Walt Disney World
The Magic Kingdom
Lake Buena Vista, Florida
January 25 & 30 2013
Page Eleven






Ok, here's one last photo of my favorite of the coasters at Walt Disney World; Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.



"Reliable Shipper of Freight,   Round Trip Sightseeing, Inquire Within Mike Fink, Prop" is what the sign reads on this building near Big Thunder Mountain.  This used to be the station for the Mike Fink Keelboats that used to circle Tom Sawyer's Island back in the day.  It was much more fun than the Liberty Belle Riverboat because you weren't on a track and you had the riverboat and the Tom Sawyer rafts to deal with while on your journey.  I'm not surprised to see them go but they were a lot of fun.



The only way and by far the only appropriate way to get over to Tom Sawyer's Island is of course by an old river raft.  After visiting when I was a kid I started making up plans to build one of these on the lake up at my Grandparents cabin up in Wisconsin.  Unfortunately felling the trees and getting them to the shore proved a little harder task than a nine year old could accomplish.



Tom Sawyer's Island is the perfect attraction for kids because as you parents reading this know kids have miniature fusion reactors powering them and they need to burn off excess energy or bad things can happen.  Tom Sawyer's Island with all of it's paths, bridges, caves and even a fort to run all around in is a perfect place to expend all of that energy. 

There's only one way on and off of the island so if you're a tired parent just grab a seat by the docks and eventually they'll get back to you after running all around.



Little and big kids (like myself) are not the only living things on the island as there birds all over the place like this one searching around through the leaves for a nice little grub or worm to eat.  Just a reminder not all of the birds at The Magic Kingdom are pleasant like this one.  Beware the gulls as they are rats with wings and will come right at you and take the food straight out of your hands.  So if you have to eat it is best to do so indoors.



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Paul B. Drabek