Double the fun : East & West coast Disney & Universal parks - UPDATED 1/14 About This Page:

[chezp]

Glad you enjoyed Epcot - love the shot of the Christmas trees in front of Spaceship Earth.

[lazanya]

Great day! Beautiful pictures from Epcot!!!

[Dlandmom2]

What a great relaxing day! Funny how Nest's back got so much better once he got to the arcade!

[Cam22]

Glad you all made a great day of it at Epcot! Super pictures, but I especially like the nighttime ones.

[Big Sister]

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Love the pictures from Epcot and your resort!

Originally Posted by chezp

Glad you enjoyed Epcot - love the shot of the Christmas trees in front of Spaceship Earth.

Originally Posted by lazanya

Great day! Beautiful pictures from Epcot!!!

Originally Posted by Cam22

Glad you all made a great day of it at Epcot! Super pictures, but I especially like the nighttime ones.

Thanks everyone - much appreciated!

Originally Posted by Dlandmom2

What a great relaxing day! Funny how Nest's back got so much better once he got to the arcade!

Nest can't pass any kind of games arcade without going in - he's so addicted to them! As well as sore backs, they also cure tiredness

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Sorry for the rough start, but sounds like a great day!

As soon as we got to the Sunshine Seasons food court, the day got noticeably better. There's just so much to see and do at Epcot, that I can't wait to go back!

[Big Sister]

DAY 19: Saturday, 27 November 2010

Big Cat Rescue, Tampa

I first found out about Big Cat Rescue (BCR) back in December 2005, when I returned from my first ever trip to WDW, and bought new guidebooks to immediately begin planning a return trip. This was the first time I'd ever bought a Frommer's guidebook to Orlando (in the early days, I stuck exclusively to Lonely Planet books), and I was absolutely gutted to learn of the existence of BCR, and that I had been so close without knowing it! A very long five years later, and I was finally able to make my dream of visiting BCR a reality, and I just couldn't wait!

As soon as the alarm went off at 6.30am, I flew out of bed, super excited about the day full of cat-related activities ahead Even though our transport to BCR wouldn't be arriving until 8.30am, I quickly got ready, then went to Everything Pop to get Nest and myself some breakfast. I returned with a tray ladened with giant waffles and syrup, fruit cups, and bottled water for us both. I got a hot cinnamon scroll and a bottle of apple juice as an extra for Nest, as he's taller than me, therefore gets hungrier.

Nest and I met Keith, our driver for the day, out the front of our hotel at 8.30am. The drive didn't take as long as I had estimated, and we got to BCR at 10.05am, an hour and ten minutes earlier than planned! (Told you I was super excited about our day at BCR! ) Out the front of BCR, I filled in an electronic release form acknowledging that we were aware of the rules, how to behave, and relinquishing the sanctuary of any responsibility from any unforeseen circumstances. Having submitted a copy for each of us, we then went to the front office hatch to confirm they had gotten through, and to get our receipt for the three tours we had made reservations for: a two hour Photo Tour, the two hour Keeper Tour, and the one hour Feeding Tour.

Administrative tasks over for the day, we set about filling in time till our Photo Tour, by thoroughly going through the gift store, which I was just as excited about as seeing the cats themselves. I bought loads of postcards, some magnets, a photo print of a small leopard cat (which we unfortunately never got to see in person), and two t-shirts. As such a bulky shopping bag would've been a hindrance to cart around on all three tours, I left my purchases with the lady behind the counter, who stored them in a secure area for me.

Souvenir shopping is very serious business, so thank goodness we still had some time to ourselves afterwards, to sit out the back in the quiet shady tour waiting area. There were about half a dozen sets of plastic tables and chairs (some with umbrellas), a soda vending machine, and plenty of wildlife (but not of the feline variety) to observe if you were paying attention.

As BCR is a not-for-profit organisation, there were displays acknowledging their sponsors. There were boards displaying organisations (and well-to-do individuals) who had donated US$2500+ or US$5000+ to the sanctuary. Their names were printed on photos of the breed of cat they wanted to help support. One organisation in particular, was extremely generous in donating US$20,000 to care for one of BCR's black leopards for the term of his natural life!

A more affordable type of donation, was in the form of getting your name printed on a terracotta house brick or pavement slate. There were soooooo many of these, that the sanctuary didn't have enough room to lay them all, and a large number of them were neatly arranged in a stack.

After checking out all the cat displays (including a very sad story of two big cats the sanctuary rescued, which had me in tears by the end of it), I joined Nest in observing the wildlife. There were squirrels, small lizards, and a peacock, with Nest getting awesome photos of all three. One of the staff passing through this area, told us that quite often there's a whole bunch of male peacocks lined up on the roof of the office, calling. I know from experience that one is loud enough (as one has adopted my work as his place of residence, and loves hearing his voice echo around the courtyard in the afternoon. He is known as Andrew the peacock, after an Aussie politician called ... Andrew Peacock! Now my brothers and I refer to all male peacocks as Andrew), so imagine what a whole lot of them together would sound like!

Ninja Squirrel

At 11.30am, our guide for our Photo Tour appeared. Her name was Yara, and she was on a 90 day internship from Brazil. A maximum of four people were permitted on these photo tours, and much to our delight, Nest and I were the only ones booked in for this time slot! Yara was very knowledgeable about all the cats we saw, and the sanctuary. When we commented on her high level of knowledge on these subjects, Yara told us that she had been given a really thick book on arriving at the sanctuary, detailing all the cats' back stories and the history of BCR, to learn.

Before leaving the tour area, Yara reconfirmed the rules with us, such as not getting any closer than three feet to the cats' enclosures (this included the end of the zoom lenses on our cameras), no eating, and following any directions given to us. I was so excited to be finally entering the main part of the enclosure! It was so green inside. There were so many different types of trees and bushes everywhere, that the high presence of so many big cats wasn't apparent at first glance.

