A quick trip back to the room, I chilled for a few minutes on the balcony checking some work emails and doing a little catch up work. I decided to head to a water park. Blizzard Beach bus pulled up so I hopped on and off I went. I had enough time to chill in the lazy river for 2-3 spins before they shut it down for lightening. I headed back to SSR and it poured rain while I was on the bus. When I got to my bus stop it slowed to a steady drizzle so I ran for cover and wound my way thru our building to avoid getting soaked. The buildings at SSR are huge and you can easily get turned around and end up at a dead end, which I did a few times before getting back to the room. I sat out on the balcony and watched the storm roll in over downtown Disney and just chilled. I loved sitting out on the balcony hearing the music drifting across the lake and watching the boats scurry back and forth. I also saw a lot of birds flittering about.

I headed inside to rest some before my big night at Magic Kingdom. We travel a lot during off season and Magic Kingdom is rarely open past 11pm, having Extra Magic Hours till 2am would be a treat for me. During off season EMH are a waste of time for us because the hours are early and most people can stay up and out in the parks that late. I watched some more TV land and became addicted to watching episode after episode of King of Queens and Everybody Loves Raymond.

After my vegging out in front of the TV I noticed the skies had cleared and the sun was starting to set. I got ready and headed to Magic Kingdom. This was my longest wait for a bus. I waited almost 14 minutes for a bus! But while I was waiting I met another DIS’ser from Pennsylvania. She and I had a great chat they are hard core fans like I am and visit a few times a year. Her kids and husband were super friendly too. I enjoyed waiting with them and the time flew by. And off to MK we went.

When I arrived I was blown away at the crowds already lined up for the parade it was at least an hour before the parade was to step off and Main Street was packed with tour groups taking up 20 yards or so on each side. It was wild. Mickey had a 10 minute wait so I decided to hop in and say Hi. I haven’t actually seen Magician Mickey, he was Christmas and Holiday versions the last time I was in there so with that short of wait I figured why not. I made friends with some Mass Disney fans in line and nearly laughed myself into stitches because the dad was acting so excited to see Mickey that he was starstruck to embarrass his teenagers, the more embarrassed they were the more he laid it on. It was a hoot. The girl behind me was also solo, here as part of the college program from Nebraska. We chatted a few minutes; she said part of her Traditions course was to come meet Mickey so she was excited to have the chance (why can’t my job have a cool requirement like that!). She was touring the parks solo that evening for the first time too, she said normally her other college program friends were with her. She was a bit apprehensive about it, and since my 2 days of experience made me feel like a pro I gave her a pep talk.

After saying Hi to an old friend (and his gal pal). I headed off for a spot to see Wishes. I had arranged to meet up with some friends from another online Disney community I’m apart of after the Dessert Party so I watched right outside that area. My camera is not all the for fireworks, DH’s SLR is what we normally use but I grabbed a few shots from my spot so you can see what its like from back there. Not bad for walking up 10 minutes before in July, I was at the rail and only had one tree blocking a few fireworks on one side of the castle. But I got to see Tink fly right toward me so that was worth a tree or two in the way.

Afterwards I headed to our meet up spot and met 2 new friends from the TouringPlans.com app Lines. Ironically we live about 20 minutes apart from each other, we had found out a few months back we lived nearby and we came all the way to WDW to meet. One of them also taught at my DD’s school until about 3 years ago. Cue the It’s A Small World music here………

I headed off into the park for some nighttime touring. I hit up Peoplemover which is one of my favorite. If you are a people watcher this is the ride for you. I just love zipping along at night with the lights of Magic Kingdom and watching people below scurry about. It’s great. I grabbed a FP for Buzz Lightyear and headed to Carousel of Progress before it closed. Carousel is one of my favorite attractions because of Walt’s involvement with it. We did the Marceline to Magic Kingdom tour back in May and it was part of the tour. I was already a big fan but that took it to new heights and now I have to ride it to point out all the things I learned on that tour. I  hit a few more rides before deciding I was starved. I headed off to find something to eat.

Cosmic Rays was still open and since I’d never eaten there I thought why not try it. I saw a tour group heading over so put  a skip in my step to beat them inside. Oh boy was I wrong there was already another group inside ordering. Snot. My choices were limited at this hour so I got in line and thought this won’t take too long. 10 minutes later I ordered. 15 minutes after that I stood crammed in a corral with 20 other annoyed adults while the poor Cast Members yelled # blah blah over and over to the foreign teen tour group while the teens ignored them. It was a mess. Finally a Spanish (assuming I am not good with languages) CM came over and started grabbing the tickets out of the teens hands and shoving trays of food at them. While annoying it was a neat people watching experience. I can’t imagine going in somewhere to eat and just not listening for my number or think it was normal to stand there and no one get food for 10, 15, 20 minutes. Finally I got my food and headed outside for a table. I got a prefect view of the castle and could see some of Main Street Electrical Parade passing. For dinner that night I tried the vegetarian sandwich with the cucumber salad.

I can’t find a good menu description now but I remember it had eggplant, red peppers, green peppers, onions cheese, and a sauce. I added lettuce tomatoes and pickles to it. It was a great sandwich, a good sized portion and plenty of heartiness to it. I didn’t miss the meat at all. I am a veggie lover and I would definitely order it again. The cucumber salad was good too your basic cucumber with vinegar based dressing, red onions, and herbs. I would also get it again.

Then I headed off into the park  I don’t remember everything I did but off the top of my head before EMH was over I was able to accomplish with little to no wait: Buzz Lightyear’s SpaceRanger Spin, Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan’s Flight, It’s A Small World, 2 rides on Big Thunder Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean and Mickey’s Philharmagic. I was tired and heading to the exit when I walked by Haunted Mansion with no wait so I had to do that too. I was so sleepy I might have nodded off in the graveyard. I headed toward the exit but then I walked by Pirates with no wait so I had to do it too. Then I headed for the exit about 10 till 2.

 I had almost made it still closing but I couldn’t last another minute. Out to the bus stop and saw about 20 or so sleepyheads yawning in the que. I thought oh well I’m standing on this bus that’s probably good it will keep me awake. I hopped in line nad up came the bus! Wohooo! And I got a seat. It was great. The bus was so quiet you could hear a few people snoring softly but it was peaceful and relaxing. I managed to stay awake because I was afraid I would miss my stop! I hopped off in Congress Park and headed to my room to crash. I decided as soon as I stepped off the bus that rope drop was out of the question for Monday morning. I walked in the room barely changed into pjs and was out like a light.