The Magic Kingdom was the target of our third WDW day. We arrived at about 8:30 a.m., but the Park does not officially open until 9:00 a.m. Our first stop was the barbershop on Main Street. Ron stayed at the barbershop until it opened to be second in line. FIrst in line was a little boy who was there to have his first haircut. Meanwhile, I walked down to the castle. People were poised to move into their favorite areas for that first ride of the day or they could gather directly in front of the castle to see the Welcome to the Magic Kingdom show. I was in the group for Fantasyland so I could ride the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. This is an attraction that was finished just after our last visit. It is a family roller coaster, so the ride is short and pretty mild with some nice visuals of what it was like to work in the Dwarfs’ jewel mine. There were a few cute mini-attractions in the waiting line for this ride as well. It was fun and over too quickly, but I was able to check THAT off of my “To Do” list.

An attraction that they do not have in our Disneyland Park is Mickey’s Philharmagic. This is a clever 3D movie that revisits songs and singers from several of the most popular Disney films (Little Mermaid, Aladdin, The Lion King, etc.) while Donald is trying to retrieve the blue wizards cap. We actually spent most of our time in the Park playing an interactive game where we were seeking out pirate treasure. Around Adventureland, there are spots where your Disney wrist band will activate an area with lights, animated objects, and sounds to give you clues to the pirate’s treasure. You must follow instructions and visit the correct sites in the correct order. If you do, you get a souvenir card. There are five different treasures. At one point, you even get a Fast Pass to the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction.

We rode the Jungle Ride one more time. I don’t seem to get tired of the bad jokes and puns on that ride. Our captain was very funny this time. She really put herself into the role.



We had dinner in their version of Downtown Disney at a place called Chef Art Smith’s Homecoming. The food was very tasty, but we ordered too much. We had two starters, hush puppies with jalapeño jelly (yum) and their thigh-high chicken biscuit sandwiches (three little biscuit/chicken sliders) that were also wonderful. After eating those, we had our server make the entree to go. We were going to share one entree anyway, but we were full. We only ordered the entree because the title intrigued us… Chicken and Donuts. I kind of expected something magical about the combination, but it was just what it said, a couple of good pieces of fried chicken and two donuts! The country gravy over mashed potatoes were good, however. After dinner, we walked around the shops. I have a special iPhone case that I had made at Disneyland, but the outside band had separated while I was traveling around the world. It did not hurt the phone, but pieces kept sticking out from time to time catching on my pocket. In the Co-Op store, there was a D-Tech, the guys who made my original case. They replaced my outside band for free! How cool is that!