If you've ever been to the Magic Kingdom, you know that there is little more exciting than standing at the end of Main Street and catching a glimpse of Cinderella's Castle for the first time. The wonder that is Disney hits you instantly as all the sites, smells, and activities greet you and you begin your trek towards the epicenter of the park. I love that moment. Even as a adult, I get giddy looking around me at all there is to see and at all the smiling people that are just like me. I adored sharing that moment with my kids this time around. The girls were SO excited (and though he may not admit it out loud, Micah as too) and after a few snapshots with the infamous castle background, we began what ended up being our longest park day of the week. We had a blast! Here are the highlights and some of our favorites from Day 1 of the Magic Kingdom (we went back on Thursday. There is just too much to see in one day)...
These are some of my favorite shots from the front of the park. This was before we were sweating in places we didn't even know could sweat. It was a scorching hot day and there just isn't a ton of shade around the MK to relax in. SO thankful for air conditioning!! I also loved that "twins" Chip & Dale were the first characters my twins met. How appropriate being that they are all four very mischievous!
Even though we weren't rushing around from place to place (because we knew we had another whole day at the park later in the week), we were still able to cover a lot of ground on Monday. We were staying until the park closed to see the fireworks and the crowds were manageable so we did/saw tons on day one. The above pictures are some of our favorites... The kids LOVED the castle stage show "Dreams Come True". Anytime we walked by and it was happening, we'd have to stop and watch it AGAIN. They all had the songs memorized and still sing them. I often have "Come join the party, the castle party," stuck in my head. Well played Disney, well played. At any rate, they also loved being initiated into Captain Jack Sparrow's band of pirates and climbing through the Swiss Family Robinson's tree house. Thunder Mountain was a favorite ride for all my kids. They rode it twice in a row! Well everyone but Carli. She said she didn't like it and didn't want to ride it again. However, once the others were in a mad dash back into the line (love 10 minute waits!) she was in tears because they were riding her VERY FAVORITE RIDE IN THE WORLD without her. Oh brother! The drama these girls create. At any rate, she did get to ride it again, just not until Thursday. :)
Conquering Zerg in Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin was a favorite for everyone in our party. And the kids LOVED driving the cars in Tomorrow Land Speedway. Jason said Ella giggled the whole entire time. He loved being with her because she was just so proud to be driving (he did the pedals, she did the steering). Carli's face above says it all. She was THRILLED. Micah in his quest for perfection with no practice, got frustrated that he didn't know what he was doing right away but ended up enjoying the ride anyway. We also enjoyed Peter Pan's Flight, Space Mountain, and so many others.
The girls wore the crowns my mom got them all day. All of the Disney cast members called them Princess all day long and they thought they were super hot stuff. Melted my heart! Don't be fooled by these sweet smiles though. Midway through the day, the evil stepsisters to these darling beauties rared their heads and I thought we were going to have to leave the park. Thankfully some lunch, nice cool AC, and some ice cream solved the problem and we were back in princess mode and ready to go.
Around 5:30 (and after a torrential thunderstorm) we began our preparations for dinner with Cinderella and her friends at her Royal Banquet in the castle. This was by far our favorite dinner of the week. My mom and I were as amazed as the little girls and even our guys thought it was something special.
Prettied up and ready to go... Don't be fooled by the silly boy there - even though he was super skeptical about all this princess hullabaloo, he ended up loving every minute. After all, they did give him a sword! (The girls got magic wands.)
Ariel is my girl's favorite princess so they were in Heaven when they met her. The rest of the princesses were pleasant as well but none held a candle to their excitement at meeting Ariel.Jasmine made Micah join in the picture with her. He obliged because he is polite. :) He was so embarrassed. He loved watching everything but really didn't want photos taken with the lovely ladies. Cracked me up!
After dinner we went and staked out some side walk for the evening parade and fireworks. They were amazing. We were glad we stayed even though it was so late and we were exhausted. It was a fantastic first day at Disney World. Even though we had some less than beautiful moments through out the day and Ella even asked if we could leave and go swimming in our boring pool at the hotel (hello little girl - we are at DISNEY and there are pools in Michigan), we all have so many great memories of the day. The girls still talk about the banquet and even create their own version upstairs in their room where they are the princesses (complete with dresses from the dress up bin) signing autographs and making wishes come true. Because of this I know they loved it and that makes this momma's heart smile!
Tuesday? Epcot! Coming up!
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