There was still a bit of time until I could go and see Mickey. There was one thing that I had to take care of. I had started to play The Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom the previous year. I had been issued with a separate key card for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party and now I did not know which key card was the correct one to use. I headed for the Fire House and they soon put me on the right path and also reminded me which portal I needed to go to first. I knew that I was due to start a mission at Fantasyland, but could not remember where. So this saved me some time. I was advised that the rules had changed since I last played and at I now had to play a portal before getting my cards. I was fine with this. I was planning on getting back to the game as soon as I had seen Mickey anyway.
I still had a little bit of time. I browsed in a couple of shops and had some Photopass photos taken on Main Street. I then treated myself to some ice cream as a late breakfast at the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor. I had the All-American Sundae, which consists of old-fashioned Vanilla and Chocolate Ice Cream with hot Fudge, Peanut Butter Drizzle, whipped Cream and a Cherry. I admired the Christmas themed window displays along Main Street while I enjoyed my sundae. I also bumped into the Major of Main Street and his companion.
By the time I had finished my ice cream, my Fastpass window had opened. I headed for the Town Square Theatre to see Mickey. After my experience at the Character Connection, I expected a bit of a wait, but pretty much as soon as I entered the Fastpass line, I was invited into the room where Mickey was. I had two families in front of me and one other family was already with Mickey. This gave me some time to have a look around. The room had changed. The previous year, it had a travel theme with trunks with labels for various Disney destinations used as props. This time round, the room was a magicians dressing room. It was also fun watching Mickey interact with other people. He did a magic trick for the couple in front of me. Let's just say, he is not a very good magician. He is however utterly charming. When it was my turn, he welcomed me and then told me that he had been to "that creepy house on Liberty Square" and that a ghost had threatened to follow him home. He then asked me if this had ever happened to me. I confirmed that it had and then he acted all worried asking me if the ghost had followed me to this room. I told him that I had taken the ghost back to the UK and that he was safe. There was a bit more banter and then we posed for photos. Mickey suggested that we should say "creepy". I was really surprised by this. I figured that Mickey was able to say a few stock sentences, but it really felt like I had a real conversation with him. Mickey may not be a very good magician, but the experience was truly magical.
Once I had said goodbye to Mickey, I went to Fantasyland. I had a villain to deal with. I actually found the right portal straightaway. I really love The Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom and have a lot of fun playing this, but the map that they provide is worse than useless. It is more a question of taking an educated guess where you need to go than actually being able to navigate. This is especially true at Fantasyland, where all the portals are very close together. On a positive note, this also means that if you get it wrong, you don't have to go very far to find the right portal. In the other lands, the portals are a lot more spread out. Anyway, this time round I found the right portal straightaway. There were some people already playing so I had a bit of a wait. This was no hardship. There was a streetmosphere character nearby and she asked a young boy if he was hoping to find a princess. This was so funny. She herself was dressed like a princess. Eventually it was my turn. There is an animated sequence at the first portal explaining the mission and setting the scene. My mission this time was to defeat Maleficent and my guides were Flora, Fauna and Merriweather. Then it was off to the next portal. At that stage I got confused and ended up at the wrong portal. It is a little annoying when you are waiting behind three families only to realize that you are in the wrong place. Still, I found the right portal soon enough and the rest was plain sailing. I had to cast a total of three different spells and use the Sorcerer's Crest from the back of the cards once and Maleficent was defeated. This mission involved 4 different portals and at the end it showed me the portal for my next mission, which was in Adventureland. I decided to take a break from defeating villains and headed towards the Enchanted Forrest.
One thing that I really had enjoyed the previous year was lunch at Be Our Guest. So once I knew I would be back, I was in no doubt that I would eat there again. This was where I was headed next. The previous year this was still during soft opening and the line was quite impressive. This time round there was hardly a line at all. There were just a few people right by the castle gates and I joined them. About 5 minutes later, we were allowed in. I waited maybe another 5 minutes in the hallway where the suits of armour are and then I was told to proceed to one of the kiosks where you order your food. Once I had done this, I took my rose and found somewhere to sit. This time there were no cast members at hand trying to direct people to the various dining areas. I chose to eat in the Rose Gallery again. I found a table and put down my enchanted rose so that they could find me with my food and then I went to get myself a drink from the self-service machines. I went with Orange Soda. For my food I had chosen the French Onion Soup and the Braised Pork (Coq Au Vin style): Eight-hour slow-cooked Pork with Mushrooms, Onions, Carrots and Bacon served with Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans Jardinière. The French Onion Soup was nice, but nothing special. The pork however was a wonderful as I remembered it. It was melt in your mouth and full of flavour. Unfortunately I was not quite as hungry as I thought and could not finish all of my food.
I was absolutely blown away by the theming of the place again. I spent a fair while after I had finished my lunch enjoying it, taking it all in and taking some photos. I spotted some Christmas decorations in the ballroom that I did not remember from the previous year. They had Christmas wreath on the wall and a beautiful Christmas tree at the back of the room. There were a number of people taking photos in front of this so it took a bit of patience until I got a chance to take a photo without people in it.
. I will post about my first day at the Magic Kingdom shortly and then there are two more installments before we get on the Magic.
