Magic Kingdom Archives ~ My Dreams of Disney

Fall at Walt Disney World

September 26, 2019 by Mike Ellis

Visiting Walt Disney World in the Fall!

The cooler temperatures. The crisp sky. The decorations. Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. These are just some of the reasons why visiting Walt Disney World in the fall can be an absolutely incredible experience for you and your family.

This year — shoot, next week, people! — my wife, daughter, and I are going to be doing just that! We will be staying at The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort from Thursday – Sunday, and visiting with our friends from California! Such an exciting time, and full of some experiences that many of them have never encountered before!

How’s this for a list of firsts:

This will be the first time we have stayed in a Wilderness Cabin.
For everyone except me, this will be the first time we will taking in Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party!
For everyone except me, this will be the first time they will have been to Universal Studios Orlando and Islands of Adventure.
For my family, we are taking this trip also to explore schools in the area, so this will be the first time we have done that.

For all of those firsts, there are a lot of things that we have done before. We have been to Walt Disney World in the fall before, and absolutely love it! This will be another great reunion of our two families, and we are so excited about it. Also, it is a great time to remember what living is all about, and to give thanks for all of our blessings that we have been given.

So, what about you? Do you have any travel plans coming up that you want to talk about? Let us know in the comments, and as always, thanks for stopping by! Last thing — get ready for a contest with a super awesome prize (at least, it is in my mind, hopefully you agree!) in the next couple of days!

Disney Dining Review: Casey’s Corner

August 14, 2019 by Mike Ellis

Casey’s Corner

Wander down Main Street, U.S.A. in the Magic Kingdom towards Cinderella Castle, and you are going to find on your left a little quick-service restaurant called Casey’s Corner. This restaurant is home to a great hot dog, and located outside is the great piano where you can sometimes hear some great old-time music playing!

While the bleachers and movie that gave Casey’s it’s distinctive feel are now gone, I still have memories from before of sitting there with my Grandparents and enjoying my hot dog. However, while the bleachers are gone, they have expanded the seating, so that’s a bonus. Of course, if you can’t find seating indoors, you can also look for seating outside. Often that will comprise leaning against a railing, or walking across Main Street to get to the seating over by the Plaza, but there is usually places to find seating. Of course, if you have a hot dog with ketchup and relish, then maybe you just want to wander around and look at things while eating your hot dog. That’s cool too!

Ultimately, though, to me, what makes Casey’s great is it’s hot dogs. That’s why I go there, what about you? Love Casey’s Corner or leave it? Leave me a comment below and thanks for stopping by!

Can I help you plan your next Disney trip? If so, send me an email to mike@pixievacations.com, or feel free to request a free, no-obligation quote online today! Thanks for spending time with us today, and please tell me in the comments what your favorite Walt Disney World attraction is! Thanks, and have a great Disney day!

Our most Under-Appreciated Attractions at Walt Disney World

June 5, 2019 by Mike Ellis

Under-Appreciated Attractions

The other night at dinner, I asked my wife Cindy and daughter Sophie what the most under-appreciated attractions were at each of the four main Walt Disney World Parks. These are attractions or shows that a lot of people seem to forget about seeing or riding, but are ones that we almost always experience during our trip. What do you think your list would look like? Let us know in the comments below, and thanks! For now, though, take a look at our list and let us know if you agree or disagree with them!

Magic Kingdom

We start our trip at the Magic Kingdom. There are so many great attractions here that it’s hard to come up with just one, but we’ve worked it out.

Sophie’s choice for the Magic Kingdom is the Hall of Presidents. This attraction is a great show that reminds us all of the history of our country, but it seems to be an under-appreciated attraction. This may be changing, though, with the elections of President Obama in 2008 and 2012, and then President Trump in 2016.

For Cindy, her most under-appreciated attraction is the Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor. As a family, we (ok, me if I must be honest) have always liked the corny jokes and the way the camera shines on unsuspecting guests in the audience. In fact, we even texted in a joke that was said during the show! Here is the joke, for those that want a groan (or a laugh):

Why did the chicken cross the road? Answer: To get away from KFC!

Not sure why no one laughed but me…

Swiss Family Treehouse shot of the water transport system.

