It was, in a word, magical.
Cliche? Sure. But true? Yes.
We had an awesome time celebrating Grammy's birthday, and made so many awesome memories I will never, ever forget. Words would not be enough to describe what a great trip we had, so... get ready for an incredibly long picture dump. Here, in a lot of pictures and a few words, is how we Disney'd:
After saying a tear-filled goodbye to our sweet E, we were off!
Our little princess was very excited:
After a 7-hour drive, we were there! A quick stop at our resort, Pop Century, to drop off our luggage:
And then we were on the Magical Express, where CK thought she was such a big girl since she didn't have to ride in a car seat!
And then... this. One of my most favorite pictures, ever. Her face when she finally saw it all:
And she was so excited to be around her two cousins!
Our first night there we had dinner at the T-Rex restaurant:
We kicked off Grammy's birthday celebration with entirely too much chocolate!
Then, we explored Downtown Disney. It was so awesome! CK loved this Magic Mirror where she could "try on" different princess dresses:
Friday morning, bright and early, we were ready for a day at Magic Kingdom!
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| A huge thank you to my sister of Doc Momma for the inspiration behind all of CK's Disney outfits, and also a shout out to the oh-so-talented Amanda of Goat & Lulu for making it all! |
There is no other way Grammy would prefer to spend her birthday, I can tell you that!
Action shot of our first ride:
Teacups!
Her face during "It's a Small World" <3
Then we had a character brunch scheduled at the Crystal Palace. CK was so excited when Winnie the Pooh and friends walked in:
But she was NOT so excited when Pooh came to our table!
Though she eventually warmed up. :) She just refused to be photographed with them by herself!
Then we were off to meet some princesses. First up, Rapunzel!
And then her favorite, Cinderella:
Please look at this picture. She cannot stop looking at Cinderella!
And one of my favorite memories - when we were about to walk out of Fairytale Hall, but she turned around and ran back to Cinderella to give her a hug:
These two <3
She seemed like such a big girl on the rides!
Finally it was time for our appointment at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique! She was a little nervous at first, and was completely stoic while she had her hair, makeup, and nails done:
She started to get excited right before we turned her around to show her what she looked like:
It was like she didn't recognize herself:
And this was the moment she realized how beautiful she looked:
She could NOT believe she got to wear "lipstick"!
Afterward, they take you over to a studio to do a "professional" photoshoot:
You guys? I can't.
Oh, my heart.
Then Daddy wanted to take his little princess to drive race cars, of course!
And one of my faves? Dumbo!
She also loved the Jungle Cruise:
Princess Cinderella, I mean Princess CAMERON's Castle:
The three amigos!
And their Grammy, the birthday girl!
The whole crew!
And possibly CK's most favorite ride, which was a BIG and SCARY and STOMACH-DROPPING roller coaster! I didn't think she'd want to go on it, or like it... and she sure proved me wrong! She LOVED it! She kept telling TJ it "tickled," which I assume was how she was trying to describe that stomach-dropping feeling. It was such a fun memory!
And if I had to pick my absolute, most-favorite, best memory of the entire trip? It was this impromptu dance party and parade on Main Street in Magic Kingdom. Totally unplanned. And totally awesome.
Then it was time to take a boat to the Whispering Canyon Cafe for our dinner reservation... It was SUCH a fun restaurant!
The next day we were up before the sun, ready for another day of Disney fun!
First up - Animal Kingdom!
We had another character meal scheduled. This time it was with Mickey Mouse and friends at the Tusker House. It was SO fun!
Then we hit up the safari ride!
Followed by the COOLEST show, Lion King!
One more stop at the Tree of Life before we left Animal Kingdom!
And then we hit up Hollywood Studios!
Here, green army man, sign this:
Cinderella cupcake, of course!
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids!
Our little princess got to see the actual carriage from the Cinderella movie that's about to be released!
High 5, Princess Sophia!
Hi Jake!
Toy Story ride... so fun!
And one of her faves, the Disney Jr. Live show!
After Hollywood Studios, T, CK, her cousin Burns, and I went BACK to Magic Kingdom! Yes, you counted right, that's THREE parks in ONE day. But we really wanted to end our Disney trip with all things Disney. So we ate hot dogs and cotton candy on the side of the road and took in the Electrical Parade. We watched the light show on Cinderella's castle, and finally, some fireworks to wrap up what was an awesome couple of days:
Sweet kids were SO exhausted...
We woke up on Sunday morning and had a quick breakfast with Grammy and PaPa before heading home to our buddy:
She had QUITE the Disney hangover:
I was so anxious to get home and scoop up our E, who was very well taken care of by his Bammy. It was incredibly hard being away from him, to be honest. It took months of pumping to make sure there was enough milk in the freezer, and I also had to pump many times throughout the day on our trip to keep my supply up. My heart ached from missing him, and I was so worried, but also so thankful that he was in such loving care:
So, there you have it! It was a short, but awesome first trip to Disney World for our girl. I honestly don't think she could have handled another day of it all, and am so happy with how everything turned out. I was only able to plan such a perfect trip because of Skye, our awesome Disney Planner. She is FREE and will handle everything for you! You can email her at skye@mickeytravels.com.
We made some amazing memories, you guys. I will never forget the look on our girl's face throughout it all, and I really tried to soak up the magic through her eyes. I look forward to going back, probably in about four years, to experience it again with our little buddy in tow.
Happy Birthday, Grammy! We hope this trip was all you'd hoped for, and more!!
