Day 42, 28th September 2011. Orlando. Disney/Magic Kingdom!!

Had set my alarm for 7.15am, but I was awake at 6.30 because I was so excited. I tried to go back to sleep because I knew we had a long day ahead of us but I was way too happy so sleep. I played with my phone for a while before just giving up and getting ready for the day. It was silly for me to be so excited to go to the only place on the whole trip that I had been to before, but I knew what an amazng day we had ahead of us I couldn't control myself.

When me, Gary and Kirsty were ready , we went outside to meet Zoe, Justine and Simone who were the girls in the other group that were going to the Magic Kingdom with us. They asked if they could spend the day with us as I could show them around and of course I was happy to. Mark drove us to the Magic Kingdom and we arrived at the TTC at about 8.20am. Mark then tried to tell us what way to go to get our tickets and the monorail, nobody listened to him because they knew they had me and I knew much better than he did. I told him that we didn't want picking up until 10pm because we of course wasn't going to miss Wishes. I made Gary sit in the front of the van on the way in to make sure we got the obligatory drive through the gates to WDW shot.

WE'RE HOME!

The first thing we did when we got to the TTC was get Gary a wheelchair. His foot was still hurting a little and he couldn't walk very fast. I didn't want to deal with him moaning or walking slowly all day. Not going to lie it was also a huge benefit of not having to line up for any rides. I know all WDW fans get annoyed by people in wheelchairs not queueing (me included, usually) but I thought after years and years of seeing them let in the fastpass lines that we should make the most of our situation and get the wheelchair. We then went o get our tickets, and I asked for first visit badges for the rest of the group, as they would not know about them, so it was a nice thing to surprise them with.

Let the memories begin!!

Got on the monorail over to MK

When we got there we actually got to watch the opening ceremony. Funnily enough, Gary and I have only ever seen it in MK once before, compared to loads of times in the other parks, and it was SO magical. I had a tear in my eye, I was so overwhelmed with happiness. That feeling never gets old or goes away. For that reason alone I know I will continue to go to Disney for the rest of my life and people that think Disney is just for kids and don't want to go, well more fool them!

Gary waiting for the opening ceremony in his wheelchair, another benefit of it was we could pile all of our shopping on his lap, at the end of the day there was at least 20 bags hung on the handles, haha!

It was nice to see everyones reactions to Main Street and the Castle, although I count myself lucky that I have been so many times, I feel like I take seeing things like that for granted. Seeing the Castle for me is no big deal, so it was nice to see them get all excited and take loads of photos while I just casually took one to add to my collection. First stop was Splash Mountain. This ride is my 100% favourite ride for getting that 'Disney feeling' so it is always first stop in the Magic Kingdom. Also because if you get wet, at least you ca dry off by midday.

We did our first queue jump thanks to Gary's wheelchair. Everyone loved the ride and we all got wet.

After Splash, we went on Thunder Mountain, which made Kirsty scream, a lot, and then went to see the Country Bear Jamboree so we could sit down for a while. Yep, we needed a rest already and we were only 3 attractions in! We passed a hat stall in Frontierland and of course played the trying on hats game. Me, Kirsty and Gary tried on raccoon hats so we could send the photo to Aaron because they reminded us of him, because he always used to wear one.

Next stop, Fantasyland. We went on It's a Small World first. I was worried that people might say mean things about it because of it's reputation of being very annoying. No matter what anyone says I could literally listen to the music all day, it will never annoy me, but thankfully no one said anything bad (apart from Gary, but I've grown to expect that from him)

After IASW, Peter Pan's Flight was next. No matter how old I get, flying over London on that ride makes me feel like a kid again. Then we went to see PhilharMagic, and everyone of course loved it, pure Disney magic every time.

Have to take a 3D glasses photo every time!!

We then went on Snow White's Adventures and then stopped for another rest and got something to eat from Pinnochio Village Haus. We had hotdogs and I got my favourite Disney treat, a frozen lemonade. While the others sat and ate, my inner Disney geek went to take some photos of the Fantasyland expansion.

We then went on Winnie the Pooh, which Justine was so excited for as she is the biggest Winnie fan! This was the only ride of the day that we didn't get to shortcut because of the wheelchair, so we lined up for about 20 minutes I think. It was quite a quiet day inside the park, but we definitely got more done due to the queue jumping. So thanks Gary, for hurting your foot!

Me and Kirsty's watermelon nails on a watermelon in the queue for Pooh.

Playing games in the line

Next was the Haunted Mansion and we had loads of fun in the line, looking at all the cool stuff. Me and Gary never usually pay attention to things like this, so it was nice that being there with newbies made us appreciate the little details.

We went on Space Mountain after, that didn't go to well with the group. Kirsty screamed the whole time, and Justine was dizzy when we got off. By the time we got off Space, it was about 2pm, so I decided we should go and sit down on Main Street to get ourselves a spot to view the parade from.
As everyone was sitting down I decided to go have a little wander. I went to a stand at the top of Main St to get some pins and then bought Gary an ice cream to keep him happy so I could look around the shops a bit more. I decided not to buy anything straight away because we still had the rest of the day. I got a bracelet and a really nice T-shirt and was served by the same cast member that had sold me the pins up the street, so we chatted. He was really nice, I told him about our trip, and that we came to WDW alot. I love Disney cast members, they are so nice!

