WDW - Magic Kingdom

We purposefully chose to visit Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom on Tuesday, January 7^th, because we knew it would be a cold day and attendance would be lower.  We were right!



We started the day by riding the boat across the lake into Magic Kingdom.  It was an open-air boat, and it was only about 30 degrees outside.  Little kids were crying on that boat, and I can’t say that I blamed them.  It was cold!  Luckily, we brought our winter coats, hats, scarves, gloves… we were ready!

 There is so much to see and do at Magic Kingdom.  And even though it’s fantasy-oriented, even adults can be kids while there.  Once again, we let the big kids run off on their own, and Steve and I hung with the little kids.  That gave us an excuse to ride on the little kids’ rides!

 We started off our day by wandering up Main Street, U.S.A., which is where everyone starts their visit.  Main Street is a replicated street from the early 1900’s small-town America.  It’s filled with stores and barbershop quartets.  At the end of Main Street, U.S.A. is the famous Cinderella’s Castle and statue of Mr. Disney holding Mickey Mouse’s hand.  Once you arrive at the castle, you can go in any direction to visit the five different areas of the park:  Adventureland, Frontierland, Liberty Square, Fantasyland, and Tomorrowland.

We started off by going straight to Fantasyland to ride the Peter Pan ride.  It’s not a thrill ride, but it is a nice flying ride through the story of Peter Pan.  The line for the Peter Pan ride is notoriously long, so the sooner you can get on the ride, the better.  After that stop, we ran off to Tomorrowland to ride the Space Mountain roller coaster.  Again, notoriously long lines.  But we were able to do both rides as our first stops, so we didn’t have to spend two hours in line waiting.

In no particular order, here are the rides we enjoyed and a list of our favorites:

In Fantasyland, we rode on It’s a Small World, Peter Pan’s Flight, Mickey’s PhilharMagic (which is more of a 3-D show than a ride), The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo the Flying Elephant (which had moved to a new location since we last visited), The Barnstormer (junior roller coaster), and Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid (which is a new ride that we’ve never been on before).

In Tomorrowland, we did Space Mountain multiple times, the Tomorrowland Transit Authority people mover, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin (multiple times), and the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor show.

In Liberty Square, all we did was go through the Haunted Mansion. I thought the younger guys would be scared, but they thought it was pretty cool!

In Frontierland, we rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (rollercoaster) which is Joseph’s absolute favorite ride in the world.  Unfortunately, this ride was closed for most of the day due to maintenance issues, so we were able to ride on it only once, much to my son’s dismay.  The only other thing we did in Frontierland was see the Country Bear Jamboree show.

In Adventureland we explored the Swiss Family Treehouse, rode on The Magic Carpets of Aladdin, and went on the Jungle Cruise and the Pirates of the Caribbean rides.

At the end of the day, we stayed to watch the show projected onto Cinderella’s Castle.  It was spectacular and a perfect way to end a perfect day, albeit a cold one.  As usual, the Magic Kingdom didn’t disappoint!