It is a chilly day and we are off to Epcot! We bundle up and head out for the parks. As we are passing through Disney property, we see 10 Osceola Wild Turkeys, and they are huge! We get to the Epcot parking lot, catch the tram, and are off to the front entrance of Epcot.
There are a lot of people going through bag check, we get our bags checked, scan our MagicBands, and enjoy seeing the new Christmas topiaries near the entrance! We see a young mom taking a picture of her son, and he is not smiling much. After she took the picture I offered to take a picture of both of them, they both smiled really big for a great picture. The Christmas decorations are so nice!
As we walk through Canada, I see that the Canadian Lumberjack Show will start in just 7 minutes. So, we walk up to The Mill Stage and wait to see them. They are really fun and did a great job today. They even carved little chairs out of a log with chainsaws! The chairs were so cute!
As we walk through the UK pavilion, I see Mary Poppins’ beautiful dress as she kneels down really close to a little girl, who is sitting on the tiny garden border. They are talking and the little girl is so shy. It is the most beautiful thing I have seen, Mary Poppins kneeling to speak to the little girl face to face. I love Mary Poppins and her love for children.
Now, off to France! I love seeing the Eiffel Tower as we walk up to the bridge. France is a beautiful pavilion and it has plenty of things to see. There are perfume stores, a most wonderful restaurant, an ice cream shop, a bakery to grab pastries and sandwiches, and plenty of places to shop! I sit for a minute as the kids take pictures of the Christmas decorations! There are so many people coming and going; it is fascinating to hear all of the different accents from all over of the world.
We realize it is suppertime, and try to get a reservation, but the soonest is an hour from now. A quicker plan is to go to The Land Pavilion and get dinner. We walk back through England, Canada, and the Showcase Plaza, then up and around to The Land. Yes, you can walk a few miles in just a couple of hours. Epcot is huge!
When we walk into The Land, it looks like a city. There are so many people walking and riding up and down the escalators, it really does have the feeling of a city. As we ride the escalator downstairs, the lower level reveals even more people! There is a pleasant bustle with all of the things going on. We get our meals at Sunshine Seasons and sit in the open area. It is busy, but there are several tables available. We enjoy our gluten free meals. I got the Power Salad, Tooti had the salmon, and Twinkie had the baked chicken. Their gluten free meals are spectacular, both in flavor and variety.
It is cold outside and Spaceship Earth is always so beautiful. It has been a great late afternoon at Epcot, and it is time to say, “Goodnight!”
It is a chilly, overcast day, the high is in the mid-50s and windy. We are happy to be going to Magic Kingdom! You never know what fun things can happen in a day at the Walt Disney World Resort. As we enter the properties, we see that there are about a dozen Osceola Wild Turkeys on the golf course! I love the wildlife, and I have never seen so many turkeys at once in the wild.
We arrive at Magic Kingdom and it is lightly busy as we get our bags checked. Tooti and Twinkie both are laughing as they get their bags checked. I chose to go to a different security guard right next to theirs. I said, “Kids!” The security officer laughed as he checked my bag and he suggested I tease them, so I said, “I win!” He laughed!
Our first destination today is Dumbo the Flying Elephant! We weave our way down Main Street USA and turn to go to through Tomorrowland to get to Fantasyland. I looked up and a new thing happened. This young boy, with his pirate outfit and face painted said, “Hello, welcome to Tomorrowland.” This is why I love Disney, he was timid, but greeted us anyway. We said, “Thank you!” and smiled.
We passed through Tomorrowland and on to Fantasyland and Storybook Circus. Dumbo the Flying Elephant is the first ride I remember riding when we went to Disneyland when I was about 4 years old. I love this ride and it is so much fun! As we waited in line, it was so sweet to see parents enjoying the ride as they showed their little ones how to make Dumbo fly and soar higher. Now, it is our turn and we are heading for the Dumbo with the yellow hat like the one Dumbo has on in his movie! Twinkie lets me have the control and we soar!
Now, we are going to find those Anna and Elsa Mickey earhats we just saw on our way to Fantasyland. We found some in Big Top Souvenirs! Tooti wears hers with Elsa facing forward, and Twinkie faces Anna forward. What a great idea, making the ears double sided!
