Avatar, A Must See

Well, I went to see the movie, Avatar in 3D for the second time the other night. I'd already been with my younger son and my mother the first time and this time I went with my sister, who hadn't seen it yet, and my younger son again. This is one of those movies you can see more than once and I'm good about that! If I like a movie, I can see it over and over again.

Avatar is actually the name of a project scientists are working on in outer space. Far off, on the distant planet of Pandora, there is a large compound housing a mix of military personnel and scientists all working toward one main goal. There is a mineral (rock) that is underground and very concentrated in a certain area of the planet. A certain native clan live right on this concentrated area and the military needs them to move so they can dig up the area and collect the mineral, which is worth millions of dollars to the company that collects it. The scientists have "created" avatars which look, act and move just like the natives. A human can go into hypersleep and wake up as the native avatar, all along still lying in the hypersleep container. When the person falls asleep while he's the avatar, then he wakes up again as the human. This is the scientists way of learning all about the natives by being one of them. The company after the mineral uses this knowledge to try and make the natives move. That's all I'm going to say about the movie because I don't plan on ruining it for those who haven't seen it like some reviewers do. I think my favorite thing about the movie was the beautiful scenes and cinematography. I can't say enough about how outstanding, unique and absolutely fabulous it was. I think the only movie that can possibly top it is the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Funny, both the movies were filmed in New Zealand! All I know is New Zealand must be like Heaven on Earth...gorgeous! In Avatar, on one end of the spectrum, you have the scientists and military all working together at the dull gray and brown compound with all the modern machinery. On the other end, you have the natives and their beautiful, spiritual land of plants, trees and animals. Everything is bright and colorful and living things of nature unify and work together. One of my favorite points in the movie was the fact that everything glowed at night. As the two main characters walked through the dark forest, all the plants, shrubs and other organisms lit their way with shining beauty. Yes, there's something in Avatar for everyone and I recommend it highly, especially in 3D.

A Travel Agent's Critique of Disney World 2008

Once upon a time there was a world where elephants fly, the sky sparkles every night, and Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto all come to life. A world where you can visit eleven countries all at once, have a birthday party with Mickey and sleep all night in Cinderella's magical castle. A world where you can go on a real safari, watch Indy be a hero all over again, and free fall in a dark elevator several stories high. A world where Captain Jack Sparrow exists, you can travel in space at high speed and hang glide through distant lands. Once upon a time? How about now!? You can do all these things and much, much more at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. I have been able to travel to and explore Disney World twice now, first, with my oldest son, and second, with my youngest. We may just have to go again, because it just wouldn't be fair my oldest got to go twice. Now my youngest needs to go a second time :) Yes, I'll admit I love it just as much or more than my kids do. I'll look for any excuse to go again. I would say out of all the places I've been in the world, Disney World has to be my all time favorite! I guess part of the reason for this is because I've been a fan of Disney since I was a child and I'm definitely still a kid at heart. It's also fascinating to see through the eyes of my children.

Disney World consists of four major worlds, Magic Kingdom, Epcot Center, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. Magic Kingdom, which took us 2 days to experience, has all the classic rides Disney is known for. For example, The Haunted Mansion (my all time favorite), Pirates of the Caribbean, Dumbo, Mad Hatter Tea Party, Peter Pan's Flight, and It's A Small World. Of course it also offers the popular Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and many more. There is alot of shopping offered, at least one shop for each "area" within Magic Kingdom. These areas are, Adventureland, Frontierland, Liberty Square, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland and Mickey's Toontown Fair. You can find almost any character in any type product you want. There are also alot of shops along Main Street, which is right at the entrance of Magic Kingdom. Magic Kingdom is the best place to find all your favorite Disney characters. You can have breakfast or lunch with them too! When night falls on this land, a beautiful fireworks display lights up the night over Cinderella's castle. Disney really goes all out with this, just like they do everything else. Also, the Spectro Magic Parade (another one of my all time favorites) travels down Main Street and beyond just about every evening. All the characters shine with multi-colored and white lights through the whole production. It's truly an amazing sight to see! You absolutely can't miss it! If you want the full ambiance of Cinderella's Castle, fireworks and classic Disney at it's best in close proximity, I recommend a stay at any of the three deluxe resorts located on the monorail. They are Disney's Grand Floridian, Disney's Contemporary Resort, and then across the lagoon, Disney's Polynesian Resort. One other resort that's definitely great for families and close to Magic Kingdom is, Disney's Wilderness Lodge. The best way to travel from this resort to Magic Kingdom is by boat.

