Day 1: Magic Kingdom and Just a Few Other People

Yup. There were just a few other people in the happiest place on earth (or the east coast DL if you like the original DL better -jury is still out for our crew). It’s Christmas break in Florida and there are a few other people who decided to vacation like we did. But that’s okay. Our bunch, plus the addition of our new son-in-law Caleb, are going to have a fabulous time no matter how long the lines are, and yes, they are loooooong. Magic Kingdom is the park with the most rides similar to our regular Disneyland in sunny California. Luckily it’s sunny in a Florida in December and that’s why we are here. And Todd gets extra time off between Christmas and New Years so he doesn’t have to spend those vacation days we covet so dearly.

Our first ride was A Small World and while it was neat, it’s not as decorated as the California one. Meaning, there are no added characters to this one and there was very little holiday decor added. We hit Pirates and Astro Blasters which is TOTALLY different from the California one. Whoa - like waaaay different. Not in a good way sadly. The blasters are not movable so the game is much more challenging and the game doesn’t light up so you don’t really know if you’ve hit your target. Eh, it wasn’t our favorite. Only an hour and a half wait. Uh huh. That wasn’t the worst today.

Congrats to the newlyweds!

As you can see, we take this ride seriously. We got to ride Ariel, Haunted Mansion, The Jungle Cruise, and a few people broke off and rode Winnie the Pooh, Splash, Space Mountain, and Monsters (which turned out to be a super funny comedy show that interacts with the audience). But the ride we waited three hours for, uh huh, was called Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. It was a new roller coaster and an incredibly smooth ride which Katie explained to us is because of the new technology in roller coasters where the track is high tech. It was enjoyed by all, even though we may not have thought it was three hour wait worth it, you tend to build those long term relationships while standing in line with tired feet and a nearly dead phone battery. The ride was cool, but the company, is always the best part. And in the middle of the three hour line? Ice cream stand!

So if you’re wondering why on earth we would go to DisneyWorld over Christmas break when it seems like half the country is visiting with us, it’s because we love our time as a family. I write this as we all sit around the dining table of our condo, at 10:30pm, heating up frozen pizzas, drinking a little wine, and reflecting on our day. It’s gonna be a great two weeks. Stay tuned!