take because of the lighting, but it ended up turning out really well and now I think it's one of my favorite pictures. It's one of those things that kind of means a lot because this is the bridge next to Mexico, and it's where we literally ended the last trip in June. While it's not where we started this one, it was close, and going back to stand in those exact spots was kind of sentimental. 

I was sad that I couldn't get into V&A. My parents have been there twice (I think. Twice for sure), but I've never been there. Apparently I get to go when I graduate from College. Let's hope so. 

I'm not entirely sure why, but I just love this picture from our dinner at the Hoop-Dee-Doo. 

I've been incredibly fortunate when it comes to meeting people at Walt Disney World. You might know that I collect a series of prints by artist Larry Dotson, and I know I've been planning a "My Disney Collection" post just for them for quite some time (maybe one of these days I'll actually get around to it). My parents started the collection for my with a Spaceship Earth print many years ago (2004 actually), and after they got me a second one, it became tradition for me to find a new print each trip. Now I have more than I can fit on my bedroom wall! But I do believe what really jump-started the collection was meeting the artist himself at Epcot not long after I got those first ones. Then I met him a second time, on my 18th birthday of all times, and got a second print signed. Following that, while I didn't see him, he was there while I was at Disney in June 2014 for the band trip, and my parents got me yet another signed print. So when I happened to walk into the Art of Disney store at Magic Kingdom and I saw him sitting there I pretty much jumped out of my skin. It's always a pleasure to meet and talk to Mr. Dotson and I can't wait to see him again at the D23 Expo in August! 

But of course, all that excitement wore me out while waiting for the Electrical Parade. So I took another nap. 

Mom insisted that, since Magic Kingdom had been busy all day, that we stake out our spot for the parade early. I suggested that we wait and go do something else in the meantime, as Frontierland would be pretty dead as always for the second parade. We ended up waiting for around 45 minutes. I was right.

My friend Ashley has this fear of animals larger than her, and that definitely means horses. So getting her into the horse barn at Fort Wilderness seemed like it would be difficult. Thankfully it wasn't, and we met this lovely horse named Tyson. He was a real sweetheart and I know I, for sure, really wished that the "No Petting" Rule wasn't a thing. 

And finally, we've got this picture Mom took of the Osborne Lights just as they were turning on. We caught them on what may end up being their last night ever, or at least on their last night of the season, and just as the sun was setting she captured this beautiful shot! 

There's actually hundreds of great pictures from this trip, but I've got all year to share those, especially on my Instagram, which is still live with the 2015 #EverydayDisneyChallenge regardless of the fact that my blog, once again, is roughly a week behind.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on January 24 due to a busy schedule).

Day 521: Prized Possessions

Day 24 of the Disney Photo Challenge: A picture of your favorite Disney-related possession or souvenir. 

Blast from the Past: 

I actually had to go get a picture of this one. My favorite Disney-related possession is my Spaceship Earth snowglobe. I got it a few years ago, and could only find it in one store. I got my Dad to buy it for me in the end, and I'm glad he did. It's honestly my favorite possession (other than my pillow) overall, and if I could save one thing from my Disney collection, this would be it...although I'd probably grab my pin collection too. 

Wow, another short one! 

Back to the Future: 

I'm just gonna go ahead and say all of it.

I'm really avoiding answering some of these questions, aren't I? But for real, all of my Disney possessions are my favorite. I've really gotten into collecting vintage items in the past few years, as well as expanding my Spaceship Earth collection, which means that every single thing I buy has a special place in my heart. From my movie collection to my Empire Strikes Back Poster to my Larry Dotson prints and my mugs, they all mean something. Some were gifts, others I bought myself, but each of them holds a memory of some sort, on how the collection got started or why I have the things I do.

I wouldn't trade any of it for the world.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on August 21).