Epcot Center has two main sections, Future World and World Showcase. Future World consists of several rides and about 8 pavilions where you can see and interact with quite a few interesting displays. Depending on how much time you have, you can see Epcot in a day and if you really want to take your time, a day and half or 2 days tops. The popular rides here are Test Track, where you can actually see what it feels like to be in a car race, Mission:Space, and Soarin', where you virtually "hang glide" through several lands. One show I recommend here is, "Honey I Shrunk the Audience". There are several shows at Disney where you feel like you're right there with the people in the movie and they use real effects to make you feel that way. This happens to be one of them. World Showcase is eleven countries on display. As you enter each "country", you'll find the architecture, food, stores and entertainment are all from the culture of that particular country. Alot of the people who work within these "countries" are really originally from there. On their name tags, it has their name and what city and country they're from. There's one ride I recommend in World Showcase. It's called, Maelstrom and is in Norway. Every night, here at Epcot, they have a water and laser light show set to music called Illuminations. It's presented right on World Showcase Lagoon. This is another must see! As we were leaving Epcot, we rode the ride inside "Spaceship Earth", which is the big round ball Epcot is known for. We ended up riding it about 3 times in a row, because my youngest loved it. It's a slow-moving ride in cars through quite a bit of interesting "scenes".

Hollywood Studios was probably my least favorite of all 4 worlds. It was enjoyable, it just didn't seem to have as much to do and see as the others. We spent a full day here and left before dark. My recommendations in this world are, Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular (my younger son was SO into Indy at this time, this show was perfect for him), Star Tours, another "feel like you're there" movie, Muppet Vision 3-D, and the Great Movie Ride. Other popular rides are, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Rock 'n Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith. One show we didn't get to see was Fantasmic. We didn't stay past dark, which is when the show starts. It's a lavish musical production with a mix of fireworks, lasers, fountains and Disney characters.

The last and newest of the 4 worlds is Animal Kingdom. This one was alot of fun and had a variety of options for entertainment and can all be seen in a day. The focal point for this region was the Tree of Life. It sits right in the middle of the park and is truly amazing. The trunk is carved with great detail and inside the trunk itself is another must see movie. It's called "It's Tough To Be A Bug" and is another of Disney's special features that includes great effects that make you feel right there. As far as rides, I recommend Kilimanjaro Safaris, Kali River Rapids (if you don't mind being soaked), and the Dinosaur ride. One that we did not ride that is very popular is, Expedition Everest. This is Animal Kingdom's newest ride and is a roller coaster style ride where you climb up and down "Everest" and try to avoid the legendary Yeti in the process. Animal Kingdom is broken up into the lands of Africa, Asia, Discovery Island, Dinoland U.S.A. and Camp Minnie-Mickey. There is now a deluxe resort right by this park that offers views of the safari animals and is called Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Downtown Disney is a great place to go for wonderful shopping and good restaurants. We saw the Cirque Du Soleil La Nouba, which was our first Cirque show. It was fantastic! This area is within the Disney grounds and can easily be accessed through the bus system.

When it comes to dining, Disney has it all! The following are some restaurants that are musts if you can make reservations ahead of time and have the time:

50's Prime Time Cafe in Hollywood Studios
Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater in Hollywood Studios
Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Resort for great character dining
California Grill at the Contemporary Resort for nicer faire and also has a great view of the fireworks
Tusker House in Animal Kingdom for great character dining

Also, two dinner shows that are alot of fun are:

Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue - Offers delicious barbeque along with a saloon show that's been going on since 1974. Located at Fort Wilderness area.

Mickey's Backyard Barbecue - It's more like a big informal party where you can line dance with the characters and there are games for the kids. The food is self-serve, all-you-can-eat also at Fort Wilderness area.


One thing you need to know about, which can be found at all 4 parks, is Disney's Fastpass system. This is a great way to avoid long lines at the popular rides. You simply walk up to a Fastpass booth (there's always one close to the popular rides), request a ticket, and printed on the ticket is the time to come back for that particular ride. If you come back at the time it says, you won't have to wait in line at all, or at most a few minutes. You normally have to wait and ride the one you have a ticket for before getting another ticket. The system really works, even in the busy summer time when we went. There are times when a ride is extra popular and they've given out as many tickets as they are able and won't give out anymore for a specific day, but this rarely happens. I highly recommend using this system as much as possible, it saves alot of time.

