Getting Down town at Disney

Today was a designated free day, no planned team activities, the world (of Disney anyway) was our oyster. Amy and I chose to take a relaxing ride on the water taxi service back to Down Town Disney for some shopping and to check a couple of highly recommended eateries. As previously mentioned, I didn't have high expectations of Disney. I expected it to be a little childish, a bit Mickey Mouse. DTD was another example of how well thought out and well finished the whole complex is. Disney isn't about the rides or the shows or the meeting the characters it is about everything perfectly combined in one place. At every turn there is something that amazes or surprises. The Rainforest Cafe for instance, complete with jungle ceiling, moving animals and massive tropical fish tanks was captivating enough to potentially waste hours.

The lego store wasn't too bad either.

A quick refuel on the best pretzel I've ever had and we were back into the serious shopping, hitting all manner of official mouse merchandise retailers. Despite the disappointing fare delivered last night, we decided to give Wolfgang Puck another go for lunch. He did an OK pizza but there is no way you could describe the canned beetroot as roasted. Bad marks again Mr Puck. Not completely satisfied, I headed to Earl of Sandwich who in my opinion rightly claim to do the best sandwiches in the world. Their roast beef and horseradish is spot on. 

We met up with the rest of the team back at base in preparation for another jaunt into Magic Kingdom to watch the famous fireworks show over the iconic castle and maybe another go on Space Mountain. Saturday night is crazy busy at the Kingdom and it was slow going wadding through the throng of people gathering to watch the 6pm parade. After a finding out Space Mountain was just as fun (and for the girls just as scream-worthy) the second time round we grabbed a quick burger and found what seemed to be a good spot to catch the show. It turns out it wasn't due to the large tree in the way, from an improved vantage point we caught most of a very impressive display. The kind that are so loud you can feel the shockwave in your body. 

We stuck around for the end of the parade, the third one of the day. I couldn't help feeling sorry for the poor chumps performing the parade day in day out. The creepy, trance like music and oddly dated floats messed with my sanity in the short time we were there. How they maintain the smiles and up-beat attitude I'll never know. Surely they must be on a short rotation with other parts of the park to preserve their mental state. 

Puff

It was reasonably entertaining and fairly over stimulating for what was essentially a bunch of lights on wheels. We took the time to take a few more snaps of the Magic Kingdom as it was aesthetically pleasing at night before joining the hordes to catch the bus home.

Beer of the Day: 

I forgot to drink a beer today. Apologies to my valued readers, it won't happen again.