Before I share our second day - I thought I would write my thoughts on a few Disney details.
1. My hands down favorite thing (besides the Avatar ride) was the Picture Package. For us - it was worth every penny. We love to take pictures on trips but we knew we could not take our big camera with us and phone pictures are only so great. The package cost $170 and every where you go in the parks - there are photographers set up to take your pictures. They do all the character pictures for you and any family picture you want. The pictures were 1000% times better than our phones would have given us. And they go right to the Disney app on your phone within minutes of having them taken. Also you get all the pictures for everyone in your group so we got our pictures as well as the Ormons so you can split the package with all of your travelers. We ended up with almost 600 pictures!
2. I was obsessed with how easy having the magic bands was. I'm known to constantly lose my key, phone, debit card, passport or anything else I need to keep up with. So having a week where all I had to keep up with was the band on my wrist was magic. It gets you in the park, our room, on fast passes, pictures, and will pay for anything in the park you need and all your meals. Scott called it the mark of the beast but he also kept trying to tell me soon that all we would need is apple watches as well. Well I say - bring that on!
3. Someone asked me how the busses were. We actually had a pretty good experience with busses. We tried to get to the bus stop early every morning and it was fine. We also usually left about 5 minutes before fireworks ended each day so we could beat the rush. Overall we had a great experience.
4. The My Disney app was so helpful. It gives you a constant GPS of the parks. It gives you the wait times for every ride. It shows where characters are located. It tells you your fast passes and meal reservations. It has your pictures on it. I LOVED it.
Our second day was spent at Magic Kingdom. We had a big day planned. Probably too much but we were in it to win it. This was the day that Scott and Steve won their badges for being girl dads.
This was a total princess day!
I got the girls these cute princess tops on a
sheshemade presale on Facebook. Since we planned our trip a year in advance I watched for cute but comfy Disney clothes when I could.
We came in and rode a lot of rides like Winnie the Pooh, It's a Small World and we had a fast pass for Peter Pan. We did the PhilharMagic and I loved it. So cute. And of course the tea cups.
We found Merida and the girls loved meeting her.
This was pretty much how Scott and Steve spent their day. ha!
We rode the Haunted Mansion and loved it. (Can you tell we were hot? It was about 100 heat index this day.)
We had a quick service lunch and then it was time for Bibbiti Bobboti Boutique. I'm so glad we went to Disney when the girls were at a fun age to do this. It's one of those days that I love being a girl mom.
We had decided to be Disney princesses for Halloween this year so we could wear them at Disney and at home. I knew it would be super hot and wanted them to have something cute but comfortable and not scratchy to wear around so I had dresses made off etsy.
This is the shop - she's closed for a few weeks but if you need something in the future - she does amazing work!
The girls had their nails done and a little make up on and their hair done.
They pretty much give most girls the big bun. It's not the most attractive hairdo I have ever seen in my life but the girls loved it. And they got a little crown. The ladies who did their hair were so sweet!
I mean - this face was worth it all!
They got little bags with the makeup that was used, the nail polish, a comb, and some other girly goodies. You can take your own dresses like we did or you can get a dress there but it's a lot more expensive.
When they are done - they take pictures of them. I mean the hair is a little pitiful - but I still love this so much. I just love that they are still in this sweet stage and I love that they enjoy this girly fun.
All three girls. They were so proud!
Emily was such a good sport. She had done the boutique twice before but I guess 11 is officially too old because she didn't do it this time. But she was so sweet and patient to let the other girls do it. I had fun with Emily on this trip. She's so grown up and sweet.
Our favorite ride of the day was the Seven Dwarves Mine Train. Just look at Hollis' face!!! Thankfully we had a fast pass because it's a long wait.
We also headed to Main Street to meet Mickey. This Mickey talked and it was so fun. We told him we had a little brother at home who LOVED him.
Our dinner reservation was at 1900 Park Fare in the Grand Floridian. It was a dinner with Cinderella, Prince Charming and the Wicked Step Mother and sisters. They each came to our table and the girls loved it. Harper said Prince Charming was SO handsome. ha ha ha!
It was a buffet and we had LOW expectations. It was actually really really good! They had a wide variety of things and we all loved it. Scott and Laurie actually picked it was their favorite meal of the trip. The Step Mother was really my favorite. She played her part so well. And I think she was probably the prettiest character there. She was very funny.
Now - this is where I may have a lot of you disagree with me or get mad but this is just how our party of 8 felt. We had tickets to the Mickey Halloween Party and after dinner headed to it. We were so excited.
And we hated it and left after about 2 hours. We all agreed it was a HUGE waste and felt like we basically lit money on fire.
Now - I know a lot of people say you should spend the day relaxing or at the pool and then go to the party. But we only had 5 days to be at Disney and we didn't want to waste a day. And honestly I would have been real mad if we had done that because there were SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many people at the Halloween party that the ride waits were ridiculously long and we honestly couldn't do anything. You could barely move there were so many people. There were probably 5x the amount of people at the party as there were at the park during the day. We couldn't even see the parade or show at the castle for all the people. And you had to wait in long lines to get the candy. The tickets were expensive and we will never do it again. Live and Learn.
(But a lot of you love it so just take my opinion with a grain of salt).
The one plus is we broke up as a group because the Ormons wanted to ride one more ride and we were all soooo tired and it was so crazy crowded and humid so we decided to go home early. As we were leaving we walked by a Princess meet and there was ZERO line. So we got to see four princesses without waiting. So that worked out for us! Here they are with Elena.
And Cinderella
And Tiana. Which we had to tell her we were staying at "her" hotel.
And Rapunzel.
That night when we got home was probably the most tired I have ever been in my life. But it was a wonderful day.
