Thursday at Hollywood Studios

Thursday morning we headed to Hollywood Studios.  My mom was feeling even worse so she stayed in the hotel with a bottle of Robotussin to get some rest.  We drove to Hollywood Studios and arrived not too long after opening.  On our way to the back of the park, we saw Minnie.  Of course we had to stop for a picture with our favorite mouse.

Toy Story Mania was destination number one.  None of us had ever been on this ride and it notoriously runs out of FastPasses.  The standby line wasn't terrible so we queued up.  We shuffled along past all of Andy's treasures.  It's great how Disney works to keep you entertained while you wait. 

When it was our turn to load, we put on our 3D glasses and got our guns ready.  We were all set to ride through the very cool shooting arcade.  Ryan and my dad were on the back side of our car.  Mr. Competitive, aka Ryan, issued a challenge to see who would be the high scorer in the car.  Tessa and I blasted flying dishes, bullseyes and all kinds of other things for points.  I did much better on this ride than I did on the Buzz Lightyear ride.  I never can find where my laser is pointing on that ride.  Yes, I am admitting I am inept on a children's ride.  We all have our failures in life.  Anyways, of course, Ryan was the high scorer but we all had tons of fun.   

We left my dad in the super long and very slow moving Woody and Buzz line so that we could see Sorcerer Mickey. 

Then we waited in line for Ralph and Vanellope, characters from the new movie Wreck it Ralph.  None of us had seen the movie yet but we had read the book.  We ended up buying the movie and making it a movie night when we got home.  It's cute, especially for those of us that played video games in the eighties.   

We headed back to where my dad was making progress in his line.  We hopped in for pictures with Woody and Buzz. 

Somewhere around here, my mom arrived.  She was feeling better and had taken the Disney bus from the hotel.  Note to self, even though my travel book says your own car is faster, the Disney bus was apparently very easy and dropped her off right at the entrance.  After a few confusing group texts we found each other.  I was the youngest of the four group texting and I am the one who screwed it up.  That's a sad testament to my phone skills.  We bumped into one of the green army men from Toy Story.  Tessa pretended to march with him and then gave me this sharp salute.  Adorable. 

My parents went to ride Tower of Terror and we went to get seats for Beauty and the Beast.  The live production of Belle's story is so pretty, I love the costumes especially the dancing spoons and ice cream sundae.  My mom and I giggled because Gaston could have doubled for a Vegas Elvis.  We had reservations at Hollywood and Vine for lunch with the Disney Junior characters.  We saw Handy Manny, June, Jake and Agent Oso.  The characters had dance parties in the aisles where they sang familiar Disney Junior songs.  Tessa loved it.  This buffet was yummy with some not-your-average food choices available.  Plus a couple of margaritas always help.  Our waiter helpfully told us we could even have to go cups if we wanted.  Totally!     

We needed a picture in front of Mickey's hat, the symbol for Hollywood Studios.  It turned out pretty great.  Disney photographers are the best. 

Next up was our favorite attraction in Hollywood Studios, Disney Junior Live on Stage.  This puppet show is the only place to see the newest princess, Sofia the First.  My parents took Tessa and saved front row seats while Ryan and I used our FastPasses for Tower of Terror.  That is an awesome ride but Tessa is definitely not ready for it yet, even if she is tall enough.  We barely squeaked into the playhouse before the show started.  Tessa sang along, clapped, danced and thoroughly enjoyed herself.   

We watched most of the afternoon parade before going to Voyage of the Little Mermaid.  Two years ago, Tessa was scared of the huge Ursula in this show.  So I was surprised when she asked to see Ariel.  Of course, she cried and hid under her seat once the show started.  I should have listened to my instincts and not done this show again.  After that, we were pretty much done with Hollywood Studios.  We went back to the hotel and took a little break before going to Epcot for dinner.  

We ate at The Land, a revolving restaurant that takes you past the different scenery from the Living the Land ride.  Farmer Mickey visited us along with Pluto, Chip and Dale.  Chip got his feelings hurt when Ryan couldn't tell which chipmunk he was.  Tessa and I explained that you can always tell Chip because his nose is black like a chocolate chip.  Silly Daddy.   

Time for one last photo before we call it a night.  And this is a nice one, right in front of the Epcot Ball.  

