We'd already had our suitcases packed for a month and a half and, on Sunday morning Feb 27, Ava's first happy words were "FLORIDA TIME!" as she sat up in bed. We all were so excited about going on vacation to Disney World. This was Trip #3 to the cabins at Ft. Wilderness, so we knew what awaited us - we love that place. And to put it over the top - Brenda, John, Lindsey, Derek, Nikki, Mason, Alivia, and Landen were all going, too! We were staying at different resorts, but we all were there for the full week. Brenda and I had been planning and texting and e-mailing about this trip for months, comparing schedules and discussing attractions and restaurants - it had been a blast already, just in the planning.
Gaffer took Heidi to the kennel that morning while Ava and I ran around cleaning the house and making sure we had everything we needed. Blue Cat was going to stay in the house alone while we were gone, so we left big mixing bowls full of food and water, and two big clean litter boxes for him. When Gaffer got back, we loaded up the truck and pulled out of the driveway. The weather was dank and cold, snowbanks lined the roads.
Our flight was at 7:45 the next morning on Southwest Airlines out of Manchester, NH, and Brenda and John were on the same flight. They were riding over from Maine with Lindsey (who had a Delta flight earlier than ours, but landing later) and would meet us at the airport. We were spending the night at the Hampton Inn near the airport, where we'd get a chance to start vacationing a little early because, for Ava, pool = vacation. Ava and I changed into our suits while Gaffer ran out for pizza. We spent the afternoon enjoying the pool and hot tub and looking out at the dirty snowbanks in the hotel parking lot ("good-bye dirty snowbanks!!"). A sauna was in the pool area and we enjoyed going from the cool pool into the hot sauna, lounging in the dark on raised benches near a bed of steaming lava rocks. It was a great way to begin our vacation, in a refreshed frame of mind, and eating pizza on top of that!
We swam, whirlpooled, steamed, and ate until it was time to get back to the room to watch "The Amazing Race", read "Owl at Home" (Ava's sleeping potion - works on all three of us! It has five little chapters and in our family it's not uncommon to hear this: "You didn't even make it to the end of Tearwater Tea!") and go to sleep, Gaffer in one double bed, Ava and me in another.
As soon as I woke the next morning I texted Bren: "Where are you guys?" She instantly texted back, "At the airport!" So we started throwing our things together and got Ava up and dressed and out into the cold, dark morning. At the airport, Gaffer dropped us at the curb with the suitcases and went to park the truck. It was about 6:30 and the Southwest line was already a mile long. It was fun for us to notice the suitcases with the yellow "Disney World Transport" tags on them - many other little kids on their way to Disney!!! YAY! These were a bunch of happy, sleepy people in line - the kids and the parents! Gaffer caught back up with us while we were still halfway through the line. Southwest moves fast, though, and next thing we knew we were through security and looking at John and Brenda, sitting on a bench having breakfast. It was really happening - we were all really about to go to Florida together!
But poor Ava. She didn't want anyone to know, but her pretty, sparkly new shoes (the ones I told her weren't practical, but bought anyway because she thought they were beautiful) were scraping her heels. So she took me aside and whispered to me what the problem was, then we casually walked off to the ladies room and did a little first aid with bandages on each foot. She's always very discreet about her personal issues - a throwback to a different generation when struggles weren't worn on sleeves.
We had some breakfast, and then it was time to board. Bren and John had got A Group tickets (the first 60 people to board), but we had B Group (the next 60 - and we were at the end of the 60), so they said they'd try to hold some seats near them for us, and they did. We were right across the aisle from them, and we cheers'd with Bloody Marys (Ava had apple juice) somewhere over one of the mid-Atlantic states. Ava and I played Pollys and worked on pre-school workbooks, passing the time until we landed. She had the window seat and looked outside occasionally, but seemed mostly to be happy having me as a captive participant in the land of Pollys.
Bren and John had told us they were planning to wait for Lindsey's flight at the airport, so we would be parting at the gate. The airport in Orlando is sprawling and (we think) not well-marked. Adding this year to the previous two, we've not been able to find the Disney Transportation for three years in a row. After the short train-ride from the gate area to the baggage claim area, there are wings and floors and no signs. There probably are signs, but we've failed to see them for three years in a row. So this time, same as the last times, we wandered around like idiots and finally had to ask someone for directions, and found out we were in the wrong wing of the airport. I think we will just expect to do this every time we come back - just add it to the itinerary: "Explore Orlando International Airport". So we eventually, after making several new friends lost like us (although, to their credit, they were first-timers) got to the Disney Transportation area and then quickly onto our bus for Ft. Wilderness.
It takes about a half hour of highway driving from the airport to get into the Disney World Resort, and then there are stops at other resorts before getting to Ft. Wilderness - it's always the last stop. It's fun, though, to see the other resorts and Disney movies play on little video monitors, so the ride is enjoyable. Ava was laughing out loud at a Donald Duck movie, and it was cute to hear little kids laughing from other seats in the bus.
The skies were blue and the sun was hot when we got off the bus at the check-in (the "Outpost") at Ft. Wilderness. Gaffer went inside to do the paperwork, while Ava and I stayed outside, soaking up the sun. She was going crazy picking flowers and bringing them to me. She's a good flower-picker, as far as the flowers are concerned. She picks off one beautiful bloom from each plant - dead-heading without the dead part. For the recipient, it's kind of awkward because there is rarely enough stem presented to put in water, but it's a sweet gesture. 
