Disney - Days 4, 5, & 6

Monday we went to the most magical place on Earth....Magic Kingdom! It's all decorated for Halloween, and as usual there's so much to see and do. We arrived when the gates opened and headed straight for the newly refurbished Haunted Mansion. Outside is the horseless carriage, and the innovations they've made to the ride are really cool! Then on to Pirates of the Caribbean, the Country Bear Jamboree, Jungle Ride, Hall of Presidents, Transit Authority, and Carousel of Progress. We also saw the new production at Cinderella's Castle called "Dreams Come True", a fun and entertaining show featuring Minnie, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and the Disney princesses. And of course Russ had to kick my butt on Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin ride/game! In all the times we've "played", I've only beaten him once! We also took in the new Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor, a "comedy club for visiting humans", which is really clever and involves the audience.

Dinner was at Le Cellier Steakhouse located below the Chateau in the Canada Pavilion at Epcot and is designed to resemble a wine cellar. But first we had to stop by and hear one of our favorite groups at Disney called Off Kilter, a high energy Celtic rock band playing a unique blend of traditional and modern music (check them out at http://offkilter.net/ ). They are fun to watch and great to hear plus all the guys wear kilts! Anyway, on to dinner. Steaks were great, and this time we were smart and asked for our desserts to go. I got the Chocolate Mousse Moose, and as you can see by the photo, it really was!

It was "Hooray for Hollywood!" on Monday as we went to Disney/MGM Studios. Again we arrived as the gates were about to open, and this park is known for its street performers. The crowd was greeted by a famous gossip columnist and a great director, who made waiting fun. First thing we did was head for Tower of Terror. Now we don't really like to do a lot of thrill rides, but there are a couple that are tradition for us, and every time we get off we say "we're getting too old for this!" Thank goodness Aerosmith's Rock 'N Roller Coaster was closed for refurbishments this trip! As we were heading into the Muppet Vision 3D movie, a cast member (that's what Disney employees are called) stopped us and said we had won a Dream Fast Pass for the day! This is the "Year of A Million Dreams" at all the Disney properties, and many prizes both big and small are being awarded randomly to guests. This Fast Pass was good only that day and only at MGM, which was kind of a bummer because the park wasn't very busy so the only attraction that required a Fast Pass was Tower of Terror, and we weren't going on it again! But we were just thrilled to have won and wore our badges proudly. After Muppet Vision we went on The Great Movie Ride and Star Tours. We caught the last few minutes of another fun group called Mulch, Sweat, & Shears. Great musicians and so funny....they put on a great show! Their schedule is not always posted, but you can ask any cast member where and when they will be performing in the park. As we were getting ready to leave the park, we ran across some more street performers that were hilarious. The dumb blonde taking her driving test with the cop....she was priceless!!!

Dinner was at Ohana in the Polynesian Resort, a family-style all-you-care-to-eat Hawaiian meal, with plenty of refills available for each course. We've eaten at this restaurant before and enjoyed the meal and the atmosphere so decided to go again this trip. Shrimp, turkey, pork, and beef are brought to the table on these huge skewers, and your server will pull off as much as you'd like (and bring more if you so desire!) There is a 16-foot open-fire pit and beautiful views, while a strolling singer walks around singing and playing a ukelele. Dessert was a variation of bananas foster so no way to really take it home...had to eat it there!

After dinner we walked over to the Magic Kingdom to catch the fireworks, but since we arrived a little bit early, we walked around in the Town Square Exposition Hall. The front of this place is a camera store and a film developing location, and you can purchase pins and other character items. In the back of the Expo Hall are several photo opportunities for taking your picture with cut out posters of Disney characters. So here are a couple we took:

Wednesday the insurance man came by to look at our awning, and we decided to just hang out in the RV and catch up on some stuff. Glad we did because we saw some wild turkeys about couple sites down from our RV. I went outside to take a couple pictures and hopefully not scare them off. Guess they're really used to people because they walked within a couple feet of me!

Dinner was at Spoodles at the Disney BoardWalk. Originally we figured this would be a pasta place (spoodles....noodles), but were surprised when we read the menu ahead of time. They actually offer a Mediterranean fare. This "cuisine of the sun" concept is inspired by the abundant flavours of the southern European coast and was quite delicious. We both tried the red snapper, which was excellent, and even had room for dessert this time!

Well, tomorrow's a big day so until then!