Wednesday at Magic Kingdom

Ryan and I made a quick trip to the Magic Kingdom on Wednesday morning just the two of us.  We rode Space Mountain and then, literally, ran across the park to ride Great Thunder Mountain Railroad.  Why we felt the need to have this early morning work-out I'm not exactly sure.  But it was fun and, in less than an hour, we were boating back to our hotel so I could take Tessa to tea.  Gampa had arrived the night before and the boys planned to entertain themselves while we did our girly thing.      

We had reservations for tea with Sleeping Beauty in the Garden View Tea Room of our hotel.  We checked in early and waited for the party to begin.  This event is hosted by a delightful character named Miss Rose Petal and Aurora was the guest of honor.  Miss Rose Petal announced each princess by name, crowned her and then guests were escorted to their tables.  Waiting at each girl's seat was a My Disney Princess doll and bracelet.  Pretty great party favors! 

While we sipped tea and ate mini sandwiches, Miss Rose Petal told a fairy tale story of how she was plucked from the castle garden and turned into a lady.  Her singing and storytelling were very entertaining with the nice touch of live piano music.  Rose Petal taught the little princesses a song and how to greet Aurora in sign language.  So when Princess Aurora made her grand entrance, the girls sang and signed to her.  It was precious.  Aurora made her way around the tables and, as usual, Tessa was mesmerized.   

Aurora signed Tessa's autograph book "Sweet Dreams Princess Contessa!  Love, Aurora."  The two hours went by quickly and before we knew it we were waving good-bye to Sleeping Beauty.  The girls gathered up their dolls and lined up to parade around before having a photo shoot upstairs.  It was an adorable group of decked out little princesses that made their way through the grand lobby waving and smiling at everyone along the way.  The parade ended in the gift shop where the girls named their dolls and received an official birth certificate.  Tessa chose Jewel as her doll's name. What a special treat this tea party was for all three of us.          

We headed back to our room to change and regroup.  I didn't have a firm plan for the afternoon, shocking I know!  We rode the monorail to the Magic Kingdom and then decided to hop the ferry to Wilderness Lodge.   

The Wilderness Lodge is another Deluxe Disney Resort and none of us had ever been there.  I read on a blog that the cupcakes there are fantastic so we figured it was a cool place for a snack.   It is a gorgeous hotel with a Great Northwest theme but we will never be staying here.  Walking in from the dock a HUGE snake slithered right across the path mere inches in front of Tessa's stroller wheels.  My dad calmly kept pushing her along while I ran away screaming.  People at the nearby pool were laid out on sun loungers, how could they relax so close to a snake?!?!  I realize that Disney is in a Florida swamp but I never expected this to happen.  I have chills just writing about it.  I made it inside via another path and tried to calm down.  A couple of cupcakes helped.  One was a S'mores cupcake and it was just as good as it sounded.  This stop was not the highlight of my trip but my dad looks cute in front of this Indian headdress. 

Back in the Magic Kingdom, which is thankfully snake free, we rode Dumbo.  This ride was revamped and now has two sets of flying elephants plus a FastPass.  Gotta love the FastPass.  

Plus they have improved the photo spot. 

And just around the corner is Pete's Silly Sideshow with four great characters.  With two lines, we split up and saw all four in half the time.  Why did Donald have to be standing in between two snakes?  I much preferred Minnie's dog show background.    

Back to Goofy's Barnstormer again.  My mom did a great job with this picture, Tessa and Gampa are just bursting through the billboard.  

We had some time to kill before Mickey's PhilharMagic so we rode the carousel.  Always a favorite with Tessa.  The crowds weren't bad and we were able to get horses all in the same row.  I am ridiculously proud of Tessa's princess wave. 

 

Our dinner reservations that night were for the Be Our Guest restaurant.  Yes, we had already been there for lunch but the dinner menu is different.  And, more important than food, the Beast makes an appearance at dinner time. 

Tessa dressed as Winter Belle to dine with the Beast.  Our meal was delicious even if we couldn't ask the dishes.  Ryan ordered an appetizer of cured meats which included the foie gras so, we lucked into the "gray stuff."  This is the only restaurant in Magic Kingdom that serves alcohol.  You just can't have French food without wine.  After dinner, the Beast was available for pictures by his fireplace.  Tessa monopolized him for quite a while.  They danced and jousted and played together.  I highly recommend this restaurant.

