Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Back from my Disney Adventure

by Brittany Geragotelis

So, part of my job as senior editor at American Cheerleader magazine is traveling to competitions. Working on the weekends (and with no overtime), not so fun. Attending the competitions at ESPN's Wide World of Sports in Disney World, awesome! How many people get to say they have to go to Disney World for business?!?! The only downside, is that most of the time on these trips, we're at the Wide World of Sports the entire time and have no time to get to the parks. And for someone who is a HUGE Disney fanatic (I've gone to Disneyland every year since I was 3!), being that close to the magic and not actually getting to experience it is rough.

photo credit: Disney
But this trip was different. My co-worker and I got to Disney on Thursday afternoon and because of the delayed flights of several international teams (those darn volcanos!), the day's ceremonies were canceled. So, we had the entire afternoon off! We were lucky enough to snag a few park hopper passes and headed over to MGM and then to The Magic Kingdom for a little fun. All I gotta say is that Disney truly is the happiest place on earth!

photo credit: Disney
One last thing I wanted to mention about the trip was how good Disney is about their guest's food allergies. I have Celiac Disease, which is an autoimmune disease where my body cannot handle the protein in gluten (wheat, oats, barely & rye). This means I can't eat anything basically with flour in it....pizza, sandwiches, cereal and other things gluten's hidden in, are all off limits to me. It makes it difficult for me to find things to eat sometimes. But Disney's made an incredible effort to include anyone who comes to their parks by offering safe menus for everyone! Everywhere I'd go (even the fast-food joints), I'd tell the cashiers that I needed to eat gluten-free and the chef would come out and talk with me, discuss what they could make me and personally made my meal. And I wasn't just stuck with burgers without the buns or salads w/o the dressings...almost everywhere we went had gf buns, pizza, chicken fingers, etc. Every morning I had gf waffles in the shape of Mickey Mouse—and they were the best waffles I've ever had!

For someone who usually has trouble finding food that's safe to eat, this was a huge deal. So, if you have food allergies, you can rest easy knowing that Disney is more than happy and capable of accommodating you.

photo credit: It Books
Even though the trip was a ton of fun, I'm glad to be home and back to my regular schedule...and back to this blog! Speaking of books...I watched Molly Ringwald on "The Today Show" this morning. I grew up watching her movies (Sixteen Candles was a personal fave! Who didn't dream of the school hottie asking her to the big dance?) and am so excited to see that she has a book out today, called Getting the Pretty Back. It's about growing up and feeling comfortable in your skin. Are you going to get your copy? I know I am!

5x5,
B.

0 comments:

 
;