Where dreams come true...

Following a short trip on Disney's Magical Express we arrived at Disney's Old Key West Resort. The resort was amazing. Other than knowing we were at our most favorite place in the world, we felt just like we had arrived in Key West. Everything was so peaceful and relaxing. Next to a small, quiet pool, we found our room and an overlooking balcony. After settling in a bit in our room, we decided to head to the Magic Kingdom.

As we approached the front entrance we could see all the magic that this park had to offer. First and foremost, we headed to get a better look at Cinderella's Castle and take a few pictures. I think there is some kind of unwritten rule that you have to take your picture with the castle behind you when you first get to the Magic Kingdom.

We enjoyed an awesome BBQ hot dog at Casey's. It was so big we shared it and were both full!

Soon thereafter, we headed to Space Mountain to receive a fast pass, as this was our only hope as to ride it without waiting an hour in line.

We could not believe how UNBELIEVABLY crowded the park was. Unlike our honeymoon, we found out we were going to have to wait a LONG time to ride any and everything the parks had to offer. Thus our standing in line began. We waited longer than I would like to mention to ride Pirates, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain (we actually did not get wet!), and the Haunted Mansion. However, the wonderful imagineers at Disney, thankfully, created engaging and entertaining lines to help our time pass quickly.

To ease our tired little legs, we took a break to watch Mickey's Philharmagic. I must say, this is one of my favorite attractions in the Magic Kingdom.

Following our much needed break, we ventured over to use our fast pass for Space Mountain- Awesome as usual. We then came back to Adventureland to ride Jungle Cruise at dusk, which was definitely better than riding during the day. The dim light made it seem more magical and our CM tour guide was a hoot. Oh yeah, we even got to see the back side of water...at night!

Back side of water:

We enjoyed a few more rides, grabbed a bite for dinner at Pecos Bill, and headed back to our room. Even as night approached, the most Magical Place on Earth was still packed with people and tired, crying kids awaiting the fireworks. We skipped this chaos and got ready for our next day of fun. :)

Tap the knob three times...then turn it once...

We woke up at 4:45 AM (and 5:30) and proceeded to have coffee, get ready, and pack the last minute things. We left the house at 6:45 AM in a loaded down car and headed to Chick-fil-a for a quick breakfast. We then headed to my (Brandon's) parents' house to drop off our dog, Ellie Mae, and for my dad to take us to the airport. After arriving at the airport early we proceeded to the bag x-rays and personal detectors. Abbie set off some kind of alarm and had to have her bag searched and some kind of wand detector run over her. That set off another alarm and she was then taken back to a private room for a full body pat down. Of all things, it was the hand soap at my parents' house that set off the alarms. Talk about a great start to the trip...but at least the pat down crew was nice.

After all of that we headed to our gate at the very end of the concourse. We still had a little less than an hour before our flight was scheduled to take off, so we relaxed a bit and did some people watching. It was fun seeing the families with kids also waiting on our flight. You could tell how excited the kids were about taking a big trip to see Mickey Mouse. Our time came around, and we walked up to board the plane. I told Abbie to pick our seat for us knowing we should have several good options on the plane. Somehow, we ended up on the back half of the plane. The row in front of ours was occupied by a lady with a small baby with a stinky diaper and the row behind ours had three young boys who used our seats for kicking practice. Even with all of the distractions, the hour and a half in the air "flew" by and we landed in Orlando. For all of you wondering, yes I did indeed listen to Disney parks attraction music the entire flight down.

We were a little worried about having to wait in line for Disney's Magical Express (DME), but thankfully we were able to just walk up, show our passes, and board our bus. The entire process took maybe 2 minutes. Right after we boarded the bus, it backed out, and headed to the most magical place on earth.

Nothing gets you ready for where you are about to be like the video on the DME bus.