When it comes to purchasing passes to the major parks, I recommend the Hopper passes for the number of days you spend at Disney (including the last day because the cost is only about 3.00 more per person for an extra day). These allow you to go back and forth between the parks if needed within the same day. For example, one time we were at Magic Kingdom all day, but we wanted to go see the Illuminations show at Epcot that night. The Hopper pass allowed us to do that. Some passes also include all the water parks along with the 4 main Disney parks. It's definitely worth purchasing it this way rather than as singles if you really plan to go.

Another thing to consider as a supplement to your package is a meal plan. Disney offers 2 main plans: Deluxe and Regular Dining. The deluxe plan offers 3 meals a day per person plus one snack per person, while the Regular plan offers 2 meals a day per person plus one snack per person. They now also offer a Snack Plan. You can go to just about any restaurant or character dining venue and use these passes. After seeing the cost of food on it's own and comparing it to the cost of purchasing these meal plans, I truly believe it's a better deal for your money if you purchase the meal plan.

The best time of the year to go to Disney for the price is after Thanksgiving and before Christmas, September/October timeframe and April/May timeframe (not holidays). A great time to go is to celebrate a birthday! Disney goes all out and treats the person celebrating a birthday like a VIP.

Overall, when planning your Disney World vacation, please consider all the possible add-ons that will save you money in the long run and will make your trip more enjoyable. I highly recommend staying on site if at all possible. Also, one of the three (Grand Floridian, Contemporary, and Polynesian) monorail resorts makes it even easier. It really does make a difference being right there close to everything and having easy access to all the different transportation venues. Also, consider adding a meal plan along with the Hopper passes with water parks included. One of the most important things you can do is plan ahead and organize your trip and what you want to do each day you're there. This will save an extreme amount of time! I purchased Birnbaum's Guide to Disney World and based on what rides were popular, park opening times, and what we wanted to do as first choice, etc., is how I planned each day. I did an outline on Word for each park and what ride/presentation we would do first, second, third, etc. within each park. I also planned out which park we would do for each day, depending on where we wanted to eat or where our character dining was for the day. There's alot of factors to consider. You will have an amazing time full of wonderful memories! I must say, Disney does everything right and has everything down to a science, all the way from line organization for the rides to park cleanliness. The service is excellent and everyone from the parks to the resorts goes above and beyond for their guests. It's a truly amazing and unforgettable vacation full of "happily ever afters".

You

You are unique like a snowflake that falls from the sky

Glistening as it blankets the ground in wintertime
You are beautiful like the mountains that line the horizon
Mighty, majestic, and colorful as they stand out in the sun
You are strong like the trees that make the forest their home
Steadfast and sturdy as they protect all creatures who roam
You are kind like a bubbling spring stretching from a river
Sparkling clear and fresh as it provides water for the drifter
You are thoughtful like a bluebird as it builds a nest for its young
Diligent and selfless as it prepares protection, a hero who is unsung
You are loving like a mature buck who guides and fathers its fawn
Leaping and prancing in the woods from dusk until dawn
You are amazing as is all nature and living things made by God’s hand
For you were also made by the same, encompassing many facets of sea and land

