The Maders: The Wonderful World of Disney. . . . .

Warning, this might be a long post. I tried to keep it as short as possible. . .

We just returned from an oh-so fabulous trip to Walt Disney World! It was Lexie’s first time. I was a little worried that she wasn’t quite old enough but that worry faded away quick. She LOVED every minute of it. Papa and SuSu also went with us. The five of us all had such a wonderful time.

From the days leading up to departing for WDW, Lexie would wake up asking if it were the day she was going to see Cinderella’s castle. The day we left was a big day for her. She woke up more excited than on Christmas morning. She got to ride in a bus, train, airplane, limo, and boat all in one day!! Talk about excitement. She did great with all the traveling.

Playing with SuSu on the way to WDW!!!

Lexie’s first pin the hotel gave her.

We stayed at the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. A fabulous resort! If you get a chance to go to WDW, I highly suggest either staying at the Grand Floridian or having dinner there. One of Lexie’s favorite things about the hotel was it sat on the monorail. Lexie enjoyed watching/riding on the “choo choo.” The hotel was in the perfect location for us. We were one monorail stop away from the Magic Kingdom.

“Yay! I’m at WDW and finally going to see Cinderella’s castle!”

On the monorail to meet Mickey and friends!

The first night we arrived, we had dinner reservations for Chef Mickey’s at the Contemporary Resort. It was a great way to start off the trip. Lexie got to meet Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, and Goofy. She was a little shy towards them but I could tell she was having a grand time.

After dinner, we didn’t think Lexie could stand to wait until the next day to see Cinderella’s castle. So we stopped by the Magic Kingdom to get a quick glimpse of Cinderella’s home before it was time to go to bed.

Before we left Atlanta, I had packed a few things to surprise Lexie each day with. Thursday morning we got up and I gave Lexie her first gift. It was a Sleeping Beauty dress that she could wear to the castle

She was excited to have a new princess dress (little did I know she was about to get another one. . . .).

After breakfast we went straight to the Magic Kingdom for Lexie’s appointment at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. A place where Lexie officially becomes a princess. It is the neatest thing for your daughter to do while at WDW, especially if she is obsessed with the princesses. The girls get to go inside the castle and pick out what dress, shoes, crown, and wand she wants to wear. She has the option to mix and match (for instance Lexie chose all Belle stuff except for the shoes. She wanted Aurora shoes). Once she picked out her attire, she is led back to a dressing room to change into her princess gown (btw, the whole attire was included in the price – meaning Lexie got to go home with a new dress, shoes, crown, and wand. And these were the nice dresses, not the cheapo ones). Then the hair and nails are done. The final touches is when a fairy godmother sprinkles dust on and turns the little girls into princesses. Too cute!

What Lexie got to choose from.

Princess Belle admiring herself in the mirror.

After hitting the park with a little action, we took a break and had lunch back at the Castle. It was so much fun! Lexie got to meet all of the princesses!

Meeting the lady of the castle for the first time!

Lexie loved getting to meet Snow White, Aurora, Ariel, and Belle (though Lexie didn’t care for Belle’s attire. She wanted to see her in her yellow “fancy” dress like the one Lexie was wearing). Lexie also really liked Cinderella’s stairs in her castle.

Later that evening, we had dinner at a delicious restaurant, Citricos, that also just happened to be in our hotel.

This diva was ready for dinner

When we got back to the room, the turn down service had put Lexie’s Snow White doll to bed with Lexie’s “blanky.” Lexie thought it was so cute. She kept going in the room to check on Snow White (I have a feeling she’s going to be a good help when Charlie comes along).

Checking on Snow white and giving her a night night kiss.

Once Lexie went to bed, my parents said they were pretty tired as well and would be happy to watch Lexie. So Dave and I decided we’d go back over to the MK by ourselves. It was nice to walk around at our own pace. We went back to the hotel, got ice cream and watched the fireworks from our hotel patio. So fun!

The next morning, Lexie had a tea party on the schedule. It was called My Disney Girl’s Perfectly Princess tea party with Aurora. This happened to be at our hotel as well. So it was nice to be able to sleep in a bit and not have to dash to get somewhere. Dad and Dave didn’t seem to interested in going, so my Mom and I took Lexie. I’m glad the guys didn’t

This is a list of the things that were included at the tea party

go – they would have been bored out of their minds. We ladies had a lovely time! Lexie got to see Aurora again along with getting to take home an Aurora doll! After the tea party, all the little princesses got to do a little parade through the lobby.

Lexie with the other princesses. They introduced “princess Alexa”, sprinkled her with rose petals, and gave her a pretty tiara.

How adorable was this set up?

My little princess enjoying her first “real” tea party with her new doll, Aurora along with the other princesses she brought.

It could be my pregnant self, but that princess cake they served as dessert had to be one of the best cakes I’ve ever had. I’m drooling just thinking about it. Aurora is one of Lexie’s favorite princesses so she was extremely happy to see her again. This one was so sweet and Lexie seemed to really like her. There is one pic where Lexie tried to give her a kiss – this is huge. Lexie doesn’t go around giving out kisses (unless we ask her to give a kiss). So she must have really liked this Aurora. I kept saying that this Aurora looked like the “real” Aurora (what ever that means).

A little water action/break at the hotel pool with Papa and Daddy. The big splash is Papa flying out of the slide.

EPCOT:

We traveled long and far to Norway to eat at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall. Again, Lexie got to see her new friends again, the princesses!

Lexie’s favorite princess. . . .Belle! I love this pic of Lexie. She seemed almost star struck by Belle.

Family photo of the family with Belle.

After dinner, we walked around the world. . . .We visited Morocco to look for Jasmine & Aladdin. We heard that they like to hang out there. But unfortunately they weren’t there.

Lexie loved the giant topiaries of Cinderella and Prince Charming.

One worn out princess. . . . .(she was sleeping with the lights and TV on. . . )

Our last full day, we went over to the Animal Kingdom to have breakfast with Donald and the gang at the Tusker House.

Lexie had fun playing with Donald.

Lexie finally got to meet Daisy. She had been talking about her the entire trip. So I’m glad that Daisy was at the Breakfast.

Lexie playing with Mickey’s nose.

Dave and I even got some Mickey love.

We toured AK for the rest of the morning. I must admit that AK is my least favorite park. Call me crazy. It’s so much like a zoo with rides. I sort of hated to waste time there when we have a membership to the zoo here in Atlanta. Though Lexie thoroughly enjoyed the safari ride. I’m just not a huge fan. Last time I was at WDW, I remember thinking the same thing.

For our last night at WDW, we had dinner at the California Grill (at the top of the Contemporary Resort). The food was excellent, as well as the service and views. We found out that if you have dinner there, save your receipt and they will let you back up to watch the Magic Kingdom’s and/or Epcot’s nightly fireworks on any of their three observation decks. Something to keep in mind for next time.

What an oh so fabulous trip to WDW!! We are already looking forward to our next visit. Thanks to Papa and SuSu for being so wonderful and taking such wonderful care of our little sweet pea! She loves you dearly!!

On a side note, here are a few t-shirts I did for Lexie to wear on the trip.