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.