Out and About with the Snyders

Aaron and Glenda are in Florida visiting family and we were able to meet up today. We picked a spot midway between us and them, in Winter Park. First we shared a great meal at Bosphorus, a Turkish restaurant. First was the appetizer sampler, followed by a meat sampler of lamb, beef, and chicken. So good!

Afterwards we spent another couple of hours walking around the area. There are so many cute shops here, and most of them are very, very expensive. I am not yet ready to pay $350.00 for a sweater! But it was fun walking through the areas and checking out the unique stores.

Beside shops and shops and more shops, one area had the most beautiful Koi fish I've ever seen.

They even have a couple of long-fin Koi, which might be the prettiest fish ever!

Randy's Hot Chocolate Bomb

This year Randy decided to make Hot Chocolate Bombs for Christmas. Sounds good to me! 

1. Create chocolate shells and fill with hot chocolate mix and peppermint marshmallows. 

2. Put one in hot milk.

3. Wait for chocolate shell to melt.

4. Stir well and enjoy some amazing Hot Chocolate!!!

Christmas at Hollywood Studios and Grand Floridian

Time to do Christmas-y things, like checking out the Gingerbread House and the Hollywood lights! We parked in Hollywood Studios and took the monorail to the Grand Floridian, by way of Epcot. Inside this beautiful hotel is a really beautiful Christmas tree. 

And behind it is the Gingerbread House!

This is made from 1,050 pounds of honey (what a great start!), 140 pints of egg whites, 600 pounds of powdered sugar, 800 pounds of flour, and 35 pounds of spices. Love this!

By then it was getting dark enough to enjoy the lights, so we got back on the monorail and returned to Epcot, then walked to the back of Epcot and across to Hollywood Studios. Disney only decorates the front of their parks now. Hollywood's tree is similar to the trees in the other parks, which is not a bad thing!

The Tower of Terror is transformed into the Tower of Big Screen - it's the backdrop for some lovely special effects. 

What makes this our favorite Christmas display is the old-fashioned touches, like the bigchina poodle set.

Our favorites are the antique-looking street lights. This always puts us in the holiday mood!

Christmas at Epcot

We wanted to see the new light show at Epcot so we went later in the day, just as it was getting dark. Which happens to be a great time to see that big golf ball they have out front! Some of the changes in the front area are not so great, but the golf ball looks amazing!

And Epcot's Christmas tree is the best on of all the Disney parks. It's way tall (around 60 feet) and completely covered in lights!

The new light show still takes place in the middle of the lake. Instead of the big globe that lit up and opened up, they now have a . . . thing. Not sure what it's really supposed to be. There is a big ring, surrounded by four screens. During the show each screen raises and lowers a big bar that sprays water. I honestly don't know what look they were aiming for; this just reminds me of those inflatable air dancers, waiving about.

But the fireworks were amazing! Big and beautiful. 

 Sometimes they lob one up almost impossibly high, and we all wait for the bang. When it explodes, everyone goes "Ooooo"