Why I Oughta...

This recent boat ride - from the Magic Kingdom to the Grand Floridian - was on aboard a new-to-us vessel:  the Calm Seas.  We love a good Disney boat ride and have done a bunch of them:  from resort to parks.  From resort to Disney Springs.  From Resort to Resort.   Friendship boats.  Motor Launch boats.  Ferries.  Pontoon boats.  But, the boat you see below in photos, was new-to-us:  Calm Seas. It was running on the Seven Seas Lagoon, so that had me wondering...what was the story with the boat?  Turns out, it is repurposed boat from Animal Kingdom.  Via Wikipedia, we discover (get it??) that the once-used Discovery River Boats ride was in service for about 18 months and closed in 1999 .  Two of the four boats have stayed at Animal Kingdom.  But, Wikipedia tells us about the Calm Seas and how it was relocated .  With another boat: Two of the boats were later moved to the Magic Kingdom resort area on Bay Lake and the Seven Seas Lagoon, where they were repurposed for a pirate-themed fire

The two resorts at the Tokyo Disney Resort are connected with a Monorail that circles the property.  It makes a stop at a train station in between the two parks and to be honest, I've only been on this monorail twice and both times I did the same route:  DisneySea Station --> Disneyland Station.  So, I'm not totally sure where else it runs to and how long the route is, but I thought I'd share my experience. The trip between the two parks is a really nice experience and one that is totally on-theme.  You exit DisneySea and head out to the station.  Buying your one-way ticket at a machine, then you get through the turnstiles and head upstairs to the platform.  A few minutes later...the monorail arrives. And it is full of Mickey Heads.  The outside windows are Mickeys. And so are the handles you use when you are stuck standing as the train moves. Pretty simple, but adds so much to the experience. There was this one last touch in the car I was in:  a "

I've posted about Walt Disney World Transportation Cards in the past here on the blog.  They're cards that are given out by Transportation cast members (boat captains, bus drivers, monorail pilots and what-have-yous) to guests at seemingly random intervals.  In December of 2016, I posted about how we scored a pile of them from a boat captain on our way back to the Wilderness Lodge .  And in August of last year, I posted a Friendship Boat card that one of the kids was given on a ride to the Hollywood Studios .  And most recently, on January 1st of this year, I posted a photo of the coolest (at least to me!) Transportation Card:  the Electrical Water Pageant . Today, I'm sharing another card in the series:  the Motor Cruiser.  This is the boat that takes people to/from the Magic Kingdom and what I think might be my favorite Disney Resort Hotel - The Wilderness Lodge.   And this might be my favorite boat?  It has these big windows that they usually have wide open and ther