Immediately to our right on entering the sanctuary, was a bobcat called Raindance. She was seventeen years old, and rescued from a fur farm when she was only 20 days old, along with over fifty other bobcat and lynx kittens (!), which is how Big Cat Rescue was started. We learnt that it takes at least twenty bobcats to make a fur coat, as only the tummy fur is used because that is the only part of a bobcat that is of the same colour and pattern. Once the tummy fur is taken from the bobcat at only one year of age, everything else is just thrown away, which is not only inhumane, but such an offensive waste of such beautiful creatures. When I asked what was stopping the fur farm they rescued all these kittens from, from starting all over again with new kittens, Yara said that top dollar was paid for each kitten, on the condition that the owner would never breed cats again for slaughter. I'm assuming some kind of contract must've been drawn up, otherwise how would you police such an agreement like that. These days, BCR do not pay ransoms to rescue cats, one of the reasons being on the off-chance people deliberately start up fur farms just to get paid off big to stop. BCR do require individuals to surrender their licenses on relinquishing ownership of cats to the sanctuary though, in an effort to stop trading in older cats for cuter younger versions.

There were quite a few servals at BCR, each with their own special story. Servie arrived at BCR aged ten years old, after having spent her entire life in an small apartment with an old lady. On looking at how big the servals at BCR had grown, such confined surroundings must've been hard for Servie to cope with, even though she wouldn't have known any different, what with having spent her entire life in captivity. Over time, Servie's owner became seriously ill and had to be taken to hospital. Her neighbours reported to authorities that they believed the old lady had a lion in her apartment! I was thankful to hear that the people who came to investigate, had Servie's best interests at heart, and instead of dumping her at just any animal refuge (which would've been stressful for her after such a sheltered life), delivered her to BCR.

It was while we were standing near Servie's habitat (referred to as "cat-a-tats" ), that Yara told us how servals can grab around eight birds out of the air in one leap! I asked how do they manage that, and she said that they jump up really high and clap their paws together really fast a number of times. If any birds happen to fly through a serval's cat-a-tat while the serval is awake, they very rarely make it out. We were to see just how quickly a serval could move, during the Keeper Tour.

Another serval was called Desiree. She was found wandering along a highway in Arizona, close to death and missing a leg. After life-saving treatment at a nearby wildlife center close to where Desiree was found, she was flown to BCR, her new permanent home. Nobody knows Desiree's back story, or how she got into the condition she was found in, despite assistance from the media.

Frosty the serval was fifteen years old, and an aberration from other servals in that he had white paws and tummy.

Also residing at BCR was Frosty's thirteen year old son, Tonga, a pure white serval. Pure white servals are extremely rare, and there's no way they'd survive for long in the wild due to lack of camouflage. There are only two known pure white servals in the world, and both were sired by Frosty and live at BCR. The sanctuary have been offered up to US$75,000 for Tonga by collectors, but have been turned down each and every time, as BCR have his best interests at heart. The sanctuary no longer breed their cats, because as their knowledge and understanding grew over the years, they came to believe that a life in captivity is no life for a wild animal. The cats that call BCR home, live there for their own well-being, as they wouldn't survive in the wild.

Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the following serval, but I love the sequence of shots Nest took of him/her:

As well as servals, there were also quite a lot of cougars at BCR. Nest and I were shocked to learn that it's legal to shoot male cougars, but that it's hard to tell males from females (unless you're close enough to see the obvious), hence a lot of female cougars are shot as a result. Three of the cougars on property are siblings, as their mother was shot by hunters. One of the boys was so sick when rescued back in 1993, that he almost died. Miraculously though, he pulled through and was aptly named Hallelujah

There were loads of tigers at the sanctuary, all with really unfortunate back-stories. Two of them used to be cubs who were toured around the country, where people could pay to have the opportunity to pat them and have photographs taken with them. Before going public, the tigers would have their canine teeth, front teeth, and claws removed, in an effort to prevent injury to the humans they'd be interacting with. Despite these precautions, the tigers still managed to injure someone, so the tour was closed down and the owners forced to give the tigers up, which was where BCR got involved.

Other tigers came from private zoos owned by irresponsible individuals. For example, a financial crisis hit one of the private zoos, so the owners simply up and left, leaving all the poor animals to their own fate. When BCR eventually found out and arrived to help out, most of the animals had perished. Fortunately, there were still some tigers alive they were able to help.

The tiger that stuck in my mind the most at BCR, was Shere Khan - he was magnificently huge, and no photo could really do justice to his size. Yara explained to us that Shere Khan had been a throwaway tiger, as he was sold prior to his birth as a white tiger, but was born as a normal tiger. Obviously the sale was withdrawn as a result, and the breeder didn't look after him as he wasn't wanted. When Shere Khan was rescued by BCR, he was seriously ill. They found him covered in poop and rotting food, and housed in a cage way too small for him. His teeth were rotten, his bones were extremely delicate, and his legs were underdeveloped due to not being able to move. Staff at BCR nursed Shere Khan back to health, but it seemed as if he had lost the will to live. It wasn't until he was introduced to female tiger China Doll, that he found reason to live again, and has been happy ever since. He now weighs about 800 pounds Nest described Shere Khan as about the size of a cow, but just a little bit shorter and with a massive tummy. China Doll was named as such, as she is small in comparison despite only being a month younger than Shere Khan, but definitely the boss out of the two of them. (This was to become apparent during the Feeding Tour we went on later that day.) Fortunately, China Doll had a happier start to life, despite it being in captivity. She was well looked after by her owners, but they ended up surrendering her to BCR due to a change in personal circumstances.

On our way from the tigers to see more cats, the three of us spotted a squirrel speeding in the direction we had just come from. I commented on wondering if the squirrel knew just what a dangerous path he was taking, and Yara said that if they do get in with the tigers, that the tigers see them as natural enrichment. Nest took some awesome shots, which I've titled "Hover Squirrel"

Hover Squirrel

We came across an interesting pairing of a ten year old male lion called Cameron, and a ten year old white female tiger called Zabu, in the one enclosure. They were best friends, and came from a roadside zoo, as the owner had passed away. The roadside zoo had kept them together, in the hope of crossbreeding them. BCR have kept the pair together due to their strong friendship bonds, and have given Cameron 'the snip' to prevent breeding. I wasn't previously aware that white tigers were a result of continuous in-breeding, hence all the resulting problems and deformations. It's really hard to get a 'perfect' white tiger acceptable for public viewing, hence the term 'throwaway tiger', which is what all the tigers, whether they be white or orange, leading up to the birth of rare perfect white tiger, are called. Zabu had no upper lip, bad teeth, and suffered daily from diarrhoea. This wasn't apparent from the angle we saw her from though, especially as she seemed to be in a blissful sunny sleep. There was a big picture poster nearby, of a white tiger no longer with the sanctuary (ie. it had passed away), who had no upper lip and teeth so bad it was verging on humourous, even though there was nothing funny about it at the same time, if you know what I mean. I found it terribly shocking and very saddening, that I didn't let myself take a photo out of respect. Before our visit to BCR, I thought that white tigers 'just happened', but now I know the real (sad) story.

