Day 3 Magic Kindgom/ Pirate and Princess Party

I have no idea where to start about today. Today was the most magical day ever! Seriously, words could never express what we experienced today.

The kids still having bronchitis are having a hard time getting out of bed and having a hard time staying up late. They are perservering though. Heidi had an appointment at the Bibbadee Bobadee Boutiuqe today (explanation later) and her appointment was at 1:40 so I didn't want to get to the park much before noon because we had special tickets which were going to let us stay in the park until midnight and I knew that 12 hours for the kids was going to be a stretch as it was.

We headed to Magic Kingdom at noon. Heidi was all dressed up like Cinderella and I had RJ's pirate costume in my bag since it was the pirate and princess party later that night. We entered the turnstyles and we were on Main Street USA. There was the castle. I had to stop and take it all in. Rick gets irritated when I stop and look at stuff like that. Why? Because our motto this whole trip is something I said by accident on our first day when RJ kept asking why we had to walk so fast...."Because, the more people we pass now, is less people we have to stand behind later". So, it kills him to see people pass us, but I couldn't help it. I was just standing there in awe. We headed down the street to the castle.

Our first 2 orders of business were 1.) get Heidi checked into the Bibadee Bobadee Boutique and 2.) get RJ's hair cut at the Main Street Barber Shop. We split up. Heidi and I got her checked in and needed to kill 45 minutes. Rick and RJ got RJ's hair cut, which I have intentially let grow so he could get it cut IN WDW. How cool would that be for a little boy?.

Heidi and I did some shopping at Tink's treasures. Heidi picked out a nightgown for herself (with Miss Ariel on it) and picked out a nightgown for her friend Jaiden (with Miss Cinderella on it). We had our purchases shipped back to our resort and headed out the doors. OH MY GOODNESS. MY DREAM COME TRUE! Cinderella's evil stepsisters and her evil stepmother (Lady Tremaine) were standing outside the store right next to the castle. We jumped in line to see them. My hands must have been shaking. Secretly, this is what I was wanting so badly. Heidi was dressed like Cinderella and everything because of the party later that evening. The 3 women did such a good job staying in character. We made our own special autograph books. I spent a lot of time on them and each character in the whole park had their own page devoted to them with pictures of them and their movie on them. The women LOVED their pages and spent a little extra time with Heidi. That meant alot to me.

I talked to Rick and RJ on the phone. They were standing in line at Dumbo which had a 40 minute wait. Heidi got called into her boutique appointment. I'll just have to let the pictures tell the story here. I could not do this place justice by trying to describe it. Heidi's "Fairy Godmother in Training" Tyffany did her hair, makeup, nails, and then sprinkled her with pixie dust. Heidi looked gorgeous. Her hair was so beautiful with her little curls. I have to admit. I have had this event planned for Heidi since the day we made our reservations at WDW, but I was a little worried about the hair. Some of the girls look a little scary when they exit. Apparently being cute when you go in doesn't hurt. All the FGMiT wished they would have gotten Heidi's curls.

Rick and RJ met back up with us just as Heidi was finishing. Heidi was entitled to a quick "professional photo shoot" (we'll see), but it was in the exposition hall back on Main Street. Against Rick's wishes we headed to do that really quick. THANK GOODNESS WE DID. We saw Jimminy Cricket on the way! I was so excited. The kids tolerated me and took their picture with him. If I didn't look like such a cow, I swear I would have hugged every single one of the characters and made them take a picture with me. After we spent 20 min or so dealing with the "photo shoot" which I hope will turn out cute, it was time to ride rides. Heidi still hadn't ridden anything.


We headed over to ride the Buzz Lightyear ride. We grabbed a Fast Pass ticket for that which was going to let us come back in a set amount of time to ride it without a wait. We needed to kill 30 min until we could come back. We decided to ride Stitch's Great Escape. Now, none of us have ever seen the Lilo and Stitch movies. This ride was really dumb. I doubt we rush right out and rent it. It's pretty vulger. Stitch "spits" (sprays water) on everyone. This did not sit well with Heidi. Wow was she mad! No more Stitch for her. We headed over to Buzz as soon as we were done. The whole family LOVED this one. This has to be my favorite ride. It's like a giant arcade game that you are all in. You have laser guns and you shoot at targets and your car keeps score. Rick and RJ won. We loved it.

We headed back over to the castle. We had our picture taken in front of the castle and then we changed RJ into his pirate costume and did some more pictures. My favorite part about Heidi being Cinderella is every CM (disney employee) and I mean EVERYONE said "Well hello Princess" or "something, something, your majesty". They all acknowledged her. She was beaming. It was time for our reservations at Cinderella's Royal Table at 4:30. We got right in and the kids had their picture taken with Cinderella. Afterwards they gave RJ a sword and Heidi a wand and we were seated. As we ate, the mice and Fairy Godmother from Cinderella had a little show which was very cool. Both mice were supposed to pose for pictures. Apparently the green mouse had an aversion to our table because she skipped us, but we did get to see the purple mouse and we were happy with that. I had special ordered the kids some glass slipper deserts and everyone enjoyed those. (of course pictures to follow).

