Walt Disney World 2012

Our Trip to Disney World: Written by my Mom
(Ainsley was 4 years old - almost 5 though.  Perfect age for a first visit)

Saturday morning, Nov. 3rd, 2012, Terry, Colby, Daniel, Ainsley and I started on our trip to Disney World! We were driving in one car and we knew it was going to be a long trip. Ainsley was really good in the car and we kept her entertained with lots of activities. We stopped for the night in Tallahassee. Ainsley had developed a cough earlier in the week and I had taken her to Dr. Brown on Thursday. He had given her some medicine and said it was sinuses and bronchitis. We were just hoping that she would be better by the time we got to Orlando. That was not to be and maybe partially because it had turned cool and we were out in the night air and staying out late. We ended up wearing jackets and pants instead of our shorts much of the time. But, this was our trip to Disney and we had to just go on. Thankfully, other than the coughing, she did not seem to feel bad. We got to our hotel, The Art of Animation, on Sunday afternoon. The hotel is a Disney resort hotel and was wonderful. There are several buildings and they are all decorated in a Disney theme. Ours was “Finding Nemo.” The rooms were brightly painted and the furniture was decorated with Nemo art. We were able to take a bus each morning to one of the theme parks. It was great to have someone else doing the driving and we did not have to contend with parking lots or anything. Daniel had gotten us the package that included our hotel, tickets, 2 snacks per day and 2 meals per day. Although the crowds were not as huge as they would be in the summer, it was fairly crowded. We found out that some of the schools in the northern U.S. were on a fall break, so I guess lots of people come to Florida at that time.

I must say that I was so impressed with the employees at Disney World. The characters were all so sweet with Ainsley. They took time to talk to her before signing her autograph book and were not rushing us to take photographs. Although they had a professional photographer at most of the character stops, they were fine with people taking their own photos and even encouraged everyone to get into the best spot.

Monday, Nov. 5th - Our first day at Disney. We got to Magic Kingdom around 8:30. We went into the park and first saw a group of singers and dancers. While watching them, one of the lady dancers came over to Ainsley and talked to her so sweetly. Ainsley had been a little apprehensive about meeting the characters and entertainers. She was so sweet in talking to her. It brought tears to my eyes.

We went on after that and saw the castle come into view. As we were taking pictures, a lady came over and asked if we wanted her to take a picture of all of us. She took several and then said they were looking for a family to be the Grand Marshals in the parade at 3:00. She asked if we would like to do it. We all said, “Yes.” What an honor to be picked to lead such a grand parade. The lady’s name was Peg and she took down our names and where we were from. We were to report to the “fire station” at 2:30.

We went on to some of the rides - Dumbo, Goofy’s roller coaster, the teacups, we saw Merida from “Brave,” we saw the morning character parade, a great show in front of the castle with so many Disney characters, and did lots of other things.

Soon it was time to go over to the afternoon parade area and get ready to be the Grand Marshals. Peg met us there and gave each of us a Mickey Mouse hat with mouse ears and our names embroidered on the back. We were taken into the back lot and got into an old timey car with a driver. We saw all of the characters come out of a building to get lined up. Goofy and Woody (Toy Story) came over to the car and were teasing and joking with Ainsley. They don’t talk, just act silly and make gestures. She was thrilled!! The ride in the car was fun. We had to do a lot of smiling and waving all along the route as people were lined up to watch the parade. Everybody was waving at us like we were famous! Ainsley liked it, but also was getting tired and we had to keep reminding her to smile at everybody. Once we got to the end of the route, Peg met us and we were right up close to see all of the characters and floats. All of the characters were coming over to us and hugging Ainsley. Then all of a sudden, she ran and got behind the stroller because she saw Captain Hook coming. After that, she would hardly come out and was hiding and crying because she did not want to see any of the mean or scary characters. That was a little disappointing to us all, but we already knew that she was very leery of any of the characters before we made this trip.

After the parade we did some other rides and went to see Tinkerbell and Periwinkle. They were really neat and we enjoyed seeing them - after standing in line for 45 minutes! We got some good pictures of Ainsley with both of the fairies.

Next, we headed to the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique Salon for Ainsley to pick out a princess dress and have her hair and make-up done. She got a lovely Cinderella dress and “glass” slippers, a wand and crown. She had her hair done by her “fairy god-mother” and put into a beautiful sparkly bun. Her make-up was beautiful and her nails were painted blue. Gigi and Papa bought her some long white gloves and a little purse to go with her outfit. She really looked so pretty and very much like a little princess.

The next stop on our agenda was to have dinner with Cinderella at the Grand Floridian Hotel. Ainsley was very worried about this because she did not want to see the wicked step-mother. We kept assuring her that we would tell her not to come to our table, but she was still upset about it. It was sad to see her pretty little face so worried. When we went in, Colby told the lady at the door that we would like for the step-mother not to come to our table. The lady said she would tell her. Daddy, Colby and I went to get our food at the buffet. When we came back, Ainsley was crying, very upset and scared. She was wanting to go home and saying she did not feel good. Finally, Colby took her out of the room and they went into the bathroom for a little while. I felt so bad for her and hated seeing her so upset. Later, they came back and we again told her that we would not let the step-mother come to our table. First, Prince Charming came to the table. He could tell that Ainsley had been crying and Colby was telling him why. He was so sweet to her and talked to her for quite awhile. He even told her that he would protect her. She cheered up a bit and we got some nice pictures. The step-mother was next in the line-up and Ainsley was a little worried, but she apparently had gotten the word and stayed away from our table. When she went to the next table, she looked over and said, “I’ll not come see you. But, I will say that dress looks a lot better on you than it does on Cinderella!” Colby was going to get her autograph for Ainsley’s book though and the step-mother asked Ainsley if she would come get a picture if her mother stayed in the picture too. Ainsley decided to go on over and the stepmother was really nice! She was sweet to Ainsley and we got pictures of her also. Cinderella and the two step-sisters were there and made the rounds. We got pictures of Ainsley with all of them. So, all in all, after everything we went through, Ainsley did have a good time and enjoyed seeing everybody.

