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!

Opening the Magic Kingdom

On our first day at Disney World, we went to the Magic Kingdom.  Since we were staying at a Disney Resort, we were able to enjoy magic hours and get into the park at 7 am.  It was an early day, but it was totally worth it.  We arrived and waiting for the train to arrive with Mickey Mouse.  He arrived with Minnie, Pluto and Alice.  He welcomed us and  then lead us in a countdown and the park was opened with a bang!

 

 After Mickey, opened the park we were able to get our day started.  We took a few family pictures and then we got to meet Pluto and Minnie Mouse!  Gillian was a little unsure about meeting the characters at first.  It was early in the morning, and they can be a bit overwhelming.  But I will tell you by the end of our visit, she wasn't afraid!  John was super excited to meet Pluto.  Before we left, we asked him who he wanted to meet the most.  He kept telling us "Pluto!"  We were very lucky to meet Pluto within 10 minutes of being inside the Magic Kingdom.  Below are a few videos of the kids meeting Pluto and Minnie Mouse!

 



 

 

the reveal

We are going Disney World over Thanksgiving weekend this year with Mimi, Poppy, Uncle T and Aunt Missy.  A few weekends ago we revealed the news to the kids. 

After we went pumpkin picking, Mimi and Poppy had John in their car and we had Gillian in our car.  As Mimi & Poppy approached their house, Mimi pointed out some boxes on her front porch.  She asked John to bring them inside for her.  When he got to the front porch, he saw that the boxes had his name and Gillian's name on them.  We brought the boxes inside and after looking at them closer, the kids saw that one was addressed to John and Gillian from Mickey and Minnie Mouse! 

Below is a little video of the kids opening their box from Mickey and Minnie Mouse!

I love how each of them are excited in their own way.  And how perfect is it that John asks to write Mickey for a calendar or a countdown?

the joke

Have you ever seen that AT&T commercial with the kid that tells a joke and the other kid corrects him?  Well here's the commercial in case you don't know what I'm talking about.

This morning, John pulled off the next number on our Disney countdown.  Today's star had a joke on the back of it.  Daddy read it to John, "When does Mickey Mouse put up his new calendar?"  John said "I don't know."  I said "On New Ears eve!"  John said "You mean Year's!"  Daddy said "No, ears, because that's what makes it funny!"  John didn't get it.    

Vacation, all I ever wanted

This summer, John asked "Are we ever going to go on a real vacation? Like go away somewhere?" I explained to him that vacations are expensive and that we would save our money and go on a "real" vacation one day. And he dropped the subject.

Recently, he has resurrected the vacation discussion. He must have seen a commercial for Disney Cruises, because he thinks we will be going on a cruise. He asked me "Mommy, when are we going to go on vacation?" Again I tried the, we need to save money line. That didn't work. He said "You know, you could use my money from my piggy bank!" The other morning, he was explaining the cruise to Daddy "And Daddy, Gillian will love it. They have characters on the boat. But you you know they aren't real. They are just people dressed up in costume. Sorry Gill!"

This weekend, the vacation talk went to the extreme. The kids were playing quietly in John's room. After awhile, John and Gillian walked into my room. John was rolling his Car's suitcase behind him and Gillian was carrying a baby and a blanket. He said "We are going on fake vacation!" The kids played "fake vacation" for hours.

Tonight while tucking John into bed, he says "When we go on vacation, can we bring Duncan? I'm going to miss him so much!" I explained to him that Duncan would not go on vacation with us and that he would stay at Purr N Pooch and it would be like a vacation for Duncan. John seemed pleased with that response. But he had another question, "Mommy, when we are on the cruise, will we sleep on the boat?" I explained to him that we may not even go on the boat. He got really sad. I explained that we might just got to Disney World. I asked him if he knew anything about Disney World. He said "Yea. There's one at the mall!" I explained that the store at the mall was tiny in comparison and that Disney World had rides and parades and a big castle and characters. And he said "Just like the cruise!" He has a one track mind.