The next FastPass+ is for the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. We have plenty of time, so we go towards Gaston’s Tavern and yes, Gaston is there and we need a picture with him! He is so fun to watch, so be sure to watch the people as they get pictures; it is so fun to see how they react. After we get our picture with Gaston, a lady stops me and asks if I could take her picture with the Gaston fountain and Gaston’s Tavern in the background! Sure! I say yes, and hand it off to Twinkie, something I do often. 😀
And we’re off to Under the Sea- Journey of the Little Mermaid ride! We scan our MagicBands, and there are several people going through. We get in line and let the 3 people go in front of us to be with their family. Then, there were 3 more, then a couple more. A couple of them said that they were fine letting us stay where we were, but, I’d rather a family get to be together. Then, the young dad in front of me said, as their parents were coming around the corner, “There are 17 of us, we usually can’t all get on one ride!” I laughed and said that we had met another family of 17, just last week. He chuckled and then looked puzzled.
After the ride, we went to get some hot coffee, before we headed home. We order and pick up our delicious drinks. As we leave the Main Street Bakery with our Starbucks, we hear the announcement that A Frozen Holiday Wish castle lighting show will be in 5 minutes. We all glance at each other and Twinkie suggests that we watch from the train station balcony! So, we go down Main Street USA, and up the steps to the train station balcony! Listen to the music! Oh, there are not very many people up here at all, so we grab a chair and sit at the front!! “In just a few minutes A Frozen Holiday Wish will begin!” We are so excited. It is beautiful from here! The older grandma in front of us started clapping her hands as the lights on Cinderella’s Castle twinkled and before the full lighting of the castle lights! I love the cheering and the amazement you hear as Cinderella’s Castle is lit for Christmas! There was a little girl to our right, who watched in sheer awe and amazement, the same feelings reflected by the grandmas sitting beside us. It makes me think of this quote by Walt Disney, “Laughter is timeless. Imagination has no age. And dreams are forever.” This is what I see as I see different generations sharing the same wonderful experience.
We are having a great evening, and it is time to go home! 36 days until Christmas is what the Countdown to Christmas sign says tonight! Sweet Dreams Magic Kingdom, Where Dreams Do Come True!
Happy 86th birthday to Mickey Mouse! We’re so happy the weather has gotten cooler so that we can wear our vintage Mickey Mouse “ugly sweaters” to the parks today! The temperatures have plunged from the 80s yesterday to the mid 60s today for the high. It is windy and there are a few raindrops, but not many. What a great day to go to Epcot! Our goal is 365 days in a row at Disney World, and we are to 65, which means we only have 300 more days to go!!! I am so excited!
We arrive mid-morning at Epcot and it is very nice! I love going to the parks early, it is less busy and the atmosphere is much lighter. We are going to Soarin’ and our FastPass+ check-in is about 30 minutes from now. We talked about getting coffee, but decided to grab breakfast instead, since we only ate fruit earlier this morning.
We went to The Land Pavilion and journeyed downstairs to the Sunshine Seasons restaurant. We have not eaten breakfast here before, so we take a minute to look around. Oh my, they have this round pizza-pie-looking breakfast, it is about 3 inches tall, and it looks awesome. I do know that this is NOT gluten free! When it is our turn, we let the lady know that we have an allergy and she calls the chef. This chef is one of the fun chefs! He says, “Rootin’ tootin’ gluten? That seems to be the common allergy today!” We ask about the Breakfast Platter, and he says that they will cook our breakfast in another kitchen, would we like gluten free waffles? Yes! In 5-6 minutes we have our food and it looks great! The food was really good and a great value for breakfast!
Now, off to Soarin’! We scan our Magic Band in the FastPass+ line and make our way up to the ride. A young man began walking with me and asking if we had ever been on Soarin’ before! He had been sitting with his younger sister, she is 7, and she was not going on rides since she went on some of the scary ones in Hollywood Studios. Oh, I am so sorry! He continued talking and was really a fun, intelligent kid! I turned and didn’t see anyone following him, and we kept talking until we caught up to the line. His mom and the rest of his family caught up and we had so much fun talking to all of them! I love days like today, days you meet some really fine people. They are from Alabama. They ended up following us to our requested first row. We had fun riding with some fellow Soarin’ fans, and had a blast.
