Wishes And Pixie Dust

Follow the journey of a Wisconsin family of 4 who relocated to the Walt Disney World area in July 2011

Category Archives: Disney


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A Magical Kingdom Day

As we were sitting by the pool writing up a new blog post, we received a message from our friends wanting to know if we were going to Magic Kingdom today, and if so, could we meet up.   Of course we took them up on their offer, and we had a wonderful visit.   We have been friends with Judy and Stephen Demeritt on Facebook for quite awhile, and it was so awesome to be able to finally meet up with them in person:

They are as wonderful in real life as they are on Facebook, and we hope to be able to see them on a regular basis.  It was hard to believe that we were actually meeting up with them, as we’ve talked about it for so long.  It was sort of a “pinch me I’m dreaming” moment.  🙂

Prior to our meet, we had time to explore the Magic Kingdom, and of course we had to bring Ben to see his buddy, Mickey.  Here he is in a hug:

We came out just as the Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade passed by and got some great pictures:

And of course, our favorite:  Prince Naveen and Princess Tiana

As theirs was the last, we followed the parade down Main Street and it was just so awesome to have Prince Naveen waving down at us!

We left the Magic Kingdom early as the movers are coming at 8am tomorrow so it couldn’t be a late night for us.  We’re hoping to get caught up on some blog posts in the morning while the boxes are being moved in.

We hope all our readers have a blessed and magical weekend!

 

 


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Home Sweet Home

We’re not even sure how to begin the blog tonight because this day was simply the best day ever.  The 2 1/2 hour drive from the Florida Welcome Center to Clermont was so awesome, because we put Princess and The Frog music on, and we all just sang along to the tunes.  The music literally spoke to us, because as Tiana sings “there’s been trials and tribulations, you know I’ve had my share; but I’ve climbed the mountain, I’ve crossed the river and I’m almost there”.  Well, we’ve had our share of roadblocks, we’ve climbed the mountains in Tennessee and crossed many rivers, and now here we are, and it is just truly amazing.

The Gardens at Citrus Tower is a gated community: just look at the pure joy on Ben’s face as we enter!

When we first started looking for an apartment we were able to find out a lot of information on the internet, but you never know for sure what you are getting.  Honestly, the pictures do not do it justice.  It is way better than we originally expected, and we almost feel like we have “checked in” to a resort.  The main lobby is plush, with a few different areas branching off:  one is the office, one is like a recreation room for the kids to watch TV, hang out or play Wii; one area is the fitness center, one is the business center, where computers and printers are available, and then there are doors that lead out to the pool area, which features Wi-Fi, all new lounge chairs and a large pool with jets spraying out from each side. Grills are also available for resident’s use.

The apartment itself is wonderful.  It’s a three bedroom, two bath apartment, with gourmet kitchen and enclosed laundry room off the kitchen.  It features tiled floors in the front hallway, bathrooms and kitchen; all appliances (including washer and dryer, microwave, dishwasher and garbage disposal); and valet garbage.  Seriously, someone comes and collects the garbage Monday through Friday.  There are these cute little bench-like containers outside each apartment, and we suspect you place your garbage in there.   There is also a screened-in patio area off the living room:  we definitely plan on using that area once we are able to buy a table and chairs to set out there.

Front hallway and off to the right you can see the patio door:

Patio:

Master bathroom decorated Mickey-style (you can’t see it but it has a garden-style tub):

Kitchen with laundry room door in the back:

We couldn’t be happier:  palm trees out the window, and a new home to live in.  From what we’ve seen of Clermont, it has everything within close driving distance.

Thank you all for following us to this point; watch for future posts regarding what relocation looks like.  Tomorrow we have our car insurance and DMV appointments, and will blog about that later in the day.

 

 


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So What Does Mickey Say?

One of the blessings of being able to access social media 24/7 is the ability to instantly connect people with happenings as they occur.  It’s been fun to document our travels down to Florida using Facebook, Twitter, Gowalla and Foursquare.  It also provides a way for you to “follow us” and experience our journey as well!

Last Christmas we purchased at Walmart a mountable Mickey Mouse that utters different sayings, such as “Hiya pal!”, “Hotdog!”, and “Oh boy!  It’s going to be a great day!”  Before our trip we mounted Mickey on our dashboard, and Ben takes great delight in saying: “So what does Mickey say?” at different intervals.  It’s a cute way to include the Disney magic as we journey down to Florida.

