Seeing Ariel

After we rode the Dumbo ride, Jennifer went back to meet my mom, Jeff, Grace, and Ian for the Electrical Parade. I decided to wait in line with Katie to see Ariel. It was going to be a tight squeeze for us to see Ariel and get to the parade, but we thought it was worth a try.

Katie was so excited to see Ariel at Disney World. She had seen her a couple of times at Disneyland, but at Disney World, Ariel is a mermaid. In Disneyland, she's a princess with human legs. Who knew a tail would be so exciting, but to Katie, it was.

As we waited in line, Katie talked and talked about Ariel "with a tail." Then when we got up to see her, she was in such awe. I have never seen her interact so little with a character verbally, but she was in such quiet happiness! Awestruck is the only way I can think of to describe her.  I have to say Ariel was pretty amazing. She looked, sounded, and acted very much like the character in the cartoon.

Even though Katie was quiet with Ariel, she could not contain her excitement as we left. It was so amazing to her to meet her favorite mermaid. After we were home, Katie continued to tell stories of Ariel. She'd often say things like, "I forgot to tell Ariel that her fork was a fork and not a dinglehopper." "I forgot to tell Ariel I loved her tail!"

 Ariel told me she knew I was coming. Scuttle had told her to expect me!

 She showed me her dinglehopper.

She was pretty happy about finding the dinglehopper. 

Scuttle told her that humans comb their hair with them, so she showed me how it worked. I forgot to tell her what a fork was for.

Ariel talked to me for awhile. I wanted to get words out, but they didn't come. I just couldn't believe where I was! 

Even though I was quiet, I hope she knew how much I loved her! 

I kept looking at my mom as I hugged Ariel good-bye! I bet she couldn't believe I was with a mermaid!

A Ride with Dumbo

After seeing Mickey Mouse, we made our way into the park. While Jeff, Grace, and Ian got some dinner, Jennifer and I decided to take Katie on the Dumbo ride. It's always fun!

We decided to stop for a picture in front of Cinderella's castle before we went to the Dumbo ride.

It's always fun to ride with Aunt Jennifer! She loves all of the rides I love! 

My mom was up ahead of us. 

Dumbo is a pretty great elephant!

An Amazing Mickey Mouse

We wanted to make sure that Katie got to see Mickey Mouse before we left Disney World, so Jeff got her a pass to see him on our last night there. Katie had met Mickey in Disneyland, but she was surprised to meet him this time because he talked. Princesses have always talked to Katie, but the characters like Mickey, Donald Duck, Goofy, etc. don't usually talk. 

Even though Katie didn't say a lot about Mickey talking that night, she has mentioned it a lot ever since. Every time she sees a picture of Mickey Mouse now, she asks, "Is that a talking one?"

I couldn't believe that Mickey talked to me!

It was pretty great to see him! 

We had one final picture with him before we said good-bye!

A Night in the Magic Kingdom

We were spending the last night in Disney World back in the Magic Kingdom. While we waited for the Electrical Parade and the fireworks, we decided to keep ourselves busy. When we first walked into the park, we found Sleeping Beauty - just like she was waiting for us. Then we did a little shopping. Katie and I enjoyed looking in the windows at one of the shops. Each window was decorated with a different Disney movie theme.

I greeted Aurora with a hug. 

I loved her dress! 

I even got to twirl with her before I said good-bye! I love princesses! 

My mom and I stopped in front of one of my favorite store windows - The Little Mermaid.

The Rest of Our Morning in the Magic Kingdom

We met up with Jeff, Grace, and Ian while we were waiting in line to see Jasmine and Aladdin. Afterward, we took in some rides. We all went on The Pirate of the Caribbean ride. Afterwards, Jennifer got Katie her very own play sword. Then Jeff somehow convinced us to go on Splash Mountain - on the coldest morning of our trip. My mom had already gone with Jeff a different day, so she stayed with Ian while the rest of us went. Katie got covered in a rain poncho to avoid the water. She was a little unsure of the ride at first, but after the big drop, she loved it. She wanted to get right back on and go again.

After our rides, Jennifer and I took Katie to meet another new princess - Merida from Brave - while everyone else had lunch.

Not long afterward, Jennifer and I decided to take Katie back to the hotel for a nap. We knew that we were planning on being back in the park for the evening, and we also knew that we had to be ready for our ride to the airport at 2:50 in the morning. Therefore, it was pretty important for her to get her nap that day.

I loved the big hill on Splash Mountain! 

I showed Merida the sword that Aunt Jennifer got me, and she had fun playing with it. I like how she has curly hair just like Aunt Jennifer!

Seeing Princess Jasmine at Last

After seeing Tinkerbell, we tried again to find Princess Jasmine. When we reached the line for her, we were told the line was already closed. Jennifer decided to wait through their break though to be in the front of the next line.

If you remember, Katie had tried to meet Jasmine in Disneyland as well, but she only found Aladdin and the Genie. When she was only with the boy characters, she was very shy. On this trip, Aladdin was with Jasmine, and Katie was willing to talk to Aladdin as long as Jasmine was close by. However, at the end of the visit, Katie decided to pass on the opportunity to hug Aladdin in favor of just hugging Jasmine.

I was a bit in awe when I actually saw Princess Jasmine appear.

Jasmine and Aladdin had to wear their warm clothes on the chilly morning we had. 

Aladdin was very nice to me! 

 Princess Jasmine noticed my black hair just like Pocahontas had!

I really liked meeting them.

I left Jasmine with a hug... 

 …and Aladdin empty-armed. He wondered why he didn't get a hug. There was a simple answer. He wasn't a princess.