At this point, everyone who didn't have a special Pirate and Princess Party ticket had to leave the park. This is a special ticketed event that Disney offers. According to Rick (he changes his tune later) it is a big racket and it's just another way for Disney to suck money out of our pockets from the moment you arrive. I thought that I had explained to him that they sell limited tickets but I either didn't or he tuned me out. He did mention that the crowds were thinning out.
During the special party, there are fewer people, meaning smaller lines, plus there is a parade and fireworks and special treasure stations where you can get treasure (beads and jewels).

We rode Dumbo as a family (15 mintue wait) and then I wanted Heidi to meet Ariel and Rick and RJ wanted to ride space mountain. We split up again. Heidi and I waited in line for 20 minutes (totally worth it!) to see Ariel in her Grotto. Now I am trying really hard to be a good person while I am here, but I so badly wanted to beat the kid in front of me in line. It was the girl, her mother, her father, and her little brother. The girl was 5ish. She refused to listen. She kept hanging on the rope that was hanging there. I seriously wanted to cause her bodily harm. I was going insane. I know that that little girl will be in prison one day. And sadly, it's her parents fault. Her mother said 100 times, "don't hang on the rope sweetheart". Seriously, 100 times. I wanted to scream right in her face. "SWEETHEART, DON'T HANG ON THE DAMN ROPE!" We get to that spot and Heidi reached for the rope. I told her once, ONCE, don't even think about it. She said "the other girl did" and I said, "I would have smacked the other girl". Her parents of course heard me. Thankfully, it was their turn, they left and I didn't have to get thrown out of the magic kingdom for getting into an arguement about how to make your kids behave with the woman in front of me at Ariel's Grotto.

After that, I called Rick and insisted that we meet back up because we were done standing in lines to meet character for the night because I was going to loose my mind. When the boys came back, RJ said he never wanted to ride Space Mountain again cause it was scarey. Rick really liked it, but said it was a little bit much for RJ, he was a big boy about it.

Here is where the real magic starts. The crowds were non existent. There was no one in the park. It was crazy. Rick was running around with a big goofy smile on his face. We literally walked on, ( I mean, not even a 30 second wait).....

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
"It's a Small World"
Cinderella's Golden Carrousel
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
The Pirates of the Caribbean
The Monster's Inc Laugh Floor
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Space Mountain
and Buzz Lightyear

We rode most of these more than once and I know that we rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad 3 times and Buzz Lightyear 5 more times. (the boys won all 5 times!) All of this while still gathering treasure at the treasure spots and also meeting characters. I finally had to stop asking to stop at the characters. We were in line to meet the Genie from Aladin and RJ started to cry because he was sick of characters and sick of pictures. I conceeded and got out of line. Deep down I am really sad though. I wanted to see the Genie so bad! :( Heidi didn't get to meet any of the princesses becuase we didn't head over to the character spots. I knew the boys wanted to ride as much as possible. Our goal on Monday is to hunt down the princesses.

We didn't stop and watch the parade, but Heidi waved at Minnie as we were walking by. (cause you know, Minnie saw Heidi doing that). We asked where the line was to meet Captain Jack Sparrow (my other big goal for the day) We must have gotten there right at the perfect time. There was NO WAIT cause the parade was going on. There was a 90 minute wait earlier. We were ushered right in and Captain Jack spent time with the kids. He was so into his role. RJ sang "yo ho, yo ho, the pirates life for me". Captain Jack had him sing it 3 times. Very very fun!

After our third trip on Big Thunder Mountain, the fireworks were going on, so we stopped and watched those. Really the fireworks are just amazing. We all enjoyed them.

I don't realize how lucky I am. This was my first trip to the Magic Kingdom and I have never stood in a line before. Now I still haven't! Rick is spoiled. He says we are NEVER coming back unless there is a party and it was the best $150 I spent to get the special tickets. We did so much and had so much fun. Heidi fell asleep in the stroller before we were even out of the Magic Kingdom. RJ fell asleep on Rick's shoulders before we were at the bus stop. We didn't get back to the room until after 1am.

None of us will ever forget the Pirate and Princess Party. It was magical. All of the CM's and the characters were dressed up. There were special decorations and special giveaways and special hours. It was just so magical. And of course there were NO lines! Oh, and another great thing is since it was nighttime, I didn't have to watch anybody pick their nose. YEAH for me!

I'm smiling thinking about it and I'm sure I've even forgotten to mention things already! What a fantastic 3rd day!

-a
:)