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Tag: Dumbo

  • 25th Anniversary Disney World Trip – Part Two: Magic Kingdom

    Although my wife and I do love our trips to Walt Disney World, we do tend to push ourselves to enjoy every moment we are there to the fullest extent, which usually leaves happy but rather tired by the end of the trip. Case in point, we flew into Orlando around noonish, spent time exploring our hotel until our room was ready around 3pmish, went immediately to the Magic Kingdom as soon as we put our luggage into our room, hung out at the park until it closed, and then spent another three plus hours in the park after it closed. That made for a very fun, but also very long day.

    I know what you are thinking, “how did you stay in the park three hours after it closed?” Well, I will be happy to explain it to you. For the past ten years, Walt Disney World has been doing a little event they call “Disney After Hours”. Basically each park, except Animal Kingdom, has these events that allow you to experience the park after the crowds have all dispersed for the night. The events do cost extra, but they are so worth the price. In fact, I would even say I prefer doing the after hours event more than I would like to go to park during regular hours. Disney only sells a certain amount of tickets for these events, so the crowds are so small that you can get on any ride with barely any waiting time (sometimes no waiting at all). That alone makes the event worth going to, but there’s even more to enjoy about it! Event goers are treated to free ice cream, popcorn, soda, and water during their time, and there are even special character meet-and-greets throughout. On top of all that, spending time in the parks at night is an amazing experience unto itself. If you can spare the extra expense, I HIGHLY recommend experiencing at least one of the after hours events during your trip, it is a whole new way to experience the parks. But, this is not an ad for Disney After Hours, so I digress.

    Walt and Mickey greet all who come to enjoy the Magic Kingdom!

    One of my favorite things to do when I am at Magic Kingdom is take pictures of Cinderella’s Castle. I love the castle and I try to get pictures of it from as many sides, angles, and times as I can when possible while trying not to annoy Nancy by stopping too much while we are trying to get to different areas of the park. But…I mean…come on! It’s just so photogenic!

    A view of the castle from the begining of Main Street when you first enter the park
    Another view of the castle from further up Main Street USA. Look at all those people!!
    Disney knows how to decorate! Here we see a the castle in the distance with a beautiful fountain in the foreground
    The detail on the castle even extends to the back side. This ain’t no cheap amateur decoration!
    Here we see the castle at dusk. Oh! Pretty!
    Here we see the castle at dusk from Tomorrowland.
    And here we have the castle at night. Isn’t it magical?

    As amazing as the castle is, Disney doesn’t hold back when it comes to decorating the park, and it is a major part of what makes the park so “magical”. Sorry, I had to do it.

    Take, for example, the Haunted Mansion. Not only is it a fantastic ride in itself, but the waiting line for the ride is full of fun little “haunted” adornments.

    The outside of the Haunted Mansion looks like a real…well…mansion.
    Just a couple of examples of the cool decorations you can see waiting in line for the Haunted Mansion.

    One thing I love about the Magic Kingdom is that it is a fun mix of Classic Disney and Modern Disney. That is apparent when you venture through the different “lands” of the park, whether it be Frontierland, Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, or Adventureland. There really is something for everyone at the Magic Kingdom, unless you are a true “villain”.

    For example, in Fantasyland you can find the classic ride, Dumbo The Flying Elephant:

    It certainly doesn’t get more classic than the Dumbo Ride!

    Meanwhile, in Tomorrowland, you can find the most modern and “futuristic” ride in the park, the Tron Lightcycle Power Run where you get to ride a roller coaster featuring the famed Tron Lightcycles. It is a slick looking ride from beginning to end, and it is full of excitement and a whole lot of fun…as long as you aren’t afraid of roller coasters of course. This ride is definitely considered a more “advanced” coaster, not for the feint of heart!

    Even the entrance to the Tron ride is slick looking.
    Here is a prop lightcycle that you can see at the exit of the ride. I don’t know if this was an actual movie prop or just created for the ride however.
    Though most of the ride is indoors, there is a brief moment when the ride does go outside, and it is indeed quick. You can see this part of the ride as you are walking to line queue.
    Here you can see how cool the ride looks at night. I highly recommend riding this at both day and night to see the difference and how cool the ride is at both points.
    Not only is the rice itself cool, but the queue line for the ride is pretty impressive as well as you can see by this small part of it
    Here is a little clip of the launch of the coaster. As you can see, this ride is fast from the moment it launches as it shoots you out, making you feel like you really are riding a lightcycle.
    Here is a clip of the loading area for the ride. You can get a good look at the unique way you sit on the coaster, adding to the feeling of being on a real lightcycle. Also of note, if you can’t, or do not want, to ride one of the lightcycles, the coaster does feature two more normal seats in the back of the coaster. However, because there are only two of these seats, it can be a longer wait for these. If you want to sit in the “normal” seats, just let the ride operator know when you get to loading point of the line and they will put you in a separate line for these seats. I have ridden in these seats, and I can personally attest that the ride is still quite excellent riding in these seats. Additionally, they are at the back of the coaster vehicle, and everyone knows that the last seat is the second best seat after the first seat in any coaster.

    One element I find interesting as it is a feature that was once modern, but has since become a classic is the ride Space Mountain. Space Mountain, found in Tomorrowland, is a ride that everyone should ride at least once in their life. If you only visit the Magic Kingdom once in your life, and I can’t imagine why you would only go once, you really should ride Space Mountain. It is a fun, indoor roller coaster that is completely in the dark. Even though it is now “classic”, it is still worth a ride. Plus, the outside “mountain” is really cool looking as well.

    There it is, Space Mountain! And if you think that looks cool…
    Check out Space Mountain at night!
    In this shot, you can see the Tron Lightcycle Ride to the right of Space Mountain . The Tron ride lights change color in a cycle (no pun intended) and it looks really cool!

    There you have some of the highlights from our day/night at Magic Kingdom. My wife and I love doing the “After Hours” time at the park, and I highly recommend looking into doing it if you are able. The “After Hours” tickets are an additional price, and can be a high price to add to your trip, but there is nothing like being in the park after it has closed to the general public where you can just hop onto a ride like the Tron Lightcycle Ride without waiting in a major line. I love it!

    That’s it for this entry of our 25th Anniversary trip to Walt Disney World. Check out my next entry to find out the fun we had the second day of our trip, it was something quite different and fun.

    Until next time Friends!

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