We told Baylee a few days before we left that we were taking her to Mickey's castle so she could meet the Disney princesses. She has a love for the princesses comparable to her daddy's for Star Wars - so expectation levels were pretty high. Fortunate for us, we didn't have to wait to get the adventure started. Immediately after we got off the tram and walked into Disney's Main Street, Snow White was there greeting kids. Baylee's eyes went huge and her smile quickly caught up - a real princess! She was able to talk to Snow White for a bit, get a hug and a picture. After Snow White we went on a search for the most important princess of them all, Baylee's favorite: Ariel. We had to wait in line for almost half an hour to enter Ariel's Grotto, but the encounter finally came. When Baylee saw Ariel she ran up and gave her the biggest hug. She got to meet her princess!
As the day went on Baylee got to interact with the other princesses as well: Cinderella, Belle, Sleeping Beauty, and Jasmine. Six down, one to go, the newest princess - Tiana from Princess and the Frog. At 4:50p we realized she was only going to be greeting kids until 5pm, so we made a mad sprint across the Magic Kingdom to find her.
When we got to the line there was a worker standing guard who gave us the bad news - the line was closed, they couldn't let anyone else in to meet Tiana. I tried everything apart from offering the guy money (though I was tempted): told him this was the only princess we didn't get to meet, she was three - don't break her heart or scar her for life, come on dude - where's your sense of compassion? Nothing worked. Baylee was upset. As we began walking away three college girls who were at the end of the line ran to catch up with us. "Sir, we're going to be around the area for a few months and are going to come back here again. Your daughter can take our spot so that she can meet Tiana." Is that amazing or what?!?! So 20 minutes later Baylee got to meet Tiana, meeting all seven Disney princesses:
At 6:30pm Jeannette had to go out to the car to get Jaxon more formula. Baylee and I went off to check out the Swiss Family Robinson's Tree House and then to watch the Light Parade. When the Light Parade was over we couldn't find Jeannette, so we decided to go find Baylee some Mickey Mouse ears (pink princess ones - of course). When we were approaching the stand to get them I saw a group of teens making a mad dash for the Pooh ride. I looked to see why, thinking a character was there or something, but no - they were making a mad dash for the ride because there was no line! Everyone was at the front of the castle waiting for 8pm when the firework show would start. No one was at the rides! We bought our ears and then made our own mad dash. In 20min we went on the Pooh, Show White, and Peter Pan rides! We were running and laughing and saying, "Let's go!" It was awesome!
Coming out of the Peter Pan ride the fireworks were beginning. We ran to the castle and elbowed our way to the front of the crowd. I sat on the ground and with Baylee on my lap we got to hear Jimmy Cricket's tale and watch a pretty cool firework show around the castle. This is video I was taking during the finale:
I stopped the video because at the moment when the big final burst of fireworks and music came, Baylee jumped off my lap, raised both hands in the air, and yelled at the top of lungs, "YEAH!!!!" I was so caught up in her energy and excitement that I didn't get video of her doing it, but I took a picture as she continued to stand their with a radiant smile on her face, looking at the castle:
But she might not ever remember it.
The thing I realized later, thinking about her getting so caught up in that final moment - expressing her feelings in such a beautiful and childlike way, is that the important thing is that I will never forget that moment.
I will never forget what a magical day she had, how happy she was.
I will never forget her seeing the castle for the first time, and her saying quietly, 'It's beautiful."
I will never forget her face when she met Ariel and the rest of the princesses, nor will I forget the college students that made the princess meetings complete.
I will never forget her meeting Lilo and Stitch, telling Stitch that we have a dog at home with his name.
I will never forget running around with her in that last half hour as we went on ride after ride.
I will never forget her jumping up during the fireworks and yelling "YEAH" - arms raised as high as she could get them.
She won't remember it - but she will indeed hear me remembering it. She'll hear me telling her what a special day we had. And that is what is most important - that she relive the day through my memories of it.
It was one of the most special days I've had with my daughter, my little princess.
6 comments:
Aww... that's precious!
What were those college kids doing waiting in line to meet Disney princesses anyways?? Haha, I guess I can't say anything, I totally went to Magic Kingdom in college & it was awesome.
My parents took us to Disneyland in junior high. My favorite memory was waking up at 6:00am so me and my dad could go on the Indiana Jones ride. That and my dad telling my sister that Space Mountain was going to be "like the teacups" :)
That was a very beautiful expression of a father's love for their daughter. Baylee is a very lucky little girl to have such a wonderful father like you.
I think about things like that too, like what kids will remember someday (my own future kids and kids I've known in my life). I've come to the conclusion that even if these kids don't remember specific days and events, all those moments are shaping who they are, what they know family to be, and how they see God. So even if she doesn't remember this trip to Disney (and who knows, she might someday!), she will grow up knowing that all she's ever known is that her parents love her and would do anything for her, and she will know that God is the same way. No experience or moment is wasted.
I'm glad you wrote about this. And I can completely picture her as you're telling the stories; she is so cute. :)
My whole family went to Disneyland in CA when I was about three and I have some vague memories of it, so there's hope that she'll remember something. I remember the 20,000 Leagues ride (thinking I was literally sooo deep underwater) and waiting out in front of the park for the dads to find us at night.
But also, I love hearing about what I used to do when I was little and seeing if I'm still holding on to some characteristics (the good kinds). So that's good too!
That is beautiful! Glad you're blogging again...
Priceless! Now I can't wait to bring my daughter to the Magic Kingdom! Knowing Abby, she would have the best day of her life and that would mean a lot to us. Thank you for sharing this.
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