WDW Day 4: Magic Kingdom (Day 1)

Oh, Magic Kingdom...if you have small children, this is the Disney park to see...actually if you are any age, this is the Disney park to see! This will be my longest post because this was our longest and busiest day. We were at the Magic Kingdom for over 14 hours, and the kids did AMAZING! I love the sign before you walk into the park... "Let the Memories Begin!" We truly made some wonderful memories on this trip and I tried to capture as many details as possible. I was going to not post as many pics, but since I do this blog instead of scrapbooking, I really wanted to document our entire day. 

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We took the monorail from the lobby of the Contemporary to the Magic Kingdom. LilliAnn loved riding the "train."

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When the kids saw Cinderella's castle up close for the first time, they were both in awe! LilliAnn said, "I can't believe that Cinderella really lives there!"

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I will admit, the castle took my breath away. It is absolutely gorgeous! 

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Of course there were a TON of characters coming out to greet everyone when the park opened, but we went with my itinerary and headed straight for Dumbo! We were the first ones in Storybook Circus and the FIRST PEOPLE TO GET ON DUMBO! This is pretty significant, because the Dumbo line gets up to 3 hours long, and is one of the most popular rides at Walt Disney World! 

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doin' the Dumbo dance! These Matilda Jane cherry festival shorties were perfect for Walt Disney World! 

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After Dumbo, Cinderella's carousel in Fantasyland was next on our itinerary. Look how beautiful it is!

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The Sword in the Stone makes for great pictures! 

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While hanging out around the carousel, we met Cinderella's evil step-mother and step-sisters. LilliAnn is terrified of these characters! She said, "Mommy, don't let them rip my dress!"

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Next it was off to do more Fantasyland fun with Peter Pan's Flight and the famous Disney ride "It's a Small World." I was thanking my itinerary and Disney research right about now, because we had NO wait on either of these rides!

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It's a Small World is one of the original rides at Walt Disney World. The song, "It's a Small World" plays over and over again in different languages throughout the ride, while you take a little boat ride through different countries of singing puppets. 

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Next, we rode the Winnie the Pooh ride. I wan't that impressed with this ride, but if your kids are a fan of Pooh, this is definitely a must. 

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Princess photo op! This location is where the old "Snow White" ride used to be. I was really bummed that this ride was no longer at WDW, but they are currently in the process of making a Royal Princess Hall in this location. Before making our way into Tomorrowland, we saw the 3D show, Mickey's Philharmagic, which was located right across from the carousel. The AMAZING 3D show takes you through the most well-known Disney movie scenes and isn't too long. The kids LOVED it and so did we! I would say that this show is a don't miss! 

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And her favorite...Cinderella!

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One of THE most famous rides at Walt Disney World, the Mad Tea Party or the "tea cups," and it was closed for maintenance when we were there. I was super upset about this, but Reid got a picture with the white rabbit while we were here. LilliAnn called him the Easter Bunny and said that she did not want a picture with "the Easter Bunny!"

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Most of Tomorrowland was on our itinerary for the following day, but Reid saw the Tomorrowland Speedway and could not wait to get on! Kids are allowed to drive these little race cars, and both of the kids loved this ride!

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After the speedway, the kids were starving for lunch, so we headed in to Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe, to grab a quick bite to eat before meeting Winnie the Pooh and Tigger. 

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After seeing Pooh, we went back to the Storybook Circus area to meet Minnie, Daisy, and a few other characters, in the big top tent of Pete's Silly Sideshow. The characters had awesome circus-themed costumes on and the lines to meet the characters were in an air-conditioned area inside a big tent-looking building. After getting a few autographs, we let the kids play in the new splash area. This area was called the Casey Jr. Splash & Soak Station, and is based on the train in the movie Dumbo. All kids love getting wet, and it was hot that day, so the water felt extra good. We didn't bring towels, but of course they were selling Walt Disney World beach towels right next to the splash station and we had to have not one...but TWO! 

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Reid was so excited to ride a roller coaster, so we hopped on this kid-friendly coaster, Goofy's Barnstormer, before leaving this area of the park. LilliAnn and Reid both loved this coaster and were begging to do it a second time! 

