A Fun Day at the MK

A gloomy yet magical looking castle

This past weekend, we surprised the kids with a trip to the Magic Kingdom and it was fabulous. The only non fab part was that we only got to go to the MK and only for one day.

All along, they knew we were going to Florida to visit my parents. They also knew we were going to "Disney." I put that in quotes because my kids' idea of going to Disney and other people's is different. We go to FL at least twice a year to visit my parents.  Every time we go, we make a trip over to Disney.  My parents live only about 45 minutes away so why not.  But when we go so often, we don't actually go inside any of the parks.  We do the outside of the parks stuff that is either free or relatively inexpensive.  Most of the time this includes riding the monorail resort line (it makes stops at 3 different Magic Kingdom hotels) looking around at some of the intricately themed and beautifully decorated hotels and spending some time looking around at Downtown Disney. Sometimes we visit the Boardwalk that is near Epcot and rent a surrey bike (more like a bike cart that has benches that can hold a whole family) and ride it around.  Sometimes we sit on the beach at one of the hotels and just let the kids play in the sand.  I could go on and on.  There is actually quite a bit to do without spending much money.  So that's what we usually do when we say to our kids that we are "going to Disney."  That is what they thought we were going to do.  It's what we always do.  And while they get excited about it and always beg to go whenever we are in FL it ain't no Magic Kingdom. 

So to surprise them and say we are going to Disney would have gotten us a, "ya, we knew that."  When we told them though that we were going to Magic Kingdom (we waited until we were actually inside Disney property) they didn't really believe us.  It took a few seconds of "mom, are we really going to Magic Kingdom?"  and "can we ride the rides?"  and "are you serious?" for it to actually sink in and for them to get excited. 

It was a really fun day.  The weather could have cooperated a little better but wasn't really all that bad.  I was a little nervous because the forecast was for 60% chance of rain and I was like, NOOOOOOO!!!!  But it wasn't that bad.  It sprinkled on and off pretty much all day, but it only sprinkled and really not all that often.  And the cloud cover kept the temps down. 

We got to do almost everything we wanted to do.  It was actually a pretty productive day.  And since our kids are a little older than the last time we went, no one needed a nap break in the middle of the day and everyone walked of their own volition!  There was no maneuvering of a stroller through crowds.  No one had a meltdown 1/2 way through the day. I was especially proud of our 4 year old.  We got there about 9:30 and left around 10:30.  My husband had his pedometer with him and clocked 21,000 steps that day.  21,000!!!  That means our 4 year old with her much smaller legs probably took twice as many steps as her daddy.  And she did great.  A couple of times she told me her feet were hot or her toes were burning (I think that meant they were tired or sore) from all the walking, but she didn't really complain about it. 

Anyway, without getting into a lot of details that you probably don't really care about, it was a really good day.  And yes, it was magical.  I love Disney World.



Just before entering the Magic Kingdom




I took this cool pic of the castle as it changed colors while sneaking out behind the carousel while we were waiting to meet Princess Tiana.




We were not planning to stop to watch the Electrical Parade but when we walked out of the Country Bear Jamboree, it was like someone saved us a seat.  There was a wide open, front row spot right in front of where we walked out and just as the parade was starting.  So we figured, why not.