Main Street Station in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World

Another Anniversary

Main Street Station sits at the entrance to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, and it is one of the first sights for anyone visiting the park. In fact, because you actually walk underneath Main Street Station when you enter the Magic Kingdom, you really can’t help seeing it. As such, it is a welcome sight, especially for those who have been there before, because they know what sorts of things are waiting for them beyond the station.

Of course, Main Street Station also serves a purpose, too, as it is one of the stops of the Walt Disney World Railroad. Besides being the focal point of the park entrance, it also has passengers boarding and disembarking the trains that arrive every 20 minutes or so. With its ornate architecture and spacious interior, Main Street Station serves both functions well.

Walt Disney World recently celebrated another anniversary, as the Magic Kingdom, Polynesian Village Resort, and Contemporary Resort opened on October 1, 1971. A lot has changed since that time, with the addition of more parks, more hotels, shopping, water parks, and even mini-golf. But Main Street Station has been there for it all, so I thought it would be a good subject for a post about Walt Disney World’s anniversary. After all, most everyone thinks of Cinderella Castle, but Main Street Station is just as prominent, except that it is not as tall.

Less Disney?

Regular Burnsland readers may have noticed that there are fewer Disney photos posted here than there used to be. That is largely by design because it follows the pattern of our lives.

While we do go to the Central Florida area around once a year or so and still even go to a Disney park from time to time, we spend a good bit of time doing other things as well. Part of that has been brought on by ever-increasing Disney prices and other fundamental changes that they keep making, which lessen my desire to spend as much time and money there. But that probably also reflects a natural progression of learning more and more about the world and wanting to see more of what else is out there.

There is a big, wild, wonderful world out there just waiting to be discovered. It is not always perfect, or even perfectly planned. But it is still enjoyable. Before and after our Hawaiʻi trip this past summer, people have been asking us about Aulani, the Disney resort in Hawaiʻi. We were asked if we were going to go to Aulani. While we were in Kauaʻi, people asked if we had been to Aulani. And once we got back, people have asked if we went to Aulani. No, we did not. We chose instead to see the “real” Hawaiʻi instead of the Disney version. And we loved it, if you had not already noticed.

I have nothing against those who go to the Disney parks. We still enjoy it from time to time, and that is why I still post photos from there occasionally. And besides, those photos always bring in a little more traffic, so it is good to know what your audience is looking for.

But more and more, we enjoy the other things, too. Because the whole world is a wonderful place.

Bible Verse

How countless are Your works, Lord! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures. - Psalm 104:24

About the Photo

Regular Burnsland readers might also be surprised at a square-format photo because 1:1 photos are not often seen around here. But who says that photos have to be the same all of the time? To me, the portions of the photo that were lost to the square crop were distracting, taking your focus away from Main Street Station, which is the real star of this photo.

I also used some of the color techniques I have been learning lately to give this one a nice, bright look, which is much different than how it actually appeared on the mostly overcast morning.

By the way, this photo was actually taken during the summer of 2015. Since that time, we have only been to the Magic Kingdom one other time, which was at Christmas in 2016. Just in case you were wondering.

Photo: A single Raw exposure, processed in Photoshop. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips.
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10
Lens: Olympus 14-42mm IIR
_Date: June 11, 201_5
Location: Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World, Florida