Week 49 - Magic Kingdom Holiday Lights and Fireworks (Dec 8)

I fell in love with the special Christmas lights on Cinderella Castle a few years ago. We try to see them at least two or three times each season. The changing colors and the "iced" effect is awe inspiring.

Now Disney has made the holiday celebration even more special (I didn't think it was possible) with the addition of the new "memories" show.

The castle literally changes before your eyes in brilliant colors and effects. Honestly, you can hardly believe your eyes as the castle transforms.

Following the amazing transforming castle, of course, is the grand finale of the "Wishes" fireworks.

Our only "complaint" is that it was cold. Well, cold for us. We literally dressed in long johns and multiple layers with hats and gloves. How cold was it? An embarrassing 62 degrees. Let's just say that we have become acclimated to Florida's warm weather. 

Week 41 - Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (Oct 6)

Today we were inside the Magic Kingdom on a day the park was hosting Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. Although we've been to the party in past years, this year we didn't buy tickets. We took several photos before leaving (click any photo to enlarge for detail).

There's a lot of excitement as guests begin to enter the park in their Halloween costumes. Although the party officially begins at 7pm, those with a party ticket can begin entering as early as 4pm. Party guests must pick up a wrist band to stay in the park after 7pm (the time when "regular" guests must exit the park).

The park is decorated for Halloween. Including cute snack shop not far from Cinderella's Castle.

I really loved the eyeball balloons at this year's Halloween Party. Creative...

Both children and adults dress up in costume for the party. As you might guess, many costumes are themed after Disney characters including this group of adults dressed as Peter Pan, Wendy, Tinkerbell and Captain Hook (one of the best groups we saw).

This Alice in Wonderland pair smiled for the camera...

Guests often ask if it is worth it to buy tickets for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. It is a difficult question to answer.

There are speciall events and activities that you will only see as a party guest. This includes a special Halloween Parade led by the Headless Horseman (don't miss him). My favorite part of the parade are the grave diggers who do a choreographed routine that includes sparks as their shovels hit the pavement.

My favorite part of the whole night are the special Hallowishes Fireworks. Great show and fantastic music. Love it.

Of course, there are trick-or-treat stations where guests can fill their bags with candy treats (kids and adults).

On the downside, although it is a limited-attendance event, it can still get crowded in certain areas of the park. Especially, Main Street. As the party begins, it can be shoulder-to-shoulder.

Other areas of the park can be less crowded. Just before the party officially started, the wait time for Disney's Haunted Mansion was only 15 minutes.

The party does not come cheap. When we first attended a few years ago, ticket prices were about half the cost of regular admission (and we gladly paid). Today, you'll pay as much as $70 for an adult and not much less for a child. Prices are lower on select party dates and some guests may also be eligible for discounts (advance purchase, annual passholders, DVC members and military). For comparison, the price of a regular one-day admission ticket is $90.

If you go, have fun and dress up in costume (although it is not required). Disney, of course, sells costumes in the Magic Kingdom park and at all resort gift shops. This little girl Snow White costume will cost $65 in the park.

Looking for something a little more low key? You can also buy Disney Halloween T-shirts and various designs of mouse ears among other options.

Week 38 - Chicago Dogs and Casey's Corner Magic Kingdom (Sept 16)

After missing out on Chicago dogs over Labor Day weekend due to a refurb of Casey's Corner, we (I mean, my husband) finally experienced what we thought would be Magic Kingdom's best hot dog. Oh boy...

First, I chickened out. If you read this blog you know that I'm a picky eater. I thought I was ready to sink my teeth into the very delicious-looking Chicago dog, but I backed out. Instead, I ordered "just a plain hot dog, please".

I actually love hot dogs. Always have. For years, I used to really love getting hot dogs from Casey's Corner at Disney's Magic Kingdom. I remember tasty, extra-long hot dogs on soft white buns. Unfortunately, today's dogs are not at all like I remembered. The buns are great - IF you are having one of the very heavy specialty dogs. The buns are a little overwhelming if you're having a plain hot dog. My bun was hard to the touch and dry.

As I've complained about other entrees (like the Port Orleans muffaletta sandwich or the food at Pizzafari) the meat to bread ratio was way off for me. I just don't like that much bread. The picture doesn't show it accurately, but there's a lot of bread there. I realize, however, these buns were not meant to be served with plain dogs.

Now... on to the Chicago dog. Unfortunately, this was a "swing and a miss" (to keep with the baseball theming of this Disney restaurant). The toppings were tasty enough, but we had a temperature problem. The hot dog was cold. Like it just came out of the refrigerator cold. When my husband first tried to return the hot dog, he was told that the the toppings cool down the dog. After much "back and forth", the server finally touched the dog and realized it, in fact, was ice cold.

My husband returned to the table with a tray that had a plain dog and all of the toppings (pickles, Chicago relish, tomatoes, and pickled peppers) in separate cups. It's not how he wanted it (he wanted a properly heated and fully-assembled hot dog). Apparently, this is what "complainers" get. Disappointingly, the ala carte toppings assortment he received did not include the poppy seeds. Apparently, real Chicago dogs come on poppy seed buns. At Casey's Corner, they simply sprinkle the dog with poppy sees.

We would do it again? Not likely. We'll probably just stick to the corn dog nuggets at Casey's Corner. And, we'll only dine there when it is cool outside...

