Day 1: Making up for lost time at the Magic Kingdom
To make up for some lost time last weekend, we opted to make it up this weekend, especially since we had to pick up the car in Orlando anyway. After picking up the car from the shop, we checked into the Radisson, which was within a 10 minute drive to the parks. Although it was a bit chilly today, the sun was shining over us. Since we woke up quite early to pick up the car, we took a mid-morning nap so we wouldn't tire out at night.
Around 4 PM, we finally left our room and headed straight to the Ticket and Transportation Center, where we boarded the monorail and arrived at the Magic Kingdom.
As we passed under the berm, we decided to grab some food first before we did anything else. Since we were already on Main Street, we went for Tony's Town Square Restaurant. As we were about to place our name on the waiting list, the flag retreat was starting up. Instead of placing our name on the list, we told the host that we will come back after the ceremony.
When the flag retreat was complete, we went back to Tony's and we were told to wait about 35 minutes. To pass time, we did a little of window shopping at the Emporium. After about 20 minutes, we went back to Tony's to finish off the rest of our wait.
After we were seated, we chatted with out waiter and learned that he was from Stanford, CA. I should probably start remembering the names of the cast members we meet. For our appetizer, we ordered sweet butternut squash soup. Since then, it has become my favorite type of soup. This recipe is probably the closest I came to finding the one served at Tony's. A dinner at Tony's isn't complete without an order of spaghetti, of course. I have yet to watch the Lady and the Tramp, so I'm not sure if I should have done anything special with out our meal. Lastly, we finished it off with some crème brûlée and a handful of fruit.
One place we really haven't checked out yet was the Dumbo area within New Fantasyland. So we went there to ride Dumbo the Flying Elephant. At this point crowds were low in this area as it was getting a bit chilly (for those of us unfamiliar with cold weather).
Nearby was Casey Jr. Splash 'n' Soak Station, which features recycled water that is potentially infused with diarrhea.
When the cold really got to us, we went into Big Top Souveniers. While Big Top carried the same generic Disney merchandise found at most locations, it served a lot of treats that you would find at a circus. So as soon as you walk in, the smell of popcorn, cotton candy, and caramel apples hone in on your olfactory receptors.
For the last ride of the night, we went on the Haunted Mansion. Since my vision was much better adjusted from being out at night, it was a bit easier to see details on the attraction. Though, the graveyard scene is still way too dark to convince me to become the 1000th happy haunt.
When it was time for the fireworks, we stopped by our favorite spot at the Crystal Palace.
We waited for crowds to clear before we left the Crystal Palace. Once pathways looked clear enough, we went to Starbucks (Main Street Bakery for the purists) and gladly welcomed a cup of hot chocolate.
We then wanted to get a picture of the two of us on Main Street. So we found the nearest PhotoPass cast member and handed him my camera. I didn't really dial in the proper settings on my camera before I gave it to the cast member (it was 1/40 at f1.8), so the shot ended up being extremely underexposed. Fortunately, with modern dark rooms (i.e. my computer), I was able to bring up the exposure just enough. For those of you who like to shoot, take this as a reason to shoot in raw, or you could just blame me for not setting my camera correctly. In hindsight, it was better to underexpose as long as the blacks weren't clipped. It allowed me to use a reasonable shutter speed while avoiding the harsh look of an on camera flash.
As we were right about to leave, the Main Street Electrical Parade was just getting started. In order to exit the park, we would have to cross the path of the parade. So we just waited for it to pass and enjoyed the show.
Having seen the exterior of the Grand Floridian, we were enticed to check out the interior. So we got aboard the resort monorail and took the stop at the Grand. The look of the lobby reminded me of the Grand Californian, just a little more Floridian.
Although it was only 9 PM, we were getting quite tired. So we jumped back on the monorail and rested up for the next day.
Next up, more of the Magic Kingdom!
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