Nearby, was an example of the small cage big cats in roadside zoos were kept in. The cage was so small, it would've been almost impossible for the cat to turn around in. Next to the example of that cage, was a human equivalent cage example to help give this serious problem some perspective. She seemed to cut this subject short when she noticed me tearing up (I get upset so easily when I hear terrible stories towards animals or people. I've gone through so many tissues writing this particular journal entry alone! I've refrained from littering this post with sad face icons though.) Yara also spoke a lot about the laws (or lack of, more like it) regarding big cats. I never excelled at Legal Studies at school, and decades later, still didn't fare much better in taking in the legislation Yara was talking about. One thing that has stuck in my mind to this day though, is that Yara said that there's no rules against owning big cats in the United States. She also said that if you lived in suburbia, owned a tiger, and it escaped, that you weren't under any obligation to report it to authorities or your neighbours?! I thought the former was unusual, but I definitely thought the later was totally wrong - how could that sort of thing be allowed?! I'm pretty sure any person would want to know if their neighbour's tiger escaped, for their own protection!! In Australia, you have to have a license for any pet that's not your everyday run-of-the-mill cat, dog, fish or bird. I find it hard to believe that the States is any different.

Nest and I told Yara that we were really excited about seeing a black panther She told us that the big black cats we were referring to, were actually called black leopards. When we got to Saber and Jumanji's enclosures, and looked at them as closely as we could, we saw that their fur was actually a very dark chocolate brown, and that you could see their black spots through it. When the sun shone on their coats, their spots became more obvious. This was the first time ever, that Nest and I were fortunate enough to be able to see a black leopard with our own eyes. Saber and Jumanji were super handsome cats - they had beautiful long tails, big paws, broad noses I wished I could rub (cats' noses are so cute! ), and lazy expressions on their faces, which I'm sure could change in a split second if the situation warranted it.

Another cat Nest and I had never seen before, was an ocelot. BCR's ocelot was eighteen years old and called Amazing Grace ("Gracie" for short.) Gracie was rescued from an exotic pet breeder. The tops of her ears were a bit ragged, as the cage she was kept in at the breeder's, was stacked in right next to other cages containing various cats, who used to attack poor Gracie through the bars. Despite this unfortunate start to life, Gracie had a wonderful personality which was to become more apparent during the Keeper Tour. When Nest and I first met Gracie (from three feet away - there was never any personal interaction), she was making what sounded like a scary grumbling noise, but Yara assured us it was Gracie's happy purr. We had never heard anything like it before.

Other cats we saw during the Photo Tour, were leopards and a lioness (the lioness was called Nikita, and rescued from a drug house, where she was found chained up.)

There were also snow leopards on property, but we never got to see them, as they were extremely shy and nervous as a result of being shot at with paintball guns by people outside the sanctuary, and could only drink bottled water (as opposed to tap water), due to their delicate digestive systems. At the time of our visit, BCR were in the process of putting up 7000 feet of extra fencing around the property to prevent this sort of crime from happening again. Like I mentioned earlier, BCR is a not-for-profit organisation, so they were relying heavily on donations to assist them in completing this fencing project.

One animal we never expected to see in a sanctuary for big cats, was a binturong. Before this trip, Nest and I had never heard of binturongs before, and first came across one during our visit to Taronga Zoo in Sydney during the first leg of our trip. Binturongs are native to some Asian countries, and are often referred to as bear cats, as that's how some people see them. BCR's binturong was nineteen years old and called Banjo. He smelt like popcorn, and had a fondness for Fig Newtons (a type of biscuit) and marshmallows! Binturong's are known for their climbing prowess, but sadly, Banjo has never picked up this skill for some reason or another. I do recall asking if he could be taught to climb, but the short answer was no. Banjo is the sanctuary founder's Dad's favourite animal at BCR, so he built Banjo an especially large enclosure. (The founder's Dad built the majority of the enclosures at BCR.)

We finished our Photo Tour an hour earlier than expected. As Nest was happy with the photos he had taken (despite the annoying wire bars, which we couldn't do anything about), we didn't ask to be taken around again. As we were the only ones on the tour, we had the luxury of spending as much time with each cat as we wanted on the initial approach, so didn't have to worry about being rushed due to the impatience of others. We didn't mind that we had paid for two hours and only got one, as all the money went towards the wellbeing of the cats. Nest and I were more than happy to return to the tour waiting area and relax until it was time for our next tour.

Nest and I had one-and-a-half hours until it was time for our Keeper Tour. BCR doesn't have a cafe, so that one-and-a-half hours would've been ample time for us to walk up the road and get some lunch at McDonald's, the nearest eatery to the cafe, then walk back again. That didn't happen though, as somebody (ie. Nest) was too lazy to. I remembered seeing some mixed nuts for sale in the gift store, so I went in to get a packet to share, which surprisingly was quite filling, and grabbed some sodas from the vending machine. We gave the nuts we didn't like, to Andrew, who was more than happy to hoover them up.

The time surprisingly flew by, and it was 2pm before we knew it - time for our Keeper Tour! Our guide was Angie - she was very entertaining, humourous and knowledgeable. There were two other couples on this tour with us, and they turned out to be really nice, so Nest and I were ok with not being the only ones on board like we were fortunate enough to be on the previous tour.

We started out the back gathered around a table, making enrichment treats for the cats. Enrichment treats in question, were:

· Big paper bags sprayed with spice water and filled with either red meat or chicken, which were then sprinkled with spice (we had a number of spices to choose from, but Angie mentioned that cinnamon was a favourite among the cats - who would've guessed?!), and fresh catnip (loads had been donated by a local company);
· Small paper bags filled with catnip and spices and sprayed with spice water (when I scrunched a bag filled with cinnamon, it pooffed out all over me, causing everyone to laugh);
· Some of the small paper bags were simply scrunched into balls and sprayed with spice water or perfume such as a fruity raspberry scent, or Ralph Lauren's 'Romance'; and,
· Toilet roll tubes scrunched at both ends after being filled with fresh herbs (grown on property), spices, and sprayed with spice water.

