The Disney Top Tens

Top Ten Spectacular Attractions

1. Expedition Everest ~ Owen and I got up extra early two mornings in a row to try to beat the crowds for this one. AWESOME ride!

2. Tower of Terror ~ We got a Fast Pass around 10 a.m. that scheduled us for a 6:45 P.M. ride . . . was it worth the nearly 9-hour wait? YOU BETCHA!

3. Space Mountain ~ another one we had to beat the crowds to. We did the "parent switch" and Owen got to ride it twice in a row.

4. Pirates of the Caribbean ~ Jack Sparrow - swoon . . . even if he was a ROBOT - LOL!

5. Stunt Show @ MGM ~ Remarkable!

6. “Coffee Cup Ride” aka the Mad Hatters Tea Party ~ gotta recommend Hayden’s personal fave

7. Hoop Dee Do @ Fort Wilderness! It was a freaking HOOT!

8. Haunted Mansion

9. Star Wars

10. Small World

I can't NOT post about "Mission Space". We opted for the more treacherous ORANGE version (with spinning what a horror that was - ACK!) and while Owen LOVED it, it took me several HOURS to recover. SERIOUS ride there. I think I deserve a medal or something for living through it . . .

Ten Disney RAVES

1. SO very magical to my kids – you should have seen their FACES! Well – perhaps if you’ve experienced that magic yourself with your own kids, you already have.

2. One night, as we exited Space Mountain (4th flight) the Magic Kingdom fireworks show had just begun. “Let’s just sit RIGHT here, Mommy!” And we did, on the walkway – just Owen and I – right where we had stood, and watched the magic.

3. Dining Pleasure? Wolfgang Pucks Café – we went TWICE. LIVE! LOVE! EAT! Uh – and YUM! SO delish and on the (blasted) meal plan! Hoorah! (I blame Wolfie for the pound I gained - LOL!)

4. EPCOT ~ Though it made me yearn for a different sort of trip instead, the kids LOVED it.

5. CLASSIC attractions » Country Bear Jamboree, Pirates of the Caribbean, Small World, Hall of Presidents, Swiss Family Robinson Tree House ~ missing a couple of the good old rides that are alas - no longer . . .

6. Reminiscing of my own childhood visits when I spent time at Disney with my Grands. Got a bit teary-eyed at times . . .

7. Fort Wilderness – WAY more our speed and where we’ll stay next time. Next time like half a decade from now – LOL!

8. Night out at the MOVIES was awesome! Hayden and I saw “Happy Feet” (a bit of an odd statement they were attempting I thought, or perhaps I just didn't get it) and Owen and Dad saw “Casino Royale” – probably better with less . . . er . . . overtone . . .

9. They FOUND 3-y/o Hayden within seconds of me alerting security. Yea - that was one of those parent-heart-attack moments . . . long story - but he did what I taught him to do, and well - he's still living with us ;~)

10. Decked out for the Holidays! It was AWESOME and really got all of us into the SPIRIT of the season. The Christmas music was tuned to the environment of each park ~ I tried to BUY it a few times, not available - sigh. (Though it was a little odd that there was no show of winter holiday diversity - you know - Christmas Christmas Christmas . . . only.)


Ten Disney Gripes

1. Uh – first class entertainment with like LAST class FOOD? ACK! Now the food in the nice, Epcot restaurants was terrific – but in general? The park food was horrific! Worse than McD’s even – so subpar compared to the rest of the offerings of Disney. Either they believe that their clientele doesn’t know better, or they really don’t give a damn. Either way – it is really sad. Just ghastly.

2. Let’s just say that contained resort vacationing ain’t my style . . . felt a bit like we were marooned on the Truman Show . . . even “Downtown Disney” was way too Disnified.

3. LINES – AAAAARRRGGHHH!

4. “Hey Mommy – are the trees on that island REAL or FAKE?” Yea – that whole thing is kinda weird to me . . .

