Linda Mac's Orlando Adventures

Let the MouseFest Magic begin. Having just returned from my first Disney MouseFest Cruise, I was sad to see that part of the "'adventure" come to an end since I was able to spend time with many old friends and made so many more new ones. This was my first Disney Cruise and many people have asked me if I enjoyed it. The answer is YES, YES, and YES! I wish I hadn't waited so long to give it a try. Let's just say there is already a reservation made for next year and I will be counting down the days. One thing great about cruising is you can relax and do absolutely nothing or you can keep going and going like the Energizer Bunny. I tried my best to do everything including Parasailing on Castaway Cay. I have a well desired nap penciled in for next Tuesday. There may be no crying in baseball but there is definitely no sleeping at MouseFest, at least for me.

I would like to share some photos from the first few Magic Kingdom meets. While I was too late to attend MouseFest 101 which I understand had over 200 MouseFesters, I did make it to Mike Scopa's 4th Annual Dole Whip Meet in AdventureLand and was shocked at the number of people who turned out for this annual event. My guess, there were 60-80 people gathered next to the Swiss Family Robinson Tree and some were tasting Dr. Scopa's Magical Elixir for the very first time.

Next up, Hidden Mickeys - Pirates of the Caribbean Meet. A group of 70 MouseFesters joined Steve Barrett, author of the Hidden Mickeys books and website. Steve was as well prepared as usual with information and photo hand outs for everyone so we could see what we would be searching for. Some of the Hidden Mickeys were to say the very least, very Hidden Mickeys.

The Castmembers at Pirates were very accommodating to our group by allowing us to have the left side queue all to ourselves so we could take our time checking out the Mickeys. As luck would have it, I ended up at the end of the line with Steve and just as we boarded our boat, everything came to a stop. I know that normally isn't a good thing but in this case it was for the 6 of us seated with the king of the hidden Mickeys. We passed the time by chatting and getting Steve's insight on Disney. When the attraction came back on line we felt like we were only people in Pirates of the Caribbean since there were no boats in front of us and the ones behind us were sent through without guests. PLUS the group received a FastPass to use on any Magic Kingdom attraction. Chatting with Steve Barrett in such an unexpected spot will always remain one of my best memories of MouseFest.