magic at the castle

disney day two was the day everyone was anticipating- well the adults, that is, because what the kids didn't know was we had an 8:25 reservation for breakfast at cinderella's royal castle. we woke the kids up (that never happens at home) and told carter about our reservations. 

i had packed carter's favorite princess dresses from home and let her choose which dress and how she wanted to have her hair done. it wasn't exactly what mommy would have chosen, but this day was all about her and i didn't want it any other way.

we were so proud of ourselves when we pulled out of the driveway around the same time we had planned. it is a longer walk into the park itself and then you have to take the monorail. on the monorail we chose, the driver announces that we are going to play cat and mouse with the one behind us to see if he can find us as a testing procedure. uhh, really. does this seem like a good idea to you?? and, what about all these cute little princesses waiting to have breakfast at the castle? after ten of the longest minutes suspended in the sky in the middle of the monorail, he found us safely and we moved along. so, needless to say, we were late as usual. of course, we still had time to stop and take pictures because there were very few people in the park as it wasn't open yet.

she was so excited! we headed into the castle and were greeted by cinderella. we had our picture taken with her and then were ushered up the spiral staircase. as we were headed to the staircase, i looked at carter who had tears in her eyes. big, watery eyes. i asked her if she was okay and she could only nod her head. then, i realized that she was emotional from meeting cinderella! it was so precious. i held back my own tears as we climbed the stairs knowing that this was so magical for her.

upstairs, we were seated in the raised area of the dining room. the chef immediately arrived at our table and asked miller what he would like for breakfast. we had noted miller's nut allergy on the reservation just because it asked, but never dreamed the attention he would receive. the chef brought out each course of miller's food and verified that everything was nut free. it was nice for miller to get some special attention for his allergy instead of always having to tell him he can't eat things.

a little bit about the experience: all of the servants (the role they are playing) refer to you as "my lord" and "my lady" and "the royal family".  each princess is completely in character and never, ever sways. as we enjoyed our breakfast, they would announce the arrival of each princess. then, each princess would make her way around the room, signing autograph books and having her picture taken. we were in the worst location for photos. poor, josh! every one on the main floor had amazing light from the beautiful windows, but we were in the darkness. but, it doesn't matter because the pictures are just a memory of the experience, right?

first, we met aurora. she referred to miller as the prince and said "he was as handsome as prince philip." well, of course, he is.

next was snow white. if only josh had a picture of miller's reaction. he has always been his favorite because she wears hot blue. isn't she beautiful? i think i see why he is so smitten!

then, jasmine. she asked, "are you going to hang this portrait on your palace walls?" yes, yes we are.

and, finally, belle. she has always been carter's favorite princess. carter got all teary-eyed again when she met her-so sweet! belle immediately noticed carter's dress and said, "oh, i see you are wearing my ball gown. you must have a date with the beast later."

i love that miller is more infatuated with his sword than the beautiful princess touching his arm.

and, then spencer. belle was the only princess who gave much attention to her. right after this picture was taken, spencer moved belle's hand off of her arm and belle said, "oh, you don't like to be disturbed. i understand. i am like that when i am in the middle of a good book."

after we finished and carter changed, we headed out to start the day in the magic kingdom.

of course, we had to begin our day with peter pan's flight.

because we entered the park early and the weather was a little overcast, our wait at most of the rides was almost non-existent.

spencer loved it's a small world. and, i definitely appreciated it more as an adult. it's all about the details.

our longest wait for the day had to be dumbo the flying elephant. but, it was worth it. can you tell how much fun they had?

and, miller and carter enjoyed it, too.

making plans at cinderella's golden carrousel

miller loved the carrousel

so much so that he rode it again on day 2 at magic kindgom.

spencer rode her first carrousel. she didn't want to be up there alone, so i had to ride to. 

carter rode "the royal horse" next to us, or so she called it.

next, we went to mickey's philharmagic. i really wasn't expecting much, but it was so cute and the kids loved it. when that was over, we let the grandparents take spencer to sit and have a snack and we headed to the mad tea party.

while we were waiting for our turn, we spotted alice in a tea cup! she was spinning with a little girl dressed up in an alice costume-it was so cute! when we left the tea cups, an impromtu signing was taking place, and , of course, we had to meet her.

after our time in fantasyland, we headed to tomorrow land and did buzz lightyear's space ranger spin, monsters inc laugh floor, tomorrowland transit authority, tomorrowland speedway. we finished just in time to get a seat for the celebrate a dream come true parade.

waiting for the parade to start

carter's way of waiting

do you see the button in miller's hand? it is one of the "my first time" buttons they hand out when you enter the park. he carried it everywhere that day. everywhere. he was so cute about it.

he was not sure he was okay with this guy.

but, she was definitely okay with this girl. we love some toy story, and carter really wanted to meet jesse, but she wasn't with buzz and woody at hollywood studios. after the parade, we headed out so we could get the kids to bed early. it was definitely a magical day and one i doubt anyone will soon forget. 

some more quotes for the day:

"miller, if you get hit by a car, you won't get to go back tomorrow." me
"i'm too tired to go to bed." carter

favorites:

carter: meeting all the princesses 

miller: dumbo with papaw and the race track with daddy, and the teacups, and peter pan and the carousel

spencer: small world

favorite ride: peter pan