Our Royal Quest

We basically did Magic Kingdom from 9-8 the first day. This was a LOOOOONNGG day for the kiddos, and therefore it was even longer for us! By the end of the day, we were all dragging. (AND we do not have strollers anymore. We planned to rent one, but they were $31.00 for 1 day! That is 3 days of parking! The first night we went to Wal-Mart and I bought 2 umbrella strollers for $30. AND we could use them the rest of our trip.Aren't we frugal and resourceful?) But we did accomplish A LOT. Most notably, meeting lots of PRINCESSES and FAIRIES! This was the Royal Quest that I referred to earlier.


OK. So most little boys are not fans of princesses. I actually saw a little boy who did not want to get in line to meet Aladdin and Jasmine because it was "girly." His mom did point out that Aladdin was a dude, and he reluctantly stood in the line. Spencer is not that little boy (yet). So this trip to Disney World, our whole family was excited to meet any princess we could. . .


A quick word on how awesome Disney is. To meet the characters, you do have to stand in line. At first, that seemed ridiculous to me. BUT after seeing the way they do it, it is awesome! I love the way Disney has everything set up. They have photo pass photographers at each character to take professional pictures for you. While you are waiting in line for rides or to meet characters, they make it fun. There are sometimes videos, and the areas are always decorated to sort of get you in the mood for the character. In line for the princesses, the walls were pink. Everything felt "royal" from the chandeliers to the carpets. And they take you a handful at the time into the room where your character is located. They make the kids feel special, and it is such a personal moment. I was even a little teary-eyed when we first walked in and saw real live princesses standing in front of us.


They were SO COOL! They talked in princess voices and said things like, "What kingdom are you from?" And Jessa would say "Ft. Stewart, GA." And they said things like, "Oh, that sounds like a long horse ride from here!" And Jessa was so chatty and excited. She would walk up and just sit right down with them - like they were old friends. Spencer was excited, too, but he got immediately shy. Thus, I am in almost every picture. He was not scared. He wanted to meet them so much! I told all of them that he was just shy around all these pretty girls!

Our first Princess friend, Aurora aka Sleeping Beauty -

Jessa chatted and made herself at home and Spencer was in love!


Our second Princess friend, Cinderella

It's Really Her - you should have seen her glass slippers!

When Jessa walked up to the actual Belle, the actual Belle said to Jessa, "Hello, Princess Belle!" Jessa was so excited that Belle recognized her Belle dress!! And Belle asked Jessa if Spencer was a "beast" sometimes. Jessa giggled and said, "YES!"

The Belles comparing notes. . .

Next we met the Fairies. This is a newer attraction since the Tinkerbell movie just came out last year. It was more crowded, so there was a longer wait. BUT the waiting area was so cool! Since Tink and her friends live in Pixie Hollow, we had to "shrink" to fit. So when you walk into a long hallway, it appears to get smaller while all the bugs, leaves, trees, and grass get bigger. A very cool touch, I think! These Disney people have imaginations and creativity to spare.

Getting to know Iridessa, the light fairy

With Tink and Fawn - they were so cute and energetic and excited-

just how you would think a fairy would be. . .

With Aladdin and Jasmine in Adventureland.

Jessa with Ariel in her "grotto." Spencer fell asleep in line.

And Ariel taught Jessa a "mermaid pose!"

And the last princess we met was Snow White. We saw her at Epcott a day or so later. This was VERY exciting because as Spencer says, "Snow White is my faborite!" We were all excited in line. But then Spencer got sort of upset. I asked what was wrong and he said with a pouty voice and face, "I want Dopey to go away!" I said, "Are you jealous of Dopey?" He nodded. Bless his heart!

So we get up to her - it is finally our turn. And I am telling her that she is his absolute favorite! So she asked him, "What do you like about my story?" This is a toughie. We have seen Snow White on DVD, but only because David bought a bootlegged copy in Iraq to send to us. But to be perfectly honest, I am pretty sure that he loves Snow White because she is the one Jessa likes the least. Whenever they play princesses, he always gets stuck with her. I did not think I should say that, so I told Snow that I was not sure why, he just loves her!

Here we are with Snow White - I had to stay between Spence and Dopey to prevent a fight!

AND then without warning, she grabbed him and planted a HUGE bright red kiss on his cheek! We were all shocked, but I think he was more than any of us! David tried to get a picture of the lipstick mark on his cheek. We missed a photo of the kiss because she surprised us all. . .

Spencer's first date with Snow White! Look at that kiss!!

We enjoyed our brief encounters with royalty. The princesses were all of our favorites. Both kids had moments of fear with the other characters since they are larger than life in costumes and they cannot talk. So our royal quest was a resounding success!

More Disney fun to come. . .

Are you tired of it yet? I hope not!!