"I'm walking right down the middle of Main Street USA"

Walking Right Down the Middle of Main Street USA

Photo taken October 2016

We'll continue our tour of the Magic Kingdom with a stop at the first "land" you encounter: Main Street USA. Main Street USA in both Magic Kingdom and Disneyland Park are modeled after Walt Disney's childhood hometown of Marceline, Missouri. The feeling I get on Main Street is that of nostalgia. The design of the buildings. The costumes of the cast members. The carriages and streetcars that travel up and down Main Street throughout the day.

Another Disney factoid for you: the windows of Main Street USA feature different names. According to Disney legend Marty Sklar (one of my favorite Disney Imagineers), there are requirements for a name to appear on a Main Street window...namely retirement, a high level of achievement, and an agreement between the park management and Disney Imagineering*. The windows appear as fictitious businesses that typically relate to the persons interests or what they did. (For example: one of Walt Disney's windows refers to him as the Chief Engineer at the Walt Disney World Railroad Office-due to his love of trains).

Main Street USA is where you can meet the Big Cheese himself: Mickey Mouse. His meet and greet is quite unique in the Magic Kingdom because he actually talks to you! When I met him in 2015, he told my mother, sister and I all about the hitchhiking ghosts from the Haunted Mansion, then posed us as hitchhikers for our photo.

photo taken April 2015 with Disney's Memory Maker

Main Street USA is lined with shops, featuring everything from baked good to fine jewelry. The largest shop featured is the Emporium. There is also a barber shop, where guests can get their hair cut. There is also Main Street Bakery, featuring Starbucks coffee. At the end of Main Street there is the Plaza Restaurant and Ice Cream Parlor, and Casey's Corner. Down from Casey's Corner, with a stunning view of Cinderella Castle, is the Crystal Palace (which I will be giving a more in-depth review of in the future).

Main Street USA is a great welcome into the Magic Kingdom. It sets the stage for a magical day.

* while I had previously read this information, I did reference Wikipedia and its sources to garner more details for your reading pleasure. Here's a link to their page of all the windows throughout Disney properties. Main Street Window Honors

"Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy"

Magic Kingdom. The quintessential Disney experience. When most think of Walt Disney World, they think of Magic Kingdom.

Magic Kingdom is divided up into 6 different themed lands: Main Street USA, Adventureland, Frontierland, Liberty Square, Fantasyland, and Tomorrowland. Each land is connected to the central hub-Cinderella Castle. These lands are rich with theming. And so much attention to detail. Example: throughout Liberty Square, you see a wave of brown concrete that runs through the center of the main walkways. This signifies the sewage that was in the streets in Colonial America.

*photo taken in April 2015 

For me, Magic Kingdom marks the beginning. In most of my Disney trips that I can recall, this is the first park we have gone to on our first full day. I love walking in under the train station, seeing the old attraction posters, then walking around the square in Main Street to see the Castle. Every time it is just so magical. On my most recent trip to Walt Disney World, my husband and I had early morning reservations for the Crystal Palace, which granted us early entrance into Magic Kingdom. Being able to stroll down Main Street with barely anyone around us was absolutely amazing. They even had a PhotoPass photographer out near the Castle Hub. A picture with the Castle with not a lot of people in the background? Yes please! 

*photo taken October 2016

In planning for a day at Magic Kingdom, the best advice I can give is to plan to be there for what is known as "Rope Drop". This marks the beginning of the day at Magic Kingdom. Previously, this took place at the Main Street train station, with guests waiting right at the park entrance. It was recently changed to take place at the Cinderella Castle stage. Because of this move, guests are able to be in the park prior to opening, which may make images like the one above harder to come by. Magic Kingdom has by far the most attractions of any Walt Disney World park, so I recommend a full day's worth of time for Magic Kingdom if you are wanting to experience as much of the park as you can. 

There's so much more that can (and eventually will) be talked about when it comes to Magic Kingdom. Stay tuned for more. For now I will leave you with "Kiss Goodnight". 

The Kiss Goodnight

"It was all started by a mouse"...

...well not exactly.

In the summer of 1996, my dad was working in Plant City, Florida, just outside of Tampa. What was originally supposed to be a short job turned into months. After the first month, we flew down to see him. I was 6, my sister was 2. We were only an hour away, so my mom insisted we go to Walt Disney World. And so it began.

Anyone who has met me knows that I love Disney, especially Walt Disney World. For years I have talked about writing about my Disney experiences and giving Disney advice. With the encouragement of my husband, here I am. The name of my blog comes from my nickname, 2Bug. My great-grandmother gave it to me when I was a baby. It's very much a part of my being.

So here it is. I will be blogging about Disney: past experiences, opinions, pretty much anything. This will be my Disney outlet. Follow me along on this journey.