We Opened Magic Kingdom--The Conclusion

Magical, memorable, and incredible are the only words that can describe our experience opening Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. 

 Click on the following to catch up on our story:  Part 1,  Part 2,  and Part 3.

You would think that after opening the park that we would move on with our day at the Magic Kingdom with an inflated feeling of “what could be better than this?”  But we were wrong. 

Upon exiting the Train Station, we were greeted by Barbara and a double deck bus!

More photos ensued.

Barbara had us sit in the front of the bus on the top level.  We were driven down Main Street, U.S.A. with the horn honking.

Barbara was announcing, “The Williams Family from Iowa” over the speaker.  Guests and Cast Members were waving from below.

We were driven to the Hub in front of Cinderella’s Castle,

More photos were taken by John, our Photopass photographer, to commemorate the event.

By 9:20 am, we had had the time of our lives.  We said good-bye to Barbara and John and thanked them so much for the incredible experience.  Can you imagine having their job?  Bringing such joy to people every day!

When it was time for us to part, the husband turned to me and said,” Well, we might as well go back to the resort, because the day isn’t going to get any better than this.”  We had definitely hit a “high.”  But that didn’t mean that the magic and spirit of Disney couldn’t continue throughout the rest of our day.  And, indeed it did.

We didn’t return to the resort.  We stayed at the Magic Kingdom for the majority of the day and then took the monorail to EPCOT for dinner.  We used our special Fastpasses given to us earlier that morning for an extra spin on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin in the middle of the afternoon.  We were recognized throughout the day by people pointing.  The husband was the one who noticed it the most.  He would say, “We just got recognized” as if we had celebrity status of some sort.  I guess we did.

These immersive and special experiences that Disney magically dispenses on guests are truly incredible.  Part of that is their elusive nature.  These experiences cannot be bought or planned for.  They just happen . . . magically.  Our goal is to be open to the magic—no stress, no fretting over park maps and Times Guides, no frustrating decisions about parking or dining, no disagreements about where to go first during park touring, just fun.  Family fun!

We Opened Magic Kingdom--Part 2

If you are just joining our story about opening the Magic Kingdom during our most recent Walt Disney World vacation, then please read Part 1.

Okay, you’re back.  After our ride down Main Street, U.S.A. in the red fire truck, we stopped at the Train Station.  Barbara had us exit the truck and head into the Train Station.  She was a bundle of energy the whole time.

Oh, and here’s John our Photopass photographer who still had our Photopass card!

We made our way up the ramp of the Train Station.

This is when we were joined by several other Cast Members and the Mayor.  Soon, they had us gather round for a group photo.

Then we were given directions.  The train would pull in with the characters on board.  The train would stop and when the Mayor introduced us with “The Williams Family from Iowa” we were to go through the train and exit on the platform on the other side.  We were to wave and help countdown until the opening of the park.

Got it.  Now, we just had to wait for a bit in the Train Station.  How exciting!

Here's the rest of the story:  Part 3, and The Conclusion.

The Most Magical Day of Our 4th Visit to Walt Disney World

The most magical day of our 4th trip to Walt Disney World happened almost one year ago. It was Todd's birthday, the actual day of the big day, and our last day of vacation. Again, maybe we were more relaxed, more into vacation mode, more open to magic. Anyway, the day started at Disney's Hollywood Studios. We had two things going for us. . . one was extra magic hours in the am, so we arrived before the 8:00 am rope drop, and the other was it was Todd's birthday and we were cashing in on the Birthday Fastpasses. Remember Disney's free admission on your birthday offer? Well, if you already had admission, then your choices were a gift card worth the same as a day's admission or 5 birthday Fastpasses for the birthday person and up to 5 members of your party. We went to Guest Services, presented the birthday certificate and each of us were given a card--similar to our Key to the World Cards, which could be used at Fastpass distribution at any time. (there were some stipulations as to how many you could get from the two categories of attractions, etc.) Anyway, we were set!

First stop, Toy Story Mania! We went through the stand-by queue and captured the famed photo with Mr. Potato Head as shown in the photo above. Click here to read more about Toy Story Mania!

We ended up using both Birthday Fastpasses and regular Fastpasses to ride Toy Story Mania 5 times that day. We were in the queue for our 6th ride when the attraction went down and the queue had to be emptied. We knew we were headed out of the park by then, so we gave our Fastpasses to another family. Click here to read more about Fastpass.

After lunch, we used the Birthday Fastpasses for Lights, Motors, Action and got one big surprise. Since we had the special Fastpasses, we were escorted to the left of the regular queue and passed hundreds of people already in line. We were then escorted into the stadium, taken to an elevator, and given a ride to the level for the reserved section which was right in the middle. OK, here we were ahead of the crowd, sitting in the best seats in the house, and ready for a cool show. We captured the awesome photo below. Disney magic at work!

We had an ADR for Hoop Dee Doo at Fort Wilderness, so we left Studios and hopped a bus to Fort Wilderness. We actually ended up at Wilderness Lodge and then switched to another bus to take us to Fort Wilderness. Since we weren't sure how long it would take, we had given ourselves plenty of time and arrived with time to spare. Walking up to Pioneer Hall, home of the Hoop Dee Doo Review, we discovered pony rides and met Snickers the pony. The boy enjoyed the ride, and you get to see the back of Todd's shirt in the photo below, just in case folks didn't know we were celebrating.

