The Much-Anticipated Disney Post!

It's been a few months, but I still wanted to share about the incredibly wonderful Disney vacation Ross and I enjoyed in October.  I posted all the pictures on Facebook, but several of my friends and family just aren't into that.  So, I'm adding some of them here.  It's hard to capture in words and pictures how awesome it was, but I'll try!

Ross and I hadn't been on a bona-fide vacation since our honeymoon to Texas in 2010.  We'd had a few weekend getaways, but nothing that was really spectacular.  After having a few very emotional months (both my mother and his grandmother passed away in 2013) we really wanted to do something special for ourselves last year.  So, we planned to head to Disney during the week of Ross's birthday.  He'd been there before, but I never had.  As the date of our departure approached, I turned into one of those little kids in the commercials I grew up with.  "I CAN'T SLEEP!"  We took the advice of several friends and carefully planned out our meals in advance, but were willing to "play it by ear" for most everything else.  I just wanted to explore the Happiest Place on Earth!

The weather was beautiful.  Other than a few sprinkles that Tuesday morning, we experienced pleasantly hot temperatures, usually in the mid-eighties or above.  (What a shock when we came back home to 40 degrees and cloudy skies!)

Birthday boy!

From the moment we boarded the bus - er, Magical Express - to head to the park, I could hardly believe I was there.  It's true - the staff at Disney is wonderfully welcoming, kind, and friendly.  Nearly every employee acknowledged Ross's "birthday boy" pin and was sure to wish him a special day.  We stayed at the charmingly kitschy Pop Century Resort, which was decorated with cutouts and loads of memorabilia from the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's.  (We stayed in the 80's portion of the complex, like, totally.) 

Geek gathering grounds...

I'm the short one, in case you can't tell.

Our first stop was Hollywood Studios, where we saw the Muppets in 3-D, Ross created his own Star Wars-inspired droid, and I hopped on a speeder bike.  Thanks to my college friend Dave, who works pyrotechnics for the parks, we got front-row seating at the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular - and I ended up onstage as a volunteer!  That was very, very cool.  Ross's birthday meal was enjoyed at the supremely geeky Sci-Fi Diner, in which patrons are seated inside convertible cars facing a movie screen, drive-in style.  Clips from tacky, B-movies are shown, as well as advertisements from the 50's and 60's.  The meal was incredible.  I can say that about every scrap of food we ate in the parks!  Even the "fast food" was pretty special.  I ordered the salmon sandwich, which happened to be pretty much the size of my head, and Ross got a burger and the most delicious caramel apple pie milkshake I could ever imagine.  Plus dessert!  We were so full from that meal that we decided we'd probably be splitting our meals for the rest of the trip.  The meal plan is set up for you to do that, if you wish, and we figured it would be better to risk feeling a little hungry rather than being unable to move after eating!  (We certainly never went hungry, by the way!)

Nope. No Time Lords here...

Nothing like a man in a vest...

The next day, we headed to Epcot.  Ross achieved the rank of Junior Ranger when we visited Canada, and I fangirled all over myself when we saw that almost half of the gift shop in England consisted of Doctor Who merchandise.  We really enjoyed the street performers in France and Italy - mimes and musicians who were certainly more imaginative than what we Americans often assume!

LJS will never live up to this.

Reppin' the T.A.R.D.I.S.

Dave, Katie and their cute little girls!

When we had originally booked our reservations, we didn't realize that the International Food & Wine Festival was slated to occur when we were there.  I hadn't thought much of it, since Ross and I aren't big drinkers, but the more I read about it, the more interested I got.  Authentically-prepared traditional dishes from all over the world were being served in temporary booths, along with the regional foods offered in the permanent displays.  Over the course of the week, we tried fish 'n' chips and pale ale in a London pub, garlicky escargot and creamy-smooth caramel gelato in France, tempura and sushi in Japan, filet mignon with truffle sauce in Canada, kimchi dogs in Korea, mint tea and lamb shanks in Morocco, plus lots of other great food in the more traditionally American restaurants.  I would have to say that Epcot was my favorite place, since I love learning about history, other cultures, and - yep - ethnic foods.  We ended up there on three out of the five days we were in Disney!  The fireworks display on the lake, "Illuminations of Earth", was moving and very beautiful.  We ended up seeing that twice, as well; once on our own and once with Dave's lovely family.

Newlyweds!

She-Ra, eat your heart out.

