Orlando Part 5

On to our trip to the Magic Kingdom.  We decided to only make one major park visit this trip.  The tickets were roughly $85 per adult and $80 per child.  The multi-day and multi-park discounts were not that great a deal, in my opinion, unless you planned on hitting multiple parks per day over several days.  That scenario was not reasonable for us with two special needs kids and my dad in a wheelchair. 

We took the Monorail from our hotel to Magic Kingdom.  Great – down the elevator two floors from our room at the Contemporary to the Monorail boarding platform.  The ride was free of charge.  A train came quickly and there was plenty of room for everyone to sit.  The Monorail stopped at two other hotels, the Polynesian and the Grand Floridian, both lovely looking hotels.  The Monorail also stops at Epcot and a bus station where you can connect to a bus to take to Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM), Animal Kingdom and other Disney attractions.  If staying at the Contemporary, the Magic Kingdom is about a 7 or 8 block walk, but since my kids are obsessed with trains and just the sheer novelty of riding on the Disney Monorail, we took the Monorail. 

We had some trouble at check-in.  My kids aren’t very good at waiting in line, handing someone a ticket and then going through a turnstile.  The attendant kept feeding our tickets through multiple times, then saying they weren’t valid (they were coming up invalid because she kept feeding them through the machine). 

Once inside, we got a wheelchair for my dad and I decided to rent a stroller for Todd, even though I had his tethering device (leash) strapped on him.  This was a good idea and the stroller was only $15 for the entire day.  We got “after 2 p.m.” tickets, which were cheaper and I’m glad for that.  It was hot, but not as hot as it would have been earlier in the afternoon.  In the future, I would consider “after 4 p.m.” tickets so it would be even cooler.  Also, the later in the day you get there, the closer you are to the evening Main Street parade and the fireworks.

We went to the Guest Services area just inside and got a disability pass.  This applied to both kids and my dad, plus the rest of our party (myself and my brother).  This was a Godsend.  We barely had to wait for anything and the few times we did, the wait was indoors with air conditioning.

The Disney parks allow you to bring in your own bottles of water.  That and the big buffet lunch we had prior to going to the park really tided us over.  We ended up only having to buy a few large Diet Pepsis to share. 

The kids both really enjoyed the teacup ride, as well as the carousel.  Todd could stay on the carousel all day and be happy.  We went on the “It’s a Small World” boat ride, classic thing to do at Disney.  Sean loved it.  Todd kept trying to jump overboard the entire ride.  Thank God for that leash thing.  I was reminded of the Simpsons episode where Lisa drinks the water while on the “It’s a Small World” ride (whatever the Simpsons/Krusty version was called) and ended up having hallucinations because the water was so contaminated. 

Another Disney World classic we visited was the Hall of the Presidents.  There was about a 20-minute wait indoors, then a 20-minute sit-down show.  The kids didn’t do too well waiting in line, but once we were in there, they sat attentively and enjoyed the show.  At the end of the show, each American president is mentioned in order and some more popular ones got applause, such as Abraham Lincoln and JFK.  When Andrew Johnson’s name was mentioned, Sean started clapping, “Wooh!”  Never realized he was such a fan of Andrew Johnson and I would guess Andrew Johnson has never gotten such an enthusiastic reaction from an audience member at Disney prior.  After the show, Sean said, “I LOVE robot presidents!” 

We also waited in line for about 15 minutes to meet Mickey Mouse and have an official photo taken with him. 

When Sean saw Cinderella’s castle, he said, “that’s the castle!  It’s the Disney castle!  We’re really here!”  That brought a tear to my eye.  I remembered when I was a kid and how I was in awe seeing the Cinderella castle up close for the first time.

The kids really enjoyed the outdoor show in front of the castle.  It featured all the main characters:  Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Pluto, Goofy, Peter Pan, Wendy, Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and their respective princes and Malificent as the general baddie.  I think Captain Hook and Smee may have made an appearance as well.  There were also the token cheesy theme park dancers.  Cheesy to me, but the kids loved them and were dancing along. 

Finally, the kids were tired and overheated, so we decided to catch the fireworks from the terrace at our hotel.  We caught the Monorail back and the kids loved the ride.  So happy to re-experience a great childhood memory through my sons’ eyes!

*Addendum - the after 2 and after 4 options are only available through the Disney Convention-Ears website.