Disney World 2016 - Day 1 - Magic Kingdom

Thursday morning, we woke up early to be at Magic Kingdom when it opened. We got all ready and Mallory put on her Elsa dress because we were hoping to meeting her first thing when we got to the park. Meeting Elsa and Anna was the only Fast Pass I was unable to get - they were all gone in 5 minutes! So, I planned to go there first - right when the park opened so we hopefully wouldn't have to wait 2 hours to meet them. 

Also, I'm aware that this may be the longest post ever but we did a lot on Day 1! This was my third time to go to Disney World but the last time I went was in 2004, so it felt like the first time again - especially since I did the planning and I was going to get to see it through Mallory's eyes. There are many things I remember and some I didn't so it was all new again to me!

Tiara and dress on and we are ready to go!

It was pretty chilly in the mornings so Mallory lived the life sitting in the stroller all nice and warm! I'm so glad we got a stroller - it was great because we walked so much and a couple of times, Mallory just laid down in it to rest.

The part of our resort was a bit of walk from where the buses picked us up but it helped us warm up in the morning. We were able to get on one of the first buses and headed to Magic Kingdom! Mallory always wanted to sit with Nana and Papa anytime we went anywhere.

We got there with plenty of time to kill before the park opened so we took the time to take pictures. The park opened at 9:00 am and we got there about 8:15 am. This is the front of Magic Kingdom and they do a little show before it opens which is very cool! I took Mallory's jacket off just so we could get a picture of her in her dress.

We were ready to hit the ground running and that we did!

As soon as they opened the park, we headed straight to Princess Fairytale Hall but not without taking a moment to enjoy the sight of Cinderella's castle. Mallory was in awe and kept saying "I see the castle!!" It was a great moment and we kept walking straight towards it because the Hall was located behind it. 

While we were there, they were working on the top of the castle, as you can see by the crane in the pictures, but it that didn't bother us! We were just so happy to be there and see it!

We made it to Princess Fairytale Hall, with all of the other people who had the same idea as us, and really only had to wait about 20-30 minutes. It was not a bad wait at all - especially when I assumed it would be about a 45 min - 1 hour wait. 

The hall was really pretty and had paintings of many princesses

Mallory loved being able to see Cinderella's slipper. You can meet Cinderella and Rapunzel on the other side of the hall. The wait to see them was only 10 minutes :) Definitely shows you the popularity of Anna and Elsa these days.

And then we made it to see Anna and Elsa! It was so wonderful! They were so much in character and Anna talked the whole time like she did in the movie. She and Mallory just chatted it up and Mallory talked to her like they've known each other forever and just kept asking her question after question! These pictures say it all!

Here is the video of Mallory meeting Anna :)

After talking to Anna, we headed to meet Elsa! Mallory just ran right up to her and just chatted it away with her again. The moment she's been waiting for for so long was here and it was perfect!

Best Friends!

The pictures of Anna and Elsa are from the Disney World Memory Maker - Photo Pass. You can purchase this extra item and you will get any photos taken by a DW photographer as well as photos with character meets and any photos from rides that take your picture. As a photo lover, it was so great and I highly recommend it if you are going to DW. It is an extra cost but so worth it! They took multiple pictures during the whole meet and greet and once Mallory was done, they scanned my magic band and the photos immediately showed up on my Disney app. It took the pressure off of trying to get the perfect pic and knowing I could enjoy the moment while someone else worried about the pictures! I loved it and you will see that I definitely took advantage of the photo pass!  There is my plug for that! Now back to the day:

After meeting Anna and Elsa, we headed to the carousel that was right outside the hall. The lines weren't very long in the morning so we took advantage of riding what we could with no wait. Still on the high of meeting Anna and Elsa!

After riding the carousel, Brian tried to pull out the sword from the Sword and the Stone

Next up, was the teacups. Let's just say - don't ride with Brian Estes because he took the reigns and we were so dizzy when we were done with that ride! Ha! We had fun spinning around and laughed the whole time!

