The magic...
I've been going to WDW regularly since it opened (>3 weeks a year since 1973) and VERY regularly since 1995 (my daughter was born in 1993) and although some things have come and some things have gone, the magic is better than ever.
Aside from seeing the amazing addition of the whole Animal Kingdom, we've enjoyed the addition of many new magical attractions and shows including Fantasmic, Reflections of Earth, Wishes
And although the 'free-walking' live entertainment has been cut back (almost unnoticeably), the 'live' entertainment in the parks has grown.
The overall magic, though, especially recently, has been very special...especially at the Magic Kingdom (which is where we expect the 'special' magic to be).
The day starts off with the mayor announcing the arrival of the train at Main Street station filled with characters. The main street singers/dancers entertain to canned music as the train arrives, then a 'special' family officially opens the park throwing pixie dust from the train station.
Then for the rest of the day (except for around parade times), the square on main street is filled with a variety of characters doing meet and greet.
In addition, there are also many characters throughout the park also doing meet and greets at themed locations.
Then, of course, there is the princess breakfast, Pooh meals all day, and Minnie dinner at the Liberty Tree.
Also several times during the day, the main street singers/dancers do several a song and dance show based around the horse-carriage at various stops along main street.
The Cinderalla castle show features many favorite characters and live singing.
Unfortunately, the beautiful globe parade, which allowed the kids to participate was marred (and forever changed) by the death of a character. Hopefully, the next incarnation of the parade will again include the kids (although my daughter may be too old by then to take part).
We still have a marvelous night parade (and even saw the return of the old Electrical parade for a couple of years), of which I've learned to appreciate more now that I have realized that there are several float 'groups' that change color together, not just the last group.
On top of this, we now have fast pass. No longer do my daughter and I have to wait in a line, or have to kiss off Peter Pan (or any other ride) as an unreasonable wait. We can now plan whatever day we wish...now that's magic!
The night ends with the fabulous Wishes fireworks, and as you leave the park, Mickey stands on top of the train station waving and SAYING goodnight.
There was nothing like this before. In the past there was no character dining, and you had to be lucky to stumble upon a character (especially Mickey), and then had to contend with the long lines...it was quite frustrating, not magical.
No fastpass, if you didn't get on Peter Pan between 9-10, you had to wait at least 60 minutes to ride...it was quite frustrating, not magical.
5 years ago, my 10yo daugher rarely wanted to visit the MK, preferring AK and MGM and Epcot (especially during the flower and garden festival), now MK has become her favorite park. This is most likely due to number of characters everywhere (even though she's doesn't do much meet and greet anymore, it's just the presence of the characters that make the park so much more special), the 'live' atmosphere of the castle show and main street entertainment, the results of having fastpass, the character meals, the parades, and fireworks.
At MGM, the parade, Fantasmic, as well as the characters that also 'infest' this park now make this her 2nd favorite park.
