The butterfly house is one of our favorite parts of the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival! Thanks to my husband for capturing this amazing shot!

The Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival opens today! It’s one of our family’s favorite events of the year and we usually visit several times throughout the festival. The butterfly enclosure is just one of the many amazing experiences to enjoy.

Of COURSE we wanted to make a cheerleading pyramid at the party. Why wouldn't we??

As usual, my Wordless Wednesday is not-so-wordless. I can’t help it if I need to explain things! So this was taken during my 10th birthday extravaganza sleepover. This was 1983, and sleepover parties were the way to go back then. And you couldn’t just invite a couple people, you had to invite ALL your friends. I’m not even sure everyone was there yet at this point, I know there were a ton of people.

My mom had just given us all makeovers with her Princess Borghese make-up sets. We looked fabulous. I am also wearing a headpiece from one of my solo performances in my mom’s ballet concerts earlier that year. After this, I believe we broke out the Cheez Doodles and chips and waited up for Friday Night Videos to start. This was a HUGE deal, that we were staying up that late to watch videos. After that, things broke off into groups and there was some in-fighting as can only happen when you get that many pre-teen girls together in a small space. Other highlights I remember are someone throwing up the aforementioned Cheez Doodles at some point after midnight, and people ending up sleeping under our dining room table, on the landing at the bottom of the stairs, and the landing at the top of the stairs. It was pretty much insanity. I loved it.

I thought this fit in with the time-frame I’m writing about this week. Perhaps the best part is that even though I moved away to Florida a few months after this party and missed out on middle and high school with all these friends, most of us have reconnected on Facebook. It’s amazing to see how successful they all are now and how even though 26 years (gulp) had passed, I recognized every one of them and they remembered me too!

As you walk by, Min & Bill's Dockside Diner creates a Hidden Mickey.

Min and Bill’s Dockside Diner used to sell more substantial food items and I believe sundaes, but somewhere along the line they switched over to the current menu line up of pretzels and shakes. How many actually know who “Min and Bill” are? In keeping with the original “golden age of Hollywood” that Disney first portrayed in the Studios, Min and Bill are a direct nod to the 1931 movie of the same name. Min owns a dockside hotel and Bill, the captain of a fishing boat, lives there. Just a fun nod to movie buffs, which is why my Dad always loved that park the best – the old movies he grew up loving had a new home there. For more fun, check out the cargo boxes to the left of the Dockside Diner – especially to whom the boxes are addressed. Disney IS in the details after all…

Thank you again to Florida Blood Services for making it such a simple and worthwhile experience!

In the meantime, I thought I’d give you some bonus pictures that encapsulate some of the amazing memories created during the trip. Thank you once again, Disney, for this amazing gift you’ve given all of us on the panel – most importantly, the other panelists!!

This picture includes ALL the moms that came down for the picture - from the 2008 and 2009 panel too!

picture above courtesy of DisneyMomCathy

One of my favorite parts was our visit to the Hoop Dee Doo Revue. I'd never been in my 30 years of visits and I loved it! HOOP DEE DOO!

Some of the wonderful 'moms' I spent 5 days with. Of course there's only one other mom in the picture, but the dads this year are AMAZING! From left to right is Disney Dad Joel (@Zipadeedoodad on twitter), Disney Dad Chris, Disney Mom Amanda W (@oohamanda on twitter), me, and Disney Dad Jonas (@HeyJPK on twitter). Miss you guys!!

And as a bonus, some beautiful Cinderella Castle pictures, captured right as the sun was coming out and shimmering on that top golden spire. This was a treat to get, because it is the one time the flag pole, Christmas tree and decorations were down due to parade taping. Enjoy!

Beautiful isn't she?

As with all the pics, click for full-size view!

Stay tuned for more updates in the coming days and thank you for reading!

(We’ll see what it looks like sliced tomorrow!! Wish me luck!)

The recipe is Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake and was the dessert I made when I cooked my first Thanksgiving, 12 years ago! (There were many cracks in it that year!)

And yes, I know this is yet another NON-Wordless Wednesday from me!

♥

*I am not a Disney employee. The postings here are my own and do not represent the positions or opinions of the Disney Company.