I went to bed around 1:30 am Thursday morning and slept till about 9. Felt pretty good waking up to sunshine and 60 degrees. The four of us left for the Magic Kingdom around 10 am and took a ferry from the parking lot over to the entrance. M and M took care of our tickets (Mark is a bus driver for Disney) and Mom and headed down Main St. USA. There was a huge Christmas tree surrounded by toy soldiers in the middle and the traffic leading towards the castle was crazy. I liked seeing the holly hanging high above the street as we walked towards the castle. As we approached, I could see a show on the castle steps and that my faves, Donald Duck and Goofy were in it. Got a glimpse of Peter Pan and a few others.
Our first stop was Adventure Land, and keeping with family tradition, our first stop was the Tiki Room. I think I forgot that Gilbert Gottfried is the voice of Iago, the rogue bird. It was weird hearing that voice not telling dirty jokes. Then, we hit Frontierland. I would have tried Splash Mountain, but it was 50 degrees, and Mom had no interest in water. I really wanted to try the Big Thunder Railroad. But even with the fastpass, we would have had a 5-hour wait! I was not going for that. So, we settled for the Country Bear Jamboree, which was a nice little show. Then, came Liberty Square where we grabbed lunch and this New England style chicken and fish restaurant. Then, we headed to the Hall of Presidents, which my have been my favorite part. I remember doing this with Kristin back in 1998, but it was still great. I could see the figure of Abraham Lincoln making realistic body movements, even blinking his eyes! It's amazing what some people can do to enhance these shows.
I wasn't too excited about visiting Tomorrow Land, but we went anyway. I wanted to do the Speedway, that was an hour wait I decided against. Besides, I knew it was a controlled form of racing anyway. We went to the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, which was a kid-oriented animated comedy show. There were some decent laughs, not my cup of tea. Mom wanted to see Stich's Great Escape, a dark alien encounter. I thought we had done it before, but that was Alein Encounter, which I found out closed in 2003. This version featured a far less scary alien, so it was nothing I could not handle. At one point, the "warden" shouted for the audience to "Step Lively!" All I could think about was Tom Coughlin! Then, I checked out Disney's Carousel of Progress, a timeline of technological and lifestyle changes throughout the 20th century. And now I can't stop thinking about that sing that the characters sang at least five times, "There's a great big beautiful tomorrow!"
Mom and I headed back towards Main St and took the Walt Disney railroad around the park. By this time it was around 4:30, and we were ready to head out. We hopped the monorail, heading towards the Polynesian resort and took a 30-40 minute bus trip to Downtown Disney in Lake Buena Vista. When translated, that means Lake of Good Microsoft Windows products... As we stepped off the bus, the sun was setting and the temperature dropped to around 50 degrees. The chill was setting in. We were both pretty hungry, and since I wanted to try something new, I suggested Bongo's Cuban Cafe, which is owned by Gloria and Emilio Estefan. They had a big, bright Christmas tree right in front and I liked that all the barstools were decorated to look like real bongo drums. I wanted a Cuban sandwich, but they're only available during lunch hours. Would have at least liked a Cubano slider option or something like that. I was disappointed with that, so it was time for Plan B. For an app, we split these deep-fried pork bites, which are served with grilled onions. The pork was cut into thick chunks with a very light breading. I enjoyed the succulent taste of the meat and the onions served as a decent complement. By the way, between chicken nuggets, fried fish, french fries, funnel cake, fried pork, and fried bananas, I think I ate more fried food in one day than I have since I was eating fried chicken and onion rings at the old White House in Dixon, IL.
I then ordered a roasted half chicken with lemon, garlic, wine, and a light tomato broth, alongside black beans and rice and fried plantains. the chicken was moist, though I felt the flavor was a little too delicate. I really enjoyed the sides, they reminded me of eating in Ecuador back in the day. Mom had a nice skirt steak with chimmichurri sauce. We were hoping for a thicker steak, but I liked the garlicky flavor of the chimmi. All in all, I enjoyed trying something different, but I think I would only return for a lunch or an appetizer.
We walked around Disney, trying to stay semi-warm. Neither of us had jacket, and I just had a long-sleeve T and cargo shorts on. We went to Ghiardelli, where Mom ordered a sea salt hot chocolate, which she called one of the best hot drinks she had ever had. Of course, being that this place is a chocolate haven, the only option for me was boring hot tea. I passed. We passed by Legoland and saw these awesome sculptures. They had a 30-foot tall Lego dragon in the pond that looked out over the tourists. We passed by Planet Hollywood, which has the Jenny boat used in the movie Forrest Gump.
We got picked up by M and M around 7:30 p.m. and headed back to Winter Garden. Got home just in time for the third period of the Rangers-Lightning game and after quick hugs to Lilly and Daisy, I headed straight upstairs to my room and turned the TV on. Unfortunately, the Rangers fell in an 11-round shootout. Even though they played well without Del Zotto, Callahan, and Gaborik, I was not pleased at all. Except to brush my teeth, I did not leave my bedroom the entire night. I mostly watched the Jeff Dunham Christmas show on Comedy Central. Read a little of the Mickey Mantle biography and headed to sleep around 1 a.m.
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