We were all ready to call it a day and the park was closing, so we headed back to our hotel.

Tuesday, Nov. 6th. We headed to Animal Kingdom on our 2nd day. Once there, we boarded a safari vehicle and went deep into the African jungle. It was amazing the number of live animals we saw, very close-up. There were hippos, giraffes, gazelles, elephants, lions, and many others. A great experience. We then walked along several trails and saw some more animals. We went to a 3D show called “It’s Tough to be a Bug!” Ainsley did not like that show even though it was just an animated, cartoon type movie. There were large insects that came towards us in 3D. She was very glad to get out of there.

Next, Colby, Daniel and Ainsley went on a river rapids ride. Terry and I elected not to go since we didn’t want to get wet. When they got finished they came and found us. Ainsley wanted us to ride and they all said we would not get too wet, especially if we put on a rain poncho. We agreed to go and we did have a good time and did not get too wet! Terry and Daniel were going to ride a roller coaster but it was having technical difficulties and was closed for a little while. They never did get a chance to go back and ride. We rode a few other rides. Ainsley got to meet Pluto and Goofy and get their autographs. Colby and Daniel went to ride a roller coaster that Ainsley could not ride, so we took her to see a bird show. We all really enjoyed that and she was in awe of the things the birds did. Then we watched a great Animal Kingdom Character Parade which had some wonderfully animated floats that were like mechanical animals.

After the parade, we went to the Rainforest Café for our dinner. When the reservations were made, we thought Ainsley would love it. It is a restaurant that is made to look like a jungle/rainforest and has monkeys, gorillas, birds, snakes all around that are electronic. Every so often they will move and make animal sounds. Ainsley was not too happy about that. She did better than at Cinderella’s dinner, but she stayed very close to me during the whole meal.

We left Animal Kingdom and got back to the hotel fairly early. Colby, Daniel, and Ainsley went to the pool for awhile and then to the arcade.

Wednesday, Nov. 7th, was our day for Epcot Center. First though, we headed over to Cape May Café at the Beach Club Resort the for a breakfast with some of the Disney characters. We had a great buffet breakfast and as we were eating, we were visited by Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy. Ainsley got their autographs and pictures with all of them. She was one excited little girl. We took a ferry boat across a lake back over to Epcot. There were not a lot of rides or entertainment for Ainsley to enjoy, but there were lots of characters in different locations. She got to meet Daisy Duck, Mickey Mouse, Snow White, Pluto, Cinderella and Aladin and Jasmine. She was one tired little girl and fell asleep as we were waiting for our dinner reservations. We laid her on the booth seat while we ordered. She woke up and sat up and then put her sweet head on the table and fell asleep again. She slept through our whole dinner. When we were leaving, Terry was carrying her and fireworks were going off. That woke her up and she got to see some of the beautiful explosions in the sky.

Thursday, Nov. 8th - We went back to Magic Kingdom for a final visit. It had been totally decorated for Christmas and was beautiful! First, Ainsley met Marie, the kitty from Aristocats and Pluto. Ainsley wanted to ride some of the rides she had done the first day. We also did the jungle cruise, “It’s a Small World,” and she met and got autographs from Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Woody & Jessie, Ariel, the mermaid, and others. Ainsley loved “It’s a Small World.” Terry and I had taken her to that while Colby and Daniel went to the haunted mansion. At first, Ainsley was a little frightened because we went into a dimly lit area. Then all of the dancing and singing dolls came into view. She was so excited by it all. She was pointing and talking and just taking it all in. When we came out, she said, “I want to do that again. Mommy and Daddy have got to see that!” So, we waited for them and got back in the line to “do it again.” That night we got to see the Electric Parade. It was beautiful. All of the floats and characters were lit up and so magical looking.

Friday, Nov. 9th, was Hollywood Studios day. One of the first things we did was the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. It was a puppet show and unbelievably, Ainsley did not want to go. She had seen on the pictures outside that part of the show was about Captain Hook. We had to force her to watch it. Of course, after it got started, she did like it and admitted that even Captain Hook was not scary. We saw a demonstration of how stunt drivers drive cars in action movies that was fantastic. I really thought Ainsley would not want to see that because it had some explosives and fire, but she actually enjoyed it and did not seem scared. Terry and Daniel rode the “Rockin’ Roller Coaster” and Terry came off that ride in a cold sweat. He said that may be the last time he rides a roller coaster! Ainsley got to play in the “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” playground where everything is gigantic. She loved it. That night we ate at “50's Prime Time Café.” It was a cute restaurant made to look like a house in the 50's. They had old timey television sets all around showing the old black and white tv shows. The Christmas lights were being turned on for the first time that night and they were beyond belief. They had a dancing light show. All of the buildings were covered with lights and there were Christmas trees, angels, and other decorations all lit up. The music was wonderful and there was even snow falling (artificial though).

We traveled back home in one day on the 10th. It was a long trip and Ainsley was really worn out and got pretty fidgety. We thought she might sleep, but that did not happen until the last couple of hours. The entire trip was an emotional roller-coaster for Ainsley. Bless her heart. She would be happy one minute then terrified the next if she thought she was going to see anyone like Captain Hook, a monster or be in the dark. Terry and I had not realized how fearful she was of such things. But, all in all, we really had a wonderful, memorable trip. We had to remind ourselves that she is only a nearly 5 year old. I hope that Ainsley will have good memories of her very first visit to Disney World. We certainly took a lot of pictures to help us remember everything!