WDW Day 6

Thursday, August 20
Highlights: Magic Kingdom, Tony's Town Square Restaurant, Epcot

My family took my advice and did not head to Magic Kingdom during a weekend or at the beginning of the week because that is when I heard everyone else goes. Well, I was slightly correct. When we got into the park, we headed straight for fast passes for Thunder Mountain Railroad. I always miss it because the wait is always so long. Then we headed over to The Hall of Presidents and it was amazing to see the likeness that the imagineers created for Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama. It was really moving. After the show we went to the Haunted Mansion and I laughed and fake screamed the whole time. TK knocked on AR and UG's doom buggy to frighten AR, and he did. It was a lot of fun. After leaving Liberty Square, we headed to the Country Bear Jamboree to see if the we could waste some time before our fast passes were ready. It was cute but it needs a slight update. Then we headed to Splash Mountain to wait on line to get soaked. We always get pretty wet and enjoy seeing who got the wettest. We made ridiculous faces when the photo was taken before the plunge. I just love the song, "How do u do! Pretty good sure as your born!" After getting drenched and not being able to save our silly picture to our photo pass, we headed over to Thunder Mountain to use our passes. With Space Mountain closed, we had to make sure we rode this coaster. Riding with TK is not as bad as riding with my brother. When we were younger he would squash me against the side with every turn of the train. I think I felt my ribs touch in the center at one point. When we were finished riding, we headed over to Fantasyland and watched TK, CG and Mom spin in the teacups. They were making me nauseous just watching them spin. Mom loves it though, I don't really get it. I did enjoy the soft pretzel I had in the meantime though. All of the rides in Fantasyland had too long of a wait so we traveled to Adventureland for the Tiki Room, which I love, and Pirates of the Caribbean, which I love the most. I am a BIG fan of pirates, fact and fiction. That ride has the best queue too with the cool dark cement caves and flickering lanterns. It is perfectly themed. We got pretty embarrassed on the ride because we got stuck under Davy Jones and held up a whole line of boats. Oops! By the time we got out of Pirates, it was time for a snack so we got ourselves some Dole Whips and they are the BEST dessert in all of WDW. Cool, refreshing and pineapple...perfect. After our treat we had to head to Tomorrowland and try to gain some fast passes for Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. That is a family favorite. While we waited, we took a rest in the Carousel of Progress. "It's a great big beautiful tomorrow, shining at the end of every day!" Another song that gets lodged in my head after a visit to Magic Kingdom but, I love it! Then we walked right into the Laugh Floor Comedy Club. We sat in the front row and the show was really funny. When we were done laughing, we headed back to Buzz Lightyear and took our Space Ranger Spin. TK always kicks everyone's tail. I think he cheats because he turns the car just as I am shooting Zurg. It is just not fair!

By the time we were done playing around, it was time for our lunch reservation at Tony's Town Square Restaurant in the front of the park. We had never eaten there before so we were excited to find out what it was like. It was themed after Lady & the Tramp and serves Italian food. For starters, I had the cheesy bread with bruschetta and tasted AR's cream of tomato soup. Both were very good. Then I had the shrimp scampi but it was a bit under-seasoned so I was satisfied but not delighted. Then for dessert, I shared the ice cream bomb with TK and it was a great ending to a good meal. Mom's dessert was more interesting because there was a picture of Lady & the Tramp made of chocolate dust on her plate. Nice touch!

After lunch, we left and went back to the resort. We got refreshed and headed back to Magic Kingdom to squeeze in some last minute rides. We were able to see Mickey's Philharmagic, It's a Small World and took a ride on the Tomorrowland Speedway. Then...it started to thunder and lightning. I wasn't too effected but the Spectromagic Parade and Wishes Fireworks Spectacular were. We headed back through the stores, which were packed, to get to the front of the park. No fireworks this vacation...darn!

When we got back to the resort, I decided I would head back to Epcot for extra magic hours by myself. So, I sat at the bus stop as bus after bus passed by and then...here comes Dad. He didn't want me to have to walk around Epcot alone so he kept me company. The bus finally came and we made our way around the countries first stopping at Mexico to ride the Gran Fiesta Tour practically alone and then continued through the countries to ride Maelstrom in Norway. It was nice to spend some time with my Dad alone. That usually doesn't happen on a family vacation of 9+. We got back pretty late and went straight to bed. Tomorrow we are heading to Hollywood Studios pretty early. Ready to ride my favorite...