Sunday, September 22, 2013

Pirates and Princesses...

Thursday was our day for special activities.  The deal was.... that they could do these special activities but they were coming out of their souvenir money (which I'll cover in another post). 

First up was Cole!  He decided that he wanted to go on the Pirate Adventure Cruise that he did last year again.  The cruise departs from the Grand Floridian.... parents are not allowed to go with the children and they are gone for 2 hours.  (now if we could only convince Summer that she wanted to go too, we'd be in awesome shape!)  All I can really tell you is that they ride this boat around to the different hotels on the water in search of buried treasure which they find and each kids gets a treat bag out of the treasure chest.  They also have a snack and read a story about pirates I believe.  I did get a few more details this year than last out of Cole as to where some of the stops were, but there is this pirate code and he won't share much.  But I do know that he had a blast and the Pirates that run the cruise are really into it and work really well with the kids.  Added bonus..... I had no idea that when I booked this 6 months ago that I was booking it for National Talk Like a Pirate day! 





 
We took the monorail back to pick Cole up from the boat and then took the monorail to Magic Kingdom.  Summer wouldn't stop talking about picking up her umbrella so we had to get that first.  After a few rides which included climbing the Swiss Family Treehouse (which I hope to never do again, especially when it is 90 degrees), we grabbed fast passes for the BRAND new Princess Fairytale Hall which had just opened the day before and then had lunch. 
 
After a somewhat heated discussion between my daughter who believes she is 25 and not 5 about why I only brought her Belle dress and not her Sofia dress, which luckily Jimmy was able to difuse without too many tears.... it was time for Summer's visit to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique!
 
It did not take her long at all to warm up this time to the attention and Cole decided that instead of having special time with Daddy that he wanted to stay and watch Summer's transformation! 




 
 
Then it was time for meeting Cinderella in her new home in Fantasyland....
 

 
 
After seeing Cinderella and Aurora.... we headed for the park exit so we could get over to EPCOT for dinner.  We got trapped in Town Square as the parade began and actually wound up with a great viewing spot with no effort so with no where to go... we stopped and watched. 
 
Well Coley didn't really watch.... he was a sleepy pirate.  I especially like how he pulled his bandana over his eyes before falling asleep. 
 
Summer watched the parade intently and as Belle passed us and caught a glimpse of Summer done up and dressed as Belle with her special Happy Birthday Princess Summer pin.... she blew a kiss right to her!  How magical and of course..... Mommy missed that Kodak moment. 
 
Then it was off to the Monorail and into EPCOT!  The kids really loved any time that we got to ride the Monorail!  And loved that we could see it at our hotel.  Once at EPCOT we went to Innovations for our FREE and very short lined Disney Visa photo with characters spot.  If you have a Disney Visa bring it with you to Disney and currently the photo time is 1-7pm (but does change).  Characters rotate, but this time we got Minnie & Goofy.  You also get a free 5x7 print from your photo shoot. 
 
Then we grabbed fast passes for Test Track, went on the Donald Duck boat ride in Mexico and then headed for dinner with the Princesses at Akershus in Norway.  Everything claims that the princesses in this dinner rotate, but we've been there 3 times and have seen the same 5 princesses each time (not complaining though because we love all 5).... Belle, Aurora, Snow White, Cinderella & Ariel in the sea foam green ball gown. 
 
 




 
After dinner we had to get Funnel Cake because Summer had been waiting all week to go to EPCOT for Funnel Cake.  We got one to share and a duck nearby caught wind of the eating and started pestering us which caused Cole to stand up in the stroller screaming for the duck to get away.... pretty hysterical.  

 Then it was time for Test Track.... which Summer LOVED and held her hands up for the whole time.  Cole was undecided.... he liked it but also wasn't crazy about the inside somewhat dark part. However when we went back on Friday that's all he talked about was riding it again.  Then we picked up our free picture and headed back to the hotel for bed!  One more day left.....


1 comment:

  1. I can't get over how much y'all pack into your days! We only did 1 park a day and that was totally enough for me. Ken and the girls LOVE the tree house...me not so much. Summer looked so pretty in her Belle dress :)

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