The Ross Perot Museum Of Nature And Science

Yesterday Todd and I took Mom to the Ross Perot Museum of Nature and Science in downtown Dallas.  It was the first time any of us had been there, and we had a great time.  I highly encourage you to plan a visit if you're in the area.

What I learned that will stay with me the longest was this fact that was written on one of the benches:
"The average person accidentally eats 430 bugs each year of his or her life."

A unique exterior, and the inside is a lot of fun too

The Future Is Now

I attended a conference for work a couple of weeks ago.  It was hard to concentrate when all I could think about was how much the giant lights in the hotel's meeting rooms reminded me of Logan's Run.

"Lastday, Capricorn 29's.  Year of the City:  2274.  Carousel begins."

Looks Amazing - The Grand Budapest Hotel

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/thegrandbudapesthotel/

A Wes Anderson film with Ralph Fiennes, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Jason Schwartzman, Saoirse Ronan, Harvey Keitel, Edward Norton, Jude Law, Tilda Swinton (hooray!), Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, and Adrien Brody.

Disney Trip 2013 - Epilogue Part 3: Orlando Air Quality

Nah, I'm just kidding.  That last one was my last post about the trip - hope you enjoyed it.

I'm ready to write about something else now.  Who wants to finance the next vacation?   :)

Disney Trip 2013 - Epilogue Part 2: My Disney Experience

Along with the Disney Magic Bands I wrote about in the last post, we also used the My Disney Experience website and app before and during our trip.

The website is a free to use portal where you can link and view your reservations, tickets, make fast pass selections, create to-do or wish lists, connect with friends who will be traveling with you, make dining reservations, and discover everything there is to do at the parks and resorts.

The My Disney Experience website

Disney Trip 2013 - Epilogue Part 1: Magic Bands

So, you may have seen in earlier posts these colorful bracelets that we and other people are wearing:

Blue for Brett

Green for Todd

These are Magic Bands.  They're currently being tested by Disney for some resort guests.  There's an RFID chip inside that uniquely identifies each Magic Band.  They are used for:  hotel room keys, tickets to enter the park, fast passes, purchases (if you choose), reservations, etc.  They're also used in conjunction with photos taken in the parks by Disney photographers, which are everywhere.  Any time you get your picture made, say in front of the castle, at a meet and greet with a character, in front of the giant sorcerer's hat at Hollywood Studios, etc., you simply tap your Magic Band to the photographer's pad afterward.  Then your done.  During your trip, or when you get home after your vacation you can go online and review all the photos that were taken, and pay to download only the ones you want.

In addition, many gift shops at Walt Disney World sell optional accessories in several flavors:  Magic Band covers (sleeves which envelop the entire band to give it a different appearance), "sliders" that are like big character charms that fit over the band and frame the Mickey on top, and "MagicBandits" which are small character charms that plug into the empty holes on the wristband.

I was going to make this a longer post, but just watch the video at the end - it shows all the Magic Band features.

About Last Night

We had a wonderful New Year's Eve, and even managed to stay up this year!  Thank you Shenny for the amazing champagne - I can't rave enough about it.  Alas, it is no more *hic*.

Chilling in the sink

Tiny bubbles.  Does anyone remember the Don Ho show?  :o)