On day three, we finally set off for the Magic Kingdom.  When you're surrounded by castles and fairy tale characters, it's easy to feel like a little kid, wanting nothing more than to put on your own crown and pretend to be a princess.  Which, as you can see in the picture, I did, of course.  Getting to meet one of my favorite princesses, Ariel, was a real treat.  We talked hair - what a surprise!  Something else that was very special, though, was that our newlywed friends Colleen and Adam, whose wedding we had to miss due to our vacation, were spending that day in Disney, and we were able to join them for lunch!  Talk about magical!  We decided on the relatively new "Be Our Guest" restaurant.  With its Beauty and the Beast themed décor and food, it was perfect for the French-speaking Colleen and myself.  And the boys?  They just wanted the roast beef sandwiches.  (Which, naturally, were fantastic.) 


He wears a fez now. 
Fezzes are cool.

Days for and five saw our return to Epcot, after a quick stop back at Hollywood Studios to ride the Toy Story arcade game (Ross kicked my butt when it came to high scores).  In Epcot, I was encouraged by the skywriting (see below) we saw over the park, though I know some people were probably irritated or offended.  I thought it was cool.  We finished our rounds at the Food & Wine Festival and met up with yet another old buddy - my former Starbucks co-worker, Jen! 


Unexpected and neat.  :-)

When we finally had to pack up our bags and say "bye-bye" to that famous mouse, I admit, I was ready to go home, but already thinking about returning to the park with our future children.  I was so impressed at how kid-friendly the park really is, with bathrooms on every corner, stroller "parking lots" and lots of kid-approved food that isn't all junk.  We'd like to come back when our kids are over three - which is great, because it will take us that long to save up again! 

So, not the next King of England. 
No biggie.   Still the king of my heart!

All in all, we had a real blast.  It was so much fun being there as a couple because our decisions were our own - not based on who had to potty, who was thirsty, and who wanted to see Princess Aurora RIGHT NOW.  We'll have that adventure a few years down the road.

In conclusion, here are my tips for folks who are considering a trip to Disney anytime soon. I'm certainly no travel guru, but I learned a few things that week!

1. Take advantage of the meal plan.  The portions are large; you can split meals with family.  If you're not hungry, you can "save" meals to eat later, or grab "to-go" food instead of eating at sit-down restaurants.  That being said, if there's a place you'd really like to try, book your dining reservation in advance!  We're talking like 3 months in advance. No joke; when we tried to make changes a few weeks before our trip, there were no reservations available in the entire park!

2. Wear comfortable shoes.  That seems like a no-brainer, but I brought shoes that I thought were comfortable, only to learn that they weren't really appropriate for 12 hours of walking in the hot sun.

3. Pick a time of year that the park will be less crowded.  According to our inside man, Dave, the park is practically devoid of life from the week after Thanksgiving until right before Christmas.  Our October visit was pretty nice, too.

4. Let the park employees take your picture!  Yes, it's expensive, but you don't have to buy any shots you don't like, plus your whole group actually gets to be in them, rather than taking awkward selfies in front of Cinderella's castle (trust me, they won't work very well).



Hulk SMASH the
 competition!

5. Do stop at Downtown Disney - without the kids.  It's more of an adult-friendly shopping area.  But if the kids insist...you can drop them off at the gigantic Lego store that is there.  That's where Ross and I spent most of our time, since we're pretty much 30-something children anyway.  It's where I met my new boyfriend.  He's big and green.

6. Take advantage of Magic Bands (they serve as room keys, identification, tokens, and allow purchases to be made) and Fast Passes.  I can't stress this enough!  Ross and I joked that the seemingly limitless capabilities of the Magic Bands made them Disney's version of the Mark of the Beast, but they were extremely helpful in navigating the parks and allowed us to focus on fun, not where our key cards had been left, or where our credit cards were.  Fast Passes allow quick access to certain rides during certain times.  Consider getting the MyDisneyExperience app for your phone as well, which allows you to make and cancel reservations, gives to real-time wait times in all the parks, lets you know about special events, and allows you to book up to three Fast Passes per guest per day in advance.  It also serves as GPS when you're within the park.

6. There's no shame in dressing like your favorite character.  No matter how old you are!

Sometimes, vacation selfies are okay.


(Please note that all photographs published in this post are the sole property of the author.  You may share the link to the page but you may NOT REPOST any individual pictures without permission.  Thank you for your consideration.)

How to Party Like a Geek

Two weeks ago, I hosted my first party ever.  I don't count bridal and baby showers I helped with, because that wasn't solo work.  Here's how it came about: I "recently" realized that the majority of my close friends are, like Ross and me, unashamedly geeky.  

