Thursday, our last full day in Walt Disney World was dedicated to what Susie and I consider our favorite part of this wonderful place, The Magic Kingdom!! Back when Susie and I first visited WDW, the Magic Kingdom was all it was, and I guess for that, and for a visit I made to Disneyland when I was 10, walking into the Magic Kingdom is, for us, the real Disney experience! So a quick breakfast was eaten, then we were off in the car and did our last traveling by the monorail (another real Disney experience for us) to the entrance of the Magic Kingdom!

Of course, it was required that Chris get a picture of the four of us on Main Street with the castle in the background (I’m still 6 watching the Wonderful World of Disney in my living room every time I see that castle), and this time he lucked out. At Epcot on Tuesday, and Animal Kingdom yesterday, as soon as we got into the park and got to the perfect “photo spot”, Chris asked someone to take our picture. Tuesday he asked someone who spoke broken English, yesterday someone who spoke no English at all! Today he lucked out and asked a lady from North Carolina!! He finally found an English speaking tourist to help!!

She did good I think!

We used today’s Fast Passes for the boys on rides like Space Mountain and Splash Mountain, figuring we’d get in the park in the morning and head right to the older rides and get on when they had shorter wait times. No such luck! Our first ride was again one of Susie and my favorites, the Jungle Cruise. We waited 45 minutes to get on, but honestly it was worth it!

Then it was off to the Pirates of the Caribbean. I was making noises about not standing on line and letting Susie and the boys go, but as with so much that comes out of my mouth, that was BS. It said a 40 minute wait, but in reality, it was more like 30 or less. Don’t we look happy while we’re waiting?

Then we were off to the Haunted Mansion! I can remember when I first went on that ride here with my friend David Cohen. We were in our 20s, so it was in the 70s, and boy did that ride seem High Tech! Still one of our favorites!!

Then we took the boys into a great 3D movie that we enjoyed last year, Mickey’s Phiharmagic! It was fun again, and the boys liked it too! On the way out, we watched the Sword and the Stone presentation by the Carousel in Fantasyland…always fun!

Then it was time to make our way to Tomorrowland. It was time for the boys to use their first Fastness for Space Mountain, Susie and I found a bench and waited for them, and she allegedly took this picture of me!

If there ever was Fake News, that’s it! Like I could fall asleep in Disney World’s Magic Kingdom!!

Then it was time for one of our favorites, and a ride that Chris has never been on…Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress!

Narrated by the one and only Jean Shepherd, I have loved this ride since I first saw it at the 1964/65 New York World’s Fair when I was 14 years old. In case figuring out how long that’s been is higher math for you, I have loved this ride for 53 years! It’s never really crowded, and I fear that one day it’s real estate will be given over to some new adventure, but we do love it and it has to be a part of every Disney visit for the D’Elia Family! Oh, BTW, Chris liked it!!

After we’d traveled through the 20th Century, we headed over to Monsters Inc.’s Laugh Factory. It’s a very cleverly done live animation integrated show, and if that doesn’t make sense to you, all I can say is that you’d have to see it to understand!

When we came out, the boys headed over to Splash Mountain to use their next FastPass and Susie and I headed to see about getting some ice cream. We nixed that Idea because the line was out the door of the Ice Cream Parlor! The park seemed to be incredibly crowded today. Oh, we found out that the Louisiana schools are on vacation this week, so perhaps that explains all the kids we’ve seen the last 3 days! Before heading home, we figured we’d hit the Disney People Movers, a cute ride that was the basis of the Ford Magic Skyway at the New York World’s Fair. Every year we’ve been here, this is a walk on ride, where you just walk through the entrance, go up the ramp, and get in a car. Today it had a 20 minute line!! WTF???? We nixed that, just like the ice cream!

So we headed back to Main Street, bought two sweat shirts in the Emporium (God, I do love the Disney Retiree Cast Member Discount of 35%), hit the bathroom, and took the Monorail back to the Ticket and Transportation Center’s parking lot and the Sonata.

We walked over 10,000 steps today, covering 3.3 miles, so we were happy to return to our room, make and enjoy a couple of drinks in the air conditioning, and when the boys return tonight, we are going to go to the Scat Cat Club, drink some drinks, enjoy some nice food, and have a relaxing evening! Tomorrow morning, the boys will leave early, and drive to New Orleans. Susie and I will leisurely leave Port Orleans, the French Quarter and we will head to our overnight in Pensacola, Florida. Krissi and Mike will fly in from NYC tomorrow and spend the night with Kenny and Chris. Mom and Dad will arrive in NOLA on Saturday, and the family will once again reunite one last time before Kenny and Chris continue their trip to their new home, Los Angeles!

So before I leave you this evening, I have one question. Why if Walt Disney World is the Happiest Place on Earth, are there so many crying kids everywhere you venture??? Just asking!

Have a great night…see you in Pensacola tomorrow!