Princesses

Gillian loved meeting the princesses in Disney World.  I know what you are thinking, we haven't been in Disney World in almost two months, but Gillian was just talking about the princesses the other day.  So I figured I would write a little post about Gillian meeting all of her favorites. 

The first characters we met were Pluto and Minnie Mouse.  Gillian was VERY afraid of them.  I'm not sure if it was the awe of meeting them or because it was early in the morning or just by their sheer size.  Anyway, she was afraid of them, and didn't want to go near them.  The next characters we met were Chip and Dale.  They were awesome.  They took the time to interact with Gillian and she lost her shyness.  But our very first princess we met was Belle.  We went on the Enchanted Tales with Belle attraction.  Gillian got to dance with Belle and have her picture taken.

Later that night, we went back to the Magic Kingdom to see a parade and the fireworks.  We didn't end up seeing the parade.  We ended up going on a few rides and we got to meet Ariel!  Ariel was super nice, even though Gillian was super tired and cranky.  She loved Gillian's autograph book and kept saying that she was happy that Gillian picked a page that matched the color of her tail!  Unfortunately, the pictures we took with Ariel didn't make it on my PhotoPass, but I did get one quick shot on my cell.  It's proof that we met Ariel! 

The next day we spent in Animal Kingdom.  Unfortunately, we didn't meet any princesses there.  But the following day we went to Hollywood Studios.  In Hollywood Studios, we met Princess Sofia!  Sofia the First is one of Disney's newest princesses and Gillian loves watching her show (so does John).  Gillian waited patiently for her turn to meet the princess.  John, on the other hand, was not so happy.  He kept saying "Do I have to meet her?  I don't even like the show!"  But he still asked Sofia for an autograph and posed for pictures. 

The next day we went back to the Magic Kingdom.  Daddy scheduled a fast pass so that we could meet Cinderella and a visiting princess.  Gillian loves "Rella" and was happy to see that the visiting princess that day was Sleeping Beauty.  We first met Cinderella.  Gillian was a little shy at first, but Cinderella showed Gillian her beautiful blue shoes.  And Gillian showed Cinderella her t-shirt.  Gillian happened to be wearing her Cinderella shirt that day.  They talked about Cinderella's mice and Gillian told her "I like Gus-Gus."  I will admit it, I got a little teary eyed watching my little girl talk with her favorite princess.

After meeting Cinderella, we met Sleeping Beauty.  We really got lucky.  Sleeping Beauty is another one of Gillian's favorite princesses.  Even to this day, Gillian says "Her was wearing pink.  The red fairy make her dress pink.  But the blue fairy want it blue!" 

After the Magic Kingdom, we went to Epcot.  In Epcot, we saw Snow White.  Daddy and I think that Snow White was headed for a break, but when she saw Gillian and a few other girls, she stopped to take some pictures with them.

In Epcot, we also got to meet Belle again!  Belle was super nice and loved Gillian's autograph book.  If you listen carefully to the video below, you will hear her compliment Aunt Missy on making such a nice book.

 
As you can tell, by this point in our visit Gillian is very comfortable meeting a princess and talking to her.  She loved meeting Belle again.  Now she says "I meet Belle in her beautiful dress and again in her blue dress!" 

We did try to meet Jasmine while we were in Epcot, but the timing just didn't work out.  I think that Gillian had a wonderful time meeting all of her favorite princesses in person!

Enchanted Tales with Belle

On our first day in the Magic Kingdom, we ended up in Fantasyland.  We came across an attraction Enchanted Tales with Belle.  We had no idea what kind of experience we were in for.  We only knew that the line was short and it had something to do with Belle.  After waiting forever (well it seems like forever with impatient little kids), we made it inside Belle's cottage.  Once inside, we were instructed to move the kids to the front of the room towards a big mirror.  We were told that the mirror was magical and that we were going to be transported to the night that Belle and the Beast fell in love.  The mirror then got big and we all walked thru it into another room.  In that room was the wardrobe and she and a cast member told us that we were going to help Belle and that they needed helpers.  They asked for volunteers and my John raised his hand immediately.  The cast member started to select people from our group for different roles.  The first gentlemen selected were suits of armor.  Uncle T got to be a suit of armor!  Next the cast member asked us to roar!  And she picked John to be the Beast!  She also selected someone to be Belle's father, Phillipe (Belle's horse), a wolf, and Mrs. Potts & Chip.  Then the cast member asked "Did everyone get a role that wanted a role?"  Once again, I was surprised to see Gillian raise her hand.  She was given the role of a pepper shaker (which is perfect for Gillian - she likes to shake her booty).

Now that everyone had their roles, we moved to the next room where Lumiere told us that Belle would be arriving shortly and told us that we would be helping Belle prepare for her big night with the Beast.  And then she arrived!  

Belle was dressed in her beautiful yellow gown.  John looked really nervous, and Gillian was a little scared.  She gave her pepper shaker over to a cast member and came and sat with me.  The kids started to reenact when Belle first met the Beast.  She was searching for her father and that's how she got to Beast's castle.  John played his part well and he jumped out at roared at Belle.  Belle was scared, but stayed at the castle so that the Beast would release her father.  Then Belle and the Beast became friends and they danced!

      
 

 

 

After John (aka the Beast) and Belle danced, Belle gave each of the kids (and adults) a bookmark to thank them for participating.  The cast members that were assisting Belle made sure that Gillian got to meet Belle as well. 

 

 

 

I am so glad that we stopped at this attraction.  It was worth the wait in line and we have such wonderful memories of how we met Belle and John got to be the Beast!

The Book

This morning Gillian was reading her princess books.  She loves looking at the pictures and occassionally she will comment on what she sees. This morning she was reading "Beauty and the Beast."  She brought the book over to Daddy and pointed to one page and said "He has her hand!"  The page she was talking about had a picture of Gaston holding Belle's hand.  She moved to the next page and saw a picture of the Beast.  She then said "There a tiger!" Daddy explained to her that he was not a tiger, but he was the Beast.  She basically ignored that information.  Later she brought the book over to me and again said "He has her hand!'  She was so worried and upset about Gaston holding Belle's hand.  She repeated again and again and again (and again), "He has her hand!"  We tried to explain to her that he was the bad guy, and to not worry because Belle was ok.  But all she still remains concerned that "He has her hand!"