I need some hot coffee on this chilly day! We were going to go to Starbucks, but it was completely packed. We couldn’t even get into the door. I looked at my kids, and they looked at me, and we decided to pass on coffee. We talked about hopping on the Monorail and going to Magic Kingdom to grab coffee, but decided to get coffee on the way out at the Joffrey’s coffee stand. Twinkie said that it was a really good cup of coffee.
The kids have a friend, with friends, in town and they are going to Downtown Disney tonight for supper. We decide to go home and get ready for tonight.
It is a beautifully coldish day, and tonight it will be very chilly!
Now, I will turn this over to Twinkie, who went to Downtown Disney last night with Tooti and their friends:
Downtown Disney is an amazing place to explore, hang out, and eat. Our first stop was the World of Disney store. There is so much Disney merchandise for sale inside that they have actually divided the store up into departments like Women’s Apparel, Accessories, Men’s Apparel, Souvenirs, and so on. You can find a vast assortment here, so if you don’t get to make it to the parks, but find that there is something you’re looking for, chances are that World of Disney may have it!
After World of Disney, we made our way to Planet Hollywood, where we had reservations for dinner. First, however, we had to make our way to the Lego store. Outside of the Lego store, you can see a giant Lego Loch Ness Monster in the lake, a Lego Prince Phillip fighting Maleficent’s Dragon, and a Lego scene featuring all Seven Dwarfs! Inside of the Lego store, you can find a Lego Hulk, and a Lego Woody and Buzz Lightyear, complete with a backdrop for pictures. Too fun!
We made our way around to Planet Hollywood, checked in, and had our photo taken in front of a green screen. Once we walked inside the doors, we were informed that we would be dining on the second level, just up the stairs. We made our way up to the second level and were greeted by props and memorabilia from incredible movies. We let our waitress know that had to eat gluten free, so she brought out the chef. He was so nice; I ordered the Kobe burger with steak fries, and Tooti had the spinach and peach salad. Delicious! Great food, great service, and great friends to enjoy it all with. Before we left, someone came by with our picture and explained the package to us. It was a great photo of all of us, and our good friend decided to get the photo package.
After we ate, we looked at some of the various props, including Cousin Itt and Baby Cousin Itt from the Addams Family. They even had a GIANT Woody doll from Toy Story sitting up on the third level. What a fun place to eat!
We left Planet Hollywood and went to explore Downtown Disney. There is so much live music here at night! First, we heard someone playing Mele Kalikimaka and sang along in passing. Then, we ran across a Latin dance party where a lady was leading a group dance, so we joined in on the fun. After that, we passed by a guitarist with a cool pipe-like instrument; we clapped for him and he threw his guitar pick to one of our friends… woohoo! Free souvenir!
We went back into the World of Disney store so our friends could pick up some souvenirs for the people back home. When we exited, we saw that the dance party was going on the stage right outside. They had a singing competition for the little ones, and one little girl was singing, “Let It Go.” Frozen is our jam, so of course, we had to stop and listen. This little girl could really sing! It was great. After that, they had all four of the kids sing, “Do You Want to Build a Snowman,” so we sang at the back of the theater. The DJ called for a couple (anniversary, first date, or a couple) to act out “Love is an Open Door.” All of a sudden, we hear one of our friends yelling at the DJ, “All four of them (all girls), know it! They know the song!” The DJ zeroed in on us and said, “If you can pick two, come up here and act it out.” I looked at one of our friends and said, “I’ll be Hans,” and we made our way up to the front. What a blast! We even got buttons to commemorate the occasion. This was so much fun, especially considering that Tooti and I hadn’t seen her in a year and a half!
After that, we made our way down to Disney’s Days of Christmas store. If you are looking for some holiday cheer, year-round, this is the store for you! Just about every Disney ornament you can imagine is available for sale here. They have stockings, tree skirts, plushies, and even a separate room for Frozen merchandise!
Finally, on our way back to our cars, we spotted the guys on the really tall stilts. They are dressed as toy soldiers for the holidays! Of course, we had to get pictures with them! One of them had just finished doing yoga poses (on stilts!) and jumping jacks with the family in front of us. Next, it was our turn. The stilt-man graciously agreed to take a picture with us and then talked with all of us for a bit. If you ever spot the stilt walkers, ask to take a picture with them, they are so nice and funny to interact with. We thanked the stilt-man, watched a bit of the dance party that was still going on, and turned to make our way to our cars.