Mickey in Chicago:

Mickey in Indianapolis:

It was a loooong drive through Indiana!  One of the interesting things we noticed involved the landscape.  Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana are pretty much the same, flat land, but once you enter Kentucky, the difference is noticeable with the huge hills, trees, and different terrain:

Just wanted to put a quick note in here regarding the tolls on the way down.  We paid $2.50 in Illinois:  $1.50 at Lake Forest, and $1.00 at the Edens.  We paid $3.50 for the Chicago Skyway, $1.50 at the Indiana Toll Road, and $.60 just after Gary.  $8.10 in total, which is quite a bit more than we remember paying two years ago.    We had put our toll money in an M&M tube, something that we’ve used in the past for the kids to do pressed pennies at Disney, and today remembered why it’s not such a cool idea.  All the quarters fell out of the tube!   Apparently the clasp is enough to hold M&Ms, but not heavy items like change.

We had a fun picture to share.  We saw this sign after we left the Kentucky Welcome Center:

Another Clermont sign!  And speaking of welcome centers, we do believe Kentucky has the absolute nicest welcome centers of any state we’ve traveled through.  It puts Wisconsin’s rest areas to shame.  😉

We wanted to note a couple of items that have made our trip so much easier.  These were mentioned in an earlier blog, but the book The Next Exit provides valuable information about what restaurants and gas stations are at what interstate exits, and it allows you to plan upcoming rest stops.  The other item is the Verizon Navigator (GPS) function on the iPhone.  Once you are located in a city, it gives you all possible options in terms of shopping, restaurants, gas stations, etc, and will navigate you there.  While very helpful on the way down, it will prove invaluable once we arrive in Clermont.  Verizon charges an additional $4.95 for their GPS service, but we find it easier and more functional to use than Sprint’s version.  (Currently we have phones from both providers.) The only negative we can say about it is the announcer’s voice is a little hard to hear.  As of yet, we haven’t figured out if there’s a way to make it louder.

The drive, while long, was so much more enjoyable because we were doing it at a more reasonable time frame.  And the postcard idea is working out brilliantly.  The kids are really getting into the idea, and it provides a great way for them to document the trip as well as work on writing skills.  But shhh, don’t tell them that!

Off to bed for tonight– be sure to follow us tomorrow as we journey through Tennessee and Georgia.


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Planning For The Last Week

 

 

We went to Fleet Farm today to pick up a couple of items to get the house ready for the next set of renters, and as we pulled in to the parking lot, we saw this vehicle.  We immediately thought of Fillmore, from Cars:

 

                   “I’m tellin’ you, man, every third blink is slower”

We have yet to see Cars 2 in the theatre; we may take it in this week once everything slows down a little… but perhaps we’re misguided thinking things will slow down!  🙂 We’re finished packing in the kitchen except for a few last minute items.   An unexpected expense we hadn’t considered is the meals out we’ll be eating this week; plus the purchase of the disposable plates and bowls, which granted, isn’t a huge expense but it’s still one, nonetheless.  Wednesday we plan to eat at Tucker’s, a family and local favorite:

They have the absolute best popcorn, second only to Walt Disney World, of course.

Thursday we plan to eat at Pizza Ranch, one last time with Nick; he called it a last meal, but that just sounds so final, as we know we’ll be back to visit:

In our opinion they have the absolute best fried chicken that you can find.   The pizza is good, too, but definitely go for the chicken.

Friday, of course, is our departure date, and we plan to have our dinner in the hotel room. For road trips we always pack ham sandwiches from Festival Foods, and other assorted goodies for a picnic lunch; so we plan to do this again.  It’s tradition, and you don’t mess with tradition.  LOL

Right now our plan is to leave here by 3:15pm on Friday.  We anticipate that the movers will be done by noon, and our landlord comes at 3:00 to check us out.  We hope to be in Pleasant Prairie by 6:00, which will allow us to eat and perhaps check out the outlet mall as well.  We will have internet access all the way down, thanks to the hotspot activation on the cell phone, so we will be able to post blogs nightly and keep you updated.  We will also be posting updates using Twitter and Facebook along the way.

Enjoy your Sunday  ♥