Walt Disney World 2012: Downtown Disney
Thursday, June 7th, 2012
Tuesday, April 17, 2012, was designed to be somewhat of a day of rest. We had spent the last two days flying to Florida and scouring the parks of Walt Disney World. We had two more days ahead of us, so we took this day as an interlude. I took this to heart and stayed in bed until 10 or 11 or noon or so. I wasn’t sleeping that entire time, but I had gotten up ultra-early to cuddle with Silas, who was still suffering from a cold like I was. Two peas in a pod, we were. So once we were awake, I played with him and played on the internet, trying to get a date with Blue October girl. Read the rest of this entry »
It had been a bit of a rough night to get through since both Silas and I had colds. I did some snoring and Silas did quite a bit of waking up. But regardless of our exhaustion and colds, it didn’t stop us from making the most of second day at the parks of Walt Disney World on Monday, April 16, 2012. Unfortunately, we didn’t get off to that great of a start that morning. I had decided in advance not to try and run around the parks like a madman, sucking in every ride opportunity possible. For one reason, I had been visiting the Disney parks a lot lately, so it was easy to be more accommodating to what the others wanted to do. For a second reason, I’m just getting older. 
On Friday, April 20, 2012, I was able to complete the ultimate North American Disney parks experience by visiting Disneyland. Believe it or not, I actually had visited both Disneyland and Walt Disney World within the span of one week back in 1992. But this trip slightly altered the milestone, by occurring in the same calendar week and with a visit to all 
The week had finally arrived for the big family Walt Disney World trip, partially courtesy of my Mom and Grandpa Murphy, whose inheritance provided some funds to supplement our park tickets. I think you all know how I treasure my vacations, so I wasn’t all that thrilled to be wasting a Saturday when we could have begun our trip on that day. But truth be told, it was nice to have a full day to tie up some loose ends, and get packed and ready for the week-long adventure. I was able to get to sleep at a fairly decent hour, especially considering that at 3:30am on the morning of Sunday, April 15, 2012, my alarm would be going off and I would be getting ready for the awesome travels ahead. 
Pat Carroll is a classic. It is a bit ironic that her most famous role came in the 80’s, when her career in television went all the way back to the early 1950’s. Among those early parts, she could be seen in the recurring role of Bunny Halper in 12 episodes of The Danny Thomas Show, as well as parts in The Red Skelton Hour, and appearances in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Laverne & Shirley, My Three Sons, Too Close for Comfort, and in voiceover in the 1988 Superman animated series.