Wednesday December 6th 2023

Disney’s EPCOT got my attention today. Big changes began yesterday, so I have been planning to visit today for a few weeks now. The weather didn’t really cooperate. The high temperature today was in the low sixties and as soon as the sun went down it dropped another ten degrees. I planned ahead for the temperature by wearing two warm layers and bringing a third in a backpack to put on after dark. It all worked out. I was comfortable for the entire ten plus hours I was at the theme park.

Monday night Disney took down most of the construction walls that had been a fixture in the center of the old Future World section of the park for close to half a decade. Yesterday, Tuesday, the new World Celebration area opened. I watched some of it on YouTube videos giving me a little bit of an idea what to expect. It met and exceeded many of my expectations, but I really don’t understand what took so long. The area behind Space Ship Earth has been turned into a park like area with lots of trees, plants and seating. The Communicore Hall building is still under construction, so a few construction walls remain. One of the focal points of the new area is a statue of Walt Disney sitting on a bench looking out at his vision called EPCOT. That was a very popular area. Everyone, except me, had to get their picture taken on the bench with the Walt Statue.

The new area is also filled with fiber optics and LEDs. The area color matches with the various nigh time shows on Space Ship Earth. As the colors change on the globe matching or complementary colors light up in the World Celebration area. This makes the seating and walkways in the area very popular after dark.

The other big new thing at EPCOT as of Tuesday was the first showing of the new nighttime fireworks show, Luminous. This is the long term replacement for the Harmonious night time show that ended last spring. An interim show, EPCOT Forever was performed during the wait for this new show. The big thing about this show is the absence of permanent barges in the lagoon. The six big barges and a bunch of little ones are brought out from “back stage” late in the afternoon and are gone by the next morning. I liked the show it was very fireworks intensive and could be watched from anywhere around the lagoon. Harmonious used lots of projections on water screens which required you to be in certain locations to really see the show.

I thought the cold might keep the crowd down today. It didn’t. The place was mobbed. Probably because of all the new stuff the park was very crowded. It also didn’t help that one of the most popular narrators for the Candle Light Processional, Neal Patrick Harris, was in place for the three nightly shows. People were lining up for the 5:30 show at 2PM. I walked by during two of the shows and the overflow of standing room viewing was ten deep along the walkway at the back of the theater.

It was a long day. I got there a little after noon and departed after the fireworks show. I got back to my RV home shortly before 11PM. In between I did a lot of walking, so a few shows and road a few attractions.

Tuesday December 5th 2023

I spent today the way I should have spent yesterday. For the most part it was a relaxing day around camp. I got over my travel day angst a day late because I choose to go to Disney’s Animal Kingdom yesterday. The only thing that got in the way of total relaxation was a trip out for groceries.

The weather roller coaster is on the way down toward lower temperatures. It was a cloudy morning that slowed the heating of the air. The temperature peaked just over seventy. By evening the clouds were breaking up allowing the overnight temperatures to drop. The forecast has the temperature dropping into the forties tonight with highs only in the sixties tomorrow.

Walking around the campground today I didn’t see anything of substance different from my last visit in the spring. There was evidence of a few maintenance items getting completed. In particular those using paint. It is good to see things getting done. The campground is in mid week mode. It is full every night, but there is a lot of turnover each day. A few sites are decorated for Christmas, but everyone here will leave long before the holiday. The two week stay limit means that my next stop will intersect with the holiday. I’ll decorate a little for that stay.

I was disappointed to see that the cold weather has eliminated all of the wildflowers and the lily pads were not in bloom. Yesterday at the Animal Kingdom all of the nice blossoms spoiled me. They must do some things to prevent the cooler temperatures from impacting the vegetation.

My afternoon was spent on a couple of errands. I needed food for my car and food for my stomach. The price of gas has gone down since Sunday. I spent thirty cents a gallon less today. Some of that is the location, but most of it seems to be the weird oscillation in gas prices. The groceries were the same inflation impacted prices as I have been experiencing recently. The price of a gallon of OJ hasn’t gone up since the last time I got sticker shock a few weeks ago. I’m back to buying it at the inflated price without thinking about it (well not much).

Tonight’s sunset wasn’t as great as some of the recent ones, but it was still nice to see. I’ll try to catch a few more while I’m here if mother nature cooperates.

Monday December 4th 2023

This two week stay at Lake Louisa State Park was supposed to be my only stay in the Orlando area during the Christmas season, but my plans were augmented with the one month stay in the area ending in the middle of November. I was able to get a head start and saw some of the decorations and shows in the theme parks near the end of that stay. Still, the primary focus of this visit will be Christmas in some of the theme parks.

Today I had a reservation at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. I should have learned from past experience and relaxed today. I didn’t really have the energy for a full blown theme park day. I got to Animal Kingdom about 12:30. Wait times at all of the things I like were very long. I walked the various trails looking at animals and taking lots of pictures. As the day went on I got lucky with show times and wait times as well.

