Bon Voyage 2010: Going on a Disney Cruise because 2+3+3+7=50

For New Year’s my family is taking a Disney Cruise to celebrate my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary.  So, we’ve come up with a slogan: 2+3+3+7=50

2=My parents

Married on December 19, 1960 in All Saints Episcopal Church,  my parents have figured out the key to success.

My parents at the Lazy 3 Ranch in Winter Park

+3=My two brothers and me

I had a magical childhood growing up in Winter Park on a “ranch” which now sits in the middle of Aloma Ave. and 436. Go figure that the city would grow up so fast around us!

Top 5 editor Bess Auer with her brothers.

+3=Our spouses

Yep, our family grew by three more in just two years. I got married in All Saints Church (just like my parents as well as my grandparents!) and then my brothers followed suit by getting married less than two years later.

Top 5 editor Bess Auer getting married at All Saints Church in Winter Park

+7=Our children

While I only have one child, my brothers had three each. Our family has grown by quite a bit since my parents married in 1960!

The 7 grandchildren

So now you know where we got 2+3+3+7=50!

And, to celebrate that 50, my mother wanted to do something that my father and she could share and enjoy with all of us, including my niece with special needs. A cruise seemed like the perfect choice, but not only that, she chose a DISNEY Cruise!

Needless to say between the family time, playing and relaxing, as well as the spotty wi-fi on ship, the Top 5 will not be blogging, tweeting, or Facebooking while on the cruise. (I feel the withdrawal already setting in!)

I am signing off until 2011; however, some big changes will be in store for when I come back. Thanks to Seventh Degree, Inc., the Top 5 will have a brand new look! (Yay!)  Not only will there be a totally new design with some incredible features, I am also stoked about some new additions.

Meghann Anderson, blogger extraordinaire of Meals and Miles, has agreed to be my “Go to Fitness Girl” for exercising in Central Florida.  She’ll not only be reviewing the many racing and fitness events around town (she’s done most of them!), she’ll also be giving tips and advice about staying and living healthy in Central Florida. I am so honored she’s agreed to “come aboard” the Top 5! (Did you like my boat reference there? I’m so ready for the cruise! Ha!)

So, until the launch of our new blog design, have a wonderful New Year!

Note: I do have house guests taking care of the casa and pets while we’re cruising… can you imagine the kennel bill for 3 cats and 3 dogs?!  My special guest is a former student (believe it or not! Oh, am I getting old!) who is staying here with her family. I hope she enjoys Orlando and I hope the weather warms up for them!

Mariah Carey with Orlando Ballet at Disney World

Photo from FashionFame.com

In case you missed this broadcast yesterday (recorded on December 3 at the Magic Kingdom), here it is again, but this time from an audience member’s point of view.  It’s nice when ABC decides to film here in Orlando (think jobs!) and it brings a nice focus to Central Florida as the continued destination for fun in the sun.

We’re truly hopeful Florida’s film industry will continue to grow in 2011. The Metro Orlando Film and Entertainment Commission has not had any major announcements since October, but we’re sure they are continuing to promote Orlando as a great place for making movies. This past year Transformers 3 was filmed partially around Central Florida and Shaq vs. Bieber was set here, too. And with Full Sail and EA Sports already based here in the Orlando area, let’s hope ABC continues to chip in to get this industry going!

As for yesterdays show, though, Mariah Carey and Ryan Seacrest were the stars of the Disney show and parade.  We love the fact that dancers from the Orlando Ballet were the ones asked to perform long with a clearly pregnant Mariah Carey for the ABC special!

(Credit to milkdidmybodygood for the video!)

40 Years of Florida Christmases

My readers may remember that I celebrated my 40th birthday this year (back in April) and I made my 40 for 40 promise, which, by the way, I am happy to report has continued on track!  Donating to Relay for Life on behalf  of fellow tweeter @JenVargas, fulfilling her birthday wish, was #32.

At any rate, as Christmas approaches and I went to set up my tree again this year, I realized that this is my 40th Christmas… so of course I knew I had a blog post in the making!

