Day 8Friday, January 26th
Friday meant Princess Day for the ladies while the guys headed to Epcot for some favorites and then on to MGM for the stunt shows. The original plan was for all the girls to take DD4 to BBB to get Princessized before our big lunch at CRT. However, DD had gone through a cutting-her-own-hair phase a month or so before our trip, so was now sporting a short haircut.
I originally thought that they would just curl her hair and sprinkle some sparklies in it, but after reading more online and checking out the little BBB princesses around the World, I realized that they only have certain styles. I knew they wouldnt be able to do DDs hair the way my control-freakish self would want it to look. I considered just taking her and having them do her make-up and nails only, but it would still be $45 and that seemed a lot for nail polish and a little lip gloss. I didnt want to disappoint DD, though, so I gave her a choice. She could go to BBB and have the above mentioned services or I would give her the $40 to spend on pony parts at DTD and her grandmothers and I would do her hair, nails & make-up. Did I mention that this was Wednesday or so and DD had already spent all her fun money? She chose the pony parts and the Mommy-do and it worked out great! After a week of running here and there, it was nice to take our time and get her ready in our room. And she LOVED it! I dont think she missed BBB at all. Heres a few pictures of our preparations:
Once our little princess was crowned, she and her League of Fairy Godmothers (we were all sporting our matching shirtsif youre catching up, see page 3, post #42) and Moms DBF headed to catch our carriage (aka Disney bus) to the Magic Kingdom.
While waiting, Her Highness decided that she would like to dance and requested that her loyal subjects form a circle around her. A very amused bystander offered to take a picture, so here it is . . .
Our carriage arrives and were off. I have to say the walk from the front gate to the castle seemed a little longer today, but we finally made it. DAunt caught up with us shortly there after and we all waited and waited and waited for DAunts sister outside of CRT. When she called to say she was on the tram to the TTC, we asked if we could be seated and she would join us, but no go, everyone has to be there. The host assured me that our reservation was good until the end of lunch time, but DD was getting restless. DAunts Sis finally showed up and we went in for our photo shoot with Cindy herself.
On the way, DD found her Knight in Shining Armor
Heres DD with Cinderella
And a picture of the whole group
Shortly after we were seated, they did the Wishing Star ceremony. After the glow cubes, I think DD was slightly disappointed in the star. In fact, I think we all expected it to actually glow or something.
Im afraid I dont remember the appetizer, but it was good. Our entrees were delicious. A few of us had the Major Domos piesuper yum!
The salmon was also well received:
All the princesses came by. Heres a cute one with Snow White:
The best moment, though was the Fairy Godmothershe loved our shirts and made a big fuss over DD.
DD couldnt believe her eyes when they brought out her Crown sundae
The blueberry buckle was pretty yummy too
After lunch, we headed off to MGM to catch Beauty & the Beast. On the way there, DD fell asleep. Heres our little sleeping beauty on the way into the park:
Its kind of funny. DD gave up naps when she was 2, but she napped almost every day at Disney.
DMIL offered to save a place in line at BATB while DSis, DAunt and I headed to my favorite, RnR. The line was on the long side, though, so we grabbed FPs and headed to ToT. DAunt was so excited to go because DUncle wont go on ToT anymore since they removed the bars to hold on to. ToT was a scream, as usual and then we returned to BATB and met up with DD, DMIL as well as the guys.
We all got seats for BATB and it was fabulous! Its amazing the quality of the show for something that is done all day, everyday. DFIL was particularly impressed by Four for a Dollar, the a capella group that performed before the show. Heres a few pics of the show:
After the show, I took DD to the girls room to change and she, my in-laws, DH & DAunt grabbed some ice cream and shopped while DS, DSis and I went for one last ride on RnR with the FPs we had picked up earlier. By dumb luck, DS & I ended up in the front row! It was amazing! Definitely a great way to end our time at MGM!
We met back up with the rest of our group and headed out to catch the bus to the Wilderness Lodge for our ADR at Whispering Canyon Café. We got there in plenty of time and hung out in the lobby waiting for DM and DMs BF who had skipped MGM and DUncle who was meeting us after work. DS thought WL was pretty cool and wanted to know why we hadnt stayed there. DS loves math, so I explained the cost difference and that we could go to WL for 2 nights or POFQ for 7.
While we waited to be seated, they started the races and DD joined in.
We all cracked up when they took their oath never to go to Universal Studios.
Once seated, our waitress was Candy Cane, here's DH with her:
She was a lot of fun, but not exactly timely in the service realm. In her defense, it was very busy since many people were eating before going to the first Pirate & Princess Party. Almost everyone got the skillet and the bottomless shakes, all of which were yummy. I dont think we even ordered desert since we were so full.
After dinner we took the boat back to Magic Kingdom and connected with our bus back to POFQ. It was a nice, but chilly ride. DS liked how dark it was since his Mickey ears glowed. Here's a couple of pics:
We briefly discussed our game plan for the next day and then it was lights out!
DO--consider doing your own Princessizing if youre trying to
save money or just looking for a less hectic dayDD was
thrilled and she still talks about it
--Cinderellas Royal Tableit was truly a magical experience
for all of us and the food was delicious
--consider purchasing the photo CD. Although we got a photo
package with our lunch, the pictures were kind of grainy.
I was able to get the code off our 5x7 and add it to our CD
and the prints I ordered were much better (not to mention
that we needed 7 copies)
--consider booking separate ADRs for the same time/place
if youre traveling in a large group and not everyone has the
same timeliness priorities or if some of your group is coming
from somewhere other than a Disney resort. That way if
you are all there, you will most likely be seated together, but
if you have stragglers, they can be seated when they arrive
without keeping little hungry diners waiting
--park hopthe transportation between gives everyone time
to relax and in DDs case, nap
--Beauty & the Beast and get there early so you can see Four
for a Dollar
--RnR in the front seat!!!
--Whispering Canyon Café, but earlier in your week if you can
I think we would have enjoyed the shenanigans more if
we were at the beginning of our trip and I think the service
would have been more timely on a week night
DONT--book BBB on the day of a Pirate & Princess party.
DAunt stopped in to get something Friday morning
(when we were supposed to be there) and it was a
zoo
Up next: Our last day, my journey into space, DisneyQuest, Downtown Disney, Chef Mickeys and the Magical Fireworks Voyage!
We really enjoyed our girlie day and with park hopping, we actually were less tired than our all-at-one-park days 
