Orlando here we come!
Well we arrived here the other day but Nancy looked so cheery, I thought, so here is the Florida welcome center. All the free orange juice you want, if you keep going back on the line and getting a small sample over an over.
Who is that man with that hair? It is Nancy's Uncle Jerry, looking younger than ever. We stopped in and stayed the night, their home is wonderful. Thanks guy........
There are the travelers, we are relaxing nice with the greyhound! What a wonderful animal and wow can that dog run..
I had to jump back again as I realized I left out our 1st nights stay at South of the Border, we drove about 640 miles that 1st day. For those of you who know us for a little while, back in 1973, on our honeymoon we stopped here and took pictures by this guy. Here I am back doing the same thing!
Better yet there is Nancy with the same smile on that she had all those years ago. I will have to look for those 1973 pictures, you will see what I mean. Remember back in 1973, no we didn't have a digital camera, they weren't even a thought, we didn't even have a 35mm camera yet, I think we took the pictures with a Polaroid or did we chisel them on a rock?
Now this is funny, because "Pedro" who runs South of the Border has signs starting 103 miles away and has more and more as you get close to his place. It is impossible to miss his place. The last time down we were looking forward to stop there and shop in his junk shops which really all sell stuff from China that says made in Florida or by Indians or whatever. Well I was driving and blew right by! The I saw this sign and turned around and went back. I can't help but laugh when ever I see the sign again. I am getting good at shooting the camera while driving without looking and centering right on what I want. My best shot was when we were leaving Las Vegas and I wanted the other side of the sign which said Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas, you know the famous one. Well as we passed the sign I rolled my window down flipped the camera backwards and upside down and hit the button. Bingo got it centered! (Maybe a little photo shop help). I bet you thought I would never stop writing.............
Now starts the fun, Yippie we are at Disney!
We decided to stay at the Disney All Stars Movie hotel so we had quick access to the parks. This is Disney's budget hotels but is was just fine and all we wanted was to be close to the parks, we weren't hanging out in the hotel. We stayed in the Toy Story units which is a favorite flick or ours.
The Bucket of Solders warned of our entering the complex.
Hmm were shall we head to, so many parks to see.
For our first day we decided to go to the Disney Hollywood Studios, formally MGM Studios.
It is a very quiet day at the park as it is very cold, in the 30's. We picked the studios as we could finish them the fastest and we didn't have a full day as we headed over from Daytona. It is bright and sunny so off we go.
Right away I made some friends.
That incredible girl was something!
Nancy wouldn't pose with Bolt so we took some other people.
They have street performers.
The Ghost Busters came riding through we knew we were safe.
A lot of monk eying around here, it that Mr. Potato Head back there? We hear him talking .
It sure is the head and he is funny. He talks to people, sings and makes jokes.
Our favorite guy is Woody then Buzz Light Year.
Barb at the office told me to look for this ride, we loved it thanks Barb. You rode around on a self spinning vehicle with each of you having a vehicle mounted gun to shoot. Targets are all over the place and are moving and you are moving and shooting at them. Your score is being added up against others riding and daily, weekly and monthly high scores. Guess who got the high day and weekly scores?
We are on the Honey I Shrunk the Kids set.
I wonder how many pictures you can take on that roll of film?
This place is beginning to bug me, lets get outta here.
San Francisco looks so real.
Hey there is Buzz, hey buddy!
The car show was great.
The drivers were great. This car jumped so easy.
I know that car, it is Herby the Love Bug! Herby took off and split in two and drove off in two directions.
That was Walt Disney's private plane.
Well it's the next day already and we are at the Animal Kingdom today and we have never been here before. It looks cool but it is cold out today and I had to buy a sweatshirt to put on under my coat. I also had to wear my gloves.
This is the tree of life, I believe they call it. It was man made and has all the animals in the world carved into it. It is at the center of the park. It is hard for you to tell how large it is, you will see it better later. Wait to you see the mountain they built, it is so high it is snow capped.
Nancy caught me monkeying around.
We are heading onto Dinoland, I am hoping I can ride on one..
All of a sudden I heard drumming and we headed to this percussion band first, they were great!
That guy on the left was the band leader, He played the coolest sounding electronic instrument. Gee I just noticed the guy with the movie camera, it looks like Brian, our bands singer, maybe he is looking to take over the drums from me in the band. I am on to you Brian!!!!
This Dino was looking a little underfed.
Hmm this guy looks friendly, maybe he is just smiling because I look like lunch?
Hey dude, lunch went that way, that's right.
There is that tree again.
There is the mountain in the distance our first sight of it.
Nancy caught me on the bridge, note the tree in the background, it is really big as I said just hard to tell from the photos without a frame of reference..
Wow no wonder the mountain looked so big they made a mount Everest here in Florida, cool beans!!
A beautiful sight, look on the left people take a train, roller coaster, ride into the heart of the mountain.
There they go!
Ha Ha I caught the scooter lady. We are on our way to Tibet I think.
They make the place look old and the signs rusty to look realistic. The part that worried me was they make the walkway with cracks and uneven to simulate a poor area. What if I fell on their walkway because they made it that way? I wonder if they have thought this through?
They make such neat stuff to make you feel like you are really there.
Nancy caught me again, but what am I doing?
Kinda neat not sure what it is. Anybody?
More cool stuff, they sure make the electric lines look bad, I hope they use different lines underground to really power things.
More neat scenic stuff.
Some people took a rapid river ride, we thought we might do this on a warm day.
I am looking at the wiring again, yikes.
These were just for show. If they were for hire I would have hired one as it was the second day of walking park and my feet are saying,"What are you doing to me Rich?"
This is what I have been waiting for, the safari and the animals. I tell Nancy I want to shoot one of each at least........... with the camera that is.
There we go, it was very bumpy and the driver drove way to fast. The few animals they had went by way to fast for us to see and take pictures of.
Ok it's Florida, did they put this alligator here or did it just find its way in?.
I'm thinking now we have a better safari at Great Adventure 6 flags by us in NJ which we can hit as a day trip from home. I am disappointed in Disney's work here.
We caught some people stealing the animals, that explains why they don't have that many. Nope they are fake thieves and part of the show, there may be some truth to this.
Get out of my play ground you safari people! I could hear what this guy was thinking.
Wow flamingos who would have thought we would have seen these. They are on everybody's lawns down here. I am thinking I was ripped off what over $100 each to see this?
Finally a giraffe, I love those guys they are so beautiful and graceful when they walk.
I kept yelling CHARGE but he didn't move, I guess he knew I was being a wise guy.
Hmm pulling up to the finish of this one. They say there will be a walking tour after this, at least we can take it at our pace I am thinking.
A big fish tank is our first stop.
Can you see them? They look like prairy dog but they are something else, I missed the name.
Nancy do you see that Gorilla? Now this is excellent, you are going to get tired of looking at Gorilla pictures, they were magnificent.