When we passed the World of Disney store, a cast member was handing out punch-out Frozen ornaments, to promote the Frozen Sing Along Editions that came out this week. How fun! Little snowflakes to decorate our tree!
We said our goodbyes, got our hugs and selfies, and made our way home. What a wonderful evening with wonderful friends!
Today we are on our quest to see gingerbread houses! We heard that the Contemporary Resort has theirs on display and the one at Grand Floridian Resort is up too. But first, we need coffee at Magic Kingdom.
We get to the parking area, and there are so many spaces empty! Oh my goodness, does this mean that there are not very many people here? We choose our parking place on the second row in the Villain’s lot! We get out and walk a couple of minutes to the Monorail. There are plenty of people on the Monorail as we jump on and make our way to the Magic Kingdom.
We see that it is still pouring down rain and the area at the bottom of the Monorail ramp is flooded. I smile as I see kids splashing. A dad saw me laughing and he said, “Hey, they are already soaked, this can’t hurt!” I love seeing how some parents handle the extra splashing on such a rainy day. We just join in! Some people behind us are pulling off their shoes and socks to go through this deep water. Just the basic rain pours and instantly soaks into your shoes… too funny!
We entered into Magic Kingdom and made our way down to Main Street Bakery for our Starbucks coffee. It is a little busy, but they are pretty fast. We decided that since it is raining we should sit around the corner, under the covered area at Tomorrowland Terrace. The wind and rain had drenched most of the tables, but there were some further underneath the cover that were dry. There was a cast member drying the tables and clearing the floor of the inch of the water. I asked her a question and we had a nice chat about Disney! She is here on the college program and was truly a delight to chat with!
We are going to see the gingerbread house, or should I say, castle, at the Contemporary Resort. Wow! The gingerbread castle is huge! It is the Frozen castle, modeled in the style of Mary Blair. It is adorable! Anna, Elsa, Sven, Kristoff, and even Olaf stand in front of the gingerbread castle, and if you look closely, you can find fourteen little Olafs hidden throughout the display. To the side of the gingerbread castle, they have a fun kiosk where you can buy Frozen inspired treats, including a Build-your-own-Olaf (not gluten free, but oh so cute!), and a gluten free gingerbread boy by Babycakes! The gingerbread boy is delicious! Also, they have limited release pins, featuring the gingerbread castle with Anna and Elsa! Too cute!
Next, we are going to the Polynesian to see if their Christmas decorations are up. We found out that they will be up in about 2 to 3 weeks. We take a minute to see the resort and venture downstairs to look around. As we are going back up the stairs, a little dude was being a “big boy” going up the stairs all by his little 2-year-old self. His dad said, “Oh, you can go past him!” I told him that I was enjoying watching his son accomplish these stairs. I said that I liked the way he was going up those stairs with his hands and crawling, it is a safe way! The dad was so funny and said, “I know, I’ve gone up stairs that way after a few drinks.” I said, “I go up the stairs that way, but it is just age!” He cracked up! The little dude made it! We all cheered and he was cheered too! We all were laughing and cheering their little dude’s accomplishment! Those were a lot of stairs!
Off to the Monorail and Grand Floridian to see the gingerbread house! The gingerbread house if huge! Starting on November 21 (at 9am) they will start selling treats from inside of the gingerbread house! That is how big it is! There is so much detail in the gingerbread house. If you look closely, you can find Alice and the Mad Hatter, Rapunzel and Flynn, Princess Aurora, Anna and Elsa, and Mickey and Friends painted in colored cocoa butter over several of the windows. How fun!
It is late so we need to get a bite to eat. We were able to get a last minute reservation at the Grand Floridian Café. It was very good.
I love the Grand Floridian Society Orchestra playing, and the piano. It is fun to see the little ones dancing to both! I love the parents that remember this trip is for you, yes, but for your children also. Enjoy them, and if they tire, let them rest by sleeping on two chairs at the restaurant, in their strollers, on a bench, or by laying their heads on the table, totally asleep. These little ones get so tired trying to absorb all of the new things! Please be patient with your babies, no matter how young or old they are. This is Disney, where dreams come true!
What a wonderful day at Disney, where dreams really do come true.
