Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom - Day 1

Before I get into all of the activities that we did in Walt Disney World I would like to share about our drive down to Orlando. Just a few snippets of information before we get into the fun Disney stuff.


We drove down to Orlando on Wednesday. The drive was not too bad, about 7 1/2 hours long. Really, a decent drive for us. No one was arguing or fighting in the car, so that set a good tone. Megan and Will just played in the back, talked and looked at books the entire trip. We did stop for lunch at a rest area. It was freezing! I had thought that being in the lower part of Georgia, it would have warmed up a little bit, but alas no, it was still freezing! We even had a huge flock of birds eyeing our lunch. Since no one was out, they were not having much luck at finding crumbs. When we got to Orlando we were able to meet up with some friends that happened to be down there at the same time. We had a really great dinner at an Italian Restaurant, Buca di Beppo. The food and company were great and the children behaved reasonably well, considering there were five total with four traveling in a car throughout the day!

On Thursday we woke up a little later than expected and met Stephanie (who is David's sister) at the world's largest McDonald's. We had breakfast then decided to go to Magic Kingdom. The weather looked like it was going to be sunny and nice. Will was excited when he discovered that we would get to ride a tram. We also showed him the monorail, he was then ecstatic! Megan just took everything in. She was excited to go, but she is hesitant about experiences that are new and different. Both children got "First Visit" Badges which they wore proudly throughout the entire day. We decided to let Megan and Will go where they wanted to go. First they tried hula-hoops on Main street, then Will waved to Pluto, but decided to wait to get his autograph. Next, we headed toward Cinderella's castle and caught the last part of a show. Megan wanted to come back so that she could see the whole show later on in the day, which we promptly promised we would. After going around Cinderella's castle we met our first character, Fairy Godmother. I think that I was more excited than the children. She was so nice. Will said hello and waved. He even gave her a hug. Megan was more hesitant. I think she is at the age where she still believes in fairy tales, but she also knows that Fairy Godmother was not real. David, Stephanie and I acted like they were real people and by the end of our trip she was really enjoying meeting all of the characters. Of course we had to stop and take a break for snacks. Before we went to Disney, I found out that you can take your own food into the park. We took an assortment of snacks and sandwiches for lunch. That saved us at least $40 a day. Will is always looking for a good snack!

I found Cinderella's wishing well next to her castle. David decided to pick up Megan and threaten to give her a good washing. She really did not appreciate the humor in the situation.While at Disney we tried to pick the main rides that we remembered riding when we were children. Here is a short list of some of our favorites:

• Dumbo
• Cinderella's Carousel
• Snow White's Adventures
• Winnie the Pooh's Misadventures
• The Teacup's (a huge favorite)
• The Motor Speedway (Will's favorite)
• Goofy's Barnstorming (Will's second favorite)
• Thunder Mountain Railroad (Megan's favorite)
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• The Magic Carpet Ride (Will's third favorite)

While at Disney, we saw two families that we knew from Orangeburg. Here is a picture of Megan and Will with their friend Brynn. Brynn's mom made her outfit and appliqued the Mickey outline on Megan's and Will's outfits. Aren't they cute together! The children played in the Winnie the Pooh section for a while before we headed off to another activity. They really enjoyed seeing each other and playing for a few minutes.

During the day, Megan kept seeing all of the beautiful painted faces, so Stephanie asked a mother where they had her daughter's face done. We headed over to Toon Town and Megan and Will picked out their favorite face. Will decided to be a Super Hero (although secretly I think he picked it because the colors are from his favorite character, Lighting McQueen). Megan picked out Princess Kitty. She looks really beautiful in the face paint. We didn't want to wash it off when we got back to the hotel. After getting their faces painted we went to visit the princesses. Cinderella saw Megan's face and asked her if she was going to eat her mouse friends. Megan just laughed and said that she was a good kitty. Will was having a wardrobe problem and Cinderella saw it. She laughed and said that she saw a "Bibbity Bobbity Booty." It is amazing how well the cast members stay in character. We all laughed. Will did not even notice. He just liked talking to Cinderella. While there we also met Belle and Princess Aurora. Will flirted with both and even blew a kiss to Princess Aurora as we walked out the door. What a charmer!

We were enjoying ourselves so much the first day that we were able to stay for the fireworks display. Megan and Will were really excited to see the fireworks so we found a section just off Main Street to watch. The music and story with the fireworks was terrific. They loved watching the show. The show was about wishing and making your dreams come true. They were so into the experience that you could hear them making their wishes and saying that they were coming true. Megan wished to "be a princess and live in a castle in France with her mommy and daddy and Will and whole family." Will wished "to be a famous race car (after Lighting McQueen)." After the show, they each believed that their dreams came true. I love the Magic Kingdom!