Dinner at Hoop Dee Doo was wonderful and so was the show. Todd was picked out of the crowd to join the show as a dancing angel. The first photo at the beginning of this post is
Todd at the end of the show. Click here to read more about our adventure at Hoop Dee Doo.

Once again, Disney had exceeded our expectations for a magic day and Todd had a great birthday!

The Most Magical Day of Our 5th Visit to Walt Disney World

Our 5th visit to the Walt Disney World Resort was in November of 2009. We flew in early on a Friday afternoon and flew home on Tuesday, so it was somewhat of a short stay, but long enough to give us a fix of the magic. Since we arrived mid-day on Friday, we had tickets for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party that evening, spent Saturday at Hollywood Studios (extra AM magic hours!), so Sunday was dedicated to EPCOT. We had a lunch ADR at Le Cellier in the Canada Pavilion, and ADR for Chef Mickey's for dinner, and then a reservation for the new Pirates and Pals Fireworks Voyage at the Contemporary.

We arrived at EPCOT before rope drop and began our usual conversations with folks at the gate. The husband noticed a couple who were pin traders and had several large books of pins and started conversing with them. Soon a cast member asked us to join her. We were taken inside the turnstiles and told that we were going to be the "Family of the Day" and do the countdown to open the park. COOL!

While we waited inside the gates, we snapped a few photos and soon a PHOTOPASS photographer was on hand to snap a few, too. (Click here to read more about Disney's PHOTOPASS service.) We were given a yellow piece of paper, about the size of a 5 X 7 index card, which was a FASTPASS for any attraction today. (Click here to read more about FASTPASS.)


We counted down from 10 to 1, cheered when the park opened and guests came streaming through the turnstiles. We made our way towards Space Ship Earth (the ball) and stopped to greet Daisy and Stitch who were off to the right. We knew there was another rope just beyond Space Ship Earth, so no need to hurry.

We finally made our way to the rope and stood there for just a minute when we were approached by a cast member and asked how many in our party. I replied, "3." He said, "Come with me." We were taken under the rope and in a whirlwind were told that we were the "Family of the Day." OK, picked again! We had photos with the fab 5, escorted to Test Track ahead of the crowd, went in the back door, rode twice in our own car, and given 3 yellow sheets of paper as FASTPASSes for the day for any attraction at any time. WOW! We were also told we had VIP seating for Illuminations that evening. Since we knew we weren't going to be in the park, we asked them to give that to another family.

Here we are with the fab 5!

Ride #1.

Ride #2.

We very much enjoyed the rest of our day in EPCOT and we used our special FASTPASSes to ride Soarin' multiple times. Lunch at Le Cellier was great and we took in the Canada Circle Vision movie while we were in the pavilion.

By early evening, we had circled back around World Showcase, exited the park, and took the monorail to the TTC, changed to the resort monorail and rode to the Contemporary to have dinner at Chef Mickey's.

After dinner, we checked in on the 2nd floor of the Contemporary for the Pirates and Pals Fireworks Voyage; I would call it a party! This used to be for grand gathering groups only, but is now open to anyone who would like to make a reservation.

The party begins in a room on the 2nd floor of the Contemporary with drinks and snacks (all of which are in small portable containers if you want to take some with you), characters, and music.

After dancing and festivities, the group heads down the escalator and out the back of the Contemporary to the dock on Bay Lake. We loaded the boat, all the while, our host is introducing folks, telling jokes and stories, and we saiedl to the Seven Seas Lagoon in front of the Magic Kingdom. On cue, the fireworks begin--it was Holiday Wishes--over the Magic Kingdom and we could hear the music as it was piped into the boat. We also got to see the Electric Water Pageant, and then headed back to the Contemporary. We were greeted by two more characters before leaving the party. My expectations for this event were blown away!

What a day! What a magical day! Disney keeps us coming back!

The Most Magical Day of our 6th Visit to Walt Disney World

Yesterday I was visiting with a fellow Disneyphile about people not "getting it," meaning not understanding how magical the happiest place on earth can be and why we keep going back. She and her husband are retired and travel each year or every other year to Walt Disney World. When their children were little, they traveled to Walt Disney World yearly and she confessed that she and her husband visited even before they had children. She "gets it." Our conversation prompted me to share the most magical day of our 6th visit to the Walt Disney World Resort which happened less than a month ago.

Our most magical day happened to be the last day of our vacation. Maybe we were more relaxed, more into the vacation groove, more open to the magic. Anyway, we were headed to Hollywood Studios and planned to take the boat to EPCOT's International Gateway sometime mid-afternoon, as we had an ADR at the Biergarten for dinner. We had some goals/plans for the day. . . ride Toy Story Mania twice, check out the characters at the "hat" that we missed the other day at Hollywood Studios, check out the Power Rangers, Indiana Jones Stunt Show, and the boy wanted to see Lights, Motors, Action. All doable within our time frame.

