Day 3 - 2/13
Good morning! I hope you slept well. Are you ready to play??!
Gene's arthritis is really bothering him so we're going to try to do as little walking as possible. We usually park at the ticket and transportation center, but it's quite a walk from the parking lot, so we're going to valet park at the Polynesian. Now we'll take the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom. At the entrance to the Magic Kingdom are all of the Mickey statues designed by celebrities and celebrating 75 years of Mickey Mouse.
Now, you just know that I want to take some pictures and the kids aren't interested in waiting for me. So.... of they go. We'll meet up with them later at Pinocchio's Village Haus. My goal this morning is to get some pictures of various restaurants. First stop - Tony's Town Square. It's not open, but there is a woman outside taking reservations for later. She tells me to just go around and go in.
It's been a few years since we've eaten here and the kids have never been here. I think we need to give it another try one of these days. :)
Next stop - The Plaza Restaurant. They also aren't open yet, but tell me to go right in. I don't know why, but I've never even looked in here before. They mostly have sandwiches, but it's really cute inside. The man cleaning up doesn't really want to be in any pictures, but the chef happily puts on his hat and poses for me. When I tell him that the picture is going on the internet, he offers to buy me a plane ticket home so I can post it right away. No thank-you, you'll just have to wait until I get around to it!!!
Time to walk over to Liberty Square, our next restaurant is The Liberty Tree Tavern. This is another place we've never eaten, although I imagine it's just a matter of time. :) I certainly like the decor.
The next restaurant is just around the corner, and I'm in for a big surprise. Come on into the Columbia Harbor House. I've eaten here before, but I never even noticed that there was an upstairs. I must have been blind! It's really nice in here and so much bigger than I realized.
We're still a little early to meet up with the kids, so let's check out Mickey's Philharmagic. I was disappointed the first time I saw it, but I was expecting something much different. I'm going to keep an open mind and give it another try..... It still seems a bit like a big commercial for Disney movies, but I enjoy it much more this time. I'm sure I'll be back.
Do you think they'll let me take pictures of Cinderella's Royal Table? Let's take a quick walk over to the Castle and find out. Oh, we can go inside in half an hour, between breakfast and lunch. That gives us time to meet up with the kids, so we're off to Pinocchio's Village Haus. This restaurant is also bigger than I realized and the theming is cute. It was closed last time we were on vacation and we've been waiting a long time to get Figaro Fries!
You know, Justin really wants to eat at Cindy's. I'm going to go over and take pictures now, and I'll check out the menu.
It's so beautiful in here, but there's really nothing I want for lunch right now. I'd much rather have my Figaro Fries, so I'm going back to Pinocchio's. Great timing, the kids are here. Hot dogs, anyone?
The park is starting to get crowded now, so we're going back to the room to relax for a bit. The kids want to play video games and they also want to steal my computer so they can talk to their friends on AIM. You know, I've been wanting to see the parade at the Animal Kingdom and Gene points out that this would be the perfect time to go over..... So, let's go!
We have plenty of time to do a couple of attractions or shows first. Let's go on the Maharaja Jungle Trek and see the tigers. Aren't they beautiful? I wish I could pet one. Oh, who am I kidding, I wish I had one!
But I think I'll leave the bats right where they are!
You know, no matter how many times we come to WDW, we always manage to see or do something new. We're going to do something new right now, we're going to watch Flights of Wonder. Now, I'm not a big fan of birds, but I am in awe of them. They certainly are beautiful - and powerful, and the Bald Eagle brings a tear to my eye.
Now we have time to wait for the parade, but not enough time to really do anything. Fortunately, there's a bench right here where we can sit and wait and have a good view of the parade. And, finally, here it comes, Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade! It reminds me a little bit of the Tapestry parades that used to be at Epcot and I love the colors. I hope this parade lasts a long time!
I hope you liked it as much as I did. :)
Now let's go get those lazy kids up and go to Epcot! My goodness, three parks in one day! I want to do everything, all at once. :) Here's the plan... Justin is going back to China to buy some souvenirs for his friends and then we're going to meet at Italy and have dinner. Oops, no we're not - there's a 40 minute wait. Let's go over to Germany. Wow, the Biergarten is booked for the rest of the night. How about Marrakesh? There's even a 25 minute wait there. We decide to move on.
And this is where I'm going to leave you tonight. Our family is about to have the biggest melt down ever. You don't want to watch it and I sure don't want to remember it. We'll get together again tomorrow when everyone has calmed down. Good night.