Day 190- Magic Kingdom

Today it is lightly rainy. It has rained all night, so the flowers are especially beautiful and everything looks refreshed. We decide to wait until this afternoon to go to Disney We grab our rain jackets and head for Magic Kingdom. It isn’t misting any more and the weather feels great. It was cool this morning, and now the sky is full of clouds; looks like it could rain again.

As we get to the Transportation and Ticket Center, we are surprised that we are parking so close. As we enter the parking area, it pretty empty, which normally means that it is not going to be very crowded at Magic Kingdom. We park, walk to the Monorail, and board. When get to Magic Kingdom, there are plenty of open tables to get our bags checked, so we each pick a table. Then, we scan our MagicBands and enter into Magic Kingdom.

Pluto is meeting guests near the Main Street Confectionary. He is usually out by the flagpole, but he’s under the covering today since it was rainy. Everyone is so happy to get to meet him!

Going down Main Street USA, the kids check for pins to trade. Twinkie finds one right away and trades for a fun pin. Today is going to be a good day for pin trading.

As we make our way down Main Street, the family behind me is talking about how something must be getting ready to happen, since there are so many people lining up on the sidewalks. They’re right! The Festival of Fantasy parade will begin in just a little while, as long as the rain stays away. If it rains again, they will have the Rainy Day Motorcade instead.

The sky is beginning to clear just a little bit. It will warm up quickly! It is fun to hear people talk about how hot it is right now, in the mid 70s, especially with so many families coming from snowy areas! It’s a nice day today, and it is only going to be near 81 as the high.

We got our hot drinks at the Main Street Bakery, then sat and drank our drinks at the parade was going by. The parade is beautiful! We talked to the family near us, the little girl was so cute. After our drinks, Tooti and I grabbed a gluten free beef and bleu salad at Tomorrowland Terrace, and Twinkie went to Casey’s Corner and got a gluten free, corn free hot dog with apple slices.

The wildlife was busy today. A pigeon sat near us, ducks flew overhead, and the dad behind us pointed out a baby duckling swimming near the Loch Ness Monster shrubs; the duckling was so tiny and looked so alone. I guess he was catching up to his family. It’s so fun to see the little ducklings swim together.

We made our way back to Main Street USA, walked across the street, and as we were going past the doors of Main Street Clothiers, we saw the new spring line of Minnie Mouse clothing. Everything is so very cute! We had to check these new styles out.

As we got near to the front gates, Twinkie was asked to do a survey, so she followed to cast member into the Chamber of Commerce building, where she filled out the computer survey. Toot and I waited, and I saw that the Easter Bunnies are here to take pictures with. Oh, I will have to do that before Easter arrives!

We sat and we talked to a lady who was waiting on her husband to finish a survey. She was very nice. Soon, her husband and young son joined her. Twinkie joined us just shortly after that, and we were off to the Monorail.

It has been fun, and now it is time to head home! See you soon, Magic Kingdom!

Day 21- Magic Kingdom & Goodbye to Maelstrom at Epcot

Happy Sunday Morning! Happy Sunday Morning! After eChurch with T.D. Jakes of the Potter’s House in Dallas, we are off to Magic Kingdom to grab coffee on our way to Epcot. It is a beautiful, cool day.

I believe everything happens for a reason. We were running a bit behind today, but we finally got on the Monorail heading for Magic Kingdom. We started talking with a lady and she was fascinating! She is in her 3rd day of retirement and is a wonderful conversationalist. Come to find out, she had to go back to her car once, and there we were, chatting and having fun! We exchanged info and found that she was a Colonel, a gun-shooting wonderful lady! I was totally blown away, but so honored to have the pleasure of meeting her! She said that she believes everything happens for a reason. I totally agree.

The thing I remember about going to Disneyland when I was little, were the flowers in the entry that are shaped like Mickey Mouse! Here, at Disney World, Mickey Mouse is in his fall colors.

We did some pin trading as we headed for our Starbucks, only to realize that the Festival of Fantasy Parade was going to begin, so we sat on the steps in a doorway next to the Main Street Confectionary as the parade began. As the music was beginning to play, I started to gently cry. I had the realization that one man’s dream started this beautiful Disney dream and I get to be in these parks. The floats and all of the characters in the parade are beautiful in their colors and detail. The characters are gorgeous and there is such high energy; it is just beautiful!

After the parade, we headed for the Main Street Bakery and then did some more pin trading. We were in front of City Hall in our way out, and I noticed a family getting their picture taken, but the dad was not in it since he was taking it! I offered to take their picture, but realized I didn’t know how his phone worked. “Would you like me to take a picture?” “Oh, yes! Thank you!” “Here, Tooti!” The laughter started as they saw me hand off their phone to Tooti! It was pretty funny.

Then, we were off to Epcot to ride Maelstrom on its final day.

As we were heading to Canada, we found that a friend of ours was going to be at Epcot, so we got to see them and have dinner in Morocco. I feel so refreshed getting to visit with friends.

We headed home and found that we can see fireworks so clearly at the end of our street! So we grabbed the pups, and headed back to see the fireworks! It was such a beautiful, cool evening.