Every little girl watches the beginning of every Disney movie as they outline the castle and thinks that someday her wishes and dreams will come true… advice to these young girls – have realistic dreams.  I stuck with the dream that one day I would be able to see Cinderella’s castle in real life and it finally came true.

Growing up, my parents took us camping for almost every single family trip.  I wish I had a photo handy of these magical moments in the boundary waters of northern MN.  Don’t get me wrong, I adore the north shore on Lake Superior and even chose to go to college there, but I was one of THOSE kids that had never been to the magical world that is Florida.  Finally, my brother called me in November and said that he and his girlfriend were thinking about heading to Orlando and asked if we’d be interested.  Yep.  Even better, we all got to experience the Magic Kingdom for the first time together (except my husband – he’s a regular.)

We got there first thing in the morning and watched Mickey Mouse roll in on his train.  I cried when they did the park opening… I wish I was kidding.  Why do you think I didn’t take my sunglasses off all day??  Now that I think about it, my brother wore his sunglasses all day too… Does he look like a crier?  Good thing he doesn’t read my blog.

Of all four Disney parks, I was most excited about this one and now that I’ve seen it, it’s probably my third favorite.  Doesn’t mean I don’t love it, but seriously… no food for vegetarians.  We didn’t make any reservations anywhere, so that might be part of the problem, but I survived all day off of candy, apples and grapes.  Also, no beer anywhere.  I got really excited when we got to Gaston’s Tavern and I ordered a Lefou’s brew.  Don’t be fooled friends, that is just frozen apple juice with some sort of marshmallow topping.

We did all the rides we wanted to do pretty early in the day, so we were able to circle back to a few.  Space Mountain was AWESOME.  I kicked Justin’s butt at the Buzz Lightyear Space Adventure.  We saw two different parades.  We did the ride that never ends – I mean It’s A Small World.  Pirates was really cool.  The new Under the Sea ride was also one of my favorites.

We had a blast with Tim, Jen and her family.  We took them to the Haunted Mansion and they did Space Mountain with us.  We also spent some time waiting in line for different characters, but we gave up each time because the lines were so long.  I would recommend meeting characters at Epcot, Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom unless you’re doing a character breakfast – which is a must when we go back with the nieces.

This might sound a little cheesy, but I don’t think my brother and I have ever had a more fun day together.  We didn’t fight at all and genuinely seemed to enjoy the fact that the other was there.  Love my little brother and I’m glad we got to experience Disney together.

WARNING:  Not a real tavern – I repeat – NO BEER.

A few things happened to us other than the food/drink situation.  My husband was sure that Splash Mountain would be my favorite… and then this happened:

The other part of Magic Kingdom he was excited for me to see was the Main Street Electrical Parade… guess what – that doesn’t happen every night.  We did get to see an amazing laser light show that takes place on the front of Cinderella’s castle.  We also got to see Belle’s castle and Prince Eric’s castle from Little Mermaid – both were new to Justin.  They are working on Snow White’s castle/ride and we definitely saw the Tangled tower behind some construction barriers.  I have to say that the castle’s were everything I wanted them to be.  I have raised the stakes now and I’m trying to figure out how to get the suite in Cinderella’s castle.

Beauty & the Beast Castle

Little Mermaid Castle
THE Castle
Tangled Tower

I can’t wait to go back there with the little princesses in my life.  It really was magical.  The fireworks were amazing.  Thanks for being awesome Walt Disney and having crazy awesome dreams.  My hat is off to you.

Source