Magic Kingdom Rituals

[angelike1125]

"always, always ride Jungle Cruise first (though that'll be ousted with the refurb this Sept)

"DS gets his hair cut at the Harmony Barbershop within the first 3 hours at MK. This year I'm even holding off on getting it cut now since we only have 16 more sleeps till our next trip. He is going to be one shaggy looking boy for the plane trip!

"kiss at every fountain we pass (in all parks)

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

This will sound cheesy I'm afraid, but here goes...

On our way into MK we always briefly touch one of the stones before going under the train station. We are "leaving" our worries, cares, troubles, etc, right there on that stone. And we try very hard to forget to pick them up on our way out

Absolutely LOVE this! My family might need to adopt this tradition as well!

DH and I always take a moment at the end of the day to just stop and be thankful that we are together in such a magical place. We stand still somewhere on Main Street or in the Hub and just hold each other and look at the castle and reflect on our amazing day.

This one made me tear up! Have to remember this as well

not MK specific but I always go to the parks in the order they were built: MK, Epcot, DHS, AK

It just seems "right" somehow

LOL I think this is a really cute idea.

We always do MK left to right
We always go on Pirates first
My sister always stops on the way out of the park at the Confectionary and gets rice krispie treat (whgich means I always end up buying something lol)
We always take a castle picture
My son always gets a popcorn, always.
We always sing the monorail song from the Simpsons when we are on the monorail

We share a lot of similar traditions! We always do MK left to right, I always stop at the confectionery and we must have MK popcorn and castle pics!

 

[AuroraRora]

Popcorn during Wishes, always!

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

My turn to contribute!

- We always ride the monorail to The Magic Kingdom
- We always say the Monorail spiel in unison
- The Welcome Show is an absolute must - and I always cry (behind my of course!)
- DMom & DDad always put their hands on my shoulder when I cry
- I always take a picture of the "Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy"
- I cry again when I see Cinderella Castle (what can I say? lol)
- We tour from left to right
- Our first ride is always Splash Mountain
- Lunch is always at Liberty Tree Tavern
- We always ride Pirates and The Haunted Mansion
- I always stop for cotton candy at the Confectionery on the way out
- We always buy popcorn

We will be starting a new one this year....my grandma passed away in May and DMom and I plan to buy a Mickey balloon, stand in our favorite place in the hub and let it go

And those are just some of ours!

 

[momsquad]

Enjoying this thread also. . . So I'll include our "must do."

A picture with the baseball player at Casey's Corner.

WHY there you ask?

The 1st time I took my 3rd child DS6, I distracted him as we walked by that corner on our way in. After enjoying various rides/attractions for the morning we decided on lunch. I told my son - whose name is Casey, I had the perfect place for a hot dog. When we walked up to the restaurant and I had him read the name, I told him Disney made this place just for him! There was a momentary jaw drop, then his brow furrowed and he questioned me, "for real?" I told him since I was a travel agent (this is true) I had called in advance and asked if they could do something special since it was his 1st trip to Disney. After that he bought it hook, line, and sinker! "My own corner!"
He doesn't remember much about that 1st visit, but he does remember that (and Space Mountain!) and still talks about "his" corner at Disney!

 

[PryncessLace]

This isn't specific to MK, but until I set foot in the park I sing a song that used to play on the Disney World radio station back in the 80s or 90s. It is really simple and drives my family kinda crazy..." I'm going to Disney World, I'm going to Disney World"

And I always cry during the castle stage shows and fireworks!

 

[Disneylifeforme]

Haircuts at Harmony

 

[smraynor]

Enjoying this thread also. . . So I'll include our "must do."

A picture with the baseball player at Casey's Corner.

WHY there you ask?

The 1st time I took my 3rd child DS6, I distracted him as we walked by that corner on our way in. After enjoying various rides/attractions for the morning we decided on lunch. I told my son - whose name is Casey, I had the perfect place for a hot dog. When we walked up to the restaurant and I had him read the name, I told him Disney made this place just for him! There was a momentary jaw drop, then his brow furrowed and he questioned me, "for real?" I told him since I was a travel agent (this is true) I had called in advance and asked if they could do something special since it was his 1st trip to Disney. After that he bought it hook, line, and sinker! "My own corner!"
He doesn't remember much about that 1st visit, but he does remember that (and Space Mountain!) and still talks about "his" corner at Disney!

In the old days you could get your photo with the baseball player and the Indian. A nice tradition though!

 

[gjl]

Removed

 

[Punzie]

DH and I always take a moment at the end of the day to just stop and be thankful that we are together in such a magical place. We stand still somewhere on Main Street or in the Hub and just hold each other and look at the castle and reflect on our amazing day.

I need to take more time and appreciate! I remember on our first trip (after dd has picked up Mickey confetti the whole way up) we stopped at one of the last pp guys on main st to get castle pics. I guess I seemed stressed or hurried and he said "slow down mom. Enjoy it" really i was insanely excited lol but his voice rings in my ears on trips still if we get to rushing around or stressing about fp etc Trying to cram it all in instead of savoring.

Your pause on main st sounds like just the thing- not that it will be calm with three kids but hey we can ignore them for ten seconds lol

This isn't specific to MK, but until I set foot in the park I sing a song that used to play on the Disney World radio station back in the 80s or 90s. It is really simple and drives my family kinda crazy..." I'm going to Disney World, I'm going to Disney World"

And I always cry during the castle stage shows and fireworks!

