Disney World, Orlando, Florida

From the Kennedy Space Center, where we were encouraged to strive for our dreams, we drove the hour or so to Disney World, whose slogan this year is ‘Where dreams come true’. We stayed in Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground for the entire month of November (see the future blog site for more details on Fort Wilderness). From there, we took Disney’s free transportation (including boats, monorail trains, and buses) to the four major Disney theme parks:

1. Disney’s Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom is basically a twin to Disneyland in California. It has all the old classic rides and attractions, like: It’s a Small World, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, NASCAR race cars, the Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Jungle Boat ride, and the Country Bear Jamboree. Cinderella’s castle is at the center of the park and makes a beautiful backdrop for photos. As with every Disney park, there are also plenty of opportunities to get your picture taken with Disney characters and to get their autographs.

2. Disney’s EPCOT

Walt Disney himself made plans for EPCOT before he died. EPCOT stands for the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. This park is divided into two basic sections: a ‘world showcase’ displaying pavilions of different countries throughout the world (including one for Canada), and a scientific section with pavilions for themes like energy, the land, the sea, the human body, outer space, and imagination. Although there are some rides in this park, it is more of an educational facility, and therefore seems to be geared more for older visitors.

3. Disney’s MGM Studio

Morgan and Mason like MGM for the Tower of Terror (a drop-of –doom type of ride) and also for the Rock ‘N Rollercoaster that does corkscrews and loops. Elise, Allan, and I are more interested in going to the shows, like Beauty and the Beast. At MGM they also have an Indiana Jones Stunt Show and an Extreme Vehicle Stunt Show. There are tours of the backlot of the studio, as well as the prop warehouse and the costume design facility. We saw lots of items from Disney’s recent movies such as the Pirates of the Caribbean and Narnia. One of my favorite exhibits describes the life and achievements of Walt Disney, and his eventual plan to create Disneyland, and later, Disney World. What a fantastic man he was. Elise and I also really enjoy the tour of the animation studio, especially when they have a drawing lesson in which we learned to create some of the famous Disney characters like Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald and Daisy Duck, Goofy, and Pluto. We spent hours drawing. It was a great experience.

4. Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom is Disney's largest park. It is like a combination of zoo and rides. The African Safari ride took us right beside beautiful animals like giraffes, elephants, wildebeasts, rhinoceros, warthogs, gazelles, etc. Morgan and Mason were thrilled with a new rollercoaster ride called Expedition Everest; Allan and I even tried it out. Wow! What a thrill. We also enjoyed the river rapids ride, whose purpose it is to get the riders completely soaked. Animal Kingdom also boasts several wonderful shows: Dinosaur, Birds in Flight, Finding Nemo, It's Tough to be a Bug (3-D), the Lion King, and Pocahontas. We always do lots of walking in this park, but it's fascinating to explore all of its different treasures.

Kennedy Space Centre, Cape Canaveral, Florida

A couple of hours south of Saint Augustine is Cape Canaveral, Florida. We spent two days learning all we could about the United States’ Space Program at the Kennedy Space Center and the Astronauts’ Hall of Fame. We saw some 3-D IMAX films about the International Space Station and lunar landings. We also went on a simulator of a shuttle-launch…..quite the experience. We were just 5 days late for seeing a real launch of the space shuttle, but were kept up-to-date on what was going on at the International Space Station. We saw where Canada’s ‘Dextre’ was being built; it’s a two-armed Canadarm type of machine that is due to be added to the International Space Station in the future. We actually met an astronaut named Story Musgrave who went into orbit six times on the space shuttle (more than anyone else). One thing that was repeated often during our Space Center visit was to strive for the impossible, because through hard work and perseverance those dreams can come true.

Saint Augustine, Florida

Once in Florida, we went to Saint Augustine, the home of a fortress named Castillo de San Marcos. This was Spain’s northern-most stronghold in the New World. Built in the 1600s, the fortress is original and is still in wonderful condition. In fact, the Castillo was never taken by force, but exchanged hands (ie: was handed over to British and later to American control) only through peace treaties. Not only has the fortress withstood military attack over the centuries, but it has had to weather many tropical storms. We experienced one when we were there.
Kennedy Space Centre, Cape Canaveral, Florida
A couple of hours south of Saint Augustine is Cape Canaveral, Florida. We spent two days learning all we could about the United States’ Space Program at the Kennedy Space Center and the Astronauts’ Hall of Fame. We saw some 3-D IMAX films about the International Space Station and lunar landings. We also went on a simulator of a shuttle-launch…..quite the experience. We were just 5 days late for seeing a real launch of the space shuttle, but were kept up-to-date on what was going on at the International Space Station. We saw where Canada’s ‘Dextre’ was being built; it’s a two-armed Canadarm type of machine that is due to be added to the International Space Station in the future. We actually met an astronaut named Story Musgrave who went into orbit six times on the space shuttle (more than anyone else). One thing that was repeated often during our Space Center visit was to strive for the impossible, because through hard work and perseverance those dreams can come true.

Fort Frederica, Georgia

Our highlight in Georgia was Fort Frederica National Monument. Fort Frederica was the closest English outpost to the Spanish holdings to the south, in the New World. The fort consisted of a small military establishment, as well as a grid-plan town of ‘blocks’ of buildings. Only the foundations of the town continue to exist now.

As with many of the national park sites, the rangers at Fort Frederica were wonderful. Ranger John involved Morgan, Elise, and Mason in his musketry demonstration. He had them marching and participating in rifle drills. They looked like a mini squadron. The kids may have been out of their comfort zone, but still seemed to enjoy the experience.

South Carolina

From Kentucky we bee-lined it back to the Atlantic coast. It was fun staying at an RV Resort called Pirateland at Myrtle Beach. The rain showers we experienced there kept us out of the ocean waters, but the pools were fun for the kids. Allan and I enjoyed strolling along the beach, watching the surfers, water birds, shore fishermen, and waves.

Our travels took us southward to a city called Georgetown, where we toured the Rice Museum. Interestingly enough, the Georgetown area used to be the world’s largest exporter of rice, with about 40,000 acres under cultivation. The success of the rice production was due to tidal irrigation; flood gates were opened during high tide, when the fresh water from the local rivers backed up and entered the diked rice paddies. For we Alberta farmers, this type of agriculture was very interesting

From Georgetown, we went to the historic city of Charleston, South Carolina. We crossed over the Cooper River on the beautiful new Arthur J. Ravenel , Jr. Bridge, which opened in 2005. It is now a ‘landmark’ of the city. Of course, after the numerous Civil War sites that we toured over the past couple of months, we felt it necessary to visit Fort Sumter in Charleston. Actually Fort Sumter is on an island in the Charleston Harbor, and is famous for being the location of the first shots fired in the Civil War. The fort itself was very interesting, but so was the 35-minute boat ride out to the island. We saw lots of sailboats and dolphins plying through the water.