Florida Christmas in the 1970s

• Opening of Disney World Resort
• Opening of Sea World
• Closing of McCoy Air Force Base

Now, my family actually goes back to the 1800s in Central Florida. In fact, here’s my grandmother fishing a snake out of Howell Creek when she was much much younger!

And, when my mother was a teenager, she wanted a horse, but the City of Winter Park did not allow horses inside the city limits. So, my family moved way out in the country (at the time) and bought some pasture land down a dirt road with beautiful goldenrod growing all over.  (This dirt road is now known as Aloma Ave. and that goldenrod pasture is marked by Goldenrod the road!)  But this Lazy 3 Ranch, where my mother grew up, is where I grew up too, at the same time as the city was growing up around us in leaps and bounds.

The Lazy 3 Ranch, corner of Aloma Ave. and 436

So, my memories of Christmas at this time were typical of most children: lots of 70s era toys!  Dolls and ride-in cars for me, Stretch Armstrong and army men for my brothers, a working Lionel train set for which my father spent weeks building and nailing down a track, and even chickens. Yes, chickens…we did live on some land, after all!

And, of course, Disney toys and theme park visits were very big with our family…we lived in Central Florida! (And, boy, do I remember those booklets of tickets…especially the feared E-Ticket!)

Christmas, 1975

A young Top 5 editor Bess Auer with her beloved "Big Red"

And as soon as we had our toys, we’d rush outside to try them out, riding bikes down the driveway, skateboarding around, climbing trees with GI Joe.

Christmas 1976

Florida Christmas in the 1980s

• Space Shuttle program launches
• Opening of Epcot
• Domination by Miami football

By the 80s my brothers and I were getting into our teenage years, and Central Florida saw the launch of the first Space Shuttle as well as the opening of Epcot. (I watched the opening live while home sick from school…and classmate Jody Crane skipped school to attend the opening and was featured as the very first guest!  He got lifetime tickets or some such wonderful thing!)

At any rate, childhood toys at Christmas gave way to clothes and boom boxes.  And still, after unwrapping presents on Christmas day, we’d head outdoors to the yard to have orange and grapefruit wars, or to take my grandmother to Epcot, or even to head to the beach and lay out in the sun for most of the day.  Florida Decembers have certain advantages!

Christmas day - grandmother and her beloved dog at the beach in New Smyrna...look how uncrowded!

And then, as the decade ended and I was cheering in college, sometimes Christmas days were spent traveling to bowl games, like the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.  (Not a bad place to spend Christmas and New Year’s, by the way!)

Florida Christmas in the 1990s

• Opening of Universal Studios
• Domination by Bowden’s FSU football program
• Closing of the Orlando Naval Training Center

This decade saw me getting married, buying my own home, and setting up my own Christmas tree for the first time.  I have never been a fan of traditional, so I bought silk flowers for my tree, which I still use nearly twenty years later!

Our Christmas tree

And then, as the second half of the 90s began, I became a mother, and Christmas suddenly was geared to children once again. Thomas the Tank Engine, Pokemon, and Legos were tops in our house, as Harry Potter paraphernalia soon would become, too.

Florida Christmas in the 2000s

• Ending of the Space Shuttle Program
• Opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
• Domination by Florida Gator football and basketball programs
• Rise to national prominence by UCF’s football and basketball programs

And so I have reached this latest decade. This one saw the passing of my brother, the continued growth of our children, and even some of the final flights of the Space Shuttles. My son has become the teenager, and iPods have replaced boom boxes, X-Box Kinect has replaced Atari.

My son does not rush out to the front yard to race around on his skateboard or ride his new bike, as my brothers and I did when we were young.  Instead he plops on the couch, puts on his headset, and connects with twelve different friends around Florida who all got the same video game to play online. It is a strange new world in which I live, one ruled by indoors, electronics, and air conditioning, but I wouldn’t miss it for anything!

Forty years of Christmases… what do you remember?

