Walt Disney World, Day 7: Signature juice

I've procrastinated on writing this entry because I couldn't remember a blessed thing about this particular day. But just now, whilst flying through the air at 37,000 feet, it all came flooding back to me.

We woke up in our gorgeous room at the gorgeous Animal Kingdom Lodge and promptly ordered room service. We ate on the balcony and watched the giraffes and wildebeests just feet away. It was SO cool. We also tasted frunch for the first time...it's the signature juice at the Lodge, and it's a blend of several kinds of fruit juices. I don't know what it is, it's just amazing.

So after spending some time roaming the hotel, we headed to Epcot for no reason other than that when in doubt, we'd always go to Epcot. We managed to take some pictures through World Showcase, again, gorgeous. Shauna posed in Italy. It was hot.

We found Figment and took a picture with him. We remarked how interesting it was that Figment, in the ride, is about a foot tall. But in real life, he's taller than me. I soaked myself in the serpentine fountains before we headed to the Grand Floridian.

Over tea on day 2 I had casually tossed out the idea of getting married at Walt Disney World. Shauna, who has always been firmly against Disney weddings, didn't seem too apprehensive. So I went into uber-secretive manipulation mode, bound and determined to get her to bend to my will.

Not really. But I thought it would be fun to check out. So on this sunny afternoon we headed to Disney's Wedding Pavilion, next door to the Grand. The Pavilion sits on its own island about 50 feet off-shore, with a lovely bridge leading to it. Designed to resemble a Victorian summer house, the white steeples sit directly across from the Contemporary Resort on the other side of Seven Seas Lagoon. Inside is an intimate chapel that seats up to 300 guests. Behind the altar is a large arched window that perfectly frames Cinderella Castle from across the water. The island also features a photo location made up of a heart shaped topiary that again frames Cinderella Castle. There is a gorgeous empty white sand beach and next door is Franck's, the bridal studio and office. Franck's is of course named for the Martin Short character in Father of the Bride.

Well, much to our surprise, the Pavilion was stunning. Classy and altogether (theme for the day) gorgeous. Shauna fell in love with it and we took lots of pictures.

After sighing over the Wedding Pavilion, we headed to the Disney-MGM Studios for dinner at Mama Melrose's. Again, I was blown away by the over-arching food quality at Walt Disney World. The food was great, and far surpassed any of the park table service restaurants at Disneyland. And this place wasn't even a big deal.

After dinner we wandered a bit before 6pm when the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights was to begin. I got Shauna hammered on spiked egg nog just beforehand, and she freaked out upon entering the colossal display.

Millions and millions of lights decked out the Streets of America portion of the Studios. Animated lights, snowmen, angels, Mickey, a nativity scene, wreaths, trees, you name it. The buildings were covered in lights and there were lights in the air. My favorite display was a large spinning globe that said "Peace On Earth" and was surrounded by flying angels.

New for 2006 was the Dancing portion of the title. Every 15 minutes the lights would dim and a choreographed spectacle would take place to songs by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. You couldn't even stand in one place and see it all, because there were so many lights involved. Very cool.

Oh, and of course, it was snowing the whole time. This was the best Christmas thing Walt Disney World has, a real treat. Free cookies and cocoa would have made it better though.

So there. Now I remember.