Quotes of the Week

Please don't nag yourself with thoughts of failure. Do not set goals far beyond your capacity to achieve. Simply do what you can do, in the best way you know, and the Lord will accept of your effort.
--Gordon B. Hinckley

You sisters have been divinely endowed with a unique kind of discernment and strength... These differences are intentional and eternal. They don't make you better nor do they make you inferior. They just make you different---Wonderfully, deliberately, everlastingly so.
--Russell M. Ballard

As we grow in that pure love of Christ, our hearts soften. That love will humble us and lead us to repent. Our confidence in the Lord and in each other will grow. And then we will move toward becoming one, as the Lord promises we can.
--Henry B. Eyring

Disney's Hollywood Studios; Session at the Orlando Temple

We visited Hollywood Studios on Tuesday. It was a very cold day. We should have worn more layers to keep warm.

We went straight to the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge area of the park as it is new. Everyone else had the same idea. There were so many people packed in that area.  

Make way for the Storm Troopers!!

They were coming straight at me and I had to move because they were not varying from their path ahead.

We did not have FastPasses to the two rides there, but Glen noticed a single-rider line to ride Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. We decided we didn't mind riding separately if it meant avoiding the 2-hour wait line.

It turned out to be a great idea as we moved right along and didn't have to wait very long. I didn't mind at all because we were in the warmth when we were in line and on the ride.

Michael and Lynn got separated, but Glen and I ended up being together. It is an animation ride where the guests are "in the middle of a battle between the First Order and the Resistance." (Whatever that means. I am not a Star Wars fan at all!!)

We sat in this contraption and had to push buttons to shoot our weapons and it was not my favorite at all. I much prefer the rides that take you all around and you look at colorful, fun things. That kind of ride makes me happy.

The simulator rides (especially when I have to work shooting weapons all through the ride) has never been my favorite.

We went in the Droid Depot where people were spending $100 to "customize, assemble and activate a droid." My thought was--and then they had to carry that droid all through the park with them the rest of the day. Annoying!!

We spent the whole morning in the Star Wars area and I was getting sick of it. I wanted to move on and see the rest of the park. There were SO MANY PEOPLE in that area!!

I did a double-take when I saw the huge Chewbacca walking amongst us. 

The Maughans were loving all the Star Wars stuff and went into every gift shop to look around.

Hurrah!!! We made our way out and were in colorful Toy Story Land. Now that's more like it!!

The restrooms were decorated so absolutely clever and fun. Maybe I should have gone in to see if the theme was carried through to the inside of the building.

It was fun to see some of the childhood toys I remember so well--like the Cootie game.

 We didn't stay long, but it brightened my spirits to be in that part of the park for a few minutes.

 Buzz Lightyear was strolling around waving at the children.

We saw a line that was not very long and got in it to watch a show (or so we thought) and warm up. After a few minutes inside the building, we realized we were waiting in line to meet some of The Incredibles characters. We left the building and moved on to something else.

The line for Voyage of The Little Mermaid wasn't too long, so in we went to take a 17-minute voyage in the warm building. Notice Glen's hat he had to buy on the trip because he forgot to bring one.

We ended back up in the Star Wars area again. UGHHHH!!! How did that happen??

We escaped from there once again and Michael spotted a Mickey Mouse ice cream bar stand and couldn't refuse a treat.

 Glen got himself a popcorn treat and shared some with Lynn.

This is as close as we got to The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Once again, the lines were way too long unless you had a FastPass.

We weren't feeling like we were missing out on too much since we had already been to the theme parks several times. It would have been extremely frustrating if it was our first time there.

Probably my favorite thing we did was attended the 25-minute Beauty and the Beast--Live on Stage performance. It was so colorful and so well done.

 

We stopped to listen to a group of stand-up comedians who were using words chosen by various guests to tell a joke and then the audience rated which comedian made the best joke using that word.

It went on and on and was really quite hilarious. They were quick on their feet and it was impressive how they made us laugh.

Glen was able to use his Disney app to get us FastPasses to the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular. 

The show ended with a big bang.

We were ready to call it a day at that park. We were so cold!!

There was a wind chill advisory issued for Orlando and we had been out in it all day long. The wind was blowing and we were chilling--no, we were actually FREEZING!!

We didn't get quite as many steps in that day, but still a healthy amount of walking. I maintain we would have walked more each day if there had been smaller crowds.

Next day we were looking forward to a slower day. Wednesday we had a leisurely morning at the villa and then went to the Orlando Temple where we attended a session.

We ate a delicious meal at Seasons 52.

We were seated at a table with a view of the water. We had a wonderful server and the food was beautifully presented and was very delectable.

When asked which dessert we would like to order, we declined. The presentation was very beautiful, but Lynn had a hankering for some gelato.

Michael found a gelato shop and that put a smile on Lynn's face. We enjoyed talking to the server from Morocco. Lynn promised her we would be back another day.

We conserved our steps that day, preparing for our last park day the following day.

We enjoyed the restful day and especially enjoyed having a reprieve from being out in the cold all day long.

Epcot

Monday morning we headed to Epcot.

Once again I enjoyed the street performers so much. The JAMMitors drumming on their trash cans were very entertaining.

Michael was anxious to see Living With the Land. I always enjoy that ride and seeing the vegetation growing above ground. Michael wants to have that kind of garden when they build their new home. It will be interesting to see how he does it. 

The Mickey Mouse pumpkin was formed by putting a small pumpkin in a Mickey mold (see previous photo, upper right) and it grows to fit the space.

 There were lots of quotes on the walls as we were waiting in line. This one was my favorite.

We covered the land. Then we were on to discover The Seas.

  
We definitely found Nemo--lots of them!!

I enjoyed reading how a person can avoid a shark bite. My advice is to not ever go in the water!!

This was a colorful ride.

We were walking around the Showcase Plaza area which had lots of arts and crafts for sale and saw something in the sky. This is definitely a way to get people to look up and think of Jesus.

We visited each of the countries bordering the water. 

 There were lots of beautiful sights to see.

 

We even saw beautiful Mary Poppins walk by.

Michael had his heart set on eating fish and chips. He waited a while in the long line, but finally made it to the front of the line and enjoyed every bite of his lunch.

Oh look! There's Goofy!

Halfway through the countries, Lynn and I shared a flatbread. Glen was still on the prowl for some food that sounded good to him.

 

Michael loves Mickey Mouse ice cream bars and ate one or two almost every day. 

In case the jackets and wind don't help tell the temperature story--we were in Orlando in a cold spell and we were cold most of the time we were there.

All of a sudden Michael grabbed Lynn and they were dancing in the middle of the street. They were adorable and it was fun to snap some photos of them enjoying themselves so much for a few minutes. It's as though the millions of people faded into the background for a bit.

 

 

Poor Glen was not finding anything that looked appealing to eat in any of those countries. He ended up eating the granola bars we had brought along with us for his lunch.

The grass-covered buildings were unique.

Why there's Donald Duck enjoying himself in the country of Mexico.

Now this is more like it!! Glen found his favorite treat. Popcorn!

I always had my eye out for an alligator the whole time I was in Florida and I found one up close.

We had another big day of lots of walking. 

We had another park day scheduled the following day.