Once we had used up all the materials, Angie loaded the guys up with stuff to carry. The old man carried the basket of smelly enrichment toys, the younger man carried the bucket of feline ice goodies (bloodsicles, chicken necks in frozen water, pureed sardine iceblocks, and day old chicks frozen in iceblocks with their feet sticking out for the cats to use as 'handles' - Nest and I declined taking a photo like the others were, as as much as I love cats, and understand how they have to eat certain foods, I don't like being able to identify said foods so clearly), and Nest carried the bucket of meat. As we entered the main part of the sanctuary, we were suddenly accompanied by a beautiful tabby cat called Jack. Jack made himself Nest's new best friend due to the bucket of meat Nest was carrying. Angie told Nest not to put the bucket down, as Jack would eat the meat! Despite not carrying anything edible, Jack was still really friendly and allowed me to fuss over him.

We started off with feeding Raindance the bobcat, who was waiting patiently with one of her paws waiting on the fence. She was fed some bits of red meat from Nest's bucket, and surprisingly didn't fuss at Jack, who was hovering nearby, hoping to hoover up any neglected bits of food that fell by the way-side. To check that Raindance's tummy and paws were all ok, Angie gave her some easy commands to follow, which got her to stand-up in front of the fence. She had surprisingly big paws for a cat of her size.

While Raindance was tolerant of Jack, the black leopards weren't, with one of them charging at the wiring and roaring when Jack ventured too close Poor Jack was off like a shot after that little episode, but soon reappeared a little later on ... at a distance

Gracie the ocelot was excited at more company, and was dashing hurriedly up and down the front of her enclosure, making her scary 'happy' noise Gracie's enrichment for the day, was having some of Ralph Lauren's 'Romance' sprayed at her level, along the front of her enclosure. She went absolutely nuts over the scent, and was rubbing herself all over it. It was during this display of approval, that I noticed just how pretty her fur was, especially the patterns on her tummy.

Tonga was given a wrapped loo roll containing treats, and some nearby bobcats were given chick iceblocks. Those bobcats were a bit cheeky, actually, as they seemed to be taunting the lioness next door, who was minding her own business relaxing ... lets just say that 'words' were exchanged between neighbours

The handsome Shere Khan and little China Doll were up next to visit. They were fed some bits of red meat, and it was probably the only time that day that Shere Khan got some, as a particular little girl was a bit of a pig when it came to red meat during the Feeding Tour later on that day. Angie didn't get Shere Khan to stand up to check his paws or tummy, as he's so big she was worried that the extra exertion may hurt him. Angie said that when she does see him leaping about on his own accord, that he's really majestic.

As we were making our way to the cougars, we heard the very loud call of a lion. We eventually spotted him in a non-public area across a lake on the property. I've heard from wildlife documentaries, that a lion's roar can travel for kilometres, but when you experience it from a distance yourself, it's as if you're discovering this information for the very first time - it's so amazing!

The cougars were beautiful and very healthy looking, thanks to all the love, care and attention lavished on them at BCR. Their treats for the day were a variety of icy treats, and some red meat. At one stage, Nest and I heard a meeow behind us. We turned around, thinking it was Jack the tabby, and were shocked to see a cougar waiting in its nearby cat-a-tat, to be given a enrichment treat. Angie told us that cougars are the biggest cat that can meeow like a domestic house cat. It was so unusual hearing such a little meeow coming out of such a big cat!! I'm pretty sure they can make big scary noises at the same time though!

Banjo wasn't left out of this tour, with Angie stopping by to feed him some of his favourite Fig Newtons Angie repeated the information Yara had told us, except to expand that when she goes to the cinema and smells popcorn, she immediately thinks of Banjo

We stopped by some more tigers, one of who was more interested in a passing golf cart than us, and another who got told off for being too aggressive The one who was told off, was magnificently tall when standing up for paw and tummy inspections.

After the temperamental tigers, we stopped by a particularly gorgeous bobcat's enclosure. Her name was Little Feather, and she came to the sanctuary from a game farm at just five days old. At the time of our visit, she was seventeen years old, and small for her age. The portrait that Nest took of her, is one of my favourite shots of the trip (after the one I took of him and Princess Aurora at Cinderella's Royal Table )

There were two new cats we saw on this tour, that we didn't see on the Photo Tour. The first cat in question, was the tiny little seventeen year old Geoffroy Cat called Nico. She came to the sanctuary taped in a box, and was smaller than your domestic pet cat. I had never heard of Geoffroy Cats before, and thought she was ever so cute and adorable. Having said that, she was also super feisty and had long razor sharp claws that clung onto the wooden meat feeding stick as if the stick itself was edible. It was amazing to see just how quickly Nico whipped the bits of red meat off the stick - it was almost faster than the eye could see. Angie mentioned that she'd prefer to be stuck in a cage with Shere Khan the 800 pound tiger, than stuck in a cage with little Nico, who would rip any other living thing to shreds (does that mean Shere Khan wouldn't? ) Out of all the cats at BCR, little Nico was my absolute favourite.

The other 'new' cat we saw, was a ten year old sand cat called Canyon. His parents were Desert Storm 'refugees' who found salvation in America thanks to the Saudi government's attempt to save the species, after it was found that the war was having a detrimental effect on the cats' environment, as well as being used as target practice by soldiers. Canyon was another small breed of cat, but more thick-set than Nico's breed. We learnt that his head had more of a flatness to it compared to the Geoffroy Cats' little round head, so as to help it dissipate the desert heat where it's a native of. As Angie approached the front of Canyon's enclosure, Canyon stood his ground and began imitating the noise of a spitting cobra - it was quite amazing. Angie explained to us that the sand cat deployed this imitation as a defense mechanism for when it's attacked by a larger predator, hoping to make it have second thoughts of attacking.

It wasn't until Angie came to feeding Servie the serval, did we get a total understanding of why it was important that us inexperienced cat handlers stay at least three feet away from the front of the enclosures at all times. Servie stood up on her hind legs during a tummy inspection, and shot her front paws through the wiring, waving them madly about in an attempt to get at the meat Angie was preparing for her. After that display, I can now totally understand how they're able to catch so many birds in just one jump - if you weren't expecting such an action, it would be easy to get taken unawares and not be prepared to do anything about it in time.

