I was up bright and early today, full of excitement to be heading to Disney World!!!
First thing though, I went to speak to the concierge about our tickets.
Turns out I only had to pay another $10.00 each for the correct tickets so within minutes everything was fixed up.
We got on the bus at 8:30 am and we were on our way.
There was a Disney Princess marathon going on today so traffic was super backed up.
I later discovered SkinnyMeg (a blogger I follow) was actually here today running this race.
Getting closer to the gates now.
We were entertained for a little by this cop playing frisbee with his dog.
You can see the last few stragglers for the run in the back ground there.
The bus finally made it to the parking lot and dropped us off, but we still weren't there.
Then we had to get in line for the tram to take us over there.
And there I am, Main Street, with that iconic castle behind me.
It was a little surreal at first, I got choked up just being in the moment.
We had a Fast Pass for the It's a Small World Ride and we only had 10 minutes left to get there so we didn't take much time to stop and take everything in.
We just grabbed a map, found where we needed to go and boogied right over there hoping to get there in time.
We did see Miss Piggy and Kermit on the way but had no time to stop and take it in so I snapped this picture and kept on going.
Guess we really didn't need the fast pass for this ride.
First ride in the Magic Kingdom ever and we are pumped.
As soon as the ride started it instantly reminded me of when my son was young.
I had these Disney Sing-A-Long Song videos we used to watch and "It's A Small World" featured this ride as the video for the song.
I always wanted to see it in real life and here I am seeing it.
I was so greatful in that moment of realization and I wanted to just take it all in and really live in the moment.
Little soldiers.
Dancing girls
The little people remind me of the playmobile toys I had as a child in Germany.
Reminded me of cuckoo clocks also from Germany.
These are some funky goats!
It just went on and on and there was so much to see every where you looked.
I think My Honey was enjoying it as much as I was.
Love the little sheep.
More dancers.
The animals were fun.
Geisha girl perhaps.
I loved how they were all in different costumes to represent different countries.
Yup - the animals were the best.
Especially this little cartoon band.
There were so many details in all the scenes.
The hula girls were awesome.
More hula girls, these ones were a little different.
Not sure which country they were representative of, the Ukraine maybe?
More dancers.
The displays were so elaborate.
Loved their little robes.
Love the head dress on these ones.
The exit.
Rapunzel's tower was right next to us.
The whole area was set up to look like a scene straight out of the movie.
They even had the flags and lanterns hung just like in the movie.
Even some fake apples - the attention to detail is amazing.
We didn't really have a plan after that.
Nothing in particular that we really wanted to do (except meet Cinderella) so we sat to catch our breath for a minute and take it all in.
We thought we'd go back in and take in President's Hall but we passed the Haunted Mansion on the way and the line up didn't look that bad so we figured we'd do it.
There was lots of cool stuff to look at while waiting in the line.
Everything is just done so well.
It all looks so real.
Every little thing is thought of and included.
Uh oh - this is gonna be spooky!
The ride was dark so hard to take pictures.
It was fun, even some ghost holograms which were so neat.
Next stop - President's Hall.
Walt Disney was a huge Abraham Lincoln fan.
The show was kind of like a documentary film that focused on different presidents and challenges they faced and obstacles they overcame.
It was quite informative and enjoyable.
Then at the end, the curtain lifted to reveal a life size, animate President Abraham Lincoln.
He gave a little speech then the curtains opened more to reveal each and every president of the U.S.A., life size and animated.
It was really cool.
We thought then that we would go back to the beginning (Main St. USA) and start from there.
When we came around the corner though, there was a show going on on the castle steps so we had to stop and watch.
Lots of other people had the same idea.
I just noticed the cloud in the sky looks like a bit like Pluto - cool.
Mickey and Minnie were there.
So were Donald, Daisy and
Goofy.
Some characters from The Princess and the Frog.
Next some of the characters from Tangled came out.
Including Miss Rapunzel herself.
They did kind of a little performance, some talking then some singing it was fun.
Finally it was time for the Frozen crew.
There's Olaf.
Elsa & Anna showed up too.
After the show, we checked out some of the shops on Main St.
They had some awesome merchandise.
Like this Mr.Potatohead coffee mug.
I got a souvenir charm at the Pandora store.
I liked the princess ones but those you can get any where and these minnie ears are only available at Disney so that's what I chose.
It's cute, it has a little tail on the back.
I also picked up a Christmas tree ornament as always.
I thought it was perfect because it had the year, the iconic Mickey Ears and it reminded me of one of my favorite Christmas shows where Mickey cuts down the tree that Chip & Dale live in.
There was a neat candy store had kind of a steam punk look to it.
Love the colors in the tubes.
And the candy dispenser.
Everything was in bloom and the grounds at Disney are so beautiful and well kept.
Next up,
Adventureland!
It looked like Aladin territory.