For me, my under-appreciated attraction is the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. The only thing that this thing has going against it is that it is not ADA-compliant, which is a shame for wheelchair bound guests. This attraction is a favorite of mine because it has such great views of other areas of the park, and I can imagine sleeping here at night if I were allowed to spend the night in the park. What fun that would be!

Later on, we’ll take a look at our under-appreciated attractions at Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios Park. For now, though, we’re going to stop at the Magic Kingdom. Let me know what your selections are, and thanks for stopping by!

Magic Kingdom Attraction Guide – Splash Mountain

May 21, 2019 by Mike Ellis

Attraction Name: Splash Mountain
Attraction Type: Boat Ride, drops, wet
Height Requirements: 40″
Location: Frontierland
Hours of Operation: All Day
FastPass+: Book early

Magic Kingdom Attraction Guide – Splash Mountain

With Summer just around the corner, it seemed like a fitting time to talk about one of my (and Sophie’s, too!) absolute favorite attractions at the Magic Kingdom: Splash Mountain!

This attraction is a slow moving raft ride that walks us through the story of Brier Rabbit in the Disney moving Song of the South. With incredibly detailed scenes, wonderful music, and a bit of thrill added in, this attraction is not only a great way to get away from the heat of the day, but it’s also a relaxing ride — to a point, anyway — that will give you a chance to rest your weary feet.

Although this attraction accepts FastPass reservations, I have known times when I’ve not needed a FastPass to get a quick entrance to the ride. Typically, though, that involves riding very early in your day, not at 3PM on a hot summer afternoon. Also, be very aware that you will probably get very wet on this ride. Sometimes I don’t get very wet, but my wife, she almost always is drenched. Lastly, if you have little ones, remember that there are several small drops that can startle you and then, of course, the 52′ drop that you see as you approach the ride — so if you or your little ones are nervous about such things, you may want to wait a year and try it out next year. If you wish, you can watch the video below from iThemePark to get an idea for yourself!

Splash Mountain is a great attraction, and one of my favorites at Magic Kingdom. Is it one of your favorites as well? Let me know, and thanks for stopping by! Feel free to leave a comment below!

Missing the Magic Series: Wishes

February 12, 2019 by Mike Ellis

May 11, 2017 was the last time that Wishes was seen at the Magic Kingdom park at Walt Disney World. Removed so that the Happily Ever After Fireworks show could be presented, the closing of Wishes was hard for many Disney fans to take. In the last week or so, I’ve been hit with the nostalgia bug while walking our dog River, and we’ve been listening to our music for Wishes in the morning. That reminiscing is what led to the idea of writing about the things that we are missing at Walt Disney World. We’re calling this series “Missing the Magic”.

For the longest time, I was not a fan of fireworks of any sort. Wishes, Illuminations, your local 4th of July fireworks, the fireworks at the State Fair in Raleigh, NC, I wasn’t having it for any of them. But then, one day my wife Cindy suggested that Sophie and I get earplugs for when the fireworks were going on, and a love for the fireworks was born.

I have a lot of great memories of Wishes from over the years. Sadly, though, my fireworks picture taking skills are limited, so I have very few good pictures. One of my favorite experiences, though was the day that we saw and heard Wishes while having dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table!

Are you missing Wishes today? If you are, have a look at the Magic Kingdom 40th Anniversary Wishes, courtesy of YouTube and the fine folks over at WDWMagic!

What are you missing from Walt Disney World? Let me know in the comments below, or reach out to me our social media sites to let me know. Lastly, if all you are missing is being at Walt Disney World, shoot me an email and let’s talk about how we can make that wish come true for you and your family! Email me at mike@pixievacations.com, and thanks for stopping by today!

Fall at Walt Disney World

Visiting Walt Disney World in the Fall!

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Disney Dining Review: Casey’s Corner

Casey’s Corner

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Our most Under-Appreciated Attractions at Walt Disney World

Under-Appreciated Attractions

Magic Kingdom

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Magic Kingdom Attraction Guide – Splash Mountain

Magic Kingdom Attraction Guide – Splash Mountain

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Missing the Magic Series: Wishes

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Visiting Walt Disney World in the Fall!

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Casey’s Corner

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Under-Appreciated Attractions

Magic Kingdom

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Magic Kingdom Attraction Guide – Splash Mountain

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