Wednesday (January 20) was the day I had been looking forward to most for quite some time. Childhood fantasies were destined to come true on this day. I was so excited as we headed out on the Disney bus to the Magic Kingdom!
Here we are just inside the front gates - getting a first glimpse of Cinderella's castle!
Beautiful window displays on Main Street depict all of the princesses. What magic!
Who couldn't love a place where a trolley filled with happy singing, dancing people runs up and down the street all day long?
Famous statue. It's hard to get decent photos; there are so many people everywhere! And our visit was during one of the two historically SLOWEST weeks in Disney World. Yikes.
Oh yes. I'm a fairy-tale princess. And in my fairy-tale world, I have a castle like this. Absolutely.
The first characters we happened across were the Evil Stepmother, Anastasia, and Drusilla. Dru definitely tried to steal my necklace and then got fed up with me for saying "oh no, that's mine."
Riding the famous Alice in Wonderland Mad Hatter teacup ride (yeah, I can't remember what it's called, so I included every possible name).
LOVE these spinning photos! My Canon SD1100 is amazing.
It's true. Your life is incomplete until you experience ten minutes of slightly crazed, creepy puppet dolls singing It's a Small World at you in several different languages. Including several photos for those of you who may not have been there. It's quite the ride.
This was about the time we ran into the 8 other boats on the track ahead of us and just kind of sloshed our way to the end. Oh - we had absolutely no wait to get on, and we were the only 2 people in the entire boat. How crazy is that!
We had lunch at Tony's, which is near the front of the park. It's based on the restaurant in Lady and the Tramp. Aww.
Adding to the old-time feel were these guys, who wandered the area singing beautiful harmonies. Inside Tony's, they sang Bella Notte - of course.
The Lady and the Tramp fountain, near where we sat (we were in the booth just behind and to the left - you can just see the front corner of the bench).
Mailing the pathetic few postcards I had managed to write by this point in the vacation.
Waiting in the "loading area" for Space Mountain. There are fun games on the wall to entertain you.
Back to the Castle after a brief visit in Futureland. One of Disney's photographers took this. Those people are so nice!
Classic ride! We didn't actually ride it...the wait time was never convenient. But they thoughtfully provide this nice photo op anyway.
Me at Minnie's house.
Minnie is crafty, just like me! She just has a craft room. No bedroom. No bathroom. Living room, craft room, kitchen. Craft all day long! :)
Minnie's backyard gazebo. Why don't I have a pink and purple backyard gazebo?
Andrew at Mickey's house. Mickey and Minnie conveniently live right next door to each other. Aww!
Mickey's kitchen is in a state of disrepair!
Mickey grows personalized produce in his backyard.
This really made me laugh. My kind of supply kit!
Cinderella's fountain, in Fantasyland behind the castle. I made a wish. It hasn't come true yet. But we'll see.
I decided that no trip to Disney World was complete without eating Mickey ice cream bars. :)
We hadn't planned to watch the parade, but happened across it while it was in progress. I got to see all the princesses!! It was magical. Celebrate a dream come true... That's the only part of the song I remember. I should have taken a video.
Off to another classic ride - Pirates! Argghhhh! This ride was interesting. On the one hand, you had the kind of creepy animatrix puppets that were singing and running about. But when they added in the Jack Sparrow character, they didn't make him in the old style like the other puppets. He looks real. And sounds real. And it's a little bit frightening!
Riding The Magic Carpets of Aladdin in the Agrabah marketplace.
They wouldn't let me get in line to meet Aladdin and Jasmine. :( I was a disappointed princess.
Hanging out in the Swiss Family Treehouse. I personally think the treehouse at Silver Dollar City was more fun. I really wish that house were still there! It was amazing.
Riding Thunder Mountain! It was a little surreal to ride all these things I have known about my whole life. I used to have this great sing-a-long video where they went to Disney World and saw all the famous sites. It was like childhood coming to life again! Pretty magical.
Beautiful castle. I took a lot of photos of this magical sight.
We walked by the Fairytale Garden and saw the tail end of Storytime with Belle. Naturally we weren't actually allowed to get in line to meet her. Again, I was a disappointed princess. Disney World is all about meeting Belle. Seriously, don't they realize this?
Our amazing (expensive) dinner - at Cinderella's Royal Table, which is actually located inside the castle. *pause while everyone shrieks with childish delight* I thought so too. I actually made reservations for this meal 90 days in advance.
Waiting inside the beautiful castle.
The price of dinner included a photo shoot with Cinderella. They brought an 8x10 of a similar shot of this to our table, as well as an 8x10 of the Castle itself. Considering that most photos throughout Disney are about $25, that's a pretty good bargain on top of the meal experience.
Gorgeous. I want to live here.
Inside the restaurant. It looks out over Fantasyland.
This was about the time we ran into the 8 other boats on the track ahead of us and just kind of sloshed our way to the end. Oh - we had absolutely no wait to get on, and we were the only 2 people in the entire boat. How crazy is that!
We had lunch at Tony's, which is near the front of the park. It's based on the restaurant in Lady and the Tramp. Aww.
Adding to the old-time feel were these guys, who wandered the area singing beautiful harmonies. Inside Tony's, they sang Bella Notte - of course.
The Lady and the Tramp fountain, near where we sat (we were in the booth just behind and to the left - you can just see the front corner of the bench).
Mailing the pathetic few postcards I had managed to write by this point in the vacation.
Waiting in the "loading area" for Space Mountain. There are fun games on the wall to entertain you.
Back to the Castle after a brief visit in Futureland. One of Disney's photographers took this. Those people are so nice!