When we got to Sundari the leopard's enclosure, all you could see of her, was the glow of her eyes from the back of the dark den she was resting in. I couldn't see her at first, but once Nest got me looking in the right direction, the green glow of eyes piercing out from the inky blackness of the den, was quite spooky. Angie had just finished balancing an enrichment treat in the bars of the enclosure, when Sundari charged out of her den and proceeded to delicately dissect the bag without it causing it to drop, to get the chicken out to eat. The speed of her short charge was quite unexpected and very surprising. Afterwards, Angie got us to notice how Sundari was sizing us all up, in an attempt to single the weakest one out to pay special attention to, like she would do to herds of prey in the wild.

When Angie balanced an enrichment treat in the bars of another leopard's enclosure, he just yanked it impatiently from the bars and bit the bottom out straight away to get to the chicken quickly. This particular leopard had a beautiful burnt auburn coloured coat, and unusual black eyes - I had never seen anything like it before. Unfortunately, I cannot remember any details about this particular cat - I so wish I could.

Two other cats I remember seeing, but unfortunately cannot remember any details about either, was the very striking caracal, and the slightly scary looking Canadian lynx.

Out of all the tours we participated in today, the Keeper Tour was most certainly my favourite.

Once the Keeper Tour had finished, Nest and I had half-an-hour until our one hour Feeding Tour began. Thank goodness I knew in advance that the staff in the gift store would be helping out with the feeding, which meant the store would be closed shortly for the remainder of the day, so I went in to collect my bag of goodies.

Jennifer was our guide for the Feeding Tour, with Angie helping out on the sidelines. There were about twenty people taking part in this tour, making it the most crowded of the day - so much so, that it was difficult to see at times. Thank goodness Nest and I had been fortunate enough to have been able to partake in the previous two tours, where we had perfect views, so not being able to see clearly at times during this tour, wasn't as stressful as it could've been.

All the cats are fed Monday to Saturday, and fasted on Sunday, to simulate the fact that they don't eat everyday in the wild. If any of the cats do not eat anything on the Monday, then the keepers can tell that that particular cat must be ill.

Due to the short length of this tour, we didn't go around seeing all the cats being fed - we just saw a few chosen ones. I was aware of a lot of other keepers going around in the background, feeding the cats that weren't included in the Feeding Tour. The first chosen ones we saw being fed, were Shere Khan and China Doll. Their food intake is 22lbs/10kg a day, and consists of chicken, beef, and rolls of organ meat and vitamins (the rolls remind me of rolls of devon.) While the rolls are essential for the cats' health, they're not all that fond of it, and Jennifer said that it's the equivalent of humans avoiding brussel sprouts. Of course, this comparison only works if you're not a fan of brussel sprouts (which I'm not.) Shere Khan and China Doll's food was placed on a couple of different slabs, to allow them to feed at the same time without arguing. Surprisingly though, Shere Khan let China Doll go around and eat all the red meat, before approaching the slabs himself.

Tonga was the next cat on the feeding itinerary. Angie carefully threw rolled up balls of the organ/vitamin roll onto his feeding slab, as well as some chicken drumsticks, and Tonga gingerly approached. He seemed very wary, and I put it down to the big crowd of people standing nearby, watching him. As I was looking at Tonga through just one lot of wiring this time, instead of two lots of wiring like in the previous tours, I particularly noticed just how beautiful his glowing white coat was - it was so clean and soft looking!

It got dark really fast during this tour. It was fantastic being in the sanctuary at night, surrounded by big cats and noises I'm not accustomed to. It made me wish that our visit had coincided with BCR's once monthly night tour - that must be such an awesome experience, especially as cats become most active at night. Imagine seeing all these glowing eyes around you! Scary! The last cats we saw being fed close-up, was a rather large bobcat, and Enya the puma.

The day I had been looking forward to for five years, was suddenly over - the day had gone so quickly! In a way it was a weird feeling, but in another way, I had an excited sense of achievement about myself. Keith was waiting out the front to drive us back to the Pop Century Resort once we had emerged from the sanctuary.

We got back to the Pop Century Resort at around 8pm. We went straight to Everything Pop to pick up some dinner, as it was dinnertime, and we hadn't had a proper meal since breakfast. Nest had parmigiana chicken followed by a slice of tie dye cheesecake, and I was surprisingly piggier, and had a chilli dog with cheese sauce, fries with cheese sauce, a slice of tie dye cheesecake, and a big bottle of Coke. And guess what? It was so yummy, so yummy! And if all that wasn't enough, we shared a small cheese pizza between us also (just look at the pizza as our missed lunch ) It was the perfect feast to top our perfect day

Nest and I went to sleep straight after dinner, with Christmas cartoons playing softly in the background, and the knowledge of another big day ahead when we woke up.

Next entry: Keys to the Kingdom Tour, Magic Kingdom

[Cam22]

The Big Cat Rescue definitely looks like a place I need to venture out of the Disney bubble to see.

[Big Sister]

Originally Posted by Cam22

The Big Cat Rescue definitely looks like a place I need to venture out of the Disney bubble to see.

It is totally worth the time, effort and money!

[chezp]

Wow - what an amazing day! I'd never heard of this place before reading your report, so thanks for sharing details of them with us.

[Colexis Mom]

I never knew someplace like that existed down there! Very cool and amazing pictures!

[Big Sister]

Originally Posted by chezp

Wow - what an amazing day! I'd never heard of this place before reading your report, so thanks for sharing details of them with us.

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

I never knew someplace like that existed down there! Very cool and amazing pictures!

Yes, we had an awesome day - it was a five year dream come true for me! (Nest didn't know it was his dream, either, until I told him that we were going no matter what )

I've only seen the sanctuary mentioned in one guidebook (Frommer's) - I once stood in the travel section of our local bookstore, looking through all the other guidebooks for a mention of it, but there was none

Very glad to hear you enjoyed reading the report and looking at the pictures

[pamcarey]

I finally got caught up on your TR. I'd never heard about BCR before, and it looks like someplace that I'd love to visit. I hope you get a chance to finish your TR sometime.

[Big Sister]

**Hi everyone - I've just added the re-sized photos, and included two new ones (the souvenir ride photos)! Thanks for your patience!**

DAY 20: Sunday, 28 November 2010

Keys to the Kingdom Tour & another Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party

Today we got up at 6.30am to make sure we wouldn’t be late for our 9.30am Keys to the Kingdom Tour. We arrived at the Magic Kingdom at 8.30am, which didn’t open until 9am. Nest and I waited out the front along with everyone else who was there, enjoying the lovely sunny weather and taking in the beautiful Christmas decorations adorning the entrance to the park.

