Today is the day! Walt Disney World is celebrating it’s 50th anniversary and we’re here in Magic Kingdom to cover it. Throughout the day’s events we will be updating this thread with our thoughts, photos and videos. Stay tuned and check out our social media pages along the way!
We’ve been in WDW since Sunday evening (the 26th) and have been surprised by the lack of crowds! Even yesterday, Animal Kingdom was a ghost town and we were able to ride Flight of Passage twice as well as the other headliners in under 4 hours. The biggest crowd we’ve seen was on the 29th for the finale of Happily Ever After. That said, Magic Kingdom was pretty empty throughout the day outside of Main Street for that show. We expect that all to change today.
As far as what’s debuting today in Magic Kingdom, Enchantment is the big one! That’s the new nighttime spectacular. We’ll also get to see the castle in all of its EARidescent glory, Casey’s Corner’s original piano player and a slew of other surprises we hope. We also plan to do many of Magic Kingdom’s classic attractions. While the photos won’t be as high quality as usual, we plan to update often so stop by and live vicariously through us. If you’re in the park, come say hi!
Update 7:45 AM
Good morning! We are in with the masses on Main Street and it’s a beautiful, muggy Florida’s morning. Main Street is absolutely packed, with lines wrapping through the whole land to get to various stores. While Early Entry is offered to hotel guests, no one is using that today. Instead most of us are in the hub waiting for the welcome show to start!
The mood is jovial and frequent cheers are breaking out without much reason. Well, I shouldn’t say that, there is a good reason! A ‘special presentation’ is about to happen by the castle and we’ll update before long about what happens. For now, here’s another photo!
Update 8:45 AM
After a few snafus with WiFi connections, I think we’re rolling now! The welcome show was short and sweet, with the fab five plus Daisy, Chip and Dale. I think there’s probably a name for those 8 but I don’t know what it is. Mickey and Minnie welcomed us and then were joined by all of their friends.
Battling WiFi ensued and then breakfast and our first 50th anniversary treat followed. The Not-So-Late-Tea at Cheshire Cafe was delicious! As was the Cheshire Cat Tail but there’s nothing new there. The plan for the morning includes rope dropping the Country Bears (10 AM) and seeing the original Casey’s Corner piano player. We’ll have both things on social media so follow along!
Update 9:30 AM
We had our first Disney celebrity showing, running into the president of Walt Disney World, Jeff Vahle, on Main Street. He was incredibly friendly, posing for pictures with a hoard of people around him. I was one of them!
UPDATE 10:30 AM
We wished the Country Bears a happy 50th birthday, as their first show of the day was at 10. The crowd wasn’t quite as raucous as they deserved but people were into it nonetheless! Afterwards, we came out to a character cavalcade with the fab five dressed in their very best. Here’s Facebook videos from both!
Update 12:15
A highlight of the day will undoubtedly be watching the Casey Corner’s original piano player, Randy. He performed a lively ragtime set and was living it up probably even more than he was 50 years ago. The crowd around him was large and we were lucky enough to get a spot close. Here’s a few photos and head over to our Facebook to see his entire set!
Update 1:45 PM
It’s a very strange day here, as there’s a large crowd and getting up and down Main Street is very hard. But wait times for rides are very short relative to most busy days. Everyone is just enjoying the atmosphere and in line for specialty merchandise and food. We are among them, as we head off to eat the Toad Burger and Friar’s Nook! We’ve done a few of the classics – Carousel of Progress, Tiki Room and another upbeat showing of Country Bear Jamboree! Here’s a few photos from the early afternoon!
Update 3 PM
It’s very hot, at least for this west coaster, so we’ve sought refuge inside of it’s a small world, Space Mountain and Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor. The wait times remain low but the crowd does seem to be slowing down a little and trying to get out of the sun. Main Street will start to fill up before long with people waiting for the new nighttime show. We’re trying to hold off on that until this evening though. If there’s anything you’d like to watch or see, leave a comment and we’ll try to do it and get a video of it!
Update 5:00 PM
Disney has added some nice touches for guests today. We were just notified, via My Disney Experience, that PhotoPass was complimentary today. They are also handing out posters to everyone at the end of the park day. While the offerings probably weren’t as grand as they once planned, they have gone out of their way to make today special for guests. By the way, it’s time for another round of the Country Bears!
Update 6:00 PM
We’ve found a spot in Pinocchio Village Haus right by the windows overlooking it’s a small world. Unfortunately, the only issue at the park today seems to be mobile ordering. I think the system has been overloaded and the arrival times are way off. It’s not a big deal to me, as I was ready for a seat in air-conditioning for a while and the view isn’t bad while we wait. I’ve never eaten here so we’ll have a new review for the blog down the road.
Another cool thing at Magic Kingdom today is the Frontierland Shooting Arcade is free! We spent a little time there, trying to hit all of the targets and see what they do. Before long, we’ll head to Main Street and join the masses to find a spot for Enchantment. The updates will probably start to slow down at that point and we’ll have a review of Enchantment late tonight. Thanks again for following along and drop us a comment if you want to see anything specific!
Update 8:00 PM
After doing some shopping and a birthday showing of the Country Bears, we have a place on Main Street for the fireworks. It’s a decent spot although I’m not sure how photos will turn out for our review tonight!
There’s still a very festive atmosphere here and most people are in good spirits. It’s still warm enough for me to sweat a good deal but, well, that’s nothing new. People are excited for Enchantment, the street has a similar buzz to Happily Ever After the other night. It’s been a wonderful day here and I think and hope that everyone has had a wonderful time celebrating a place that is adored by so many.
Final Update (it’s late)
We’ve finished off our day at Magic Kingdom. I try to stay away from ever saying ‘magical’ on this blog but that’s what today was. I’m sure I’ll write about it in the future, but it’s special to be a part of an event so big that you know you’ll be talking about it in another 10, 20 or 50 years.
We love roller coasters, fireworks and animatronics. I’ve never met a slow boat ride that I didn’t fall for. But what makes this place special are the Cast Members and people who share this mutual love. The CM’s who continuously thanked us for coming at the end of an extremely long and hot day. It’s also the wonderful people who cheer for Big Al and are eager to talk to us about nighttime spectaculars. These are small moments but they’re the reason we look forward to the next 50 years. Thank you all for following along, it means the world! A Disney Enchantment review will be up soon, assuming I can stay awake long enough to write it!
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