Disney Day #6

Wednesday was our last full day at Disney World.  This was our 3rd time staying at the Pop Century Resort and although the buses to most of the Parks are very efficient, we forgot how long the buses to the Animal Kingdom take.  We waited a very long time.  Combine that with the fact that it was a very hot and much too humid day and it was not a great day for the Animal Kingdom.  Once we arrived we decided to focus on the most important stuff first in case we didn't stay long.  Juliana went with my mom to the Lion King show which she loved 2 years ago and loved it again this time.  While they were at the show, I went straight to the Safari to get Fast Passes and then to Everest.  Using the single-rider line I was able to ride 5 times in 30 minutes.  Then I met Juliana and mom back at the Safari entrance.  While we were "on safari", it was obvious that Juliana was too tired and we were all hot so we decided to head back to the hotel.

We ate lunch and then Juliana and I went swimming in the big pool.  Even in her swim vest, she was very nervous in the water.  She held on to me tight as I swam and bounced in the pool and eventually she started to get brave.  She stayed next to me holding on and than little by little she started navigating herself.  Every few minutes she would get out of the pool to dry off her face (baby steps in the water) and then she would jump right back in for more swimming.

The swimming break was just what Juliana needed, she was in a much better mood after that.  We showered and headed to the Magic Kingdom.  We were on a mission to see the only characters Juliana really wanted to see and had missed so far in our trip - The Fairies, especially Tinkerbell. 

While my mom went to twke care of some important shopping - the fake hair Juliana had requested from Santa - Juliana and I went for a ride on the speedway.  She was so excited that she was going to get to drive the car - I was in charge of the gas pedal and she was supposed to steer.  After a few minutes she decided that it was to hard to steer so she quit.

We needed a snack before our dinner reservation and we decided that a funnel cake was the perfect early evening snack.

We left the Magic Kindom and walked to the Contemporary Resort for our dinner at Chef Mickey's.  Juliana was getting so tired that this meal was not as much fun as it should have been. 

We made it back to the bus stop before the fireworks started so we didn't have a long wait for a bus.  We got back to the hotel and started packing.

Thursday morning we finished packing, ate breakfast and then checked our bags for our flight at the hotel - this was such a great service.  It was pouring rain and even though we had a few hours before we needed to go to the airport, we would have been soaked if we went to a Park.  S instead we went to a nearby shopping area and then had lunch before driving to the airport.

Trying to imagine going back with 3 kids next time...

The Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique

Getting back to the final Disney posts (because if I don't post them here, I won't remember the details).

On Monday afternoon Juliana had her appointment at The Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique at Cinderella's Castle.  The package was a gift from Nonni and included a Belle dress with shoes, crown and wand, the hairstyle of her choice, makeup, nails and a photo session.

We arrived at the Boutique and waited for Princess Juliana to be called back.  She went back to the dressing room and her dress and accessories were waiting for her.  The "salon" area was filled with stations designed for little girls.  Chairs like little thrones and fancy mirrors on the wals.  Juliana climbed right up in the chair and selected her hairstyle.

During the entire process, no matter how tight her hair was pulled, she never complained.  This is the child who runs from the hair brush at home and never wants even a ponytail. After her hair was pulled to the top of her head, the tiara was slipped into place and a huge amount of glitter hairspray was used to hold her hair just right.

Then is was time for nails and makeup - I told her we should not tell her Daddy about the eye shadow and that is of course the first thing she told him when we got home.

After the wave of the magic wand and the magic words - Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo - the transformation was complete.

Then it was off to the photo studio for her photo shoot.  This was such a fun experience - I highly recommed it!

Disney Day #4

Monday was another Magic Kingdom day.  We arrived at the gate prior to the Park open time so we could make it to our breakfast reservation .  We were dining at the castle and Juliana wasn't the only one looking forward this meal (I might have been a little excited to go to the castle as well).  First we had Juliana's picture taken with Cinderella and then we sat at our table upstairs.

While the price was certainly no bargain, the food was very good.  During breakfast, the princesses were announced and walked around to each of the tables: Belle, Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine and Snow White were all there.

Keeping the princess theme going, Juliana insisted that we go straight to see Arial after leaving the castle.  Arial and Belle were her favorites while we were there.