Today is an absolutely beautiful day. We are expecting it to be in the lower 80s today and even hotter tomorrow! The sky is a beautiful blue with a few puffy clouds floating by. We are going to Magic Kingdom today.
Magic Kingdom is bustling as we get our bags checked and our MagicBands scanned. We have until 7pm tonight, that is when Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party begins and you must have a separate event ticket. We plan to go later this season, we went in 2012 and it was so much fun.
As we entered by the train depot, the Festival of Fantasy parade was going down Main Street USA. After we watched the parade pass, we waited a few minutes and started down Main Street USA. What’s that I hear? It’s the Dapper Dans quartet singing! Their singing makes you feel like you stepped back in time. Then, we heard the Main Street Philharmonic a little bit later! I love all of the music on Main Street USA.
We headed for Tomorrowland to the Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. I love this ride, and there are so many people today that I am glad we have a FastPass+. The FastPass line moves quickly and soon we are on the ride. I got over 100,000 points today, that makes me smile!
Our next stop is the Main Street Bakery for some coffee. I know we are backtracking a bit, but that is not unusual when you go to Disney! As we step in and order, the cast member remembers us from a few weeks ago. He recaps our story and tries to remember Tooti and Twinkie’s nicknames. This is always fun, today he tries to recall and calls them Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. We chuckle and compliment him on remembering our story of 365 at Disney. We get our drinks, then go to sit and enjoy the Dream Along with Mickey show in front of Cinderella’s Castle.
After we finish our coffees, we head toward the front of the park to ride the Walt Disney World Railroad! We watched and waited as they refurbished the train recently, so this is the first time we have ridden on it since the refurbishment! I am so excited! I love trains and we get to sit at the very back; that is usually full during really busy seasons, so it’s extra special today. Twinkie gets to ride on the very, very last seat! Soon we are off and chugging down the rails! We stop at the Frontierland Station where some people get off and new folks get on. Twinkie heard that the girl who made her Paperman Ears was in Fantasyland, so when we got around to that stop, we got off. She was able to say, “Hi!” and then we made our way to the front gates once again.
We were all a little hungry, so we decided we needed a Power Salad at Sunshine Seasons in Epcot. We hopped onto the Monorail and went back to the Ticket and Transportation Center, where we changed to the Epcot Monorail and were off to find some supper! We met a wonderful family on the Monorail and had a fun time talking and sharing a few tips. The dad was trying to convince his daughter that Spaceship Earth is really made out of chocolate; if you peel back the wrapper you can go up and take a bite… just be sure to put the wrapper back down, though! I like that idea! They were going to be at Disney for eight days. How much fun they will have these next few days! I am so excited for them! They were a really nice family.
We walked down the ramp from the Monorail and got our bags checked, scanned our MagicBands, and we were officially in Epcot! YAY! I love being here and seeing so many happy people. The crowds are thinner than they were during the Food and Wine Festival and it is really nice! As we walk to The Land, there are several people who need directions to various parts of the park. I am always glad to help them and shout, “Have fun!” I hope they have as much fun as we did on our first trip to Walt Disney World!
As we walk up to The Land, Twinkie reminds me that the building is in the shape of a volcano! Really? That is so cool. Also, the sidewalks up to the building are colored to represent hot lava and cooled lava flowing down from the volcano. Now, that is really cool. As we walk up, a couple asks if Soarin’ is near here. Tooti told them to enter, go to the right, take the escalator down, turn right at the bottom, and you can see the Soarin’ sign.
Soon, we are finished with supper and we are back outside going to see the Epcot Christmas Tree. It is beautiful.
After an afternoon and evening of walking in two parks, I think it is time to call it a day! I have met so many nice families whose children were so kind and smart! What a wonderful day!
We are enjoying this gorgeous day, and Hollywood Studios is our destination! It is a truly beautiful afternoon. We arrive about 4:15pm and cars are just flowing into the parking lot. The trams are filling up quickly and heading out! The next one pulls up quickly, fills again, and is off to the front gates. The Christmas tree is up in front of the gates; it is absolutely beautiful and so very tall.
We looked at all of the Christmas decorations on the streets and in the stores. They are beautiful. I love the Christmas window decor and how fun it is to already have Christmas music and decorations on Hollywood Boulevard.
