Karlee has talked about going to Disney World for a while. She would see the commercials for it and say "Mommy, we have to go to that place and see Mickey Mouse." On the weekend before her birthday, Karlee and I sat down to write Mickey a letter. We told him that Karlee had a birthday coming up and she really wanted to come see him. She asked him to please send her tickets for her birthday.
On Tuesday, January 24, we woke Karlee like normal and she thought she was getting up to get ready for school. She walked downstairs and saw a package on the couch. She immediately looked at me and said "I know who it's from. MICKEY!" She jumped on the couch and ripped into the envelope. Sure enough. It was from Mickey! He told her he was so excited that it was her birthday. He sent her tickets to come see him and a special Minnie Mouse ear hat with her name on it. He told her to bring 1 princess dress with her because he had another special surprise when she arrived. Karlee flew upstairs and started throwing dress up clothes out of her trunk to find the perfect dress. Her final choice ... Belle from Beauty and the Beast!
We quickly got her dressed, Chip's mom came over to pick up Madelyn, and we headed to Atlanta to board a plane. Chip's only stipulation about the trip was he was NOT driving! Karlee loved the airplane and sat staring out the window the entire flight. She got so excited when we went inside the clouds and all she could see was white.
We arrived in Orlando after a brief flight and boarded the Mickey Mouse Express to take us to our resort. Karlee was so excited and giddy she could not stop smiling.
We checked in to the Wilderness Lodge, dropped our bags in the room, and headed out. After a fun lunch in Downtown Disney, we headed to Epcot first. I had done my research on the best places to see Mickey and the gang pretty quickly. Glad my research was correct because boy did we hit it big right off the bat. We walked right in to a character spot with no wait lines and the fun REALLY started! We enjoyed Turtle Talk with Crush the most that day. Karlee was actually chosen to speak and tell Crush her name. It was PRICELESS for us to see her face light up. Crush is still the most talked about part of the entire trip. We hear "Duuuude" a lot!
We stayed at Epcot until the fireworks show started and then headed back to our room. Karlee was too excited to be tired but quickly fell asleep after a warm bath. We all woke on Wednesday ready for a fun day. This was the actual birthday day. Karlee got to wear a birthday pin and a 1st visit pin the whole time we were there. Chip and I had 1st visit pins too since it was our 1st visit to Disney as well! We loaded the boat taxi to the Contemporary Resort and started the day with birthday breakfast at Chef Mickey's, complete with a cupcake and candle (for breakfast!).
To continue the birthday fun, we headed to Magic Kingdom. We arrived about 30 minutes after the gates opened and it was perfect. We went from ride to ride with no lines. We even stopped to see some characters in between. Karlee was in heaven with all the rides. She is my adventure lover and was more than ready to try every ride. We all rode the rides together with the exception of one, the Teacups. Nope. Mommy wasn't attempting that one with my motion sickness. I knew Karlee would want to spin fast and that they did! I was happy to stand on the side and take pictures of this ride!! We were so busy jumping from ride to ride, that we almost forgot to see the princesses. But, we made time to see them right before eating dinner. Karlee was so excited that I almost cried. Yep. A tear actually formed. Karlee loves the princesses and to see her actually get to meet her favorites was a moment I will never forget. We ate dinner at a quick service restaurant right beside the castle. We even got to stay at our table and enjoy the fireworks show. So, we were at Magic Kingdom from the time it opened to the time it closed. We were all exhausted and Karlee fell asleep on the ride back to our room. She was dead weight getting her pjs on that night!!
Thursday morning we ate a quick breakfast in our resort and loaded the bus for Animal Kingdom. Karlee was ready to go on an African safari and see elephants! We enjoyed just strolling around this park. The "It's a Bug Life" show was hilarious! We played in the Boneyard for a while, ate yummy BBQ for lunch, and managed to see a few characters along with Mickey AGAIN! The Dino-rama Carnival section was Karlee's (and Chip's) favorite. Chip is pretty good at carnival games that involve aiming and shooting at something. He and Karlee won 3 prizes!
We left the park around 3:00 to go back to the room and rest before dinner. Tonight was the night of Mickey's surprise that involved the princess dress. We showered and headed to World Showcase in Epcot for dinner with the princesses in Norway. When we arrived, we learned that Belle was the princess waiting for us to take a family picture. Karlee was super excited and certainly dressed appropriately to see her! We enjoyed a pretty good dinner and meeting the princesses as they visited us at our table. Mary Poppins, Snow White, Aurora, and Cinderella made their rounds.
Friday morning we ate a quick breakfast at our resort and loaded the bus for Hollywood Studios. When we arrived, we were on a mission to get our Fastpass for Toy Story Mania. Once that was achieved, we headed off to see some shows. The Little Mermaid was cute and Karlee enjoyed it the most of all we saw that day. The "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" section was where we spent most of our time. We ALL enjoyed it. Thankfully, I had the camera so all the action shots are of Chip and Karlee. Thank goodness because I broke a sweat crawling through the little passages and climbing the spider web rope course! The hilights for Karlee were definitely seeing Buzz and Woody from Toy Story and Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates. Karlee actually almost tackled Jake when she saw him! The parks with the action rides spoiled Karlee so we only stayed at Hollywood Studios until about 1:00. She had enough of sitting and watching shows. But, we didn't leave that park without Karlee picking out her birthday prize for the week. Jesse was attached to her the rest of the day and still is currently!
Karlee wanted to go talk to Crush again so we headed to Epcot for a late afternoon visit. We were walking through World Showcase, when all of a sudden, Donald Duck and several other characters ran out from behind a gate. They got Karlee and started heading back behind the gate. Chip and I followed wondering what in the world was going on. Karlee was skipping the whole way with a huge grin on her face! Turns out they grabbed a few people and shut the gate behind all of us. We got one on one time with the characters with no lines to wait in. It was perfect!
We ended our long Friday with a yummy dinner at Cape May Cafe in the Beachclub Resort. Karlee enjoyed cracking the crab legs all by herself. Can't you see the concentration!
Unfortunately, Saturday was the day to return home to reality. I broke the news to Karlee when she woke up and she was not very happy about it. We got dressed and packed our suitcases. Thank goodness I left room in one of the bags for items we purchased because with all of Karlee's game winnings and the items we bought for Madelyn, we definitely needed the extra room. Flying and not having a car to load everything in was challenging with the luggage limits. We walked around the beautiful resort a little while before Mickey's Magic Express arrived to take us back to the airport. Perfect opportunity for a few more pictures, right! Karlee even had to stop and tell Mickey bye one more time at the airport. The child was just not ready to go home. But, I was missing Madelyn terribly so it was time.
This vacation was one of the best and most fun that Chip and I have ever been on. Experiencing Disney for the first time with Karlee was just so magical. No wonder they call it the most magical place on Earth. It truly is. We certainly will not be waiting until Madelyn's 4th birthday to go back. We are ready to go back now!! I think we will plan on taking both sets of grandparents with us next time. They will enjoy their first visits to Disney so much more with their grandchildren. Oh, and flying is definitely the way to go. Very quick flights and very smooth process of transportation and check in. We were highly impressed with this part.
Yay! So glad I finally got this post finished. Lots more updates coming soon (hopefully!).
