DISNEY 2015
Jay and I have toyed with taking the girls to Disney (let's not lie, we have talked about US going, but felt like there was something super wrong about leaving our children while going to the magical nebulous). We decided late summer that we wanted to surprise them and take them for Christmas. We started to really look into it and stumbled up Disney's Magical Dining Plan (aka: Free Food!). That sealed the deal. Within days our trip was booked and magic bands were on their way!
We wrote the princesses and asked if we could please oh please bring our girls and what do you know, they called! Not just anyone, but Queen Elsa herself called asking the girls to please come visit. While Elle would have loved to talk longer, sweet Elsa had to go since Olaf was waiting on her to have a snowball fight.
Let it also be known that thanks to my kind brother we flew to Disney. This was a huge blessing in many regards, one being that Elle cries when we drive to the lake or Nashville since they are soooo far away! 40 minutes into the flight Elle's travel quota was filled and she was done with flying, driving, riding and so forth.
We left for the house the mouse built on December 15, 2015. Our flight was around noon and we landed around 2. After all of our travel time we were officially on the magical grounds around 4 and knew we needed to head to the Wilderness Lodge for dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe.
The Wilderness Lodge was lovely! Despite the 75 degree Florida air, it felt like Christmas. Every banister was covered in garland and bright red ribbons. There was a huge beautiful tree in the middle of the lobby that reminded me of the Yellowstone Inn. It was quit impressive.
Caroline was the most taken aback by it all. She was speechless.
The Whispering Canyon Cafe has open walls that look right into the lobby.
Elle was thrown in jail for having too much fun. The Cafe is known for being silly, loud, and having fun service. If you ask for a straw, they might bring you a rather large one.
Jay, being the food that he is, took pictures of I think every meal he ate. Enter the first photo of his stomach's delight.
This nugget finally woke up in time for more pictures.
After dinner we headed back to our hotel (the Pop Century by the way) and went to bed. We knew we were going to have an early start in the morning.
The Magic Kingdom opened at 8:00 am the first day we went to the parks. We got up in time catch the bus and be the second people in line to enter the MK. Watching the opening ceremonies were so fun! The girls had no idea what was about to hit them!
Jay had on his goPro and was ready! Game on!
The girls could not believe they were looking at Cinderella's real castle! Elle was astonished that it looked just like her toy castle at home. Ha! She has since taken a greater liking to it.
First stop: Meet the lady who invited us to visit.
Both Elle and Caroline didn't really say much. I expected them to flip out, but they were exceptionally quiet. I suppose that is the ultimate mark of being overwhelmed... when a 6 and 3 year old have absolutely nothing to say.
When Caroline realized Anna was in the same room she began to speak up. The first thing she asked was "Elsa, is that your sister?" pointing to Anna. Anna is Caroline's favorite princess.
Caroline was curious and totally at home. She looked out windows, asked where Sven and Olaf were. I think she would have stayed there all day just chatting it up about her blue crayon at home (which she did bring up).
Once the girls recovered from having met their favorite sisters, we ran off to met Ariel! The. Ariel.
She was of course charming and told the girls of her morning adventures with Flounder. Scuttle reminded her not to brush her hair with a thingamabob so she would look presentable for her guests in her grotto.
I absolutely adore that this picture was captured. Caroline had a hard time tearing her eyes away from one her most beloved princesses. She was in awe.
I'm not gonna lie... I kind of was too.
We then headed off to ride the Mad Hatter's Tea Cups and Dumbo!
It's a Small World
We got lunch at the Harbor House in Liberty Hall. The food was outstanding and what you can't see in this picture is we were overlooking Rapunzel's Tower.
Elle was up for Splash Mountain so I hopped on with her before she had a chance to reconsider. She was a ridge terrified at first...
but then rode all roller coasters with her arms in the air!
Ronnie's ears of choice. I heart them.
There was definitely no lacking of food on this trip. The girls had treats to their hearts content.
This pic is for you RJSJ. We ate dinner at Ohana at the Polynesian. It is a family style restaurant and was oh so fun. The girls were not so into the food, so they graciously brought out mac and cheese and hotdogs (which were not on the menu). They had coconut races and dancing. It was so fun!
We had heard Anna and Elsa were in town from Arendelle and would be lighting the castle so we jumped on the monorail just in time to catch this.
No caption can really convey how truly spectacular it was! Simply lovely!
