We went to the Magic Kingdom twice. Our first day was a Monday (1/08/01) and we arrived for early entry at 7:30 am and then left shortly after noon. This was a wise decision as we practically had the park to ourselves. I think the cold spell helped too, as we noticed most days the attendance went up as the temperature did. We went back at opening on Tuesday and stayed until about 5pm with a break for lunch.
Walking into the Magic Kingdom is a truly magical experience for first time families. Main Street is beautiful and I canâÂÂt even begin to describe the feeling you get when you first see the castle. I felt like a kid again, giddy and excited. The kids were so happy, my 7 yr old son was twirling around with his arms out, laughing with glee. A few tips for those wanting pictures on Main St. with the castle in the background:
1. The pictures that WDW takes and sells arenâÂÂt all that great a quality. Better to have another family take your picture if you have a decent camera.
2. If youâÂÂre going to buy the pictures from WDW, donâÂÂt get your picture taken by the first photographer you come by! We did and then saw more photographers all the way down the street. In our photo the castle is way in the background and not as close as IâÂÂd have liked.
3. I have pictures from two different mornings, one cloudy and overcast and another clear. The clear day was the nicer of the two pictures. Pay attention to the weather, and take pictures again later when the sky is clearer if you get the opportunity.
We started by heading to Tomorrowland to get Fast Pass for Space Mountain, having a goal of getting to Fantasyland and riding Dumbo before the line got long. Well, our son spied the Buzz Lightyear ride so that became our first ride. ItâÂÂs a lot of fun for the entire family, and my husband beat us all with 300,000 points. We then grabbed Fast Pass and hurried to ride Dumbo, which we were able to walk right on. This ride is was a must for me, IâÂÂve wanted to ride it since I was little. I was just as happy as I would have been 25 years ago! The line was just starting to get longer when we got off, probably a 10 minute wait. We went over to Winnie the Pooh ride and rode twice for the kids. I taped it the first time and I noticed I enjoyed it much more the second time around. After that I quit taping so much, I was not going to view my entire trip through a viewfinder.
At 9:30 we told our kids what their surprise for the day was, breakfast at CinderellaâÂÂs Castle! Our son didnâÂÂt seem too enthused, but he later changed his mind and enjoyed it very much. We arrived 15 minutes early and were sent right in to the waiting area where our kids met the Fairy Godmother and posed for pictures. We were seated earlier than I expected, and the interior of the castle was even more than I had expected it to be. In attendance were Cinderella, Belle, Jasmine, Aladdin, and Mary Poppins. Our server was Sir David T., and he was better than any of the characters there! He made our meal memorable and our children got his autograph and we had our picture taken with him. The food was delicious and we would definitely go back. A tip: the french toast is a fried cream cheese danish, which tastes wonderfully delicious when itâÂÂs hot, but starts to taste greasy and bad for you as it cools!
We did pretty much all of the major attractions at the Magic Kingdom that we had listed as âÂÂmust seeâÂÂ. We didnâÂÂt realize there was more to Tom Sawyer Island, so we didnâÂÂt go over the bridge to the fort. Splash Mountain was a family favorite. The Haunted Mansion terrified my almost 9 yr old daughter, which surprised us. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was fun, but you go too fast to see all the details. Take the Disney Railroad around and youâÂÂll see some of the neat stuff on BTMR and more. We used the railroad frequently to get from one land to another and to give our feet a rest. I very much enjoyed the Carousel of Progress, even though I only saw it to kill time, and I recommend it. I didnâÂÂt think my kids would want to see Toon Town, but they did so we went and we especially liked MinnieâÂÂs House. The lines to meet the characters at the Country Fair were very long even though it was off -season, and we got out of line. One thing IâÂÂm glad we did was to skip the 3 pm parade and use that time to see attractions the kids really wanted to see again.
Alien Encounter is great, but not for the faint of heart or young kids. I was determined that my kids wouldnâÂÂt go on it, but our son begged because his cousin had done it last year. I finally relented, and though he did better than I expected it was still bad for him. Right away he put up his hood so he wouldnâÂÂt feel anything on his neck (smart kid!) and closed his eyes the minute it began and never opened them. I donâÂÂt know why he put himself through this, except maybe he wanted to be able to say he did it. IâÂÂll admit to closing my eyes for most of the scary stuff until I got used to it, because it seemed more realistic than I had expected. Once I adapted to the feelings and the dark, it was easy to open my eyes and accept it as the simulator that it was.
On the early entry day, we left shortly after noon and took a nap before heading to EPCOT. We stopped at the Contemporary to see the MK Fireworks before continuing on the monorail to EPCOT. ItâÂÂs a nice place to watch the fireworks display and there was an added advantage. My son remarked, âÂÂNow I know Tinkerbell is real, because thereâÂÂs nothing holding her up to fly!âÂÂ. Had we been in the Magic Kingdom, this little guy would have observed how TinkerbellâÂÂs flight really happens. This was one of the magical moments of our trip.
The only bad part about the first days at WDW was my daughter whining and my son having severe shopaholic tendencies! She complained from the first hour we were there and after awhile we noticed she only limped behind when she wasnâÂÂt doing what she wanted, otherwise she would run ahead. So IâÂÂm sure I appeared to be one of those heartless moms telling their kid to quit complaining about their feet, but I refuse to be manipulated by her whining and her feet really were ok. My son had most of his money spent the day before at DD, and he wanted to spend the rest (and some of ours) right away. Every major ride ends in a gift shop and we spent way too much time in them trying to get him to leave without a meltdown each time.