Mousevent: A Fun Twist on the Old Advent

When I heard about this, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect… an audio advent calendar?  Say what?  But, the MouseVent idea has proven to be quite a fun thing.

I must say it really is ingenious fun!  Brought to us by a group of Disney-oriented podcasts, who have created a special audio message for each day of the advent calendar. They bring a bit of Disney trivia and insider knowledge which creates some very interesting listening material.

Just click on the day and listen to fun stories by some of the best theme park and Disney-focused podcasters.  For example, did you know we can thank Santa Claus for the idea of being able to dine with characters at Disney World? Other times the podcast is just silly fun to listen to! (Day 3 provides fun sing-a-longs children will especially love!)

So, if you are fan of Advent Calendars, give this one a try! It’s free and right on your computer. Gotta love that!

Tangled: Starring Central Florida Native Mandy Moore

 

 

So, what are you taking the kids to see this weekend? Chances are it will include Disney‘s 50th animated feature Tangled which star Central Florida native Mandy Moore.

If you go, you won’t be alone…because the numbers are in and it scored 11.6 million on its first day of release, making it the highest grossing Thanksgiving release ever, even beating Toy Story 2. Woot! And way to go, Mandy Moore!

(Disclosure:  She is a proud alumna of Park Maitland School, where I teach! Hee hee!)

Top 5 Central Florida Videos Weekly Round Up

We are thinking about doing a new weekly feature, where we show the Top 5 youtube videos of events from around Central Florida, all uploaded within the past week.

It should give a great snapshot of all the different things happening. (And you can give us a shout out if you post a great video. Who knows, it might be featured on our Weekly Round Up!)

So, let’s get started with this week’s videos:

Car races:

From Attractions Magazine:

Light Up UCF:

From Disney Parks – Mickey becomes a Magic Player:

Building of Legoland:

Bonus videos–yeah, we couldn’t decide on just 5 this week!

From NBCActionNews, because this was just so darn crazy!

Singing, because we loved Spring Awakening when it was in Orlando:

This Is It (for 2009…kind of)

Michael Jackson was a frequent visitor to Central Florida, being an avid fan of Disney and the other theme parks. I remember back in junior high, there was a buzz going around that Michael Jackson was at the Fashion Square Mall at the same time I was there with friends. (Alas, I didn’t actually eye the legend, but still very exciting!)

So, to pay homage to the King of Pop’ passing this year, here’s a sneak peek at his “last” video, directed by Academy Award Winner Spike Lee. It is a heartwarming video showing glimpses of Jackson’s life, starting with his childhood home. Enjoy!

“This Is It” by Michael Jackson

Merry Christmas-Florida Style

I just received an email from my good friend who lives in New York City, where it’s currently 25 degrees out (feels like 12 degrees with the wind chill).  Suddenly, I felt like I needed to take off my sweater. 69 degrees isn’t so cold is it? 

My friend’s email snarfily hinted that I must be sad that I never see a white Christmas and surely the “melting temperatures” couldn’t possibly bring on a Christmas feel.  [Note: "Hmmmm..." I think as I open my sliding glass doors to air out my house.]

With the exception of a few Christmases spent skiing in Colorado, I have never known a white Christmas, and so such is not necessary to bring sugar plums to dance in my head. All that is needed is a few seasonal mall decorations, holiday music, and Christmas lights hung with care. [Note: I could do without the blow up Santa sleighs and snowmen. I have yet to see one of those actually add to the decor.]

So, I started thinking back to my holiday memories, almost exclusive to Central Florida. We Floridians have a strange shared existence here in the Sunshine State. We proudly go fishing at night, string lights on palm trees and paint pictures of flamingos in Santa hats.  We ravage overly-decorated malls despite hearing horrid renditions of Christmas carols, we both love and despise Disney depending on our mood and reasoning, and we hide from the sun while giggling at our European tourists baking to a lobster red.  We encourage tolerance for all religions yet complain when it says “Push 1 for English.”  We hold heated discussions over monorails, Light Rails, Tim Tebow and Bobby Bowden. We Floridians are an odd bunch, no? 

