Day 3: The Magic of Magic Kingdom

Ok, isn't this castle gorgeous? It's Cinderella's castle, and there's a restaurant in there, and if you're rich you can stay in the fancy room they have up there now. It's funny, cause we took pictures of the castle, but it's just not the same as seeing it in person. It's like the lens can't fully capture it's beauty or something. Anyway, we did so much stuff here. We went to Magic Kingdom in the evening of Day 2, and we pretty much covered Adventureland, which has the Swiss Family Treehouse, a Jungle Cruise, and Pirates of the Caribbean. We did the treehouse cause there was no wait, you just walk through the place. I didn't realize there were so many stairs, so with each level I got slower and slower and Josh got farther away from me :). The Jungle Cruise was good--we had to wait a little for that one, and the river guides were real corny, but they were supposed to be. I liked the Pirates ride. Of course it's a classic, and it was air conditioned, and we didn't have to wait in line at all. Jack Sparrow shows up three times throughout the ride, so that was cool. Oh, there's a point where it's all dark and you feel the boat going down and you freak out, cause you can't see how far you're gonna go. But it was like a three foot drop or something. I got all scared for nothing :)

Oh yeah, one of the first things we did at the end of Day 2 was the Hall of Presidents. We took Josh's picture with his favorite president, Ronald Reagan. And the show we saw was pretty cool. They had animatronic versions of all the presidents, even our current one! They went through all their names, and it was cool because each person looked in the direction of the next one. Then some gave speeches, like George Washington, Abe Lincoln, and George Bush.



That evening we saw the Wishes Fireworks. They were so beautiful as they exploded near the castle. We had good seats, and it was worth it. I wouldn't say they were as spectacular as the ones at Epcot, but they were more magical, for lack of a better word. I mean, Jiminy Cricket is talking to you, and Tinkerbell flies from the castle, and throughout the display they have quotes from the different movies. Oh yeah, and the castle is lit up in different colors the whole time, and they project images onto it too. It was a beautiful show, and Josh got some video of the beginning. It got even better after that. I must be a sap, or maybe it's the pregnancy, but when I watch the video, it makes me cry a little. It brings back the memory of being there, and it reminds me that my husband was so wonderful to take me to one of the best places on earth.

The next morning (day 3) we were back at Magic Kingdom for some more fun. We did the classic Dumbo ride, It's a Small World, the Carousel, took a ride on the railroad, did the Tiki Room, to name a few. But don't worry, there's more. The Haunted Mansion was closed, but Josh got to do Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain Railroad. Let's see, we did Peter Pan's flight, and you ride in a sailboat like from the movie and you fly over the whole story of Peter Pan. Snow White's Scary Adventures was similar to that, meaning you traveled in something and went through the story. At the end it was kinda scary, cause they make it look like the evil ugly witch is going to drop the boulder on you!

Oh yeah, and we got to meet some very significant characters. They don't really need a long introduction, so I'll just show you the pictures and tell you that we didn't have to have wait very long to see any of them.

This is me and Princess Aurora, from Sleeping Beauty, for those of you who don't know. She was the friendliest princess I met.



I was so excited to meet Cinderella! By the way, it was her idea to hold hands, not mine. Must be a princess thing.



Belle asked me if Josh was my Beast, and of course I said yes :)



And we can't forget the big cheese himself, Mickey Mouse! He's much shorter in person than I imagined.



We saw another parade at this park, the Disney Dreams Come True Parade. They really like parades in FL. Anyway, I was gonna post parade pictures, but we were kinda far away, so we didn't get wonderful shots. And besides, if you've seen one parade, you've seen 'em all. They had Jiminy, Donald, Pluto, Ariel and Eric, Cinderella and Prince Charming, Beauty and the Beast, Pinnochio, oh yeah, and a guy ("Walt Disney") drawing Mickey Mouse.


We spent a lot of time in Tomorrowland, the futuristic section of the park. Josh rode Space Mountain while we were there, and I went shopping. No wait, I think I found a shaded table and dozed off for a bit. Anyway, we did Stitch's Great Escape, but you really don't do anything, you are just part of the fiasco. We were cadets in training, but then Stitch gets loose and the lights go out cause he's in the system. They have him spit on us, which was just water of course, and then they talk abut him going around and messin' with us. Just then, something pats our heads lightly. It was so cool! I thought I'd be freaked out, cause I didn't know what was touching my head, but I wasn't, cause it was only Stitch, and he's so cute :). We did Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, and that was an interactive show like Turtle Talk with Crush. The audience had to laugh so they could get enough power. They kept putting one guy on screen and picking on him, saying he was ugly, and "there's a mask for Halloween". It was a lot of fun. Oh, and we did Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. They have Buzz talk to you while you wait in line, and then when you get in the cab, you have a gun that you use to shoot the aliens. They keep track of your score, which was a bummer, cause Josh beat me every time :(. But it was still fun.



The evening show for tonight was the SpectroMagic Parade, which was done so well, just like everything else at Disney World. Josh got a nice picture of the Walt and Mickey statue, and here's a shot of the fabulous castle in the dark. They had it lit up in blue at this point (duh).




We were tired at this point, so we got a little silly. Josh wanted to get a picture of me squishing Walt Disney, so I gave in. Then when I tried to get a pic of him squishing his head, I kept laughing and couldn't focus the camera. I finally got it though.








And now, we finally come to the event of the evening, the SpectraMagic Parade. They used so many lights, and it looked so pretty in the dark. Mickey was one of the first ones in the parade, and they timed it with the music and his whole float lit up. The whole audience cheered, including me :)





Here's Chip 'n' Dale tickling the ivories. It's cool how you can see their reflections in the mirror. And then there was this gorgeous peacock.





Here's one of the fairy godmothers from Sleeping Beauty. They each had their own float. And then the next picture with the huge pumpkin has Cinderella and her prince in it.





This was another one of those things were you had to be there to really take in the excitement and the brightness. These pictures don't do justice at all. I think I'll end with two classic characters, Donald and Minnie!