There's Ryan, who knows more Doctor Who trivia than, I think, Steven Moffat himself.  There are my parents and their besties Lee and Shelly, who made Friday nights their double date nights for years - because that's when Stargate: SG-1 was on.  Oh, and their daughter Shannon, whose fashion sense would put her on par with any splashy comic book villainess or heroine.  There's also Ross's buddy Matt, who has taken on the heroic task of raising his three daughters to be geeky princesses, despite any good-natured intervention on the part of their non-geeky mom Jaime.  Not to mention, my new pal Emily, a quirky young artsy-type who refuses to let her son drink out of her Spiderman mug.

Other people have Superbowl parties, where they chow down on high-fat snacks and celebrate big, meaty guys punching each other around.  Some folks throw parties for awards shows, all the while sipping on frothy alcoholic beverages and making snarky comments about gowns, hair, and jewelry.  Why shouldn't I throw a bash celebrating all the things that, in the past, made me a social pariah?

Girl-cat squares off with Catwoman!

I sent out handmade invitations.  I spent hours researching to create the perfect trivia challenge, relying primarily on the Big Five: Star Trek, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Doctor Who, and a conglomeration of X-Men, Justice League and Avengers.  Yes, I realize that Harry Potter and Supernatural and about a million other franchises could have made their way into the mix as heavy hitters, but I considered my audience, and these were the fandoms that were most thoroughly represented among my nerdy kin. 

Totally retro. Photo cred: Emily G.

On the menu were Kryptonite Krunch (Chex Mix), Tribble Kibble (kettle corn), Iced SereniTea and Romulan Ale (blue Hawaiian Punch), Green Arrows and Black Canaries (celery sticks and pitted olives), T.A.R.D.I.P. (salsa con queso), Darth Taters (potato puffs), Obi-Wan Kielbasa (smoked sausage discs), Bowties Are Cool pasta and even chocolate-chip Wookiees.

I dressed as River Song, circa "Let's Kill Hitler" and sprayed my naturally curly hair into a huge hive of spoilers, and my husband donned his red captain's tunic (after polishing up his freshly shaved head).  

O Captain, my Captain!

I read the questions from my ThinkGeek T.A.R.D.I.S. journal as our guests observed our many geeky T-shirts, displayed as decoration.  Loki paraded her tiny little cat self around, getting into a bit of a tussle with Shannon, whose Catwoman costume might have intimidated her a bit.  Even Jaime, pregnant and dressed quite comfortably as a female version of Frodo Baggins, was pretty happy to win the doorprize - a Spiderman sippy bottle.

Loki lurves the Doctor.

Completition ramped up among the three carefully matched teams - The Terrible Tolkienators, the Raging Redshirts and the Kiss-My-Asgardians.  We learned that being a geek does not automatically mean that you've seen all the Star Wars movies.  We also learned that Emily does a beautiful whale impression, that most superhero themes sound alike, and that my dad didn't even need to wear the iconic orange hat for him to walk around the house scowling like Jayne, the hero of Canton.  We also learned that sweet Thor, despite his ultra-masculine name, is kind of a fraidy-cat and spend most of the party hiding.  He only appeared - as if freakishly on cue - when my dad and Emily were reading their hastily scribbled sci-fi story, about a race of catlike gods from the distant planet...Thorpiter.

The whole shebang - celebrate ALL the fandoms!

For one lovely evening, my house was full of heroes and villains, the whole Pond family, and one very photogenic little cat.  In retrospect, I think I would have made the trivia questions a little easier.  I also would have baked about three more batches of Darth Taters.

I got a request that our next batch have an 80's theme.  Which I can, like, totally handle.

Unless my dad shows up in legwarmers.

The Why of 'Who'

For 17 years, I have desperately wanted to be British. 

I picked up the dialect as a child while watching Mary Poppins.  For Dress-Up Day in seventh-grade, I chose to be Queen Elizabeth I (my mom had a heck of a time with the costume, but she eventually figured out how to make a ruff collar).  I was reading classic British literature when my peers were still gasping over Goosebumps mysteries.  I had already fashioned my opinions about Shakespeare, Dickens, Austen and Bronte years before my college courses prompted me to write about them.

But, alas, somehow I was born an American citizen, with a mongrel heritage mix of Italian, Belgian, German, Romanian, Slovakian, Yugoslavian, Granish, Czech, Polish, and half a dozen other eastern European nationalities thrown in for good measure (and excellent culinary skills).  I'm short, and pale, and a little overweight.  I'm a reader before almost anything else, and content to travel on adventures inside my head or on paper fare more than in actuality.  I am, you could say, more a Hobbit than anything else.

