Disney Day 1

Well as always, Disney was amazing. I do not think I'll ever get tired of going there, or not hate having to come home when my time there is over. Perhaps it's childish, but I really do want to move to Orlando someday to work for them. Not to sound corny or use a cliche, but there is just something "magical" about being there. I can't explain it, and it shows among their workers as well. The entire time I was there I only saw one employee who appeared to dislike the job or was having a bad day. Everyone else was always happy to help and was willing to go the extra mile to make someones dream come true. That's amazing and I think we can learn a lot from that as a church...see my archives from May last year for my thoughts about that whole idea. So having said all of that, here are some thoughts and pictures from our first day there...

We purposely decided to do some things that we have never done at the Magic Kingdom which is where we started (and ended) the week. This included walking through the "Swiss Family tree house" (pretty much a walk through full of props from the movie), "the Enchanted Tiki Room (under new management)" The Liberty Belle" steamboat around Tom Sawyer island, the "Walt Disney World Railroad," and "Jungle Cruise." It is not that I didn't want to do these in the past it was just that we never took the time to do them. I highly recommend "Tiki" which is a classic Disney show that has been updated to include Zazoo and Iago (thus the "under new management"). It is a lot of fun and great for the whole family. The Jungle cruise is also fun especially if you have younger kids and want a break to sit down for a few.

The first major attraction I wanted to hit was of course the newly refurbished "Pirates of the Caribbean." It's pretty much the same storyline, except they have added the Capt'n Jack and Barbossa characters. There is also a pretty wicked intro effect featuring Davy Jones, but I won't ruin it for you. Rating 9.5 out of 10. Don't miss this one! The end result was two happy pirates!

After Pirates, we headed across the way to grab our fast pass for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (BTMR) (Travelers note: Take advantage of Disney's FastPass system. It is free and cuts down on the wait time for rides. You can get one every couple of hours and it allows you to come back at a certain time to ride later without the long wait. ) and then it was on to another of my favorites, the "Haunted Mansion." This of course is still one of the all time classics, and it getting ready to be refurbished, so if you are coming this summer you might want to check Disney's website to see when it starts. This is a great attraction, but can be a little scary to younger kids at times so you might want to preview it as parents first. One thing I miss is the way the castmembers used to act "serious" as you were in line. I didn't find that happening this time and it sort of took away the magic this go around. Rating 7.5

Then it was back to BTMR for a quick runaway mine ride. I had forgotten how fun this coaster is. If you can ride it, do it. It is great and of course the theming is top notch just like all the other rides at the Magic Kingdom. Rating 8. Here is a picture of it in case you have never ridden it.

After BTMR, we grabbed a fastpass for "Splash Mountain" which would be another first for me and it was off to Fantasyland for "Mickey's Philharmagic 3D." We did it, not once, but twice. It is one of Meg's favorite attractions and I'll have to admit it is second only to "It's Tough to Be a Bug" as far as I am concerned. Rating 10. It is a must see!

We had a little more time before out fastpass was due so it was on to Meg's absolute favorite boat ride "It's a Small World After All." She of course loves this ride, I tolerate it, mainly because the song haunts you the rest of the day... Meg's response-Sheer joy

My response-a much needed nap

After small world it was back to Splash Mountain. I was a little leery of riding it as I didn't want to be soaked the rest of the night. It isn't bad though and this "song of the south" themed log flume is one of the best I have ever been on complete with my favorite Disney tune "Zip-a-deee-doo-da." Don't miss this especially since the water will cool you off on a hot day. Rating 9.
After Splash Mountain we headed to Cinderella's Castle to see about eating dinner there. It was a no go. Traveler's Note: If you plan to eat at any of the sit down restaurants, plan to make reservations ahead of time. The number is (407) WDW-DINE. Since we couldn't eat there, we caught the new show "Dream along with Mickey." While the music in this show wasn't my favorite, the show itself is exciting because of the location at the castle and they have new animatronic heads on the main characters so Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald, all have mouths that move and eyes that blink making them even more realistic. Rating 7. Finally we headed into Tomorrowland to see how long the wait was for Space Mountain and see if the new "Monster's, Inc." attraction was open and it was. IF YOU SEE ONE THING AT MAGIC KINGDOM SEE THIS! The new "Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor" is one of the coolest attractions I have ever gone through. The attraction picks up right where the movie left off with laughter being the best source for power. The audience enters the laugh floor comedy club where we are greeted by the characters from the movie as well as some new characters. The best part of this attraction is that it is interactive. I won't give away the details, but this is a must see! I am not sure how they pull this one off, but they sure work a lot of magic on this one. The jokes are childish to some extent, but it is by far worth seeing. Rating 10+

Well that sums our day up at the Magic Kingdom. We didn't get everything, but were tired and knew we could come back later in the week. Hope these reviews and thoughts help you for your plans at the Magic Kingdom.