Family Disney Trip 2017: Day 1 – Magic Kingdom

Family Disney Trip 2017: Day 1 – Magic Kingdom

My husband and I recently went to Disney World with my parents, sister, and 5-year-old niece! The next several weeks will feature posts about our experiences in each of the parks while we were there.

We always take as early a flight as we can down to Disney World, so we landed around 10 am and were in the parks by early afternoon. Luckily, our room at Animal Kingdom Lodge and my family’s room at Saratoga Springs were ready when we arrived, so we were able to drop of our carry on bags and change our clothes before heading to the Magic Kingdom!

We wore matching shirts from Once Upon Apparel (tho mine and hubby’s say person and the rest of theirs say people, but I don’t think my sister noticed) and had a mini photo shoot in front of the train station before entering the park.

The first thing that always needs to happen is a stroll right down Main Street USA. I love taking in the sights, smells, and sounds – characters doing meet and greets just as you walk in, all the Mickey balloons, the decor, all the people, the smell of the Confectionery, Main Street music, and of course, that stunning castle.

Surprisingly, our niece wasn’t as awed by the castle as I think we all expected her to be, but her excitement over seeing some of her favorite characters in person more than made up for it. But, we also had been up since 3 or 4 am and were all hungry. So hubby and I went to Casey’s Corner and my family headed to Columbia Harbour House to use our first Quick Service Dining Credits from our Dining Plan.

We met back up to use out first FastPass – Pirates of the Caribbean. Unfortunately for us, we didn’t really think much of the ride because we all love it and it’s so mellow, but the overtired 5-year-old was so scared! In hindsight, starting off in the dark, with a skeleton, immediately followed by a drop was probably not the best way to start. :-(We worked to explain it’s pretend and for fun and she recovered, but I think we all felt awful that her first Disney ride experience wasn’t the best.

After Pirates, I decided I was in dire need of more coffee so my dad, husband, and I headed back to Main Street for Starbucks and to snag my mom the Magic Kingdom tumbler. We got some photos in front of the castle of me and my dad, the three of us, the two of them because they’re nuts, and just me and hubby. We were in the exact spot he proposed and we told the photographer, so he added a little magic for us.

With lots of explaining about it being pretend and make believe and not real ghosts, it was time for our second FastPass – Haunted Mansion. We had slightly better success with this one, but our niece still wasn’t all too thrilled.

She was scared and all she wanted was to ride the carousel, so after a stop to see the Tangled restrooms, we took jaunt on Prince Charming’s Carousel and that cheered her right up!

By this point, it was already time to head for the monorail to get over to the Polynesian for our dinner reservation at ‘Ohana. I realized afterwards that we never made it to the right side of the park (Tomorrowland, Storybook Circus) at all on that first day, but thankfully we had plans to go back on Saturday, and some great Tomorrowland FastPasses, too!

‘Ohana means family. Family means nobody is left behind or forgotten. ‘Ohana is my husband’s absolute favorite restaurant, and he has decided ‘Ohana means fat and fat means no dumpling gets left behind.

We arrived to our reservation time a little early and requested a table in the window, overlooking the castle. They always say they can’t guarantee and will do their best. We always say we understand and are willing to wait longer if we have to. We lucked out and had the most perfect view, so we got to eat some of the best food ever, have a leisurely meal and delicious drinks, and see the castle as it was lit! Then I pretty much just stared dreamily over my sister’s head for the rest of meal so I could enjoy the castle’s beauty.

After ‘Ohana, we headed back to see my beautiful castle all lit up with her gorgeous dream lights. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is one of my favorite rides and I like it even better at night, so our last FastPass of the day was for Big Thunder in the dark. We got lucky and got to sit towards the back and it was just fantastic! Seeing the castle all lit up from the ride is just the best! And, even tho our niece wasn’t thrilled with the dark, I think she enjoyed Thunder Mountain. 🙂

By this point we were all so wiped out that we decided we’d see Happily Ever After later in the week and headed back to our resorts for the night.