Ava has always loved flowers, and a highlight of her Florida vacation is the flora. Whether it's at Magic Kingdom or at the airport, it's the flowers that catch her eye. It's been this way since she was three, but this year she added something - giving out beautiful blooms to nice people she meets. She gave a flower to the lady at the reservation desk, to the maintenance guy working on our cabin, to the bus driver, to Disney characters... A dozen people were presented a tiny flower by a small girl with a big smile in Orlando last week, and all of them were sweetly touched by this gesture and thanked her sincerely.
This was the beginning of the Disney magic for us. We never ceased to be amazed at the genuine helpfulness and friendliness of the Disney staff, wherever we went. There was the occasional annoying or sullen employee but, considering the sheer numbers of them we interacted with, the impression remains that Disney employees have been dusted with something very magical. Human nature wants to be happy, I believe, and when you spend a week with people who go out of their way to help you and talk with you and smile at you, you can't help but be affected by that in a very positive way. This has been a big part of why we go back - we enjoy that gentle happiness and soak it in.
Our suitcases were to be delivered to our cabin later, so we jumped on one of the Ft. Wilderness buses for the 2500-block - "Cedar Circle". The bus stop was only a short distance from our cabin number 2505, and as we walked toward the cabin we saw a car in the little driveway. Our grocery lady was already there! We had ordered our groceries on-line, the same service we had used the previous two times at the cabin. Cathy was a retiree from North Pole, Alaska, and she was a character - telling us she'd probably be hearing from us later in the week for more beer and a bottle of rum! Ava presented her with a little flower after we paid the tab, and with a smile Cathy was off, and we were on vacation!!
Brenda texted that Lindsey had arrived and gone over to see Derek and Nikki, so they were free to meet us at Epcot. We hopped on a bus and in a short time we could see that beautiful big golf ball on the horizon. The first stop at any of the parks for us was always the stroller rental. In addition to giving Ava's little legs a break, the stroller was handy to carry the back pack and anything else we picked up in the park - it even had cup holders for our beverages. After a few pictures at the entrance, we started to wander into our very favorite Disney place. We've timed each visit to to coincide with the opening of the Epcot Flower & Garden Festival, and we weren't disappointed this year - the topiaries and themed gardens and playgrounds were everything we expected.
As we walked through Future World toward the World Showcase, the three of us were relaxed and happy. We don't really see the crowds or feel any pressure to accomplish anything in particular at Disney. I had spent months planning each day but, once there, it becomes completely about the moment. "Look where we are!" "What a day!" Allowing yourself the time to the feel the joy of the moment is a luxury that should be savored, and Gaffer and I do when we're there. Ava savors every moment of every day anyway, so this is not a new experience for her. Maybe that's one of the reasons why Disney is so popular - people find it to be a place where they can be like a child, living in the joy of the moment, even if only for a couple of days.
So, even while savoring the moment, we're also looking forward to beer! Why do we love Epcot so much? Because we can have beer there! Cross the bridge into the World Showcase and go the right and get English beer. Go to the left and get Mexican beer. Keep walking, and you can have American, German, Moroccan, French, and Canadian beer! At $8 a cup, you have to go back to Epcot for a few days to try them all, so that's what we do. But there is an intense joy in the moment when you're walking with your favorite people through the Epcot Flower & Garden Festival, holding an Oktoberfest brew in your hand.
Ava had never taken a nap all day, and was still going strong. We had taken a left toward Mexico and were strolling toward the outdoor cafe where we could get a beer when we heard, "Hey", behind us and there were John and Brenda walking toward us. Ava ran over for big hugs, and then got back into her stroller as we started meandering with our Dos Equis toward Germany, where we had a dinner reservation. It was great to have friends to be with! I was missing Steve and Jennifer (and Andrew)- wishing they could have shared in the laughing with us - but it was great to have 1/3 of our card playing comrades with us in Florida!
We were seated almost immediately in the Biergarten restaurant - taken to our long wooden table by a cheerful grey-haired fraulein. At Biergarten, the tables are occupied by as many people as will fit so, unless you are a big group yourself, you'll always end up sharing your table with people you don't know. The lighting is dim: you feel as though you're sitting in an outdoor cafe in a quaint old German village, with balconies dripping with flowers, German state banners on the walls, and clouds moving across a bright moon in the night sky. The seating is raised, looking down upon a stage with a dance floor - live polka music plays in between short breaks, and the little kids love to dance to live polka music! Who knew? It's a blast.
The food is buffet, with a selection of German cuisine for all palates. Ava was tall enough this year to help fill her own plate, and she was very generous with herself with sausage, roast pork, mac&cheese and mashed potatoes. And a roll with butter. She eats well at Biergarten. We were joined at the table by a young couple with a cute blond-haired little boy named Jackson who was about Ava's age. She could barely wait for everyone to finish eating so she could go dancing! This is a kid who had woken up in New Hampshire many hours earlier, now wanting to dance in Germany - I was impressed! "That's my girl!!"
So she and I went down to the dance floor, and who should follow us? Little Jackson!! So the three of us held hands and swung to the polka music until Gaffer joined us and then it was four! Polka-ing with two 5-year-olds after a buffet of sausage, sauerkraut, and herring salad (and mugs of German beer) is not for the faint of heart, but Gaffer and I were up to the challenge - we were still dancing when Bren came up to let us know that she and John were heading back to their room. It wasn't too long after that when we returned Jackson to his parents (regretfully - I would have liked to have seen them again!), and wandered back out into the World Showcase.
Ava and I don't remember the bus ride back to Ft. Wilderness that night. We both fell asleep on the bus from Epcot, but Gaffer got us safely home to our cabin, like the good Gaffer he is.
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