Mickey and Friends

Floriday is warm! And busy! But WARM! I returned yesterday afternoon from a brief visit to Orlando, where I attended a conference about health promotion/marketing strategies for the Medicaid population. Wooo hooo! Actually, it was a GREAT conference and - coming from a person who doesn't so much care for conferences - that means it really was GREAT. Of course the bright FL sun helped, as did the close proximity (1/2 mile) of the Magic Kingdom and Epcot (1 mile). I stayed at Disney's Contemporary Resort. Quite the place! It is bordered by two different lakes (man-made, of course. Everything is man-made at Disney World.). One of the lakes is surrounded by 4 resorts, including the Contemporary, as well as the Magic Kingdom -- makes for a pretty spectacular view at night. The Monorail provides free rides to/from each resort (in fact, it goes right through the Contemporary), the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and whatever else makes up Disney World. Pretty cool!

I traveled alone, but ended up seeing two women from Stedfast -- the county-based health plan in Rochester -- whom I know from various work events. It was a pleasant surprise to see two familiar faces at the conference, and to be able to spend an evening at Epcot with them on Thursday. We had a great time!

The highlight of the trip, though, was seeing Aunt Mary and Cousin Matt (I still call him Matthew, but I'm working on it). It was so great spending Friday night with them! We ate dinner at Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary, where they were hassled by Goofy. He was the last of all the main Disney characters to visit our table, and I wasn't about to let them get away without being photographed....







Here's a shot of the Magic Kingdom from a restaurant on the 15th floor of the Contemporary. Notice the Runaway Train ride -- I think we rode that about 132 times when the Potts Family visited Disney back in the late '80s.



Mickey sent a cute hat back for Miles.



And here's Miles in his other hat, totally zonked out after a long day of welcoming mommy home (or going grocery shopping...).



More pictures of the trip to come. Stay tuned!