We were at Studios at rope drop and visited with a lovely family from Illinois at the gate. This was their first time so we had a few hints and suggestions, like how to make sure their young boy got to Jedi training and that Toy Story FASTPASSes needed to be first on the list. (Click here to read more about Jedi training and click here to read more about FASTPASS.) Our families had much in common. . . age of children, careers, living in the Midwest, etc. So if was fun to visit with them. Our boys even exchanged DS games while we waited. Seems as if we always visit with folks at the Studios gate. . . I wonder why? Anyway, back to our day. . .

At rope drop we headed to Toy Story Mania, got FASTPASSes and rode going through the Standby queue, saving the FASTPASSes for later. We then headed to the hub of sorts in front of the hat to check our the character selection. Pluto and Goofy were our first stop, followed by Chip and Dale who made us take a photo with our backsides to the camera as we had a funny picture on the back of our shirts. The characters then went in as High School Musical 3 was on its way for a performance. We stepped aside and got a snack so we would be first in line for Donald and Daisy after High School Musical.

After eating our snack and watching High School Musical from a distance, we moved closer. The boy sat on the ground to watch the performance, the husband moved to where the queue would begin for Donald and Daisy (we wanted to be in the front of the line as Power Rangers started at the same time), and took a book from his bag to read while he saved our spot. Within moments, I was whisked away to join the dancers and given a feather boa to strike a pose like a star. The husband was oblivious until my name was said over speakers. He then looked up, so we have no photos to commemorate the event. Just the button below. Magical!

When High School Musical 3 was over, the performance float moved away and Donald and Daisy appeared. After smiling for several photos we headed off and around the corner to the Streets of New York to spy the Power Rangers. They were just pulling into view with their car.

The 5 Power Rangers ride into view on their car, get announced with a pre-recorded sound track and then make their way to five separate areas for photos and autographs. The "show" lasts for about 30 minutes or the length of the music. There are even warnings in the music like "five more minutes Power Rangers before you have to report back. . ." So, if you want to see all 5, it is important to move quickly from area to area.

Now, knowing that this was the first Power Ranger "show" of the day, I knew the crowds would be lighter. So, we sort of hung around a bit after visiting all 5 of the rangers separately. You see, the Power Rangers join each other for more action when there are no more quests in their area. Soon we had a photo with 2 Power Rangers, then 3 Power Rangers, and then 4 Power Rangers, as you can see in the photo below. This almost never happens---magical!

At this point I needed to use the restroom, so I told the boy and husband to wait here, I would be right back and we would head to Indiana Jones. When I returned, we began to walk back down the Streets of America when the guy dressed in all black--he was in charge of the Power Ranger show--ran up behind us and said, "There you are. Come with me, I have a surprise." Of course, we were game. We followed him and when the Power Ranger "show" was about to end, he placed the boy in the Power Ranger car and had us stand in front for a MAGICAL photo of us with the car and all 5 of the Power Rangers as you can see in the photo below. What a magical day!

Still high from that experience, we headed to Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular--for the 11:30 show. Ah, there's that family from this morning just across the aisle. They were waving and giving a thumbs up that both of their children were in Jedi Training and they had FASTPASSes for Toy Story Mania. Good for them!

When the show started, guess what? The husband was AGAIN (3rd time) picked as an extra for the show. As you can see in the photo below. And, since he was wearing his Birthday Button, the entire stadium wished him a "Happy Birthday" in unison. The husband from the family across the aisle that we had met that morning was also picked as an extra.

At lunch, we ended up with extra and free drinks and desserts due to an error in our order. DARN! And the boy played in the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids playground before we went to Lights, Motors, Action. We had great seats for that show!

Thinking that they day could not get any better we rode Toy Story Mania one more time using the FASTPASSes we got earlier in the day, and then headed to the exit saying good-bye to Hollywood Studios until next time. We made our way to the boat that transports guests from Studios to the Swan/Dolphin Resort, then the Boardwalk, Yacht and Beach Clubs, then on to the International Gateway at EPCOT. The boat was there as if waiting for us and soon we were off.

When we arrived at EPCOT our first stop was the United Kingdom Pavilion where we were pleasantly surprised to find Mary Poppins, Alice, a Thomas the Train table, and Pooh Characters inside. I will have to write more just about this Pavilion as it has quickly become one of our favorites.

We made our way around World Showcase stopping at the American Pavilion to catch the 4:15 Voices of Liberty Singers followed by the 4:30 American Adventure Show. Much to our surprise, while waiting for the Voices of Liberty to begin, we were approached and asked if we would like to be the First Family. "Sure," we replied.

We were presented with the certificate you see below, escorted upstairs to reserved chairs for the Voices of Liberty performance and then got to be first in for the American Adventure Show and then recognized before the performance with an announcement and waving.

We then made our way to the Germany Pavilion for some train viewing and dinner at the Biergarten where the husband's name was called out by the band playing and wished a "Happy Birthday" while he lifted his liter of beverage.

After dinner and more train viewing, we rode Spaceship Earth and played in the exit area with all the high tech games before heading to our bus and our resort.

What a day! What a magical day! We'll be back!