Mommy Daughter Magic Kingdom Date

I was heartbroken over Evie.  All of our plans were quickly flying out the window.

Looking on the bright side, however, I was stoked to take Belle to the Magic Kingdom all by myself.

When I was a young lass working for Disney, I never thought the day would come that I would return home.  I imagined spending many fun days strolling around the Magic Kingdom- just my daughter and me.  It was really a dream come true.

As I've mentioned in previous posts, a cold front surprised Florida that week.  I had been checking the weather religiously, but things can always change quickly.  Wardrobe-wise we were not prepared for 30 degree weather.  We had to buy Belle a sweatshirt and I happened to find one stored in the trunk of my car. We mixed with blue jeans, random shirts and our boots. We looked like a HOT MESS, but we were warm.

Our morning started off with a stop to the food court.  I instantly fell in love with these cinnamon buns and had one every day for the rest of the trip.  Belle had a cup of fruit.  Each were one snack credit.  (I love being able to use a snack credit on breakfast.)

We arrived to an almost empty Magic Kingdom and Belle asked to ride 'Small World'.

She needed to check on Poodie's mama.

Poodie is Belle's beloved stuffed poodle who has been to Disney World twice.  On our last trip Mousekeeping accidentally took Poodie away while they were changing the sheets.  Belle was devastated and we told her that Poodie had gone to visit his mom on the Small World ride.

Thankfully Poodie was returned safe and sound.

I probably have a million pictures from this ride, but each time I always find a new piece to photograph.  I love this ride!

Next up was the carousel.  On Belle's first trip it was the only ride she enjoyed.  Whew!  So glad that is over. 

We decided to stroll through Adventureland and it was hoppin' with characters.  Since it was early in the day there were hardly any lines.  (Good tip-take a morning to do meet and greets.  There was a really cool selection of characters, as well.  Prince Eric was out with Ariel that morning.)

Okay, so it's time for a disappointing moment in the lives of Belle and her mama....

It's no secret that we are huge Tinkerbell fans in this house.  Even though she's almost six, we still call Belle 'Tink'.  We have every movie and more Tinkerbell pajamas and costumes than should be allowed.

Our favorite fairy, other than Tink, is Rosetta.  She's also the only fairy we had not met at that point.

We love her personality and southern accent.

We were thrilled to find out that she was in Pixie Hollow that morning.

Well.....

She was about as Rosetta-like as Cinderella's horses.  No resemblance and no southern drawl.  She wasn't that friendly either.

I seriously think that is the moment when Belle realized that the characters were really just ladies in a costume.  :(

(On a happy note, Belle wants to be one of those ladies when she grows up.)

Tinkerbell was sweet, but not very chatty.

Belle really wanted to see the Tikee Room, since we love the song.  It was pretty boring, so we left early.

Our tummies were hungry for 'grub and grog' so we decided to check out Tortuga Tavern.

We were a bit early and some sweet ladies offered to take pictures of us.

One of my favorite moments occurred in Tortuga Tavern.

We had the sweetest cast member assisting us with ordering.  In great detail she explained the menu to us.  (It's pretty much Tex-Mex, so we just nodded and smiled.)

Belle asked for an order of rice and beans.  She bent down to Belle and said, "Oh sweetie, you don't want to eat that.  You would like a quesadilla better.  It's like bread and cheese."

I chuckled and let her know that we live on the border of Texas and Louisiana.  Beans and rice are a staple in our diet.

We also split a beef taco.  There is a toppings bar and you can make it your own.  It was pretty good!  (Tip time- they are HUGE!  You can easily split them between two adults.)


We really enjoyed the scenery and took our time eating and visiting.

Next up- Belle finds her favorite corner of the kingdom, a visit with Emma and our 3rd attempt at California Grill.  Will we make it???

Our Version of Brave...

I'm back!  I figured I would get in another installment before Miss Zoë joins the mix...

After a morning of meet and greets, we decided to have lunch at Tangerine Cafe'.  Gregg had one of the platters (can't remember) and Belle had a huge plate of chicken nuggets.  I had asked for a child's chicken nugget plate, but ended up with a plate of 20 nuggets.  Weird.  But I liked them, so we just shared as a family.

Then Belle asked to ride 'the big ball'.  It ended up being her favorite ride of the trip.  I cannot begin tell you how many times we rode Spaceship Earth.

She was excited to be enjoying the rides, so we decided to brave 'Nemo'.  It was a ride that we had never done.  We weren't interested when on our adult trips and had a TERRIBLE sensory meltdown on Belle's only child trip.  I was shocked when we boarded with no issues.

We got stuck in front of the jelly fish.  They were pretty and I was thanking my lucky stars that we hadn't been stuck in front of that toothy shark.

Afterwards we explored every inch of The Seas exhibit.  Evie really liked it, too.

We made it through Turtle Talk with Crush and Belle was even chosen to ask a question.  She wanted to know how mermaids poop, but got embarrassed and asked something silly instead, like 'How do turtles swim?'

The girls were getting sleepy, so we took a break and let them nap.  

After that we shopped the entire World Showcase.  We were killing time before dinner.

I loved this little pig mug in Japan.

Before dinner Belle shocked us- she wanted to ride Maelstrom.  What?!?!  We never saw that coming in a million years!

She rode it and ENJOYED it.  The trolls were ugly and she didn't like looking at them, but she thought the rest was great.  Yay!  Welcome to The 'We Heart Norway' Club, Belle!

FINALLY.... dinner time.  I think that was the longest we had ever stayed in a park, including our adult only trips.  We were worn out!

