Chapter 3
Magical? Wonderful!

As we left Carnation Cafe and walked back down Main Street, I noticed that they’d added these Hitchhiking Ghost silhouettes to the window of the place where they do the silhouettes.

I had just become quite familiar with these particular silhouettes a few days earlier, so it was funny to see them here as well.

We saw the Matterhorn beckoning in the distance, and it looked really pretty in the twilight.

They had also just roped off the front of the castle in advance preparation for the fireworks, so we could get a few pictures of it without the usual crowds of people.

As we walked toward Fantasyland, I liked how a few Mickey balloons found a way into the picture of the Matterhorn.

This was our first glimpse of Alice in Wonderland since it had opened from its big refurb, and we finally got to see it without the ugly tarps littering the loading area. It looks SO MUCH BETTER now.

This attraction has always been one of our favorite dark rides. so we had already gotten a time for it before dinner. Now we were able to head up and climb aboard.

We’d tried to keep ourselves as spoiler-free as possible when perusing the Internet about the new additions to the attraction, and we were glad to be surprised. I can honestly say that everything they changed/added does a fantastic job of improving the storytelling and making the ride an even more immersive experience. It was a prime example of how classic elements can be combined with new technology like projection while still preserving the integrity of the original. I said that this had always been one of our favorite dark rides, but after the refurb I think it might just about top the list now.

How nice to see off the edge of the outside section without those ugly railings in the way.

I always love watching the tea cups at dusk, and I was able to grab a few pictures this evening as we continued through Fantasyland.

We started walking over toward “it’s a small world” next because we figured it probably wouldn’t have too long of a line.

Our prediction was correct!

This is another ride that looks so pretty at dusk, and we loved when a train rolled in while we waited.

Of course, the attraction itself was lovely as always, and by the time we got out it had almost gotten completely dark.

The next DAS time we had gotten was for Space Mountain, so we walked through Tomorrowland. We thought it was interesting how fancy of a sign they had given the Guardians of the Galaxy preview in the Magic Eye Theater—especially considering how temporary it was always going to be.

I tried to snag a picture while in line at Space Mountain, but I don’t think I’ll ever successfully get one that isn’t at least somewhat blurry.

There’s always a new pose to try.

As we exited from Space, the fireworks had just started.

Now, we had spent the entirety of last summer holding Magical in disdain, but as we paused to watch on Main Street, we realized that we were actually enjoying it tonight! I still take issue with the first part of the show. The fake voice of Mary Poppins will never not irritate me, and I think a lot of the music choices are less than inspired.

From Dumbo through to the end, however, we are actually pretty big fans. I especially always get goosebumps during the big choral “Magical” section that accompanies the finale.

Speaking of Dumbo, I also grabbed a quick video of him flying.

[kad_youtube url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1SwrA9HeDk” ]

It’s funny because right as we finally decided that we sort of liked Magical, it sounds like it might already be gone forever to usher in the big 60th anniversary fireworks that are supposed to premiere sometime in the not too distant future.

Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you got till it’s gone? Now THAT is a catchy lyric. I wonder if anyone’s ever written that one down…

Of course, I still love Remember… Dreams Come True the most out of any Disney fireworks show, and I’ll be sad if this is really the last year for that show too.

After the fireworks, we decided it was time to head back to the hotel. We had another workday on the docket in the morning, after all. Luckily, the Fairfield Inn was just a short walk across Harbor and a little ways north. We could certainly get used to this scenario of not having to take the tram back to Mickey and Friends and then drive home.

It had been a long day, considering we’d only flown out this morning, so we headed to bed. As it turned out, I would have sort of a restless night ahead of me, but there would at least be more Disney in the morrow to make up for it.

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