The Wonderful World of Disney Part 2

The Boy and my Dad the Pirate inside Cinderella's Royal Table restaurant

Day 5 – Oh, Oh, Oh, It's Magic, You Knooooow

Today we slept in and went back to the Magic Kingdom for the day arriving around noon. We had a fabulous day of rides, parades, and shopping. The highlight of my day was dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table. The food was really good but what was even better was the atmosphere. We had an amazing table at the window overlooking Fantasyland. We met Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Ariel, and Belle. Ariel was a riot. She started off by scaring The Boy then ended by saying, “May the Force be with you.” My dad and The Captain were disappointed that Jasmine wasn’t included (they like her bare tummy…). But even if the food had been mediocre and we didn’t have a great time meeting princesses, the room was so much fun just to be in. Like walking into the Great Hall complete with banners and coats of arms. Such a surprise. To top it off, we were each presented with a gift. The Lords received swords and the Ladies received wands with stars at the end. FUN!!! Made us all feel about seven years old again.

Day 6 – Typhoons, Planned and Unplanned

It was Typhoon Lagoon water park day! To surprise mom and dad we rented a cabana (#9) complete with cabana boy who got our lunch and treats, extra towels, advice and information. It was nice to be able to bring as much stuff as we wanted and not have to worry whether it would fit into a locker. We got a prime piece of real estate too! No one had to walk through our space to get to theirs, which wasn’t true for most of the cabanas. About 2:00 the skies started looking ominous. Sure enough they made us vacate all the water rides and pools for about an hour while the electrical storm passed. It was the first time I’ve been cold since arriving.

The entertainment provided during dinner.
Sorry, Mom. Not a great pic of you... as for
The Boy's face? No words.

Mom and Dad showing off
 German Mouse Ears

We went to dinner afterward at Epcot’s Interna-tional Showcase Germany in the Biergarten. It was a buffet and there was so much to choose from. I like German food --   A LOT! Not surprising really since that is my heritage. Bier runs through my veins. There was also a show and they encouraged us to get up and dance. We decided that we’d stay put as our feet were already tender and we had just arrived for the  evening. ...I may have flapped my wings during the Chicken Dance.

Me and The Captain enjoying our bier. I didn't even temporarily entertain
getting that enormous beverage he's holding. Not even sure I could pick it up!

As per usual on this trip, it started raining, except it didn’t start until after dinner. I didn’t want to get my shoes soaked through again so I took them off and wandered barefoot for at least an hour. I know, so classy; but I’m telling you, I didn’t want to miss out on wearing those shoes for the next two days while they dried out. They’re just too comfy. Good thing, too, because today my second pair of shoes are soaked and drying out.

The Boy started collecting stamps in his Kidcot Passport ($10 at any gift shop in Epcot's International Showcase) from each country in the showcase. He has all five from the left side: Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, and the USA in the middle. We’ll collect the other five on Thursday. We rode Mission: Space and have decided that Extra Magic Hours (for WDW hotel guests only) are wonderful. No lines to speak of. We only waited ten minutes for Mission: Space and we walked onto Spaceship Earth.

My bed is going to be well used tonight! I have it to myself. We have two beds in our room and where The Captain and I have a king size bed at home, we have to share a full-size here. (I don't know how this escaped me when we were planning the trip.) So we’ve been swapping. Every third night we get to sleep alone, the other two we have to share. I don’t mind sharing with The Captain. We’ve been doing that for a very long time; however, sharing with The Boy is a special treat… he takes his half out of the middle – and he likes to cuddle. The only thing I’m used to cuddling with is my body pillow. The Captain runs too hot to snuggle even in winter so this Florida heat isn’t at all conducive to sharing -- even with the a/c and ceiling fan running.

Day 7 – Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

We started the day arriving at Animal Kingdom at 9:00. We wandered through the park with Africa as our first destination. We had an early lunch reservation at the Tusker House with Donald Duck, Daisy, Goofy, and Mickey. We wandered around Africa reliving memories from The Captain’s days living and flying hot air balloons in Kenya. Disney got the architecture spot on. A little Muslim influence, a little Indian influence, a little native influence. And all in need of maintenance. The Florida humidity certainly helped the overall atmosphere, especially when thinking about the time we spent in Lamu on the Indian Ocean.