The Lion King Show queue was just starting to fill up as I was walking by. I only had to wait in line about five minutes before seating began. For some reason the previous show was canceled, so they had plenty of time to fill the theater. I waited on the not so comfortable bench seat for about twenty minutes before the show began. My view for this theater in the round was different. I don’t think I have ever sat in the Wart Hog section. The show was great as usual, but the camera I was using doesn’t capture very good low light pictures.

After the Lion King Show and a little more wandering I found the Kilimanjaro Safari wait time was down to thirty minutes. It turned out to be accurate, but that was probably the best thing about the ride. I was sitting in the middle between other people that wanted to take pictures. It is very hard to take your own pictures through someones head. I was ready for another safari right away and the wait time was down to fifteen minutes. It was probably more like five minutes. I had a much better seat for picture taking on my second ride. The animals I was able to see on the second ride were different than the first. It is amazing how much movement took place in the half hour or so between safaris.

I took over one hundred and fifty pictures today. Here are some of the animal, flower and general ambiance pictures.

Flowers

Animals

Ambiance

Sunday December 3rd 2023

The day started out foggy and progressed to a cloudy but bright day before heading down hill again. The common element was high humidity. The temperature was in the low eighties during the best part of the day.

This was a travel day. I didn’t get as much of the travel preparations completed yesterday as I typically try to accomplish. As a result this was a busy morning. I worked steadily to complete all the tasks to depart Jetty Park around the noon checkout. As it turns out I was off my site by checkout, but departed the campground fifteen to twenty minutes later. There was a wait at the dump station.

The drive into the center of the peninsular started with a stop for gas. Once again I guessed wrong when I arrived two weeks ago. Gas prices at that time were under three dollars a gallon. I thought they would be even lower by today. I was wrong. The gas price roller coaster was at a high point of $3.15 a gallon. One hundred and sixty dollars and fifteen to twenty more minutes later I was on my way.

Traffic was light on the back country roads between Cocoa and St. Cloud. I made good time on that part of the drive, but the middle section of the drive through St. Cloud and Kissimmee was slow. Once again I became familiar with every traffic light along the twenty mile stretch of road. I only had one hard stop along the way. Considering that I left a half full tumbler of water on my kitchen counter that’s a good thing. My luck held and it didn’t spill.

I arrived at Lake Louisa State Park in Clermont Florida around 3PM just in time for the rain shower. It was dry all the way across the state. As I approached the state park black clouds were in the sky over the area. The ten minute shower managed to get me nice and wet set up. A second and third brief showers followed about every hour.

I’ll be at Lake Louisa State Park for the next two weeks. This is my second stop on my winter of two week stays in Florida State Parks.

Saturday December 2nd 2023

Today was filled with a lot of little activities that I wanted to do before I move on tomorrow. My two week stay at Jetty Park concludes tomorrow. As usual I really enjoyed my stay. There is always activity along the entrance to the port, at the beach or on the fishing pier to keep me entertained. Watching the cruise ships departing in the afternoon and evening is just the icing on the cake.

The temperature today was around eighty with lots of humidity. Early in the day the sun was out most of the time. As the day progressed the cloud cover increased. This evening, as I write this blog entry, I have heard a few sounds of light rain on the roof. There is another SpaceX rocket launch tonight around 11PM. I hope the conditions don’t deteriorate to the point that the launch doesn’t happen. As it is now, the rocket will be above the cloud layer quickly.

I have about one hundred miles to travel tomorrow. I’ll be returning to the greater Orlando area. The route I take avoids the toll road and the downtown Orlando area. I choose to suffer with all the traffic light in the Kissimmee St. Cloud area on US 192. There really isn’t a good way to get between the two points, but I seem to make this journey a lot. I plan to leave here just before the noon checkout. That should allow me to arrive at Lake Louisa State Park in Clermont well after checkout there.

Friday December 1st 2023

The weather is back on the warm side of normal. It didn’t take much sunlight to bring the temperature into the seventies this morning. The temperature continued to climb to around eighty degrees with increasing humidity.

The campground had even more turnover today than yesterday. This afternoon there was a steady flow of RVs checking in. The atmosphere changed from relaxed to mildly frenetic. Basically the focus changed from snowbird adult to families with kids. The toys went from electric bicycles to electric scooters and wheel boards. The noise level went from conversations and barking dogs to kids yelling for parents and parents yelling for kids. The weekend is here.

Today was all about the ships coming and going in the port. On my first walk along the channel into the port this morning, I noticed something different in the Trident turning basin. The navy patrol boat was far more active than usual and a submarine was tied up at the wharf. There was a gangway to the sub’s deck and tents over the hatches into the hull. I’m not sure what the specific function of the base is, but it is intended for submarines. I have seen subs there before. They seem to come and go without fan fair, although I did see one depart a few years back.

A big tanker carrying jet fuel also arrived in the port around noon. It was met by one tug at the entrance to the port, but it already had a tug with it from the off shore anchorage. The two tugs escorted and assisted the tanker into a position on the west side of the middle turning basin. Usually the ships come in one night and are gone the next. It is rare to see arrivals during the day. Departures are a little more frequent.