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Our next stop was the Walt Disney World Railroad to take us over to Frontierland. It was early afternoon and we were all ready for a little bit or rest and relaxing, so we decided to do Tom Sawyer's Island. This is such a great little attraction, especially for boys. You ride a ferry over to a little island, where there are rope bridges, forts, secret passageways, caves, as well as a little dock with refreshments and rocking chairs. Mom, LilliAnn, and I took a rest in the rocking chairs, while Jeb and Reid did some Tom & Huck style exploring! We actually didn't ride Thunder Mountain until the following day, but I got a great shot of it from Tom Sawyer's Island! 

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A great view of Frontierland from Tom Sawyer's Island!

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Reid thought Tom Sawyer's Island was super cool! I can't wait to start reading him the Mark Twain books about Tom and Huck!

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Reid took this picture of Jeb and I in front of the unfinished whitewashed fence that said "Tom loves Becky."

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After leaving the island, we walked across the street to find a spot to watch the Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade. The kids were hungry so we snacked on popcorn, cotton candy, and chocolate covered bananas. And let me just tell you...Disney has the most AMAZING chocolate covered frozen bananas. I didn't even think I liked frozen bananas until this trip! Now I can't wait to go back and eat more!! My sweet friend, Dana Pace, let us borrow this adorable Minnie Mouse dress and it could not have been more perfect for this afternoon at the Magic Kingdom! 

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Woody & Stitch!

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Disney has the BEST parades! The music is amazing and the characters really interact with all of the children! 

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Mary Poppins & Captain Hook! LilliAnn was scared to death of Captain Hook! She ran behind my mom and said, "He is so mean. I don't like Mr. Hook!"

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And then...we see them again! The evil step-sisters!

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This one stopped to tie Lil's shoe. You should have seen her face when she looked up at me! She said, "Mom, can you believe it? Those step-sisters are weally nice! She tied my shoe!"

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Oh, Prince Charming...

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Beauty & The Beast!

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Ariel looked down and waved right at LilliAnn saying, "Hi, Princess!" It made her entire day!

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Ok...INTERMISSION...I am so sorry that this post is so long, but it was FOURTEEN HOURS in the Magic Kingdom...I know...wow. 

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After the parade was finished, it was time for our reservations at the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique at Cinderella's Castle. The Bibbity Bobbity Boutique is a beauty salon where they dress up little girls like the princess of their choice. There are many different packages to choose from, and they even have a Knight package for boys. You must make reservations for the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique because it is always super busy! There is another one in Downtown Disney that doesn't seem to be as busy as the one at Cinderella's Castle. This was part of their birthday present and I couldn't wait to surprise them at the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique! LilliAnn was in heaven when she got to look through all of the princess dresses, shoes, and accessories and pick her favorite! She chose Cinderella, of course! Reid and LilliAnn each had their own Fairy Godmother that was going to turn them into a Princess and a Knight! The following pic is Reid choosing the colors for his "knight hair."

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There were two different hairstyle options...one being "Diva hair" that looked a little punk rocker-ish to me and the other being a princess bun. The fairy godmother thought the princess bun would be best since LilliAnn chose to be Cinderella, but I had no idea how they were going to get her short little hair into a bun! Another fairy godmother came over to help and she made it happen! It was magic...but hey, it's Disney, right?!

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Reid's transformation didn't take long. After he was finished his Fairy Godmother made him say the "Knight Creed" and knighted him as "Sir Reid."

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While one fairy godmother finished her hair, the other was busy painting her nails blue to match her Cinderella dress.

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The make-up was her favorite part of the entire experience! She got to take all of the make-up home with her and she puts it on every day. I really wish I would find another palette of make-up like this because it is perfect for her age! 

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She didn't get to look at herself the entire time they were getting her ready. When she was all finished, the Fairy Godmother had her close her eyes while she sprinkled glitter on her with the magic wand. Then she said, "Bibbity Bobbity Boo!" And turned LilliAnn around to look in the mirror! 

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This was her face when she saw herself! She was LOVING every minute of it! And what I love even more is my mom's face in the background. 

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LilliAnn kept saying, "Mommy, I am a REAL Cinderella!"

