Reminiscing Over Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom

This was the last day of a 6 day trip to Walt Disney World, this day falling on June 12, 2016, and the second time I visited the Magic Kingdom that trip.  My Mom and I choose to make the Magic Kingdom the bookends of our trip, and it was a good way to finish our visit.

The rest of the words from this blog come from what I wrote in the Shutterfly book highlighting the trip I made.  (BTW, I highly recommend Shutterfly, or other similar sites, that turn photos into books.  So worth it.  Treasures, always.  My nieces have actually fallen asleep at bedtime with the books I've made them of past trips, and they remember the trips better because of it.)

"What a wonderfully fun day this was!  Our very last day at Disney World and we wanted to return to the Magic Kingdom.  Taking everything in, including the castle, we wandered down Main Street.  We did so much that day.  First we returned to Columbia Harbour House for lunch.  Mom ate the fish & chips again.  I tried the chicken pot pie with a side of broccoli.

 (not sure how I feel about the finger print scanners)

 

 

 "After this we hopped in line for the Haunted Mansion, which had a decently short line.  The room with the stairs was neat.  And then we road the Mark Twain around beautiful Tom Sawyer Island."

 "The weather predicted that in the afternoon we were going to be slammed by rain fall that would last until evening.  I was worried so many things were going to be canceled.  I kept checking the weather on my phone seeing a huge rain system nearing on the radar, which made me nervous, but I wanted to enjoy each moment.  After the steam boat ride we noticed rope was being set up early for the 3 o'clock parade, Festival of Fantasy.  I got a front row seat right up to the rope.  Mom sat close to the pin store atop a short pillar of bricks.  I loved the parade!  And then we bought too many pins!"

 "We went on the Jungle Cruise, which had a cool dark room scene at the end.  Waited in the long line for Space Mountain, which made us both queasy.  Then we went to Fantasyland to ride Journey of the Little Mermaid."

 

 "For dinner we ate pasta at Pinocchio Village Haus,

watching people load It's a Small World.

"After dinner we causally walked through Fantasyland.  We tried to walk through the castle, but it was blocked for the Electrical Parade, so we took a quaint stroll around the glowing pink castle.  The air pleasant, calm, and still.  No hint of a storm.  A miracle as I watched the storm circle around the park, dark streaks brushing the sky."

 "We didn't get a good view of the electrical parade, but got an amazing view of Celebrate the Magic, a castle light projection show, and Wishes.  Mom returned to the Pandora store while the Electrical parade made its second pass.  This time I got a very good view, enjoying the nostalgia."

"We pulled another all-nighter.  We left the Magic Kingdom around 11:30 pm.  This park is the furthest from the hotel and we still had to wait for the bus, so we got back past midnight.

"Going to bed didn't make sense.  The texi was coming at 3:30 am so we could make it to the airport by 4 am for a 6:15 flight.  We turned on the T.V., never getting under the covers, and packed away cloths and goodies.  We bought so many souvenirs!  It's amazing we were able to pack it all away in our limited luggage space.

"We left the hotel while it was dark, so exhausted by the whirlwind, amazed how quickly it flew by.  Sad to be leaving, but so glad we were finally able to experience Disney World.  We'll miss the Disney magic, but won't miss the humidity.  What an amazing week."

What wonderful memories.

I would love to return one day.

And my Walt Disney World posts are FINALLY finished! :D

I'm Back From Orlando! Visiting 4 Disney Parks in 8 Months

I've been back a couple days now.  Flew back Monday morning, June 13th, at 6:15 am after pulling a 2nd all-nighter in one week.  The first all-nighter was between June 6th and 7th, in which the flight to Orlando left at 11:55pm on Monday, the red eye.  I wanted to take a nap that day in preparation, but didn't find time.  And then I tried to sleep on the plane, but there was so much turbulence I couldn't.  I even listened to Gregorian chants!  That didn't give my the zzz's.  It was that night Tropical Storm Colin made landfall, and we landed during lightening and heavy turbulence.  Seeing lightning in the clouds, dancing at eye level, was both majestic and terrifying. By the time I made it to bed on the 7th, after spending an eventful day at the Magic Kingdom, I had been awake for 38 hours, braking my 36 hr. record during my Sophomore year of High School.  I was up for 29 hours between the 12th and 13th.

To say the least I'm still recuperating.  I can't pull all-nighters like I did back in college, and I just managed two in one week.  But it was sure worth it!!

I went on this trip with just my Mom, and during those 6 days I visited the Magic Kingdom twice, Epcot twice, and both Animal Kingdom and Disney Hollywood Studios once.

And all of this after visiting Tokyo Disney Sea last October, Disneyland last November, and Disneyland Paris last April.  That's 4 Disney parks in 8 months.  A childhood dream I never thought I could accomplish.  If by some miracle I could visit the Disney parks in Hong Kong and China before October I would have visited all Disney parks in one year.  That's not happening, but it would be cool.

And about the Orlando shooting Sunday morning, I was greatly saddened when I heard about it after waking, as everyone has been saddened about it, and are still sad.  I'm praying for all those affected and pray they can find peace.

It was interesting visiting the Magic Kingdom that day.  Security sent more people through the metal detectors then normal.  And I saw more security during the parades.  Overall I felt quite safe.  I've since heard that the shooter was scouting Disney Spring (Downtown Disney) as a possible target last April, which is right next to the Holiday Inn I was staying in; my hotel room had a nice view over the area.

But now I'm back home.  And my year of crazy travel has come to an end.  Back to work and all the wonderful Talea projects I've got lined up.

Dreams

(On the way home from California last Spring)

“All our dreams can come true,
if we have the courage to pursue them.”
~Walt Disney