Magic Kingdom part 2

We got up early to see “The Welcome ceremony” at Magic Kingdom.  This is the last week they will have the ceremony as it has been since the park opened.  We on park property at 8.  One hour before opening.  Arrrgg!!!  We missed it by 10 minutes.  The monorail was AGAIN not working so everyone was using the Ferry boats.  This meant that we missed the boat (literally) that would have gotten us to the park in time.   We are going to try again in the morning.  Now it is a matter of determination more than anything else.

After a bit of angst on my part, we had a nice day and rode a lot of rides.  We were able to go to Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Tomorrowland People Mover, Splash Mountain, Peter Pan's Flight, Jungle Cruise, Enchanted Tiki Room, it's a small world, a lot of walking along with people watching, and just for fun we rode the train full circle around the park again.  Yes Shawna/Mom rode Splash Mountain.  I know what you are thinking, “Is this the same person I know?!”.  Well she says that after riding in the mountains the rides don’t seem to be nearly as scary.
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After watching the big afternoon parade, which as always has big floats and pageantry, we left for Disney Springs.  After walking around for a while we decided to go to the Rainforest Café.  It was great.  The inside is sort of jungle/tropical/Aquarium.  The ceiling looks like a tree canopy or, as in the area we were seated, a view of stars.  It was supposed to be a gap in the canopy.  Around us were mechanical elephants and gorillas which “came to life” every 10 minutes or so.  It was unique and the food was great.  It was our most expensive meal in a while but well worth the cost.  Then we walked out to the lake and watched the “Starbright Holidays - An Intel Collaboration” drone show.  It was great! The show is 300 drones that fly over the lake and have bright lights that change color in programmed patterns.  Huge 3D Christmas tree that turns.  A giant dove that must have been 300 feet across. All with a nice narration and music.  It was well worth the time and effort to see the show.

13,180 steps today.