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Published: April 12th 2016
That was our plan yesterday. What better place to celebrate our 52nd anniversary? Disney's Magic Kingdom. A place "Where All Your Dreams Come True". Perfect. So put on you Mickey Mouse ears and get ready for a magical day.
Our original plan started off much simpler. Cory was taking me to Disney Springs for my most favorite tuna melt at the Earl of Sandwich. Sounded wonderful to me....I love their tuna melt, remember? Half way there, he mentioned we hadn't been to Disneyworld's Magic Kingdom in 20 years. Are you kidding me? --- that long! We have had annual passes for Universal Studios over these past few years ...so maybe.
It was 12:30 PM.....too late to go? Never! Even though, when we used to take our family to DW, Cory had us up at the crack of dawn so we could be the first car in the parking lot and the first group in line! Our family stills comments about that experience. Even Mickey Mouse was still sleeping. Cory heard that the park closed if it got too full. No way was he going have that happened to his vacationing family. What a great guy. Yawn! We never confronted
a closed park, let me tell you.
Okay....back to present time. Screech - hold on - Cory did a "U-E" and we are now heading to Mickey's house. Yippee. No problem parking, lots of room....but it does cost $20 now. That was different than 20 years ago. Don't worry, you don't have to chip in. We had visited Epcot Center 8 years ago so it wasn't that much of a sticker shock. We walked (close to entrance) to the ticket booth ($234 for both of us). OK....Now you can buy your own ticket, please. That price was really different because way back when, we always got in free because of Cory's "directorship" for Disneyworld. We enjoyed that perk for many, many years. Our family really knew this was "where dreams come true". Aaah, for the good ol' days.
With our tickets, we were given Disney pins to wear that read: Happy Anniversary. We wore them proudly. So many folks in the park gave us Happy Wishes for our accomplishment. And a big thank you to all of you who gave us the same nice wishes on our Facebook page and our messenger app. We truly enjoyed & appreciated
each one.....especially because they were from you!
We strode merrily to the Monorail. Just as cool as we remembered. We saw a new, huge hotel adjacent to the Contemporary Hotel. We could see more large buildings at the Floridian to make it even more impressive. We stayed there one time....gorgeous. We saw the new, exquisite villas at the Polynesian Resort. Heard they are to die for plus $$$$. We arrived at the entrance to Disneyworld's Magic Kingdom. It never fails to take your breath away. Breath deeply. What a place.....truly magical. My eyes were dancing.
Oh, a sad note though. Miss "Pretty Girl"Lulu was back at home. Because we had only planned on getting a tuna melt, she decided to stay back and lick her wounds from the traumatic conflict she had recently been dealt. Her wounds are healing but the scars will remain. Now, she will be even more traumatized knowing she missed this fantastic day. Maybe we just won't tell her. What she doesn't know won't hurt her. Mums the word, folks. Just keep your souvenir photos to yourselves.....okay?
It all came flooding back to us as we moseyed down Main Street. First stop: Tomorrowland.
It looked a little different but not much. We wanted to ride the People Mover but the line reached back for miles ....surprise! We are in Disneyworld! We wandered around and could see not all the seats were taken on this ride so checked back and got in line. It moved fast. Cory got a tad riled up when an entire family jumped the rope and pushed ahead of all the rest of us. Karma: they were stopped at the escalator because of their stroller and had to get out of line. Ha,Ha! Serves them right. Karma reigns! I can hear your cheers, too. The ride was nice.
We moved on to Fantasyland. Stood way too long in line to ride the Winnie the Pooh bumpy car. Starving, we ate some pizza flatbreads with one drink at Pinocchio's Village House. $22 for two, cardboard, blah tasting flatbreads and one drink to share. We are now really in Disneyworld! It still is a grandiose place. Fortunately, all of you decided you weren't hungry! Would be paying Dutch, for sure.
Now we were at Liberty Square. How many people have placed their head and hands in that very familiar pillory?
We went to President's Hall. They have added a very nice intro movie to this. Of course, there were several more presidents to see since our last visit. Amazing technology. Growing up, "Ike" was the president in office whom I can remember. Truman was President when I was born but I don't remember him except through history. Who was the first President you can remember?
We meandered through Frontierland. OMG....they still have the Country Bear Jamboree. That's an oldie for sure. We passed it by.
Made it to Adventureland and hopped aboard the boat at The Pirates of the Caribbean. Updated with Captain Jack spotted in a few places.
Whoa...what's that lady drinking? It looks like that delicious Orange Julius Float that I remembered. In the beverage line, Cory gets me the same refreshing delight but now it is made with pineapple juice. Just as tasty.