5. FOOD – I’ll say it again cause it is merited.

6. CROWDS – never will we go on a holiday week again . . .

7. TRANSPORTATION – see numbers 3 and 6

8. Hotel was pretty danged ordinary. I think I expected too much, though.

9. Dumbed down “policy” answers when you really wanted some help or needed assistance. Yea – I get it, please don’t ask that employees use their God-given brains ever since it will get you in trouble every time – but MAN!

10. Organized character CRAP (scheduled appearances, special meals) – gimme a frigging break! Could have done without it . . . wasn't that way when I was younger. The characters just sort of roamed the park - and there were no lines for pictures or autographs (ugh).

Change of scenery

So usually we do this . . .


Schloss Neuschwanstein ~ Germany

But this time we're trying this . . .



See ya'll after Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Ten years ago in Paris with my sisters (me upper right, short blonde hair). . .



and today - with my boys . . .



Tell me I haven't aged a bit ~ LOL!

Whatever you do . . . don't do THIS

No matter what your politics, this is the last thing our region needs.

Oh - VOTE!

(For the record, all of the Assessors are CREEPS! VOTE them OUT!)

Flower Soup

It started innocently enough, "Mommy, have you ever tasted Flower Soup? It tastes SO YUMMY and looks SO pretty in your bowl!"

I had to admit that, no - I had never tasted flower soup, and to myself, questioned it's very existence. "Oh Mommy, we can stop at the grocery store on the way home, and pick up the ingredients! it tastes SO yummy and looks SO pretty!"

Oh. I had no idea. I had never thought about it, but yes - it sounded very pretty indeed.

"Mommy? Do you like your Flower Soup cold? Or hot? Because it is YUMMY both ways!"

Really?

Google time ~ Flower Soup, edible flowers, flower recipes . . . very interesting (and SO pretty) stuff. We decided to make tomato and basil soup with edible basil blossoms floated on top like a garnish.

It was very yummy and looked SO pretty - see for yourself!

No regrets here

So, in 1976, a lot of people wrote in to Ann Landers and said they didn't enjoy having kids, and if given a do-over, wouldn't. The results of her "poll" were staggering, shocking and completely sad to me. Seventy percent of writers (10,000 of them, 80% of the respondents were women) said “No. If I had it to do over again, I would not have children.”

I've been horrified by those numbers for days now, since reading about this on a message board. Seventy percent? No way. No how. After all, these weren't fleeting moments that we all have, like in the middle of the night changing bedsheets for the third or fourth time, when a child (and Mom too) has been sick all night - or when you have a bad-mommy-day. No, these were people who contemplated enough to put into writing that they regretted their decision to become parents in the first place.

Google.

Turns out that this "survey" is often used to illustrate flaws and misrepresentation when teaching statistics.

According to one professor:

"We don't believe that roughly 70% of people in America in 1976 wished they hadn't had children. The sample is not a random sample from the entire U.S. population and likely fails to reflect the characteristics of the U.S. population. Evidence of this includes:

(1) The percentage of women in the respondents (80%) is very high compared to the percentage of women in the U.S. population (around 50%). Men are likely to have different opinions than women on this issue, since men do not give birth and are in many families not primarily responsible for raising the children.

(2) People responded voluntarily. Perhaps they did so because they are passionate about this issue. Such people are likely to feel the need to express opinions that run counter to prevailing wisdom, which in this case is that "children are a blessing." This is a classic example of the problems with voluntary response sampling.

(3) Only people who read Ann Landers's column could possibly answer the survey. Ann Landers's readers are not necessarily representative of the U.S. population. The opinions of people who do not read her column are just as important as those who do. This is an example of frame coverage bias."

PHEW and thank goodness! I can't imagine that very many people feel that way, then or now. I know that I surely don't - and I don't know any Moms who feel that way in their hearts. Sure parenting is tough. The hardest thing you'll ever do. But I have no regrets ;~)