Tiago and I had quite an adventure finding Marit at the Nestle plant in Madison County, east of Tallahassee. All was going swimmingly until we got to Madison and Jane the GPS got herself all confused, leading us down one dirt track after another and confidently declaring "You have arrived!" when clearly we had not. Marit said the plant was in the middle of nowhere, but I figured it would be big enough to see over a few bushes. With limited cell phone reception, I felt quite lost and decided the best thing to do was retrace my steps back to some semblance of civilisation. Thankfully I had a scrap of paper with driving instructions from Nestle, so once back on a recognisable bitumen road, I switched off Jane, reverted to the instructions and finally found my way to the plant.
The drive from Madison to Orlando was about three hours. And then we entered Disney World, a city unto itself. Hosting dozens of hotel resorts, theme parks and its own "downtown" (which included an area called Pleasure Island--the mind boggles and the throat chokes as one imagines the porn side of Mickey Mouse and co., or is that just me?) it can take about 20 minutes on the shuttle bus from one end of D-World to the other. Actually, it could be more. I'm just basing that on the average trip from our hotel pick up to destination.
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| On the Disney bus, on our way to Epcot [pic by Marit] |
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We arrived Monday evening, and left the following Friday. So I had three days full-time babysitting the adorable baby you see sitting on my lap there, while his mum attended a conference. Thanks to our weekend in Wakulla Springs, Tiago and I had gotten to know each other a bit, and I got some lessons in diaper changing, feeding routines and bottle preparation. I'd been advised that Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom were the most baby-friendly in terms of gentle rides and attractions, so on Tuesday we headed to Magic Kingdom. This to me felt like original Disney. It's where the iconic Magic Castle is to be found, Mickey Mouse, Princesses and Prince Charmings abound, we are constantly reminded that Dreams Can Come True. It's all squeaky clean, family fun, but done with such polish and energy, and received with such joy by so many, that it's impossible to resist. You just have to embrace it, enjoy the ride, and check your cynicism at the door (you can always snuggle back into it later).
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| The Magic Castle |
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| Classic Disney show |
The "It's a Small World" ride came highly recommended as suitable ride for a baby, as it is an indoor boat ride. Two thumbs up here: one for indoor which gave some relief from the heat, and one for boat ride as it is slow and gentle. The downside is the length of the queue, which one must tackle without the stroller. When visiting with a not-quite-walking baby (who at this moment also happened to be fast asleep), this meant carrying him for a good 20 minutes or so. My biceps were feeling the exercise for days! But he was incredibly cute snuggled up and sleeping in my arms. The ride itself I found nightmarish. It weaves through a cavern of "small worlds" with approximately 20 countries and regions represented by identical mechanical dolls dressed in traditional costume and performing simple repetitive actions. It actually took me a little while to realise that each grouping represented a different country because the dolls look so similar, like oversized, blank-faced babies. The tinny refrain of the ride's title song plays in a loop, driving one to dementia. However, I must accept that children (and even, apparently, other adults) find it fascinating and delightful. Tiago woke up about halfway through and stared, eyes agog, unafraid and full of wonder.
Wednesday we tackled Animal Kingdom, which is part theme park, part zoo. Tiago was pretty tired that day, slept a lot, and wasn't as interested in the animals as I had anticipated. I think the ones in enclosures that weren't particularly close to the fence just didn't catch his eye. However, he was amenable to being pushed along in the stroller, so long as I fed him on time and let him out to play once in a while.
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| Huge gorilla |
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| Thick growing bamboo along the gorilla trail |
We went on the Kilamanjaro Safari ride, a bouncy jaunt through recreations of African parkland and wildlife--kind of like Werribee Park shrunk down to bite-size pieces. Tiago was fascinated by the animals, some of which were quite close to the truck, but found the bouncing a bit intense sometimes. We saw dozens of animals, including giraffes, lions, crocodiles on masse, pink flamingoes, an elephant family (complete with baby elephant) and an ostrich. It was difficult to get a photo at times as the truck rarely stopped, so between the forward motion, the bouncing and other passengers, I just missed a few. Here's some good ones though:
We planned to go back to Animal Kingdom on the Thursday, but woke to heavy rain which persisted all morning. So we hung out (and napped--both of us) in the hotel room before heading out for a quick jaunt to downtown Disney for a spot of shopping, back in time to meet Marit, who finished work early that day. The three of us went to Epcot, a theme park dedicated to science and technology (in a family friendly way). We didn't quite know what to expect, except the sight of the landmark giant golfball structure that greets you at the entrance, and is featured in pamphlet photos. However, we discovered that late afternoon/early evening is a great time to visit as there are far fewer people and hence no waiting time on rides. We made a beeline for the Finding Nemo ride, where we were bundled into giant clamshell carriages and trundled along a video screen to join the key characters from the movie in searching for Nemo. After that we attended an interactive chat with Crush, the turtle character from Finding Nemo. This was ratherly cleverly done in a small auditorium with a big screen depicting a fish tank into which Crush swam into view. He chatted to the audience and then invited questions from the kids; "little dude, front row, red shell, flipper up!" Clearly Crush was being voiced by someone who could see and hear the audience, but the clever part was that his movements seemed to match, spontaneously, so I guess some kind of motion detection technology was being used as well. Anyway, it was very funny and enjoyable and Tiago LOVED it. He was completely engaged, chattering away delightedly, and applauded at the end. Cutest thing in the world.
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| CC and Tiago just out of the clamshell [pic by Marit] |
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