So since Paul was out of commission the girls and I headed to the park by ourselves. This was quite the adventure because in order to get on any form of transportation I had to fold up the stroller and get it and the girls onto the bus/boat/monorail. Fortunately there were many people who helped me...especially with the stroller lifting.
We were up bright and early again as we had 8am breakfast reservations at Crystal Palace (Winnie the Pooh characters). This time, in case you're curious, the bus came at 6:44 (I know the exact time because some crazy woman was yelling at the bus driver because he was pulling away from the curb when she was walking up and she had been told the bus would be there at 6:45. Really? The bus driver didn't set his watch to your clock and really if you're walking up at 6:44 you're pretty much late...but I digress).
We started our day with breakfast with Pooh (or Poop as Ellie refers to him). This was probably the girls least favorite character meal...I think mostly because they were tired. They were SUPER excited to meet Piglet though! Our waiter was fabulous and when he realized I was by myself with the girls he came over and helped me at the buffet.
After breakfast we headed out to the park to ride some rides. We had an early Fast Pass for Enchanted Tales with Belle so we headed there after a quick ride on the carousel and It's a Small World. I was really glad we had a FP because the wait was already 30min. Before we went in Emmie told me that she wanted to be Mrs. Potts but I didn't think she would actually do it. When they were giving out parts I told her to raise her hand for the Mrs. Potts part. She actually did and they gave the part of Chip to Ellie. I REALLY didn't think Ellie would be ok with not being right next to me but she was so excited to have a part! The girls were ADORABLE and I hated that Paul wasn't there to see it.
(Can you tell by all the pictures that I was so proud of my Mrs. Potts and Chip?)
After Enchanted Tales with Belle we did our other FPs. I had scheduled them all in the morning because the original plan was to go back to the resort and take naps and then in the evening to watch the parade and fireworks. I definitely scratched that plan when I was by myself! It was a nightmare getting on the bus at Hollywood Studios when the park closed and that was with 2 adults...I had no desire to attempt to do it alone! So we ended up spending the day in the park.
Throughout the morning I had been dreading the whole lunch situation. It was pretty hot out and the idea of having to fight through a quick service line and then hunt down a seat with the girls in tow all to eat the same food we'd been eating the last few days was just not appealing. We ended up stopping to get a frozen lemonade right before lunchtime and when we were leaving the little stand I noticed they had hummus, yogurt, and cut up fruit so after riding a few more rides and playing in the splash area (which was quite refreshing!) we headed back to the same snack stand and picked up a few bags of apples and some hummus and pretzels and found a nice shady spot in which to eat our food. The apples had been sitting on ice so they were a big hit with all three of us!
Throughout the day we rode all our favorite rides again and we also meet the Fairy Godmother, Tiana, and Tinkerbell and went to the Country Bear Jamboree which the girls thought was excellent.
(Terrence is apparently the boy fairy...who knew?)
We had 5pm dinner reservations at the Grand Floridian so around 3 we headed towards the front of the park. When we walked by Cinderella's Castle there was a show in progress so we stopped and watched. The girls loved all the shows and parades we saw while at Disney and have been reenacting them ever since!
Next we headed to the Emporium to get some souveniers. Emmie had decided on day 1 that for her special treat she wanted Minnie ears so of course that's what Ellie wanted as well. The girls both got some ears and then I let them pick out a tshirt as well. They both picked one with all the princesses on it. We also picked up some picture frames. When I was buying all this I thought they would be able to deliver it to the resort so I wouldn't have to drag it around. FYI they don't guarantee it will get there until 1pm the next day, when we planned to be long gone. Grrrr. So now I had another bag to drag around that of course wouldn't fit under the stroller.
(On a side note, Ellie slept with her ears in her hand our first night home!)
After the gift shop we still had some time to spare so we decided to ride the train around the park. The girls LOVED the train ride, or at least Emmie did. Ellie fell asleep sitting straight up about 2 minutes into the ride. I wasn't sure how frequently the boat made it's loop so we headed to the boat pickup. Ellie was still asleep and as soon as Emmie got in the stroller after the train ride she threw her arms over her head and fell asleep!
The boat actually made a loop every 15 minutes and it wasn't quite 4 when we got down there so I ended up sitting down at the dock and letting the girls sleep for a bit and I was able to put my feet up and relax for a few minutes. Fortunately Emmie woke up really easy and was very cooperative about getting on the boat and Ellie woke up enough to get on the boat and then went back to sleep.
Our dinner that evening was at 1900 Park Fare and was with the characters from Cinderella (Cinderella, Prince Charming, the Fairy Godmother, the stepsisters, and the stepmother although the stepmother was not there that night...the girls decided she was sick like Daddy). The food was a buffet but was really good and was different food than the other buffets we had done which was nice. I might have gone through a few plates! It was also nice that we were seated right next to the buffet so I could fix the girl's plates and then go back and fix mine and still be able to keep an eye on them. The girls were a little intimidated about meeting Prince Charming but were so excited about all of the other characters.
(Cinderella and Prince Charming did a waltz during the dinner.)
Our ride back to the Magic Kingdom and then the bus ride back to the resort were quite uneventful and I was so thankful for all the people along the way who helped with the stroller. When we got back to our room Paul was looking like he might rejoin the land of the living so that was good. The girls told him all about their day and then it was off to bed for all of us...we were worn out!
I have to brag on my girls. We had a talk before we left for the park about how Mommy needed them to be extra good that day since I was by myself. I told Emmie I needed her to really cooperate and listen and told them both we weren't going to have any whining. They were SO good. They listened really well and we had minimal whining. I was so proud of them!
The next day we had some meals left over since we didn't use them at lunch the day before so we ate breakfast at the resort (so good and so many options!) and then used up our leftover snacks getting things to bring back home from the bakery case and then headed out about 9:20. We ended up stopping for lunch and one other time for a potty break on the way back. The girls did pretty good on the way home but not as well as on the way down...think they were just tired and cranky!
We were all glad to get home, especially since little puppy was back! He had stayed with my parents for 6 days and I'm not sure how much he missed us but we sure missed him! While he was with Gran and Grandaddy he went on many walks each day, met some new friends, had some adventures, tried to eat the closet shelving repair men, barked at lots of chipmunks and the dog next door, chased the crazy man (aka Grandaddy) around the house, and got lots and lots of puppy massages from Gran! We're so glad he was able to stay there and I was very glad that they were able to bring him all the way back to Columbia...plus my mom also brought us dinner for Sunday night...so nice after eating park food for 3 days!
Funny Ellie story. She decided she wanted to sleep with one of the towels from the bathroom. These were not 5 star resort towels...they were scratchy, thin hospital-like towels. The next day when we got ready to go she was so bent out of shape that we wouldn't let her take the towel with her! She was still talking about it when we got home so I let her pick a washcloth out of our linen closet. She's STILL sleeping with it every night...but at least it's soft. She's such a funny girl!
PS. One of the girls favorite character sitings was on the monorail on MK Day 1 when we were headed back to the park. There were lots of people headed to Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween Party...including some people dressed up as the Cat in the Hat and Thing 1 and Thing 2!
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