Walt Disney World

It's a happy place ....

Spending my week here at the parks in Florida ... and it's been a great week so far!

Sunday I drove the 60 miles down from Bushnell to Fort Wilderness Campground here on the Disney properties.  It is a very nice campground ... there is a beach, swimming pool, nightly campfire and movies .... and tons of activities without even going to any of the Disney parks.  You can rent horses, bikes, golf carts, boats .... go on a hay ride .... anything your heart desires.  There are a couple of restaurants here at the campground as well.

After I got parked and hooked up, Philip, Mandy and Tandi, a long-time friend of Mandy's, came to collect me for dinner.  We took a bus ride to Disney Springs, walked around, and then ate our fill at one of the restaurants.

Monday morning found us eating breakfast, along with Mandy's family, at the Kona Cafe in the Polynesian Village Resort, making a group of 7 heading to the Magic Kingdom for the day.

Included in our day was It's a Small World, the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (I haven't gotten to ride this new ride YET, but looking forward to it), Mickey's PhilharMagic ... and then it was time to eat again.  We headed for the Beach Club resort to sit in the sun and visit before having dinner at the Cape May Cafe with additional family members.  Cape May Cafe is a seafood buffet ..... and the crab legs were definitely disappearing!  We all ate too much and complained all the way home.  ha.

The three of us starting out our day in the Animal Kingdom

On the agenda for Tuesday was the Animal Kingdom.  I may have walked through this park when I was here 10 years ago for Philip's and Mandy's wedding, but I didn't remember it.  We went on the Kilimanjaro Safari .... which was awesome .... and the Expedition Everest ride .... which was a blast.

Some of the animals we saw ....

The bird show, Flights of Wonder, is great!  The Finding Nemo show is fun .... as is A Bug's Life.

There was "dancing in the streets," and lots of fun things to do and see .... and more to eat.

My new toad .....

The Tree of Life

Dinner was at Portabello's .... an Italian restaurant at Disney Springs, followed by Ghirardelli's for hot fudge and ice cream ....

Today, Wednesday, I was on my own.  I headed back to Magic Kingdom ... this time by boat.  There is a boat that goes from the campground to the Magic Kingdom, so it is really handy.  I ended up spending 5 hours before heading back to my home.




For those who know me ..... I don't have to tell you the first ride I headed for when I got to the Magic Kingdom was Space Mountain .... my absolute favorite ride.  The one here is much rougher than the ride at "my" Disney, but good just the same.

It was interesting to see that they have some of the "old" Disney rides that I remember from years ago, like the People Mover and Carousel of Progress.  Remember those?

And then onto Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Haunted Mansion, and Pirates of the Caribbean.  I ended with dinner at Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn - fajita platter. It was surprising good and there was enough to bring home half for another meal.

The fireworks are going off right now .... just like "home."

Tomorrow is Epcot (and more eating!), so I'll keep you posted.