Fourteen months after booking the trip and countless LATE nights planning every last detail, the first day finally arrived! We were excited and rarin' to go...until we had to wait 45 minutes for our bus to Magic Kingdom! That put a bit of a damper on the morning, but we rebounded nicely. We arrived at the park soon after opening and made our way straight to the back.
Quick stop for some pictures with the castle. (Mandatory, right?)
No wait at all to see Donald Duck. Donald was particularly impressed with James, who was wearing a Donald Duck fleece.
Goofy was supposed to be there, but we were told he tends to run late...just because he's Goofy. The kids were sidetracked by two Big Top Circus cast members, who made Brady and Rudy ringmasters for the day. It was a lot of silliness, but fun nonetheless.
Next, it was off to the Barnstormer for our first ride of the day. Rudy agreed to ride after we told him that Lila had ridden this roller coaster. (We joked that Goofy's crashed rocket in the background looked a lot like the boys' final rocket attempt last fall.)
By the time we got off the ride, we figured it was safe to bet that Goofy would be ready for visitors. Goofy was impressed with the boys' ringmaster certificates and even more thrilled when Brady told him that Goofy is his favorite!
It was still pretty quiet at the back of the park, so we headed over to the Haunted Mansion. I was surprised that Rudy agreed to ride this. We had seen a little background story about the ride on the Magical Express bus ride, so I think he was interested to see it. The new organ and musical instruments in line were pretty cool; it looked just like a display, but played music when you touched the keys or the instruments.
Tom Sawyer's island. The fort and looking out toward Big Thunder Mountain. Rudy started working up the courage to ride BTM later...
The obligatory visit to the Hall of Presidents:
A Dream Come True parade. This was our first parade experience. People are crazy about lining up for these things, staking out prime viewing spots hours in advance. We nabbed an acceptable location at the last minute!
Monsters Inc Laugh Floor. We must have picked the prime audience participation spot. James ended up on the big screen as part of the warm up...he was tagged the "guy who agreed to buy everyone churros." During the show, Rudy got to participate in one of the jokes.
A few video highlights, including Rudy's small screen debut...
(For those dying to know, the punchline is "Because pepper makes them sneeze.")
Speedway - I made the mistake of being the first driver. Almost got whiplash from the crazy drivers behind me!
Space Mountain was next. Rudy had no interest in this AT ALL. We did the rider switch, so Brady got to ride twice. Even Brady wasn't all that thrilled with this ride. It's pretty herky-jerky, and the darkness is rather disorienting!
Another castle picture...lots of these!
Brady really wanted to get a magical hairdo. We stopped at the barbershop on the way out of the park for dinner. He had souvenier money to spend, and decided that it was well worth $5 for a mohawk and some "pixie dust." He got lots of comments on his hair over the course of the evening and the next morning.
"Did Tinkerbell attack you?'
"Did you know Tinkerbell sneezed in your hair?"
"Awesome hair, kid!"
The barbershop is tucked away in a little corner. Apparently, a little corner exactly where a parade starts. We didn't even realize this was on the schedule, but we sure had prime viewing!
On the way to Whispering Canyon Cafe for dinner.
Wilderness Lodge was pretty amazing. This would be on our top 2 choices (with Polynesian) if we ever go back.
And Whispering Canyon? The biggest downside with this restaurant was the noise. Brady said it should really be called Echoing Canyon! But...unlimited milkshakes - yes please! The amount of food on the dining plan is crazy-town. Dinner was AYCE steak, ribs, sausage, corn, mashed potatoes, and green beans. And dessert. We could hardly take advantage of the unlimited milkshakes!
Back at the park. With the new Disney app and the magic bands, we could change our Fast Passes on the fly. After a short wait at a ride earlier in the day, I'd changed our Fast Pass for reserved seating at the fireworks that evening = one of the best decisions of the trip. There was no jockeying for prime viewing position. We just sat down in the rose garden and were able to watch the Celebrate the Magic show and the fireworks in peace.
Celebrate the Magic was one of my favorite events of the whole trip. They project different images onto the castle, making it look like all different things: Bricks from Wreck-It Ralph, ice castle from Frozen, the Cheshire cat. In true Disney style, there was music to accompany everything.
Celebrate the Magic was followed by Wishes Nighttime Spectacular.
We had grand plans to stay late at the park. The kids set the precedent tonight for the rest of the week: full steam to total exhaustion with very little warning! We headed toward Big Thunder Mountain with plans to ride; instead, we barely made it through the Electrical Parade before calling it a night.
Pre-parade cat nap:
They were out before their heads even hit the pillows!
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