Taking someone to Disney for the very fist time is so special! This week we got to take my father in law (Poppy) to the Magic Kingdom for his very first trip to Disney! We played hooky from school and work to make a day of it with Nanny and Poppy. While Nanny had been before, it was almost 40 years ago. This was such a cool experience, it’s not every day you get to experience someone’s first Castle, Pirates and Spring Rolls kind of day.
Rides & Attractions
It was a lowish crowd level day in the Magic Kingdom. Wouldn’t call it slow but was not super crowded, which was really nice. The weather couldn’t have been more beautiful. Nice and cool in the morning and evening and a sunny, breezy 75 in the afternoon. We got into the park around 11am by way of the ferry boat and set off into the kingdom! We hit up Adventureland first. Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse and Pirates of the Caribbean were up first. From there we made our way into Frontierland. We took a long hard look at Tiana’d Bayou Adventure and decided we didn’t want to be wet the rest of the day.
We made our way to Haunted Mansion next. Did you know there is this crazy looking scrim that’s just a picture of the mansion covering the actual mansion up?! We maybe waited around 20 minutes here and it was interesting to see what my Mother in law (Nanny) remembered about this ride. She remembered nothing really of the actual ride but did remember the pre-show areas. We made a stop at the best bathrooms in Magic Kingdom on our way to Fantasyland. Because did you go to Magic Kingdom if you didn’t see the Tangled bathrooms?
Next was Enchanted Tales with Belle where we watched the best tiny Beast ever! We almost got on Dumbo but decided the spinning was a no go and settled for a picture in the stationary Dumbo. Carousel of Progress, People Mover, Monster’s Inc Laugh Floor, we were on a roll! Little to no wait for most everything we did. We caught the last Castle stage show, went over to Hall of Presidents and then it was time to catch the boat to go to dinner!
Disney Food
You can’t have a day in Magic Kingdom without some staple park foods! We made sure Nanny and Poppy were introduced to the masterpiece that is Adventureland Spring Rolls and got five stars on those. We had to stop and get some Dole Whips too. Floats, Pineapple, Coconut, we got a little of everything! Poppy’s first trip to Disney came complete with a popcorn bucket filled to the brim and a refill later in the day and some Joffrey’s coffee.
First Trip to Disney Dinner
We did dinner at the Wilderness Lodge at Whispering Canyon Cafe. This gave us a chance to take a nice boat ride from Magic Kingdom and to explore a resort a little. This is one of our favorite places because it’s so silly and interactive. Not only was the food great and 6 people ate dinner for under $200 but we got to have a little fun too. We got ALL the ketchup and gave ALL the ketchup away. We went for a horse ride around the restaurant, played with giant silverware and even got put in jail! Everyone loved their food and left full and happy.
Disney Characters
We had no real plan for the day. No specific characters to meet or rides to ride. Just going where the day takes us. The day would not have taken us to waiting in line for characters! Haha! But, Magic Kingdom had a plan for this first trip to Disney! We ran into Liverlips McGrowl and Big Al on our way out of Frontierland and had the best interactions with them. They loved Poppy and these two interactions were perfect!
Over in Tomorrowland, Nanny and I got to have a little interaction and conversation with chipmunk Dale. He was so happy to see us and made such a big deal about taking pictured with Nanny and Poppy once he caught up with us. Not only were these unexpected character interactions, they were some of the best ones I have seen in a while. We definitely got the characters on a good day! It was really great seeing Nanny and Poppy get to be like kids and be so into these interactions.
Conclusion
We honestly couldn’t have asked for a better day. This first trip to Disney with Nanny and Poppy was so special. We got to do so much and getting to just see them relaxed and enjoying their day was so nice. No running from one thing to the next, we didn’t have a huge agenda or lists of things to do. We just went and if we wanted to do it we did or if it presented itself we went for it!
We even had the best photo pass shoot outside the beasts castle. Didn’t make it back for fireworks so that will have to be for next time, but that’s ok. We live here and can take them back! Maybe next time we will do a little staycation at a resort. The possibilities are endless when you live down the street from Disney World! We absolutely had a magical day and I hope you did too!
Bonus Round!
This weekend I will be “running” the Disney Princess 10k and Half Marathon with St Jude’s Children’s Hospital. I have been fund raising for them and would love it if you would help me reach my goal! Every $30 donated pays for another childs “No More Chemo” Party so truly every little bit helps. No family ever pays for care at St Judes so every penny raised will be helping, supporting and providing great care for families and children struggling with disease. You can donate here and I would be forever grateful if you could share this with as many people as possible, even if you can’t donate! Thank you so much and stay tuned for a Princess Weekend recap next week!