For practical purposes, the only seating for Casey's Corner is outdoors in the blazing sun. It was dinner time, and it was still close to 90 degrees outside. We were uncomfortably hot (and we're fairly acclimated to the Florida heat). The seating is also surrounded by birds looking for a handout. I'm an animal lover. I want to feed the birds, too. But... I know it is not good for them and that it causes aggressive behavior. Please don't feed the birds!

Speaking of birds, check out this little bird inside the food court at Disney's Contemporary resort:

Like I said, I'm an animal lover, but this concerned me. I was very surprised when we grabbed lunch at the Contemporary earlier in the day and had birds flying over our table and picking up crumbs from the carpeted floor INDOORS.

I can deal with that... but I was a little put off by the fact that these birds drank from the soda dispenser drip pans (click the photo to enlarge). Seriously, that is not healthy for the bird or humans. This particular bird is on the rail picking up drips just outside of the pans. Apparently, he preferred high fructose corn syrup droppings to the melting ice in the drip pans.

My question is... where is the poop falling? Fortunately, we did not have the displeasure of finding out!

Week 34 - Magic Kingdom New Attraction Updates (Aug 26)

It had been a while since we last visited Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, so we spent this Friday exploring many of the attractions that have been recently updated (and a few of our favorites). By the way, the lines were very short today. We often walked right into an attraction with no wait.

Follow the footsteps of our day at the Magic Kingdom:

Enchanted Tiki Room
The Tiki Room had actually caught fire early this year. The attraction running at the time (Enchanted Tiki Room - Under New Management) suffered a bit of damage.

It has now reopened with a performance similar to the original attraction, Tropical Serenade and no longer includes the birds, Lago (voiced by Gilbert Gottfried) or Zazu. I think it is no coincidence that the Tiki Room reopened without Lago. A few short weeks after the fire, Gilbert Gottfried was fired from his gig as the Aflac duck for a series of un-Disney-like "tweets" he posted on Twitter (what's up with Gilbert and birds?). It would seem Gilbert made Disney's decision to dump rather than repair ore rebuild Lago a very easy one.

Pirates of the Caribbean
Hands down this is one of my favorite rides. We've already seen the Captain Jack Sparrow enhancements and really enjoy them.

As much as I enjoy Captain Jack, I have five favorite moments in the Pirates attraction: 1) Dead men tell no tales; 2) Getting "shot" by a cannon; 3) We want the red head; 4) The hairy leg and dirty foot hanging over the bridge and 5) The dog holding the jail cell keys.

The Haunted Mansion
The Haunted Mansion recently expanded the queue to run through a bit of a cemetery. Guests now have the option to stroll through the cemetery or bypass it (for quicker entrance).

While the cemetery is cute and worth a look at least once, I would suggest bypassing this little extra tour if you are short on time.

In addition to the new cemetery, the ending of the Haunted Mansion ride has changed a bit too (no spoilers here). Unfortunately, my line of vision seemed to be interrupted for some reason and I did not experience the full effect of the ending. Another reason to go back...

Carousel of Progress
There's just something about the Carousel of Progress that my husband and I both really enjoy. We can't help but sing, "There's a great big beautiful tomorrow".

Originally built for the 1964 World's Fair in New York, we always try to make it part of our visit to the Magic Kingdom.

Fantasyland Expansion
Last, but not least, we spent some time looking at the posters for the new Fantasyland Expansion. Here's a sneak peek at what is scheduled to open in 2012. Click on any of the photos for a larger image:

New Fantasyland

New Fantasyland Construction

Enchanted Tales with Belle

Be Our Guest Restaurant

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

Looking forward to this one... some neat roller coaster technology!

Looking forward to our next visit to Magic Kingdom. We had lunch at Casey's Corner and saw some really awesome looking Chicago Dogs go by (we split an order of corn dog nuggets). I probably won't like it because I'm such a picky eater, but my husband is definitely going to try it out. I'll give it at least one bite because it looked really good - even to me!

Week 27 - Magic Kingdom July 4 Fireworks (June 3)

If you're impressed by the regular nightly fireworks at Disney, then you'll be blown away by the Fourth of July fireworks show at Magic Kingdom.

In addition to fireworks, the Magic Kingdom enhances the experience with patriotic narration and perfectly timed music. Magic Kingdom typically displays the Fourth of July fireworks on both July 3 and July 4. We like to visit on the 3rd because it tends to be less busy.

We started our July 4 celebration by visiting Disney's Polynesian resort for a quick bite to eat at Captain Cooks. We decided to split a Hawaiian Flatbread Pizza and a side of fries:

The flatbread was a whole wheat crust which my husband didn't care for at all. I guess it was OK for the Hawaiian pizza, but I think I'd like it a lot less on the pepperoni variety. The sauce was very light - just about non-existent. The ham and pineapple topping was OK too, but very tiny (chopped) pieces. I wasn't pleased that it also included red onion. One of my pet peeves is not disclosing all ingredients in a menu description. There was no mention of the onion in either the paper menu we were handed at the door nor the self-serve on-screen ordering system.

The side order of fries was miserly. At at cost of $2.50, each individual fry cost us about 10 cents each. Captain Cooks didn't used to offer fries. We joked that maybe they put a Fry Baby back there and could only cook two dozen fries at a time.

After pizza, we enjoyed the Magic Kingdom "Celebrate America - A Fourth of July Concert in the Sky" fireworks show. My favorite part is always the grand finale: