A Fairytale Princess Tea Party

This afternoon we went to A Fairytale Princess Tea Party at Pax Amicus Castle Theatre.

The description from the theatre's website read, "The Fairy Godmother, Tinker Belle, The Blue Fairy and Glinda Invite you to "A Fairy Tale Princess Tea Party" starring Cinderella, Belle, Snow White, The Little Mermaid, Jasmine, Rapunzel, The Frog Princess, Sleeping Beauty and Pochahantas. A New Play for Children written and directed by Stanley Barber."

In a word, the show was ADORABLE!!! Claire had so much fun wearing her Pocahontas costume and watching the show with some of her friends. One of the highlights of the show was when someone knocked on the door on stage, then a princess or fairy sang a little clue-filled rhyme and the audience had to yell out who they thought was at the door. All of the little princesses and princes in the audience yelled out their answers enthusiastically. Another highlight, without giving anything away, was the male characters that appeared in the show. Hysterical!!!

We had so much fun at this cute little theater. We will definitely attend more shows there in the future.

Meeting the Cast after the Show

Will the real Pocahontas please stand up?

Disney Part 6

12/19 - Epcot

We woke up über early this morning to go to the princess breakfast at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in Norway (Epcot). Akershus reminded me of my grandparents' house -- wooden beams on the ceiling, ornate furniture, old world feel. Belle was waiting for us as we entered and immediately recognized that Claire was wearing her Belle princess dress. After a brief photo op, we were seated in a small room in the banquet hall, which felt more like a castle. Claire paraded around Akershus with the princesses and other guests, then we enjoyed our buffet breakfast and hot plate (eggs, potatoes, bacon and sausage) as each princess visited our table. We loved visiting with Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White and Ariel (We had been searching all over for Ariel and this was the first and only place we saw her!).

Afterward, we rode Spaceship Earth, then went to China to meet Mulan who was very gracious, spending time speaking with Claire and posing for pictures. We thought we'd get two more "rides" in, so we hopped on the boat rides in Norway and Mexico.

After a brief, frustrating snafu in the parking lot (Where the heck did we park?!?!?!), we had lunch at T.G.I. Friday's (a great, Claire-friendly restaurant) then went back to the hotel to rest and regroup. We spent our last night at Epcot. First we went to Nine Dragons in China for dinner. While sharing wonton soup with me, Claire mentioned how much she likes eating the "skeletons" in wonton soup. I'm glad she does, because I really don't care for scallions. After dinner, we waited about 20 minutes for the IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth fireworks extravaganza to begin. It was spectacular!!! It was the perfect way to end our vacation. We will definitely return for another Disney vacation in the future. It's magical!

Disney Part 5

12/18

It poured today! We slept in...very late! It was good to catch up on sleep after so many late nights and we were hopeful there would be less crabbiness as a result. We went to Downtown Disney to do a little shopping. We marveled at the Lego sculptures (Woody, a large dragon, an entire family and their dogs) and purchased a few souvenirs.

After we finished shopping, we headed back to the Magic Kingdom. It was super-crowded! We went to see Mickey's PhilharMagic, a 4-D movie. I loved looking over at Claire trying to reach out and touch things that were being "thrown" out into the audience from the film. She was amazed! We went on the Winnie the Pooh ride (Eh!) and rode the carousel, the teacups and It's a Small World again.

When we first arrived, we passed Rapunzel and Flynn from the movie Tangled. The line was long, so we figured we'd come back later. We set off to find Jessie from Toy Story since Claire was dying to see her and heard she was only in the Magic Kingdom. Three different cast members told us three different places where she was and when we finally found her a little before 5:00, we were told that the line was closed. I argued that she was supposed to be there until 5:30 according to the schedule, but the cast member assisting Jessie said the schedule was incorrect and they were leaving at 5:00. Hearing this, Claire began crying. Real tears. She was inconsolable. A sweet, older cast member came over and tried to comfort Claire and this cast member couldn't understand why Claire couldn't just get a quick picture with her. We went into the little store where this cast member worked and she wrote out a little certificate for Claire to make her feel better. It was very sweet.

We ended the evening by going to see Mickey and Minnie's country houses in Toontown, then posing for pictures with them -- Claire was thrilled and it totally made up for the "Jessie incident of 2010." It ended the evening on a high note. We took the train back to Main St., USA, then headed back to our hotel.

