Magic Kingdom

Our Day at Magic Kingdom was one for the books! We were able to enjoy 21 rides, delicious food, a few character cavalcades, and some gorgeous time on Main Street. Magic Kingdom is the biggest park with the most to do. Last time we were in Magic Kingdom we weren't able to do even half of what we did today and left somewhat disappointed. Today was wonderful because we were able to do all of our favorite rides multiple times and a few extras just for fun. 

We started our day at Pirates of the Caribbean. This is similar to the Disneyland Attraction, but without the build-up. We enjoyed it, but definitely like the Disneyland Version better. After Pirates we headed to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. This ride is easily one of our favorites. The Disney World version has a different track than the Disneyland version. We enjoyed it immensely. 

Our next stop was the Haunted Mansion. The Mansion looks different than the Disneyland version, but is nearly identical on the inside (albeit missing the Hat Box Ghost, which is one of our favorites). Splash Mountain was off to a slow start in the morning, but it came up after we finished Haunted Mansion so we ran over to do it. Splash Mountain is one of our favorite rides and it's going to be changing to a Princess and the  Frog Attraction. Although we are excited for the new ride, we are going to miss the characters in Splash Mountain. We really enjoyed riding this in Disney World. The ride vehicles are different so we were able to sit side-by-side, which was fun. The walls around the ride vehicles are also higher, so we didn't get as wet - an added bonus. Point for Disney World for this one! As we were walking to our next ride we encountered a character cavalcade with Nightmare Before Christmas characters. We have really enjoyed the character cavalcades on this trip, even more than character meet and greets (which we rarely do anyway). It's a fun way to see and interact with characters without waiting in lines for a photo op. Additionally, it seems like the characters are interacting more with more guests than they can see during the photo ops. I hope this is one thing that's here to stay even after COVID. 

Space Mountain is one of our favorites and it had no line so we rode it back-to-back twice. This ride is still very fun, but it's missing the soundtrack of the Disneyland ride (which we love) and it's also a bit more bumpy. Disneyland takes the point for this one. Our next stop was the Carousel of Progress, which was an interesting, fun show. The show goes through several different time periods with the main character saying that "things can't possibly get better than they are now" in each time period. We were glad to be able to enjoy this timeless attraction that Walt Disney himself designed. 

We then went to Fantasyland and rode the Winnie the Pooh ride. This ride was nearly identical, but the ride vehicle doesn't move quite as much in the Disney World version. I prefer Disneyland, but Eric preferred Disney World. We were getting hungry so we placed a mobile order and enjoyed some flatbread pizza for lunch. After lunch we rode Peter Pan and It's a Small World. The Queue for Peter Pan is so great in Disney World and the track is continuous - point for Disney World. Small World is similar, but not as long and without as many grand characters or Disney character cameo's. Disneyland wins that one! 

Our next ride was the Seven Dwarves Mine Train. This is one of the most popular rides in Disney World, so we were only able to do it once on our last trip. With the shorter line we felt like we were better able to enjoy it. This ride is so much fun! Our next ride was Little Mermaid, which is identical to Disneyland. At this point we were getting pretty warm, so we headed back to Tomorrowland to get some milkshakes. Eric got a chocolate milkshake and I got a pumpkin spice. They were both delicious and we left feeling refreshed. 

The line for Space Mountain was still non-existent, so we rode it twice more. We then rode Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster. This ride has different laser guns than at Disneyland, which were trickers to move. The targets also didn't flash when you hit them, so it was difficult to see if you were aiming properly. Although the rides were basically the same, we both enjoy Disneyland much more. The line for Seven Dwarves Mine Train was short, so we did that one again. It really is so much fun (and typically has a 90-120 minute wait during pre-COVID times). Eric really wanted to do the Hall of Presidents, so we went to that show. It was closed during our last trip and he was pretty bummed to miss it. It was a good, patriotic show. However, it was definitely tainted by a statue of our current president. Here's to not having 4 years of Donald Trump this November.

Here are Eric's thoughts after the Hall of Presidents: 

One of the things I enjoy about Disneyland and Disney World is the way they pay tribute to America and the American ideal. These tributes are often thoughtful and acknowledge the hard truths, pain and imperfections that are part of the American story. I wanted to see the Hall of Presidents last time we came to Disney World, but it was closed as Disney was trying to determine how to react/include our bombastic and uncouth president. They ultimately included him as they have previous presidents. There is one particular line within the presentation that rang true to me: “what we need most from our Presidents has never changed: a guiding vision that calls forth the best that America can be.” That guiding vision is what we as a country have been missing these past four years. As I sat and listened to a tribute to many great leaders who united our country through challenging times I could not help, but think of the failure of leadership of our current President to unite and lead our country through the current challenges. We deserve better. I sincerely hope we will elect Joe Biden to restore some dignity, respect and a true guiding vision to the White House.   

We headed towards Big Thunder Mountain and ran into another character cavalcade. This featured Mickey and Friends along with some of the dancers from the Boo to You parade. Boo to You is typically only run during the Halloween Party at Disney World and is a fabulous parade, so it was fun to see a snack-size version of the parade during regular hours. Big Thunder Mountain was just as fun the second time. It's one of our favorite rides. 

We had a little more time before the park closed so we went to do Peter Pan one more time. This is my favorite ride and we literally walked on. I love it when there's no line. We then rode the carousel, which is another one of my favorites simply due to nostalgia. It's so magical. We ended the day with one last ride of the Seven Dwarves Mine Train. The park closed as we exited the ride so we headed towards Main Street. Eric took some pictures and we enjoyed the ambience of the park as we exited. We rode the ferry boat back to parking and then picked up dinner to enjoy on the patio of our hotel. It was a truly magical day in the Magic Kingdom.