Monday April 22nd 2024

The saying that goes “What a difference a day makes” applied to today’s weather. Yesterday high was near ninety. Today it took until noon to clear the seventy degree mark on the way to an upper seventies high temperature for the day.

This afternoon included an unplanned trip to Disney. Last night I tried to renew my annual pass online, but all I got was a mysterious error message. My current pass expires tomorrow, so a visit to a guest services location became today’s mission. I don’t have to renew it before the expiration date to get a discount, but I might have to pay for parking if I arrive with an expired pass. Either way, I made an interesting afternoon and evening out of my renewal mission.

I parked at the Ticket and Transportation Center (TTC) near the Magic Kingdom. My first stop was at EPCOT after a monorail ride. The construction in the middle of the former Future World section of EPCOT is almost finished. The new Communicore Hall and Plaza is scheduled to open on June 10th. The view from the monorail shows a pretty complete project. Once in EPCOT I got my annual pass renewed at guest services so I can continue to enjoy the Disney World theme parks most week days throughout the year.

With my primary mission complete, I wandered around the front part of EPCOT enjoying the topiaries and gardens again. The park was very busy. After about an hour I returned via monorail to the TTC and transferred to the express monorail to the Magic Kingdom. I was in time to watch the flag retreat ceremony in town square. They lower the flag with class and honor a veteran at the same time.

The Magic Kingdom was also busy and getting busier with each passing evening hour. The park had a separate admission after hours event from 10PM to 1AM. Guest of the after hours event could start arriving at 7PM. I wander around the park riding the Tomorrowland Transit Authority People Mover, the riverboat and Pirates of the Caribbean. As the sun went down so did the temperature. I was dressed for warm weather not the sixty plus degrees the temperature dropped into. I headed home before the fireworks to avoid buying yet another sweatshirt.