Disney Leg 3: Magic K'dom

Ahh, Magic Kingdom - where the party is really at!


We spread out Magic Kingdom over 3 days, however the bulk of activity we did in 2 days with Noah only. We did the last encore day there with Anna where we got all of about 4 things in before we surrendered to the heat and her impending naptime.

There are a million things to say about what we saw and did as we wound our way through the 7 sections of Magic Kingdom. It was a blast! And this is where I am most at a loss as to how to communicate the degree of fun and magic we experienced. So I'll just have to sum it up with some lists and some pics instead. Suffice to say, we loved this park the most, it fit our kiddos the best, it has the most to do, and it'll be awhile before we need any of the other parks in our future visits. Magic Kingdom MORE than worked for us. :)

Favorite parts of the park - Tomorrowland, Mickey's Toontown Fair, Fantasyland

While we did every ride Noah was tall enough for in the park, the following were his favorite rides (stuff we hit more than once) - Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, It's a Small World, Magic Carpets of Aladdin, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Barnstormer at Goofy's Wiseacre Farm, Tomorrowland Transit Authority, Walt Disney World Railroad, and the Country Bear Jamboree. And to be honest, he asked to go hug Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, etc. again and again. Seeing those big guys was easily the most thrilling part of Disney for him, in a scary but fun and happy way.

The only ride long enough to convince us to get a FastPass ticket for was The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride. If you ever find yourself at Disney during a heavily crowded time, take advantage of the FastPass! It is really cool to skip the lines and go right to the front. Yes, you have to wait til your assigned hour to come back and ride the ride, but at least you get to do other rides while you wait. This really beats standing around in line doing nothing for an hour while you wait.

Some ride shots:









Noah was a little wary of Minnie - see how he was leaning away. We couldn't even catch a decent pic of him with Mickey here because he had his eyes locked on Minnie. She was just so excited to see him, so bouncy and affectionate...it really threw him off. I thought she was downright adorable, though, and named myself as one of her fans forevermore.



This photo op was the longest wait we endured for any ride the entire time. And still, it was only about 20 minutes long. The only other thing we waited that long for was the Dumbo ride.


Other highlights...

Just before the 3-D show Mickey's Philharmagic, which turned out to be a big mistake. Noah was still wounded from the previous 3D show at Animal Kingdom and would not even give this one a chance. He bawled and hit the floor to hide under my legs for the ENtire show.


Leave it to Mother Nature to show up anything Magic Kingdom had to offer. Check out the grin on Noah's face as Josh made a run for cover. This downpour started right after we did the Indy Speedway ride. Thank goodness we weren't stranded like many other people were in their race cars!


At the Dreams Come True Parade where Noah mastered his wave at any and every character and dancer that came by. This is also where we witnessed an unfriendly little squabble between two different parties beside us. So funny...and ridiculous.




We came back out to the park after dark to take in the SpectroMagic lights parade and the Wishes fireworks show.




The parade, honestly, was not unlike any other local lights parade, though the kiddies would not have that same critical eye. And we sat so close to the castle that we saw maybe only 25% of the fireworks. They just didn't go high enough to see over the building. So that was a lesson learned. And the mob scene/wait just to get out of the park and onto the monorail afterward REALLY convinced us to never bother with the night stuff again, unless we watched the fireworks from a Main Street location so as to get the heck out of there quicker. With the fireworks not starting until 9:00 and the psycho crowds all exiting at the same time and the HEAT still killing us long after the sun set, I was at my wit's end by the time we pulled into the condo at 10:45ish after an already long Magic Kingdom day. For us, it just wasn't worth the time and energy. ESPECIALLY since Noah covered his head under a jacket in my dad's lap for the entire fireworks show.



Still, we love you, Magic Kingdom! Josh is already planning for us to come again for one more overnight visit while we are with his family over the holidays.

Last stop - Epcot!