Park Hopping Part 4
Florida Guide > Disney Parks
The shower was brief but heavy and may have been responsible for driving people away from the parks because On entering the Magic Kingdom parking lot we were able to go straight to the front and park in ' Aladdin' enabling us to walk to the ticketing and transportation centre. We tossed up between taking the monorail or the ferry and on this occasion the monorail won.
Down the ramp from the monorail to the bag check, through the turnstiles and we were standing at the bottom Main Street. On our ' To Do' list was the Carousel of Progress, Mickeys Philharmagic and the Hall of Presidents, notice they are all attractions which require sitting for long periods but neither of us are spring chickens and it was the end of a long day!
Many people were lining the sidewalks of Main Street in preparation for the first Main Street Electrical parade of the evening, so we made our way to the Carousel of Progress via Tomorrowland terrace. We were sorely tempted to stop off at the ice cream parlour but having had one ice cream already today we decided to save ourselves for later.
The Carousel of Progress is cheesy but nevertheless great fun and by the end of its performance everyone knows the words to its theme tune ' Theres a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow' .
We strolled past the Grand Prix race track which brought back memories of standing in line for ages when the kids were little, because they wanted to drive the cars. We passed the Teacup Ride of which we are of divided opinion one of us can do whizzy round things and one of us can' t! Fantasyland was relatively quiet due to the parades imminent start but as usual the lines for Peter Pans flight were long so it was a good job we didn' t want to ride.
Mickeys Philharmagic had no line so we picked up our 3-D specs and waited in the pre show area for just a few moments before we entered and were able to sit down again (you can tell that by this time we were getting tired! ) The best part of this show is the music, all those memorable songs from equally memorable films are performed.
On leaving Mickeys Philharmagic we walked around the back and into Liberty Square via Frontierland, the parade was in full swing, people were close to the edge of the sidewalk and we were able to access the Hall of Presidents fairly easily. This is the first time we had visited this favourite attraction since it was updated to include President Obama. Like the great American Adventure that we had visited earlier in the day the film Takes us through American history before a salute to the Americas presidents, represented by Disney animatronics. They are really lifelike and having experienced Disney' s Backstage Magic tour a few years ago, we can appreciate the work that goes into them.
On leaving the Hall of Presidents the tail end of the parade had just passed through Liberty Square and we decided that this will be a good place for us to view the spectacle later in the evening, but first we followed the crowd down to the castle forecourt to pick a spot where we could view the Wishes fireworks display. Aching legs and aching backs made sitting on the sidewalk somewhat attractive although neither of us knew how we would ever get up again . . . . . . . very inelegantly as it happened! There is something to be said for visiting the fireworks desert party and leaning against the rail for a birds eye view!
The rain held off allowing Tinkerbell to make her nightly flight from the castle to Tomorrowland terrace and as usual the fireworks did not disappoint. We were bone weary by the end and the temptation to duck the parade was strong, but coffee and cake at Sleepy Hollow fortified us sufficiently to bag a spot on the wall outside, where our American neighbours became our new best friends!
The parade was preceded by a high school marching band from Wisconsin (if I remember correctly) they all look pleased as punch to be taking part and I' m sure that their parents were extremely proud. The Main Street Electrical Parade cheered our tired bodies and we were glad that we had stayed to watch. The only downside to stay so late is that everybody is leaving the park at the same time. We joined the queue for the ferry, sadly when we finally went aboard there was no seating left, but the journey was such short and soon over. The huge bonus of parking so close to the ticket and transportation centre was that we did not have to stand in line for a tram. A Disney cast member directed us across the road and planting one weary foot in front of the other we were soon back at the car. Not for the first time that evening we reminisced about earlier years with the children, when we would have had the stamina to fill a day like this on a daily basis for a fortnight!
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