We made the trip to Disney World from North Carolina and have awoken to day 2 of our vacation. To mark the end of the first day at the park I thought I would create a musical diary to trace the experience. Below you will find each song and it’s reason for being added.

1. “Vacation“ by The Go-Go’s - I selected the Go-Go’s vacation for obvious reasons, but in addition the being the first song that pops into most people’s heads when thinking about a vacation, due to it’s super-hooky chorus, it also has a childlike optimistic tone, perfect for a road trip to Disney World, despite the true meaning of the song being a broken heart.

2. “On The Road Again“ by Willie Nelson - Another no-brainer. One of the top road trip songs of all time and the top musician’s road song ever written.*

3. “Alligator“ by The Grateful Dead - We would have made it to Disney in 8 hours, but it took us 10 due to an accident on I-95 and a stop for lunch. We pulled off the highway as soon as we decided lunch was in order. It was about 30 miles North of Savannah, GA. The place we found was on a small lake filled with fish, turtles and an alligator, who was impressive enough to get a song dedicated to him in this playlist.

4. “Welcome To Orlando“ by Kilowatt Hours - This song is a good example of how playlisting can help you discover music. I had never heard of the band Kilowatt Hours before, but the title of this track brought them to my attention as I searched for music to be included in this playlist.  “Welcome To Orlando” is an obvious choice to mark our arrival at our destination.

5. “Hotel Room“ by Richard Hawley - To mark the arrival at the hotel, I selected a track by another artist I was not familiar with, and it’s my favorite discovery of this list. “Hotel Room” by Richard Hawley sounds like Chris Isaac’s band backing Bryan Ferry. A cool combination to these ears.

6. “Wake Up Early“ by Starflyer 59 - This song is included because of our decision to wake up as early as possible to 1. Have a good selection at the free breakfast buffet. 2. Get to the park before the crowds. 3. Beat the heat — Well, we accomplished all of the above, but this morning it’s already past 9 AM as I write this.

7. “Breakfast In America“ by Supertramp - See the free breakfast bar mentioned above. We made our own waffles!

8. “The Arrival“ by Miles Davis - I wanted to mark our arrival at the Magic Kingdom with some jazz and who better than Miles Davis? My daughters eyes were the size of saucers when she saw Cinderella’s castle for the first time.

9. “Big Yellow Taxi“ by Joni Mitchell - Although Disney World has an immense amount of trees and natural habitat, I could not resist making a comment about the acres of parking lots found here.

10. “Ferry Me Across The Water“ by Kim Robertson - Once we parked at Magic Kingdom, we caught the efficiently run parking lot tram, which took us to the transportation center. From here we scanned our Internet ticket receipt into a kiosk that spat out our tickets, then we had to choose between getting to the park by monorail or ferry. As this song makes clear, we chose the ferry.

11. “Going Down To Main Street“ by Muddy Waters - After the ferry lands you get your bags searched, show your ticket and you walk up to “Main Street USA”. A town modeled after a typical American town with three story buildings, the street ends at the very un-American Cinderella’s castle. We didn’t spend much time on main street, as we sere drawn like moths to the castle before us.

12.” Coronation Day“ by Licorice Roots - Our timing could not have been better. As we reached Cinderella’s castle a stage show began. It was “Ciderellabration”, a musical that enacts the coronation of Cinderella. My daughter was in awe, even in the oppressive heat. The show culminated in a short fireworks display.

13. “Hot Hot Hot!!!“ by The Cure - Did I mention it was hot? Florida in July is no cake-walk, and this is the kind of heat and humidity that can inflict trips to the emergency room. We were armed with misters, cold water and battery operated fans, but even with these, we found ourselves making regular stops at indoor attractions and restaurants.

14. “Gravity Rides Everything“ by Modest Mouse - We made our way to Fantasyland, which contains rides designed for families with small children. We were able to take our 3 year old and even our 10 month old on many of the rides here. The Dumbo ride and It’s a Small World were big hits with the kids while Snow White’s Scary Adventure was a thumbs down.

15. “Pinocchio“ by Weather Report - Lunchtime! Were to eat? Well, it was too hot to walk, we wanted air conditioning more than food, so we stopped into the nearest indoor eatery, Pinocchio’s. 1 children’s PB&J meal, 1 single serving pepperoni pizza, 1 antipasto salad and a large diet coke, price $18.

