All Aboard!

This winter we’ve been riding the ferry more than the monorail when heading to the Magic Kingdom from the Transportation Center and really enjoying it.  Our timing has been excellent, rarely having to wait long before its departure, and not overly crowded…very relaxing.  Plus we’ve been able to watch the construction of the Polynesian’s new Bora Bora Bungalows.  Each of the 20 bungalows are located on
the Seven Seas Lagoon, are about 1600 sq. ft. (that includes a private 300 sq. ft. deck with a plunge pool facing the Magic Kingdom), and sleep 8.  The rumored cost per night is planned to be roughly $2,000 to $3,000 depending on time of year!  Some folks will use their Vacation Club points but that’s going to be a lot of points!

 

We made it over to the Magic Kingdom again one afternoon and arrived just in time to catch the end of the “Move It! Shake It! Dance & Play It! Street Party”.  Part parade, part street show, part dance party, it actually starts at the front of the Kingdom, moves down Main Street, and stops near
   the front of the Castle where most of the characters get off the floats to dance with guests in the street.  They encourage folks to take selfies to immediately hashtag and possibly be seen on the video screens on the side of the floats.  Guess that’s why Goofy has his cell
   phone with him on his float!  Then the parade returns up Main Street which is where we caught it…very fun and festive!  (We’d never actually experienced any part of it before.)

One of the reasons for going to the park this day was because we were
able to once again get a FastPass for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ride, willing to give it another chance.  As we continued our walk down Main Street, we once again ran into the “Mayor” along with socialite and suffragette Miss Hildegard Olivia Harding, just another of the fun “Citizens of Main Street”.

 

Since we had some time to kill before that FastPass, we ventured over to Fantasyland where we caught the Walt Disney World Railroad.  It’s actually been several years since we’d taken this ride…why, I’m not exactly sure.  You board an authentic steam powered
      train that takes you on a 1-1/2 mile circle around the entire park, making stops at 3 stations…Main Street, Frontierland, and Fantasyland.  The entire trip takes about 20 min. and there’s a train stopping at each location every
   4 - 10 min. throughout the day.  There are 4 different locomotives each with its own color scheme and name and each containing 4 sets of passenger cars.  Walt was a huge train buff, and it just so happened that we hopped aboard the train
   named after him, Walter E. Disney.  At the Main Street stop, you pass above all of the action, while the rest of the way, you are pretty much at ground level.  Several little scenes/vignettes were created specifically for viewing 
      from the trains especially between Frontierland and Fantasyland like wildlife amongst the trees, an Indian village, the roller coaster ride, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and more.

 

We headed over to the Mine Train, and I guess maybe we enjoyed it a little bit more since we knew what to expect but are still not overwhelmed with it.  It’s an extremely short ride and the seats are way too small and cramped.  The standby line was 50 min. which we think is still way too long a wait for this ride.  Thank goodness for the FastPass!

 

It was an extremely hot day, but we decided to catch the Festival of Fantasy Parade again.  Fortunately we found a great spot on the shady side of Main Street from which to watch giving us a slightly different perspective than the last time.  And I was lucky enough to get a shot of the dragon breathing fire!

 

  On the ferry ride back, I spotted something I’m pretty sure is a big no-no.  These are double-decker boats, and there are always seagulls flying around the upper deck.  Well, on this particular trip, I spied this guy directly above us hanging over with a cracker in his mouth enticing the birds to come take it from him!  Now I saw this guy when he boarded, and he was no silly teenager…this was a grown man with little kids.  Just before we docked, I had shut off the camera so missed the shot of the bird actually taking it from his mouth...crazy and dangerous!