A Day at Disney World

We are in Florida for the week visiting my parents during Har’s spring break. Growing up just an hour from Orlando and Disney World, I visited the park all of the time. Now that we live so far away, it really is a special treat for us to be able to go.

Harlan is at the perfect age to visit the park. She is completely Disney obsessed. She loves Minnie and knows every single Disney Princess there ever was. When I told her a couple months ago that we were planning a trip to Disney World, she asked every single day after that when we were leaving to go on our trip.

Visiting the park with your children is a completely different experience than the one that you have growing up. You begin to see it through their eyes. I simply couldn’t wait to go just because I knew Harlan was so excited.

Harlan wore her very favorite princess dress to the park. I loved that all of the Disney employees called her either “Belle” or “Princess” throughout the day. It totally made her feel like a real princess.

Our day was completely packed from the moment we stepped into the park, from the moment we left. There wasn’t a second that went by that wasn’t filled with fun or smiles.

Our first stop was a visit to meet and take photos with the princesses. Harlan was in awe that she was finally able to meet her favorite princesses in real life.

I haven’t been to the Magic Kingdom since the new Fantasyland opened. I was completely impressed with the rides and Belle’s amazing castle.

One of my favorite rides of the entire park is the new Under the Sea- Journey of the Little Mermaid. The Little Mermaid was always one of my favorites growing up and this ride lets you go under the sea to see some of the most beloved scenes from the movie right in front of your eyes.

I think that I was probably just as giddy as Harlan was during the entire ride. Avery sat on my lap in awe pointing out all of the bright fish and lights that caught her eye.

Along with Belle and the Beast’s Castle, they also built Belle’s father, Maurice’s, cottage. Go inside and you can get a chance to have Enchanted Tales with Belle herself. You can imagine Har’s excitement when she found out that not only was she going to meet Belle, but she had the chance to act out a story with her as well.

All of the kids were picked for a part in the story. Some of the adults were too, including my dad who got to be one of the guards. He really took his part seriously and stood still with the guard mask during the entire story. Har loved watching her grandaddy play along.

One of my favorite parts of the Magic Kingdom is that nearly ever single ride is appropriate for kids of all ages. Although Avery had no clue just how special being at Disney World is, she enjoyed every single minute. If only you could have seen her eyes light up when we rode the boat through It’s a Small World. She danced to the music and pointed at all of the dolls. This girl was in love.

So much so that she refused a nap the entire day.

Harlan’s favorite ride throughout the entire park was Dumbo The Flying Elephant. She could have gone on it a thousand times if I would have let her.

She also rode her very first roller coaster, The Barnstormer. I am terrified of roller coasters. It’s a fear that I refuse to pass onto my daughter’s. So I sucked up the fear and told Har that I would go on with her. She was so excited to go with me.

We tried to hype up the ride so that she wouldn’t get nervous.

She was fine until we went down the first hill. She didn’t cry, but her face definitely went from extremely excited to extremely nervous. She was a bit frightened at the end of the ride, but as soon as we got off she asked to go on it again. Mission accomplished. 🙂

Our day at Disney World in Orlando couldn’t have been more perfect. Harlan is already asking when we are going again.

Lucky for her we have a trip to Orlando planned for this summer. And summer is only a few short months away!

{Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post. I was provided with two tickets from Disney via Visit Orlando. All thoughts and opinions are my own.}