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| 1: Why we flew to Orlando, FL |
| "Amy and I are flying down to the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida for another Children's Pastors' Conference. This event starts just 2 weeks after the first event of the season in Anaheim." |
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| 2: Whew, we made it! |
| "Well, we arrived in Orlando rather late last night. The flight was... a little bumpy. We hit Downtown Disney for a very late bite to eat. It's about 25 minutes by bus from this resort here. |
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| 3: Trash Cans of Walt Disney World |
| "Here's a challenge for you. It's part of my on-the-fly series called "Trash Cans of Walt Disney World" (Patent Pending). Can you identify where these cans are located?" |
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| 4: Amy chills on the beach |
| "Anyway, Steve told me that this afternoon would be quite slow in the e-Zone since the main part of the conference hadn't started yet. He STRONGLY encouraged me to relax and enjoy my vacation this afternoon. Well, he only had to tell me twice!" |
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| 5: What is a "shildren"? |
| "I just learned this about Jeff Slaughter, thanks to the conference binder given to every attendee: he's written musicals for shildren!" |
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| 6: More Trash Cans of Walt Disney World |
| "How about a couple more "Trash Cans of Walt Disney World" (Patent Pending)? Here are some new ones you can guess. Try to identify both the park (or resort) and land where they are found. For bonus points, guess the attraction they are near!" |
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| 7: Lack of sleep is a bad thing |
| "I'm totally exhausted. Getting 6 hours or less of sleep each night of the conference is not a good idea. The eZone operates from 7:30 a.m. through 10:30 p.m. There are off-times during that range, but it's a lot of work to run." |
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| 8: Wow, look who we ran into! |
| "So the other day someone familiar looking spotted Amy in the restaurant area and asked her "did you go to Taylor?" It turns out it was Colleen (Kendrick) Kraft, sitting there with her husband Andy. Colleen's mom happens to be a Children's Pastor. Small world." |
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| 9: Final day of the conference |
| "Well, today is the final day of the conference. Things wrap up around noon. Last night the Exhibit Hall was taken down at around 11 p.m. The eZone is open today till about 12:30 p.m. and then this place will become a ghost town in regards to the world of children's ministry." |
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| 10: Tearing down the Exhibit Hall |
| "The conference is now officially over. Vendors have packed up and left. The Exhibit Hall is vacated. The eZone has been torn down. Workshop rooms are empty." |
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| 11: Disney-MGM no more? |
| "If you were to ask me, the name "Disney-MGM Studios" is on the way out. Look for the park to be officially renamed within the next year or so (dropping the "MGM" title completely due to rights issues and contracts)." |
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| 12: Our day in photos |
| "Yesterday, we spent the day at the Disney-MGM Studios, wrapping up the evening at the Magic Kingdom thanks to Extra Magic Hours provided to resort guests. Here are a couple of shots taken throughout the day..." |
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| 13: Celebrating our 4 year wedding anniversary |
| "We spent the early morning over at Epcot, celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary a little early by having lunch at one of the better restaurants there, and then concluded our time over in the Magic Kingdom." |
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| 14: United destroyed our luggage |
| "The flight itself was rather smooth, other than really warm climate control and stupid kids who need better parents. The big issue came when we picked up our luggage at O'Hare and found the handle pretty much ripped off one of our suitcases." |
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| 15: Let's talk about Ted |
| "Now that Amy and I have returned from Orlando, we can recap some of the stories and adventures that we didn't really have time to tell when we were live blogging from Florida." |
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| 16: All about Downtown Disney |
| "If you envision the Walt Disney World Resort as a large compass, our hotel was located in the southwest corner, while Downtown Disney was in the southeast corner. It took only about 15 minutes to get there via bus, which isn't too bad considering that WDW encompasses 47 square miles." |
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| 17: All about Animal Kingdom |
| "As I've written elsewhere, Animal Kingdom is a very beautiful park... with not much to do. It's packed with lush foliage, exotic animals, trees and water areas, and some interesting attractions." |
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| 18: Why McDonald's sponsors DinoLand U.S.A. |
| "This has been one of the criticisms of the park in that it doesn't fit the Disney model of providing escape to tourists. At the same time, the realism in design makes sense when you consider that there are real animals in the park! Personally, I don't mind the design approach." |
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| 19: Happiest Celebration on Earth |
| "After wrapping up a half day's worth of adventure at Disney's Animal Kingdom, we all headed over to Epcot. But before I get into the happenings there, I wanted to say a little bit about the big Disneyland 50th celebration."
