FRIDAY

When you first walk through the front gate at Magic Kingdom, you know immediately that this is going to be something special. Right away, the kids spotted Pluto the Dog. We got in line to get his autograph. The kids got LOTS of character autographs throughout our stay, and that was really one of the highlights of the trip for them. The characters alway spent a little extra time and paid a little extra attention to Ashley, which I thought was really neat!

After getting Pluto's autograph, we proceeded down Main Street U.S.A., which looks like it could literally be Main Street in any small town across the country. We saw the Disney World Marching Band marching down the street playing a song. Looking down Main Street U.S.A., we saw the hallmark symbol of Disney World, Cinderella's Castle, in the distance. It was so awesome looking! I've seen pictures of this place all my life, and now we were actually THERE!

Some of the coolest attractions in Magic Kingdom are:

• Splash Mountain: A flume-style water ride extraordinaire.
  
  
• The Haunted Mansion: Excellent "ghost" special effects! I was particularly impressed with the "talking head" inside a crystal ball near the end of the ride.
  
  
• Space Mountain: An awesome roller coaster, in the dark!
  
  
• The Parades: Especially the night-time parade, whose lighted floats are breath-taking.