My plan when we got back to the Villa was to spend a teensy bit of time hemming the Aurora dress that NoFear had received in the mail from her Aunt. But I was just too tired. And the kids were sacked out and so was Boost, so I would have had to hem while sitting on the potty in order to have enough light.
And that really didn't appeal to me. So I went to bed, too, and decided to get up early and work on it.
Which I did. Unfortunately for me, I did not estimate the proper amount of time it would take to hem that dress. Which has A LOT of fabric at the hem, btw. I worked on putting just a basting hem in for 45 minutes, and was still not 3/4 done. (Unfortunately for me, NoFear has decided to wear the dress for Halloween, so I must now spend the weekend putting in a REAL hem. Which will take four times as long.)
But we needed to get ready and GO. Because we were meeting some princesses that morning! As badly as NoFear wanted to wear the Aurora dress, she decided that she would wear Snow White instead. Since Snow White is her FAVORITE. And it fit. And I told her that she was wearing it.
And I will point out that while I was feverishly trying to finish, Boost was the one hurrying me up. Which is a real switch on what usually happens. And should be noted for posterity.
I also insisted that we carry both the still camera and the video that day. Which made Boost unhappy, because the video is HEAVY, and can't be left with the stroller when we ride stuff. As it turns out, there was no reason for him to worry, since I ended up carrying it most of the time.
So, we finally got all of us dressed, bags packed, tickets in hand, ADR # in hand, and my phone, so that Grammy could call when they landed. And we were off. (And being late became a trend. All week. Sadly.)
To Epcot!
To NorVay!
To meet some Princesses!
As an extra special bonus, I knew that the Whirlwind Trippers were scheduled to be at breakfast also. We had ADRs within 5 minutes of each other. But we were a teensy bit late by the time we got back to Norway.
We had been fast walking with another family since the front gate. I don't remember there being any angst about getting through, once we located the correct entrance. Except that Boost tried to go RIGHT around Spaceship Earth instead of LEFT. It is important to go LEFT, so that you can take the secret pathway. Which we did not. And which the other family did. First thing in the morning, without any crowds, it is actually faster to walk the main path. Later in the afternoon, the secret path is the way to go. Just so you know.
Anyway, we arrived in Norvay excited about our first character opportunity. And took some pics of the kids in front of scenery (see above.) And Mark came out while we were waiting in line to say that they were already seated, and that their "special" Aurora was there and that he had mentioned that my kids were going to be there, too. Thanks M&R&W - you are the best! (And I still want to tag along sometime. REALLY). I HAD bought an Autograph book the night before (after the voyage, in the store at the Beach club) and had a pen. Which I then couldn't find as we got close to the front of the line. (Yeah, okay, so it was in my bag the whole time. What can I say? I panicked.)
Apparently this happens a lot. Since a CM was there handing out cheap Bic pens to those idiots (me) that couldn't find their own. Thanks Disney!
But, marketing idea . . . Have someone standing there selling good ones for $5. I would have paid it. In a heartbeat. Oops. Disney really doesn't need any help on figuring out how to get us to spend money do they? And that would probably tick some people off, like Boost, if they were profiting from the stupidity of stressed out mothers. Huh. Scratch that idea.
I remember the greeter there that morning. Todd. He was really nice. And made a fuss about NoFear and her dress. And we winked and nodded at Aurora when we met her and she knew we were friends of Prince Wesley. (See
HERE and
HERE for the Whirlwind Trippers account of that morning!)
We got some really cute pictures with NoFear and Aurora. The Shrimpster would have nothing to do with Aurora this morning.
In planning this trip, I suspected that the Shrimp would not interact very much with characters. Especially those in the big suits. And my intuition proved correct. I knew that this was first thing in the morning and the first day, though, so I had hopes that it might improve throughout the day/trip. He very much wanted to wave and point, but from a distance. Which is why most of the pictures are just of NoFear. Who was all about hugging everyone. Repeatedly.
After taking up more than our fair share of time, and because the line behind us was lengthy, we went and sat down.
And found some cinnamon rolls on the table. Shrimpster was already clamoring for some chocolate milk, and the server came quickly to get our drink orders. The food was quite good. Especially the potatoes. But I agree with many others that character meals are kind of stressful, since as soon as you get settled in to eat, a character shows up. And it is uncouth to speak to a princess with a mouth full of eggs. Just sayin'. PLUS I wanted both video and stills, so needed Boost to help.
And really, not many things get in the way of Boost when there is hot food in front of him. It is why almost every meal I have had with the kids around has been cold. Because he, bless him, will ignore whatever they are screaming about and keep eating. I, the mother, stop and take care of the problem. I do not believe that this is a particularly unusual scenario. And it is the reason I will frequently turn down his offer to take us out to supper. I mean, regular meals are just too stressful and not enjoyable for me. Character meals were likely to give me post-traumatic stress disorder.
In any case, Jasmine came over. And then, SNOW WHITE. Which caused NoFear to beam from ear to ear. Even the Shrimp was excited. And she gave some extra special attention to NoFear because of the dress. She also gave both NoFear and the Shrimp kisses on their cheeks, which they then wore proudly for the rest of the day.
Yeah, nothing much gets between NoFear and food either. She's a bit like her daddy.
We also met Mulan and Mary Poppins (Shrimpster's favorite). And got the appropriate photographs. At some point in the meal the young lady brought around the pictures from the front (with Aurora). Boost glanced at the first (large) picture and said without hesitation, "We'll take it!" (I confess, I was going to be satisfied with our snapshots. But, in retrospect, we got really lucky. Like Mark and Rhonda, we got pixie dust in the package - we got two different poses for the 4x6 photos, which I guess is unusual. Boost hadn't even looked at the smaller pics before buying. And, our snapshots were out of focus for some reason.)
I was in shock. I had no words. Okay, I might have had a few, but we'll keep that between Boost and myself. I would think that this is totally out of character for Boost, but, I guess I should have known. This was the photographic memorialization of the meeting between HIS princess and a REAL DISNEY princess. (Is that an oxymoron?)
I had really hoped to finish breakfast and get out to Soarin' early, so that we could make the first Turtle Talk show. But, with the delay in getting there that morning, along with other things that happened, that was not to be. Especially since I insisted that NoFear change after breakfast. And since we decided to have the photos shipped back to the resort rather than haul them around all day.
But before we left Norway, I made sure that my children really were vikings. I just knew it! See?
To Magic Kingdom or Epcot? (Page 14, Post 203)
(and more than a little excited!)
Does that make sense...
