Day 3: The Enchanted Experience of Magic Kingdom

Today was a very fun and busy adventure in the exciting world of Magic Kingdom. The day started bright and early in Tomorrowland at the Tron ride at 8 in the morning, followed by Space Mountain. We then explored Frontierland's Haunted Mansion and Hall of Presidents attraction. In Adventureland, we gave the Enchanted Tiki room, Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean ride a visit. Our last ride for the night was the People Mover for a break from walking and a calming view of the park just before sunset.

Once we finished up with park attractions, we went on a pontoon boat ride in the lagoon to finish the day with a firework show. We had a perfect view of the magical Disney castle! It was a breathtaking experience that captivated our excitement. It was the perfect way to end our day. My personal favorite moment of the firework show was when the Pirates of the Caribbean theme played. The amount of fireworks and bright lights amazed me. It is such a unique feeling how all visitors and workers can meet together at the end of the night to pause time. The fireworks unite people from all over the world in a powerful way to distract people from hardships in order to feel like a kid again. The way they play songs from different movies and how each night is different is so unique. I was truly in awe of the beauty of these amazing fireworks.

We finished discussing the book Married to the Mouse by Richard Foglesong. The main theme of this book was that Disney World and Orlando share a relationship similar to a marriage. Disney's corporate power shaped Orlando's urban growth, governance, and economy. This led to immense prosperity and significant costs like low wages, housing shortages, traffic, and a unique private dystopian government structure for Disney. We also discussed how Florida Governor Ron DeSantis fought Disney by revoking its long self-governing status through the Reedy Creek Improvement District after Disney opposed the Parental Rights in Education Act. He replaced its board with his own appointees who then sued Disney to void development deals. This led to legal battles over free speech and government overreach. Ultimately, both Disney World and Orlando came to an agreement to collaborate together.

Brayden got to explore Magic Kingdom for the first time today which is very exciting. Unfortunately, he could not seem to make it passed any of the security checkpoints without getting patted down. He also had the opportunity to pull the magic sword. I had a great time riding the Tron ride for the first time. It is now my second favorite ride, after Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. All in all, it was a wonderful day full of adventure and laughs. Tomorrow, we plan on wearing our Be Kind to a Team Member shirt to appreciate all of the wonderful, hard working team members that go unnoticed. They are ultimately the people who make the park such a great experience since they offer top quality service. These team members are always so generous to everyone despite being mistreated by angry visitors at times. It is now our time to return the generosity back at them. I am extremely excited to see their reactions to our shirts and hopefully make their day better. Stay tuned for tomorrow's post!

-Andrew Spomar