I am actually in no way resentful of my citizenship.  Trust me - I know there are far, far worse places I could have grown up.  I have received a good education and all kinds of other perks by being an American.  But, I admit, high quality entertainment has not been among them.  Not really.  Not for a long time.

My husband and I have not had cable since we were married nearly three years ago.  We've adapted quite well.  We use Netflix for the certain progams we like - though perhaps I should say programmes, because they're mostly British.  And mostly Doctor Who.

I was very reluctant to watch my first episode.  I know myself; I have an addictive personality (which explains the fourth cup of coffee in my hand as we speak) and I'm a Geek Girl through and through and, as mentioned above, I am a rabid anglophile.  Of course I would like Doctor Who.  Of course it would devour up all my free time, some of my work time, and a considerable amount of my subconscious as well.  After seeing so many references to it on Pinterest (my other "hold-out" hobby), I figured I should probably take a look. 

My favorite Doctor!

It took about, oh, 7 seconds after his appearance for Nine to become My Doctor.  I am pretty sure I watched four episodes that night.  My husband was working late and I was bored; I figured I'd give it a go after holding out so long.  I got all the way through the first season before I finally confessed that I had been watching a science fiction series without him.  He hopped on board right away and Ten became His Doctor.  He now walks around the house doing his very best David Tennant impression - which is not very believable since he's bald.  Charming, but not believable.

So, what it is about Doctor Who that is so appealing to us?  I'm sure that entertainment magazines and internet chat rooms have already spend countless hours poring over this question, but I am going to answer it from my viewpoint: the rare (almost extinct, I imagine!) Conservative Geek Girl Viewpoint.

It's strange that so many Christians in my life would fall passionately in love with a series that doesn't question the existence of God so much as flat-out deny it.  Or why we would so earnestly admire actors and writers who are confirmed atheists.  In fact, why are we - as people who accept that the divine hand of God created the heavens and earth, that his son Jesus died for our sins, and that that Holy Spirit dwells within all believers - such huge science fiction fans?

I think it's because we believe in a higher power that we're fans.  Science fiction teaches us that there is so much beyond our realm of comprehension that someone needs to come guide us along, show us the ropes, and encourage us.  That someone could be The Doctor...or a starship captain...or a mysterious wizard...

...Or God himself.

Science fiction teaches us, more than any other genre, that human beings are capable of great, amazing things - as well as horrible mistakes and acts of impressive evil.  That our minds are like fuses - once blown, a mass of conflict and challenges.  That our hearts have the capacity for love beyond time and beyond measure.  Beyond the constraints of logic.

The Bible teaches that, too.

"With God, all things are possible" sounds to me like the best sci-fi premise a person can imagine.  "All things."  As Christians, we usually reserve this comforting verse to encourage those who desire healing.  Or employment.  Or maybe help in finding a spouse or starting a family.  But, my goodness, how incredibly narrow-minded of us!  The One who made the stars can surely navigate them!

Who is to say that God - the real God, the Father, a member of the trinity and the Author and Finisher of our faith - can not exist in the same world as spaceships, lunar landings and forbidden planets?  I say that he must exist there!   That is not where I was headed today, yet it brings me back to the discussion of why we so adore Doctor Who. 



Everyone else's favorite Doctor
(but, yes, I love him, too!)

I think what we love so much about it - beyond the deliciously camp effects, the charming actors, the incredibly clever script, the devious plot twists and emotional resonance - is the churning compassion that makes up the greatest portion of the Doctor's thought process.  Although we continue to uncover his past scrap by scrap, we repeatedly see his deep, intrinsic love for others, and compassion that leads him frequently to sacrifice himself or what he cares about for the good of others.  He sees all life as precious - and proves it by offering mercy to his enemies and encouragement to his allies.  There is so  great a well of selfless love in him - and it is not innate.  It was born of grief, loss, and pain.  Yet such things did not twist him into a hermit or a miser.  They unplugged a well of nearly endless empathy and celebration that gushes out of him to the point of nearly drowning those he most treasures.  There is no criticism in him, only curiosity.  Admiration.  Love beyond the physical. 

How can we not love a character like that?  How can we not infinitely prefer him to "our" own media models of self-seeking housewives, airheaded co-eds, crooked father figures and doped-up high schoolers?  How can we not see just a glimpse of Christ's infinite compassion pouring out of this demi-god of a man?  Even if the writers and creators don't believe in a higher power at all, they have managed to build for us a man more Biblically Christ-like in many ways than the "Christ" we worship in our churches today.

