Hollywood Studios & More

We started the day with the 1900 Park Fare character breakfast in our hotel. This meal was a mix of all British characters - Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland, Pooh and more. Tessa loves Alice in Wonderland and they were sweet together. Alice commented that she wished her own dress had pretty sparkles on the skirt like Tessa's did. When Tessa wasn't sure about Mary Poppins, the pretty governess used her best English accent and asked to merely have a proper handshake. Ha! It was raining when we arrived at Hollywood Studios but that didn't slow us down. With a cute raincoat like this a little Florida thunderstorm is no problem. It also helped that the rain soon stopped.
A perk of the morning rain was that there were no lines at Tower of Terror or Rock-n-Roller Coaster. So, we tackled those super headliner attractions first. Both rides were awesome, total thrill rides.
Then it was time for Beauty and the Beast. The singing and dancing were excellent and the costumes were beautiful. A little taste of Broadway on our Disney vacation. Another live show, this time with our favorite mermaid. You would think a 3yr old wouldn't be so impressed with shows but Tessa was captivated. Ariel has special effects like misting water, laser lights and bubbles that add a whole new element of fun for the audience. Next up was Playhouse Disney, an adorable puppet show featuring Disney network cartoons. It had been closed for refurbishment but, luckily for us, it re-opened ahead of schedule. Tessa's face positively glowed when she saw the Mickey Mouse clubhouse. The kids were encouraged to participate by dancing and wiggling and singing along with their favorite characters. Probably the most fun we had all day, and it was a very fun day so that's really saying something.
When we went back to the hotel for a break, Daddy had birthday presents to open. As usual, they are all for Tessa, but it's always fun to open presents.

I couldn't resist a mini photo shoot on the balcony. Having Tessa point to the castle and talk about all the fun we were having made for some great smiles.

Time to head to dinner. We all know I have a serious problem with being on time and it almost backfired on me. I had left no extra time to get to dinner so when the monorail was down, we were in trouble. Our hotel has a nifty ferry boat that runs to the Magic Kingdom but, you can imagine, it's not as fast as the monorail. No problem though, we weren't that late and the restaurant held our reservation. And I am so glad they did, this meal was hilarious. Tessa had lost all hint of shyness and couldn't wait for each character to visit our table. She stood in her chair singing "Winnie the Pooh" just bouncing with excitement. She monopolized Pooh so much that his handler had to step in and politely break up our little party. Even so, Pooh stayed with us for several more minutes. I think he was having a good time too. But Piglet was the favorite that night, maybe it's the color pink or maybe it's because he's the smallest. Fun times!