Definitely a fun memory here – taken during the 2014 Disney World Half Marathon (as part of the Goofy Challenge) which my wife and did together (our first race together). The photo was taken after we had looped through Tomorrowland and part of new Fantasyland on our way to run through Cinderella’s castle.
You can see the excitement on Heather’s face as we spotted the castle and got closer. The picture wasn’t staged, I caught her when she wasn’t expecting it and I got her natural and awesome reaction. The photo is a touch blurry but the excitement comes through anyway!
So Wishing Disney Wednesday for New Years Day 2014 is from the Magic Kingdom in Disney World. Specifically it is of Cinderella’s castle at night glowing a nice blue with some refection in the canal beside the castle. It is a week tomorrow until my wife and I head to Disney World Marathon in Disney World and a month today before we take the kids to Magic Kingdom for a family trip. A good chunk of time will be spent in Magic Kingdom on both trips and the castle will feature prominently in the running races we will be doing besides.
One of my favorite times to be in the Magic Kingdom is night – especially when it is warm and calm without a lot of people around – just a great atmosphere that really speaks to me. We love late night magic hours at the Magic Kingdom when we can hit them – midnight at the Magic Kingdom is fantastic!
Cinderella’s Castle in Magic Kingdom at night – blue
This pic was taken during our January 2010 family trip to Disney World at Magic Kingdom. We were down for 3 weeks that January staying in a townhouse off-site and I did the Goofy Challenge during that trip.
It was bloody cold there that year. It snowed at the starting line for the half marathon that year… Most of the time Disney has the Christmas decorations down prior to when we get there for the marathon weekend but they were up this year. With it being so cold it was kind of surreal to be in Orlando with jackets and Christmas decorations everywhere.
Cold aside, Disney holiday decorations are awesome – including how they light up Cinderella’s castle.
I could stare at the castle in this pic for hours. Peaceful.
Ok time for Magic Memory Monday #2 – This one was from our first family trip to Disney World as well – same day in fact as the first Magic Memory Monday post (link).
We were on Main Street waiting for the fireworks show Wishes to start. I was holding my son up so he could see around and my wife grabbed the camera and took a shot as he leaned his head into my chin.
This is definitely a nice picture of the 2 of us with Cinderella’s Castle clear and lit up in the background – definitely no mistaking the location or that we were both quite happy at that moment.
The closeness with my son at that moment is something I still carry with me – in fact I keep a copy of this picture on my wall at work as a reminder. These are the kinds of moments that can happen anywhere but Disney just seems to excel at finding ways for them to happen more often.
Fun side story here was that as the fireworks began we were worried that as he was only 17 months old at the time he might get scared by the lights and the noise. We needn’t have worried though. He jumped as the first set of fireworks blew into the sky but then he started clapping and yelling boom!! and yay!! I think we went to various fireworks shows around Disney World 5 or 6 times on that trip and he would do the same thing each time. It was awesome to see him enjoying the show and really getting into it. There is another of those memories that will stick with me for many years to come.
