Magic Kingdom

     Day 3 and again on day 5 for a half day before our flight, we were at the Magic Kingdom. Very much like Disneyland in California, the Apedaile6 ,except JT, were in familiar territory.

Our entry into the park.

One of the two ways to get to the park entrance. Monorail or Ferry boat.

JT and Lindsay had a spot next to the window.

Courtney and Sarah right next to them.

View from the Monorail as we approached our stop. JT was so excited to go see the "Magic Castle".

Main Street Christmas Tree.

On Main Street with Cinderella's Castle in the background. This was the day JT decided using a thumbs up in many of the photos was the thing to do.

A bit closer to the castle.

Meeting Woody and Jessie was the highlight of all the character interactions. The duo was hilarious and we seemed to have a pretty extended time with them.

Since John wanted the photo with just Woody, Jessie decided to photo bomb their moment.

Jessie greeted the girls, while Woody bent down to JT's level.

JT and Woody played some pat a cake.

I love how happy JT is in the photo.

How sweet is this?

Jessie pulled a flower off the bush and did the "He loves me, he loves me not" game. Woody was devastated when it ended up on Love me not.

Love Woody and Jessie!

One different attraction (exterior) from Disneyland at the Magic Kingdom is the Haunted Mansion.

The exterior and que line are very different, though the ride is very similar, if not identical to what we have experienced at Disneyland.

This is a fun area to kill some time waiting. The piano will play notes when you press the keys.

The instruments will also play when you rub them on this plaque.

The books pop out at various spots and you can push them back in.

The recently revamped Fantastyland. The movie Tangled is featured in this portion of the land.

Rapunzel's tower.

Looks beautiful at night.


Even better with some fireworks!

The iconic "It's a Small World" looks very different from it's west coast version. 

A scaled down version of the large clock and figurines are still in the front of the ride and cue. I'm sure the climate of rainy Florida made that a necessity to keep the guests dry by moving in indoors.

The new Snow White ride that is still under construction. It's based on the Dwarfs and their mine. Looks like it will be a fun, small coaster.

JT tried to pull the sword out of the stone.

Lindsay didn't have much luck either.

Back side of the castle.

The only way through- a congested passage to the front of the park.

There was a large stage area in front of the castle where several performances took place during the day.

Walt , Mickey, and the beautiful illuminated castle.

Mickey and Minnie topiary's.

Belle's castle that sits atop of the new Be Our Guest restaurant.

Some more stores and places to eat that are from Belle's village. Just love that cocky Gaston!

Ariel's home that sits near her new ride and place you can meet her.

A place we frequented during our Magic Kingdom visit- Thunder Mountain! One of JT's top rides from all of the parks.

Though JT loves Thunder Mountain, he was very excited to go to the Stitch attraction! JT loves this show- probably his favorite Disney show right now. 

On our last day I was so exited to see Stitch was out. 

If you aren't familiar with Lilo and Stitch, he is quite mischievous. After he took JT's hat off, he rubbed it in his armpit-gross! JT talked about that for the rest of the day.

After Stitch  rearranged John's hat sideways, we were ready for a family photo.

Time for JT's first driving experience. 

Note the thumbs up ;)

JT was very focused on driving his car with great care.

Approaching the turn.

Pure joy right there- love it!

The Apedaile women followed the guys up. 

Courtney ready for her turn at the wheel.


It won't be long before she is on the road for real. Ahhhh!!

Courtney did great driving.

John and I switched and I had a turn with JT. He loved this ride so much.

Thank goodness for the track in the center. Not quite road ready yet, JT.

A great spot for a family shot.

Just a bit further down, we found an even better spot!

One of the spots I wanted to make sure to go to during our time at the Magic Kingdom. 

I have read a lot about the Dole Whips. It's a treat that is only offered in this spot and is delicious! It's a pinapple juice float with your choice of orange soft serve (left side), or pineapple soft serve (right side). So we tried both- hard to choose which one we enjoyed better. Though you can also select vanilla bean soft serve, which we had for JT without juice which was very good. Might try vanilla Dole Whip next time!

Discovered taking a photo at the entrance at the end of the day is far easier and less crowded than the morning.

When we left Monday, we took the ferry back to the parking lot.

Thumbs up once again from JT and showing off his new Disney cars.

Watching the birds and the other ferry passing by.

Saying goodbye to the Magic Kingdom.

Thanks for the memories! It was a wonderful trip and Christmas celebration for the Apedaile6.