Magic Kingdom lives up to its name
Before I get into the first of our three-day adventure at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida, I should mention the fantastic resort at which we stayed. This is the first—and probably only—time we will stay in a deluxe resort, but the Yacht Club provided us with a stay my family and I will never forget. My daughter is now more interested in lazing around the pool with her mom than chasing characters with me, so this was the perfect place to do just that. We had access to the best pool of any Disney property, and we enjoyed a wonderful meal at the Ale & Compass Restaurant almost immediately upon our arrival at Disney World on Sunday, May 31. Three of us enjoyed excellent New York strip steaks, while my sister enjoyed a decadent-looking pasta dish and my brother-in-law had a scrumptious-looking pork chop. Although we were not able to experience Animal Kingdom due to an ankle injury suffered by my wife, we are grateful that she was able to rent a scooter in time to enjoy the rest of the trip. We are also grateful to the resort for agreeing to mail Emily her phone when it was discovered that she had left it there after we had already departed for the airport on Sunday, June 7. Although they could not return her bank card by mail, we are thankful they informed us that she had left that behind as well so we could make proper arrangements for a replacement. Despite not being able to enjoy the amenities of Disney’s Animal Kingdom park, we did visit Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge and enjoy the beautiful wildlife, which included three giraffes, an ostrich, and two zebras. However, it was the Magic Kingdom that proved to be our dream home and the center of everything magical about our vacation this year. We kicked things off with our annual visit to Mickey, where I told him of our first meeting in 1999. I had broken my nose on the pavement of the Florida Welcome Center on the way in, and my father and mother had brought my sister and me to meet him. Now that my father was gone, a meeting with my hero felt more like a magical necessity than at any other point in my life. It felt as though he knew this and signed in Bella’s autograph book, “You are the magic.” This was after I had told him that his brand of magic could cure even the worst type of blues. In reality, it is only my mother who is capable of this. She is the reason we were able to take this trip as a family and enjoy all the luxuries that came with it. This trip to the Magic Kingdom also gave me a sense of independence that I have never felt before. As a disabled 41-year-old man, I am very seldom comfortable being alone, let alone navigating a place like Disney World. The Magic Kingdom was so accessible that I was able to see Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress on my own. Originally designed by Walt Disney for the 1964 New York World’s Fair to showcase the progress of technology since the turn of the 20th century, the classic 20-minute rotating production highlights the technological advances experienced by the average American family from the 1900s to the 1920s, then the 1940s, and finally the turn of the millennium. The iconic song, There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow, was written by the award-winning songwriting team of Robert and Richard Sherman, who supplied much of the music for Disney’s classic films in the 1960s and 1970s. Carousel of Progress holds the record as the longest-running stage show in the history of American theater. I was thrilled to be able to see it before its upcoming refurbishment, which will remove much of the originality that Walt Disney himself placed into the attraction. I was also happy that my family was able to join me for The Hall of Presidents, a show that we never miss on any visit to Walt Disney World. This was my father’s favorite attraction at Disney World, and I really missed having him around when we attended that particular show. Another family favorite of ours is Mickey’s PhilharMagic. That program has been rumored to be removed from Disney World almost since its debut in 2003, and I was thrilled to see that it was still around. As Mickey is my favorite character of all time, I love anything centered around the mouse that started it all. We also enjoyed the Country Bear Musical Jamboree as a family, one of the few original attractions remaining from the opening day of Walt Disney World in 1971. Although it has undergone some modernized changes of its own, including having the Country Bears perform classic Disney songs from films such as The Jungle Book and The Little Mermaid, it remains as enjoyable and lovable as ever. You can never visit Walt Disney World without taking a ride on it’s a small world, which now features a brand-new verse added by Richard M. Sherman shortly before his death on May 25, 2024, at the age of 95. The new verse provides a lesson to us all: “Mother Earth unites us in heart and mind, and the love we give makes us humankind. Through our vast, wondrous land, when we stand hand in hand, it’s a small world after all.” Like his boss, Walt Disney, what an incredible message Mr. Sherman left us with before departing this world. I feel very gratified to have heard the verse in person myself in one of the few rides that can be experienced entirely from your own wheelchair. That wheelchair needed to be charged by the end of the day, and I am truly grateful that I was able to watch the Happily Ever After fireworks spectacular with a perfect view from my charging spot. The only way to…