Disney Part 2

Our second day was spent at Epcot.  We were really lucky to be able to walk on just about all of the rides without a long wait.  Our longest ride was for the Maelstrom in Norway.  Lila loved the boat ride in Mexico for some unexplicable reason and wanted to ride it first thing.  We did not spend much time at all in the country section, I felt like the girls were a little too young to enjoy most of that.  But, we rode my favorite Epcot Ride- Figment's Journey into Imagination.  They have redone it and, honestly, I didn't like it as well, but the girls enjoyed it.  The first character we ran into was Rafiki, but the girls were not interested in giving him a hug.  Lila responded with a polite "no, thank you'.  But, Mimi went for it! 

Lila and I went in to see "Captian EO" starring none other than a 20-something Michael Jackson as a spaceship pilot with a crew of dim-witted aliens who bring the gift of music, dancing, and beauty to a dark and trashy planet.  It was the first 3D film at Disney, I think.  I remember seeing it as a kid.  It's not as great as I remembered, but Lila thought it was fun.  She turned and asked me during the movie, "Is that a man or a woman?" (referring to Michael, of course) 

 Does the guy Maggie is holding look familiar? That would be Daddy. He decided not to come with us, but I wanted to bring him anyway, so I felted a Daddy doll and brought him along. He rode strapped to our backpack, so he could see where we had been. =) 

This giant Shark was found in "The Sea".  The girls enjoyed checking out some beautiful aquariums and exhibits.  My favorite was "Turtle Talk with Crush" which was an amazing interactive show with an animated Crush from "Finding Nemo" that would talk to and interact with the audience.  It was very impressive! 

My favorite meal we had all week was at The Garden Grill in "The Land".  It was a character meal with Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale.  The girls' Opa has shared Chip and Dale cartoons with them, so they have a special affection for them.  Mickey, as you can see, was dressed as a farmer and looked eerily like Daddy Doll.  ha ha.  The food was delicious, but the reason it was my favorite was because it was the quietest, most relaxed, and calm character meal we had.  The restaurant revolved very slowly so you got a view of parts of the boat ride in The Land, which was neat, too.  Maggie bragged for a month or so before our trip that she was going to give Pluto a kiss, but when push came to shove, she was a bit leery.  Each of the characters came around a couple times to our table and gave high fives, hugs, and kisses.  By the end, the girls were into it.  It was a fun night. 

Disney part 1

We went to Disney World!  My mom, the girls, and me.  Cameron, not being a Disney guy, stayed home to hunt and take care of critters.  I have been planning and preparing for this trip for months.  Knowing I would be without my husband, who I rely on a lot in the parenting arena, left me a little nervous about being away from home for six days.  So, I did everything I could to help me prepare.  We did a lot of talking about the trip.  I tried to anticipate things that might cause problems, I tried to think of ways for the girls to feel more in control of their time.  This was all stemming from a bad experience I had on a day trip with the girls and my mom.  That bad experience was before I realized that Lila being hungry led to some very unpleasant fits.  I was bound and determined for this not to happen on our Disney trip, so mom and I loaded up our cart and later our suitcase, carry-ons, and bags with snacks for the week.  I also made daily visual schedules for the girls with the general way the day would play out, including rest times, meals, etc.  Lila, like me, likes to have an idea of what her day will look like and it seems to help her have a feeling of control.  So, after doing everything I could possibly think of, the day came to go to Disney.  Day one was a traveling day, but we were also having dinner with the princesses at Epcot in Norway. 

Yes, here are my princesses. 

We first got our picture taken with Belle and the photographer got so tickled by Lila's wig, he could barely take the shot.  The wig and the mermaid costume *with* a tail were very important to my Little Mermaid.  This wig was chosen because it had "the swoop", just like Ariel!  She was so pleased when it all arrived in the mail. 

 

Maggie's costume was chosen at the Disney Store in Louisville.  It really was a beautiful little costume.  She looked adorable in it.  Adult Snow White was wonderful and  interacted with Maggie so sweetly. 

Although we were all tired from our travels, the girls had a fun time at the dinner. The food was delicious!  There was even a princess parade that the girls got to walk around the restaurant with a princess (and a room full of other little girls).  It was a busy place, and I much preferred some of our other meal environments better (more on that later), but this was a fun way to kick off our Disney vacation.