As 9am fast-approached, we got to see our first ever Opening Ceremony, which took place on the railway station platform up above. I was thrilled when the Cast Members began singing Casey Junior (one of my favourite Disney songs) as Mickey and friends (Pluto, Donald, Daisy, Chip ‘n Dale, Aladdin, Princess Jasmine, and the Family of the Day) arrived on the train. After all the singing and dancing had taken place, we all counted down the seconds left until 9am. The moment the gates opened, people poured in, eager to start one of thousands of individual magical journeys that would take place there that day.

In an effort to get to the park on time this morning, Nest and I hadn’t stopped to get breakfast before-hand. So the first port of call for us on entering the Magic Kingdom, was to have breakfast. We found a wonderful choice on offer at the Main Street Bakery. We both had turkey, Swiss cheese, lettuce and tomato sandwiches, which were so thick, I could barely get my mouth around it and was worried I was going to get lockjaw! I loved the generosity of the person who put the turkey on so thickly – at my work, you’re lucky to get the turkey put on two slices thick, and can barely taste it as a result. You would think that such a big sandwich would be enough food to get us started, but we couldn’t resist the crumb cake any longer, and shared a massive slab of it between the two of us. It turned out to be so delicious, that I wish we had started eating it that first time we saw it at Universal, instead of from today. Well at least we discovered it eventually! (At the time of writing this entry, four years later, I have only recently gotten around to hunting down the recipe. I hope it doesn’t take me another four years to get around to actually making it!) Beverage-wise, Nest had chocolate milk, and I stuck with plain old water (it was a bit too early for Coke, I thought.)

Straight after breakfast, we signed in for our Keys to the Kingdom tour at Guest Relations inside City Hall. At the time of signing in, we were required to choose what we wanted for lunch (very hard to do on a full stomach), and picked up a complimentary bottle of water. Back outside, we met up with our tour guide, David from Georgia. David turned out to be a wonderful tour guide – very knowledgeable with a great sense of humour. Before setting off on our journey of discovery, David handed out headsets. Nest must’ve been overwhelmed with excitement, as I had to help him put on his headset, and I remember us both laughing as I pulled his ear through the earpiece.

Once everyone had put on their headsets and ensured they were working, the group set off. David took us down a side street on Main Street, and sat us down in the shade at these little tables I hadn’t noticed before. Here, he talked about the Disney motto and other things in general. He told us that if a bag is found abandoned in any of the Disney parks, that they have sniffer dogs to check for bombs and other bad things. Disney also has a dedicated team of sniffer dogs to check for bed bugs. I remember answering a lot of questions he put to the group, but unfortunately cannot remember what they were, as my notes aren’t as detailed as I would like them to be.

From Main Street, we headed to Adventureland, where we stopped for a comfort break and refreshments in the form of pineapple Dole Whips from Aloha Isle, before going on a guided tour of the Jungle Cruise. During our cruise, we learnt some interesting facts:

· That the man getting chased by the rhino, is the same as the man with the dog just outside the living graveyard inside the Haunted Mansion, just with different clothes on;
· The design for the temple near the end of the cruise, is the same design as the ones found in the Animal Kingdom and anywhere else temples are used in the Disney parks;
· There’s a hidden Mickey made out of metal studs on a crashed plane partially hidden in the jungle;
· The other hidden Mickey we were told about, was more audio than visual. Along one of the banks we cruise by, are a line of headhunters. If you listen carefully as you float by, you hear one of them say very quickly, “I like disco!”

On disembarking the Jungle Cruise, we walked passed the Enchanted Tiki Room, where David pointed out that the thatch used on the roof is actually aluminium painted to look like real thatch.

At this point of the tour, we were taken to a backstage area (no photography allowed ) We got to see the huge sheds the Christmas floats and Spectro Magic floats were stored in. From memory, the floats were so closely packed together, that I wondered if only a handful of skilled float drivers were responsible for storing them like this at the end of each parade, to minimize damage. I could only begin to imagine the hive of activity this area must turn into each afternoon and evening, right before a parade is due to begin. It must be so exciting!

Around the back of Splash Mountain, we got to see the big water processing plant. Chlorine is added to the water of Splash Mountain to sterilize it and therefore make it safe for riders when they get splashed. Where-as if you fell into the water on the Jungle Cruise, you’d have to get a tetanus jab, as chlorine isn’t used there, only dye to colour the water and disguise the boat guide tracks. If anything falls into the water during a Jungle Cruise, it will end up in the big reservoir at the water processing plant. Unfortunately, I cannot recall what happens to this lost property when it’s retrieved from the reservoir. I don’t suppose the salvaged items would be good for anything after being submerged in water for so long. Another service we saw backstage, was the big rubbish disposal vacuum system. It was very noisy.

Back in the Magic Kingdom, we were walking past the Frontier Trading Post, when David pointed out the white audio-animatronic birds on the roof. I was absolutely amazed at how realistic they looked … until I realized he was actually joking, and that the birds were real!

We headed on to the Colombia Harbour House in Liberty Square for a half-hour lunch break. The restaurant had a sailing theme, and I particularly liked the wallpaper. We were led upstairs to a reserved area, and found our places which were marked by little personalized name cards. Concealed inside these little cards, was a Key to the Kingdom pin. I surprisingly didn’t notice this, until it was pointed out to us. We were having lunch with another tour group, and Caroline, the other tour guide, joked that David had sat up all night making them out of paperclips for us.

Nest and I had the best seats, situated in the corner by a window looking out over the square, during which time a brass band passed by. When I had chosen what I wanted for lunch right after breakfast that morning, I chose the lightest sounding dish available, which was the Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch consisting of carrot and broccoli stalk matchsticks with tomato and hummus on multigrain bread, accompanied by a packet of crisps and a Coke. When it actually came time to eating lunch, I had my appetite back and didn’t feel like my ‘light’ meal anymore, and eyed Nest’s much more substantial choice of chicken nuggets with fries and apple juice with great envy Nest and I enjoyed our dining experience at the Colombia Harbour House so much, that we planned on returning during our own time in the days we had left at WDW.

After lunch, I was thrilled to find we were going to the Haunted Mansion (I had read that some Keys to the Kingdom tours don’t include the Haunted Mansion, and as I absolutely love this attraction, I was super hoping we’d get on a version of the tour which included it.)