I thought I better get back as it was about half past 2 and it was getting busy out there even though I had only been in one shop. When I got back I had an 'idea' and told Gary that my camera had run out of batteries and I needed to go down to the front end of Main Street to get some more batteries. I don't even know how he could have beleived this because I have a fear of my camera running out of batteries so always have an endless supply.

My real aim was to go and look at the Dooney and Bourke bags. I had some money that my parents had given me to spend on my birthday (which was in 2 weeks) and I had planned to use it to buy a Dooney bag in Disneyland at the end of the trip, but I thought as we were here in WDW, I might as well have a little look..... to cut a long story short, 10 minutes later I had gone to get Gary (and his credit card, as I didn't have the money with me) and I was sitting back on Main Street waiting for the parade with this :) <3

It's the one I had my eye on for months, and I figured I might as well get it now, because I was going to buy it in DL anyway. I was served my the same cast member again, how funny, and when I came back and showed it to Kirsty and the others, they all loved it and said it was beautiful.

Parade time!!

I don't have any other photos of the parade as I videoed most of it, but I don't know how to put video's on here, maybe when I do I will come back and put them in. The parade was good, but it was so hot out, by the end of it we were all covered in sweat. Nice, lol. By the time it was finished we all ran into the closest shop to get some aircon. We decided to all do some shopping and said we would meet in a certain spot in 20 minutes time. I bought some presents for people, 2 Vinylmations and a 40th Anniversary Minnie Mouse, which I was so excited about because the 40th celebrations didn't start until Saturday.

Next stop was Adventureland, we went on The Jungle Cruise first, then Pirates of the Carribean, one of my all time favourites. Bought a Tshirt and some earrrings in the Pirate shop and then me and Gary went to the Encanted Tiki Room while the rest of the girls got a hair wrap. I really love that they have reverted back to the old Tiki Room, it's much more classic Disney to me.

Gary felt he needed to stretch his legs a little so he walked for a while, and Kirsty rode in the wheelchair. Zoe pushed the wheelchair for most of the day, every time I did Gary would tell me off for ramming into someone

We were heading to Tommorowland and passed by the Castle on the way. We saw the 'Move it, shake it, celebrate it' parade going on so we stopped to watch that and then took some photos around the Castle and the Partners Statue.

Then went into Tomorrowland to go on Buzz Lightyear. By the time we got off it was 6.30pm and we needed to get something to eat so that we could sit down in plenty of time to watch the Main Street Electrical Parade. It was getting really overcast also. Had some dinner in Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe, it was quite good food. Never eaten there before but definitely will again, it was good for counter service food.

I love Disney Halloween cups!

As soon as we finished eating we had to rush back to Main Street because it was getting busy. We got our front row seats and sat and waited. I know waiting for parades is boring, but theres no better place than Main Street to sit and do nothing. It's so beautiful in early evening when everything starts to light up, my favourite time of day in the Magic Kingdom.

Then it was time for the Main Street Electrical Parade to start. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that they have bought this back. I of course love Spectromagic, but this parade is classic Disney and I first saw this parade when I was 7 years old. On a side note here, that it what is so good about Disney, they know people love the 'old' things because they have memories attached to them. Unlike Universal who just get rid of all their classic rides to make way for new things (R.I.P Hanna Barbera, King Kong, Back to the Future and Jaws, I miss you).

Everyone loved the parade, again I don't have many photos because I videoed most of it. They all agreed that it was better then the daytime parade. I love the music for this parade so much. I'll put the video in when I figure out how.

After the parade was over, we moved closer to the Castle in preperation for Wishes, and also 'The Magic, the Memories and You' show that was on just before Wishes. Me and Gary had also never seen this before as it was brand new so didn't really have any expectations for it. WOW, it was AMAZING! Well done Disney! I recorded the 10 minute castle show so I don't have any photos, but I'm sure photos would not have captured the beauty of this show. It was all done with lights and there were loads of special effects on the castle. I was in shock of how good it was and wonder how on earth they did it. I will 100% put the video here, but until I do if you are curious, youtube it, it's so good.

Then it was time for Wishes. Of course I knew what to expect but everyone else was amazed with it. My camera took total crap photos of it, but my iPhone took some really good ones.

On the way out me and Gary had a mini argument because he got grumpy. He made me cry and I refused to leave the park until we made up because I didn't want to leave Disney angry. Then we made up and I cried some more because I didn't want to leave Disney. We lost the others because it was so busy.

When we finally got out the monorail was down and the queue was massive. We waited for a while and then decided to get the resort monorail instead and by the time we got back to the parking lot Kait was there waiting to pick us up. We got back to camp just before 11pm and showered and went straight to bed. I had the best day ever, and so did the others. I'm so glad they enjoyed Disney because I felt pressure because I was the one who they were following around. It is one of the best days we had, it was so long and tiring but worth it. Gary and I don't normally do a whole day in 1 park, we normally visit one in the morning and one in the evening, so it was the longest Disney day we had ever done, but we got so much done (thanks in part to the wheelchair). The memories from this day are so good and I'm glad I got to share it with new friends and show them some Disney magic..... :)