Sure enough, we did see Aladin and Jasmine but they left before I had time to snap a picture.
We watched a few people go by on the ride and snapped a picture in a suggested photo op spot.
The sun was really bright, can you tell.
We stopped to try a Mickey Pretzel.
Here goes.
Spoiler Alert - it was good, tasted just like any other soft pretzel.
This little girl was sitting in her stroller and suddenly she zipped that hood cover down over herself quick as quick could be.
I turned around to see why,
Oh, that's why.
She saw this big hairy guy coming and she wanted nothing to do with him.
It was priceless.
Everyone else seemed taken with him though so I didn't feel to bad for him.
Pinocchio Village
Next up was Mickey's PhilharMagic.
It was a 4D show.
We just went because there was no line up but it ended up being my favorite "ride" of the day (not really a ride).
It made me so happy that I was actually crying.
Then we got in the line to meet CINDERELLA!!!
I loved that they had portraits up of a bunch of the princesses.
Jasmine
Sleeping Beauty
Tiana and Rapunzel.
Snow White and Mulan.
The light fixtures were very fitting of a Royal Hall.
They even had the glass slipper on display.
So of course I had to get my picture taken with it.
It was a two for one deal so I got to meet Elana first.
Truth be told, I never heard of Elana before today but I still enjoyed meeting her.
She liked my purse so obviously has good taste.
Then my childhood hero - Cinderella.
Watching her interact with the little ones and their excitement at meeting her was touching.
We chatted for a bit.
She had all the princess gestures down.
Cinderella and I.
Just a side note, I hate how I look in these pictures, I feel like I look huge.
I was feeling a little down when I first looked at them and although I still don't love them, I am glad I have them and didn't shy away from getting a picture because I was feeling too big.
One day I will go back and I will be fit and healthy and this will be my before picture and I'll be able to compare it to an after picture where I'll be feeling much better about myself and the way I look.
There were professional photographers there as well taking pictures which you could link to with your pass card.
They took a picture of My Honey & I both with Cinderella but when I went to buy them they are $70.00.
I can't quite bring myself to spend that much on them, at least not yet.
So here it is with the Watermark and maybe if I break and buy them, I will switch this out.
Then we found the Circus.
It had a big top and everything.
There was a splash park which was awesome because it was sweltering out by this time.
It was animals in carts and the animals sprayed out the water.
The kiddos (and some parents) were running around in there, cooling off and just having a blast.
I kind of wanted to run in there myself.
I was sweating my tail off.
There were Minnie ears of all shapes, sizes, styles and colors all over the park.
Seemed like everyone was wearing them.
I really wanted a set but I already bought found them a little expensive.
I did however pick up a set of ears to take home to my niece, Miss M.
We got ourselves a snack too.
A cookie.
And a sprinkle biscuit (in the shape of mickey) was was actually really tasty.
Just the perfect amount of sweet.
We noticed the line up for the train was small so we hopped on that next.
They did the whole "All Aboard" thing and off we went.
We stayed on and went around the entire park then got back off where we started.
(It does make two other stops that you can get off at if you want to).
We were feeling really hungry by now so we found a place to grab a bite.
It even had "live" entertainment.
I had a burger, green beans and My Honey had chicken.
It did the trick.
Then it was on to Tomorrowland.
We got an ice cream cone for desert.
Then just checked it out.
It had some futuristic looking buildings.
Buzz Lightyear was having a meet & greet.
He had the moves!
There was a dance party going on.
These girls were getting their groove on.
We noticed the Monster Inc. Laugh Factory had a short line so we figured we'd check it out.
You could submit your own jokes but they had quite the legal disclaimers posted every where.
It was basically like a stand up routine and they kept panning to different people in the audience.
It was cute.
We left there and I wanted to check the line up at the Little Mermaid ride but it was pretty long so we just kept going.
So cute, this tough guy was trying to pull the sword out of the stone.
We did happen upon Merida from Brave.
It was a long line up to meet here so we skipped that too.
The back of the castle.
We went back to AdventureLand and saw some folks eating these orange ice cream float/sundae things which looked delicious so we each got one.
It was super yum.
We were sitting eating them and I noticed that this camel was spraying people as they walked by.
I hadn't noticed it last time we came this way.
We had a Fast Pass set for the Pirates of the Caribbean Ride so we went and got in line.
We went right in pretty much to where we could see the ride right away but then it seemed that the line up just stopped moving all together.
Eventually the lights came on and they told everyone to make their way to the nearest exit as the ride was broken down.
We were bummed because we'd used one of our Fast Passes for it.
They did give us a voucher but it could only be used on this same ride.
You only get three Fast Passes with your ticket so that left us one which we'd already used to book Splash Mountain later tonight.
We walked into Frontier Land and lo and behold,
there was a street dance party going on.
They were singing and dancing and it was awesome.
This was just how I always imagined Disney World would be.
Characters running around on the streets and greeting everyone, dancing and singing.
