Donald’s Cousin Gus

Thursday 27 July 2017

From July 19 through September 30, 2017, Annual Passholders can take advantage of a special 30% dining discount—that’s even more than their 45th Anniversary dining benefits—during the dinner meal period before 6:30 PM and after 8:30 PM at ten participating locations.

My dinner meal period is scheduled for 5:25 p.m. today at the

Toad and I are both happy to have an air-conditioned monorail car to ourselves.

The Transportation and Ticket Center is a mob scene at 1:17 p.m.

as we’re taking off.

Passing the Polynesian, we see that Mole is thrilled as always to see a monorail going by, but he probably shouldn’t stand in the middle of a roadway.

To protect alligators from touring humans, Seven Seas Lagoon is separated from the white sand beach by rocks and chains.

And here is another reason why you shouldn’t attempt to swim therein.

The Magic Kingdom is not horribly crowded today, but it is infernally hot. So my only ride this afternoon is a leisurely tour of Tomorrowland on the PeopleMover. Then I enjoy a salad at Pecos Bill’s Tall Tale Inn and Café, where I could have pre-ordered and paid using the mobile MyDisneyExperience app but to get my Annual Passholder 20% discount I have to order and pay in person at the restaurant.

Bill is doing a brisk business today, so I retreat with my food to that last of the dining areas which is rarely crowded mostly because most folks don’t realize it’s there, up a ramp and butting up against the outdoor seating area of Tortuga Tavern. Dark and cool. The first table I sit at is uncommonly high. I feel like I need a booster seat. But there is a normal table available right next to it. So no problem. But weird.

So hot here this afternoon that I decide to just proceed on over to Grandma Flo’s where I can hang out in cool comfort until the dinner bell rings.

From the Oddities in Hotel Lobby Art Department, we admire some Grand Floridian Simians:

Junior Princesses whirl til they hurl to the sophisticated keyboard stylings of Somebody at the Grand Piano.

For the first time in my life, I enter Mizner’s Lounge and take a seat with intent to drink.

A look out the window reveals that I have done so just in time to avoid this afternoon’s scheduled downpour.

Why do people put towels on their head in the rain?

Behold my “Grand Cocktail”: Ketel Citroen Vodka, Pomegranate Liqueur, Cranberry Juice, and Soda Water.

As I enjoy the first of two of these ( ! ), the Grand Floridian Society Orchestra starts a set with “Dancing in the Dark.”

Dancing in the dark,
Till the tune ends.
We’re dancing in the dark,
And it soon ends.
We’re waltzing in the wonder
Of why we’re here;
Time hurries by,
We’re here and gone.

Here’s someone’s video of the GFSO, playing other tunes.

Meanwhile, the sun comes out. But here’s why I’m in no hurry to go outside…

Before I take root in Mizner’s, I take a pre-prandial stroll around the lobby. In one of Summer Lace‘s window displays, Birdie wants a splash of Shalimar.

Mrs Potts

and Chip are floored just outside the Garden View Tea Room.

At dinner time, I am waited upon by not one but two nice ladies, Yasmin and Margie, who always come by the table in tandem. Neither of them is sporting that red “Earning My Ears” ribbon so I don’t know what’s up with that.

Anyway, I start out with a

and I dive into it before I remember to take a picture. So here you see only a part of the whole.

Delicious. This was followed by

of which I ate every bit without thinking to capture an image thereof for posterity. But each and every raviolo was yummy.

On my way out of the Grandiose Floridian, I paused to reflect on how and where bad squirrels pay their debt to society.

I have a FastPass+ for Splash Mountain now, so I return to the Magic Kingdom, where I pause briefly at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café to salute and admire the Sultan of Stellar Suave, Sonny Eclipse.

Over in Frontierland, at the Briar Patch, we enjoy a washday moment with a fragrant Flower.

I’m not sure I get it. You can rent his dirty clothes for five cents? Or you can rent the washing kit for five cents to do your own laundry…?

I’m happy to say I never had to iron with one of these, and that I almost never do ironing anyway.

My 50-foot plunge into the Laughing Place is satisfactually refreshing, but I’m ready to call it a night with a final look back at Chick-a-Pin Hill

and exit the park–just as the masses have clogged Main Street in anticipation of Happily Ever After. (Which I probably won’t be seeing again until after cooler weather sets in.)