                                                   Micky, Parades and Dinner at Moonfish |
Magic Kingdom, FL
Well, its a miracle what a good night’s sleep can achieve! Woke up feeling much more like it. We were off early to get to the Magic Kingdom for the morning. Weather today is hot and sultry. In the 90s with humidity about the same by the feel of it. We have made a conscious decision to take it easier today after such a long day yesterday. We have two days at Universal coming up and because they don’t operate a fastpass system they are going to be tiring days. So, more restful today.
We got to the MK parking lot about 820 (park was opening at 9 today) and we were in about the third line in the first car park which meant we could walk to the ticket centre rather than take a tram. It was too early for the monorail so from there we took the steamboat across the lake to the MK. We were though the bag check by about 835 and just in time to catch the opening ceremony at the station. There is a little group of dancers and then the first railway train arrives with Micky, Minnie and some of the others on board. They welcome the early crowd and with that the park opens. Every day they choose one family to ride the train with the characters and it must be quite a nice thing to stand up there and wave. A good memory for the children.
We proceeded down Main Street and into Tomorrowland. First ride was Buzz Lightyear’s Quest which is a sort of laserquest from moving cars. A lot of fun with nice graphics. Its not one of the “big” rides but you have to ride it early because it is popular and also loads slowly so lines build up. At this time, we walked right in. Then we went onto Space Mountain which is a dark rollercoaster simulating space travel. I am not a fan of rollercoasters at all but I like this one. Maybe its because you can’t see what’s coming or maybe its just that its more of a “rushing round corners” sort of coaster than one with huge drops. I don’t like the huge drops. Bob doesn’t like them at all so he sat it out.
From there we wandered into Fantasyland and Its A Small World. It was fun to watch the girls’ faces still enjoying this ride so simple in its appeal. Onto the Haunted Mansion which is just great. Very good special effects. Back to The Voyage off the Little Mermaid and then it was time for a break. We called into a little café in the Liberty Square area and had cold drinks and a sweet treat. Lucy lusted after an ice cream sandwich which she remembered from childhood and Bob and I shared a Funnel Cake. I had heard about these but never tried one. Actually I thought it was more of a cake than it was. It is made of waffle batter dropped through a funnel to form a sort of honeycomb, more like a rice crispie texture. You pour syrup on it. Of course you do!!!!
After gathering our strength we walked around into Adventureland and fastpassed onto the Jungle Cruise. This takes you by boat through the jungles and rivers of the world seeing the wild life along the way. The main feature of the trip is the wisecracking safari captain who tells non stop corny jokes and puns. You have to laugh. Ours was pretty good. The girls were lauhing.
We then had fastpasses for Splash Mountain. This is one I don’t do, so I was photographer. Its a lovely ride themed on Winnie the Pooh and the briar patch and you sit in a log car and wend through brilliant theming up a mountain and all is wonderful until suddenly and at the end you shoot out a hole in the mountain and plummet vertically down a water shoot into a lake. Everyone else seemed to enjoy it immensely.
Our final call today was to see our old friends the Country Bears at their jamboree. We love this show . Basically a selection of character bears perform a selection of country hits . Its quite hokey but the expressions on the bears’ faces are priceless. And its a nice sit down in the air conditioning!
It was now aound 1230 and we called it a day. Wandered slowly out and watched the mid day parade which was short but very colourful. Had a mooch in all the shops on Main St and then got the monorail back to the parking lot. A lovely visit, just the right length. These touringplan plans are brilliant. We are hardly queuing at all despite the hgih numbers of visitors.
Stopped at Publix on the way home for some laundry stuff. Came back to the condo and had a restful afternoon. Napping; washing; watchin tv.
Went to Moonfish for dinner. We discovered this place about 2 years ago when somehow or other we got a discount to have dinner there. It was amazing. We had booked for dinner but when we arrived there was a happy hour underway and they were also serving sushi, sashimi and oysters at happy hour prices at the bar. We stuffed ourselves with their delicious grub and then had the devil’s own job eating dinner. We tried our best tonight not to fall into the same trap but in all honesty with full double strength martinis at 4$ a glass, and plates of sushi at about the same, (8 pieces) it was hard…. I had 3 martinis…. and they were fabulous. Dinner was also fantastic. We had the basic steaks which were £20 including salad entrée, bread, vegetables. The steak was massive. Very thick and about 20 oz of meat. Cooked perfectly. Daisy had a lot of fun with the waiter as he clearly admired her and managed to drum up some foie gras sauce for her. The rest of us had doggy bags as we couldn’t finish…. Daisy scoffed all of hers and had the truffle mash too. Where does she put it:?
What a lovely day we’ve had. Will definitely go back to Moonfish again but it will have to be before the girls go home as we wouldn’t want to go without them now. Wouldn’t be the same.