Is Disney still Magical?

With Mickey Mouse and his friends over eighty years old, is he still relevant to your children today? Would they still be excited by the prospect of entering the magical world of Disney holidays, be it inside Disneyland in California or Disney World in Florida? We decided to ask Liz, a mum who recently took her 9-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter to the Orlando theme parks, to find out.

Liz is from a quiet town on the east coast of America and she has long been enchanted by Disney films and books. She wanted to pass these stories on to her kids, from the beautiful tale of Cinderella and her ugly sisters to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Duck Tales The Movie. She is a big advocate of the timelessness of Disney stories and still believes they are relevant to a generation obsessed by gadgets and social media. So, when she told them they were going on a Disney holiday they were over the moon.

Liz and her family stayed in a friend’s villa and hired a car and she pointed out that parking at Disney World wasn’t a problem, due to the “huge” car parks. With plenty of Disney character signage, vehicles were easy to find afterwards too – so they didn’t need to worry about tired little legs at the end of the day!

The first stop on the family’s list was breakfast with the characters at the Cape May Café. Liz’s children really loved meeting Goofy and Donald Duck and Jenny quickly became firm friends with Minnie Mouse, getting her picture taken at the end of the experience.

There were six theme parks in Disney World: Hollywood Studios, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, the two water parks Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon and perhaps the most well-known theme park of them all – The Magic Kingdom.

Blizzard Beach was aimed at children aged 7 and under, whereas Typhoon Lagoon had slightly more grown up rides. Both of them, however, offered plenty of opportunities for the family to splash around and generally get soaking wet! There weren’t so many rides at Epcot, but dotted around were iconic buildings from different countries and many restaurants offering “massive” portions of food from around the world. Liz’s overall feedback was that even if your kids don’t want to spend time with the Disney characters there is still plenty for them to do.

To enter The Magic Kingdom, Liz and her family had to cross a lake, which took 20 minutes on a boat. Once in there, they watched the procession that took place on Castle Street, and said hello to Mickey and his friends, before getting on some of the rides. Liz commented that it was great to be able to amuse both of her kids with different types of rides. At some points in the day the family split up to allow 5-year-old Jenny to enjoy the smaller options while Daniel and his dad queued for bigger roller coasters like Space Mountain.

Finally, with regards to safety, Liz felt that every theme park was extremely well organized, with many lost children pick-up points and plenty of stewards and staff around to ensure all their guests have a great time. So the answer to the question – is the magical world of Disney still appealing for your children, the answer has to be a giant, emphatic yes! It’s a timeless place offering safety, variety and fun – what more could you ask?

Special guest post provided to Jen is on a Journey.