Tessa was still full of energy so we did the teacups again, on a full stomach, fun!  We also did a few laps around the Tomorrowland Speedway.  Driving kiddy cars is harder than it looks, especially after that wine I mentioned.  Tessa was steering and I was working the gas pedal.  We could barely drive we were laughing so hard.  Good thing those cars are on rails.  

 

We finally called it a night and headed back to the hotel.  We all crashed from sheer exhaustion except for my mom who was, unfortunately, starting to get sick.       

Tuesday at Downtown Disney

We gave ourselves a break and took it easy on Tuesday.  For breakfast, we went to the Polynesian.  I had read food blogs about their Tonga Toast, french toast stuffed with bananas and then fried.  It was indeed delicious.  We ate out by the pool and Tessa and Ryan went swimming.

Our hotel has a cute new Alice in Wonderland splash pad but the main pool was under construction.  To make up for this, we could use other resort pools.  The Polynesian has a very cool volcano pool complete with a water slide.  Tessa and Ryan climbed to the top and then Tessa hesitated.  Ryan went first to show her how fun it would be.  But no amount of hollering encouragement was going to get her down that enclosed slide.  So I went up and tried to talk her into it.  No dice.  I could have given in but I knew she would love it once she tried it so I "helped" her get started.  She splashed out at the bottom and said "That was FUN!"  So I sat back down with my mom and enjoyed watching Tessa shoot down the slide over and over and over.

After our morning swim, we went shopping in Downtown Disney.  They boast the largest Disney Store and a Lego Imagination Center.  Tessa couldn't wait to get to the Legos.  She was fascinated with this Olivia made entirely of Legos.  I think we picked up every Lego Friends product in the store.  It was crowded and overwhelming so all we ended up with was a free Lego horse.    

We had better luck in the Disney Store where we bought clothes and gifts.  We had a nice lunch at the Earl of Sandwich and then headed back to the hotel.    

Technically this was our off day but it seemed like a good day to go to the nighttime parade in Magic Kingdom.  We rode the monorail over and had time for pictures as the sun set on Main Street.

 

We staked out a spot right in front of the Main Street Railroad Station.  While we waited, Tessa went to Tony's and watched the Lady & the Tramp movie.  As a bonus, we got Lady's paw print in our autograph book.  Disney's Electric Parade is beautiful with fun music and favorite characters.  We had the best seats, everybody passed right in front of us with the castle in the background. 

As soon as the parade was over we hopped the monorail for the Contemporary Resort, Chef Mickey was expecting us.

This is another great character buffet.  If you are looking for a calm, peaceful meal this is not your place.  But if you want to have a couple cocktails and party with the Fab 5, this place is perfect.  The food is good too and I'm not ashamed to admit I eat off the kid's table.  Sometimes you just feel like having a few chicken nuggets with your prime rib.  The characters made the rounds twice while we were eating.  I think Goofy had a crush on my mom, he danced and danced with her.  Pluto did tricks for Tessa.  It was a rockin', napkin swinging, dancin' in the aisle good time.          

Monday at Epcot

Our next day was devoted to Epcot.  Test Track had recently been renovated and so we headed there first.  Technically, the girls headed there while Ryan jetted over to get Fast Passes for Soarin'.  Even though we hadn't made it to the park by opening time, thanks to me taking forever to braid Tessa's hair, the line for Test Track wasn't bad.  While waiting, we used our "Key to the World" aka room key to build race cars.  The computer rated our design based on power and performance and other stuff.  The engineer in the group thought this was a very cool program.  Then we loaded up to see how our prototype performed on the track.  Even though this ride is dark, loud, and fast, Tessa loved it.

 

Next on our list was Soarin' so we crossed the park to this awesome attraction.  Fast Passes sometimes necessitate crisscrossing the park like this but the extra steps are worth it when you go right to the front of the line.  We boarded for our flight and I realized how little Tessa looked in her seat.  Strapped in and ready, our simulated hang-gliding adventure took off and we went up and up and up.  We were lucky enough to be in the front row as we soared over California.  Crashing surf, snow skiers, golfers, fellow hang gliders, Napa Valley and orange groves whizzed by us.  The ride ends by flying up Main Street Disneyland and into the fireworks.  How could I have forgotten the fireworks?!?!  Each time a colorful explosion occurred our seats would vibrate with the boom but Tessa actually liked it.  I guess now that she has seen them up close and personal she had decided that fireworks aren't scary after all.      