It made my heart happy!
I am so impressed that Clarabelle can dance in those shoes.
His facial expression is awesome.
There were quite a few bears out and about today.
I can't imagine how stiflingly hot it must be inside those costumes and then to sing and dance on top of it.
Kudos to them.
There were tons of mini princesses walking around.
Not sure what I was trying to do here.
There were tons of these stroller parking areas around.
We circled around to the Little Mermaid ride again and even though it still had a bit of a line, I really wanted to do it so we just sucked it up and got in line.
It really didn't take that long to get there and it's like you are in this under sea cavern while you are in line so there is lots to look at.
Scuttle was there chatting away as we got nearer to the front of the line.
Looks like he might have been playing an accordian too.
The seats of the ride itself were in the shape of clam shells.
We made it - the wait wasn't too bad at all.
The ride did stop for a few minutes and we were right underneath this.
At first I thought maybe it was part of the ride but realized that wasn't the case.
I was worried maybe this ride would go caput too but then we started moving again.
We saw Ariel in her cavern surrounded by all her things.
The "Under the Sea" band.
Playing the clams.
Fish line dancing.
Again the attention to all the little details is just amazing.
It was like she was really there under the water.
Just like the movie.
About to "Kiss the Girl"
The proud papa.
The happy couple.
I am glad we got to go on that ride, it was great.
People were starting to congregate in front of the castle getting ready for the fireworks so we found a spot and settled in.
We took a few pictures with the castle.
Then we found out that the fireworks wouldn't be starting for at least another hour and we didn't want to wait around that long so we walked back up Main St.
We saw there was a short line up to see Tinkerbell so we figured we had time.
The line up moved so slowly that we thought we were going to have to leave if we wanted to see the fireworks.
Just as we were going to leave, they let us in.
The girl they had playing Tinkerbell was perfect.
I am inserting this watermarked picture here again because we didn't take one ourselves.
We got out of meeting Tink just in time to see the Fireworks and I see now why those people were getting their spots over an hour in advance.
The whole place was just packed.
With good reason too because it was the best fireworks show that I have ever seen.
Along with the fireworks they had music and the show playing on the castle and it was amazing.
My Honey took piles of pictures and I just watched in awe.
Lots of characters showed up on the castle which I loved.
At the very end, Tinkerbell into the air from the castle.
There she is in the sky to the right.
After the show, the park was emptying out pretty quickly.
Guess this balloon seller can call it quits for the night.
Though most of the crowd was leaving, My Honey and I were going against them, heading back into the park for our Fast Pass time at Splash Mountain.
The whole theme of this ride was Song of the South.
There's Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear in the briar patch.
And Br'er rabbit after he outsmarted them.
As soon as we got on the ride I immediately started wondering why I would have done that.
I knew there was a big drop coming and my belly DOES NOT like the feeling of free falling.
So I was dreading it the whole time but then when it did happen, it wasn't so bad.
The cameras inside the ride captured the moment.
When we got off the ride, we still had about 20 minutes before the park closed so we booted it over to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride to see if it was back up and running.
It was so we were able to squeeze one last ride in.
There was another of the holographic images, this time of Davy Jones (or the squid man as My Honey calls him)
These things are just so cool.
The ride was dark so these pictures aren't great but I wanted to show something at least.
You begin the ride kind of in a tunnel then suddenly you come out into this huge open area and it's like you are in the middle of the sea and there is a big giant ship there in the middle.
Super impressive.
Then it's like this village along the banks and all these pirates and merchants.
This scene where the dog has the key and the jailbirds are trying to entice him over to get it from him is cute.
Finally what kind of a ride would it be without the man, Jack Sparrow himself.
We thoroughly enjoyed our day here in the park but were feeling quite ready to head back to the hotel at this point.
We hopped on the tram (there was a huge line again so that was a bit of a wait).
Then once at the parking lot, we had to wait until 10:30 for the hotel bus to get us and it was right on time.
For some reason the bus driver decided to explain to Jason the traffic rules surrounding stopping at lights when the suddenly turn red.
Apparently he stopped suddenly one time and knocked a guy out of his seat.
A couple of people on the bus sued the bus company and he lost his safety bonus as a result.
Why he told us all that I don't quite understand but he gave us quite the lecture.
We had planned on going swimming in the kiddie pool tonight which is actually heated but by the time we got to our room I was totally exhausted.
We stayed in our room and ordered in room service.
All in all it was a wonderful experience.
I don't think I could do it 3 or 4 days in a row, not sure how folks do.
I so want to bring my boy, his honey and someday my grandchild back to experience the Magic Kingdom someday.
Rocked it with the steps today.
I knew we would, we were back and forth all over that park a few times today.
Sleep is sure going to be nice and the bed and bedding at the hotel is so comfy, I am totally looking forward to it with pleasure.
That is all for today, until next time, be happy!
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