There were three cruise ships in port today. The first was scheduled for departure at 3:30PM and for once it was on time. The Carnival cruise ship was docked at terminal 3 which overlaps part of the campground. I practically jumped out of my skin when it sound its departure horn. I watched it gradually pull away into the channel from the comfort of my RV home before walking over to the channel leading into the port. The second cruise ship departing at 4PM from deeper in the harbor was almost at Jetty park. It was a Royal Caribbean ship.

There was a gap before the last ship to depart made an appearance in the channel. Disney ships always seem to be the last to depart. Disney’s largest ship the Wish departed from deep in the port at 5PM. It was almost dark by the time it reached the area near the entrance to the port. Many of the people that watched the first two ships depart were already gone.

Thursday November 30th 2023

The cold spell was over today. The temperature climbed into the upper seventies under a bright sunny sky. Each day through Sunday is forecast to be warmer with an increasing chance of rain.

Taking advantage of the good weather, I set out to tour Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Most of the Kennedy Space Center is part of the refuge, but the part that is open to the public is north of the space center. I generally stop at the wildlife refuge once a year, so I am pretty familiar with it.

To get to the public area of the refuge I drove north along the mainland to the far side of the city of Titusville before crossing back onto Merritt Island. I was greeted by two huge message boards. They usually contain warnings about closures of the whole area do to upcoming launches. Today, they contained notice about more specific closures. The wildlife drive I expected to take was closed and the bridge that provided access to the northern exit from the refuge was also closed. My visit was restricted to the boardwalk at the visitors center.

It was nice walking along the boardwalk. I saw a few turtles taking the sun in one of the ponds and several colorful wildflowers. Birds and larger mammals were all in hiding. The boardwalk is showing its age. Some of the boards are spongy and the foliage is creeping into the path. The water level under the boardwalk was also a little higher than usual.

Back at the campground this afternoon I noted that there had been a very large turnover today. Many of my neighbors were new and there was a line of RVs waiting to check in. Last week around the holiday most of the sites were occupied by people with Florida license plates. This week the mix is starting to favor out of state plates. There are more than a hand full of Quebec plates. Usually most of the Canadian plates are from Ontario, but this time French speaking people from Quebec seem to be present in a greater number than any other out of state license plate.

There were two cruise ships in port today. Even one is enough to attract lots of cars filled with people in the afternoon to watch the ships set out to see. There is even one woman who live streams the departures on YouTube, TikTok or some social media platform. I’m not sure which. She has been there every day I have watched the ships depart. Today both ships departed in quick succession. Small craft traffic was light allowing them a to depart without any drama. The sheriffs boat didn’t have to chase any boats out of the way.

Tuesday November 28th 2023

I managed to watch the rocket launch last night. A SpaceX Falcon 9 launch carrying 23 StarLink Satellites to orbit happened last night without a whole lot of warning. The launch was “rumored” on the internet Sunday, but wasn’t confirmed by SpaceX until Monday morning. The launch window was 11PM to 3AM just like the one last week. Unlike last week that happened near the end of the window, this launch happened at 11:20PM. It was a nice cool moon lite night for the launch. It was possible to follow the rocket for about two minutes into the flight before it passed behind some clouds. There is another internet rumor that a launch will happen this Friday night too. I have less confidence in this rumor.

Today it was necessary to bundle up to walk along the port channel or the beach. There was a constant wind out of the north to northeast under a thick cloud cover. The actual temperature never reached sixty. With the wind it seemed a lot cooler. I only took one walk around the park today.

In the early afternoon I took a run back to the mainland for groceries. The Walmart in Cocoa is the easiest to get to, but it may not be the closest. It was much easier navigating the aisles now that all the Thanksgiving day supplies have been removed. In a couple of weeks they will be filled again with Christmas dinner supplies, so easier navigation in the store will only last a short time. Perhaps because there was more room in the aisles the store didn’t seem as busy today. I got what I needed and headed for the checkouts. Unfortunately, the checkouts were staffed for a slow day. Done of the cashier assisted checkouts were open. Only the self service ones were open. All twenty plus of them. Self checkout as a solo shopper is not quicker.

There was only one cruise ship in port today. It wasn’t a ship that calls Port Canaveral home. It was a Royal Caribbean visitor out of New York. The ship slipped in around noon when I wasn’t looking and was scheduled to depart at 8PM. I assume that happened, but I wasn’t outside watching. There aren’t any cruise ships scheduled for tomorrow.

Monday November 27th 2023

Things are different today. The temperature has dropped. The high temperature may have reached seventy, but not for long. The activity level around the park has also dropped. Now that the holiday weekend is over, there aren’t as many people in the campground or at the beach and pier.

This blog entry is mostly pictures. There were three cruise ships in port today, but I didn’t watch any of them leave from port side. If you’re looking in the right direction it is impossible to miss them. They tower over everything.

Another Space X rocket launch has been slipped into the schedule for tonight between 11PM and midnight. If it doesn’t keep slipping like the one last week, I’ll walk back over to the side of the port to watch it.

Tonight’s Sunset