Okay, let's try this with the new account.
The old pics will not be available until March 12th but at least we can continue our story...
We departed the castle and headed back towards Fantasyland (after restroom stops of course).
We were running a little late so I took the boys and ran to Ariels Grotto to get on line.
The line was about 20 minutes (better than the 40 minutes on our last attempt).
I figured since DDs princess transformation had just occurred, it would be worth the wait.
With the boys off to get on line, Mom detoured with the princess to get her changed.
She finally arrived and it was time to switch.
I figured while we were waiting, I should go grab a FastPass to make the afternoon go smoother.
I took X (who was getting antsy anyway) and headed out.
I grabbed FastPasses for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh for later and then headed back the Grotto.
On the way, I remembered the Dumbo Picture Spot so I put X in and grabbed a quick shot.
I thought it was cool that theres a Dumbo ride vehicle specifically to take pictures with so I just
had to take advantage of it!!
X was grumpy as he was quite tired and ready for his nap so I didnt want to push him too much.
I took the quick picture which didnt come out too good and then headed back.
Back at the Grotto, DS was pleading with us to go play as Mom applied sunscreen.
Today was actually our first really hot and sunny day.
After the sunscreen, DS was given the green light and he ran out into the Grotto
If youve never been, theres an area to run around and places where water shoots out if you step on the right spot.
We held DD back as she was now in her Ariel costume and we didnt want her running around.
Instead Mom told her she needed sunscreen but she need to wait until X got his.
By the time the sunscreen was applied to both, we were almost to the cave.
To further explain, the line to meet Ariel winds around the back of the Grotto around the play area.
The pinnacle of the line is a cave wherein Ariel is sitting on a rock in all her mermaid splendor!
We were almost there so we called DS back and DD was literally bouncing with anticipation.
I grabbed a quick picture of her against the Grotto wall before we turned the magical corner to see her idol:
The queue here is designed extremely well as you really cant see Ariel until it is your turn.
When our turn finally arrived, DD ran in with DS following.
They climbed onto the rock and DD immediately starting telling Ariel about her costume.
A photopass photographer is stationed there and took over starting with a nice shot of both DS and DD:
I like how the photographers here take one close up landscape picture and then another portrait version so you get Ariels whole tail.
Next was the two mermaids themselves.
And lastly, little X wanted to take the plunge and DD was ecstatic to show him off
In hindsight, Im glad it worked out this way.
I had originally planned for this to be the Ariel day knowing that DDs hair and makeup would be great.
I changed the schedule when we reviewed it before we left and DD literally begged for Ariel to be on the 1st day.
If you recall when we arrived here on Day Two, the line had a posted 40-minuted wait and we skipped it.
But I think this worked out for the best.
And hey, sometimes anticipation of an event is better than the event itself!
Finally it was time to leave the Grotto and DD frantically waved good-bye to Ariel.
But there was lots more to do today and much more surprises for everyone.
And I conveniently mentioned we would see an Ariel show later in the trip so that helped.
It was about 11:00 and we had just enough time to make it to the Fairytale Garden so we rushed in that direction.
Tune in next time to see what we found there because it wasnt what you might expect!
