When I blogged about "You Only Got a Hundred Years", I mentioned cramming life into my days, and making the most of moments. And here in living color is an example of that. When I went to Walt Disney World for my 50th birthday, I was blessed to serendipitously cross paths with a "Disney Master Photographer". As we sat and waited the hour and a half for the Very Merry parade to start, we chatted about many topics, and my ear caught and held onto the phrase "perimeter fireworks".
When my brain could finally remember this phrase while I was actually sitting at my computer, I Googled it and had a light bulb moment...The idea to be AT Walt Disney World ON the Fourth of July to SEE the perimeter fireworks was born. And being married to my very own Yankee Doodle Dandy, he was up for the idea and the reservation was promptly booked for 2015. We got lucky, in that my work had attached a floater to the holiday weekend, and with the 4th falling on a weekend, we were looking at a four day holiday weekend without any of my precious vacation days needing to be allocated to such a whim. ;-) The boys working at college during the summer months added to the feasibility of trip. Who wanted to sit home alone, when they could go to Walt Disney World and see "perimeter fireworks"?! Not us!
We opted for the tropical setting of the Polynesian Resort. Whenever we go on super crowded weekends, I'm all bout minimizing transportation time. Monorail properties are the best way to do this. We had never stayed at the Poly, shying away from its dark motif. But a peak at the recent remodel, and the fact that the Grand was booked and the Contemporary undesirable after having stayed there in February, we felt like it was time to try the Poly. {I should add at this point that we have sort of stopped telling people when we are going to WDW. We have annual passes. We have frequent flier miles. We like to go already. ;-)} So, trip booked, and the realization began to set in that we were actually going to take a trip for our anniversary, ON our anniversary!
I should add in here quickly, in case you don't know, that we were actually married ON July 4 in 1987 and it was hot, hot, hot in humid Houston, but it was the Saturday that worked for both our families back then, and, so national holiday aside, a July 4 wedding for us was meant to be. Every since that 1987 Saturday, though, our July 4 holidays have been spent in a whirlwind of extended family cookouts, and excursions with our sons to Sea World, and picnics, and parks, and other various fireworks locations around the state. July 4 growing up was always about family and food and fireworks, and it coinciding with our 1987 nuptials made no matter over that mentality.
In fact, it wasn't until earlier this year, as we anticipated our July 4 trip approaching, that we even realized we had never been on an "anniversary trip" - just the two of us - ON our actual anniversary! No better way to remedy that than a "tropical stay" in our favorite World, right? ;-) The relaxing atmosphere of the Polynesian seemed to fit the bill perfectly. And being able to watch the fireworks from its beach across Seven Seas Lagoon? Yes, please! It seemed like the perfect agenda for our inaugural anniversary trip. After all, if you get married on the 4th, and want to see some fireworks for your very own anniversary, we learned long ago that nobody does fireworks like Disney!
Would the parks be crowded? Yes - at capacity! Potential of closing early? Check! Would Florida be hot? Yes - it's summer you silly goon! Potential of humid rain? Check! Would we have fun anyway? Yes - absolutely! Potential of new, adventurous experiences? Check! I don't know of anyone that gets more downright giddy about going to WDW than Steve and I. And it is the same excitement for every trip - the same magical anticipation. And we are both perfectly okay with that! Lucky us! ;-) As the days toward July 4 counted down, and as I stared at my Google search of WDW July 4 images, giddy began to describe the mood.
We walked to condition ourselves. We went shopping to buy some shorts out of fabric better capable of handling the humidity. We considered the Chill-e cloth. And passed. We evaluated shoes and regrouped. I planned to go into the parks for the first time ever without a bag. Got shorts with extra pockets. We strategized how we could get there with only carry-on bags, taking just the minimum amount of things. We made our meal reservations. We booked our Fast Passes. We were ready! We were so ready, and so excited, in fact, that we got to the airport an hour before we needed to be there, my aging brain confusing the time we needed to leave the house with the time we needed to be there at the airport. No matter! We relaxed in the terminal, and were ready to go when boarding finally began, and napped on the plane.
The trip was wonderful. It truly exceeded my every expectation. We loved the Polynesian. Loved. Our "hot shorts" worked great. Reveled in our decadent anniversary dinner at Narcoosee's on the 3rd. We park hopped like young 'uns on the 4th and met Revolutionary Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, Chip and Dale. Took in unexpectedly the Voices of Freedom special holiday concert. Were pleased at the crowd level all weekend. It was truly a magical July 4th. And the fireworks? The fireworks? Truly spectacular. Stunning. Jaw dropping. 360 degrees of pyrotechnic magic. I was blown away by the perimeter fireworks, as was Steve. So thankful we saw them July 3 in the park, and July 4 from the Poly beach. We planned immediately to return again for July 4, 2016, wanting more of the big show on our big day. We really learned the meaning of the phrase we coined years ago as a family. Nobody does fireworks like Disney!
Magical July 4th Fireworks ~ Walt Disney World ~ July 4, 2015
This layout was featured in the July issue of Create by Scrapbook Generation which can be seen here on their website.
Paper: Authentique
Title: Silhouette cut file and Kerri Bradford cut file
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