The year began with Marathon Weekend and our first 10k in quite a while. During the year, we had friends come into town to enjoy Orlando and we had a couple of staycations ourselves. We also traveled over to the Tampa area to stay in another resort. Broadway in Orlando was still one of our favorite things to do in the city, and we saw a number of great shows and a couple of concerts all at the Dr. Phillips Center. Disney had a number of Cast previews during the year, including Tron, Journey of Water, and Luminous. We also spent some time with Myles at Icon Park, just so that he did something other than Disney.

2023—Miscellaneous Orlando Adventures

It was Marathon Weekend, so we signed up for the 10k. It was the first 10k Madeline had done with the new knee and my first one in 4 years. A couple of weeks later, we rode Splash Mountain the day before it closed for good. Myles sort of liked it.

Mark had some meetings in St. Pete, so we went there for a night and visited with him and Sandi. It was great seeing family again.

Cast Members had a chance to preview Tron. We went three nights in one week. The ride was great and the weather was beautiful for early February.

It was Broadway in Orlando season, and we enjoyed Pretty Woman and a nice walk around Lake Eola. Madeline went with Alicia and Myles to Southern Hill Farms to pick some strawberries. Of course, we also visited Epcot for Flower and Garden.

In early April, we spent a morning riding Disney transportation with Myles. We began at Caribbean Beach and took the Skyliner to Epcot; then boarded a boat and took it to Studios; rode the bus to the Polynesian; took the monorail to the Grand Floridian to see the Easter eggs; and then we took the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom where we finally boarded a bus back to Caribbean Beach.

In the middle of the month, Marie and Dave came to town. Dave was having back issues, but we had fun with Marie a few days.

Towards the end of the month, we saw Chicago at Dr. Phillips Center. We also spent a day at Studios with Myles, and he took one of my favorite pictures for the year at Galaxy’s Edge.

Apr

May

Gary and Sue came to visit Disney, so we got with them. We saw a play in Winter Garden. And, of course, we went to Epcot again for Flower and Garden.

In June, the DeBrocke family came to Disney. Dana spent the week with them and we saw Amanda and the rest of her family a couple of times, too.

We continued our Broadway series with Beetlejuice the Musical. The Barnett family then came into town for a week. We went with them to Hamburger Mary’s for Broadway Brunch. We spent a couple of days at the pool with them, and Myles fell in love with Megan and Mike. We also went to Portillo’s for our farewell dinner.

At the end of the month, we spent a couple of days at Caliente Resort, a clothing-optional place that I thoroughly enjoy. It is so freeing to do everyday things naked with no judgement by anyone. It was a cloudy and even rainy couple of days, which was perfect since Madeline needs to be careful of the sun. We went int Wesley Chapel both nights and had some pretty good meals. We did a couple of walks around the resort and I had one of the best massages ever. It was exactly what I needed.

Madeline hung out with Tutti a couple of times and Dan & Terri came into town. It was so nice seeing them after all the years.

August had a little Epcot Cast Member celebration, which Madeline enjoyed with Michael.

Disney did Cast previews for Journey of Water, a water feature in Epcot. Madeline went once with Alicia and Myles, once with just Myles, and then with Dana and me at night. It was really cool.

We did a staycation at Riviera Resort for two days, so we spent a day at Magic Kingdom, had dinner at ‘Ohana, spent some time at Studios, and played in the pool with Myles.

Oct

There was a Fall Family Block Party for Disney Cast Members. We also took Amaya to her first park, and she slept through it. Dana had tickets to Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights, so she took Mel and me. It was a lot of fun and we got through quite a number of the houses.

Gabby from Greece came to town and visited Madeline. We went to Symphonic Disney at Dr. Phillips Center and then back there four days later for Brit Floyd.

It was Christmas season at Disney, and it was also my birthday. After Madeline did a backstage tour of Rockin’ Roller Coaster, we did another staycation, this time at the Vistana Villages. We celebrated my birthday the night before at Boatwrights, then spent the day at Magic Kingdom and went to dinner at a restaurant owned by the Navarra family. Myles came to stay with us a night and we played at the resort, went to Icon Park, and then had fun with him at Animal Kingdom the next day.

We watched Funny Girl as part of our Broadway series, and the Dr. Phillips Center was beautifully decorated.

 

Madeline went to Magic Kingdom with Alicia and the kids. Myles rode the Tomorrowland Speedway for the first time and loved driving. He also loved the Teacups.

Epcot Cast Members had one more preview for the year, this time the new fireworks show, Luminous. It was the day of my surgery, but they pushed me around and we saw a great show. On Christmas Eve, most of the family spent more time at Epcot to end the year.