Winter Garden, Florida Source: https://pics2.city-data.com/city/maps/fr2621.pngMy Aunt Barb and Uncle Jason are wintering in a special place called “Winter Garden, Florida!” It was not like winter here, it was more like summer garden!
My name is Flat Stanley and I am the friend of a third-grader in Colfax, Wisconsin. I got to visit my Aunt Barb and Uncle Jason in Winter Garden, Florida, on a week-long visit. They sold their house in Wisconsin in 2017 and have been traveling fulltime in their RV since then. In the last three years, they have spent the cold winter months in Winter Garden, Florida. Winter Garden is a 150-year-old city outside of Orlando, about 20 minutes from Disney World!
When I arrived in Florida they were so excited to see me arrive via the postal service mail. We spent some time with their friends visiting from Wisconsin and we spent some time together at the Magic Kingdom and Epcot Center. My aunt and uncle are “residents” of Florida, so they get a special discounted pass to go to Disney World on weeknights after work. During the day I could hang out by the pool and soak up the sun while my Uncle Jason was working!
I felt like a movie star here! Everywhere I went I was recognized, Flat Stanleys are really popular! One lady in Epcot’s Itlay, broke out in tears thinking about their visit of a Flat Stanley when her now 20-year daughter was my age! It was so amazing, tears of joy while she remembered the great time they had too.
Tomorrow I have to get back into my envelop and head back home to cold Wisconsin! While I miss my people there, I have not missed the cold which stiffens up my paper. Now that I am glued to cardboard I probably will be ok with the cold wind!
We took a lot of photos of my time in Florida, check them out below!
Flat Stanley
Arriving in Florida
My Aunt and Uncle are living in Winter Garden RV resort for the winter, I arrived in my manilla envelope and they were excited to see me!
Aunt Barb let me out of the manila envelope that I traveled from Wisconsin to Florida in through the postal service. I was so happy to be opened in such a warm place!
When I arrived at Aunt Barb and Uncle Jason’s the first thing we did was a pretty sticky situation. They pasted me on some cardboard because they were afraid for my safety. I am so happy they were looking out for me.
When I got to Florida I sent home a postcard to my family, I hope it makes it there before I get back! Did you know that you can mail letters and postcards from all over Disney World just like any other city?
Visiting Lego Land at Disney Springs
Disney Springs is a shopping area near Disney. I love Legos so we went to go check out the amazing Lego creations that are at the Lego Land store there.
I have admired “Lego Friends” on the Internet, we got to sit down and talk as a group. It was so cool to meet Andrea, Emma, Mia, Olivia and Stephanie!
It was so warm and Olaf was finding out what snow is like in the warmth of Florida! He was just a cool dude! Oh and Anna was there too!
Check out this cool Lego wall! Did you know that the little birdie is a special Disney character called “Orange Bird” and is a marketing icon of Flordia citrus? I am on the wall, can you find me?
Visiting Epcot Center World Showcase
I got to ride the “Disney Skyliner” from the parking lot over to Epcot Center, it was fun! We met Mickey Mouse on the way into the park and then we went “around the world” at Disney’s Epcot Center World Showcase collecting “Kidcot” postcards and learning how to say “Hello” in different languages. I earned a little suitcase to take home these postcards to my friends in Wisconsin. We started “in” Mexico, then went to Norway, Germany, Itay and ended in France. There are more countries to visit, but we did not have time to see everything in one evening.
I got to ride the “Disney Skyliner” which was fun, flying over water and hotels on the ground! Wee!!!
I was wearing my Mickey ears when I got to meet the mouse himself!! He was amazing, he thought my years were very good.
Mickey Mouse himself signed the back of my shirt, it tickled a little!
The Pyramid in Mexico at Disney’s Epcot center was so big, the stairs on the front of the pyramid seemed like they just keep going and going up into the sky.
A Norweigan Stave Church in the Norway area of Disney’s Epcot Center. There are lots of different creatures carved into the woodwork, like birds and trolls. Here my Aunt Barb and Uncle Jason love to get the warm ham and apple sandwich with the “school bread” dessert.
This is my new friend from Wittlick Germany and she taught me how to say “hello” in German! “Guten Tag!” sounds like “gooo-tin tahg.” She gave me a postcard about Germany and a suitcase to carry my Kidcot finds!
The German area in Epcot is so detailed. Look at all of the beautiful colors. Every 15 minutes there is a huge clock that plays music and characters run around in a circle. At the beginning of each hour, the cuckoo comes out and chirps to announce the time.
Walt Disney himself loved trains and at Epcot Center there is a little train town. I stopped by to see if someone was home, but it looked like they were gone for the day.
“Ciao” (hello) from Italy! Italy was one of my favorite places at Disney’s Epcot Center, when I was posing for a photo in front of the tower a kind family came up to talk with my Aunt and Uncle. They told them all about their Flat Stanley was off in Tennesse visiting another family.
“Bienvenue” (welcome) to France! I stopped to smell the flowers in the France area of Disney’s Epcot center. There are so many beautiful flowers in Florida right now.
Visiting the Magic Kingdom
The Magic Kingdom is what people most think of when they hear about “Disney.” Magic Kingdom is one of the four parks of the Walt Disney World area in Florida. We went one evening after Uncle Jason was done with work for the day.
My Aunt Barb made me some Mickey Mouse ears so that we could go and check out Magic Kingdom and also Epcot Center. I had to stop for the traditional photo in front of Cinderella’s castle!
Disney calls their staff “cast members” because they are always “on stage” performing magic. A kind cast member gave me this “1st visit” button as a survivor of my visit. At Epcot Center many of the countries also stamped my back with their countries.
Other Things in Florida
Florida is known for oranges, but the strawberries were in season when I was visiting. They were very yummy! Cattle and horses are all over the area too between the orange orchards.
I was very surprised to find out that there are so many cattle in Florida. We are just 15 minutes from Disney World and there are acres and acres of cattle roaming around. Orlando is in central Florida, which is orange, cattle and horse country!
I was surprised to find out that it is peak strawberry season in Florida in February! Oranges are picked from October to January and then it is strawberry time. They are so tasty and amazing!
I was not prepared for the warm weather in Florida! In February the high can be anywhere between 50 and 90 degrees in the day and at night between the 40s and even as warm as the 70s overnight. I got a little sunshine while hanging by the pool.
Flat Stanley, you surely travel in style. I’ve always wanted to travel first class myself.
This was so cute!!