Magic Kingdom - part 1

Getting to the Magic Kingdom is a little bit of an ordeal – you cannot just park and take a tram to the park entrance. We had to park, take a tram to the Transportation and Ticket Center, then we took the monorail to the park. The monorail was really fun (though crowded!) and Carlos and I arrived at the Magic Kingdom ~ 9am (right when the park opened).

We headed towards Adventureland first (this is my habit because my favorite rides are here in Disneyland). First, we rode Jungle Cruise (I took pictures of elephants taking a bath, but don’t worry – they all have their trunks on). After cruising through the jungles of the world, we rode Pirates of the Caribbean. I really like this ride (and it’s my mom’s favorite), though I think the version in Disneyland is better.

We were lucky with the crowds this morning and rode everything with no wait! We wandered to Frontierland and went on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad next followed by the Haunted Mansion.

We ventured into Fantasyland and rode It’s a Small World. I have to say that It’s a Small World really needs some refurbishment – it looked really worn down. While in the neighborhood, we got some fast passes for Peter Pan to use later. By this time, we were getting hungry (we didn’t eat any breakfast) so we went to the Main Street Bakery where I had a chocolate croissant and milk and Carlos had a ham/egg/cheese croissant and hot chocolate.

We journeyed over to Tomorrowland next where we rode Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. We also rode the Peoplemover (AKA Tomorrowland Transit Authority) for a little break. After that, we wandered around and got fast passes for Space Mountain.

We returned to Fantasyland to ride Peter Pan’s Flight (my favorite ride in Fantasyland). After that, we walked back to Liberty Square to ride the Haunted Mansion again. After winding our way back to Adventureland (we did a lot of walking today), we grabbed pineapple Dole Whips at Aloha Isle – these are a Magic Kingdom tradition and a refreshing snack on a hot day.

After our treats, we rode Pirates again, then we returned to Space Mountain to use our fast passes. We doubled back to ride Jungle Cruise again before heading back to the hotel for an afternoon break from the heat and crowds. I will continue the rest of our Magic Kingdom day in the next installment!