paul riley

By the time mid-afternoon arrived, we could not stand the excitement any longer and decided that we must spend at least a couple of hours at a Disney theme park, and the obvious choice was the Magic Kingdom. So we quickly rounded up the bits we felt we would need at the park, jumped in the car and set off. Driving to a Disney park is not as horrendous as it might seem, as you come off of the 192 you join the road systems that Disney themselves have built, indicated by different colour road signs, and the roads are more than up to the task, World Drive itself provides three and four lanes of free flowing traffic all the way to the car park payment booths.

A note of caution to those who have not visited the Magic Kingdom in Disney World, the car parks are a long way from the park itself, transport is provided from you car to the transportation and ticket centre, and from there to the entrance to the kingdom itself, but be warned you should allow half an hour to get from the park back to you car.

Our first visit we were blessed with parking quite close to the transportation and ticket centre, a short trip on the car park tram and we were there trying to decide what would be the form of transport we would use to get to the Magic Kingdom. You have two choices, firstly and most obviously is the Monorail which passes over head and on the way to the park though one of the Disney resort hotels, the second and possibly easier not to notice is the Staten Island style ferries. For our first visit it had to be the Monorail, this transportation system feels as iconically Disney as Main Street and Cinderella's castle.

The actual entry into the park is very quick and straight forward, first there is the bag search, which appears to only be interested in you really shouldn't be taking into a theme park, unlike the UK where parks jealously protect their concession stands, Disney does not care how much food and drink you bring in with you, after all at some point during your visit you will buy something to eat and drink. Once past the bag check it's on to the ticket barrier which for children is simply a case of swiping the ticket through the machine, for adults a single finger print ensures that the ticket you are using is yours.

Walt Disney World Resort - Magic Kingdom

Now we were officially in the Magic Kingdom and once you walk though the passage way under the steam train station you find your self in the station square with Main Street U.S.A. in front of you. Now I don't care what your age is, you will for a few moments find your first ever sight of Main Street and Cinderella's Castle in the distance surreal and moving, I guess its like finding yourself entering a fairy tale, the modern worlds stresses and strains are left outside the gate and you know in this place everyone will live happily ever after.

As you make you way down Main Street you will notice that nothing is left to chance, ironically there is nothing 'Mickey Mouse' about the buildings around you (how cruel we are to a character and his creator who both only want to bring happiness). The period I guess is turn of the century (twentieth that is), a period where the shops themselves inspire wonder in children, and those adults regressing back into childhood. The candy stores serve more as a theatre with sweet makers working within the full glare of the customers eye sight, and the smell of sugar all but over powering, Willy Wonka has nothing on the employees of Disney.

The toy and gift shops equally are more about allowing the kid inside to have fun, with sales assistants actively encouraging that you play with the toys, while the eye's on Mickey, Minnie, Donald and co. watch approvingly all around you. Back out in the street Disney has cast (a very apt alternative name for their employees) in costume whose task appears to be to remove from your mind any lasting vestige of cynicism, all members of the cast that we met demonstrated a level of acting skills that could see them on the stage of any theatre, there is nothing Hi-De-Hi here.

Eventually Main Street brings you to THE iconic symbol of the Disney corporation, Cinderella's castle, a structure that towers in its majesty over those stood staring up at it. Cleverly the castle itself is in every aspect the centre of the park, with the various lands leading of on the plaza in front of it.

As previously mentioned, this was the first full day of our holiday and we had intended that this would be a brief introduction for the kid to the world of Disney theme parks. We had also come along not completely sure how the kids would take to the crowds and the rides, but their initial reaction to the sights that they had seen were everything that we had hoped for so it seemed a good idea to stretch the visit out with a ride and then a dinner at the park. Because of the uncertainty of their reaction to any of the rides we decided to start with a very mild ride staring characters that they would instantly recognise and chose the Monsters, Inc. Laughter floor attraction in Tomorrowland.

Coming up Main Street, when you arrive at the plaza in front of Cinderella's castle, you will find Tomorrowland is the first path to you right, with very 1950's style futuristic builds a little way off, the Monsters, Inc. Laughter floor attraction is on the right hand side as you enter Tomorrowland.

How to describe the attraction. Well, think of it as an interactive comedy show for children with, as you'd expect from a Pixar inspired movie, plenty for the adults to laugh at too. As with almost all of the attractions and rides at the Disney parks we found the queuing system very efficient, with an accurate wait time displayed, and the option of a fast pass should you wish to return later to go on the ride. You will also find that with consideration to the temperatures that can be attained in the Orlando area, in most cases the queues are indoors, in air conditioned areas, so in some instances queuing can be something of a relief. And the response from the kids to the ride, well pretty favourable, though we could see that jetlag was now taking hold of the kids and decided a quick dinner and home.

Walt Disney World Resort - Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor

Towards the top of Tomorrowland you'll find Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe, a large fast food restaurant that proved to be both efficiently run as well as entertaining in its own right. The theme is space and a restaurant presumably once a venue beings would venture light years to dine at, but is now a faded pastiche of it's former self, complete with lounge bar entertainer playing the science fiction equivalent of lift musak. The layout of the counters is inspired with the tills in front of the serving counters in such a way that by the time you get to the counter your food is waiting to be collected. The dinning area again was laid out perfectly, nobody was spotted having to wait for a table to become available, the staff continually buzzed around ensuring all tables and the floor was clean and well presented.

By the time we had finished our dinner, the heat/tiredness/change in diet/jetlag (delete were applicable) had finally proved to much for our youngest and we raced to get back to the car, and then back to the villa.

Back at the villa we pretty much all retired to bed, exhausted but elated with our first visit to the Magic Kingdom.