Where Dreams Come True

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Where dreams come true is the current theme at Walt Disney World and to watch the expressions on some of the children as they walk around the park, this is so true!  It was a pleasant surprise to see the park all decked out for Christmas with a huge Christmas tree over by Cinderella's castle and the faint sounds of Christmas music playing in the background as you walked along Main Street.  The park was a little more crowded than we expected it to be, but we did find out that children in New Jersey have a fall break at this time, so I am assuming that may be true for a lot of schools in the east- thus the large amount of kids.  But, we have been to WDW on July 4 when it was filled to capacity, so the crowd actually was light for us.  As we experienced at Epcot we were able to hit some of the attractions that we've not done in the past due to the crowds.  One attraction that we've never been on before was "The Carousel of Progress".  Apparently this was one of Walt Disney's favorite attractions and was created for the 1964 World's Fair in St. Louis.  Seated in a large auditorium the seats revolve around a stage set with animitronic figures that take you through the 20th century beginning at the turn of the century through the end.  The idea is to show the progress that has taken place in the american household.  As usual the animation just totally amazes us, right down to the life-like dog.  Of course, our favorite rides like Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Small World are never disappointing and it was wonderful that we never had to wait anymore than 20 minutes in a line.

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One thing that we were so pleased with both Disney Parks that we visited is that they actually have some restaurants that we were able to eat somewhat healthy at!  Pinochio's restaurant in FantasyLand sold an antipasto salad and individual pizza's that could rival some Italian Resaurants.  Peco's Bills in FrontierLand sold chicken wraps that looked like they were in whole wheat tortilla's and a chicken salad with or without grilled chicken.  Prices were average and our lunch of 2 salads, an individual pizza and 2 drinks was only 25.00.  We also found one of the ice cream carts sold sugar-free fruit bars.  We were thankful that it wasn't hot and that we didn't need to be buying drinks since those can break the bank!

All decked out for Christmas...

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Cooler temperatures, lighter crowds and lower rates on air fare and hotels made this time of the year ideal for visiting Orlando.