The Magic Kingdom

So today, we finally made it to the Magic Kingdom, the iconic park of Disney World. We parked in the "Villain" parking lot -- ZURG 105, then took the tram into the transit center --

This time we took a bus for the mile and a half trip into the park itself --

 The entrance to the Magic Kingdom --

Our very first stop was at the Bakery on Main Street. The four of us shared this cinnamon roll. Had to stock up on energy, you know...

THE Castle, the iconic center of the park --

The founder, Walt Disney, and his partner --

We went on the Silly Safari Jungle Cruise --

And then to the Liberty Tree Tavern for dinner --

We ran into this portrait of Grumpy -- he's the one on the right!

Or is it the ones on the left?

As it began to get dark, the Castle was bathed in many different colors --

At six o'clock it was time for the parade on Main Street!

Goofy was driving the engine that pulled the trailer with Minnie and Mickey --

Lots of bugs and butterflies --

And the Cheshire Cat --

This was my favorite!

He even blew smoke --

Look at the Castle in the dark as we prepared to watch the fireworks --

After several more rides and a couple more shows, it was time to head home. We had been at the Magic Kingdom for ten hours and we were tired. That seemed to be the theme as we boarded the ferry that would take us back to the trams and the parking lot.

 

It was another fun day. This is definitely the park you would choose to go to with children -- or with adults who are still children at heart?

Our Last Day at Epcot...

We went back to Epcot for one more time today. Leslie immediately ushered us over to get our pictures taken with Minnie and Goofy. I had put my hair into two ponytails today and Goofy thought that was quite funny. He kept showing me his ears and then checking out my hair.

This is our crew: Minnie Mouse (who was really flirting with Forry!), Forry and I, Goofy, Leslie and Bill --

Forry left his hat at home today and it was too hot to be without one. There are little and big shops all over the place in the park, so we went looking for a hat for him. He wanted a Grumpy one and found this one that said, "Being Grumpy ROCKS."

Leslie had had a great idea and suggested that we rent scooters for getting around the Park. It's a lot of walking. We just got one for Forry the first day and I ended up with blisters, so after that we've gotten one for each of us. They've really made it nice!

The first topiary we saw today was Flower --

And Bambi --

And, of course, Thumper!

Next, near the Butterfly Garden, was this creation --

This sand sculpture was created for the Flower and Garden Show in honor of Disney's latest nature movie --

I understand it tells the story of a male chimpanzee who stepped in to mother a baby after its mother dies.

One of the gardens had these baby pineapple plants growing -- they are striking plants.

We next went over to the Canada area where we saw this Mama Duck with her young'uns --

Leslie continued to add to her laurels by getting us hard-to-come-by dinner reservations at the Canadian Steakhouse. We started off sharing this delicious bowl of beer and cheese soup --

Followed by a shared bone-in rib eye for us and a New York strip steak for Leslie and Bill. Take note of the "pretzel" dinner rolls -- they were sure good!

 There was no debate about what to have for dessert, they had maple creme brulee!

After dinner we spotted the Winnie the Pooh crew --

There were Eeyore and Piglet --

Rabbit --

And good ol' Tigger --

We saw an impressive 360 degree movie about Canada, then went to on to Norway where we went on a Viking boat ride called the Maelstrom and marveled at how much their pictures of Vikings looked like Forrest!

This is one of the teacups in the Tea Garden sponsored by Twinings Teas. Each teacup was planted with the plant that was on the teabag. This one is peppermint tea --

The flower and topiary displays at Epcot have been wonderful to see. They must have incredible green houses as well as landscape architects and gardeners!