Today we came to see Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage! I saw this play at the beginning of summer and fell in love with it. It is spectacular. I get so caught up into the song Belle sings (“Belle”) and you can feel the passion in her voice. It is like the movie comes to life. The dancing is fabulous and I love the characters. Mrs. Potts, Chip, Lumiere, and Clogsworth are larger than life. The Beast? He is great and I love the way he is introduced! Gaston? He is robustly himself.
I would highly suggest that you see this, and listen to your family react as you watch this magnificent play. Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage is more than I could have dreamed, and more than just a play. The colors of the costumes are so beautiful, spunky, and dreamy.
It was very full, and we were able to get a great seat in the middle, near the front. If you plan to see the show, come early to get a good seat. You can plan ahead and get your FastPass+, too.
After the play we went toward The Magic of Disney Animation building to see if Baymax is still there, and found out that they close the line for him and Hiro at 6pm. We’ll get to see them another day! So, we walked around for a while and enjoyed the cool evening.
We are heading out to catch the tram and there is still a good flow of people arriving, even though there is only about an hour and fifteen minutes left before Hollywood Studios closes for the evening. As we are waiting in line for the tram, we start talking to the family beside us. They were from New York and such a great family.
As we disembark and walk to our car, there are still a lot of cars coming to Hollywood Studios, going to enjoy the last hour of the park tonight. It is a great night!
This morning was overcast and cool, but this afternoon is warm, with a few clouds in the blue, sunny sky! We are heading to Epcot to see how it looks after the Food and Wine Festival, since it ended on Monday. We walk from our car to bag check, and soon we are in the gates. I love seeing all the smiling faces and the excitement of getting to be at Disney’s Epcot.
Instantly, we notice you can clearly see Epcot’s iconic Spaceship Earth! The Festival signs are no longer there, and this area has all new flowers! That is a lot of planting.
It is lunchtime and Tooti suggests a Power Salad at Sunshine Seasons, Twinkie agrees! I love these and I love the truly quick service! Off to The Land pavilion, it is a good hike up a hill into the building. Once inside, you turn to the right and walk down to the escalator, which takes you to the bottom level, and if you continue around, you will find Sunshine Seasons. There is a great picture menu as you enter, and we choose to go to the salad section.
It is busy, but the lines move quickly, and we all three order the Power Salad. It is so nice to have a quick service restaurant here with a great selection of gluten free options. Usually one of us orders the half chicken with yellow rice and black beans; it is gluten free (but please, do let them know if you have an allergy just to be on the safe side). Really, I cannot express how wonderful it is to have really delicious food at a quick service location! Sunshine Seasons is a great place to eat, and one of our favorite quick service restaurants. We enjoyed our wonderful lunch break.
Power salad!
Next, we have a FastPass+ to Journey into Imagination with Figment! I have been on this ride several times and it is so much fun, especially for kids! After the ride ends, there are plenty of interactive activities in the ImageWorks lab! This is definitely a fun place to explore with little ones.
We enjoy all of the beautiful palm trees; the birds of paradise are in full bloom, and the tall, tropical plantings look amazing. I love the beautiful landscaping that you can enjoy as you walk around the park.
It is perfectly busy and fun to be at Epcot! I thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful, warm day!
It is a fabulous day in Florida and the weather is amazing! The skies are blue and the clouds are just beautiful and wispy. It is hot, in the 80s, with a perfect breeze. We are going to Magic Kingdom.
We see three deer as we are driving to the Transportation and Ticket center! I love Disney’s deer; they are so peaceful and beautiful. It is busy going to Disney, and the atmosphere is happy. The traffic was good and the parking is great! We park way at the far end and have a good walk to the tram. There is one pulling away as we get close, and the other one is waiting to pull up, with a third one waiting behind them. I love how Disney does things with excellence.
We get to Magic Kingdom and it is nicely busy. It doesn’t take very long to go through bag check, scan my MagicBand, and look around for the kids! They are way over there! We get onto Main Street USA and Tooti hears the Holly Jolly Trolley show! It is so cute and so fun! I have never seen them before! After they finish the show, we are off to get breakfast! We see the Victorian ladies, who are some of the Citizens of Main Street, and later we get to see the Fire Chief. I love all of the characters that are sprinkled throughout Main Street USA.