There, that was bold.  I said it.

The Christ of scriptures was passionate, joyful, excited about everything.  He adored his friends - his "companions", you might say.  He was a teacher.  He desired his followers and friends to understand things on a deeper level.  Sometimes He was mysterious.  There was a lot about Him that others simply couldn't comprehend; the vastness of His mission was too huge for them.  He had an infintely strong sense of justice and yet showed mercy.   And, okay, yeah, I guess you could even say He "regenerated", if you want to go that far.

I think it's interesting that in our "Christian" nation, we don't have those kinds of heroes on television.  But in "atheist" Britain, they do.

Don't get me started on Sherlock.  That's a whole 'nother can of worms.  Awesome worms.  British worms.  But long-winded worms, nonetheless, and I have things to do today.

A Treatise on Female Geekery

Back in my day...

Isn't that a terrible way to start a story?  I don't care; this story warrants it.

Back in my day, it was definitely not cool to be a geek.  It wasn't cool to like Star Wars more than Saved by the Bell, or arcade games more than Beverly Hills, 90210.  You didn't dress up as Captain Kirk for Halloween; you dressed as a sexy nurse, or a sexy ninja, or a sexy nun.  Your Friday nights were spent partying at the football game, not hunched around a coffee table in your parents' basement, rolling a strangely-shaped die.

And yet, in that harsh, anti-geek environment, a few of us managed to thrive.  Maybe it was because we weren't that popular anyway.  Maybe it was being geeks that made us not-that-popular.  I don't know.  Frankly, I don't care.  After my parents' divorce, some of the happiest times I had were hanging out with my geek friends, being geeky and doing geeky things and dreaming geeky dreams.

We geek chicks banded together, the few of us that there were in high school, and quietly read our comic books, designed Jedi costumes, and wrote our own fanfics.  Now, we're the ones blowing people's minds with incredible art at Renaissance fairs, dabbling in miniatures, and writing, writing, writing.  And if no one ever remembers us, who cares?  We left a legacy.  We were Geek Girls before it was cool.  We were HIPSTER fangirls!

I don't know when it became cool to be a sci-fi fangirl.  Maybe when sci-fi got tall, leggy, British, and developed incredible cheekbones and brooding personality quirks.  I think that's funny, you know; I'm as big a fan of the BBC as anyone (I watched Are You Being Served? while I was still too young to understand all the innuendo), but I think it's funny that suddenly the concept of the "fangirl" came into play with the onset of Pinterest, facebook...with Tom Hiddleston/Benedict Cumberbatch/David Tennant/Matt Smith as the objects of fangirl admiration/adoration/obsession.

Wait a minute, here, chickens.

A real Geek Girl is not a fan only of the dazzling blue eyes, nor the spectacularly whimsical hair, nor the oh-so-delicious accent of the actor!  Not that there's a problem with that...but a true Science Fiction devotee, an honest-to-goodness advocate of the wonders, joys, and creativity that come with unleashing your innner geek...

...she ultimately prefers the TARDIS itself over the Doctor.

He's just a fantastic special feature.

I guess what I am trying to say is that we used to love science fiction for its own sake.  Of course there was the aspect of romance...it's even more epic and intoxicating if you're sweeping past solar systems and unknown planets while you're being wined and dined.  We all admit that.  But the teensy little percentage of hipster that's in me wants to ask a lot of so-called fangirls what they would think of Sherlock if, say, Simon Pegg were playing the lead role instead of Mr. Cumberbatch?  Pegg's a charming, clever, geeky boy himself...but alas, he lacks the proper cheekbones for the part.

True Geek Girls, I know you're out there still!  You'll sit on your bedroom floor, leafing through the lastest issue of The New Avengers and patching together your own Princess Leia outfit (not the slave Leia outfit, but the take-charge princess-in-command camo-friendly Forest Moon of Endor Leia outfit, of course), dreaming of somehow making it to ComiCon (again, while wearing a smart, savvy and not-too-embarrassingly sexy costume), writing your own graphic novels, majoring in physics and art, being as postmodern and progressive as you want to be while still acting like a lady.

That's what it's about, girls.

Not cheekbones.

 

*Disclaimer: Yes, I am also a huge fan of all the actors mentioned above.  But just FYI, I don't think any of them can pull off posing with a child's pink bicycle.  Please prove me wrong.  That would be stinkin' cool.