Next â Part III, EPCOT
[This message was edited by sunni on 01-31-01 at 06:40 PM.]
Walking into the Magic Kingdom is a truly magical experience for first time families. Main Street is beautiful and I canâÂÂt even begin to describe the feeling you get when you first see the castle. I felt like a kid again, giddy and excited. The kids were so happy, my 7 yr old son was twirling around with his arms out, laughing with glee. A few tips for those wanting pictures on Main St. with the castle in the background:
1. The pictures that WDW takes and sells arenâÂÂt all that great a quality. Better to have another family take your picture if you have a decent camera.
2. If youâÂÂre going to buy the pictures from WDW, donâÂÂt get your picture taken by the first photographer you come by! We did and then saw more photographers all the way down the street. In our photo the castle is way in the background and not as close as IâÂÂd have liked.
3. I have pictures from two different mornings, one cloudy and overcast and another clear. The clear day was the nicer of the two pictures. Pay attention to the weather, and take pictures again later when the sky is clearer if you get the opportunity.
We started by heading to Tomorrowland to get Fast Pass for Space Mountain, having a goal of getting to Fantasyland and riding Dumbo before the line got long. Well, our son spied the Buzz Lightyear ride so that became our first ride. ItâÂÂs a lot of fun for the entire family, and my husband beat us all with 300,000 points. We then grabbed Fast Pass and hurried to ride Dumbo, which we were able to walk right on. This ride is was a must for me, IâÂÂve wanted to ride it since I was little. I was just as happy as I would have been 25 years ago! The line was just starting to get longer when we got off, probably a 10 minute wait. We went over to Winnie the Pooh ride and rode twice for the kids. I taped it the first time and I noticed I enjoyed it much more the second time around. After that I quit taping so much, I was not going to view my entire trip through a viewfinder.
At 9:30 we told our kids what their surprise for the day was, breakfast at CinderellaâÂÂs Castle! Our son didnâÂÂt seem too enthused, but he later changed his mind and enjoyed it very much. We arrived 15 minutes early and were sent right in to the waiting area where our kids met the Fairy Godmother and posed for pictures. We were seated earlier than I expected, and the interior of the castle was even more than I had expected it to be. In attendance were Cinderella, Belle, Jasmine, Aladdin, and Mary Poppins. Our server was Sir David T., and he was better than any of the characters there! He made our meal memorable and our children got his autograph and we had our picture taken with him. The food was delicious and we would definitely go back. A tip: the french toast is a fried cream cheese danish, which tastes wonderfully delicious when itâÂÂs hot, but starts to taste greasy and bad for you as it cools!
We did pretty much all of the major attractions at the Magic Kingdom that we had listed as âÂÂmust seeâÂÂ. We didnâÂÂt realize there was more to Tom Sawyer Island, so we didnâÂÂt go over the bridge to the fort. Splash Mountain was a family favorite. The Haunted Mansion terrified my almost 9 yr old daughter, which surprised us. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was fun, but you go too fast to see all the details. Take the Disney Railroad around and youâÂÂll see some of the neat stuff on BTMR and more. We used the railroad frequently to get from one land to another and to give our feet a rest. I very much enjoyed the Carousel of Progress, even though I only saw it to kill time, and I recommend it. I didnâÂÂt think my kids would want to see Toon Town, but they did so we went and we especially liked MinnieâÂÂs House. The lines to meet the characters at the Country Fair were very long even though it was off -season, and we got out of line. One thing IâÂÂm glad we did was to skip the 3 pm parade and use that time to see attractions the kids really wanted to see again.
Alien Encounter is great, but not for the faint of heart or young kids. I was determined that my kids wouldnâÂÂt go on it, but our son begged because his cousin had done it last year. I finally relented, and though he did better than I expected it was still bad for him. Right away he put up his hood so he wouldnâÂÂt feel anything on his neck (smart kid!) and closed his eyes the minute it began and never opened them. I donâÂÂt know why he put himself through this, except maybe he wanted to be able to say he did it. IâÂÂll admit to closing my eyes for most of the scary stuff until I got used to it, because it seemed more realistic than I had expected. Once I adapted to the feelings and the dark, it was easy to open my eyes and accept it as the simulator that it was.
On the early entry day, we left shortly after noon and took a nap before heading to EPCOT. We stopped at the Contemporary to see the MK Fireworks before continuing on the monorail to EPCOT. ItâÂÂs a nice place to watch the fireworks display and there was an added advantage. My son remarked, âÂÂNow I know Tinkerbell is real, because thereâÂÂs nothing holding her up to fly!âÂÂ. Had we been in the Magic Kingdom, this little guy would have observed how TinkerbellâÂÂs flight really happens. This was one of the magical moments of our trip.
The only bad part about the first days at WDW was my daughter whining and my son having severe shopaholic tendencies! She complained from the first hour we were there and after awhile we noticed she only limped behind when she wasnâÂÂt doing what she wanted, otherwise she would run ahead. So IâÂÂm sure I appeared to be one of those heartless moms telling their kid to quit complaining about their feet, but I refuse to be manipulated by her whining and her feet really were ok. My son had most of his money spent the day before at DD, and he wanted to spend the rest (and some of ours) right away. Every major ride ends in a gift shop and we spent way too much time in them trying to get him to leave without a meltdown each time.
Next â Part III, EPCOT
[This message was edited by sunni on 01-31-01 at 06:40 PM.]