We entered through a special door, the corridor of which was dimly lit by lights in the form of white torch flames, the supports of which were brass hands. As we shuffled down the atmospheric corridor, Nest pointed out a “Servants Quarters” sign on one of the staff only doors. I laughed and said I needed one of those for my door at home (whenever my brothers need help (eg. Research/money loan/transport to doctors) or want something (eg. Their washing done/a sandwich made/the phone answered), I’m usually always the one to make it happen, hence why Nest pointed out the sign in the first place )

Before we emerged from the secret corridor, David told us a few things to be on the lookout for. One was a hidden Donald in a chair near a suit of armour, and the other was a hidden Mickey made from two small bowls and one large bowl that’s on the large dining table in the ballroom. David told us that when the Decorating Team come in to set the room up for the attraction’s joint Halloween/Christmas celebration, they remove this particular hidden Mickey, but the Cast Members who work at the attraction year round, always put it back.

David also said there is supposed to be two dolls, Jack and Sally from Nightmare before Christmas, hidden somewhere in the last room the Doom Buggy takes you through. Nest and I travelled through the Haunted Mansion many many times during the remainder of our time at WDW, but never once did we spot Jack and Sally. As I write this belated entry four years later, I still wonder whether this was another of David’s jokes. On hindsight, I should’ve asked one of the Cast Members on duty as to whether this was true or not.

Another thing David told us, was that the character in the floating crystal ball in the séance room, is made up of three women. One woman was used for the face, the daughter of the face person was used for the eyes, and another woman famous for doing the voices of a number of Disney villains, was used for the voice. Using these attributes from three different women was done during one of the attraction’s refurbishments. David pointed out that the Imagineers tried to sync the eyes properly, but weren’t able to get it as exact as they would’ve liked. I can’t remember seeing anything wrong with the eyes when we passed by this section of the attraction.

As we were about to set off in our respective Doom Buggies, the ride suddenly halted, and an announcement came over the loud speakers. David told us that when someone gets out of a Doom Buggy when they’re not meant to, or something is dropped over the edge, pressure plates on the ground automatically halt the ride. Depending on the message that comes over the loud speaker, depends on what the situation is.

When our journey through the Haunted Mansion had sadly come to an end, David walked us slowly by the pet graveyard outside. Among the many headstones erected in memory of beloved creatures, was one of Mr. Toad from the Wind in the Willows. David said that headstone was there to commemorate Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, the attraction that was originally in the spot where the Haunted Mansion is now.

Walking away from the Haunted Mansion and back towards the Colombia Harbour House, David pointed out a hidden Mickey set in the ground – a water drain cover with two horse shoe imprints in the cement. Then as we walked by a building with two lanterns in the windows, David told us briefly about the “One if by land, two if by sea” signal given preceding a particular battle.

When I was a lot younger, the Disney character I most wanted to be in a parade, was Tinkerbell, so I was super excited to hear David tell us what was required to be the Tinkerbell that flies from the castle during the nightly fireworks spectacular. First up, you need to be under both 5 feet and 90lbs, and not be afraid of heights. That’s me out on all three counts! There’s a full time, part time, and seasonal Tinkerbell. To fly in the fireworks, she arrives two hours early and goes to the uppermost room of the castle, which measures 6ft x 6ft and only fits 4 people, to get prepared and wired up. There’s a countdown clock in the room to let them all know when she’s due to fly out. When it’s time, two technicians push her just hard enough to reach the other side. David’s been up there once, and only had a small circle to look through, and he loved seeing the crowd erupt with excitement when Tinkerbell appeared. She lands on a roof opposite the castle, out the back of Tomorrowland Terrace, where two technicians un-strap her. She stays a further hour, and gets paid eight hours work plus hazard pay.

Still on the subject of fireworks, David said that each show costs US$32,000! When we thought back to Keith telling us how they sell enough popcorn each night to cover the cost of the fireworks, it eventually dawned on Nest and myself that that is an unbelievable amount of popcorn that is consumed nightly!

The Keys to the Kingdom tour went for five hours, finishing at 2.30pm. When we were saying our goodbyes, one of the people in our group asked David if he had heard about a new hidden Mickey recently discovered in the park. David said he hadn’t, but seemed genuinely interested in finding out more. He laughed and laughed when it was revealed that somebody had slapped a Mickey Mouse sticker on the back of his vest!

We left the Magic Kingdom at that point, and caught the Admiral Joe Fowler ferry to the Transportation and Ticket Centre, then transferred to a bus for Nest’s very first visit to the Animal Kingdom!

As we had a little under three hours till the Animal Kingdom closed, I was determined to get Nest to experience as many top attractions as crowds would allow. Top-most in my mind, was Expedition Everest, but to get there, we had to pass through DinoLand USA, so I thought that since we were in the area, we definitely had to experience Dinosaur, a favourite of mine since my first (and previous) visit to ‘The World’ back in 2005. We were excited to see that a wait time of just five minutes was posted, and shot in, Nest being given a red card David had mentioned during our tour, to measure time spent in the queue. Unfortunately, Nest’s first experience wasn’t as awesome as my first experience of Dinosaur, as it kept on stopping and starting throughout, which ruined the fast flow of things and didn’t make the ride seem as scary as if it had been running smoothly. Throughout the lead-up to this trip, I had been telling Nest how scary the ride had been, and he had an unimpressed “Is that all?!” look on his face in the souvenir photo.

From DinoLand USA, we made our way over to Asia, where Expedition Everest is located. I couldn’t believe the wait time was only five minutes, compared the hour plus time I had to wait when I had ridden it solo. How lucky was Nest with the waiting times during his first visit to the Animal Kingdom?! Nest was given another timing card on entering the attraction, and we noticed that the wait time was changed to 10 minutes when he handed it in. We didn’t have much time at all to take in the interesting and detailed queue surroundings this time around, but I did notice the tiny mammal tracks on paper, that I had missed the first time around. We both thought the ride was awesome – I’m so glad Nest was impressed and thought the whole experience was great – it made me so happy!

Nest loves little fairground attractions, so we headed back to DinoLand USA, where we played the Whack-A-Packycephalosaur and Mammoth Marathon. The Whack-A-Packycephalosaur is like Whack-A-Mole, therefore pretty self-explanatory.

With Mammoth Marathon, you had to gently roll balls up a slope, and depending on which hole your ball went down, depended on how fast your dinosaur moved along the top of the race track. Nest won at both games, and became the proud owner of a blue dinosaur and an orange turtle.

