Straight from my heart – A glimpse into what makes my fellow Panelists so very precious to me.
Wes and Angelo are the two awesome, super sweet Dads who joined the Moms Panel family in 2011. Along with an obvious love for Disney, they both brought incredible energy, enthusiasm and hilarious senses of humor with them.
I first met Angelo in the lobby of the Yacht Club in December of 2010 for his Training Trip. Here he is with Lynn, one of our 2011 Canadian Panelists.
Angelo and Lynn - 12/10
Angelo speaks Spanish and is originally from Puerto Rico. He lives in South Carolina now with his two beautiful children. In addition to raising his kids, Angelo works at an engineering firm and is a very talented actor. He absolutely loves being on stage. In fact, he most recently could be seen performing in “Bye Bye Birdie”…
We were only able to spend a few moments together at Bongo’s during his Training weekend, but we had a blast…
From left: Marisol, Suzannah, Joel, Maria, Angelo, Emma and I - 12/10
Two awesome Disney Dads – Joel and Angelo at Bongo’s…
Joel and Angelo at Bongo's - 12/10
The next day, a group of us rode Pirates of the Caribbean together, then we posed for a fun photo at the end…
From left: Suzannah, Marisol, Chris, Deborah, Jonas, me, Ritzy, Joel, Marc, Leslie and Angelo
Angelo, Bernie and Joel pausing in front of Cinderella Castle…
3 Disney Dads - 12/10
I didn’t have the chance to see Angelo again until Moms Panel Reunion in September of 2011. I was really excited to have the opportunity to get to know him better.
A big group of us kicked off Reunion with dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe…
Whispering Canyon Gang - 9/11
Not surprisingly, the evening was full of laughter and fun.
Whispering Canyon - 9/11
The next morning, we visited Give Kids the World Village to make our donation of $12,020 together. We were slightly excited, as you can see in this photo…
From left: Angelo, Deborah, Kathie, Emma, Wes, Tron, me, Marisol, Allison, Jill, Marc &Â Ritzy
That evening, we all went to Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party together. I turned around at one point and saw Angelo playing hop-scotch!
Angelo - MNSSHP - 9/11
A group of us went to Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor together. Marisol’s beautiful, sweet sister was with us and we all had a blast. I’m so glad that I captured this moment. I had turned to snap their photo and Angelo said, “this is Latin heat”. 😉 I can still hear Marisol’s laugh.
Nilda, Marisol and Angelo - MNSSHP - 9/11
I mentioned Angelo’s sense of humor earlier. He seriously is a riot. He is so quick witted and he’s always coming up with hilarious comments. As the night wore on, one by one the Panelists decided they were ready to head back to the Resort to get some sleep. Angelo and I felt compelled to close the park down (which is a habit of mine). This gave me the perfect opportunity to spend some one-on-one time with him. We rode Thunder and Splash Mountains together, as well as Pirates of the Caribbean. We got soaked on Splash, my hair got curly…but we had a blast 🙂 I clearly recall riding in the front of the log and chatting about life and relationships. It was one of my favorite hours that weekend, as quality time to talk openly is hard to come by sometimes during the whirlwind of Reunion. We were completely exhausted near midnight and we paused for a few photos together including this one in front of Cinderella Castle…
Frizzy wet hair and having a blast - MNSSHP - 9/11
At about 12:15 am, I was going on about 1 hour of sleep out of the last 48. I’m not sure how my eyes were even open at that point. We rode the ferry boat back to the Wilderness Lodge and Angelo started “talking in his sleep while riding a ferry”. I still laugh about that one whenever I think about it.
The next day was the Moms Panel Meet & Greet in Epcot…
2011 Moms Panel Meet & Greet in the Odyssey - 9/11
One of the attendees was Amanda F, who is now our Disneyland Mom on the Panel this year!
Angelo, Amanda F and Cassie
We had an awesome dinner at Les Chefs de France and walked around the World Showcase together for a bit…
Deborah, Cassie, Allison and Angelo - 9/11
Then we headed to Mexico for an IllumiNations Party hosted by Laura.
I love this photo of four of my Moms Panel brothers…
Marc, Wes, Jonas and Angelo
Three of my buds…
Wes, Jonas, Angelo and I
Marc and Emma join the photo…
Marc, Emma, Wes, Jonas, me and Angelo
After IllumiNations, Kathie, Amanda A, Maria, Angelo and I ended the evening with great conversation and a cocktail back at our Resort…
Maria, Angelo, Kathie & Amanda A - WL - 9/11
Angelo is on hiatus from the Panel right now. Since Reunion last year, I have enjoyed keeping in touch with him. He has such a huge heart and I’m blessed to call him my friend. I will always cherish the memories of closing down the Magic Kingdom together during Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party and the memories we made.
Last year, Angelo wrote an amazing post for my Disney Movie Lines – Cinema Sunday series. I hope you’ll take a moment to read it and be inspired:
“When Did You Last Let Your Heart Decide?”
You can follow Angelo on Twitter: @angeloco15
Want to get to know some more Walt Disney World Moms Panel Moms & Dads? I share a different Panelist with you each Monday! Here’s the link to all of them so far: http://www.memorymakermom.com/category/disney-moms-panel-monday/
Love ya, Angelo!
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