Classic ride! We didn't actually ride it...the wait time was never convenient. But they thoughtfully provide this nice photo op anyway.
Me at Minnie's house.
Minnie is crafty, just like me! She just has a craft room. No bedroom. No bathroom. Living room, craft room, kitchen. Craft all day long! :)
Minnie's backyard gazebo. Why don't I have a pink and purple backyard gazebo?
Andrew at Mickey's house. Mickey and Minnie conveniently live right next door to each other. Aww!
Mickey's kitchen is in a state of disrepair!
Mickey grows personalized produce in his backyard.
This really made me laugh. My kind of supply kit!
Cinderella's fountain, in Fantasyland behind the castle. I made a wish. It hasn't come true yet. But we'll see.
I decided that no trip to Disney World was complete without eating Mickey ice cream bars. :)
We hadn't planned to watch the parade, but happened across it while it was in progress. I got to see all the princesses!! It was magical. Celebrate a dream come true... That's the only part of the song I remember. I should have taken a video.
Off to another classic ride - Pirates! Argghhhh! This ride was interesting. On the one hand, you had the kind of creepy animatrix puppets that were singing and running about. But when they added in the Jack Sparrow character, they didn't make him in the old style like the other puppets. He looks real. And sounds real. And it's a little bit frightening!
Riding The Magic Carpets of Aladdin in the Agrabah marketplace.
They wouldn't let me get in line to meet Aladdin and Jasmine. :( I was a disappointed princess.
Hanging out in the Swiss Family Treehouse. I personally think the treehouse at Silver Dollar City was more fun. I really wish that house were still there! It was amazing.
Riding Thunder Mountain! It was a little surreal to ride all these things I have known about my whole life. I used to have this great sing-a-long video where they went to Disney World and saw all the famous sites. It was like childhood coming to life again! Pretty magical.
Beautiful castle. I took a lot of photos of this magical sight.
We walked by the Fairytale Garden and saw the tail end of Storytime with Belle. Naturally we weren't actually allowed to get in line to meet her. Again, I was a disappointed princess. Disney World is all about meeting Belle. Seriously, don't they realize this?
Our amazing (expensive) dinner - at Cinderella's Royal Table, which is actually located inside the castle. *pause while everyone shrieks with childish delight* I thought so too. I actually made reservations for this meal 90 days in advance.
Waiting inside the beautiful castle.
The price of dinner included a photo shoot with Cinderella. They brought an 8x10 of a similar shot of this to our table, as well as an 8x10 of the Castle itself. Considering that most photos throughout Disney are about $25, that's a pretty good bargain on top of the meal experience.
Gorgeous. I want to live here.
Inside the restaurant. It looks out over Fantasyland.
Our waitress addressed us as "My Prince" and "My Princess" all evening. She also brought us a sword and a wand - which apparently usually only small children receive. Dunno why she thought we needed them - but I'm not about to say I wasn't pleased.
The Fairy Godmother came out and sang a song. We didn't catch it because she was moving so quickly, but while she was saying something about Dreams Coming True, she reached out and touched my face in a very I'm-magical-and-you-are-magical-and-the-world-is-a-wonderful-place sort of gesture. Yeah, I eat up attention.
We were also visited by Cinderella's mice friends!
The castle at night, up close! When we left the restaurant, we got to go under the castle and out to Main Street - it's not open to the public, you have to eat at the restaurant to get this chance. It was a bonus I had not expected!
So much magic in one day. It was amazing.
Me and my prince.
Beautiful. Right after this photo, a NOT-so-nice Disney employee told us we had to leave the special area and join the throng of tourists. We did as she said...but the rest of the people weren't forced to leave until a good 15 minutes later. I was bummed and angry and sad. :(
Evening parade!
The fireworks show at park closing, Wishes, was magnificent. Magic Kingdom was the only fireworks show we were able to see - and it was a good one. Also I'm very pleased with the results of both the SLR and the Powershot. Great photos! (I have about 100 fireworks photos alone. crazy.)
Main Street on the way to the exit. Crazy swarms of people. I still can't believe this was the "slow" season!
Alas, we didn't have time to swim while at our resort (even though the pool was heated!). This is the Calypso Pool. It's shaped like a giant guitar.
And this one - the Piano Pool, shaped like a baby grand. :)
We were also visited by Cinderella's mice friends!
The castle at night, up close! When we left the restaurant, we got to go under the castle and out to Main Street - it's not open to the public, you have to eat at the restaurant to get this chance. It was a bonus I had not expected!
So much magic in one day. It was amazing.
Me and my prince.
Beautiful. Right after this photo, a NOT-so-nice Disney employee told us we had to leave the special area and join the throng of tourists. We did as she said...but the rest of the people weren't forced to leave until a good 15 minutes later. I was bummed and angry and sad. :(
Evening parade!
The fireworks show at park closing, Wishes, was magnificent. Magic Kingdom was the only fireworks show we were able to see - and it was a good one. Also I'm very pleased with the results of both the SLR and the Powershot. Great photos! (I have about 100 fireworks photos alone. crazy.)
Main Street on the way to the exit. Crazy swarms of people. I still can't believe this was the "slow" season!
Alas, we didn't have time to swim while at our resort (even though the pool was heated!). This is the Calypso Pool. It's shaped like a giant guitar.
And this one - the Piano Pool, shaped like a baby grand. :)
It was possibly the most magical day of my life, right up there with my real-life fairy-tale wedding. We've already decided to start saving so we can take our kids to Disney before they're too old to be swept away by the magic. Of course...for some of us, there's no problem getting caught up in the moment, even when your first Disney visit is at age 23. ;)
Day 8 - Epcot - coming soon!
Day 8 - Epcot - coming soon!
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