Never Let Go

Letting go of something so perfect, so right

Is what I’ve tried to do with all my strength and might

The feelings within my soul have failed me in this great endeavor

And I know I’ll never let you go, now or forever

All the beautiful memories we made flood my mind like a tidal wave

Reflections that touched my life stay in my soul, cherished and saved

You are the only key that can unlock this ardent and devoted heart

And allow the reminiscences from within to escape and restart

Thoughts of time spent together touching, holding, kissing you

Sharing movies, going to eat, road trips, walks and dancing too

Our love of chocolate pies, long talks, house-looking and drives

Spending time with friends, at the Galaxy and quiet moments in our lives

Troublesome times tested our love and devotion

Only to find faithful adoration enhanced with loving emotion

We stood by and held each other’s hand with steadfast support

As our love grew and matured, never coming up short

Times away from each other were difficult at best

But that didn’t stop our love, which stood the test

Endless letters and phone calls kept our hearts in touch

Nothing could diminish what we had, no matter what

Our affections began as a rare, unpolished gem

Gaining facets and luster as daily growth began

Slowly, our love has become radiant, beautiful and hardy

A rare and priceless diamond among a sea of mediocrity

Letting go of our love and passion is not a choice

For it’s as natural and befitting as a singer using her voice

Still my knight in shining armor, and the love of my life

We are complete in each other’s arms every day and every night

Bears Do Dance

The moon was full and bright, illuminating the house in the night.
All was quiet in the house. Everyone was asleep and hushed as a mouse.
Around the corner and down the hall, a sound could be heard through it all.
A sound of tiny stomping feet. A noise that made Janie wake from her sleep.

She walked down the hall to the play room and stood outside listening in the gloom.
She opened the door and to her surprise, there were 100 teddy bears dancing inside!
Some danced on shelves and on the floor while others danced the fox trot, the polka and more. Those bears they danced the ramba and waltz and even line danced on the toybox.

Some bears danced the two step, while others did an arabesque.
Some performed jazz and tap, while others quietly sat and clapped.
Oh yes those bears, they did have fun. So much their happy faces glowed.
Janie continued to watch, not wanting them to stop.

The bears finally sat back in their places.
Janie went back to bed without a peep.
She lay there thinking with a smile of many more nights with a full moon and no sleep.

My Knight

You came into my life only by chance
Like a falling star seen quickly at a glance.
Like a perfect rainbow after the storm,
There you were, my new found friend, so warm.

You made me feel like I've never felt before,
Special as that first love feeling I adore.
Special as a bright and flawless gem,
You became much more than just a friend.

We had fun talking for hours on end
As we learned each other's values, beliefs and trends.
The more we learned, the more our love grew.
The more I discovered, the more I fell in love with you.

You see, you are everything a girl could want in a man.
You have it all my friend, the total package to no end.
You're patient, loving, sensitive and bright.
Strong, amazing and passionate, you are my Knight.

My Knight in shining armor, that's what you are.
You came to rescue me from afar.
You came and showed me what true love is all about.
Yes my Knight, you changed my life, without a doubt.

I am truly, madly, and deeply in love with you.
You've touched my heart in ways I never knew.
Guide your white horse over here and pull me up next to you to ride.
Then take me away with you so I can be forever by your side.

The Magic Wood

The little girl lives in the wood around the bend,
She was lonely with only storybooks as friends.
Her favorites were tales of unicorns and elves.
Though many others filled her bookshelves.

One day the little girl wandered deep in the woods,
Her imagination grew with each step of her foot.
Suddenly she found herself lost and afraid
And tears filled her eyes as the sun went away.

As the big, tall trees surrounded the little girl,
Darkness set in and she felt she was in a different world.
She heard all kinds of sounds in the night,
And even saw a troll's outline in the moonlight.

Splendid elf of the misty wood,
Light the way for the little girl so afraid.
Brighten the path she must follow
So she may find a one-horned friend in the hollow.

Majestic unicorn divine and white,
Let the little girl tame your regal might..
Carry her to the one who twinkles like starlight,
And finds the way to her worried mother's sight.

Mischievous fairy of magical flight
Guide the little girl lost through the night.
Sprinkle her with your soothing dust,
And calm her awesome fright you must.

Enchanting mermaid with long, flowing hair,
Warn her when the water's near.
Sing your song of ocean dreams
Until she reaches her house upstream.

The little girl is finally home.
She's in her mother's arms where she belongs.
Her mother wonders how she found her way,
The little girl smiles and looks away.

She bravely looks at the woods with a grin,
Thinking she'll never be lost or lonely again.
She watches four figures fading into the wood,
Knowing in her heart true friendship is good.

My First Entry Adventure

Hi fellow bloggers and writers! I’m so glad I’ve found a place where I can place my thoughts, opinions, ideas, poetry and writings. I think once I get used to using all the options and choices on the interface, this will be more fun than I could have imagined. Not only fun, but therapeutic, liberating and like a release when nothing else but writing down your thoughts will give you this relief. Here I go, about to undertake a new adventure. Mind you, I’ve always loved to write since I was very young. I used to write stories and draw pictures on notebook paper and staple them together and make “books”. To this day, I still enjoy writing and drawing, but have never quite done it through this venue, the blog. So, new world, here I come!