Dressing for a Look at Magic Kingdom's New Hub + Shopping for our Disney Cruise + D23 Cinderella Screening

Despite the sunny Sunday, Monday dawned grey and foggy, but warm. I had planned to head to Magic Kingdom to take some pictures of the new Hub, and with the fog, I was excited to get pictures of Cinderella Castle. 

Here's a tram engine, just trammin' along the main drive. 

When I arrived at the Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC), the line for the Express monorail was reeeeeaaaaaly long. So, I hopped on to the Resort Monorail loop. Usually this takes longer, because it stops at the resorts, but this time I ended up beating the 'Express' monorail in. Plus, it was monorail black, which is one of the ones with the new wall carpet! It's the little things that excite us Disnerds. 

Behold, Cindy's castle, fifty shades of grey. 

Even in the bleak coloring, the new Hub looks nice. I for one really like it. It adds some depth and charm to the area, and though it would be nice to have some benches for seating (which I totally get why there's not, since it's firework viewing) and real grass (that's astroturf), it makes nice use of the space. It's very European park-like. 

This is the West side, in front of Casey's Corner. 

Here's looking at the East side, toward Tomorrowland. 

I took this facing back toward Main Street to give an idea of how well it 'fits' with the themeing. 

The fountains add a nice kinetic energy, and the sound of trickling water is always pleasant, especially mixed in with the Main Street background music. 

Who's got the sweetest disposition? One duck, that's who. 

The new Hub even reflects nicely. 

Here's a short video of the space, complete with background music. 

Wandering through Adventureland, I was finally able to get a shot I've tried for time and time again. No, not this one...

THIS one! A people-less (almost) shot of Adventureland through the archway, labeled 'Adventureland.' I'll try it again when it's a nice, bright sunny day. 

The sun started to break through as I was standing in the Haunted Mansion queue. 

I've never noticed these tombstones up to the left of the queue. I think they're labeled after the Hitchhiking Ghosts, who I know are Ezra, Phineas, and Gus. I see Phineas and Ezra up there, but no Gus... not sure where Cousin Algernon comes in. Anyone know? A Google search turns up these results; Cousin Algernon and Phineas Pock are two of the five singing busts in the graveyard. But then where does Ezra come in? Disney mysteries. Ok, now I Googled all three names, and came up with this. I could be here all day; no wonder it takes me so long to write these things. 

Alright, so after the Haunted Mansion, I walked over to Pirates to browse the gift shop. I wanted to look into things for me and John to use on Pirate Night on our Disney cruise. How appropriate is this ball and chain-- since it'll be our Honeymoon cruise?! The ol' ball and chain. 

Lilly Pulitzer Asher Top (got this during the Lilly Pulitzer After Party Sale for a steal) // J.Crew Reid Code Denim Jeans (currently on sale; I combined mine with coupons and a cardholder discount and got them for around $40)

After that, I headed out and took a boat over to the Polynesian. From there, I walked to the Grand Floridian. This is such a nice little walk, very easy, about five minutes, and quite picturesque. I didn't see one other person the entire time. It'd be a sweet romantic stroll after dinner at the Grand in the evening, or a great place to jog. 

I popped into Summer Lace to check the Lilly inventory (sadly dwindling each time I visit). I liked this Vineyard Vines top. It'd be cute with white shorts in the summer, but I can't justify the $128 price tag. I'll keep watching to see if it goes on sale anywhere.

Vineyard Vines Chambray Emroidered Top

I did like this dress, and ended up buying it for the cruise. It's so nice that you can use your Annual Pass discount, even on Lilly! 

Lilly Pulitzer Briella Fit and Flare Cap Sleeve Dress

Last night, John and I went to Downtown Disney to see an Early Screening of Cinderella. Here's one place we love having a Tables in Wonderland card. Parking at DTD is a notorious cluster f*&$ at the moment. Valet parking costs $10-20 dollars, depending on length of stay. If you use your TIW card anywhere it's accepted, valet parking is validated--free! This goes for any place that has valet- Deluxe resorts and all. Usually we eat dinner somewhere and use that receipt to validate, but tonight we were eating at the Food Trucks and seeing a movie, neither of which take TIW. So, we bought a bottle of water at Wolfgang Puck Cafe on the way out, and viola, $20 valet validated for $2.50. 

The valet is located down on the West Side, by Cirque Du Soliel, so if your destination is at the Marketplace, it can be a bit of a hike. But walking's good for you! And trust me, I'd rather do the 10 minute walk than fight the parking madness. PLUS I have a Fitbit, so I'm all about those 10,000 steps. 

Remember when I said I repeat outfits if I've only worn them a short time? Exhibit A. Again, that's what Febreeze is for!

At the Food Truck park, I ordered Butter Chicken and John got a corn dog. 

I know this looks like baby poop or vomit, but it tasted good. And don't you just love the ju-ju's I got from Disneyland last August?! The best way to dress up a Longchamp, I tell ya. 

John waited, no joke, 10 minutes for this bad boy. Apparently they dip them one at a time. So plan accordingly. I had finished by chicken before he got his food.

Finally it was time to make our way to the theater. This was my first time ever seeing an early screening or special viewing of a film, so I didn't quite know how literally they would enforce the 'no camera' rule. I didn't bring any of my real cameras (hence the iPhone quality photos in this post), but I didn't see how they could enforce a no phone rule. Whelp, they can and they do. As we walked in, they had us put our phones in ziplock bags, and traded us for a numbered ticket. We'd exchange that ticket at the end for our phones back. I get it, they don't want recordings of the movie. But what if you missed an emergency call, or there was an emergency in the theater, etc? That said, it was kind of nice being 'unplugged.' Everyone seemed a bit more chatty and friendly, since they couldn't bury their nose in their device. And anyway, it was a room full of Disnerds, so of course it was awesome. I was telling John how you could yell out something obscure like "Museum of the Weird!" or "Discovery Bay!" and the room would erupt in cheers and applause. I love it. I tried to get a 'T Bax! T Bax!' cheer started, but John said no. ;)

****SPOILER ALERT. STOP READING HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE MOVIE**** 

(It's the end of the blog post anyway, so nbd.) 

You know, I liked the movie more than I thought I would. The scenery is beautiful, the costumes are absolutely stunning, and it was fun seeing Rose and Daisy from Downton Abby together in something else besides the tv show. The plot moved a bit slow at times, but maybe that's because I knew what was going to happen ;). I liked the overall message behind it ('Have courage, be kind'). It had a few touching moments. And the score was really lovely. John asked why they didn't have any of the songs from the animated version; you'll have to stay through the ending credits for those. 

My main beef, and I've stated it before here, was the Fairy Godmother (hello, Bellatrix Lestrange from Harry Potter). She's goofy, clumsy, and kind of a space cadet. Not at all like the poised little lady from the classic. Cate Blanchett was a bitch of a step mother, just cruel. The stepsisters weren't as goofy as they are in the classic (or portrayed in the parks). And poor Cindy saw a lot of loss in her lifetime, poor girl. 

I would recommend seeing it in the theater, if for nothing else to see those beautiful sets and costumes on the big screen. Oh, and Frozen Fever, the short before the film, was pretty cute. I like Frozen, I do, I just don't like the over saturation and $$$marketing$$$ that is infiltrating all things Disney right now. I actually like Elsa's dress better in this one.    

Ok, that's all for now. I'll be back with some scenes from opening day of the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival, in the next few days. My parents are coming to town, and we're going to Disney it up! 

TTFN.