When I made it off the monorail I took a few pictures and purchased my Haunted Mansion sunglasses. Afterward, my first priority was to meet Mickey and Minnie in their birthday outfits right when the park opened.
Good morning from the Magic Kingdom!
Had to stop by to see Roy and Minnie - I love how this photo turned out with the castle and car in the background!
When at the Magic Kingdom in a Partners shirt you have to get a photo with the Partners statue!
Celebrating Mickey and Minnie's 90th birthdays!
More castle pictures
I like how this one turned out
Imagine what they would chat about
Partners
After taking some pictures and meeting Mickey and Minnie, I headed back to Storybook Circus to see if I could find the Mickey's 90th birthday ear headband. Unfortunately the shop parks app lied - they were sold out. I was told they might have a pair at Hollywood Studios (which would turn out to be gone by the time I got there). I made my way back through Fantasyland and headed toward the Haunted Mansion.
After a trip through Gracey Mansion I stopped by Memento Mori and found a cute handbag featuring all of my favorite scenes from the ride. I had to have it - and got it sent to package pickup! Then I took my first ride on the Liberty Belle riverboat before catching Great Moments in History with the Muppets. Once that show finished, I caught most of the Royal Friendship Faire show.
There are some good photo ops from the Liberty Belle!
Mickey and Minnie in the Royal Friendship Faire
Again - never too many pictures of the castle
Fireworks at the end of the Royal Friendship Faire show
Castle mid-show
Love this one - I wish there was a little more happening with the clouds!
Donald had some cousins hanging with him.
Love the ducks of Disney
Jiminy!
Looking good at 90!
I'm here to see the cricket.
Can't get enough of these statues and the fountains either...
Once my extended photoshoot was done, I hopped on the monorail to head over to my reservation for brunch at Chef Mickey's - located in the Contemporary Resort.
I made ambitious dining plans for this trip (by ambitious, I mean expensive) and Chef Mickey's was a choice because I've never been there. There had been a couple of blogs which made me second guess my decision but ultimately, I'm glad I had the experience!
Located in the middle of the Contemporary Resort, Chef Mickey's is really easy to get to.
I was eating there at "brunch" but it was after 1 pm.
Mickey Waffles for the win!
Goofy stopped by after he finished cooking
Minnie was a delight
Pluto's collar had a skillet-shaped dog tag on it!
Number one duck!
Mickey might have been laughing at my shirt...
Don't miss the photo pass spot!
So let me be honest for a second. The food wasn't amazing. Some of the stations were needing replenishment and some of it just wasn't great. The Mickey waffle tray was empty for the first 30+ minutes I was there. They had smoked salmon (a bagel station with accompaniments) and I ate a TON of it. There was a smoked tomato soup that was terrible. I finally got some waffles prior to the characters coming through. There were some good desserts and an ice cream area.
Not all bad - but I don't think you come to Chef Mickeys for the food - I think it's more that it's a classic and that the atmosphere is fun. I enjoyed the experience but the food could be better.
From Chef Mickeys, I headed back to the Magic Kingdom thanks to the convenient monorail transportation. When I got back, I'd arrived just in time for the Festival of Fantasy parade!
I watched from the train station which was a first. There was a group of people in front of me but I was still able to get some photos! Glad to see Maleficent was back in the parade even though there wasn't any fire breathing in the part I saw.
Jiminy!
Mickey and Minnie - it's a whole different perspective from up here!
I was able to get a picture of the train. It's down until Tron construction is complete enough for it to continue moving!
Caught the Dapper Dans!
Pretty talented guys
A view of the back side of Cosmic Ray's
I still wish they'd make Tigger less neon
Pooh off to get some Hunny
Mickey wanted to stop and smell the flowers
These match my shoes, Amanda!
Always a nice place to stop and take a break
There's a great big beautiful tomorrow
Shining at the end of every day
To infinity...
Following the Carousel of Progress, I planned to use my FP for Big Thunder. Unfortunately, the ride was down. So I decided to use the FP on Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin instead. I wish they'd let us practice or something on that ride.
Carousel at twilight.
Had to go back to the Haunted Mansion
I decided to wait a while for the Tangled lantern picture again. It started lightly sprinkling and after I took my picture, the photo pass people relocated to a covered area.
The rain got pretty hard and derailed my plans to find a spot in front of the castle for Happily Ever After.
I found a spot to sit on a bench (the concrete wall area by Pinocchio's Village Haus) under a tree where the concrete was still dry. I sat down and opened my umbrella to wait out the rain. Little did I know, most of the fireworks are actually shot off right by Be Our Guest restaurant (behind where I was sitting). I didn't see the projections on the front of the castle but it was an interesting place to catch the fireworks.
Side bar - has anyone ever noticed the hidden mickey atop the Astro Orbiter before?
Fireworks!
All the smoke and fire
Once Happily Ever After was done I headed toward Aloha Isle where I mobile ordered my Dole Whip.
All this pineapple soft serve for Mickey!
Mickey was surprised by the hole in my ice cream
But he finished off the whole thing
I need to edit this one a bit.
And this one too...
Once I'd taken a few more hundred photos of the castle, I made my way to the exit.
Sad to leave.
Happy because I know I'll be back.
And that's it for now! The next morning I'd be heading into Animal Kingdom. I'd brought my tripod with me on this trip and carried it around all day intending to get some long exposure pictures. Unfortunately I realized that I'd left a critical piece of the tripod at home. Without it, I couldn't attach the camera to the tripod. Ah well!
Stay tuned for more of the adventure!
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