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| 20: All about Epcot |
| ""Epcot" opened as "EPCOT Center" on October 1, 1982. It was only the 3rd Disney theme park to be built in the world and gave Walt Disney World the distinction of being the first Disney destination with 2 theme parks on the same property." |
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| 21: Why Epcot is all screwed up! |
| "Most kids think that Epcot is boring. Compared to the other Disney theme parks in Florida, I'd have to say it is. There aren't as many rides. Half the park is this international area designed for shopping and eating foreign foots. And it's big, resulting in a ton of walking for short legs. Growing up, however, I wasn't one of those kids." |
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| 22: What not to do to your boss! |
| "One thing that did not change was the free beverages. And as I learned on my last trip in 2001, where I was introduced to the beverage that has become a Disney theme park fan legend, Beverly is not a good drink." |
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| 23: Lapping World Showcase |
| "Into World Showcase we went, walking counterclockwise around World Showcase lagoon. According to the map, Canada is the first country you encounter when you head this direction." |
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| 24: IllumiNations |
| "Before you knew it, the time for IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth had arrived. And sure enough, we had a good view on the edge of the World Showcase Lagoon." |
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| 25: Entering the Magic Kingdom |
| " While I have full appreciation for Disneyland, and after seeing it last year and earlier this year in January, it's an awesome place. It's Walt's park. It has a ton of history. However, when I think of Disney theme parks that I can relate to, I
always think of the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. It's "my park," so to speak." |
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| 26: Castle Bling Bling |
| "Disney has a tendency to decorate their castles during major celebrations. I've already talked about how Disneyland decked out their castle in 50th anniversary decor, primarily gold accents." |
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| 27: "The Wildest Ride in the Wilderness!" |
| "After leaving Main Street U.S.A. and exploring the castle, Amy and I headed over to Frontierland. Our first stop? Not one of your typical rides. No, in this case, it was the Country Bear Jamboree!" |
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| 28: Celebrating America |
| "After experiencing the fun of Frontierland, Amy and I headed to Liberty Square. The Magic Kingdom is the only Disney park that has a land by this name." |
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| 29: More Trash Cans |
| "As we wrapped up the fun in Frontierland and Liberty Square, we headed to Fantasyland. At the Magic Kingdom, per the map, there is a small connecting path between Liberty Square and Fantasyland." |
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| 30: It's A Small World |
| "Amy and I got stuck on "it's a small world" while at the Magic Kingdom. And it wasn't a pleasant experience, to say the least. But I'm jumping ahead of myself a little bit. First, a little background..." |
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| 31: The TTA |
| "The TTA was originally known as the WEDway PeopleMover when the park first opened. It's basically a people mover track that runs all around Tomorrowland, giving you an aerial view of the attractions while providing a chance to rest your feet in the shade." |
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| 32: About the eZone |
| "Out of the many CPC events that I have worked, the location of the Orlando eZone was the best yet. It was located at the doors of the Exhibit Hall, meaning that people had to literally walk through the Internet cafe to enter the room packed with stuff to buy." |
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| 33: No Dew at Disney |
| "In case you didn't know, Coca-Cola is the official beverage of the Walt Disney World Resort.
This is why they have an entire sponsored "attraction" in Epcot. It's also why we couldn't find any Pepsi products during our stay." |
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| 34: Pepper Market |
| "At the Coronado Springs Resort & Conference Center, the main place to eat is the Pepper Market. Those of you who have ever eaten at Foodlife at Water Tower Place in Chicago will be familiar with the Pepper Market food court concept." |
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| 35: 3-Hour Lunch Tour |
| "Let's say, just hypothetically, that 2,000 or so conference attendees aren't provided lunch as part of their registration expenses. Without a car or other personal transportation, where do you think they go for lunch?" |
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| 36: Touring Coronado Springs |
| "When Amy and I traveled to Florida for a conference, I was curious what it would be like to stay at a more "traditional" Disney resort (translation: "comes with a bathroom that isn't a block away"). Thus we anticipated our experience at the Coronado Springs Resort." |
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| 37: All around Epcot and Stuff |
| "Hey, it's more Epcot goodness as we quickly take a look at a few sights from the second theme park to be built at Walt Disney World." |
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| 38: All about Disney-MGM Studios |
| "Most think that it was heavily pushed through by Michael Ei$ner as a response to Universal Studios Florida. In fact, the MGM Studios opened before Universal's version in Florida." |
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| 39: Final Day at Magic Kingdom |
| Then it was time to jump on the monorail from Epcot to the Ticket and Transportation Center... and then back to the Magic Kingdom to do a couple of fun things we had missed out on earlier in the week." |
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| 40: Answers: Trash Cans of Walt Disney World |
| "As we wrap-up this series, here's an index of all the Trash Cans of Walt Disney World, sorted by theme park. (There were 39 in all!) Thanks for reading!" |
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