We Opened The Magic Kingdom!!! - 14 Days of Awesomeness at WDW - My First Trip Report

[jhaig]

Talk about a magical moment! We got to the park early 9/2 for EMH and arrived around 700am. A cast member asked us of we were here for a breakfast reservation and we just said "No, we're just trying to get ahead of the crowds". Then she asked us " Well, we need someone to help us open the park today, are you interested?" Of course we were! They took us in and introduced us to Barbara, who would be our guide. She loaded us on to the back of a fire truck and drove us down deserted Main St USA. It was nice to get some photos of the castle with no one else around!

We then drove through Tomorrowland then stopped at Toon Town in front of Mickey's house. My DD looked in the window, and saw Pluto peeking out at her! Then, all of a sudden, it was character-palooza! One by one they came out of Mickey's house - Mickey, Donald, Daisy, Pluto, Alice, Snow White, Mary Poppins, Bert, and Stitch all said good morning to us. After some photos, we all boarded the train toward the front of the park. Stitch and Pluto kept us quite entertained on the way. We were given a special confetti container you had to wear on your hand like a ring. They told us when the countdown reaches '1' throw it and a bunch of streamers would come out.

So we arrive at the front of the park for the opening show and we get off the train with the other characters. The fire chief (Smokey?) introduced us to the crowd, and then we began the countdown. When we reached '1', we threw our golden streamers in the air and the park was open!

Mickey then escorted us back under the train station where we got some more photos (BTW Disney Photopass also took lots of pictures for us, but I haven't seen them yet). And then we were on our way. Truly a magical moment we will never forget!

Alone in the Magic Kingdom

On the train with Mickey

Toon Town with three characters

Soon we weren't alone

Riding the train

The view from the train overlooking the crowd

On Main St. with the chief

Now, when I tell my family to get to the parks early, they'll know why!

 

[Brian_WDW74]

I've moved this thread to the Trip Reports board.

 

[stimmons]

What a wonderful memory!!! Thank you so much for sharing with us. Your pictures were great.

 

[stitch09]

That's awesome you got to do that! I loved looking at your pictures! What great memories!!

Also, I'm so glad they're still using Stitch in things like this... Not that I'm a huge fan, or anything!

 

[maroo]

That is so awesome!

I wish we could have seen it on the Theme Parks Board a little longer - just because we discuss this over there so often. But I am so glad you guys got to experience the magic of opening the park! There is nothing like it!

Congrats!!!

 

[ScrappyRN]

How awesome was that! Talk about Disney Magic.

 

[Micky's biggest fan!]

What an awesome treat! Thank you for sharing! Your pictures were great. Actually made me tear up a bit

 

[Dan Murphy]

That is so awesome!

I wish we could have seen it on the Theme Parks Board a little longer - just because we discuss this over there so often. But I am so glad you guys got to experience the magic of opening the park! There is nothing like it!

Congrats!!!

So true. 3 minutes is not long enough, LOL. Glad you posted this on the Theme Park board, jhaig, never would have seen it of posted here. Hope that move thing stays on first couple pages for awhile so people can view this. Trip report, LOL?

Great pictures, wonderful experience. Thanks for sharing.

 

[jhaig]

A full trip report is in the works - stay tuned...

 

[Cory's Gal]

What an AWESOME moment! Your daughter is adorable, what a fun memory to have!! Can't wait to read your full report and see some of the Photopass pics too I hope!!

~Beth

 

[moparop]

That is so cool!! I would burst from excitement to get to do that. I am going to keep my eyes out fot the rest of the report!

 

[jhaig]

My only disappointment was that my tour plan for that morning was shot - but we somehow managed to make it work

I should get the whole trip report started soon. We went for 2 weeks, 8/31 to 9/13, so consider this a teaser:

- great character moments
- broken attractions
- too much food
- Jasmine telling a guest where to go
- Restaurants that get slammed unfairly
- walk-on rides

Look for the first installment in a couple of days

 

[jhaig]

Day 1 - 8/31/10

First, let's introduce the stars of the show:

Lori (Mommy), chief organizer and expert in perkiness
John (Daddy), trip coordinator and carrier of the backpack and
Katherine (DD10), the kid that got to enjoy it all

This was our third trip to Disney in the last four years and our first time staying at Port Orleans Riverside. We really enjoyed the resort as it was comfortable, quiet, and perfect for the three of us.

SO - we woke up this morning at 3am, exactly 1 hour earlier than we needed to. We hopped on our plane from Elmira, NY to Philly, then went from Philly down to Orlando (after changing planes in Philly - ours plane was late and had 4 'mechanical issues' - no way we're getting on THAT flight. So we landed in Orlando, got the Magical Express to POR, and we had finally made it.

Since we didn't schedule any parks on our arrival date in case of flight delays, we took a boat ride to Downtown Disney. An early dinner was on tap for Planet Hollywood. We were a little wary of going there since we had heard it wasn't that great, but were we surprised! The service was excellent, the food was very good, and we had a great time there. Now, I realize that this may have to do with the time of year we visited, but regardless we were pleasantly surprised. In fact, the top two floors of the place were entirely empty, so we got to check out all of the stuff at our leisure.

Next was Disney Quest. We had never been there, so this was also something new. First was Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters. In one word - meh. The balls used in the cannons were filthy, the cars were hard to steer, and I couldn't figure out reverse, so all I did was bump into the same wall over and over. We had better luck on the virtual Pirates of the Caribbean and Virtual Jungle Cruise - they were pretty good. The best part of the whole place was the rows and rows of classic video games that you could play for free. I would have been perfectly content to play Super Pac Man, Mr. Do, and Tron for the rest of the night. Cyberspace Mountain was OK, but we had do build a conservative coaster since Katherine doesn't do upside-down rides.

We were tired at this point so it was back to the hotel. We stayed in Oak Manor on a second floor room and it was really pretty nice. No funny smells, nice and cool, and not a bedbug to be seen (trust me, Lori checked!). Everything was quiet at night, but we all travel with a white noise maker, which helped a lot.

Coming up next: a full day at Hollywood Studios! Find out:

- if the Animation Building really does turn into character central at 5pm
- who has the guts to ride Rock N Roller Coaster
- if the Sci Fi is as rotten as people say
- Is Toy Story Mania worth the wait

Tune in soon!

 

[kdfogliano]

That is great!!! What a wonderful memory!!!!!!