A Day of Magic

A day of Magic

That’s what it is like every time I start a trip to Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, magic. It’s almost enough to make a grown man cry at times, which may seem weird to those heartless grown men that don’t have any emotion, or maybe kids. Something like that I am sure. I am not a man without emotion and will fully admit to tearing up whenever I hear that song Cinderella by that guy that sings it – Steven Curtis Chapman I believe.

So how do you think I reacted when we got to the Magic Kingdom and saw the opening ceremony for the first time in my five trips here, with the family? A whole lot more teary-eyed than when I found out that River Song is Amy and Rory’s daughter on Doctor Who, that’s for sure.

No, I will not now go into a love fest about Doctor Who and how I feel that this season has been very well written, and I’ll go ahead and say it awesome! This is supposed to be about my vacation to Walt Disney World.

We woke up yesterday, early, because we wanted to check out by seven in the morning and head over to the Boardwalk Villas where we are spending the rest of our time down here. We wanted to get checked in and then come back later after the rooms became ready… it’s what we do, and I recommend that to anyone staying on property, instead of wasting one of your days hanging around and waiting for the three o’clock check in, drop off your stuff early and head to the park. Not only will the hotel call you when your room is ready – they text you now even – your stuff will also be brought up and waiting for you. Or, if you don’t want to have a bellhop do it, to save in tip money, then you can come back and start bringing your stuff up yourself. Any way you slice it, I would check in early and head to the parks right away, save the unpacking for when you are hot and tired.

So we arrived at the Magic Kingdom ten minutes before it opened and found a spot for some optimum viewing. Now, I have read all about the opening show and never thought too much about it, but experiencing it was simply amazing. First the mayor comes out and welcomes you, and also welcomes a random family from the crowd that will help countdown the opening of the park. Then there are some singers and dancers welcoming you with some magical Disney music that builds up for the entrance of Mickey and friends on the Walt Disney World railroad.

Magic.

Next up, we had appointments for Danny and Timmy to get their hairs cut. This was going to be Timmy’s first haircut, and he acted like he was ready for it. Needless to say Michal at the Magic Kingdom barbershop did an excellent job of cutting Timmy’s hair, without Timmy really knowing – okay he knew something was going on. So my curly headed child now looks more like your typical, or I guess stereotypical nowadays, little boy. Danny also got his hair cut, but he’s an old pro at it, so no big deal. Although he did get some awesome glitter in his hair, that had all kinds of little Mickey Mouse heads and regular glittery confetti..

After that, we got a fast pass to see Mickey Mouse – yep, you can now get a fast pass to see Mickey Mouse and the Princesses. Since we had a little time to kill we headed out for Buzz Lightyear’s ride, saw that the line was longer than we anticipated, so we road the Tomorrowland Transit Authority People Mover – one of my favorites. It takes you on a tour of Tomorrowland, from Stitch’s Great Escape through Space Mountain, around the Carousel of Progress and through the aforementioned Buzz Lightyear ride. It’s quite relaxing.

We then headed back to Mickey’s place to visit with the Mouse! Timmy was very excited, right up until he actually saw Mickey. Like I have mentioned before, the characters are awesome at Walt Disney World and have a way of letting the kids warm up to them, without being pushy or offending. Timmy did finally give Mickey and Minnie some high-fives and we got a picture or two that are decent with him and the characters. No solo shots though.

The rest of the day was spent exploring the Magic Kingdom until lunch at the Crystal Palace, a lovely buffet that you get to share with Pooh and Friends, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet. After that, it was time for a break – at least for the little guys. Jenni and I took Danny and Timmy back to the room for a little breather and I went grocery shopping. Talk about your mob scenes, that place was crazy. After I got everything back to the room, I headed back to the Magic Kingdom to catch up with Jenni and the kids – they were eating Dole whips and we bought the youngest two some bubble machines/guns, which basically allows your child to blow bubbles for five minutes straight and then get saddened by the fact that their bubbles have run out.

We then watched the Disney World Electrical Parade, which was a lot of fun and started to head back. Originally, we were going to leave the five oldest (including Megan our guest) behind to enjoy the thrill of some extra magic hours, staying at the park until they closed at 2am. Alas, my two oldest daughters chose that time to prove that maybe a trip back to the hotel was in order. So we road the bus back to the hotel, got the kids into bed and eventually fell asleep as well.

Not a bad first day, if I say so myself.