Best Place to View Magic Kingdom's Main Street Electrical Parade

One of my top 5 Disney entertainment events is the Main Street Electrical Parade at the Magic Kingdom. And it is by far a favorite of the kids. The parade includes all of your favorite characters and lots of lights. In fact, I recommend going to Amazon (use the link on the left) and buying lots of glowing and light up items in advance of your trip, or you'll be coerced into buying the expensive Disney items that they bring around to sell on a cart right before the parade (and these will cost you minimum $20). But the most important part of having a magical time while watching the Main Street Electrical Parade is finding a great roomy spot for viewing.

Let me first tell you, just avoid the castle hub- which is the circle around the front of the castle. It's just too crowded and not that great of a spot anyway. Main Street gets pretty crowded too. Our favorite spot is right in front of the Hall of Presidents in Liberty Square. There are trees in brick planters and the brick walls of these planters make for a great seat for the adults.

Viewing the parade is one of the few times that having a stroller will be handy in Disney. Especially if you are visiting with another family and have two. Park your strollers in front of the planter on both sides and lock your brakes. this prevents last minute parade viewers from squeezing in and cramping your space. If the adults sit on the brick planters and you put your strollers in front to make a space for the kids, you will be front row when they come around and put up the ropes for the parade route.

We always plan to get there with plenty of time to spare just to ensure we are the first ones there. It's nice to have some sort of game or snacks packed to keep the kids busy. Then we send one parent to go get dinner or snacks. I recommend Peco's Bills for dinner or Storybook Treats and/or Sleepy Hollow for snacks. Then bring the food back to the seating area, and relax and enjoy the food while you wait for the parade!

 See how we are front row?

"You're going to Disney World again?"

The two magical moms are deep into planning our next Walt Disney World vacation. We just took one 4 months ago and are planning on going back this June (so yes, if you do the math that's not even a year between the two trips). Most of our friends and family think we're a little obsessed with Disney World, and even though I don't believe we owe an explanation for our love of all things Disney, I'm going to take a minute to tell you a few of the reason why we enjoy it so much.

1. Escape- Walt Disney World is truly an escape from the real world, and since we know that all of us parents are stretched too thin and have more on our plates than ever before, this escape is what keeps grown adults (even some without children) frequenting Walt Disney World on a regular basis. Disney has gone to great lengths to keep the outside world out- you will not find any McDonald's or other chain restaurants here. Aside from the scarce Hess gas stations and the soon to open Starbucks, none of the outside world creeps into your magical vacation when you're at Disney World. You can truly escape it all and just enjoy the magic.

2. Service- You really will not find many places with the level of service Disney World provides. They even have a division called The Disney Institute that trains other organizations to adapt a similar customer service culture. And they take it that extra mile- I vividly remember my daughter wearing her "Happy Birthday" button while watching the afternoon parade at Animal Kingdom. The button also had her name on it and at least 10 times during the parade the cast members shouted "Happy Birthday Mallory!" Her smile stretched from ear to ear, with just a hint of embarrassment.

3. Traditions- Traditions create memories that last a lifetime. We do this all the time during holidays. Children know exactly how Christmas morning goes because they experience it every year. Well our yearly trips to Disney World create those same traditions with our children. My daughter races to Dumbo as soon as we get to Magic Kingdom and she always has to ride it with her daddy because that's just their tradition. All of the traditions we have at Disney World are creating lasting memories of magical family vacations for our children.

So yes, we are going to Walt Disney World again. And we will go again next year, maybe even twice, maybe with a Disney Cruise thrown in. And we will find a way to incorporate our upcoming trip into just about any conversation :) Actually, please know that we try extremely hard to NOT incorporate our upcoming trip into every conversation because we get it, you are sick of hearing about it. That's why we post recipes and crafts on this blog too!