The screeching alarm blaring from my clock tells us it’s time to get up. It reads 3 am. Hesitantly we drag ourself out of bed. Our cab will be here in about 45 minutes to take us to the airport. It’s a quite drive but with every passing minute our excitement grows with anticipation. In a few hours we will be landing in Orlando, Florida to start our anniversary adventure.
After picking up our rental car we head to hotel to see if we could check in early. We didn’t want to go exploring Orlando with our suitcase in the car. Well something we weren’t expecting happened when we reached the hotel. Their system had been down for two days and they didn’t know when it would be back up and running. At this point we were unable to check in. It was getting close to lunch time so we figured would head over to Disney Springs and see what kind of trouble we could find there.
Disney Spring is what used to be known as Downtown Disney, very similar to the one in California. Disney Spring is an open air mall. It probably goes without saying but most of the stores are based on Disney and their associated properties. No frets though, there are plenty of regular mall stores to be found.
After roaming through the stores, we decided it was time to eat. There are plenty of places to choose from. We settled on D Luxe Burger. As you would expect they have burgers and chicken sandwiches. We both had the barbecue burgers. It was really good and juicy. Luckily for me they had rolls of paper towel at the table because I had juice and maybe some grease run down my hands and arms.
All in all, our first day in Orlando was pretty low key. Which was a good start to the hectic week we were about to have.
We find figured we would start our Disney World adventure with the heart of Disney, the Magic Kingdom. We rose early to meet up with my family before heading to the park. Magic Kingdom is a little different than the other parks. In the other parks after you park you catch a shuttle that takes you to the gate and you walk into the park, but at the Magic Kingdom after you park and take the shuttle you then have to choose one of three ways to get to the main gate. Take a ferry across the lake, take the monorail or catch one of the buses. All are acceptable. On the first day the monorail was having issues, so we had to take it the ferry. Which wasn’t that big of a deal to me. It was a nice leisurely cruise with great views of the resort.
The Magic Kingdom is divided into 6 different areas: Main Street, USA, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Liberty Square, Frontierland and Adventureland.
Once you pass through the main gate, you find yourself on Main Street, USA. Main Street is the gateway to the park. Here you will find shops and eateries to fit your fancy. On one of the days we stopped in at Casey’s Corner. They serve American style grub. Mostly hotdogs in a wide variety of flavors. I had a macaroni and cheese foot long. I know that sound awfully strange but it was surprisingly good. At the end of the road sits Cinderella’s Castle, the center point of the park.
To the right of the castle sits Tomorrowland. Here you find Space Mountain, Tomorrowland Speedway and many others. One of my favorites rides in this area is a easy going and non-abrasive. The Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover. The PeopleMover is a small tram that takes you through the rides of Tomorrowland and gives you some insight into them. We were sitting there and you could hear the screams from Space Mountain. A different perspective on what you are used to.
I don’t know if you have ever driven the cars on the Tomorrowland Speedway or Autopia in Disneyland but there is something about them I can’t figure out. I think of myself as a good driver, not the best by any means but good. No matter how I adjust the way I drove, I would always crash into the safety rail that sits underneath the car. It was frustrating but I guess sometime you have to give in once and awhile and let it run its course. We still had fun and thats all that matters.
Behind the castle you find Fantasyland and Liberty Square.
Liberty Square is a snapshot of Colonial USA. The highlights for me were The Haunted Mansion and The hall of Presidents. I think most people know about or at least have heard about The Haunted Mansion, so I’m not going talk about it in too much detail. The Haunted Mansion takes you on a tour of…well the Mansion. Inside you encounter the former residents of the home who are no longer amongst the living. Be on your guard or might find yourself joining them.
The Hall of Presidents is Disney’s animatronics at their best. All 44 men that have served as the U.S. President are on display. Several of them move, which are very realistic, as they related the history of our nation. The one thing that I thought was really cool was when Obama and Trump gave there speeches. As you would expect, the supports from each side cheered and clapped for their President but neither side booed the other. During these times it was really inspiring to see happen.
Fantasyland is were Disney Princesses come to life. Here you find rides and attractions relating back to Classic Disney movies. It seem that we spent a lot of time here. Maybe it was because it started down pouring on us when we got there and the idea was to get out of the rain. Just a helpful tip. Pack an umbrella or poncho, you never know what the weather will do. The first stop for us was Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid. This is a fun little ride that takes you through the movie.
There are two rides in Magic Kingdom that always had insane wait times. One was Peter Pan’s Flight and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. I was familiar with Peter Pan but I had never heard of the Mine Train and was intrigue to know why it always had a huge line. We were unable to get fast pass to it. We were going to spend one more day in the park and decided that we would get there first thing and wait out the line. The Mine Train is a fun little roller coast that takes you through the diamond mine of the dwarfs and the story of Snow White.
Left of the caste lies the lands of Frontierland and Adventureland.
Ah Adventureland, I don’t know what it is but I really like this part of the park. It doesn’t have a ton of rides but what is there is fun. The two main rides are Pirates of the Caribbean and the Jungle Cruise. My favorite ride of Disney has to be Pirates. It is the only ride that I feel I have to do at least once no matter which park I’m in. I will say Disney World Pirates feel a lot shorter than the one in Disneyland. There are a slight difference between the two, but for the most part they are the same. Pirates is a lazy river style ride that takes you on a pirate adventure with a few twists and turns.
The Jungle Cruise is another boat ride but on a much bigger scale than Pirates. What starts out as a simple river tour through Africa quickly changes for the worst. The captain will try to expertly navigate you through the treacherous waters, so don’t lose your head. Literally, for head hunts live in this region of the river and can’t wait to take a souvenir back to their camp.
Frontierland, home of Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Railroad. Splash Mountain was the first ride that we went on when we got to the Magic Kingdom. Its a ride that you will get wet on, so we wanted to get it out of the way. Of course, we did know we would be caught in a monsoon later in day and be soaked to the bone. Splash is yet another river ride, but is more on the thrill side of things. You join the Br’er Rabbit as he takes you on an adventure through the Briar. Its all easy breezy with a few twists and drops, until the end when you go careening to your death down a 52.5 drop to the water below.
Big Thunder is a thrill coaster with high speed and lots of twists and turns. Its funny, I’ve been to Disneyland many times and to Disney World only twice. I think that I have rode this ride equally between the two parks and that would be twice in each of them. It seem that whenever we were in Disneyland it was closed do to construction or it had broke down. Do to this, I feel that it is more enjoyable and fun for me.
Our Magic Kingdom adventure was filled with fun and excitement. We were able to see a lot and ride all the rides that we wanted. The only thing I would have done differently would have been to close the park. We had to leave early on the days that we were there. I would have like to see the firework show that they have. Well there is always next time.
We will see you at the Animal Kingdom. Until next time, Thanks for stopping by.
Josh
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