Monkey Business

Fortunately we survived the "Big One, Ernesto." So, it was business as ususal today at Disney World. We slept in big time this morning. I think that we were both exhausted from our park tours with Ryan and Daniel. You know how little guys are. They never run out of energy. Mel and I do not do the parks the way casual visitors do, so putting in long days and evenings kind of wore us out.

Once we were up and running, we went to Perkins for lunch. That was a bad choice on our part. We don't know what it is about Perkins but it is easy to do a two hour lunch there, but you are not smiling when you do. There were 3 tables at 1:oo p.m. and it took forever to have our meals served. We dared not to complain because who knows what the consequences would be. I wanted banana cream pie but dared not ask for it or we would still be there. While we ate, a huge rain storm blew through with the palm trees bending in the wind. By the time that we finished, it was over.

When we reached MGM Studios, it was bright, shiny and humid. The park was pretty empty. Mel allowed me to "window shop" through the stores-not his favorite activities. We walked right onto "Tower of Terror" and then fast-passed "Rock and Roller Coaster" and stopped for drinks while waiting for "Beauty and the Beast" to start. I just love that show and Mel is so good about sitting through it every time we come to the park.

We got out of "Beauty and the Beast" in time to catch the "Stars and Motor Cars" parade to which they have added "Lightening McQueen and Mater" from Cars. From the parade, we headed to "The Voyage of the Little Mermaid" and hit it just as they were letting people into the theater-no wait.

Next, we went to "Walt Disney: One Man's Dream," a tribute to Disney's life. We spent a good hour in the museum, including a 15 minutes movie about him. While there are other men, who have solved medical and technological problems improving our world, Walt Disney certainly enhanced the spirit of man, feeding our souls and imagination. Bravo, Walt!

We finished our day at MGM by wandering through more shops. We decided that it would be a great idea to go to Giordano's for pizza and was it yummy! Because I am sooooo spoiled, Mel had the balloon lady make me the adorable monkey in the palm tree that is pictured above.

Waiting For Ernesto

At the insistence of the Blogmeister, I am continuing our blog. After a whirlwind visit home in late July and now a repeat visit to Disney World with Michelle, Doug, Ryan and Daniel, I am making comment on the current conditions in Florida. Since we have arrived it has consistently been in the 90's, humid and has rained everyday-at least for a little while.

All we can say is that the press and public services are plumb crazy and making the population nutso, too. Yes, I know that the hurricane season was terrible last year, however, the news coverage and precautions incurred by emergency services virtually shut down the state.

Even our children succumbed to the hysteria and re-scheduled their flight out from tonight to last night. Given that they were leaving today anyway, their decision was wise, however, for those of us left behind by choice, we just shook our heads over the hype.

When we awoke to the 8:00 a.m. news that the weather service was standing down from their original predictions, we couldn't believe it. The Orlando airport was shut down, Disney's Airport service was down and the Orlando schools were closed. People were lined up for gas and store shelves empty. Good grief!

So, we turned on the Disney Channel and hunkered down to watch Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, such a great movie. Then, we showered up and headed out to the "House of Blues" for lunch at Downtown Disney. From there, we decided to wait out the 2:00 p.m. Tropical Storm Ernesto by seeing Invincible, a wonderful movie about the Philadelphia Eagles' Vince Papale and Dick Vermeil. While it was overcast, it was hardly dangerouse outside. So, we decided to take in another movie, World Trade Center, with Nicholas Cage and Michael Pena, a tribute to September 11, 2001. Both movies are highly recommended, but take lots of Kleenex to the 2nd one. I cried through the whole thing because real footage was interspersed with the movie and it took me right back to that horrific day.

Then, we returned to our room to wait out the 8:00 p.m. onslaught from Ernesto. Nothing! There were kids swimming in the pool in the drizzle.

Of course, we are happy that the weather was relatively calm, but why did they have to scare the bejeebers out of everyone.

According to the weather reports, it will remain in the 90's, be humid and will rain everyday-at least for a little while. Imagine that. Everything is normal for Florida, except for the reporters and politicians.