After striking out at Disney Springs, it was off to the Ticket and Transportation Center for our trip to Disney's Magic Kingdom! We had been using the ferry boats a lot lately, so today we decided to ride the monorail. We figured we would take the scenic route, taking the resort monorail to the Polynesian Resort, then the Grand Floridian, before finally arriving at the Magic Kingdom.

Grandma Terry had some issues with her recently renewed season pass so she had to go to the customer service window off to the right of the entrance. Since I had already went though the gates, I headed under the railroad station to the popcorn stand near City Hall. Finally, success! I found the normal bucket with a 50th anniversary design, as well as a Mickey Mouse shaped bucket with him all dressed in his 50th anniversary suit! I made my way over to where Grandma Terry was working to figure out her ticket issues, and chowed down on popcorn until she finished up.

Due to our late departure time from home and our unsuccessful detour to Disney Springs, we were getting a bit hungry even though we just arrived in the park. Well, Grandma Terry was more hungry than me... I had just eaten a bunch of popcorn, after all! I offered up Grandma's favorite, Casey's Corner, but she decided against eating there. We decided to go to Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe instead. The food was pretty good (for Disney quick service food, anyway), but I do miss the toppings bar for the burger.

Once we finished eating, we spent some time wandering around wondering what to do. We settled on The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, since that is one that we don't do very often. Honestly, after riding it I can see why we usually skip it. I would have rather done Peter Pan's Flight, but the line was long and neither of us wanted to wait today.

After exploring the park a bit we decided to take advantage of the post 2:00pm ability to park hop and head over to Epcot. We debated taking the monorail right over to Epcot, but decided if we stayed late for the show that we wouldn't want to have to make the trek back here so late at night. We did ride the monorail, but this time back to the Ticket and Transportation Center to get in the car.

Disney's Magic Kingdom

The Walt Disney World Railroad station welcoming us to "The World's Most Magical Celebration".

A look down Main Street, U.S.A. towards Cinderella's Castle.

Another angle of Cinderella's Castle.

Here are some views from inside of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh...

Maybe I should get some shoes made out of James P. Sullivan, aka Sully!

Walt Disney World has placed Disney Fab 50 Character Collection statues all over the parks - here is Cogsworth and Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast...

...and this one is Pinocchio from, well, Pinocchio...

...and here is Piglet and Winnie the Pooh from Winnie the Pooh!

Our next stop required us to trek through the construction zone that is the front of Epcot to make our way to World Nature to take a ride on Living with the Land. While we were here we also took in the sights on Soarin' Around the World, where we finally got a seat in the center section! Since we were nearby, we also decided to head on over to The Seas with Nemo & Friends, which is another ride we haven't been on in quite a while. We also took in some of the sights that SeaBase has to offer, including the manatees.

We next found ourselves wandering around the World Showcase, making the walk around the circle counter-clockwise (which is against my usual procedure!). We mostly enjoyed the sights as we walked, but we did stop at The American Adventure to take in The American Adventure show. Although I enjoy the show, it has been a long day and I was ready to fall asleep while watching it tonight. We continued our walk around the World Showcase while debating whether or not we should stay for the Harmonious show. Unfortunately I had to be to work at 8:00am tomorrow morning, so we ultimately decided against it.

We did stay for a while in the Main Entrance courtyard area to watch the EARidescent projections and lighting on Spaceship Earth, which is definitely a worthwhile activity! It certainly makes for a beautiful addition to the massive globe!

After we had seen enough of the show on Spaceship Earth, we made the walk back out to the car (can't wait for the trams to come back!). We ended up at Chili's in Champions Gate for dinner before making the drive the rest of the way home.

All in all it was a relaxing, enjoyable day. Can't wait to do it again!

Epcot

Here is a look at Spaceship Earth as we entered the park.

The Sistine Chapel scene from the Spaceship Earth ride...

...and the view of earth from the decent.

We got to see Mary Poppins during a Character Sighting in the United Kingdom pavilion in the World Showcase.

A look at Spaceship Earth and the Harmonious show from across the World Showcase.

A bunch of Egrets landing in the trees along the waterway near the Outpost area of the World Showcase...

An almost rainbow like sky over the World Showcase.

One of the Harmonious show barges lit up at night.

Walt Disney World has placed Disney Fab 50 Character Collection statues all over the parks - here is Miguel and Dante from Coco.

...and here is Rocket and Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy!

A look at Spaceship Earth from across the World Showcase.

Here is another of the Disney Fab 50 Character Collection statues - this one is Figment from Journey Into Imagination With Figment.

And now... a bunch of pictures of Spaceship Earth with its EARidescent projections and lighting!