Well, where did I finish off? I know, the gardens at Naples. After the gardens we made a quick visit to a very small zoo and the only thing that stood out was a wonderfully colored lizard-

Now, for a short story, When I was in OT school many years ago I was in a class called Small Group Dynamics. The purpose was to get us used to working with others. Our task for one lesson was to split into groups of 5 and visualize that we were in a hot air balloon that was going to crash killing everyone but one person in the balloon. We were to choose a character in history who we thought should survive and why. Well, my class mates chose people like Ghandi, Martin Luther King etc. etc.. I chose Walt Disney, When the group asked me why, I said because he can make me laugh, smile or cry in any language. The group voted me as the character to survive the balloon crash. Long live Walt Disney.
The next week we stayed in "The Old Key West" Resort at Walt Disney World. David, our son helped with all the arrangements which made life a lot easier for us. We were given bracelets by Disney which allowed us entry to the Theme Parks, the meal plan, fast pass and got us into our room.
It was a real asset to us and saved us a lot of time.

Our first visit was to Epcot (Environmental Prototype City Of The Future"). To greet you is a huge sphere, which on a night changes color.

We decided to take a backstage visit to the green houses (even Gary wanted to do this despite the extra cost). The greenhouses supplied the Disney restaurants and cafes and specializes in hydroponics and aqua-culture. The hydroponic area has plants grown in non-soil medium and watered with fertilizer rich liquid. Some plants are grown completely in sand and, again fed with liquid fertilizer.

The tomatoes in the above photo were named something like lean and lay (not the right name but gives you the idea of what they have done to the plants). The tomato stem is trimmed and laid down and reaches a length of approximately 30 feet. There was a wonderful crop of tomatoes (cherry) ready to be picked.

 In the aquaculture section, fish are grown from eggs and raised again, for the Disney restaurants. Tilapia seemed to be the most abundant fish.

The aquaculture section also raised alligators. When they are big enough they are sent to an alligator farm and raised until they are large enough for food, handbags or clothing. Poor things!!

One of the rides we went of finished with a questionnaire about our health and habits. We were then given a cartoon demonstrating our answers (see above). Gee, I wish Gary and I were really that skinny.
If you have been to EPCOT you know that it is made up of different countries to visit: France, Italy, China, Norway, etc.. Canada is a favorite of mine because of the gardens it has surrounding the "village".

Above photos shows the inside of the China exhibition. The most famous thing to come out of China was the terra cotta soldiers besides all the goods Walmart carries!!!!
Our final park visit was to Animal Kingdom. Gary had never been there so it was new to him. I went with my friend, Linda about 8 or 9 years ago. We had a great time except for an incident that happened in Animal Kingdom and this next passage is thanks to her.
I was taking photos of some monkeys and decided to try and get closer to the animals so I stuck my knee through the fence and leaned into the compound. I took my photos, leaned back and tried to remove my knee from the fence. However, it was stuck good and proper. Linda was about 10 feet away taking photos so I called to her for help because the more I tugged on my knee, the more I got stuck. Linda came over and then said "wait a minute" and ran away. I thought "good" she's is going to get help. But no. She wanted to take my photo before helping me. So, there I was whilst Linda clicked away, crying in pain (more like frustration). She remained my friend despite this incident and we are still good friends today. The next photo is for you, Linda.

All of the Kingdoms have shows and Animal Kingdom was no exception. My favorite was "Finding Nemo". The play used real people using puppets for the story. These puppets were held in hands, wires or strings. The people controlling the puppets dressed minimally in fish costumes.

My favorite character in "Finding Nemo" was Crush the turtle. I got a very good photo of him.

OK, I"m bear the end of a long blog. Let me finish with 2 of my favorite photos from Animal Kingdom.

Our week at Disney World has come to an end. We have really enjoyed it but would have enjoyed it more had the weather been warmer. We had several days in the 50s and had to wear winter woollies to keep warm. So much for the warmth of Sunny Florida.

The next blog will follow and give details of our boat trip with our good friends Trudie and Jim.