Welcome to the Magic Kingdom on the first Saturday of Spring Break season! It’s no secret that Park Passes are in short supply as we enter this historically busy time of year, so we’re expecting some pretty heavy crowds as the parks are booked to capacity every day for the next week. Let’s head in and see what’s in store for this busy weekend.

We were among the first handful of guests to enter the park, and where else would you head but towards Cinderella Castle?

It’s a sunny, though slightly warm, day in the kingdom. Considering some states are getting a serious winter storm, we won’t complain too much about the 80-degree temperature.

In front of the castle, work continues on the refurbishment of the stage, with additional wood framing being added. The smell of fresh-cut wood wasn’t a bad addition to the entrance of Cinderella Castle.

In addition to the stage work, décor for the 50th-anniversary celebration has begun to be added to the exterior of the castle. So far, we’ve seen two pieces installed, with many, many more to come.

At the Emporium, a new limited edition “Toy Story 4” MagicBand arrived for the Easter holiday. While Easter is still three weeks away, other Easter merchandise was “MaDe” available even earlier.

The Easter MagicBand wasn’t the only one to debut today, though, as a new Country Bear Jamboree band also appeared within the Magic Kingdom.

Rounding out our merchandise finds for the day, a couple of new pieces of Jerrod Maruyama “Kingdom of Cute” drinkware were added to the shelves for the first time.

Back at the hub, a Cast Member carefully trims one of the many topiaries strewn across the park.

In Tomorrowland, things were still fairly quiet, and no concrete work had been done overnight in order to keep the walkways open and clear — something that has been a challenge recently.

TRON Lightcycle / Run continues to see slow progress on its (eventually) illuminated canopy, with the frame being fairly close to completion.

In Fantasyland, Gaston’s fountain is functioning once again, after being drained for a few days for presumed maintenance.

We were a bit concerned that the Evil Stepsisters would be put on pause during the Spring Break rush much like they were during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, but were pleasantly surprised to see them in their usual spot today.

Nearby, we found these new Mickey balloon light-up ears which had previously shown up online and at Disneyland Resort.

At Memento Mori, the recently-released limited edition Dooney & Bourke “The Haunted Mansion” MagicBands are now being sold, after their initial availability at the Emporium.

For some reason, the aforementioned attraction had its line being manned by Cast Members from the Liberty Square Riverboat today.

Hall of Presidents’ refurbishment continues on, now nearly two months since it abruptly began.

Heading into Frontierland, we were treated to the Royal Princess Processional cavalcade.

We also caught the Goofy and Friends cavalcade rolling through the land.

Unfortunately, for other guests in Frontierland, there would be a lot of waiting today. Tom Sawyer Island is 25 minutes from the point pictures, but the line extended further back resulting in nearly a 40-minute wait to get to the island.

Swiss Family Treehouse, which has only been closed for refurbishment for two days now, has work occurring high up in the branches today despite most projects going dark on weekends.

On our way out of the park, this view of Main Street from Cinderella Castle reflected our experience of the day — the park was busy, but not overly so, and today was certainly less crowded than other peak days we’ve witnessed since the Magic Kingdom reopened. Attractions increasing their capacities, such as Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, are likely helping to keep the common areas of the park slightly clearer.

From the monorail, we got a good view of Main Street Station which is, sadly, still completely covered in scrim as its refurbishment stretches over the past three months.

We hopped over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios in the afternoon, where it was a relatively quiet day. We did, however, encounter Daisy Duck and a physically-distanced photo-op once we arrived. This is a new addition alongside other characters including Chip & Dale, Goofy, and Donald.

At Roundup Rodeo BBQ, there has been disappointingly little visible progress since our update last week. Hopefully there is work occurring on the inside.

In Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, one of the handful of characters that regularly appear — Stormtroopers — were out and about, questioning guests who passed by.

On our way out, we caught the Mickey & Friends Motorcade heading up Hollywood Boulevard towards Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. Much like Magic Kingdom, the park didn’t feel as packed as it has other days in recent memory.

As we enter the busy Spring Break weeks, do you want to visit the Walt Disney World parks? Are you having trouble finding Park Passes in order to gain entry into the parks? Let us know your experience in the comments!

Kevin Lake