Adventures at Disney...well Universal Studios, actually - Day 4

We had scheduled Sunday as an off day from the parks for the girls.  We had been having a ton of fun, but those kids were so off schedule by this point it was borderline ridiculous.  One of Mom & Dad's goals for the trip was to sneak off to Universal Studios to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  Since we conveniently had a Grandma to leave the gals with, we went ahead and planned our Universal adventure for Sunday.

Despite a soaking rain when we got up, we left the ladies behind to enjoy a laid back pajama day with Grandma and headed to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure Park.

Hmmm...maybe this rain isn't going to let up?

Ponchos were on about two seconds after we left our vehicle

It was definitely a great day to not have the kids with us!  We learned shortly after entering the park that this was no ordinary morning rainfall, but rather a full blown tropical storm system (she went by the name of Debby, the #$%^&) that had parked itself over Florida for several days.  In Orlando, we didn't get the strong storms or damaging winds that they saw on the Gulf Coast, but I tell you what, I have never seen a soaking rain quite like this.  It. Did. Not. Let. Up. Once. ... even for a second.  Our ponchos were put to good use!

On a positive note, the fact that the park was nearly flooded really kept the crowds away, and we enjoyed 5 minute wait times on most of the attractions throughout the park.  And, most importantly, we LOVED Harry Potter.  They did a great job bringing the Wizarding World to life, and it was totally fun to experience.  Here are a few of the highlights for our fellow nerd friends Harry Potter fans.

It's the Hogwarts Express!  The Hogwarts Express!!

The poncho probably does not help make this picture less nerdy, huh?

The Three Broomsticks - we had lunch here (because it's awesome AND dry) - very Potteresque

That, my friends, is a giant keg of butter beer.  YUM!

Hogwarts!  (I think he pulls of his poncho much better than I do - no fair! )

A shot of the shops in Hogsmeade.  The snowy rooftops in Orlando was a nice touch.

Trying our first glass of butter beer.  Seriously amazing stuff -but I am guessing there is no less than 500 calories in this cup!

He may be a holographic image, but I was still kind of nervous about being addressed by Albus Dumbledore himself.

I would like one of these in every room of my house...if I wasn't afraid that E.V.E.R.Y.O.N.E. would make fun of me.

The sorting hat!  He totally whispered "Gryffindor" as I walked by...

Inside Olivander's Wand Shop 

Olivander picked this kid out of the crowd to find her the perfect wand.  He went through a 10 minute  process letting the wand choose the wizard (very important, you know).  I resisted all urges to push her down and run up there myself...

 Our fear of drowning, or worse, damaging our iPhones, kept our cameras tucked away after we left the Wizarding World, but we did spend several more hours exploring the rest of the park.  This particular park features a lot of water rides, which was convenient as we were already soaked to the bone.  We took advantage of the no line situation to ride most of the attractions several times, conquering the entire park in just about six hours.

We returned to find our girls well-rested, happy and dry, albeit a little stir crazy.  Daddy and Grandma took them to the swimming pool in the rain (why not?) for a little while, and I later took them on an exciting adventure to fetch slushies and snacks for the movie night scheduled for later that evening.

It was a very wet day in Florida, but we made the best of it.  We packed up after the kids went to bed (at or near their normal bedtimes - SHOCKING!) and prayed for a dry Monday...

Adventures at Disney World - Day 3 (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MEGAN!)

Day three brought us an early start to our morning, with the hopes of leaving for the park around 7:30 a.m.  We had big birthday surprise number 2 scheduled for 9 a.m., and though we were only a couple of miles from Magic Kingdom, we found it takes just shy of forever and a day to actually get inside the gates.

We made it in good time, and used our head start on the crowds (the park doesn't actually open until 9, but you can get in early with breakfast reservations - further details unveiled below) for picture opportunities in front of Cinderella's Castle.  (We'd seen the castle plenty of times by this point, but it's a crowd hot spot, and we hadn't taken the time to fight the masses for pics yet).

Family photo - I didn't drag five sets of mouse ears all the way from Michigan for nothing!

...and one with just our Minnie Mouses - or is it mice?

By this time, we had unveiled Megan's big surprise to her:  Breakfast with the Princesses INSIDE Cinderella's Castle!  The birthday girl was pumped!!

Royal invitation in hand, we were on our way through the castle gates!

Mom had made the reservation months ago, and was pretty unaware of the perks that came along with this monumental event (I prefer to think that they were nice surprises rather than I just completely forgot), such as:

A personal greeting and photo shoot with Cinderella herself!
 (The good folks at Disney also gave us 2 - 8X10s and 4 - 4X6 prints of each of these shots)

Our birthday girl is beaming!  

