Epcot Centre

There seems to be a bit of confusion about what to wear at Epcot this time of year. While the daytime temperatures remain warm, it can become quite chilly after sunset. We frequently see guests in tank tops, shorts, and flip flop-style shoes shivering on a 52°F night. This can be avoided by packing several wardrobe changes in a duffel bag or rucksack and bringing it with you to the park. Rental lockers and changing rooms are available so there's no need to carry your clothes around the whole time. Don't forget to bring a rain poncho, kneesocks, and a woolen undershirt.

Can You Believe It's 2022? Epcot Centre turns 40 this year. They used to say 40 is over the hill but nowadays 40-year olds are joining rock groups, going skiing, and wearing ripped jeans just like folks half their age. There used to be this one store in the mall called Gags & Gifts and they sold black balloons that had "Happy 40th" printed on them. Everyone thought it was hysterical. It was a different world then. Also, balloons were a lot more popular at that time. Today they are considered sky pollution. Oh, well. Happy 2022!

Epcot hosts all kinds of special events throughout the year. Food fests, concerts, holiday parades, celebrity appearances & other things like that happen so often I don’t even have time to tweet about them, never mind attend them! I didn’t even find out about Merrill Osmond’s “A Tribute to Andy Williams” show until the week after it happened! FYI, folks said it was very poignant. No surprise there, Merrill is a real pro! Anyway, if you would like to know in advance about these goings on you should subscribe to our newsletter. There’s usually a “Special Events” calendar on the back page or the next to last page or one of the other pages towards the back with all the info.

Guess what? Summer is almost here, gang! Summer is great because the weather really starts to get nice, families can grill on their patios & you can cruise around town in your convertible-style car with the top down or in a regular car with the windows rolled down although sometimes the rear windows don’t go down all the way so little kids won’t fall out. Safety first! 

We are back, guys! What happened was I forgot the password for our account and then when I tried to change it they needed to email me and I couldn’t remember which email account they were sending it to and it was a big mess. From now on I am going to use the same password for all my accounts, just to play it safe.    

I know it's only the first week of January but a lot of neat stuff has happened already! My niece got her braces off, the Cotton Bowl was a really exciting game, my water aerobics class started today, our housekeeper had twin girls yesterday & there's a big lottery drawing on Friday! I can't wait to see if I win. I have some special "lucky numbers" that I use. They're all numbers from my old childhood street addresses. We moved a few times. The first time we moved it was because of the mine fire but the other times it had to do with "financial circumstances." I've lived in my current house for a long time. It was yellow when we bought it but now it's light blue. I think it looked better the old way but it said in a magazine that yellow houses are harder to sell so that was the end of that. Well, good luck in 2017, everybody!

When I was a child in southeastern Missouri, my grandmother made special Christmas crackers called Jolly Snackers. They were kind of like Wheat Thins with tiny red berries in them. On Christmas Eve, we'd leave a few for Santa, along with a glass of water, because milk doesn't go with crackers. I guess Jolly Snackers were just a local delicacy because nobody but folks from home has ever heard of them.

We had a customer service expert here last fall & she gave us an amazing presentation that was 6 hours long. It was broken up into 4 segments so we could grab a snack or use the facilities during the breaks. The woman who gave the presentation was named Gayle & it was called “Smile ‘til it Hurts: Customer Care 101.” I would recommend it to any company but I guess Gayle has changed careers. Her website says that nowadays she’s an onion farmer & advocate for runaway children. One thing I remember she said was, “You’ll never have to make excuses if you never make any mistakes.” I think about that every day. Epcot employees get fined for saying things like “nobody’s perfect” or “I can’t do better than my best.”

Nothing is official, but the Stones will probably play at UK Pavilion tomorrow night. If you’ve never seen them you are in for a treat. The Rockin’ and Rollin’ Stones Brothers Band is one of the coolest cover acts in Orlando. When they do “Mother Needs Some Helping” the crowd just flips out.

Shaq came here a couple times in the 90s but he didn't stay too long because he gets carsick on thrill rides & he doesn't like foreign food, just the regular kind.

There was a rumor that the car from “The Munsters” was going to make an appearance here & I don’t know who started it or why. Someone told me it’s called the Munster Carlo but I don’t know because we weren’t allowed to watch that program at my house. My father was in charge of the television & he always watched “Daniel Boone” on CBS at the same time “The Munsters” was on. He also liked “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea” but I thought it was boring. That’s all they did on that submarine was climb ladders. The only thing everyone in my family could agree on was “The Danny Kaye Show.”

The Big Lots in Colonial Plaza over on Route 50 has all kinds of Halloween candy on sale right now. A 4.5 lb. case of SweeTarts is just $9 and that’s practically unheard of. I know paper towels don’t count as candy but I also noticed they have 12-packs of Quality Pride Extra Absorbent Paper Towels for only $3.99. I’m not familiar with the brand but that is a heck of a value.             This Big Lots sort of looks like it’s closed because the front window is boarded up but that’s only because a man accidentally drove through it last weekend.  

My niece's daughter wants to get a hotel room for prom night but I told her a motel or motor lodge is a more reasonable option. I don't understand how parents can allow kids to spend $50 on a gown or tux, $75 on a limo & $100 on a suite at the Radisson. It's too much. A lot of girls at my high school just wore their best dress & got a ride to the prom from their dad, stepdad or older brother. Afterwards, all of us met up at Yulf's Shakes to crack jokes & share an order of fries. Yulf's stayed open until 9:30 on prom night. Yulf was a legend in my town. He was a WW1 veteran & owned 2 businesses. His hair didn't turn gray until he was 90. Yulf would always ride in an old Model T in the 4th of July parade. He would wear his Army uniform & throw coins to everyone. He gave away so many coins we thought he'd go broke but he made out just fine, believe me. I thought Yulf was his first name but it was actually his last name. His first name was Reinhard but only his wife called him that. Yulf's closed decades ago but my sister said the building's still there & now it's one of those places that sells grills & patio furniture.

It might be kind of quiet here this weekend because tons of people are planning to go to the big dirt bike expo. The website says the dirt bike expo is at the arena in Winter Park. Robbie Knievel Jr. will be there. He's daredevil Robbie Knievel's son. I hope that one of these days Robbie Knievel & Robbie Knievel Jr. will get a chance to jump World Showcase Lagoon & I hope it’s televised so everyone gets to see it.

Germany Pavilion is so authentically German that many German visitors have told us it makes the real Germany seem like a weak imitation.

We've asked the Orlando Sentinel to retract the story that claimed Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was here at the park with his parents on Wednesday.

I hope you all had a great International Women's Day. Women are our daughters, sisters, nieces, moms, aunts, nanas, friends, neighbors & colleagues. Just about everyone knows a woman. It's a fact that women can literally do anything.