mizChartreuse!

The first time my family and I went to Disney World was back in 1998 or so; I was about 10 or 11 years old and my little brother was just an infant; obviously he doesn’t remember that vacation. Hence, it was a lot of fun to go back and experience the Most Magical Place on Earth not only as an adult, but with my brother being 12 and able to really soak in the memories.

The American Coed Pageant organization was generous enough to give Queen Chloe two free tickets to the Magic Kingdom, so we only had to pay for two. Which was nice, considering the incredible prices for the park:

And who would spend SIX TO TEN DAYS in the Magic Kingdom?! The only way I think that would work would be if the multiple-day tickets were for multiple parks, like Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and whatever else is out there.

ANYWAY.

The day started off nice–as we pulled up to the parking lot which cost $14/day, there was a lovely man at the gate. He asked how we were doing and we responded with big grins and an excited demeanor. Apparently, to him, something was alluring about a carload of pretty women and a state Queen in the midst that he let us into the parking lot for free. It’s not even like we asked! He just opened the gate and said, “Oh, what the heck. Come on in. Enjoy the day!”

Sweet.

Disney has a fun tram that drives people to the park entrances, so we took that time for a photo op, of course.

And then, on the monorail, a group of people from Texas (who pronounce the “s” in “Illinois”) fawned over Chloe. The little girl’s mother asked her to take a photo with her daughter, and it was tres precieux.

This was pretty awesome.

Later, we met Miss Georgia Peach and Miss Michigan on a shuttle bus from the park to the Hilton, and the girls and their mothers posed for a lovely photo of generations of beauty.

Given my major obsession with ALL THINGS ALICE IN WONDERLAND, partaking in the Mad Tea Party ride was VERY EXCITING. (I dressed up as Alice for Halloween, and my boyfriend was The Mad Hatter.)

I could barely contain my excitement. I was like a little girl…

When it was finally time to be a part of the madness, we were all acting a little mad:

Now, this trip has come and gone, but there is still something I am so mad about that makes my blood boil to this day. Just thinking about it makes my heart rate increase.

On the way home, my sister was browsing the pictures on the trip and decided to take it upon herself to do some editing and DELETE PHOTOS. Blurry photo deletion I can live with…but she ERASED THE VIDEO FOOTAGE OF OUR RIDE IN THE MAD TEA PARTY TEACUPS. She “thought it was a blurry picture” when really it was the beginning of a video. Grrrr.

I swear, when she did that I was STARK RAVING MAD. As in angry. So mad, I could have slapped her in front of Jesus and that would have made me feel better. Alas, we are both over the age of 20 now and no longer have the liberties to pin each other to the ground, grab a nice handful of hair, and pound the other’s head onto the floor the way we did as children.

Any other video wouldn’t have been too bad, but the Tea Party video was so hilarious (and not to mention special to me because of my Wonderland affinity) that it was the one I most wanted to include in the montage I will eventually create.

But it is gone.

When she did that, I was driving and snatched a cup of MY water that SHE was trying to drink. “DON’T you touch that!” I snarled. “Who told YOU to delete anything?”

Either way, the ride was fun, my brother spun us out of control, and my mother almost puked.

Another notable part of the Magic Kingdom was Mickey’s PhilharMAGIC 3-D movie.

It featured classic Disney songs like “A Whole New World,” “Be Our Guest,” “Part of Their World/Under the Sea” “Just Can’t Wait to be King,” etc. The images were so vivid, and there was even a part during “Be Our Guest” that had six champagne bottles popping their corks in our faces. With each pop of the cork, a burst of air blew in our faces so it felt as though they were REALLY flying at us. And during “Under the Sea,” we actually were splashed with a bit of water when the characters we’re dancing around.

SO amazing. Took me back, yo.

Of course, the night ended with the SPECTROMAGIC parade through the streets of the Magic Kingdom, and of course, my battery died right as Mickey was coming through, all majestic and stuff. It was certainly spectacular.

I remembered most of the parade from our trip a decade ago, and it was every bit as magical and captivating. I was upset, however, that when the Wonderland section came by us, Alice was waving to the crowd on the OTHER side of the street so I couldn’t even see her face. I did see, however, that she was a bit chubby, but her dress was cute nonetheless. =)

Fireworks in the park followed the parade, and we went back to our hotel that night feeling truly enchanted.