Tag: Characters

Walt Disney World Castle Princess character autographs Merida Snow White Anna Elsa Frozen Elena Ariel Mulan

Collecting Autographs: Magic Kingdom Day 2

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Our final park day of our first family trip to Disney World came all too quickly. Miss O had one more day to finish her mission to collect all the Disney Princess autographs. We had amazing success in Animal Kingdom, our first day at the Magic Kingdom, and Epcot. Even though Hollywood Studios wasn’t a hit, we still met a few friends there, too. When we started, I was hoping Miss O would get one or two, but wouldn’t push her if she didn’t want to. Now we were determined to meet our final Princesses and maybe find a few extra friends. After four long, fun-packed days, I hoped we’d all make it long enough to see it through.

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Walt Disney World Character Autograph Daisy Duck Rapunzel Cinderella Aurora Jasmine Belle

Collecting Autographs: Hollywood Studios

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Hollywood Studios presented an interesting challenge for our first family trip to Walt Disney World. It’s not a park that has ever held a lot to grab my attention, so I was a little concerned it wouldn’t do a whole lot for Miss O. She was still pretty entrenched in her love of Star Wars, but her past experiences with StormTroopers at our local zoo did not go well. With her definite lack of interest in costumed characters at the other parks, would there be any characters there to hold her interest?

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Walt Disney World Character Autographs Meet and Greet Princess Pocahontas Tiana Elena Ariel Mulan Elsa Tinker Bell

Collecting Autographs: Magic Kingdom Day 1

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With our first character greeting at Animal Kingdom a complete success, I hoped our scheduled meet and greets in the Magic Kingdom would go equally well. I knew Miss O loved Minnie and Mickey, but I wasn’t sure she was over her uneasiness around costumed characters. I had FastPasses for both days in the park at Fairytale Hall and a park plan that included as many characters as I thought she’d want to see. What I wasn’t sure of were the lines, the weather and our patience holding out.

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Walt Disney World Character Autographs Meet and Greet Princess Pocahontas Tiana Elena Ariel Mulan Elsa Tinker Bell

Collecting Autographs: Getting Started at Animal Kingdom

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At six years old, Miss O was starting to grow out of her obsession with all things ruffly and sparkly, including her devotion to Disney Princesses. She could also still be terribly shy. With our first family trip to Disney coming up, I started to worry that she wouldn’t want to do any of the character meet and greets I scheduled during times when the rest of our group was thundering and splashing down mountains. I prepared myself not to get upset and not force her to do anything she really didn’t want to do. This trip was for her and my nephew, Mr. A, and while I was determined to honor that, I still hoped the Disney magic would find her for just a little longer.

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Akershus Royal Banquet Hall Princess Storybook Breakfast Character Disney World Epcot Norway

Princess Storybook Dining at Akershus

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Character meals are an iconic part of a Disney vacation, and for good reason. They are efficient, allowing the characters to come to you while you eat saving you the agony of waiting in lines, and you get some pretty good return on investment for your time and money, with multiple characters, food and beverage all at one event. I wasn’t sure Miss O would want to meet any characters, let alone the four or five we’d meet at any given event. The trip was still a surprise at that point, so I couldn’t risk asking her and somehow revealing the trip early. Nevertheless, something inside me said this needed to be part of her first trip to Disney World, so I took a chance and added a character meal to our wishlist.

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Sunrise Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom Railroad Main Gate

Finding the Magic in the Magic Kingdom – Day 2

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I was worried the fifth day of our trip would be a struggle. After four full days, with one each at Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studios, I was concerned we’d be too tired for another day at Magic Kingdom, especially since we had tickets for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party that night, too. We only visited one half of the Magic Kingdom on our first day, and I couldn’t leave without Miss O experiencing the other half. I knew she was having fun, but our tired was starting to show and I wasn’t sure she’d make it.

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Going Wild at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

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For two kids that love animals, Disney’s Animal Kingdom did not disappoint. I was confident in my choice to start Miss O and Mr. A’s first trip to Disney World here, but I wasn’t fully prepared for how much enthusiasm, energy and stamina these two had! We knew they’d have fun, but watching them discover everything made it extra magical for us and we learned more about these two explorers than I would have thought!

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