After Buzz and I split up in Tomorrowland, I headed back towards the Hub. Since a few of the characters I wanted to see on this trip were pretty popular (namely the
Princess and the Frog characters in Liberty Square and
Little Mermaid characters in Adventureland), I figured getting there as close to their first meet-and-greet of the day the better. On my way to the other side of the park, I noticed that Cinderella’s Stepfamily, The Tremaines, were greeting in Fairytale Garden. Since the wait to see them looked short, I figured I could spare a little time to meet them.
The Tremaines were great, as usual. Along with posing for a picture, they also agreed to be in a little video as well that I told them could be sent to any eligible princes out there. They really pressed me if I knew any in particular, but seemed a little disappointed that I didn’t know any princes personally. Anastasia did mention that she would like for Hercules and Tarzan to see the video if possible.
To view the Ladies Tremaine’s video message, click here!
The trio bid me adieu and I headed off to find some not-so-eligible princes and princesses elsewhere in the Kingdom.
Since I had never met the characters from
The Princess and the Frog before, I figured I would start in Liberty Square and see them first. On the way to their location, I paused briefly to get a shot of the nearby Christmas store. I never think to take many pictures of the beautiful architecture in Liberty Square.
I got to Tiana’s Garden Glen a little more than 20 minutes before the first scheduled meet-and-greet and was the second party in line. The wait went by quickly thanks to the family in front of me who was very friendly and chatty. They also liked to meet characters, so we talked about that among other things. As time went on, the line began to grow until Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen finally arrived.
This was my first time meeting Tiana and Naveen, and I thought that they were great and perfectly in character. I loved that Tiana still used 1920s phrases like “the bee’s knees” and such and didn’t just talk like most of the other princesses in the park.
The two even agreed to agree to get individual shots taken as well. As I was about to take the picture, Naveen started teasing Tiana by telling her not to blink which made her a little worried. She didn’t blink though, and her picture turned out fine.
Naveen strikes a pose as part of the “photo shoot” as he called it.
First new autographs of the trip! I wonder why Tiana signs with her royal title and not Naveen, especially since he always introduced himself as “Prince Naveen of Maldonia”.
After meeting Tiana and Naveen, I took the bridge from Liberty Square to Ariel and Eric’s location at the Veranda just off the entrance to Adventureland. I wasn’t sure if their line would still be open, but fortunately I was able to get in just a few minutes before it was closed. Amusingly enough, who should be a few groups ahead of me but the family I met in line for Tiana and Naveen! I believe I had mentioned to them that Ariel and Eric would be out there, so they must have had the same idea I did to see them right afterwards.
I ended up waiting around 15 minutes, which for Ariel and Eric is not bad at all! It was great to see Eric out since he has been pretty rare in the past. Between him and Naveen, it’s good to see some Princes getting out regularly in the parks. Plus, I really liked that Ariel is out somewhere other than the Princess meals in her human form. I think she has one of the coolest gowns of any of the Princesses.
As nice as it was to get to see them, I’m not exceedingly pleased with the way the pictures turned out. At their location, there was so much light coming from behind them that they were ridiculously backlit, casuing the background to be bright and washed out. To top it off, Ariel and Eric didn’t have much light shining on down on them, so they came out fairly dark- even with flash. Thankfully, I was able to do some work on Photoshop to make these photos look like they do here, but I hope in the future they add a little more light and maybe put a backdrop behind them to block out the backlighting.
Since he’s so unusual to see, I asked if I could get a photo of Eric by himself. I think Ariel approved this picture, saying that it reminded her of his statue.
I was afraid that waiting for the two royal couples would take up a large chunk of the morning, but I was thrilled that I was able to meet both couples and the Tremaines in less than an hour! However, there was still one more Disney pair that I really wanted to see before meeting back up with Buzz, so I headed off to Fantasyland in search of Mary Poppins and Bert. When arrived, they were standing near the Carousel, so I hoped into their fairly-short line.
From the line, I noticed Peter Pan and Wendy Darling over by Mickey’s Philharmagic. I thought that perhaps my luck would hold out and that I might be able to meet them as well after seeing Mary and Bert, but they left to go backstage before I got a chance to see them. I thought that maybe I’d try to see them again later in the day.
Meeting Mary Poppins and Bert proved to be another great character experience. I even got a handshake from Bert. When I asked him if that means I’ll get luck now since, according to
Chim-Chim-Cheree “Good luck will rub off when I shakes hands with you”, Mary Poppins seemed a little confused. I guess since she wasn’t in that scene of the movie, she wasn’t aware. Bert knew just what I was talking about and said that I must have some experience of being a sweep. This lead to a conversation about how I dressed up as Bert for Halloween last year.
Before leaving, Mary made sure to wish me a “Jolly Holiday”.
After leaving Mary and Bert, I checked out the nearby new sign for the Carousel. I’m not sure quite what to make of the new name. On one hand, it’s nice to see something named after one of the Princes since they get next to nothing in the parks. On the other hand though, “Cinderella’s Golden Carousel” is the name I grew up with and just seems to classic to me (not to mention it rolls of the tongue easier). I was also disappointed that Jaq and Gus no longer stand on the sign like they did before. I guess it will just take time to get use to “Prince Charming Regal Carousel”.
I wanted to catch up with my brother Buzz, so I gave him a call. Not getting an answer, I figured that he must have been on a ride or something and decided to look around some of the shops in Fantasyland until he got off and called me back.
I went in the Castle Couture shop to see if they’ve added any other decorations since they expanded into the former Tinker Bell Treasures shop. Other than Aurora’s color-changing gown on display from before, I didn’t see anything particularly eye-catching.
One of my favorite shops in the Magic Kingdom- Sir Mickey’s. The beanstalk climbing up to the sky is a great touch.
Donald gets ready to fight the giant in one of the window displays outside the store. Somehow, I have the feeling that he’ll be really angry when he finds out that Mickey defeated the giant.
Next chapter: A look at the Fantasyland expansion and a trip to Toontown
I didn't really notice any changed either other than the games they added to the queue.
Thanks so much. 
Glad you're enjoying my photos so far.