Breakfast was great!  We had a fabulous meal, and in addition to spending more time with Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, it also gave us a chance to meet Ariel and Snow White.  Each of our girls got a cool souvenir magic wand and wishing star as well, which they used as part of a special "Wishing Star Ceremony" during the meal.  The princesses were introduced individually, and came to each table to do pictures and autographs and spend a couple of minutes.  

Belle - dressed a little less formally than yesterday

Hannah was a little more interested in her waffles than dear Snow White - no offense, princess...

Sleeping Beauty poses with the birthday girl

Meeting the coveted Little Mermaid at last!  (and then our camera died during photo shoot time - of course...)

I think our birthday surprise was a success!

...and she got a delicious birthday cupcake too!

After breakfast, we were on a mission to locate Tinkerbell and crew in Adventureland.  Birthday luck was on our side, and we found them right away without much of a line at all.  We also stumbled upon where Tiana (from Princess and the Frog) was hiding, and were able to meet her right after Tinkerbell.  Meanwhile, we sent Daddy to the front of the park to secure passes for Mickey & Minnie Mouse.  The birthday girl was getting a little character'd out at this point, but we knew Mickey & Minnie were a must for our Hannah Marie.

Hannah meets Terence (Tinkerbell's Pixie Dust Fairy) - we've never heard of him, but this is allegedly a rare sighting, and our more adventurous child had no problems sitting with a strange male in a fairy costume.  Grrreat....

Tink!

The birthday girl waits to meet Tiana with Grandma

Tiana!  (She was also one of my favorite princesses - so sweet to the girls!  They had a lot of fun with her)

Megan was ready to move on to the next thing, but Hannah was all about loving on Princess Tiana.

"OMG Dad, it's Mickey & Minnie!!!!"

In the flesh...or fur?  Collecting their autographs for our books.

Hannah's big moment has arrived!

We were all done with our character stalking admiration for the day, and ready for some ride action. After Mickey & Minnie, we headed back to Adventureland to try out some new rides, as well as some of our faves...again.

Double trouble does Swiss Family Robinson's Treehouse

Jungle Cruise!

We found a splash pad to enjoy while Grandma held a spot in line for Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride

Showing Grandma how to properly drive a carpet

Double trouble in a teacup

Who let Hannah steer the teacup???

Dumbo with Daddy!

 We declared it to be afternoon break time after the rides, and in advance of a storm front moving into the area.  We headed back to the condo to rest up - narrowly missing a very decent rainfall.  Good timing!  After another no-nap for Hannah, and in accordance with the birthday girl's wishes (specifically three-fold - time alone with Mom & Dad, cotton candy and a "super late" bedtime), we decided to explore Magic Kingdom for the last time that evening with only Megan.  (Hannah didn't seem to have any complaints about one on one time with Grandma, and by that point in the trip I was sort of jealous of her being left behind! - Mom and Dad were getting TIRED).

Five year olds talk a big game, but this is what she looked like as we headed IN to the park for the evening

Luckily, she rallied shortly after her cotton candy wishes were granted

In line and ready for her first rollercoaster experience - Goofy's Barnstormer

She was a little timid going up the first hill, but after the first rush she was SOLD!  She and Kyle rode again  immediately after disembarking.

In line for Mickey's Philharmagic and ready to party!

We also caught It's a Small World, Buzz Lightyear (again) and Pirates of the Caribbean, to name a few.  As specified by the birthday girl, we shut down the park for the third night in a row, watching the fireworks on the ferry ride back to the parking lot.  It was a fifth birthday fit for a princess, which is very lucky as that is totally what we have going on here - and we wouldn't trade her for the world!

Happy birthday, baby girl!  What an amazing five years it's been as your Mom & Dad.  We could not be prouder of the little lady you are becoming!  (though if you wanted to slow it down a bit, that would be cool too)

Adventures at Disney World - Day 2

Day two brought us a full HOT day at the park.  After breakfast, we headed straight to Magic Kingdom.  We didn't have a formal plan for the day, but after getting a head start on the rides the night before, we knew the goal of the day was to focus on meeting the characters (emphasis on the princesses) and collecting autographs.

We didn't have to look far.  As soon as we walked through the gates and onto Main Street, we ran into this guy:

Hannah:  "Megan, can you believe what's happening here?  It's PLUTO!!"

