On our first day of actual parks, we headed to my most favorite place of all, The Magic Kingdom. There really is nothing quite like seeing Cinderella’s Castle from the monorail for the first time, and I still get that feeling some magic is about to go down every time it comes into view. We arrived right before the park opened (so early!) so we could see the opening ceremony with all of the characters on the train above. It was very neat, and our first sighting of Anna and Elsa which sent my previously sleepy little girls on an adrenaline rush that would last the next week.
As soon as the gates opened we headed straight for The Princess Fairytale Hall to meet Anna and Elsa, which turned out to be what everyone else planned on doing as well 😛 Instead of waiting in line for 2+ hours we decided to come back to that another time. My 2 year old had a blast riding the carousel in fantasy land, It’s a Small World is one of her favorites as well. My 6 year old’s favorite ride is The Haunted Mansion, which we had to ride a few times this trip and noone minded one bit. We all love it. Next up was Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Carribean and a Dole Whip in adventureland. Sidenote: When we lived in Hawaii we had a Dole Whip pretty regularly with the pineapple plantation being only a ten minute drive from our house. Disney World is the only other place we have ever been able to find that delicious ice cream. You *must* stop and try one. And don’t mess it up with the vanilla swirl or float, get the plain dole whip. And get two, you won’t want to share.
Something worth mentioning, for those of you worried about going to Disney when your kids are still young, my 2 year old could ride pretty much everything besides the big roller coasters. She has a blast.
After our dole whip break we headed to Space Mountain, which was not open last year, so we were willing to wait 2 hours for it this year. We killed time by making “pre-flight mission videos” and sending them to family and friends. My parents go with us to Disney and my Mom prefers to sit out any ride that involves dark, speed and flips, which works out nicely for us as she is happy to watch the kiddos when us big kids want to ride something they are not able to 🙂
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
We rode a few more rides and then were off to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, home of my favorite “thrill” ride, The Hollywood Tower of Terror! I am not afraid of any ride, but my body refuses to allow me to ride high speed roller coasters without sending me into a dizzy tailspin for the rest of the day, for which I took dramamine but still felt a little queasy after Space Mountain. So I often sit out the more intense attractions. But, the Tower of Terror? It is just freaking fun. No spinning, or turning really fast to upset my equilibrium. Just fun!
After the Tower of Terror we headed to see Anna and Elsa at the Frozen sing along. Holy cow, this was so much fun. Watching my six year old (and hearing her sing) during this show melted my heart. They encourage “singing as loudly as you are able” and it was precious to hear all of the litle voices sing along with wide eyes as the hilarious hosts of this show “the historians of Arendelle” introduce each song, Anna and eventually Elsa. Anna was adorable. I cannot emphasize enough just how in character all of the Disney Princesses and other characters are at all times. For example, when Chloe met her favorite Princess Aurora, her pen didn’t work and Aurora said “whoops this pen seems to have fallen asleep”. Love them.
After the singalong we rode a few more rides and then were off to Fantasmic, the nighttime show at Hollywood Studios. I love this show, it’s just magical and fun for all ages.
That wrapped up our first day of parks and we were all beyond exhausted already, but would get our second, third, fourth and so on wind. Don’t you worry 🙂
A Day at Disney’s Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios
We had a blast this day, it was a perfect little mix of each park!
Our photos from the day
The Magic Kingdom
My Magic Band
My babies, so excited!
Main Street USA
Cinderella’s Castle
It’s a Small Small World!
Tangled!
Monorail at Magic Kingdom
Tower of Terror
Sofia the First – Evie’s First
Sofia the First
Yay! 🙂
Our bus stop
One Happy Little Girl
Frozen Sing Along
Jake and the Neverland Pirates
Fantasmic
Jake – Evie Photobombed
Fantasmic 
Fantasmic
Fantasmic
Fantasmic
Next up, a day at Universal’s Island of Adventure where we caught our first glimpse of Harry Potter World…
Tower of Terror = BEST RIDE EVER. I am totally the same way with roller coasters. I went on the Rock N Roller Coaster and I was ill for hours afterwards. When we were in Disney World (for HGTV), we had a VIP host who took us to each ride and we walked right on. We were also able to go on our favorite rides multiple times in a row without waiting. It was AMAZING! Glad you guys had a great time!!
Kim, you take your best friend Lindsey with you next you go to Disney! Especially with that kind of VIP treatment, I want in! 😉
This post makes me so excited—we’re headed to Disney in November and I’ll have my 2.5 year old (who obviously loves Frozen). I’d love to hear more info on the sing-along that you went to! And did you guys see Sophia and Jake at Hollywood and Vine? I feel like I”m up to my ears (ha!) with planning this trip!