Pal Mickey Adventure June 4, 2012: Pal Mickey LIVES in Animal Kingdom & Epcot!
I have to apologize for the amount of time it’s taken me to finish this Pal Mickey Adventure— Sorry Folks! Summer vacation has been busy with camps, day trips, and Disneyland Half Marathon Training…Just about one more month until the NEXT Pal Mickey Adventure when we head to Anaheim to earn our Coast to Coast Medal! :) Anyhow, here it is the end of July, so I better finish up this adventure quick so we can get ready for our next one!
Pirate Pal Mickey and I needed to fly home later in the afternoon on Monday, June 4th, so this was to be our last day in the World… for now. :) (We’ll be back in January for the WDW Half Marathon, if not sooner for the Epcot F&W Festival!) We decided to start out the day in Animal Kingdom, as it was the one park we haven’t visited yet. We were ready and “re-charged” in more than one way: we had put new batteries in Pal Mickey to see if he really would talk to us more regularly after he wished us good night from Epcot last night. Lo and behold, as we crossed the threshold into Animal Kingdom, Pal Mickey gave a giggle and welcomed us to Animal Kingdom! He really lives! :) Our excitement carried us all the way over to Expedition: Everest, where we were quite excited to conquer the Yeti!
Expedition: Everest practically glows in the morning sun!
Unfortunately, the Pal Mickeys were just a little shy of being able to ride solo… so we stowed them in our packs for our expedition.
One more look back at Everest before we head out of Animal Kingdom.
A few quick rides on Everest and another exciting buzz from Pal Mickey saying he had a great time with us in Animal Kingdom (HE LIVES! :) ), and we were headed off to stroll around Epcot one more time to enjoy the sights and grab some lunch before my flight. I had wanted to try the new wine cellar in Italy, Tutto Gusto, so after Pal Mickey welcomed us to Epcot (!), we made our way to the back of World Showcase.
Pal Mickey LOVED the comfy chairs all around in Tutto Gusto!
Such a warm atmosphere in Tutto Gusto- very nice!
My only complaint about Tutto Gusto might be the prices were a little high for the portion size. I was anticipating something a little more like La Cava del Tequila in the Mexico Pavilion, however when I ordered the Bruschetta for us as an appetizer to start and only get two little pieces of bread, I was a little disappointed. Certainly not the sizable chips and salsa/guacamole you can get at Cava. While I was expecting the prices to be a little more reasonable, Tutto really is a more upscale experience; what you will get is gourmet, however the portions are not what you might expect for the price. Because I went in expecting something different than it really is, I ended up not enjoying it as much as I might have otherwise. If you go, make sure you anticipate spending ~$25-30/person for a small plates type lunch. Because we weren’t necessarily planning on doing that, we ended up closing our bill earlier than we anticipated and heading over to La Hacienda in Mexico where I could get a huge plate of nachos for $9.50. Sure it might not have been as high a quality adventure in culinary form, but it sure filled me and tasted fabulous! :)
After our few lunch stops around World Showcase, it was about time to get me and Pirate Pal Mickey back to the airport to fly home. Both the ride back to MCO and the flight were pleasantly uneventful, and we spend much of the time both looking back at the great trip we just had, as well as anticipating our next Pal Mickey Adventure for the Disneyland Half Marathon over Labor Day weekend! Unfortunately Kristin and her Pal Mickey will not be with us physically (although they will be in spirit!) on this trip, but instead, I will be running with my sister-in-law, Katie, and Pal Mickey will be joined by my Mom, cheering along for us along the race route! We’re down to just about a month now before we fly out to Anaheim on August 31st… can’t wait!
If you want some live, up to the minute updates from Pal Mickey and I in the parks, please stay tuned here and check out my Twitter account (@TIx2GR) where I will be posting pictures and updates while we are in Anaheim. Until then, M- I-C-ya real soon! :)
Searching for magic every day.
