How to Do Disney World in 15 Hours

 We were all up early to be on the road to Disney by 7:00 a.m.  Hunter had given us instructions to be there early so we followed instructions.

Welcome to Disney World. It is 7:15 a.m.

Mickey Mouse says "Hi.  Welcome to my Magic Kingdom where everything is magical including the way your money "magically disappears on food and souvenirs."

We were parked in the third row of the parking lot.  We have never parked so close but then we have never been in the parking lot at 7:15 a.m.  This is the view of the sunrise from the boat we took from the parking lot to the main entrance to the park.  It looks like it will be a nice day!

We were lucky to experience Disney World's 50th Anniversary Celebration.  It will end next week.  Carol and I were lucky to be at the park 50 years ago when it first opened and now we are here at the 50th celebration.  So much has changed.  When we were here in 1971 only the Magic Kingdom was here and it wasn't finished.  One ride "Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea" was still being constructed.  Now that ride is no longer here and another is in it's place.  Also Magic Kingdom was the only "world" here...no Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, water parks, campground...so many changes.

Looking at Cinderella's Castle from Main Street.  Notice the 50th anniversary symbol on the front.  The streets aren't crowded...not at 7:30 a.m.!

Soon this nearly empty street would be filled with crowds of people.  At 9:30 the Warrensburg-Lathan High School Marching Band would march up this street.  I have a video that I can't get downloaded and a single picture of the star trombone player, Hunter Ozee, but again the "cloud" didn't give me access to it.  IF at a later date, I can get it downloaded, it will be at the end of this blog.

First ride of the day was the People Mover.  Jason didn't ride in the tram car with us and Keegan is pointing to the tram car behind at him.  This ride was here 50 years ago and Carol and I rode it then.  It is one of the calmer rides in Tomorrowland.

This is Aladdin's Lamp ride which Kara, Keegan, and Hunter and I rode.  Keegan is not much of a ride

 kid so he is very picky about what he will ride.  Before this, we rode the train that encircles the Kingdom.  He and Jason stayed on the train while the rest us continued riding rides.  I think he may have even taken a couple of short naps.  Everyone was happy.  I don't think Jason enjoys rides either.  We tried to ride only the ones that had less than an hour wait which weren't many. The lines seemed to move quickly and it was a beautiful day so we did stand in a few lines.

One of the things we all did was the Hall of Presidents.  It was cool and had nice seats along

with an interesting presentation of the presidents. Everyone enjoyed it, even Keegan.  

Here are Kara and Hunter as they ride the Big Thunder Mountain roller coaster.  It was the scariest ride any of us rode today.

These pictures are from It's a Small, Small World.  It is a very tame ride but the seats in the boats were very low and it was a miracle that Carol and I could get in and out of them.  There were several of the rides that caused me some concern about getting into and out of but we made it!  If Keegan continues with band, he will come to Disney his freshman year three years from now.  I don't know if I will be able to climb into and out of some of these rides.

This was our last ride of the day "The Haunted Mansion."  The wait was 55 minutes but the line moved quickly

Two very tired grandparents waiting to go into the Haunted Mansion

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Taken from the line at the Haunted Mansion.  Daylight is fading.

The day ended with a huge fireworks display over Cinderella's Castle.

  It lasted about 20 min and was very beautiful.  

Final pictures of the day. This is a picture of Jason, Hunter and Keegan.

Jason, Kara, Hunter, and Keegan Ozee.

Papaw, Meemaw, Hunter and  Keegan.  Time:  9:30 p.m.

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Jason and Carol doing their favorite thing to do....sit.  The rest of us were riding Aladdin's Magic Carpet.  I couldn't get this picture to download in its proper place so here it is at the end of the blog.  

We said our goodbyes to Hunter.  We had a great day with him.  It was tiring but we all enjoyed it.  The day was a beautiful, cloudless day with high temperature of 85 and low humidity. This will be Hunter's last band trip to Disney.  He will be graduating from high school in May.  Where has the time gone?    If Keegan continues with the band, he will be here in three years.  Depending on the physical condition of Carol and I, we may have to sit that trip out OR spend most of the time sitting and people watching.  We did some of that people watching today.  People are so interesting and with a huge crowd like we saw today, there are more then enough interesting people to keep a watcher busy.
We got back to the condo after ten, took showers and crashed.  Tomorrow will be less busy day.  The air conditioner went out in Jason's car so he and Carol are taking it to a repair shop while the rest of us visit Disney Springs.  In the evening we are going to visit John and Family.  It will be another long day but less active one.  That will be a nice day before the two long driving day we face Saturday and Sunday.

Here is the Number One trombone player for the Warrensburg-Lathan High School Marching Band.- Hunter Ozee