We toured the Savannah in a large bouncy vehicle looking at the animals. There was a beautiful lion and lioness lounging, which is what lions do best. In so many pictures we took in Kenya the lions are either eating or sleeping – mostly sleeping. While walking through the aviary, we saw Weavers and their nests. The Captain used to know all the native birds so he could point them out to the wageni (Swahili for visitor) on his balloon flights. However, he's been back in the States for fifteen years so he was grateful for the bird identification cards the park provided. There were a bunch elbeejays in there... I'll tell you about them another time.


After heading over to Asia to try to get on Expedition Everest and realizing that The Boy was just too tired to wait that long, the family headed back to Africa to catch “The Festival of the Lion King,” a live stage performance. The sign for the show is in Africa but the theater is actually in the section of the park called Camp Minnie Mickey, a fair distance where little tired feet and bodies are concerned. However, we all made it and were rewarded with a fairly spectacular show with lots of high energy, acrobatics, and great music. The Boy had one more character signing line in him and he didn’t have Balou’s autograph and picture from this trip yet so we waited a short time to get our photo taken with Balou and King Louie from The Jungle Book. Apparently King Louie doesn’t sign autographs because, well, his arms are too long for the poor person inside to make it work without destroying the ruse or freaking out some poor child when a human hand pokes out of the monkey arm. J

After that we were heading back to the park entrance to go home when we were caught in a pretty significant downpour and had to stop and pull out our ponchos, which, in the end, didn’t help us much. When we got back to the room, I had to change all of my clothes, even my delicates. The term “soaked to the skin” is apropos. That’s the second time this week my shoes have been sloshy, which is a really icky feeling to me. I wish my Teva’s were more comfortable; then I wouldn’t care if my feet got wet. That or that my Clarks flip flops had a strap across the back (making them sandals) so I can wear them for long periods without getting shin splints.

We’re halfway through our trip and my feet are tired. The Boy has blisters that we are keeping track of and treating as kindly as possible. He only complains about them when he’s tired.

After dinner tonight at the Animal Kingdom Lodge’s Boma Restaurant, we came back to the hotel and headed for the pool. The Boy fell asleep quickly and we have a relaxing morning planned.

Day 8 – Poor Guy!

The Captain and The Boy headed out for Typhoon Lagoon water park this morning. They called to say there was virtually no one in the park and had gone on all the slides since there was no waiting. They finished the afternoon by completing all the slides at the other water park, Blizzard Beach. The general consensus is that the slides are better at Blizzard Beach but the wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon is the bomb. I agree about the wave pools but didn’t do enough slides at either park to make an educated decision.

My Glowing Berry Martini -- or what's left of it!

As per all of our experiences at Epcot this year, it was raining – hard. Dinner was at Le Cellier in the International Showcase’s Canada. We all enjoyed an excellent meal. The Captain had a beer flight of three Canadian beers, my mom enjoyed a flight of three Canadian wines, and I got the martini flight. Of the four different steaks we ordered, we decided that the New York strip and the filet were the best. The kitchen was very willing to work with The Boy’s requests. At ten, he’s an adult on the Disney Dining Plan and has a healthy appetite and a bit more sophisticated palate, more than the little ones their kids menu targets at least. He enjoyed a modified soft shell crab appetizer and the mac and cheese with mascarpone from the adult sides menu. It was more than plenty of food; both were rich and the portions were generous. There was so much to choose from on the dessert menu. The Captain and my mom both chose the maple crème brulee. The Boy chose the chocolate trio, which was excellent. Dad had cheesecake gelato, which was part of a more complex dessert but more than he wanted after steak and potatoes. I had the white chocolate cheesecake with shortbread crust. Finishing it wasn’t an option. Before dessert arrived, I ate less than half of my 12 oz NY Strip and was already full from my cocktails.

Post-dinner walk through Epcot's France...
In the rain but with happy faces -- due in part to our shoes (I'm a slow learner).

We were all grateful for the walk through Canada, England, France, Morocco, and Japan where The Boy finished his Kidcot Passport. Our evening was complete with the fireworks show over the lake. Gorgeous. It was especially beautiful with the Japanese arch in silhouette. The rain had cleared up by then.

Before dinner The Boy was complaining of a tummy ache, which we decided was probably because he was hungry. As dinner went well and he was feeling better, we finished the evening at Epcot. Just after midnight things took a turn for the worse. He spent the next three hours throwing up. Poor guy!