Disney Part 4

12/17 - Disney's Hollywood Studios

We slept in, then headed to Disney's Hollywood Studios around noon. The first thing we did was see Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage. It was fantastic!!! We also saw Playhouse Disney Live on Stage and Voyage of the Little Mermaid. Claire fully enjoyed both. For lunch, we headed to Hollywood and Vine where we had lunch with Special Agent Oso and a few of the kids from Little Einsteins. It was a great surprise, since we didn't realize it was a character lunch until we were waiting for our table and we saw Special Agent Oso through the window. Claire was absolutely thrilled!

Later, we waited a little more than 40 minutes to see Buzz Lightyear and Woody from Toy Story. It was a long wait, but Claire's face lit up when she got to hug each of them and pose for pictures. She realizes that they, along with all of the characters, are in costumes, but she still loves meeting all of them. We finished our day at the Fantasmic show which was awesome - fireworks, lasers, Sorcerer Mickey fighting off villains. It was truly amazing and worth the 60 minutes we waited in the amphitheater to ensure we got seats for the show. Even at 60 minutes prior to showtime, 75%  of the seats were already taken! It is a very popular show!

We ended our day by having dinner in the Animal Kingdom Lodge at Boma, a buffet with an African influence.

Disney Part 3

12/16 - Epcot

Claire was so excited to see the large "golf ball" aka Planet Earth that she had seen on tv. We went on several rides including  Living on the Land (Claire really enjoyed this educational ride!), The Seas with Nemo and Friends and saw Turtle Talk with Crush. She loved Soarin' and Journey into Imagination with Figment. Mission: Space was spectacular and very realistic (In fact, I felt a little motion sick. I guess 2.5 Gs will do that to you!). I don't think Claire enjoyed it 100%. Next time we'll go on the "Green Team" for a "less intense journey."

We went to the World Showcase and headed to Japan for a late hibachi lunch at Teppan Edo. Our chef provided the traditional hibachi show. Afterwards, we went to France to meet Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Claire had a really nice chat with her. In Morocco, we waited for quite a while for Jasmine and Aladdin to return from their break, then met them. Claire was absolutely thrilled!!!

One of the things that really made the whole Disney experience great for Claire was how some of the princesses took the time to really chat with Claire (The costumed characters, obviously, did not because they don't talk.). An extra minute or two can really be so meaningful to a child. We were lucky enough to have so many princesses that were kind enough to do so.

Disney Part 2

12/15 - Animal Kingdom

We decided to visit the Animal Kingdom park today. The Lion King show was on our list of things to do, so we went straight to the theater. It was great!

Claire kept asking to ride rides (She had so much fun riding on the rides at the Magic Kingdom the day before that she wanted more, more, more!). We went on Dinosaur, a ride that Claire thought was a little too scary. The TriceroTops Spin was more her speed. We went on a safari to see animals in their natural habitat and walked through a trail to see lots of animals (fish, gorillas). We watched another show, Finding Nemo, the Musical. It was fantastic! Claire really seemed to enjoy seeing the story of Nemo adapted for this live stage performance.

The highlight of Claire's day was seeing so many Disney characters up close. It didn't matter how long the line was, she was willing to wait patiently to see characters. At first, we weren't sure if this was the best use of our time, but the excitement in Claire's face showed us it was. We were able to visit with several characters including Minnie Mouse, Chip and Dale, Pluto, Lilo and Stitch, Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and Eyeore. It really brought us such joy to see Claire's face light up when she interacted with each character. Later she would say, "Mommy, I think [insert character's name here] was just someone dressed up in a costume." Funny, but she never said that about any of the princesses we met later on our vacation.

Disney Part 1

We stayed in a beautiful villa at Kidani Village in the Animal Kingdom. Our villa had great amenities and the two room, two bath layout was the perfect amount of space for us.

12/14 - Magic Kingdom

When we walked into the park, Claire was immediately drawn to Cinderella's castle. She wanted to go inside, but there really wasn't an "inside" to go into (Since Claire loves to see others' bedrooms, she was disapointed that she couldn't see Cinderella's bedroom in her castle.). When we walked around the back of the castle, we happened to run into Cinderella's fairy godmother. It was exciting!

We went on lots of rides - Claire especially loved It's a Small World and the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We rode each of them twice!

After spending a good amount of time at the Magic Kingdom, we left to search for some winter hats and gloves (It was unseasonably cold in the Sunshine State. One cast member used the words "freakishly cold."). Visits to Target and Walmart did not yield winter gear, but we were successful at Cracker Barrel.

That night, we returned to the Magic Kingdom for Mickey's Christmas Party which was billed as an "exclusive" event. We, along with thousands of other guests, enjoyed watching a Christmas-themed musical show performed on the stage in front of Cinderella's castle, then lined the streets of Main Street USA to watch a special Christmas parade. It even snowed!! Despite the crowd and the freezing temperature, Claire loved every minute of it!!