Oh, my.....we are back at Cinderella's castle. That was fun. People are lining up on the curbs for something. We do the same. It is a "Dance Parade" with some of the famous Disney characters. The music is loud.....I bet Lulu heard it back at the RV. What now?
Our Anniversary pins
When you can't walk anymore, just collapse! Almost forgot the Haunted House. We wandered back to where we finally got into the old, black, hooded chairs that moved through this dark, ghost filled mansion. I still like this ride a lot...don't you?
Too early for the electric parade and fireworks so we boarded the old train that encircles Disneyworld. A great ride and even greater respite for my weary legs. Time for an anniversary celebration drink. Hmmmmm. Where to go. No problem in this massive complex. We took a boat over to the Polynesian Resort. It has been remodeled and you feel like you are in a new, foreign land.
Quickly, we found Trader Sam's Grog Grotto. What a fascinating place! Small, dark and filled with a tiki bar-zombie like ambiance. We managed to pull a couple chairs together but we were situated in the way of the staff. They worked around us until a very kind couple took pity on us and offered to share their table with us. What a delightful experience this was. They told us about the various exotic drinks to order. We stayed away from the double sized, flaming, reptilian styled vessel. Cory got his drink concoction in a zombie
skull mug while my indulgence arrived in a flared, plain glass. Does this tell you anything? The lovely, young couple are from York, PA. Of course, anyone from Pennsylvania would be super. Right? (Cory is from PA.) The activity in this unique liquor lounge was crazy. The very involved staff acted and played various zombie roles as they served their delicacies. The eery darkness became even darker. The wall volcanoes erupted. The sounds brought you into quivering surroundings. It rained at times as the bartender squirted his seltzer bottle around the room. Air ruffled your hair from the maitre-d who pumped some big puffer machine. It was active and festive!
We share laughs with our new found friends. They have joined our blog group so please welcome them aboard. Welcome, friends. So glad to have you as a part of our traveling family. But now it's time to leave.....it was dark inside this grotto and it was also getting dark at the park. Whoa.....what are you doing, new friends? They took our drink bill and paid it. WOW! You are far too kind and generous. They wished us a Happy Anniversary. How very nice of them. We wish them
Pirate Cory
Pineapple Float
Attack of the snake a Happy Life! Remember no matter where you are or where you go: There are Good Ships and Wood Ships but the Best Ships are Friendships. Maybe our ships will pass again in the future. We only hope so. Thank you very much for all that you did: sharing your table, giving the overall summary of the grotto, sharing fun stories, enjoying laughs and paying our bill. But most of all, becoming our new friends. We'll keep an eye out for you through our blog. Just like our waiter whose eye dropped down out if his spectacles.
Darkness brought out the brilliant, sparkling lights of Disney. We jumped aboard a boat that took us back to the Magic Kingdom. Made it just as the Electric Parade was going past. Beautiful! What a dream come true. The masses followed at the end of the parade as it made its way down Main Street to the Castle.
We stood in a fenced in area to wait for the fireworks. So worth the wait. Amazing how they are able to change the lights and design on the dramatic castle.....awesome. The fireworks lit up the night and the castle. At Tropical Palms,
Dance Parade
Some characters we can hear Disney's fireworks and see their glow in the night sky. Now, we are up close and present at them. WOW. What a spectacular show.
Now to navigate our way out of this ginormous mass of park attendees. Start by holding hands cause we'll surely get separated. It is like a tsunami of humans. You can only go with the flow. Whew....made it out of the park and to the monorail. One last ride on this futuristic bullet and we were at the parking lot before we knew it. Yippee.
But whaaaat? Surely, I didn't come down with polio while at the park...or did I? My legs can barely move. Partial paralysis has set in. Recently, I discovered my Fitbit isn't working so I have to depend upon Cory's iPhone. It keeps tract of how far he walks. It reads 4.2 miles. It should have read 942 miles per my throbbing legs & back. "Just keep moving, Just keep moving" is my only salvation. If I stop, no way will I be able to get my get-up and go again.
Ultimately, we reach our destination......our car. Glad you all were able to keep up the
Photo bombed!
Train Conductor and me pace. What pace? I was crawling and dragging myself along the tarmac. I clawed my way into the car. Yowhee......made it! Exhaustion could not detract from the feeling of excitement from this WOW day. What fun we had. What wonderful memories were made. All our dreams came true. Just like they say....."When you Wish Upon a Star...." Hope you made some wishes along the way and that they all come true for you.
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Cheryl Pauly
non-member comment
Hello!
Belated anniversary congrats! Was offline for two weeks and did not know it so am catching up on your last two blogs. Your trip into Disney brought back memories of the place. Glad you had a great day!!!