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LilliAnn's princess package came with a mini photo shoot at the store next door, Castle Couture. These were a few of my favorite shots. By this time, she was getting hungry and tired, so she wasn't much in the mood for pictures. She had a constipated smile in a lot of the pictures, but we managed to get a couple of cute ones!

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Diva time! I love this one...it's like, "Stop! The princess has had enough!"

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We had about 30 minutes before our reservations to eat at Cinderella's Royal Table in the castle, so we went out in front of the castle to take a few pictures. I knew the kids were hungry and cranky, but I was hoping for just a few good pictures while they were all dressed up!

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My mom wasn't with us for the first part of the trip, but she flew in for the two Magic Kingdom days to celebrate the kids' 3rd and 5th birthdays. She is always so much help to me and I love this woman more than anything in this world! She is my best friend, and everything is always better when she is around. 

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Cinderella's Royal Table...this is the princess dinner where we celebrated LilliAnn's 3rd birthday. Cinderella was waiting right when we walked in and you should have seen LilliAnn's eyes light up! We took a family picture with Cinderella and then LilliAnn got to take one by herself. They gave me the copy of the one of LilliAnn by herself and I have yet to scan it into my computer, but it is adorable! 

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When went up the royal stair and to our table, where a giant princess balloon was waiting on the birthday girl! 

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 Next, our waiter came out with a tiara and presented it to LilliAnn as the "birthday tiara." Her daddy crowned her with the tiara and then gave his princess a birthday kiss!

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 After the official birthday princess ceremony, the Disney Princesses were introduced as their stories were told. They came around to all of the tables and greeted the guests!

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Snow White

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Princess Aurora, also known as "Sleeping Beauty"

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Ariel, also known as "The Little Mermaid"

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 Princess Jasmine

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 The food was absolutely AMAZING! I had beef medallions and it was fantastic! After dinner our waiter brought out LilliAnn's birthday cake. I had pre-ordered the cake several months before, and I couldn't wait to see what it looked like!

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The PERFECT cake for a 3 year-old princess who LOVES Cinderella! 

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 We also celebrated with a white chocolate "glass slipper" dessert! Yum!!

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 Happy 3rd Birthday Princess LilliAnn McKenzie! The restaurant was great and the entire experience was amazing! I recommend this to anyone with a little girl who is going to WDW!

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By this point, LilliAnn had her "Disney Diva" hair in. She was all sugared up on birthday cake and ready to go! 

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 "Tangled" (Rapunzel's) tower

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After dinner, we did the Haunted Mansion while we were waiting for the Electrical Parade to start. The Haunted Mansion wasn't scary at all, and both kids enjoyed the spooky little ride. After getting spooked a little, we found a spot to see Disney's most famous night time parade! Tinkerbell led the parade!

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 The lights were incredible! Reid and LilliAnn were absolutely mesmerized! 

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 When LilliAnn saw that Captain Hook was on this ship, she crawled up me like a spider monkey and hid her face in my neck. She is SO scared of Captain Hook!

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After the parade was over, Jeb was more than ready to head back to the room. It was past ten o'clock and we were all exhausted. Jeb's back was starting to hurt and Reid was ready for bed. The firework show, Wishes, was going to start in just thirty minutes and I knew that there was no way that we would stay this late tomorrow night. Jeb said that we had already watched them from the balcony of our room, but I knew if wasn't the same as hearing the story and the music of the actual show. I really wanted to stay, so Jeb and Reid took the monorail back to the Contemporary, while mom, LilliAnn, and I stayed to watch Wishes. We tried to find the end of the "wire" that Tinkerbell would fly down, so we could stand next to it and see her up close, but by the time we got in front of the castle it was crowded and the show was about to start. This first picture shows Tinkerbell flying down from the castle window to "light" the show! 

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 This picture is AMAZING! I cannot believe I got this shot!!

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I am so glad that we stayed to see this show! I have never seen any firework display that has even come close to comparing to Wishes. It is truly magical, and I couldn't help but tear up as I held my little princess in my arms and celebrated my "dream come true." It was such a surreal moment and I was overwhelmed at by the little blessing that I was holding in my arms. I had always wished that I would be able to bring my children to Walt Disney World, and this day was truly a DREAM COME TRUE.

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 This is what over 14 hours at the Magic Kingdom looks like...stay tuned for the Magic Kingdom - Day 2!