For day 3, we went to the Magic Kingdom. It was, well, magical. We got up, ate breakfast at the bus stop, and caught the shuttle to the ticketing and transportation center, where we caught the monorail. The boys and I sat in the front cabin with the driver, giving us a great view of the lake and various Disney resort hotels on our way. When we got there, Arlene rented a stroller and we set off for Fantasyland, but not before seeing Cinderella’s Surprise Celebration. This was certainly a surprise, since we had no clue it was going to happen. Thomas particularly liked it; he has a real crush on Cinderella.
Last time, we hit pretty much every ride in Fantasyland. This trip, the park was more crowded and we had, shall we say, a difference of opinion among the boys over what they wanted to do. We hit it’s a small world, the Peter Pan ride, and Mickey’s PhilharMagic, a simply brilliant 3-D film with terrific effects (including a 3-D apple pie with accompanying scent.) I thought it was one of the day’s highlights.
We also finally visited the Haunted Mansion, on which Thomas hid his head the entire time. David seemed to like it pretty well. (Hopefully on Monday we’ll go back and hit Winnie the Pooh, which was a big hit with David & Thomas last time.
We had lunch reservations at the Crystal Palace for a character lunch. The food was quite good (but pricey), and the boys were delighted to visit Tigger, Pooh, Eeyore, and Piglet. After lunch, we hit Tomorrowland. To my disappointment, the ExtraTERRORestrial Encounter ride was closed, but we managed to ride the Tomorrowland electric railroad and the famous Tomorrowland go-karts. David and I each drove one; Matt was busy napping. After Matt woke up, David, Matt, and I went on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin; Arlene and Thomas had already been. We squeezed in a visit to Frontierland at some point, but I honestly don’t remember when; all we did there was visit Goofy’s Diamond Dance Jamboree– country music, line dancing, Toy Story 2‘s Woody, Jessy, and Bullseye, and, of course, Goofy. We all loved it. (We also rode the steam train, but darned if I can remember when).
We had burgers from the Starlight Cafe for dinner, then we navigated over to Main Street for the Spectromagic parade. Although this was billed as all-new, much of it was familiar to use from our previous visit. Matt in particular seemed to enjoy it, but we hightailed out of the area before the fireworks started. Here are a few excerpts from the day’s pictures (actually, they may be from other days; I’ve given up trying to keep track):
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