Then it was over to Norway for Storybook Dining in Akershus.  Belle greeted us at the door and we had a photo op without me having to sing opera.  A nice perk of this meal is that the photos are included.     

After being seated, we helped ourselves to the koldtbord which offered cold meats, cheeses and vegetables.  We then ordered our entrees as the princesses began making rounds.  One of the great things about this meal is that the princesses have plenty of time to talk and visit at each table.  We saw Cinderella, Snow White, Aurora and Ariel.  They also did a princess parade where the kids were invited to follow their princess as she wove around the tables.  Tessa happily "swam" right behind Ariel.  It's all about the princesses in our house, but the food was excellent too.   

After lunch, we went to China to meet Mulan.  To the amazement of a nearby lady, we did a quick costume change while standing in line.  She marveled at how quickly we transformed Tessa from Belle into Mulan without flashing everyone.  We have a lot of practice changing costumes.  Tessa talked to Mulan all about being a warrior princess.  Mulan told her secrets while I took pictures.       

Then we went to Mexico to find Donald Duck.  He loves it when you tell him he is number one.  I love that he is so close to the margarita kiosk.

Mickey Mouse has a stuffed animal named Duffy the Bear.  We have this adorable bear and he comes with dress up clothes.  The story is that he sailed around the world and visited Disney characters.  While you stand in line to meet Duffy, you can read all about his adventures.

I love teddy bears so I jumped in a picture with this lovable guy.  Epcot has great shopping, including a store featuring this bear.  While we browsed, Ryan laid down on a bench for a nap in the sunshine.  Maybe we drank those margaritas a little fast.      

 

Over in the United Kingdom we met Mary Poppins.  She taught Tessa how to say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious backwards.  It's part of the song, which we sing a lot, so Tessa did a pretty good job repeating it back.  We were in Alice costume, hoping to also meet her in the UK, but the timing didn't work.  

We ventured over the bridge and into France.  Here we met Ryan's favorite princess, Sleeping Beauty.  I wasn't carrying our Aurora costume because we planned to see her another day at tea.  I could cry looking at Tessa's sweet little face when she talks to her beloved princesses.  It is truly magical for her.

And in France there is champagne, so cool and refreshing after a hard day of princess chasing.  Ryan declared Epcot his favorite park because he likes drinking his way around the world.  We watched the film Impressions de France, had snacks in the pattisserie and checked out the shops.

Also in France is Provincial Belle, it's just the best country.  By this point, Tessa didn't want me talking to the princesses.  They were talking to her and could I please not interrupt?  At least she was nice about it as she hogged Belle.  I stayed back and took pictures and just listened as they talked about singing and reading.  They are so precious together.  I always tell Tessa she looks like Belle, brown hair and hazel eyes with the sweetest smile.  She loves Belle.   

Next to France is Morroco where we found Aladdin and Jasmine.  Princess Jasmine was amazing and called Tessa 'Jas-Mini.'  I thought it was adorable.  Tessa and I asked where Raja was and Aladdin told me he was in Animal Kingdom.  He also said they would swing by on the magic carpet to pick Raja up later.  Cute, very cute.

We strolled around Italy, had a Bellini and shopped some more.  We had reservations at the Biergarten for dinner.  I had previously ignored this restaurant because they have no characters and you are seated at long tables with other families.  But, in honor of German Christmas, I decided to give this place a try.  And I am so glad because it was fun, fun, fun.  The food is buffet style and traditional German fare of meat and potatoes.  The beer was good but the wine was terrible.  The Oompah Band played and Ryan and I did the polka.  Tessa danced with my mom and then made friends with kids on the dance floor.  My princess could dance all night.         

Working our way back around the World, we revisted Mexico.  There is a bar called Cava de Tequila that had interesting choices we wanted to try.  We ordered blood orange, avocado and pineapple margaritas.  They are all good but I think the orange one was best.  We rode the Three Caballeros ride more than once since there was no wait.    

Next we went to The Seas where we went to Turtle Talk With Crush.  He chats with the kids in his surfer boy accent.  Also in the same building is the Finding Nemo ride.  We bobbed along in our little clam shell looking for the missing clown fish.  Finally we left Epcot and rode the monorail back home.  We had spent more than twelve hours at Epcot and we were beat.  Good thing tomorrow is our off day.