Happy Birthday Disney Princess...

So our first day at Disney started off very, very early. Originally it wouldn't have been so bad as our first reservation was at the Contemporary, and we're just going to walk over to The Magic Kingdom.  However, things change money gets tight and for much less we could stay at Fort Wilderness and tack another night on, so we switched and I am very glad we did.  Now don't get me wrong I still plan to stay Club Level at the Contemporary one day, but I think I want my girls to be old enough to  really appreciate that, so for now the Fort is a great place for us.  Anyway I digress, the day started off at 6am for me and mom and we got Boogie up at about 6:30 to get her into her surprise princess dress and slippers for the boat trip across the lagoon to the gates of the happiest place on earth.  Now I know you are wondering why in the world we would be up so early when the parks don't open until 9am, but that was my surprise to Boogie.  I made her an appt with her very own fairy godmother in training at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and that was at 8am.  This meant we had to catch the first boat leaving the Fort for Magic Kingdom that morning.  So in the early morning darkness we trekked to the bus stop with a bleary eyed Princess to catch the bus...and missed it.  Yep we missed the bus that would get us to the first boat that would get us to Magic Kingdom in time for Boogie to meet her Fairy Godmother.  I should mention that on this trip I was also 10 weeks pregnant, so just a smidge emotional and this was almost my undoing as I just knew that Boogie's birthday would be ruined.  I was over reacting just a smidge as another bus was at the stop in just a few minutes.  We still had time to catch that boat but it was going to be close....

Mom and Charlotte patiently waiting for the 2nd bus.

Well our earlier luck held out and the first boat was just ....pulling away from the dock as we got there.  OH LORD THIS WAS NOT STARTING OUT WELL.  There were other people waiting with us and they were hopeful that another boat would be along any minute.  The round trip for the boats is 30 minutes so if one didn't come soon,  Boogie would miss her appt. To pass the time and calm my nerves I took some pictures....

 I told you it was really, really early.

 Mom did a great job snapping a picture of me and my princess just as the sun was starting to come up

The lagoon was pretty as the sun was rising

Then we saw it, the boat that would take us to The Magic Kingdom, and the day was saved. :D

We made it over to the gates and through security, yes they check bags, but are quick and efficient.  Since we had a reservation we just walked right through the gate and under the train station and came out on Main Street.  There is just no way to explain that feeling, especially the first time you get to see it on your child's face.  I seriously teared up for a moment. Then I collected myself and took a picture.

Boogie's very first picture in the Magic Kingdom.

For all those taking kids for the first time I highly recommend getting either a reservation for your Princess or Pirate early in the morning, or making a Breakfast reservation for the Crystal Palace to meet Pooh and friends.  This guarantees that you are one of the first people to walk down  Main Street in the morning and it is wonderful.  Look how few people are behind Boogie, it was almost like having the park to ourselves.  Another thing that I would recommend is that if it is your child's birthday let the cast members know.  They go out of their way to make them feel special, and the characters in the parades are more likely to show them special attention. 

Mom caught up with us right after we took this picture and we were off towards the castle.  I don't know who was more excited me or Boogie.  The light was simply amazing so I took a few shots along the way, and as it turns out we hand plenty of time, since the Boutique was not quite ready for us....they were still getting Cinderella ready.

Here are a few photos of our trip down Main Street and the beautiful early morning light.

 One of my favorite pictures of the trip.

 The park was all decked out for Halloween since we were there the week before

Another favorite of mine, I just secretly wish one of her slippers had fallen off. :D

We waited patiently with two other princesses inside the castle for the doors to the boutique to open, and right at 8am they did.

 There is a royal proclamation right as you walk in and then you get to meet your Fairy Godmother in training.  The packages for girls range from $49 to close to $200 if you get the whole shebang.  I opted for the $49 package which included Boogies choice of hair style, make up clip, crown and sash.  I then bought her dress and slippers elsewhere, and I can honestly say it didn't matter a bit that we didn't buy them at the boutique.  One other note I will make is that while the dresses are cute and well made they will more then likely not make it through the whole day on your princess so definitely bring a change of clothes.  Boogie made it about 6 hours.

 Her FGM got right to work and Boogie was simply mesmerized.

 I swear if I pulled on her hair the way this wonderful lady did she would have fallen on the floor in  hysterics.

 They put TONS of product in their hair, I mean globs of gel and then hair spray too, but the do made it through the whole day including a nap, and it washed out very easily at bath time.

 Not sure what  this face was for, but I am glad I am not on the receiving end of that look.  Maybe the photographer was over there.  I'll hit on the Photopass in a minute.

 See told you it was early

 Soon the do was done and it was time for the Pixie dust.

 Another FGM did her make up and then it was time for her Birthday Princess Sash to complete the look.

 Once they are all finished and beautiful they turn them around for the big reveal.  Boogie just stared at herself it was so cute.  The photopass man got a much better picture, but I was just soaking in the moment.