Then we went on rides in Fantasyland and did some shopping before our lunch reservation at Liberty Tavern - one of my favorite restuarants at Disney.  After lunch we got fast passes for Splash Mountain.  There is a small playgound near the ride and we let Juliana run around while we waited for our time slot.  Juliana was in tears as we walked up to the ride - she wasn't happy about getting wet or going down the big hill.  But she calmed down and walked along the line.  She liked the inside of the mountain with the music and characters but every little hill got her upset.  She was quite happy when the last hill was over.

We exited the ride just in time to watch the parade.  After days of rain and cooler temps, this is the point when it drastically warmed up...as I was holding her up to watch the parade and the sun was beating down.  That was a long 20 minutes.  We had to waeve our way through the past-parade crowd back to the castle for Juliana's appointment at the Boutique - I am going to add that to a separate post since there are so many pictures to include.

After her appointment and photo shoot, we browsed through some stores.  In the candy store Juliana was given a free bag of cotton candy since it was National Cotton Candy day. Then we waited at the end of Main Street for my mom.  It was getting dark and they were getting ready for the parade.  They have stations set-up with activites for kids as they wait along the parade route and they had hula hoops near us.  So we had a crazy hula-hooping princess for a little while.

We got back to the hotel and Juliana changed out of her dress and ate some of her cotton candy.  A little bit later my friend Sarah arrived.  Sarah lives in Chicago and came to Dinsey to spend some time with us for her birthday.  Disney is running a Celebration promotion (might have been 2009 only) and she got free admission to one Park on her birthday.  Since we were already planning to be there, it was a perfect fit to get to spend some time together and celebrate her birthday.  We had dinner at the hotel and then we carefully removed Juliana's tiara in the hopes that her hair would stay mostly in place for the next day.

Disney Day #3

We spent Sunday at the Magic Kingdom.  As soon as we arrived on Main Street, I knew it was not a normal day.  The Park had just opened and there were people lined up along the parade route, odd since the parade is always in the afternoon and occasionaly in the evening as well.  Then as we walked further toward the castle we saw camera crews everywhere, including 2 elevated above the crowd.  Then we heard Disney cast members asking for volunteers to particpate in the festivities.  It turns out that they were filming their Christmas Day parade and concert for TV that day.  The concert was the Jonas Brothers and there were screaming tweens crowded around the stage.  We found out later that they had planned to be filming the past 2 days but the rain prevented it, so they were trying to get everything done in a very compressed time span.

We were turned toward Tomorrow Land since all paths around the castle were closed.  First stop Buzz Lightyear - always fun.  Although after riding Toy Story Mania, not nearly as good of a ride.  When we exited the ride we saw Chip-N-Dale and Juliana was so excited.  Our last trip to Disney when Juliana was 2, she had a day where she wasn't feeling well.  We were at Epcot and I had been visiting characters with her while the rest of the group was on Soarin' and Chip-N-Dale were the last characters in the room.  By the time she got to them so was in no mood for a picture.  The pictures we have from that trip are of her running from them with tears streaming down her face.  So she had spent the first two days of our trip looking  for them.

Then I went on Space Mountain - just one time.  And met Juliana and my mom in Fantasy Land where they were waiting in line for Donald and Dasiy.  Juliana was only interested in Daisy, but they were a package.

We braved the Dumbo line and rode Winnie the Pooh (she loved), Peter Pan (also loved) and then we headed to the Crystal Palace for our lunch reservation - lunch with Winnie the Pooh characters.

After lunch we went back to Fantasyland and rode It's a Small World which of course Juliana loved...Later im the day she asked if we could go ride little earth again.  I told her we were only allowed to ride one time.  By this point the stage area and parade festivities were ending and that crowd spilled out into the attraction areas making it suddenly more crowded.  We walked to Big Thunder Mountain for Fast Passes and while we waited for our time slot we went to the Tiki Room and waited in line to see Princess Jasmine.

Then back to Big Thunder Mountain - Juliana spent the whole ride huddled under my arm asking if the ride was almost over.  We hopped on the train to Toon Town and visited Mickey and Minnie's houses - I never knew that the fridge opened and the microwave had popped corn inside...never thought to play with the knobs and doors myself.  Juliana was much happier with the Barnstormer - smaller coaster - she came running off with a sudden burst of energy.

We wandered through the shops on Main Street and then headed back to the hotel for dinner and bed.