It has been pointed out to me that in this picture, it appears that Hannah is being attacked by Pluto and Megan  is attempting to defend her sister's honor, but I assure you that is not the case.

 We had been slightly concerned about their reaction to the characters in oversized costumes (as a rule of thumb, Megan HATES any local mascots or anything of that nature), but Disney pulled it off.  They were soooo, soooo excited about these greetings, and extremely enthusiastic about having their books signed.

Shortly after loving on Pluto, we wandered over to Daisy Duck's line (meanwhile, Daddy got us a spot in line for Rapunzel).

This girl loves her some Daisy Duck!

Big, big fans of Daisy they were!

While Daddy enjoyed the quiet calm of a line in the shade with no kids, we took a potty and water break, and inadvertently got a front row seat from the 11 o'clock Main Street Parade.  The parade was great, but I was more interested in watching their faces then the show, as evidenced by my search of the camera roll for one picture of the feature show... but seriously, look how into it they were:

Then, our big time arrived - time to meet our first princess!  (and Rapunzel no less - she is arguably Megan's favorite and also the newest one at the park, so the line to meet her can get quite lengthy).  She was WONDERFUL!  I was very impressed with the characters overall and how gracious they were with the kids, not rushing them through the lines and acting genuinely interested in their trip, and spending time to tell them a little bit about their own story.  Megan, who was wearing a Happy Birthday pin (provided free by Disney), got a very special birthday greeting from each and every character and cast member she came across, and the princesses took the time to discuss their favorite birthday treats (based on the theme of their respective movies) and other traditions.  It was so cool, and the little ones totally bought it.  Out of all of the princesses, I think Rapunzel was my favorite.  We got the most time with her, and she was very affectionate and sweet with our girls.  They LOVED her, as evidenced here:

Rapunzel's gasp, upon seeing the birthday girl's button.  I knew we were in for a good show at this point.

I love their look of total awe here.  Megan:  "I can't believe this is happening!  Be cool, Hannah, be cool!"

Megan declined to put on her Rapunzel dress when the big moment arrived, but Hannah (shockingly) was all about it!



One of my favorite pics from the whole trip!  

We had a FastPass to meet the Storybook Princesses (Aurora - aka Sleeping Beauty, Belle and Cinderella), so we headed that way right after meeting Rapunzel.

Posing with Sleeping Beauty...

...and Belle

Hannah literally bounced with joy at every character greeting.  This pic captures a little of  her bounce routine.

...and Cinderella! 

We were on our way to the back of the park to hit some rides after a full morning of schmoozing with Disney Royalty, when we quite literally nearly ran into Tigger and Pooh.  Hannah went ballistic with excitement, so we found ourselves in line to meet them shortly thereafter.

Hannah did not wait for Winnie to initiate physical contact - she went right in for a bear hug (no pun intended)

Tigger got his share of love as well

Mom is fully aware that she looks like a total loser - I don't care - it was HOT

Hannah and Dad then went off to enjoy a few rides while Megan headed off for her first birthday surprise (1 of 2) - a spa appointment at the Bippidi Boppidi Boutique in Cinderella's Castle - GASP!

Ready to be beautified!

Detangling this mop is no easy task - of course if you're dressed as one of Cinderella's helpers she will not scream at you like she does if you're her mother.

She does the spa thing quite well - smart girl.

Beautified and ready for action!

It was break time after the spa.  We met up with Daddy and Hannah (one of whom had fallen asleep on the riverboat ride - any guesses?) and headed back to the condo for a late lunch and some rest time.  The weather for the evening was looking a bit dismal, and after failing to secure herself a decent nap for the second day in a row, we opted to leave Hannah home with Grandma Purdy and just take the newly glamorous almost-birthday girl back to the park that night.  As we had our ponchos on less than twenty minutes after entering, and kept them on the duration of the evening, I stand by our decision.  Even though it was a little damp, we still had a great, and very productive, evening trip.

Our first spin on Buzz Lightyear's ride.  This is one of my favorites in the whole park, and Megan really enjoyed shooting the targets (and Daddy) as well.

Country Bear Jamboree (not only is it cute for kids, but it's INSIDE - aka out of the rain)

Enchanted Tiki Room

Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride

And back to Dumbo.  The lines were so short at night that we were able to do our favorites multiple times.

Always willing to strike a pose, this one.

For the second night in a row, we dragged a sleeping child back to the condo at an hour nowhere near her usual bedtime.  She slept very soundly on her last night as a FOUR year old.  (Insert Mom's sigh...)