Saying Hello to an Old Friend

We decided to spend our last day in Disney World in the Magic Kingdom. As we entered the park on that morning, we waited in line to see one of Katie's good friends, Tinkerbell. Tinkerbell visits our house quite often, but Katie doesn't usually see her. She just sees traces of pixie dust, so it's a good day when Tinkerbell appears in person!

I was so glad to see Tinkerbell again! 

I think she was excited to see me too! 

She's fun and adventurous…just like I try to be. 

I just love her!

Dinner in Hollywood Studios

After the Magic Kingdom, Jennifer, Katie, and I headed back to Hollywood Studios to meet everyone for dinner. We ate at the 50s Prime Time Cafe, which is decorated to look like an eating space in a 50s home.

While we made our way back to Hollywood Studios, everyone else posed for pictures.

When we got there, I stopped for a picture with the Coke man. 

The waiting area in our restaurant looked like an old-fashioned living room. I found a chair I liked! 

Then Ian and I played until dinner.

A Side Trip to the Magic Kingdom

As we were leaving Hollywood Studios, Katie had fallen asleep. We knew what she really needed was a good nap, but we knew she'd wake up as soon as we got on the bus. When Katie wakes up, she very rarely goes back to sleep. So Jennifer and I talked about what we should do…go back to the hotel and let Katie play, or go to the Magic Kingdom and look around a little more. We decided on the Magic Kingdom.

We decided that we wanted to go find Princess Jasmine since Katie still hadn't met her. On the way to find her, we were able to watch most of the afternoon parade as it passed in front of the castle. Even after the parade, Katie was still a little tired and not in her happiest of moods. However, we found something that put an instant smile on her face. On the way to see Jasmine, we passed The Hall of Presidents. We told Katie we'd stop and see the show on presidents, and she was thrilled. In addition to princesses, Katie gets pretty excited with presidents - especially George Washington. Her favorite dinner routine is to go in a circle and name all of the presidents in order, so she was very happy at the thought of a show with them.

After the president show, we got to Jasmine's area, but she wasn't around for pictures, so I took Katie on the ride that became her new favorite ride - The Magic Carpets. You could control the carpets to go up or down, and every time the carpets moved, Katie laughed and said, "It tickles my tummy!"

There were some tall camel statues next to the Magic Carpet ride. One faced the magic carpets, and one faced the walking pathway. Every here and there, the camels spit water. So, there was a chance that you'd get sprayed while you were on the ride or when you were walking. On the ride, people seemed to notice the spitting camel and expect the water. However, it was very funny to watch people walking on the path who unexpectedly got sprayed with water. When Katie saw the camel that spit on the walkway, she stopped to play in the water with lots of giggles.

After that, we headed back towards the carousel since Katie hadn't ridden it yet. When we got back to the castle, there was a show going on that involved a lot of princesses singing and dancing, so of course, we stopped to watch that show as well.

Then Katie rode the carousel with Jennifer, we all went on the Winnie the Pooh ride, and we went on the Small World ride. Once again, Katie was most happy to see the Hawaiian section with the dolls just like her doll at home.

I was so excited to see all of the presidents at the end of the show!

I was in the magic carpet way up high above Aunt Jennifer's head! I loved it!

After the ride, I decided to wait for the camel to spit on me. 

Here comes the spit! 

Who knew I'd like a camel spitting so much?

This was me waiting for the camel.

As we walked through the park, I was so excited to find Rapunzel's tower!

The carousel is one of my favorites! 

Aunt Jennifer is always nice to go with me. 

 Whoo-hoo! I love when it starts moving!

I got to see my mom as we passed by! 

I was excited to go on the Winnie the Pooh ride. It was a little different than the ride in Disneyland. 

 I loved watching the dolls just like mine in the Small World ride.

While we were at the Magic Kingdom, Uncle Jeff found a new hat for Ian! He looked handsome!

A Couple of Shows at Hollywood Studios

While we were in Hollywood Studios, we took in two more live action shows. Katie, as you can imagine, was pretty excited about the first show - The Frozen Sing-a-Long. That show had two funny narrators who told the story of Frozen, and then every time there was a song, the songs played for everyone to sing.

I wasn't sure if Katie would sing at the show even though she sings the songs all the time, but she was belting out every song that came on. The funniest thing that happened came from Ian, who was sitting next to Katie. As she sang along with the music, Ian plugged his ears in response. Katie didn't seem to notice Ian plugging his ears, but the rest of us were laughing about it.

Other than getting to sing the songs, Katie was excited because she got to see Anna and Elsa perform, and she got to see Kristoff for the first time. The other magical part that Katie liked was the snow that fell in the theater at the end of the show.

After seeing the Frozen show, we saw The Beauty and the Beast. Katie had never seen the entire movie of The Beauty and the Beast, so this was the first time she had seen the end of the story. She really liked it. She told Jeff that she only liked Belle in the yellow gown. Jeff agreed that the yellow gown was much better than her blue dress.

In the afternoon, we were leaving the park so Ian could take a nap, and we got to see Cinderella's coach from the new Cinderella movie. It was very pretty, but at that point, Katie was too tired to take a picture with it.

This was my first selfie with Ian. My mom told me to show my pretty smile, but I wanted to be silly!

I couldn't wait for Frozen to begin.

I loved seeing Anna, but it was fun to see Kristoff for the first time too!

Of course, I loved when Elsa appeared.

This is the end of the show when it started snowing. For some reason, Elsa blends in with the whiteness behind her, but we could see her in person.

It was a great show! Ian probably loved my singing!

I really liked watching Beauty and the Beast.

I got to see Gaston try to slay the beast.

 At the end, the beast turned into a prince, and Belle put on her beautiful, yellow gown.

Cinderella's coach was beautiful. It was shiny and sparkly in real life!