Our destination is Starbucks, inside of the Main Street Bakery! We grab some fruit, my Carmel Macchiato, and the kid’s green teas! This is a very busy place, but they are very fast and our order is in. It takes a few minutes until mine is ready, but it is so worth it! This Starbucks is always on point. YUM! Now, we are heading for my favorite place to sit at Tomorrowland Terrace. We have a blast having breakfast at Disney’s Magic Kingdom! I took a look around and there are a bunch of retired couples having breakfast here, too.
As we are sitting there, a cast member checks on us, “Yes, we are doing great!” He asked if we would like some trivia. Did he say trivia? Why yes, we love trivia! He asks if we have a map, and Twinkie pulls one out of her bag. He says, “Please forgive the dirt and fences,” and he points to our left. I said that I love construction, it means there are new things being built… the piles of dirt and “mess” are perfect for me! He chuckles, and shows us what they are building right across from us! There are huge additions for the hub, allowing for easier traffic flow, and additional standing areas for fireworks. I love construction and change!
We finish our breakfast. As we start to leave, the group has changed to younger families eating and enjoying a break in the shadow of Cinderella’s Castle.
A cute ice cream passed by!
The kids did some pin trading. Then, we got “I’m Celebrating” buttons! Today is day 60! I have been to Disney 60 days in a row! Oh, Happy Day! It is an absolutely beautiful day at Disney’s Magic Kingdom!
The sun is shining and the day is beautiful. We were running errands earlier today and saw the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile! I love seeing the Weinermobile! We were going to call home, but we forgot to tell Twinkie we saw it! So, now we are at the Magic Kingdom parking lot (at the Transportation and Ticket Center), thoroughly excited that we got a great parking spot as we wait on the tram. The kids wanted to walk, but they were waiting for the tram with me. Hey, Mom! Look! There is the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile!
What!? I am so willing to walk to get to see this amazing and fun Weinermobile! We chased the Weinermobile when the kids were little and we were driving in the country. We were driving near a lake where it was hilly and I thought I saw something that I had never seen. We sped up and saw it was the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile on the road in front of us! Yes, we chased it for over an hour before it stopped in a Whataburger parking lot. We met the driver, got pictures, and ate supper there. Then, we drove over an hour back home! Yes, we will do what needs to be done to have fun, like driving out of our way to get to see this fun vehicle! Today, we didn’t even have to chase it down!
After we got pictures with the legendary Weinermobile, we were off to catch the Monorail to Magic Kingdom. As we get into the Main Street USA area, we see that A Frozen Holiday Wish is going on, and Elsa is just about to light the castle. We run up to the top level of the Train Depot and just in time to watch from the balcony! It is beautiful!
Our first FastPass+ is Pirates of the Caribbean. I had heard that the crowds are heavy at Magic Kingdom today, and sure enough, they are very busy.
We scan out MagicBands for Pirates of the Caribbean quickly and get in line. The FastPass+ line is fairly long, and the mom behind us is trying to look past us as we turn another corner. I laughed and said that we go down this next hallway, then a little hill, and we will be to the boats. She relayed the information to her family, and we chuckled. We began to talk, started laughing, and she asked, “How many times have you been on this ride?” A lot! She asked us what out 3 favorite rides are! Oh, I love Peter Pan’s Flight. She said, “We have FastPasses for that one!” I love Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, Seven Dwarf’s Mine Train, and Pirates of the Caribbean. It turns out that they had FastPasses lined up for all of these! We shared as much as we could in a couple of minutes, and they thanked us for all of the hints to enjoy Magic Kingdom!
Our next FastPass+ is Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, so, we head for Tomorrowland. However, on the way out of Adventureland is the Dole Whip stand. We grab two Dole Whip Floats and a pineapple wedge on our way.
We stop as we cross the bridge into Tomorrowland and sit to finish our Dole Whip Floats. We watch Cinderella’s beautiful castle with all if its thick, icy lights! It is so fabulously beautiful.
Now, on to Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin! The FastPass+ line is very quick and we are soon on the ride! It is so much fun to shoot the targets and watch the score go up over 100,000! I can see Tooti’s score and she has a perfect 999,999: Galactic Hero! As we get off of the ride, onto the moving sidewalk, we are excited to see our pictures as we round the corner! The cast member says that the pictures are already linked to our MagicBands! How cool!
We must stop and get Tooti’s “I’m Celebrating” badge! If you get 999,999, a perfect score, take a picture to show the cast member in the store, they will give you a “Galactic Hero” pin and announce it to everyone!
