In January, my whole family participated in Disney's Marathon weekend in Walt disney World. I am on Team All Ears a running team affiliated with the wonderful Disney informational website http://www.allearsnet.com/. We run with purpose raising money for the Avon Foundation for Breast Cancer and in two years we have raised $75,000.
My husband ran the 5k and tore his meniscus and was consequently on crutches cheering me on with the 4 kids. I ran the 1/2 marathon and was sore and tired after finishing on Saturday around 9:30am. We decided to head to the Magic Kingdom after the races and realized after getting off the monorail from the Polynesian that we were both dragging and sore. With 4 young excited kids, and no help, this can be cause for some concern in the Magic Kingdom on a beautiful and sunny day.
However, what I discovered that day was how much there is to do in the circle at beginning of Main Street USA. This is an area where most people enter the park and rush through to do the fast walking sprint down Main Street up to the castle and into one of the lands for the attractions. However, as we discovered that day, there are many different types of activities to keep a family busy before you even get a glimpse of the castle.
We started with lunch at Tony's Town Square restaurant located on the right hand side after you enter the park right next to the Town Square Exposition Hall. We were seated against the window and had a fantastic view of all of the guests coming into the parks. We also watched the characters meeting and greeting guests and we enjoyed a delicious and relaxing lunch. After lunch, we decided to go next door to the Chapeau' an adorable hat shop that connects with a sweets shop. The kids had gotten new Mickey Ears the day before from the Marathon Kid's Fest and we wanted to have their names embroidered on them They can have their names embroidered on ears here for a small fee. We dropped off the ears and browsed in the candy shop. They each selected an oversized colorful lollipop that they would never be allowed to eat at home. Hey, that is what Disney is all about though, the magic! A place where parents lose all sense of reason and let you eat lollipops bigger than your child's face!
With giant lollipops in hand, we decided to walk acrosss the circle to the fire station where a crowd was gathering. The firefighter had come out of his fire house and was chatting with guests and showing off his axe, his engine and answering all sorts of questions. He enteretained our kids and many others for about 30 minutes with tales and tours. We then noticed the Harmony Barbershop next door to the fire station. I popped my head in to ask how long the wait was for a haircut and they told us to come right in.
The Barbershop is small and charming. They offer a package for a child's first haircut complete with a certificate and Mickey ears and also offer haircuts for children of all ages. My son decided to get a haircut and was delighted when at the end, he was asked to select a colored gel to spike his hair with and then had his blue hair sprinkled with pixie dust. Upon seeing this, my two oldest girls decided they must have this done as well. The girls had their hair put into a ponytail and we watched as their hair was turned pink with pixie dust! This was a surprising and delightful treat, as we had only had this done before at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. We were lucky to walk in, but they do also take advance reservations.
With fancy hair and sticky hands we left the barbershop at about 2:30pm and found a perfect viewing spot for the 3pm parade in front of the Christmas Tree with a fantastic view of the Castle. Cast Members came over to the kids handing out Toy Story Memory games to take home and then got the children up to plan with chalk, bubbles and hula hoops before the parade started. The parade was entertaining and exciting as it always is and the kids were delighted as several characters gave them high fives as they were passing by.
After the parade, we picked up our embroidered ears and headed back to our hotel for a relaxing pool break and dinner and capped off the evening by watching Wishes from the Polynesian Beach.
We spent an incredible afternoon in the Magic Kingdom without ever walking down Main Street or riding any rides. There is an abundance of magical and unique things to do in the Magic Kingdom. So, if you are sore after a race and don't have the energy to walk far, you can be assured that you can still enjoy a magical afternoon in the Magic Kingdom. Next time you are tempted to make that initial sprint down Main Street, stop and look around at the magic you may be missing!