 Then we had to get her FGM to autograph her book.  She really did a wonderful job and made Boogie feel so special.  Absolutely worth the $54 with tax. LOL!!

The girls also get to bring everything home with them,  make up stickers and magic comb.

The other great part about this experience especially for me the photographer was the Photopass photographer.  If you sign up for this before you head to Disney they will send you a photopass card in the mail.  You just hand this little card to any photographer and they scan it and take your picture.  They will also take photos with your camera if you ask them too.  It is a wonderful feature and we really took advantage of it.  We also pre-ordered a CD of all our photo pass pictures and split the cost with my parents.  It worked out to be $50 for each family and we got well over 120 photopass pictures in our three days at the park.  You can also add multiple cards to the same account and there is not limit on the number of photos that can be taken, so if you are there for 5-7 days or even longer you could really rack up the photos.  I was very happy with our pictures and definitely feel it was worth the cost.  You can read more about this service on the Disney website or over at http://www.allears.net/.

Okay so once we finished up in the Boutique we headed straight to Dumbo, and I have to admit in the many many many times that I have been to Disney I never rode this ride.  What a lost experience, it was so wonderful, I will say that even first thing in the morning it was the longest line that we waited in all day long, so if you have kiddos that want to ride head there first.

 Timothy presides over the ride...

 A close up of the clip they put in Boogies hair, nice and sparklie.

 Just about the get on the ride...and yes I am holding a 40lb child.

One last shot before we start...

Here we go........

The ride was definitely a lot of fun, but over very quickly, so again to avoid the super long lines get there early and make the ride really worth the wait.

Next we headed to Prince Charming's Carousel...

 My Princess loves a carousel

 and making funny faces....

She knows how to make that horse look fast doesn't she.

The carousel wait was non existent, and if she had insisted we could have just stayed on and rode again, but across the court yard we saw some people that we could not miss.

 When you are dressed up like Cinderella right down to the hairdo and the crown you do not miss an opportunity to snap a picture with Lady Tremaine and her daughters.

 These are some of my favorite photos and to be honest I believe these three were my favorite characters to encounter.  They were truly themselves and kidding with the crowd standing in line, making all the kids laugh, it was wonderful.

 Boogie loved them too.  I would say if you have to chose between these three and a princess go for these three it is well worth the missed opportunity.

 Boogie took a breather at Cinderella's fountain to adjust her shoe and gather her strength.

 She also obliged her mom with a cute photo and a pretty smile.

 On our way around to ride the newly reopened Its a Small World, Boogie had to try her luck at the Sword in the Stone.  She couldn't get it budge but she was sure that since her daddy was the strongest daddy in the world he would be able to do it.  Unfortunately we never made it back for him to try, just another reason for a future trip. You may or may not know but a couple of times a day the sword does pull out of the stone.  I don't know if someone watches and activates a release or if it just does it at random times, but you just never know, so give it a shot.

 The guys and PJ were still MIA, we gave them permission to join us later.  Since I know that my dad has no fond love of IASW we spared him this trip and mom and I took Boogie on her first trip.  The ride had been under renovation and was not suppose to be open until the Saturday of our trip, so we were surprised when the cast member waved us in and we walked right onto a boat, in the front so Boogie could see everything.  It was a great way to introduce her to Its a Small World and dad really appreciated being spared that one ride.  His aversion might have something to do with my insistence at an early age that we ride it over and over and over again.  All you have to do is hum the tune to send him running.  LOL!!

 The hippo was my favorite.  I just have this thing for cute hippos.

 She looks like a deer in the headlights I know but I think it was just a lot to process and so she just tuned out for a minute.  Boogie loved it through.

That is another thing to remember, as much as we as adults love Disney it can be a little over stimulating for smaller kids I think.  Take moments for downtime just to process and breath and not be bombarded with things.  One of the best ways that we found to do this was to just stroll over to Tomorrowland and hop on the Wedway People Mover.  Kinda fun, not to fast, but not throwing images at you every two seconds, and getting on takes hardly any time at all.  A win win all around...

By the time we got off of IASW we had a call from the guys saying they were here, and where could we meet.  As they were still coming through the gates we suggested meeting in front of the castle so that Boogie could stop and talk to this lovely lady.

 Mary Poppins was always a favorite of mine, and Boogie adores singing (or trying to sing) Supercalafragilisticexpialidocious (bare with me on the spelling here)

This has to be one of the prettiest Mary's that Disney has, she was really wonderful with Boogie and I am so glad that we saw her before we met up with the guys.  It was a great way to end our morning of girl time.

Since this post has gotten very, very long I am going to stop here and fill you in on our afternoon later.  I don't want you eyes to glaze over as you start staring off into space humming Its a Small World.  So tomorrow I will hit on our lunch, not what I had hoped it would be, and what rides some kids may not like, as well as Boogies first trip down Splash Mountain.

Thanks for checking in with me, hope your enjoying the info and pictures thus far.