Thanksgiving at Disney World – #typeatrip Day One

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“I’m really here.”

That’s what my 3-year-old son said yesterday, softly to himself soon after we arrived at Disney World. I know many families do the traditional Thanksgiving, but this year we decided to pack up the minivan and head south. Today, Thanksgiving Day, was our first day at the parks during this visit. A statement like that, so simple, so almost adult-like, is exactly the reason why this is known as the most magical place on earth.

Day one of #typeatrip (well, full day one as we stayed overnight in St. Augustine and then arrived here yesterday afternoon) was pretty fast-paced but fun.

First of all, staying at Contemporary is wonderful for anyone with kids who will want to hit Magic Kingdom, oh, 3 million times over a few days’ time. I love being able to see the Magic Kingdom fireworks show from out balcony each night. It’s a quick Monorail ride there when you don’t go the wrong way on the Monorail like we did this morning. Let’s just say we got the scenic ride.

We arrived and it was packed, so clearly we aren’t the only ones who decided to spend the holiday at the parks. We kicked around there for a couple of hours, then went back to the hotel for a PB&J lunch made in the room before heading to Disney Hollywood Studios.

That is a photo of Magic Kingdom decked for the holidays. We spent most of the day and evening at Hollywood Studios. The highlight for the kids was seeing Lightning McQueen and Mater and meeting Buzz Lightyear and Woody.

We had dinner at the ’50s Prime Time Cafe. It was a cute restaurant, full on following its theme of eating at mom’s house. We were informed of the rules (“no elbows on the table, no whining” and so on) when we were seated.

The decor was kitschy ’50s.

It was a bit annoying waiting more than half an hour when we had a reservation, but it was a great choice for Thanksgiving. I nagged at the kids to order traditional turkey for dinner, but they insisted on mac and cheese (times two of them) and a hot dog. Sigh.

The food was great. Here was my Thanksgiving dinner, and it was as good as many I’ve had.

At the end, I had a tough time deciding on a dessert. I wasn’t disappointed in my choice. I’ve always loved Boston Cream Pie, so I ordered the Boston Cream Cupcake. Delicious!

After dinner, I had to see what I would argue is one of the best reasons to visit Disney World over the holidays: the Osbourne Family Dancing Light Spectacle. This video doesn’t even do it justice, but this show is just crazy cool and amazing.

And here is a little taste of the show from our balcony each night.

Disclosure: Disney World is hosting our visit to the parks and to Contemporary Resort

Photos and video © Kelby Carr

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