Florida Days 3: Disney!

First of all, I apologize for being so behind on the blogging... we're just having so much fun!  We're planning a mellow day tomorrow so I may catch up.  Anyways...

WOW, blog-following friends, how BLESSED we are for the past few days... I can't even put into words how amazing it has been to fulfill a dream I've had for years now... suffice to say, when the princesses all sang "Dreams Do Come True", I was crying... and it had nothing to do with dancing princesses and everything to do with the transfixed little girl next to me.  Oh, I just love her so much.  Dreams do come true. Mine did, Friday.

The first thing we did was meet some princesses.  We got good advice from a friend about where to find the 'important ones' right away.  MY little princess was beyond awestruck.

She got autographs in her Official Disney Autograph Book (yes, I am a sucker) from every single one that was there.

I love the way A is looking at Aurora here... Hands clasped together, nervous to meet one of her heroes, facial expression that reads 'Is this really happening?'

A fell in love with 'Sleeping Blooty' (sometimes her speech delay is so cute!)



Next, we met Mickey and Minnie.  I was surprised that A was almost as excited to meet them as she was to meet the princesses!  She seems to favor Minnie, as you can see here...

Then, on to Cinderella's castle.  She couldn't believe it when she saw it - and that we could walk right up to it, through it even.  Also, loving this iPhone feature where you can see the picture you're taking of yourself!

Okay, so we're both kind of squinting.  It was sunny.  And I think my face slightly resembles a tomato.  Hey, it was Florida.  In any case, we were happy.  Seeing my girl experience this magic she would've never otherwise gotten to experience... or at least not at her current princess-loving age...well, nothing could've been better.

Then we waited an hour to meet Ariel and Prince Eric.  Worth it, though, because A fell in love with Ariel.  I couldn't believe how sweet every single one of the cast members was.

Doesn't she look like she could be their daughter?  Nope, sorry Ariel, can't have her.

Off to ride It's A Small World... (or as I termed it, the Hall of Stereotypes... don't you know that all Central and South Americans wear sombreros and dance in circles and worship the Sun God?)

Nevertheless, A was transfixed.  She decided that it was her favorite ride and that it was too short (nevermind being possibly the longest ride in the park...)

And I did love the end... our languages may be different, but our sentiments the same.

From there we went to go ride the Riverboat, but it was just pulling away, and A heard the words 'haunted house' (which I was prepared to skip because of her fears... she even still needs a night light)... but she wanted to go!  We had a blast.  She wanted to go again.  We got off just in time to catch the Riverboat.

There was then a demand for flying elephants, which we found easily enough, and waited quite a while for.  Neither of us minded.  People make such a huge deal out of the lines at Disney, but we didn't have any experience worse than any other amusement park.

The amazing thing was, though she's usually afraid of everything, A had a blast on every ride we went on!  She even let me spin the teacup a little and make the elephant go up in the air!

After this, it was getting late, so we rode the train around to Frontierland to try to catch a good spot for the fireworks.  We thought we had one when someone from the park told us we would miss a lot of them from there, so we started to move with everyone else.  Cue ginormic crush of people.  I was SO glad for our glowsticks and the flashing reflectors we got from Safe Routes To School.  Unfortunately, that same crush of people essentially trapped us in a location where I could barely see the fireworks over people's shoulders, and A could see nothing but people's rear ends.  So, before she could register any fear-based objections, I hoisted her up on my shoulders.  When she said she was afraid of falling, I gripped her hands tighter and leaned forward, giving me an excellent view of the person in front of me's rear end and probably a series of compression fractures (yes, 45 lbs is tiny for a 9 year old, but not when all 45 lbs is sitting on your shoulders).  So, I missed the fireworks, but I don't care.  I love fireworks, but I love her more.

Besides, after that, we headed to a gift shop to pick up a couple things for the kids, where A was admittedly spoiled, picked up some cotton candy, and settled down to watch the electrical parade!

A certain someone was absolutely glued to every single glittering float.

After that, we took the bus back to our hotel, she fell asleep almost instantly (despite itching to play with her new Ariel doll) and after a bit, I did too.

You know, I've thought a lot of things about Disney in my life.  Money grubbing, excessive, unethical, having sometimes downright horrible theatrical elements... but what I didn't realize as a child (perhaps because I wasn't much of a Disney girl... I was more of a 'cartoons where girls kick butt' girl) and what I didn't realize until this week, was that they DO provide kids with magic, something to believe in, and memories that will last a lifetime.  Provided that for my precious A.  And well... I kind of love her, an awful lot... enough to forgive all that other stuff... because she will remember this for the rest of her life, and so will I.

Yes.  Dreams do come true.