Elena's Make A Wish trip, part 4: Disneyworld and meeting the princesses, round 1

Sunday night we went to bed, giddy with anticipation like it was Christmas eve and we had presents waiting for us the next morning, because we were headed to Disneyworld on Monday! We woke up to gorgeous weather (I was sweating in a short sleeve shirt- sweating in January, I tell you!) and headed to the Magic Kingdom.

Elena loved the ferry rides between the parking lot and the park.

The sun was shining right in our eyes, but we had to get a picture at this famous spot just to say, "WE'RE FREAKING IN DISNEYWORLD!" :)

As I'm sure you all know, when you very first walk into Disneyworld/land you are on "Main Street USA". Elena has a Disneyland Singalong (we had it too when I was growing up) that she likes to watch and one of the first songs is called "Walkin' Down the Middle of Main Street USA" - which I found a clip of!

She loves it and can do a lot of the dance from it. When we told her that we were on Main Street USA, she got really excited and started doing the dance from the video all down the street (think Minnie Mouse and Mary Poppins from 2:04 on in the clip). She was doing the little ragtime finger jive and twirling and pretending to dance with her umbrella like Mary Poppins. It was adorable - talk about magic coming to life. The look on her face was pure bliss - it was like she couldn't believe she was actually there. Thinking about her dancing and smiling on Main Street USA still puts a goofy smile on my face. :)

We raced up Main Street towards Cinderella's Castle. Elena's wish was to "see the princesses at the castle" and from the moment she set eyes on the castle, she had a one track mind. :) When we got up to it, she was a little disappointed that we couldn't go inside, but we assured her that she would get to later (we had a surprise breakfast with the princesses planned for Friday). She forgot about her disappointment pretty quickly when she turned around and saw the big carousel in Fantasyland. Riding a carousel was pretty much all Elena had been talking about since she saw the carousel in GKTW village. She was so happy!

Now, I have to stop and tell you about a couple of the amazing perks we got in Disneyworld that made things so magical. First, Disney has this thing called "Photopass" where they have photographers all around the park who will take pictures for you which you can print off at the end of the week. It is pretty spendy, but Disneyworld gives all the wish kids free Photopasses! Our picture CD would have cost $150! It was so great to not to have to worry about taking very many pictures in all the Disneyworld parks! Second, and best of all, Elena's GKTW button (the pink button on her shirt in all the pictures) and her "Guest Assistance" badge (the lanyard in most of the pictures) were magic passes to get us to the front of just about everything in all the parks - the front of the line for rides, the front of the line at character meeting lines, etc - the only line it didn't move you to the front for seemed to be food. :) It was incredible! The premise behind it is that they know time is especially precious to all the wish families and kids with life-threatening illnesses, so they don't want you to have to waste any time in the parks that you don't have to. It was so awesome! Whenever workers in the park would see Elena's magic button, she got such special treatment! Whether it was workers at the front gates taking time to talk to her for a minute, call her "Princess", and give her some stickers, or a worker in a gift shop giving her a free gift, being given the best seats at a show, or a Princess or actor in one of the shows singling her out and taking extra time with her - it was all magical. Elena got treated like royalty and every single worker at Disneyworld treated her like she was gold. I just can't even express how neat it was!

Okay, but back to the carousel... :)

You wouldn't know it from this picture, but she loved it! We rode so many carousels that week. The puffy eyes and tear stained cheeks are courtesy of steroids - ah, Prednisone. Doom on you. For some reason, amidst the joy of getting on the carousel, she had a steroid meltdown. I'm so glad it was only a five day steroid pulse instead of a continuous round. We were able to keep things pretty well under control - Disneyworld is a pretty good distraction, right? :)

That's better. :)

The "oooo" face - aka, Lily approved

We explored all over Fantasyland -highlights included the Dumbo ride (Elena would have ridden continuously if she could have I think), the smell of cinnamon and sugar goodness wafting in from Main Street USA (she said a couple of times, "Mmmmm, that smells yummy!", the Peter Pan ride (for some reason, she really, really wanted to see Captain Hook), and It's a Small World (Elena's still singing "It's a Small World"). Then we breezed through Liberty Square and arrived in Adventureland just before dark. Eric took Elena on Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride (think the Dumbo ride, but with magic carpets), we went on the Jungle Cruise, Elena covered her eyes through 5/6 of Pirates of the Caribbean :), and we rounded things out with the Enchanted Tiki Room.

When we were walking up to the Enchanted Tiki Room, one of the workers saw Elena's button and brought out lei's for Elena and Lily.

After a Lily pit stop and catching a bit of the Main Street Electrical Parade, we headed over near Tomorrowland to find a spot for the fireworks - which were a hit.

After the fireworks, Elena was in a frenzy to go on Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin (not totally sure why...must have been from her recent Toy Story watching streak). We headed there and she creamed me - something like 36,000 to 700. :) But, I think Daddy helped her a little bit and I was holding Lily who was trying to "help", too. After that we visited the Monster's Inc Laugh Floor, Elena and Eric drove on the Tomorrowland Indy Speedway, we got some dinner, and then headed over to spend our last hour in Toontown.

Toontown was where Elena really surprised us. There is a little rollarcoaster -the Barnstormer - which is actually a pretty decent rollar coaster for little kids. She barely made the height requirement and went on for round one with Eric, while I waited with Lily. I was nervous about how she would do, but she came off the ride with a huge grin and an, "I want to do that again!" Eric said she loved it. So, I went with her for round two and sure enough, she was laughing and screaming and totally loving it. When she got off, she was given a "frequent flyer" card for going on it multiple times in a row. Haha. :) Who knew? That was just the beginning of Elena's rollar coaster adventures - she loved every one she went on the whole trip.

We walked through Minnie's house and then saw a place called "The Hall of Fame" advertising that it was the place to meet the Princesses and Fairies. It was perfect - Elena had been asking multiple times throughout the day when she was going to meet princesses and Mickey and Donald, but we hadn't seen anyone yet. We were reminded of what a social, outgoing little girl she is. While she liked all the rides, her favorite parts - by far- were when she got to meet and talk to the characters. Those moments really made the trip for her.

Upon seeing the magic button, we were escorted through the back doors right into the hall with the princesses. We had to wait for the people in front of us to finish up, but the princesses made eyes at her and smiled and waved and blew kisses the whole time she was in line. Elena was star struck:

You should have seen her with the princesses- oh my! It was like she finally met up with all her best friends. She settled right in and talked and admired and danced and I think she was ready to set up camp there with them forever. They held up the line for us for a few minutes for Elena to get some extra time with the princesses - she loved every minute of it!

Lily, on the otherhand, was not impressed. I think she was more concerned with the fact that it was past her bedtime and she wanted a bottle. :)

Meeting Cinderella

Elena's always had a special place in her heart for Cinderella - it was so funny - she met Sleeping Beauty first and after talking to her for a few minutes, she kept staring wistfully at Cinderella who was next and ignoring what Sleeping Beauty was saying to her. Finally, she turned to Sleeping Beauty and said, "Um, how 'bout I go see Cinderella now?" :)

After we left, "the princesses" were all she could talk about. On the drive home, when we asked her what her favorite part of the day had been, she said without hesitation, "Meeting the princesses!"

Afterwards, we just had time to shop for a few special souvenirs - picture frames, a princess snow globe for Elena, etc. (another great part of the trip - MAW even gave us money for some souvenirs!) and then it was park closing time.

The pretty view on Main Street USA - everything was still decorated for the Holidays.

And we had two very tired, but contented girls, upon arriving back at our villa. :)

It was a GREAT day!