Orlando for Christmas

Ahh, Orlando. Sun, warmth, and Disney. It's a magical place for this and many other reasons and as such we decided to escape the harsh Maryland winter and venture down to meet Grandma and Grandpa Sivitz in the land of orange groves and adults dressed as cartoon characters. Our trip began on Christmas Eve in a less than magical manner as our plane was delayed by over two hours because our pilots hadn't slept enough. When they finally awoke from their slumber to guide our plane, they explained that they'd been out partying in Cancun until almost 2am (meaning that their previous flight from Cancun was delayed by mechanical difficulties) and all the passengers with their Christmas spirits high quickly forgot about the delays and missed connections.
Christmas cheer was so high that one passenger excitedly quipped "U.S. Airways isn't making the best impression today" when told that connecting gate information would not be announced on the plane and would have to be devised by reading the TV monitors inside the terminal. The Sivitz family was under slightly less duress during this time as our connection (one that Sarah is quick to point out we should never have needed) didn't require us to change planes.
So in order to keep the mood festive, Claire decided she'd lightly and repeatedly kick the passenger in front of her. The lady didn't seem to mind that much, although Sarah did point out that she received several grinchlike stares from the battered passenger.

Anyway, we finally made it, met Grandma and Grandpa at the airport and headed out to our hotel in our brand spanking new rental with only 15 miles on it. More on this later, but let's just say we didn't return it in such a pristine condition. (I digress, but for those of you in the 4th-6th grade, the literary technique I've just used is called "foreshadowing") .
We stayed at the lovely Marriott Grande Vista Villas that was quite literally the 2nd biggest Marriott resort in the world. With 1600 rooms on a sprawling campus complete with many pools, a golf course created by Nick Faldo, several lakes, and ample children's activities, the only bigger Marriott is just 5 miles down the road and includes 2400 rooms. Suffice to say, Orlando is a big tourist destination. During a conversation with one of the hotel staffers , we learned that during the "low" season, the hotel is still 75% booked.

Enough about the hotel, let's talk about the Orlando Magic. Well, not the basketball team, even though the recent shakeup and arrival of the prolific Gilbert Arenas and Jason Richardson could make for an intersting blog topic. What I mean is the magic of Orlando. The magic created by good ole Walt Disney himself. Who could have imagined those many years ago when he first drew a picture of a mouse that such a simple gesture would transform not just a sleepy farming city in Florida, but would capture the hearts and minds of children and adults around the world. The amazing theme parks, the wonderful characters, the exciting venues.
All of these things and we choose to see exactly 0 of them. Well, that's not entirely true, we did venture to the Disney Boardwalk and downtown disney where I (Brian) did manage to summon up some magic and win Claire a nice Pitt basketball by making a ball fit in a rim entirely too small for comfort. Instead of the Disney experience we choose mainly to partake in relaxing, eating, and enjoying our resort. Claire particularly liked the "Maze" which was a nicely done indoor play area. And it was a good thing it was indoor too as the weather showed us some of its magic. On Christmas day it was very nice 73 degrees under sunny skies. We took advantage of this by sunny on the sand beach, dining poolside, and taking a dip in the heated pools. This was by far the warmest Christmas any of us had ever spent and unfortunately turned out to be the warmest day we'd spend in Orlando.
After Santa packed his bags and headed for Fiji for a few weeks off before preparing for next year's XMas, father winter showed his strength by blowing in a cold front of record setting performances. We had the pleasure of experiencing record low nighttime temps in the 20s for 3 consecutive nights and the lowest high temperature on record of only 49 degrees on December 27th. Still good times were had by all. The Ellicott City Sivitz's really appreciated having Grandma and Grandpa around. Sarah and Brian thank them for their generosity in letting us spend some time to ourselves, and Claire for getting to jump on the bed and play hide and seek with the willing grandparents. Thanks again Grandma and Grandpa!



And now for the foreshadowing part. Well now its not foreshadowing anymore, in fact its not even shadowing, its more telling at this point. Remember that pristince car, well someone grazed the bumper as they parked. Apparently they didn't realize they did this, as they left the car parked ridiculously close to ours and when we called the hotel security to get the owner's information, they explained to us how the 75 year old grandmother had stood outside and watched as the car slid effortlessly into the parking spot without hitting our car. Her statement was backed up by two nice silver paint streaks on their side at suspicously the same height where two patches of silver were missing from ours. Oh well, "it is what it is" as the unshaven driver of the vehicle explained to us.








Merry Xmas to all and to all a good night!