Nest played Fossil Fueler next, a water squirting game, with a heap of little kids. While he did win it, the prize was given to one of the little kids. Nest seemed disappointed at this decision, but at the time, understood the reasoning behind it.

Nearby these fairground attractions, was a photo opportunity involving a car and some dinosaurs – I got a hilarious photo of Nest posing in it.

As we were near Primeval Whirl, the Animal Kingdom’s crazy mouse coaster, we thought we would give it a go, seeing as time was getting on. Due to our size, we were hoping to get a vehicle to ourselves, but we ended up sharing with an enthusiastic kid – the more, the merrier! (I got the impression he had been riding it multiple times, as his Dad approached the queue and told him that this was definitely the last time ... somehow I don’t think this was the first time this conversation had taken place that day!) With Nest and I jammed in one side of the ride vehicle (no danger of us falling out then!), and the enthusiastic kid in the other side, off we went on our crazy adventure. I absolutely loved the big dips, especially when the seat was spinning around and going backwards! Woo hoo!

As we hadn’t eaten since lunch at the Colombia Harbour House, we went to Restaurantosaurus for an early dinner. I had a super yummy Dig Site salad (Romaine lettuce, beef chili, tortilla chips, corn relish and cheddar cheese), and a Coke.

Nest had a vege sub (grilled veges, mushrooms, onions, provolone cheese) and sweet potato fries. As Nest had to wait ten minutes for his meal to be ready, they gave him a free chocolate cheesecake and a diet Coke as compensation.

We really enjoyed our meal in Restaurantosaurus (though Nest didn’t like the eggplant in his vege sub) – night had set in, the crowds had dissipated, and it was lovely and quiet. We absolutely loved the dinosaur theming, right down to the dinosaur margins around the light shades, and the photos lining the walls. Nest found a hidden Mickey on the bottom of a pair of shoes hanging from the rafters high above. Due to the quietness, we had no trouble hearing the restaurant’s soundtrack, and the song called, “I’m a little dinosaur”, caught both our attention. Then, due to the theme, I got the “Dino Stomp” song from Play School stuck in my head, even though it wasn’t played.

We finished our early dinner roughly twenty minutes after park closing time (we didn’t realize the late hour, and hoped we hadn’t been holding any cast members up – time had been flying by so quickly!) As we were leaving the Animal Kingdom, we came across a seemingly impromptu Christmas float with a seasonally dressed Minnie, Goofy and Pluto waving goodbye to all the park guests.

We caught the bus to the Pop Century Resort for Nest to pick up his video camera from our room, and then we caught another bus to the Magic Kingdom for that night’s Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. It was 8pm by this stage.

On arriving at the Magic Kingdom, we headed straight to Space Mountain. We only had to endure a 20 minute wait. As I was seated in the very back of the vehicle this time, I seemed to lift out of my seat more as we careened at great speed around the track in the dark. Nest’s night vision video of the experience didn’t work as planned. He was so disappointed, but at least he had tried.

To cheer Nest up, we went on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin next, where he became a Galactic Hero, while due to my poor aim, I was relegated to Planetary Pilot again – LOL! Saving the galaxy is hard work, so we stopped by Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café afterwards, for free cookies and hot chocolate.

Continuing on, we came to Autopia. I drove behind Nest this time … at a great distance, as I momentarily forgot how to drive the car once it was my turn to take off! I couldn’t catch up, as the cars don’t go all that fast. Despite all this, Nest kept on turning around to wave.

We headed for the Mad Tea Party next, and almost went past, as the queue was so long. We decided to give it a go none-the-less, and were surprised when it was our turn in the second intake! I’m so glad we had bothered to stop after all, and spun the cup as fast as we could in celebration.

Exhilarated from all the spinning, we then decided to try our luck in spotting the Jack and Sally dolls over in the Haunted Mansion, but it had broken down, and stayed that way all night.

To mask our disappointment, we headed on over to Big Thunder Mountain in Frontierland. We got to ride the left hand side vehicles for the first time, and it seemed noticeably better than the right side, as the route seemed longer and had more dips.

Moving onto Adventureland, we set sail with the Pirates of the Caribbean. Loved going through the curtain of wavy mist with Davy Jones projected on it - very cooling on such a warm evening. Saw the pirate with the hairy legs made from real human hair (eww!) David had told us about, but couldn’t quite make out the groups of same mannequins dressed as men and women in different sections. We were going to continue on with our nautical adventures by sailing off into the night on the Jungle Cruise next, but it was closed.

We watched the fireworks from in-between It’s A Small World and Peter Pan’s Flight. The huge line of silver starbursts seemed super close – it was amazing! Nest bought us both a Christmas snowman necklace that changes colour, before we went for a ride on Prince Charming’s Regal Carrousel. I almost strained myself and got a major cramp in my leg, attempting to get up on my chosen horse!

We continued the magic of the night, by having a ride on Dumbo the Flying Elephant. I love the night views illuminated by colourful Christmas lights as we flew by them. Afterwards, we braved Snow White’s Scary Adventures in a “Dopey” cart.

Eventually we came to Toontown, where we stopped to get a pressed penny of baby Donald each, before riding Goofy’s Barnstormer three times in a row. Went into the giant barn nearby afterwards, where Nest bought an art kit on how to draw Mickey, and I bought some little knick-knacks.

The Magic Kingdom was nearing its bedtime, so we raced to Casey’s Corner and bought some corn dog nuggets with cheese sauce as recommended by David – they were so yummy! I also bought a Coke and a packet of Cracker Jack, as I had never had it before, let alone knew what it was, and as you know, it’s mentioned in the song, Casey Junior. It came with a free surprise, but unfortunately I cannot remember what that free surprise was – I think it was some kind of cardboard shape?! (For my own memory, Cracker Jack turned out to be caramel coated popcorn and peanuts.) Nest just wanted a Fanta.

Arriving back at the Pop Century Resort after a totally fun-filled day, it seemed a shame to ruin it by ending the day with doing the laundry. Besides, we were both much too tired to bother with such a mundane task. Instead, we watched an awesome episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Next entry: Lunch at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre Restaurant and the Holiday D-Lights Tour

[Grammy Grumpy]

So glad to have you back!!!!! Love hearing about your adventures with Nest!

[chezp]

Great to see you writing again. What a packed day you had - glad you enjoyed the Keys to the Kingdom Tour.