Conservation, Historic Preservation, and Sustainability- Disney Style!

Do you ever have days when you know you have plenty to do, but you're just tired and can't seem to focus without a lot of effort? We're having one of those days today. It seems like it took forrr-evvv-errr (Sandlot, anyone?) to get schoolwork done. As a result we decided to take the rest of the day off and just relax at home.

Before we left for our adventure, we knew we'd be spending the largest amount of time here in Central Florida. Many amusement parks and attractions are less than 20 min away, so we knew we'd have the opportunity to visit them often. Unfortunately, it's just to expensive to piece out a day here at one park and another day somewhere else. So we decided as a family to use our budget for Disney season passes and forgo the rest this time.

Having season passes means we can visit any time we like (except black-out dates), which means we can use them like gym memberships. I mean, when was the last time you went to an amusement park and left under 10,000 steps?! We've also discovered that Disney has a lot of educational programs within the attractions. I've got you curious, haven't I? Well, let me tell you about a few things we've experienced.

When driving into the Magic Kingdom parking lot, we drove past rows of solar panels. It was a surprising but welcome sight to see. Apparently Disney is one of the major corporations leading the way for sustainable energy practices and global conservation efforts.

At Epcot we went to "The Land Pavilion" and went on the "Living with the Land" ride. It starts off as a boat ride through different landscapes and then takes you into working labs where scientists are busy developing sustainable growing methods with hydroponics, greenhouses, and innovative growth structures. Much of what's grown there is served at Disney restaurants throughout the parks! I encourage you to visit the links in this post to learn more because it's really interesting! There's a lot of potential for global implementation.

Epcot is also hosting the "International Festival of the Arts" through February, which allows us to try new foods and see art from the artists, themselves! That, along with being able to learn more about different countries, makes Epcot my favorite of all the Disney Parks.

One of the chefs plating a culinary delight!

This example is the Deconstructed Purple Sweet Potato Pie, Salted Caramel, Bourbon-soaked Cake and Marshmallow Whipped Cream. Yum! 

In the Animal Kingdom you'll find the Kilimanjaro Safari ride where you can board one of their vehicles and be taken on a tour through their actual wildlife refuge. You'll drive next to real lions and rhinos, plus a host of other animals, and see what their natural habitats are like. The guide gives you information about each species and what kind of conservation efforts are in place to help protect them in the wild. They also give you information about the main threats to each species, such as poaching. I was surprised to learn that the veterinarian we're seeing here (vaccinations for our dogs) also works with Disney as one of their animal experts. Apparently Disney keeps experts and conservationists on site to make sure their animals have the very best care at all times. She was really proud of the work they do and was able to give us a few tips for educational programs, like the bird show, which our youngest son loved!

The Tree of Life at the Animal Kingdom was built around an old oil platform! Now that's recycling!

Those are just a few examples of things we've discovered so far. So, in addition to being a fun day out, our season passes have turned out to be a great opportunity for exercise and up-close education with actual animals and field experts. Another added benefit is we don't feel obligated to stay there all.day.long. When it gets too hot or we're all tired, we can just go home and come back another day. Believe me, this is not something we'd be able to do normally so we're enjoying every minute while we can.

That takes care of the Conservation and Sustainability parts of the title, now for the Historic Preservation! If you've been following my social media feeds this week, then you've seen my new baby! No, not an actual baby. ;-) I am now the proud owner of a Singer Featherweight 221 sewing machine! It was manufactured in 1955, which makes it over 60 years old and it still purrs like a kitten!

You may be wondering why I'm so excited about "an old sewing machine". Well, I'll tell you. I'm a quilter and love to sew, for one. We had to keep things light on this trip so I only brought a small project with me. When we were in Alaska, though, I met with some quilters and many of them were using Singer Featherweights. I asked them why and they told me it was designed for people who live in remote places or compact quarters (like a trailer) because they are small, lightweight (only 11ish lbs!), easy to maintain yourself, and total reliable workhorses. Well, after a recommendation like that, I was sold and found this one for sale here in Florida.

Just for scale, the blocks are 6 1/2"

Just looking at it makes my heart sing! Now I can work on getting my state flowers quilt top finished before we return home next summer!

- Jen

P.S. If you were wondering about the Fire Ant bites/stings from the launch last week, they are healing nicely. I learned that the bites turn into blisters and then they take a long time to disappear.....education in all forms on this trip! ;-)