50 Years of Magic

Walt Disney World celebrates its 50th year of bringing magic and happiness to our lives this year. Cinderella's castle at Magic Kingdom is pictured below. Since moving to Florida, I have been to Universal Studios once, but not to Disney World until this past weekend. I have grown up going to Disney World and have always been a true Disney fanatic. I believe in fairy tales and happily ever afters. I believe in following your heart and making your dreams come true. I believe in keeping the magic alive even while growing up. Experiencing the theme parks as an adult is special because the magic and joy touches you even deeper.

I was fortunate enough to meet my best friend Haley in Orlando, who flew in from New Hampshire. She is my go-to Disney sister, and we go to Disney World together whenever we get the chance. This week I will be celebrating my birthday, so there was an added reason to unite and celebrate! We were able to kick off our time together by meeting up with our friends Jesiree, Mark, and their baby Wesley, who just turned 1. We explored Disney Springs and ate at our favorite BBQ spot – The Polite Pig. For years, I have raved about their food and crave it all the time: cheddar-stuffed bratwursts, the most delectable mac n cheese you will ever come across, and their signature jalapeño cornbread muffins. We finished the night off with buying some 50th Anniversary merchandise and caramel apples from Goofy’s Candy Shop.

The next day, we met up with Jesiree, Mark, and Wesley again and ate brunch at The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen at City Walk in Universal Studios. This was my first time there and I was so impressed! The absolute highlight of brunch was sipping on these decadent milkshakes that were piled high with full slices of cheesecake, brownies, and rice krispie treats. We also grabbed frozen slushies at Fat Tuesdays and walked around enjoying each other’s company and the sunshine. We all spent the day with each other and watched Encanto and The Princess and the Frog – both of which I had not seen before. They are fantastic movies! We wrapped up our night by spontaneously visiting my cousin Alex and her boyfriend Angel before heading back to Orlando, and it was wonderful to see them.

Our final day included a full day of Haley and I at Magic Kingdom. I was given my entrance card, which had Olaf on it. At that moment, I already knew it was going to be a great day because Olaf is my absolute favorite. I quote him so often – LOL. We got to the park around 10am and left at 6pm because they were closing the park off early for a Halloween party. In that amount of time, we rode every ride we wanted, unexpectedly stumbled across some shows and parades, and ate all the fun snacks such as Mickey-shaped soft pretzels, churros, Dole-Whip floats, and cheeseburger and pastrami spring rolls. I wore a signature Disney pin that said I was at the park celebrating my birthday, and every cast member and by-stander in line with us wished me well and greeted me with such warm smiles. After the park, we freshened up and went to Maria & Enzo’s in Disney Springs for dinner. Everything was scrumptious – from the fresh focaccia bread with burrata cheese, tomatoes, and oil and vinegar dipping dish, to the spaghetti and meatballs, rigatoni with bolognese sauce, caesar salad, refreshing peach sangria, and the waitstaff bringing out a strawberry and lemon curd cheesecake and singing to me. It is truly a restaurant worth going back to.

One of my favorite moments at Magic Kingdom was witnessing true joy radiate from this little girl as she noticed Princess Ariel on a parade float in the distance. She squealed that she could see Ariel and that it was her favorite princess and grabbed hold of her mom’s hand, took the lead, and zipped around the crowd yelling “It’s Ariel mom!!! Let’s go, let’s go!!!” It’s in the simplest moments when time stops in our own lives and we experience dreams of someone else’s coming true right before our eyes that magic takes its truest form. There is no better feeling!

As we enter the week of my true birthday, I am thankful I got to wrap up the last weekend of being 26 in such a memorable way. As the Carousel of Progress ride in Magic Kingdom’s Tomorrow Land states, “Tomorrow is just a dream away.” Spend each day soaking up every moment you can while also looking forward to what the future holds. I just know Walt Disney is smiling down on all of us. Cheers to what the next 50 years bring!

Remember to stay humble and kind, always!

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xo –Jess