After we were able to walk straight, we headed to meet Ariel. She was down in her grotto so we had to head that way to meet her. Mallory thought it was so neat that we had to go "under the sea" to meet her!

She had each princess and character sign her autograph book so we she is happy to have all their signatures there.

We then rode her ride through the grotto

While walking to our next destination, we saw Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters.

We had an early lunch reservation at Be Our Guest - a restaurant reminiscent of the Beast's castle on the inside.

The chandeliers were beautiful and it was a great setting

After we met Ariel, Mallory changed out of her dress into her Belle shirt because we knew we would be eating at Be Our Guest and meeting Belle later in the day

My mom got the "grey stuff" and it was delicious!

Mallory only wanted to see the rose when we were in there so we found it and she loved it!

The three ladies as we were leaving lunch

The next ride was everyone's favorite: "It's a Small World"

Of course I took a video of the ride so you could enjoy the song again - you tell how excited Brian was at the end of the video :)

We headed to ride the Dumbo ride which Mallory was really looking forward to. She got to control going up and and down the whole time.

Brian, Mallory and I then rode the Barnstormer - a little roller coaster and I love this picture of Brian and Mallory riding together. She had this big smile on her face all day!

We took the railroad back to Main Street so we could head back for the afternoon parade

View of Main Street from the railroad station

Another shot of Cinderella's castle

When we got off the train, we saw Pluto was meeting people so we got in line to see him! She chatted it up with him too!

Mom, Mallory and I as we waited for the parade to start

The parade was great!

Here is some of the parade!

After the parade, we headed to use our Fast Pass on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Mallory did so great on the ride. This was her first fast roller coaster and she loved it! I love the photos from the ride :)

After that ride, it was time for a snack so Mallory and I went to the Confectionery on Main Street and got some cookies. They were so yummy!

And since we were there, we took our family photo in front of the castle. I love it and love these two so very much!

The DW photographers will also put Tinkerbell in your pictures sometimes and I like how they did this! So cute!

It was then time to get the souvenir ears. Mallory picked one that was way to big for her but there wasn't too much of a choice for her size. We then took it to get it monogrammed and I loved it!

I also got some Minnie ears while were shopping that you will see in photos later. I couldn't help it! I was in the Disney spirit!

We saw that Mickey and Minnie were performing a show in front of Cinderella's castle that we had to watch.

We were getting towards the end of the afternoon and we headed to ride Aladdin's carpet ride which is just like Dumbo but you are flying on the carpet and not in an elephant. Right beside it is a treehouse from Swiss Family Robinson that you could walk through so we headed up it.

When you got to the top, you got a good view of Magic Kingdom - Cinderella's castle on the left and Space Mountain on the right

We had a Fast Pass Thursday evening to meet Belle. She has her own story time called "Enchanted Tales with Belle" and the kids get to act out the story from Beauty and the Beast.

The wardrobe talks and tells you about the story

And Lumiere speaks when the kids act out the story and then Belle comes out at the end to see everyone and Mallory smiled so big when she walked in! 

My princess and Belle

After meeting Belle, we headed back to Main Street to get ready to watch The Electrical Parade and the nighttime show. Magic Kingdom is even more magical when lit up in lights.

I love this picture of Brian and I in front of the castle at night!

My awesome parents!

Mallory with her glow stick necklace ready for the parade. FYI...I bought these at Wal Mart before we left so she wouldn't be interested in any of the $20 light up things they sell before the parade.

The parade started and it was wonderful!

Cinderella's castle lights up in it's own show before the fireworks! It was so cool

I turned around to get a shot of Mallory's face. She was in awe the whole time!

 And the day ended with a bang - the fireworks were amazing!

After leaving Magic Kingdom with everyone at the same time, we finally made it back to our room after the long first day. Mallory crashed as soon as she hit the bed - still holding onto her glow sticks.

The first day at Disney World was fantastic! We did a lot in the first day but it was worth it! We were able to do what we really wanted to do and so much more! Mallory did great and I don't think the excitement left her face all day long! We were all exhausted after the full day and were ready for rest but looked forward to Day 2!