The day is perfect and turns into a cool evening. It was a fun, yet busy, day at Magic Kingdom!
It is an absolutely beautiful day. We checked the temperature for the day at 10am and it was 71 degrees. By the time we left at 10:45, it was 78 degrees, sunny, and hot! We are headed to Animal Kingdom and I am looking forward to going; it has been way to long since we headed this way!
We park near the end of the row and get to walk to the front gates! We go through bag check, scan our MagicBands, and walk into Animal Kingdom! Instantly I am looking for DeVine, I check and cannot see her anywhere. So, we go on up and around the Oasis and walk to Discovery Island. The path around the Oasis is all uphill, it is a good walk. There a various animals and birds that you can watch here if you choose to seek them out.
As we get to Discovery Island, my goal is to photograph the signs that mean a lot to me. These signs feature words of wisdom from Mr. Walt Disney, and I love reading them. The signs are posted on the construction walls that are scattered around the park. I love seeing these walls because it means that there are new projects being created, and soon we will get to see the new things that Disney is building!
Here are a few of these posted signs:
We take a moment to get Babycakes gluten free mini-cupcakes and Twinkie got a gluten free cinnamon donut. The lady in front of us is new to the gluten free lifestyle and seems a bit nervous about the whole process, which is completely understandable, it’s a lot to learn! The young man that is taking the orders gives her a sheet with all of the Animal Kingdom restaurants that work with allergies. She turned around and was concerned, so I added, “Disney is great about working with gluten free and they will work with you on this. They have even made something not on the menu for us to help us eat safely!” She was so excited and asked me about Yak and Yeti’s quick service restaurant, I said, “Oh, yes, they are really good about gluten free.” Twinkie let her know that they can specially prepare their sweet and sour chicken with grilled chicken, and it is very good! The lady was happy, relieved, and smiling when she headed out to eat.
During our stop to eat the treats from Babycakes, these little dudes showed up…
Now, off to Asia to see more signs! I love crossing the bridges to the different areas and seeing all of the sights. Oh, look! There’s Baloo and King Louie! As you walk, there is so much detail and so many things to see.
It’s finally cool enough for the monkeys to be out, so we paused for a while to watch them! They were snacking on lettuce and swinging from the many ropes on their house.
We pass by another area of construction and see one of my favorite sayings, “TOGETHERNESS. FOR ME, MEANS TEAMWORK.” –Walt Disney
Now, we are hungry! It is a good walk around Animal Kingdom. Today the crowds here are very courteous, kind, and so relaxed. We decided to go to Flame Tree Barbeque. This is the kid’s favorite place to eat at Animal Kingdom. We already know we can have the half a chicken (specially prepared) and Tooti loves the southwest salad. The manager is great as she talks to us and helps us get our gluten free food started. It does take a few minutes longer if you need special allergy-friendly food, but it is so worth knowing that the food you are eating is prepared specifically to help avoid your allergen(s). Disney Chefs are the best and we are grateful that they care so much to make sure that we are eating safe foods! Thank you!
While the kids are waiting for our food, I see a flock of Macaws and hear a cast member talking about these beautiful birds. This is the coolest, most beautiful, spectacular display of birds. This is my must see, I love seeing the Macaws as they fly in with their fantastic variance of color. The cast member tells about the Macaws and describes which varieties they are. Near the end of the presentation, she is going to send them out. I had hoped to tape it, but one loud, “Caw!” and they were gone. The cast member explains, “The loud ‘Caw’ is a warning sound that they do in the wild. With that warning, they all leave.” Oh, cool! The “Caw” is sort of like the Macaw’s safety alarm! No problem, another day we will come back and get the beautiful flight recorded so we can share it.
I walk back to Flame Tree Barbecue and meet back up with the kids. We get to eat in our favorite area by the water and enjoy our gluten free dinners.
Now, we are heading for the Oasis, I think I can just walk to the front. Just kidding! I have to walk across the rope bridge! I love rope bridges and I wait until the family in front of us crosses, then Twinkie and I enjoy walking with enthusiasm across the bridge! It is so much fun.
It is a beautiful day and an equally beautiful walk to the front entrance! We enjoyed Animal Kingdom and all of the kind people today!
365atDisney 