Sunday morning and it was finally my real birthday! In Disney World! Don’t worry, I had been wearing my birthday button all weekend long and probably had about 50 cast members wish me a happy birthday. That’s the neatest feeling!
We started the day with a trip on the railroad around the park, something we hardly ever do. It’s nice to just be taken around and know that you’ll end up where you started, and can continue your trip down Main Street.
I love spending the day in the Magic Kingdom. It’s my favorite park by far. I love the fantasy, I love the magic and I love the imagination. I could spend every day there if they would let me!
That afternoon, we headed over to Epcot and ate at Via Napoli. I had the most amazing quatro formagio pizza – seriously the best pizza I ever had in my life. Wow.
After lunch, I got to chat with my mom on Skype back in the room. I love that technology allows me to see her smiling face wishing me a happy birthday when I was on vacation. She and the in-laws and husband gave me my birthday present which I’m keeping a secret for now – someday soon I can reveal it, I hope!
There’s something so much more special when Cinderella Castle is lit up at night. I made sure that we got to see it after dark on this trip. I also made a requirement of the Main Street Electrical Parade. It replaced SpectroMagic, the only nighttime parade I had ever seen, and I had to see the classic original for the Magic Kingdom.
Tinker Bell leads it off, after all!
We tried to find a space on Main Street but with so many people there on Sunday night of a holiday weekend, it was almost impossible. We ended up in Frontierland and there were a few spots up front. Hubs was standing on something up behind me to get this picture – see me in the middle, right under the “e” in my ears? :)
The Fairy Godmother was with Cinderella, of course, and saw my birthday button as she went by. She waved, smiled and said Happy Birthday, princess! I grinned from ear to ear the rest of the night.
This parade was amazing. The lights, the song, all the cast members that participated. I love Spectro but I can see why people wanted this one to come back so much!
On the way out that night, a cast member had grabbed a broom to doodle a Mickey on the ground in the remaining rain from earlier in the night. It’s just one of those extra touches that make this place more than a theme park. Sorry. I’m starting to sound like a brochure!
It’s so hard to say goodbye to this place. It’s my favorite place to visit. I’m even more excited to come back this time around - I’ll be taking my mother and brother for the first time in recent memory. We visited when we were kids, but this time? I know how to get around the crowds, which rides to avoid, and how much fun we can really have. Mom will have a better time because she won’t be dealing with a 7 and 12 year old and all the stuff that goes along with that. I’m hoping that they both have an awesome time – brother is already getting excited, and helped me picked out some dining reservations.
But we had to say good bye to the King Kamehameha Club, the concierge loge at the Polynesian. We’ll be back someday when we have another big thing to celebrate.
We had to say goodbye to the Polynesian, which has become our favorite hotel to date.
We had to say goodbye to the monorail, perhaps the most awesome mode of transportation.
I made a wish in the wishing well and I know it will come true… in December!
I can’t wait to go back!
102 days and counting… :)
Thanks for sharing your memories! I've only ever seen the Electrical Parade. Apparently it had been gone for several years before I worked at Disney & came back while I was there. Then it went away and returned last year again when we were back for a visit! It's definitely a must see!
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