16. “3-D“ by Cheap Trick - Probably my favorite attraction of the day was Mickey’s PhilharMagic, a 3-D film that had us grabbing at the air. I haven’t seen a 3-D film since I was a kid. Tons of fun, complete with bursts of air and water to heighten the experience.

17. “It’s A Small World“ by Lawrence Welk - Sure, this song is probably the biggest hook ever written next to “Happy Birthday” and the ride is a technological relic, but it has been completely refurbished, is still an uplifting comment on world unity and was my daughters favorite ride of the day.

18. “Parade“ by Joe Henry - The Magic Kingdom has 3 parades a day and we caught the fist one at 3:00PM. My daughter shook hands with Minnie, Goofy, Chip and Donald, but ran screaming from Captain Hook and Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. Hilarious.

19. “Rollercoaster“ by Luna - My wife and I got to ride Big Thunder Mountain and it was fun, but as far as rollercoasters go, I have been on much better.

20. “Broken Wheel“ by Bruce Cockburn - The heat was getting to us all, and we were struggling up the stairs by Splash Mountain trying to make it onto the Disney train for a ride to the other end of the park when the unimaginable happened. A wheel came off of our double stroller. We couldn’t repair it, so we unloaded it and left it in the trash. We had to lug two small children and everything that goes along with them (diapers, bottles, blankets, toys, etc) from that point forward with our bare hands! In the morning it’s off to Wal*Mart for a replacement.

21. “Over It“ by Matthew Sweet - The combination of middle age, tropical heat and humidity, large crowds and the unfortunate stroller break down, left me “over it” at this point. I traded New England for this?

22. “Take The ‘A’ Train“ by Duke Ellington - We finally made it to the train and rode over to Toontown. The cool breeze generated by the exposed train cars left me feeling refreshed and calmed my frayed nerves.

23. “Cup Of Tea“ by Sage Francis -I am not much for rides that spin around in circles as I am prone to become ill. So my wife took my daughter on the Mad Tea Party attraction. A Disney institution that a child simply cannot miss.

24. “Regroup“ by Screeching Weasel - My wife and I were ready to throw in the towel and head back to the hotel, but we decided against it. We decided to get dinner in an air conditioned restaurant and stick it out to see what the evening would bring.

25. “Air Conditioning“ by David Hazeltine - We found our air conditioned oasis at a burger joint in Tomorrowland called Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe complete with an animatronic alien lounge singer named Sonny Eclipse. One baked chicken platter, one order of chicken fingers and one kids meal = $21.

26. “Relax“ by G. Love & Special Sauce - I am not sure if Cosmic Ray’s has a good reputation, but it really helped chill us out, literally and figuratively. We were ready to get back to waiting in lines. This laid-back track by G. Love fits perfectly with our new state of mind.

27. “Tomorrowland“ by David Thiele - We spent more time in Tomorrowland on Buzz Lightyear’s Alien Adventure,  the people shuttle and my daughter became terrified of the Lilo and Stitch ride. I had to take her out screaming, the poor thing. She’s not big on the dark, monsters, or robots. This ride had all three.

28. “Space Mountain“ by Awesome Car Funmaker - This indoor sci-fi rollercoaster was first opened in 1975. I remember hearing about it when I was a kid. A roller coaster in the dark! Cool. Although I have been on better roller coasters, this was fun fun fun!

29. “Trains And Boats And Planes“ by Astrud Gilberto - One last ride on Goofy’s barnstorming bi-plane rollercoaster, a train ride back to the ferry and a ferry ride back to the tram and the tram to the car. I thought this Burt Bacharach classic fit the bill.

30. “So Tired” by Sam Jones - At the end of day one I was tired. In fact, I haven’t been this tired, in a very long time. When we got back to the hotel I had a diet Pepsi on ice and began this playlist. It was the best soda in the history of my existence.  This kids slept like logs, as did I on the plush new Marriott bedding I have been hearing so much about.

31. “Mickey Mouse March“ by Julie London - Now it’s time to say goodbye, but stayed tuned…

*Sorry Jackson and Bob