Friday Favorites: Recapping Disney

Happy Friday! Today is the last day of my Walt Disney World trip recaps and my posts this week are all favorites!

My first favorite is Monday’s post about Epcot.

Read that here.

Tuesday’s post was all about Animal Kingdom, and is another favorite.

Click here for that post.

On Wednesday, I shared another favorite, all about Hollywood Studios.

See that post here.

My next favorite is yesterday’s post all about the Keys to the Kingdom tour I did.

Read that post here.

And my final favorite this week is getting to share all about my time in the Magic Kingdom. I love everything about the Magic Kingdom. I love the charm of Main Street, the wide variety of rides, the castle focal point – it’s all magic!

One thing to note about arrival to the Magic Kingdom – if you’re arriving by bus or car, you’ll be dropped off at the Transportation and Ticket Center. You’ll go through security here, then board the monorail to the park. Count on about 45 minutes to go through this process, especially since you might have to wait a few minutes for the monorail to arrive.

Once you get off the monorail, it’s a quick walk to the park entrance.

I was able to visit MK twice during my trip. On the first day, I was there with a couple sorority sisters and we arrived for rope drop and in time to see the opening show.

I highly recommend this show – it definitely sets the tone. Many of the characters appear in front of the castle and the Fairy Godmother waves her wand to set off fireworks to “let the magic begin!” If you want to see a snipet, check out the saved story on my Instagram.

From there, everyone races to their first ride. One of my favorite tips is to schedule your first Fast Pass to start an hour or two after park opening (all Fast Passes give you a one-hour window) if you’ll be there for rope drop. That way, you can ride a few rides right at the start of the day while they have shorter lines, then use your Fast Passes as the lines get longer a little later.

Since my sorority sisters only had the morning at MK, we tried to fit in as much as we could – and we were successful! We rode seven rides in 3 hours!!

Magic Kingdom is divided into lands, and the rides, architecture, restaurants, music, and decorations all match that land.

Fantasyland is home to Cinderella’s castle and is basically like stepping into a fairy tale. It features rides that showcase many Disney animated fairy tales. Rides here include It’s a Small World, Peter Pan’s Flight, and Seven Dwarf’s Mine Train.

Adventureland matches its namesake perfectly. It’s part jungle, part tropical island and all adventure. Rides here include Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Frontierland is the like the Wild West, with its wooden-planked sidewalks, banjo music playing throughout, and denim-clad cast members. Here you’ll find rides like Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

Liberty Square pays homage to Colonial America and features Walt’s Liberty Tree, which I blogged about yesterday. Haunted Mansion and the Hall of Presidents are located here.

Tomorrowland is the land of, you guessed it, tomorrow. It has a futuristic vibe, but many call it “the future that never was.” Rides here include Space Mountain, Space Ranger Spin, and the Carousel of Progress.

Main Street, U.S.A. is the most charming little stretch of the Magic Kingdom. And, like I mentioned yesterday, Walt imagined it to be the opening credits to the “movie” that is the Magic Kingdom. It’s the perfect introduction and farewell to the park. This is a perfect place to grab a coffee, find a sweet treat in the Confectionery, and stock up on souvenirs.

On this trip, I mostly snacked at the Magic Kingdom. There are great sit-down restaurants at the Magic Kingdom (Tony’s Town Square is a fave!), but I also like to take a break from the park and ride the monorail to one of the surrounding hotels and enjoy a meal there (California Grill at the Contemporary is my favorite!). Another great way to take a break is with cocktails and snacks at the Polynesian.

I took advantage of my favorite break time at the Polynesian this trip, and when I returned I caught the Festival of Fantasy parade! It was really cool to see this parade on stage, since I’d seen all the floats back stage that morning!

One of my favorite times at the Magic Kingdom is the “magic hour” of dusk when the lights of Main Street start to glow as the sun is setting.

A day at Magic Kingdom ends with the Happily Ever After show. This is a must! I wasn’t sure if the previous show, called Wishes, could be topped, but Happily Ever After is wonderful! The special effects and projections onto the castle are incredible. I highly recommend watching the show standing in front of the castle so you can see the full show. If you stand off to the side or behind the castle, you’ll still get to enjoy the music and fireworks, but I really feel like the projections make the show what it is.

And just like that, my trip was over! Five days at Walt Disney World was the perfect length. I was able to visit Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and Magic Kingdom each twice, and Hollywood Studios once. I got to ride all the rides I wanted, some twice. I ate some delicious food, and had some amazing cocktails. And, I walked off most of those calories (I hope ;)) – the day with the lowest steps was 18k and the day with the most steps was 30k! Important side note: comfortable shoes are a must at Disney!

Thanks for following along with the recap this week! Have you been to Walt Disney World? What are your must-dos? Please share so I can add them to my list for my next trip!

Have a great weekend, and party on!
JW

On Fridays, I link up with Five on Friday and Friday Favorites.