Magic Kingdom

Sorry for the absence from blogging - just when I was finally making good on my resolution of blogging regularly. However, I know this hiatus would happen, as I just returned from Disney World yesterday afternoon. I am going to split my trip into at least four different posts - and here comes the first one!

Sarah and I spent our first full day at Magic Kingdom Park - the first park built at the Disney World Resort. It holds Cinderella's Castle, the famous Space Mountain and plenty of Disney characters and shows. It is a great first impression of Disney World and all it's magic and we couldn't wait to get started.

Me with Belle - my favorite Disney princess (must be the brown hair!)

The beautiful castle!

We started out the day with a short run, just to prepare ourselves for the half marathon the next day before getting a delicious breakfast at our hotel and catching the shuttle to Magic Kingdom.

Let the Memories Begin!

Once inside, we quickly made our way over to Tomorrowland so we could ride Space Mountain, before the line got too crazy. We were really glad we rode it early because when we went back early in the day, the wait time was 85 minutes! Space Mountain is a roller coaster that takes place in the dark, so you can't see what twists and turns lie ahead of you. It is an extremely popular ride and really a lot of fun. A must-do roller coaster if you are ever at Magic Kingdom.

Sarah and I in line for Space Mountain

We then wanted to find Splash Mountain - another pretty popular ride at Magic Kingdom. This one is a log ride and those are some of my absolute favorite rides of all time. Before that, however, we found the Dumbo ride! Even though it is mainly a ride for little kids, we couldn't resist riding it, as it is part of the Disney fun.

Sarah and I on the Dumbo ride!

We finally found Splash Mountain over in Frontierland, and we quickly discovered that it would become our favorite ride of the park because we rode it three times. Yes, we took the fifty-foot plunge three times and I feel confident that had the line not gotten so long and the fast pass return time so late, we would have ridden it over and over again. It is well worth the wait though, because it is a very long log ride and when it says you may get wet, it means you will DEFINITELY get wet!

Splash Mountain round two - before getting hit by a monsoon!

Sitting in the front means you get SOAKED!

Round three - HORNS UP!

We rode plenty of other rides - those were just the most memorable! We also stopped on Main Street to watch the big Disney parade with all of the princesses and characters and it was done so well! Disney does a phenomenal job of catering to its guests and really giving them a great experience!

We were ready for dinner around 4:00 because we would be going to bed around 7:30pm for a 3:15am wake-up call the next morning, and after a little stint with a restaurant located within Magic Kingdom, we decided to head back to our hotel and grab dinner there. It was delicious and the perfect pre-race meal.

Shortly after that we got ready for bed, where it took me quite some time to fall asleep, despite all the walking and fun we had had that day. 7:30 is just rather early, especially when it felt like 6:30 Texas time!

Look for the Half-Marathon post coming next!