Magic Kingdom

We spent Wednesday at Magic Kingdom, and it truly was magical! It was really amazing from when I was a kid, but it still pretty incredible and exciting visiting as an adult.  

The pre-opening show

The first ride we went on was The Jungle Cruise, which was almost exactly as I remembered it!

I had a feeling that Ella was going to be way more into the exciting rides vs. the characters or the attraction-type rides, and that was exactly what happened. 

Super excited after their first time on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad 

It was still really early with no line yet, so they got in a few rides right away

Playing with the 'haunted books' in the line for the Haunted Mansion (which was another one of her favorites)

On the Aladdin flying carpets, she wanted to ride by herself so Steve andI were on our own in the back!

It's a Small World!

I have great nostalgic memories of the Carousel of Progress. And although Steve and Ella weren't too thrilled for a show in comparison to everything else that Magic Kingdom had to offer, I convinced them it would be a good post-lunch attraction. It was as great as I knew it would be, and they liked it too! 

And then for some really big excitement -- Space Mountain! 

There was a camera that takes a picture inside the ride and Ella's face was so priceless so I had to buy it!

Once they got off the ride, I got a play-by-play of every twist and turn and she could barely contain her excitement, it was awesome. 

The afternoon show at Cinderella's Castle

Tomorrowland Speedway - and check out the driver!

We had dinner at The Crystal Palace for a character dinner to meet Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Eyeore, and Tigger. Ella was pretty funny about all of the characters while we were there - she liked passing them and seeing them from afar, but had no interest in waiting in line to meet them, getting them to sign an autograph, etc. She wanted to spend her time on the rides! So the dinner was perfect because they came right up to the table and she got to meet each of them. 

After dinner we went back to our hotel and still had a few hours of daylight, so we went down to the beach. One of my favorite things about vacation is just creating our adventures as we go, and that's exactly how this night was. We spent an hour or so on the beach, made some new friends, did some shopping at the hotel and just enjoyed a really nice time together. Vacation at its best :) 

Ella wrote in her journal that night before bed -- 

The translation: Tinkerbelle Pixie flown to get the pixie dust and the end. 

We were really fortunate that our balcony faced Magic Kingdom and we were able to hear the show and see the fireworks at night. So every night after Ella went to bed, Steve and I watched the fireworks from our balcony, such a neat way to end each day.