Belle had a sweet moment with big Belle.  She introduced her to baby Belle.

Then they posed!  (This picture makes me realize what a great Belle my friend Lori would make.)

I am obsessed with the cold buffet at Akershus.  This is a must do for me every trip!  It's fish and dips galore!  I think I went back for thirds.  

Gregg bought Belle a light up Tinkerbell straw to celebrate her birthday.  It was a huge hit!

Gregg had the grilled pork tenderloin with Yukon gold mashed potatoes, haricots verts, and whole-grain mustard sauce.

I had the Traditional Kjottkake-  Norweigian meatballs served with Mashed Potatoes, seasonal Vegetables, and Lingonberry Sauce.

Princess Time!

Snow White was our favorite.

Poor Belle was such a mess from being in the park all day.

We loved watching all of the little girls parade around in their costumes.

And after dessert, we big Epcot adieu.  It was a very long, but wonderful day.

We we arrived back at the resort, Evie was running a seriously high fever.  We immediately put her in the bathtub and decided to change our plans for the next day.  It was obvious that she needed to see a doctor.  Poor baby!  

Evie was only sick once in her entire first year.  This was it.

Characters & Croissants

I've gotten really behind on posting over here.  Truthfully, I wanted to truly miss Disney World.  It makes writing the report so much more fun.  

Day 3 was the first and worst day of the cold snap.  It was 30 degrees that morning, so we changed our plans and stayed nice and warm in the room.  Just before lunch we ventured out and decided Epcot would be our best bet for the day.  Evie wasn't running fever and seemed to be doing okay.  

Upon entering Epcot, we ran in to a very lonely Stitch.  Belle isn't a huge Stitch fan, but I felt so sorry for him that I insisted she give him some love.  

Evie was all smiles and looking super cute in her Mickey smock.  (She hit a huge growth spurt when we got back home and was only able to wear this outfit a hand full of times.  Good thing for, Zoe!)

Since the World Showcase was just opening we decided to head that way first and meet characters.

Gregg strolled around with Evie while Belle and I stood in line.  She was awfully sassy that morning.  She was saying things like 'Mom, if you try to get in the pictures with me I will just die.' and 'Mom, please don't try and talk to them.  You will embarrass me.'  Really?!?!  I have to deal with this at 4?!?!

She watched the Aristocats several times at preschool and was super excited to meet Marie.

At that time pregnancy started rearing it's ugly head and I knew that I had to eat right then or we would all pay.  Goody for me, my absolute favorite snack in the world was right behind me.

The one and only....  ham and cheese croissant.

I scarfed it down while waiting to meet Belle.

Next up...  Aladdin and Jasmine.

Aladdin was seriously in love with Belle.  He asked her to sing him a song and she responded with a very sassy- 'Oh, Aladdin.  You know I'm not that kind of girl!'

This was one of my favorite meet and greets of the trip...

Up next....  Lunch, Shopping and a Princess Dinner

Lunch & Dinner Disney Style...

Sorry it's been so long since my last post.  Life has been pretty busy for us lately.

When I last left off, we were heading across the bridge to lunch at Riverside Mill.

It was late-ish lunch, but Riverside Mill was packed.  It was pretty chaotic, so we each took a child and headed to a station.

Gregg took Evie and he chose...

Roast Beef and Blue Cheese on a Ciabatta Roll

I took Belle and we went to the pizza and pasta station.

I created a pasta with fettuccine, Alfredo sauce, shrimp, Parmesan and peas.  (The above pasta is not mine, I just wanted you to get an idea of the meal.)

Belle, once again, had cheese pizza.

We hung out at the resort a little longer and then hopped on the bus and headed to Hollywood Studios.

Belle proved to be hilariously entertaining on the bus.  The child is not afraid to talk to anyone.  She even had the grumpy grandpa sitting across from us rolling in his seat.  She was giving him the low-down on Disney World- much of it not making any sense, but coming off very funny.

Evie was very quiet and we could tell that she wasn't her usual self.  Still, the fever was gone, so we thought (hoped) it was just the new environment and schedule.

HS was INSANE!!!!  There was a cheerleader competition that day and they were everywhere.  We quickly decided that we would only do The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast shows.  

Belle was asked by a cast member to welcome everyone to the LM show and it freaked her out.  She started crying and panicking.... and things only got worse once we were inside.  Even though her ears were in place, the lights from the lasers were too much.  She started to melt down and we had to leave.

Gregg stayed with Evie and she LOVED the show.  (Especially Ursula.)  He said it was the best reaction from anything that we did.  I'm so sad I missed it. 

We were all really upset and worried that her Sensory Processing was going to get the best of her on this trip, as well.

She begged us to take her to Beauty and the Beast and promised that she would be brave.  We decided to give it a try and sat in the very back.

 (Attempted family photo.  Belle was being silly.)

The show began...

  

and my Belle was having the time of her life!!!

I didn't know how many of these moments we would have, so I put the camera down and enjoyed the show with her.

While we weren't very hungry, a cold front started creeping in and we were all very tired.

We checked in to dinner at 50's Prime Time a little early and they took us.

As soon as we sat down, Evie fell asleep.  I pulled her out of her high chair and let her sleep on my chest.

Our meal was A Sampling of Mom's Favorite Recipes- meatloaf, fried chicken and pot roast.

Belle had a garden salad, which we didn't get a picture of.

During dinner Evie started running fever.  Poor baby.

The meal was very good, but we were having a hard time enjoying ourselves between the heavy crowds and our sick baby girl.

Up Next:  A Practically Perfect Day