On the first day we arrived in Florida, we walked past the Magic Kingdom to get to the monorail, and it was all decorated for Halloween and they were having a Halloween party. When we actually went into the park a few days later, all the Halloween was taken down and it was completely decorated for Christmas. They sure are able to change things fast! We spent two full days in the Magic Kingdom, and there was lots to see.
Here is Mike bright and early waiting for the park to open
The floral Mickey and Main St. Station
Cinderella's castle in the Magic Kingdom is much bigger than Sleeping Beauty's in Disneyland!
This was at Mickey's Philharmagic - a fun 3D show featuring many classic Disney songs - and a very grumpy Donald.
We were excited to check out the Haunted Mansion and see how it compared to Disneyland's.
When you are in the queue, you can choose to go through the interactive cemetery, which I thought was lots of fun. When you touch the keys on this organ, it makes music and water squirts out of the skulls on the pipes.
On this part, it plays a song, and when you touch an instrument, it plays the song with that instrument.
We really enjoyed the Magic Kingdom version
There was a pirate show going on in Adventureland
We went on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. The queue area was really cool - here is a scene from that.
The actual ride is a lot shorter than Disneyland's though, but still fun.
We sailed over to Tom Sawyer's Island, and did some exploring in a mill, a mine and a cave.
Crossing the barrel bridge
This is a fun little play area - there were no kids here yet, so I went in the playhouse.
On part of the island, they have Fort Langhorn. Here is Mike shooting the fake rifle.
And me. You can tell I have no idea what I'm doing...
We rode Splash Mountain several times, and we were prepared with our rain coats. It was worth it to endure a little dorkiness to not be wet and soggy for the rest of the day.
In the Magic Kingdom, they have "Liberty Square" - an area themed like colonial Philadelphia (instead of New Orleans Square in DL).
We ate lunch there at the Liberty Tree Tavern.
This was my pilgrim's feast - yum!
Even Disney World has time-out
One thing I was really excited to see was the Country Bear Jamboree. I have fond memories of when they used to have it at Disneyland.
This bear that comes down from the ceiling in a swing was always my favorite.
Taking a ride on the Liberty Belle Steamboat
Our shadows, waving
Mike by the Liberty Bell replica
The Hall of Presidents is a show that is part movie, and part audioanimatronics. They have an animatronic figure of every US President.
This is "Ye Olde Christmas Shop"
It was a large store full of Disney themed ornaments, stockings, decorations, etc. It was quite an amazing sight.
Riding "It's a Small World". The front entrance was pretty different from what we are used to.
The final scene is themed like a carnival, with a merry-go-round, a roller coaster, and a ferris wheel.
Going for a ride in the train
Passing a scene from Big Thunder Mountain
Checking out part of Adventureland
Here are some of the Christmas decorations on Main Street
We caught part of a party parade
Us in front of the castle
Dinner at the Columbia Harbor House
The castle was all lit up with its Christmas lights at night. It was stunning!
We waited for a while on Main Street to get a good spot for watching the fireworks show
This picture shows what we thought of the "Stitch's Great Escape" "ride". We kept waiting for something cool to happen...and then it was over.
Main Street candy shop display
Giant nutcracker decorations
Day 2:
Imprisoned Zurg
Mickey and Minnie topiaries
I took way too many pictures of the castle
Mike by some poinsettias
I tried the Magic Carpet ride. It is basically like Dumbo, except you ride in a magic carpet. Mike gets sick on spinning rides, so he sat this one out.
The Jungle Cruise was fun!
This fake tarantula in a cage would jump around.
Sounds yummy...
In the Magic Kingdom version, you go into a dark temple for part of the ride
In the Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki room
The preshow here pretty much consists of these two birds talking
One thing I thought was pretty cool were the windows inside the Tiki Room. You could see a landscape through them, and during the climatic part, the volcano started streaming red.
Unfortunately, the Swiss Family Tree House was closed for refurbishment while we were there. I have fond memories of the one at Disneyland before they changed it to Tarzan. I really wanted to move in. Oh well.
The Monster's Inc Laugh Floor is a comedy show, done with animation that is able to interact with the audience. The monsters are trying to collect laughs to power their city.
The Peoplemover is another ride that is gone at Disneyland, but still lives on in the Magic Kingdom.
You go for a little tram ride through Tomorrowland, and through parts of some of the rides.
The Carousel of Progress is a show about how everyday life has changed through the years with advances in technology.
Tomorrowland
This is where we had lunch - the Crystal Palace
It is a character meal with the Winnie the Pooh characters. Mike was not so sure about doing a character meal when we didn't have the kids with us, but he was a good sport and did it for me. It turned out to be really fun.
Hehe - Eeyore's "nailed on" tail
The restaurant itself was very pretty
At the entrance, they had these characters made of flowers
Christmas-y Main Street
We saw a wedding party walking by
The Splash Mountain logs here are double wide, which is nice.
Into the briar patch!
Bat weathervane on the Haunted Mansion
This is Leota's tombstone (the lady who is the head in the ball on the ride), that you see while you are waiting in line for the Haunted Mansion. The face on the tombstone moves slightly every once in a while, and sometimes her eyes open for a moment. Creepy!
The buildings in Fantasyland seem really big compared to Disneyland's.
Right now, they are doing a big Fantasyland expansion project, which will double the size of their Fantasyland. Here is a rendering they had up of what it will look like.
Me and Mike by the Belle and Beast construction walls. Part of the new expansion is a Beauty and the Beast themed area, with a storytelling place and a new restaurant.
Here is the Beast's castle that we could see going up behind the construction walls. We also saw Eric's castle (they are building a Little Mermaid ride), and some construction they are doing on some big tents for the new Fantasyland circus area. I'm sure it will be very cool when it is all finished. Hopefully we'll be able to come back someday and see it!
Mike can't tolerate the teacups - they make him sick, but I gave them a whirl.
The Pooh ride was really fun
I love the pooh-coo clock, just like in the movie
The queue and loading areas were decorated with huge pages from the book
They had some interactive play areas in the queue area to help kids (and adults) pass the time waiting in line. These were little plastic bees you could push along a metal track and through beehives.
Mike got his hand stuck in the beehive again...
These were giant touch screens with a dripping honey pattern on them, that would react to your touch. You could draw with it, or uncover a picture underneath.
On the ride - Owl's house on the blustery day
The Main Street Electrical Parade is currently in the Magic Kingdom
The Tink float
Alice in Wonderland
This was my favorite picture - Elliot in front of the castle
This is the Prince Charming Regal Carousel. This carousel had some pretty cool armored horses, as well as the more traditional ones.
We rode Snow White several times in a row because there was not much of a line, and I love Snow White. My favorite part about the Snow White ride here is the kissing scene! It's nice to get some closure. However, they will be removing this ride as part of the Fantasyland construction, and building a new ride called the Dwarves Mine Train. I'm glad we got a chance to ride it before that happens. Maybe they can send the kissing scene to Disneyland - it could sure use it.
We went on one last ride on the Peoplemover before we left the park for the night, since Mike thought we'd be able to see the part that goes through Space Mountain better if our eyes were adjusted to the dark. Well, lo and behold we were able to see the Space Mountain parts VERY well, because they had all the lights on for some reason. It was weird, but cool to see.
Holiday lights on Main Street
We had a great time in the Magic Kingdom. Mike said it was his favorite Disney World park. It was interesting to compare it to Disneyland - of the rides they have in common, some are better at Disneyland, and some are better at the Magic Kingdom. Both parks have some rides that the other doesn't have. Both are really fun!
Posts
