Happy holidays…

from Eating (and Drinking) Around the World!

Yes kids, it’s time for the obligatory Holiday Good Wishes post required of every blog, website, etc…

Whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanza, the Winter Solstice or just (hopefully) a little time off from work, I think most people do feel a bit more kinship and love for their fellow man at this time of year… we (hopefully) get to spend time with our loved ones (or perhaps some of your perhaps dysfunctional families), we miss our family we can’t get to be with (and remember those that are no longer around to be with in person), we shake hands with and give good wishes to casual friends and relative strangers (and most of the time we mean it)… despite the commercialism, over consumption of calories and holiday-related stresses, I think most of us do get at least a little bit of the “warm-fuzzies” at this time of year… what I really wish is that we could all have a bit more of that holiday feelings and good will the rest of the year – the world might be a little bit better place…

Okay, I’ll get off my virtual soapbox… now for a little visual holiday gift… if you’re not already over the holidays as it is.

Let’s take a quick trip over to Animal Kingdom and follow the path down to Camp Minnie-Mickey.

The usual character meet-and-greet area undergoes a bit of a change this time of year:

the characters are adorned in their holiday garb…

When Chipmunks attack...

and all around the area are trees dedicated to various characters, movies, attractions and at least one seems to represent a resort.

Mickey's Tree

Of course each of the Fab Five have their own trees.

Minnie's Tree

Donald's Tree

Goofy's Tree

Pluto's Tree

The ornaments and details on most of the trees are amazing, you can spend quite a bit of time examining each of them looking for hidden treasures. Note the star atop the Pluto tree – it’s made of bones. Let’s just hope they kept Pluto away from the base of the tree…

Finding Nemo Tree

And atop the Nemo tree is a star of a different kind…

And if you need a little extra holiday cheer, in the form of moonshine that is, there’s the Country Bear tree…

Country Bear Jamboree Tree

If you’re a fan of the Wilderness Lodge, there’s a tree full of ornaments reminiscent of the American Northwest…

Wilderness Lodge Tree

including several “fishy” details:

The most distinctive tree is the one decorated for that impish alien, Stitch.

Stitch's Tree

I was sorely tempted to try and swipe one of the rocket ornaments…

That’s just a quick sampling of some of the trees and decorations at Camp Minnie-Mickey – hopefully you’ll have the opportunity to check out these, and the others, for yourselves in the time remaining this holiday season (or ones to come, at least until Avatarland likely takes over this area).

Here’s sincerely wishing all of you Dedicated Readers the best during the remainder of this holiday season, and for the New Year to come – let’s do our best to keep the holiday spirit of goodwill to all in our minds and hearts throughout the year!

Back to the kitchen – see you soon!