I need to learn this song.

And who doesn't cry during those! Those who say they don't are liars or have grinch hearts

 

[staxia]

We sing It's a Small World on Space Mountain and Pirates on Small World.

CLEVER!

This made me laugh far too loudly...

I had a friend in HS who's family would go every year for Memorial Day (and sometimes I got to tag along), and then we'd both go again for Night of Joy in Sept.... By the time we were 16 or 17, we'd been there, done that a million times over.. so, to make things more fun, we decided to ride Space Mountain "backwards" (as turned around in our seat as possible) with our eyes closed, while singing "BINGO" We did it that way every time we went together from then on.. I'll be back in 10 days for my annual pilgrimage during NOJ, I might sing to myself.

For me.. Turns out, as I think about it, POtC is a must do for me, and usually the first ride.

*I will ALWAYS take a picture of the Partners statue.
*If I make it up in time, I will ALWAYS cry at the opening show.
*I always take pictures in the rose garden. Not of me, of the roses and hopefully gorgeous ones with the castle behind.
*Chocolate covered rice crispie treats will always be purchased at some point.
*as many others have said, it's my first park and my last.

 

[Dreamport]

Before fastpasses, our ride order was always Pirates, Splash, Big Thunder, Space Mountain ... then lunch at Pinocchio's to wave at the Small World people. Then wed ride Small World ourselves. Before Mickey's house was destroyed, we'd ALWAYS meet him there and only there. I'd also sing along with the Wonderful World of Disney theme on the TV set and we'd get a picture by the fridge in the kitchen.
Those ones are sadly gone, but a few still live on.

* We always get a strawberry Dole bar from the snack stand outside Tom Sawyer Island. This stems from me thinking they were our 'tickets' onto the island back when I was three. The concept stuck.
* We always hop to Epcot using the monorail.
* We always stop to look at the glass figurines on Main Street on our way out of the park. Yet another tradition which stuck when I was three and absolutely amazed by the pieces.
* I still always make sure to meet Mickey somewhere in the parks. He's been my best pal since he knelt down and signed "I <3 you" when I was petrified of a five-foot-tall mouse. It just wouldn't be a trip without saying hello.
* And we always, always end a vacation video with the fireworks. This one is an absolute, non-negotiable, has never and will never change must do!

 

[kevdo]

Our ritual:
Spend all day smugly pointing out the things that are so much nicer at Disneyland (Pirates, SM, treehouse, Buzz) until about 3:00 where we find a shady spot in Frontierland to watch the parade then wander over to enjoy the multi-flavor Dole Whips in Adventureland.

After watching the castle lighting show, leave the park admitting there's plenty of magic at the MK.

 

[dizzwizz]

Start and end the day off with Space Mountain, making sure we ride both sides before the day is over. Also, we take crazy photos when the camera flashes. We've amassed quite a collection on Space Mountain and Expedition Everest.
We have to eat the meatball sandwiches at Pinocchio's Village Haus for lunch. We must ride HM, PeopleMover and Peter Pan at least once per trip. Watch the MSEP in Frontierland. And finally, we try to time being on Thunder Mountain during Wishes. It all works for us!

 

[Son of Gadsden]

OP, we are from piedmont NC too... Howdy neighbor.

Me too! Almost. Half an hour from Greensboro, but still just barely VA.

 

[mieshie75]

Every trip we take pictures of the kids with the giant troll in the Norway gift shop! I have no idea how that particular location came about, but it's so fun to look at the pictures and see how they change from visit to visit!

We do that too! I have a pic where it looks like I am picking his nose. It became the kids favorite so they can tease me!

 

[cheshirecatattack]

We always do MK on our first full day. We watch the opening show and slowly make our way to Tomorrowland to do Space Mountain first. Once we finish most of Tomorrowland we head to our breakfast ADR at Ohana.

 

[smraynor]

Me too! Almost. Half an hour from Greensboro, but still just barely VA.

High Point!

 

[ThereAndBackAgain]

I keep Mickeyfetti stashed all over too. Always at least one in a purse/wallet, a few randomly in drawers. That sort of thing. Every time I find one, it makes me smile.

Nothing like a bit o' Disney magic to brighten your day!!!

This will sound cheesy I'm afraid, but here goes...

On our way into MK we always briefly touch one of the stones before going under the train station. We are "leaving" our worries, cares, troubles, etc, right there on that stone. And we try very hard to forget to pick them up on our way out

I don't think that it's cheesey at all! I love the idea of a symbolic gesture of leaving your wories behind!

 

[kalee45]

Another one for me is always always always riding carousel of progress. I love this ride. I know a lot of people don't but it's one of my favorite. I love history and to see how we have grown. Same with spaceship earth. We ride that one probably too many times haha

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

We also do this ride, mainly at my DD19 insistence, and everry time I have to comment that the song is all wrong! For me Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow does not compare to The Best Time of Our Lives! Other traditions: discussing how to split up our family of 6 when in line for 2 or 3 person per car rides (as in I rode with DS7 last time, I want to ride with sister this time, etc.), rushing to leave before the parade starts and getting stopped along the way, mesmerized by it, and end up watching the whole thing, lol. Always have to meet each of the kids fav characters: Peter Pan, Belle, Buzz, and Pluto , this sometimes takes some planning and land to land dashing!