SUNDAY MEMORIES
Judy Wills
Even though I DO love a white Christmas, I’ve come to really love Christmas in Florida. We’ve both had our fill of snow, and so the sand and grass and beach and…Florida suits us just fine. We thoroughly enjoy Christmas at Disney, as well. We’ve been a bit disappointed in recent years, however, that even Disney has bowed to some of the political correctness that is abounding now, and have left off some of our most cherished decorations. We do enjoy that they include the traditions from around the world.
We usually have at least one of our daughters and her family with us at Christmas – occasionally both daughters and their families – and we always make it a point to go to Disney. Not just to “do” the theme parks, but to see the decorations. One of our favorite sights is the Osborne lights at the Studios. Amazing.
One of our favorite things to do is to park at EPCOT and take the Resort Monorail to the resorts on that line, get off, see the decorations at that resort, and then on to the next resort. It’s fun, it’s free, and we get some gorgeous ideas from them. Of course, there’s no way we could duplicate the life-size gingerbread house at either EPCOT or the Grand Floridian. But it’s fun to see.
Another free thing to do is Downtown Disney. Actually, we like to take friends there who aren’t really into the theme parks, when they come to visit us . That way, they get a “taste” of Disney without having to spend the money and all day at the park(s). We like to walk the length of the entire area and back. And at Christmas time, they decorate the whole area with fun stuff.
Seems we never get tired of doing the same thing – especially since most of the decorations are the same as the previous year – and the year before that – and……
Another favorite resort we like to visit is the Shades of Green. If you’ve never heard of that, it is a resort on Magic Kingdom property, and is solely for military – active duty and retired. If you’re wondering about the name – it is called Shades of Green because every branch of the U.S. military has a uniform that is a shade of green. Hence the name. We like to stay there for our anniversaries each summer. They also decorate, but a lot of the time it is “military” themed, and quite interesting.
So, as you can see, there is a lot to do around Christmas time for us in Florida. We usually have some time to spend with my brother and his family, and that is always a most joyous time for us. This extended family business is wonderful!
Christmas in Florida…………yeah, it’s great!
Old Things R New 