But regardless of our varied beliefs, backgrounds, and collegiate affiliations, there are some wintertime happenings that fortunately unite us. Here are some of my Florida memories; perhaps you, too, have experienced some of them:

• Tanning at New Smyrna Beach on Christmas Day [Note: This was before sun was bad for you.]
• Driving behind Whole Foods in Winter Park to see the neighborhood filled with amazing Christmas lights
• Drinking hot cocoa at Mickey’s Merry Christmas Party
• Having orange wars in the front yard with nearly frozen fruit [Note: Ouch!]
• Immediately trying out new Christmas gifts such as roller skates, bikes, etc. in the driveway dressed in shorts and a t-shirt
• Listening to the gorgeous Bach Festival Choir while strolling among Tiffany stained glass windows
• Freezing while sliding down an ice slide at ICE!
• Watching the Tangerine Bowl (Citrus Bowl) Parade in its seasonal and collegiate spirit
• Dressing in winter cap, scarf, and sweater to take a “seasonal” photo to send relatives…and then sweating!
• Putting water into a ziplock and cleverly calling it melted snow [Note: Yeah, it was funnier when I was young.]
• Donating to Toys-for-Tots while singing, “Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I made it out of clay…”
• Sticking reindeer antlers on my dogs…and then my cats
• Laughing at rubber reindeer poop [Note: Still funny even now that I'm older.]
• Pretending the soapy snow flakes drifting down at Celebration were real snow flakes
• Listening to 24-7 Christmas music on 107.7
• Sitting high up in a tree looking for a lighted nose and sleigh until my mom made me come in
• Wondering how Santa was actually getting into my house since we had no chimney. [Note: I was very creative with my solutions, one of which included a very well-trained squirrel!]

What are some of your holiday memories? I hope you have some wonderful ones.  And, the Central Florida Top 5 wishes you and your family a fabulous holiday season. Please enjoy this video that highlights Christmas in Florida. [Note: I am sending it to my NY friend...ha!]

Festival of Trees!

Today I visited the Festival of Trees at the Orlando Museum of Art. I am continually impressed with the OMA (except for the whole $5 parking thing) because of the “big city museum” feel it brings to Orlando. For the Festival of Trees, the lobby is appropriately decorated with palms and lights to give a Florida feel to the holiday mood.

As I wondered throughout the exhibit, at first many of the displays were unimpressive, seeing much better at Michaels or JoAnn Etc., but I judged too quickly, as many others were great plays on different themes. There were themes featuring French poodles, Disney, and the Orlando Magic. My personal favorite (besides the orange and blue Gator theme) involved the space program. Decorated with planets, space shuttles, and shooting stars, the tree was topped with an astronaut proudly standing on the Moon with an orbiting lunar module.

I noticed that birds were a reoccurring item: peacocks, parrots, owls, and even penguins!  I also enjoyed the gingerbread houses, menorah display, and checking in with Santa to see if my winning Powerball ticket was on the way! (He asked just how good I had been this year. Hmmm…)

Enjoy the following videos:

Disney Events and other Items…

In addition to ranking each month’s Top 5 events, Ialso like to keep you aware of the other great things going on in the Orlando area.  Disney, of course, always has things going on, but I’ve listed two items of note on Central Florida Top 5′s main page: 1) Opening of Diana-The People’s Princess at Downtown Disney (I posted a video on website), and 2) The Disney Cup Youth International Soccer Tournament. 

Here’s a picture from the Disney Cup, showing European soccer star Leo Messi who plays for FC Barcelona. He gave on a demonstration and workshop for the young players.

From wdwnews.

 Other local events:

• Enzian Theater debuts DEPARTURES today, an Academy Award Winner in the foreign film category.
• Theatre Downtown brings back smash hit Sordid Lives for a weekend encore.
• Bjorn Again: ABBA Tribute is playing at the Plaza Theater in downtown Orlando tonight

Be sure to check out the video below of last night’s Art Stroll at Baldwin Park…good stuff!