The OFFICIAL trip report with pictures

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Warning this is LONG. I will post "THE END" when I finally get it all posted. so sit tight and enjoy

Our trip started with a long drive. We left SAturday and arrived Sunday around noon.

Hannah was ready to get there


We're HERE


Driving up to the Contemporary/Bay Lake Tower


Welcome home... It never gets old hearing that


We hung out in the lobby while we got checked in. the lobby was very nice and had a nice view of the pool




Hanging out with Grammy waiting for check in


We got there early so our room wasn't quite ready yet. that's Ok... we just headed off to Downtown Disney for lunch and to stretch our legs

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Hannah wanted to pose with these statues a hundred times everytime we went to DTD lol






Hannah and mommy with our ears on


more figures lol




These were at the lego store at Downtown Disney. Made completely out of lego pieces





The view from our room. it was so AWESOME to look out the window and see Cinderellas castle at any given time. Wake up in the morning and have coffee on the balcony and just stare at it lol. Hannah fell asleep every night looking out the window at the castle illuminated with all different colors. it was amazing


I wish I took more pics of the room but that was an oversight on my part. But here is Hannah being a princess and you can see the living room and kitchen area

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Kissing in front of the castle view lol



One of the topiaries at the resort


having fun at the splash pad LOL


Monday morning we got up and made it for Rope Drop at Magic Kingdom (park opening). They have a cute little opening ceremony where all the characters go up top and welcome everyone in with dancing and music and magic


here there be magic


The very first thing Hannah wanted to do was go see Daisy. This was the PERFECT start to our trip. Hannah was thrilled to bits and Daisy just doted on her. Daisy spent a lot of extra time with Hannah and it was certainly appreciated. They hugged and played and twirled







when we thought our time was up we were going to jump in for our family shot but Daisy wasn't ready for her turn with Hannah to end LOL She held up her finger to signal us to wait... she wasn't ready and then the posing began lol

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Kisses



On the way out from seeing Daisy a cast member stopped to wish her a happy birthday... hannah appreciated it HAHAHA



Then we headed in to see Mickey and Minnie. Hannah did NOT want to see Mickey though. seems she has something against the male characters and only wants to see the female ones lol. She shunned mickey but was all about minnie. Poor mickey was sad


When Minnie had Hannah in a hug she motioned Mickey to sneak over just a little... and we managed to get a shot with all three lol



Then it was time for the princesses. We used a fast pass for this. A fast pass is where you take your park tickets and put them in a machine and it spits out a return time. you come back at that time and you go right in so you don't have to wait in the 30 minute line. A God send with children who are DYING to see the princesses (or to get on a certain ride... fast passes are only available for certain attractions)

First was Cinderella



They chatted and had a wonderful visit. Cinderella signed Hannah's book "Happy Birthday Princess Hannah Love Cinderella" Hannah was over the moon





Next was Belle. She was sitting on the floor so Hannah figured she should follow suit and sit as the princess was LOL Belle thought it was pretty funny

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Aurora was next and she was wonderful too (big surprise right? lol all the cast members are awesome). Hannah ran up and Aurora loved her wand that had a dangly crystal heart in the center. Aurora started looking through the Magic crystal and I missed the photo op but the photopass guy got a really cute one of them both looking through the wand together. ADORABLE







I also missed it on Camera but I think I have the video of it. At the end of her time with Aurora we were heading away and hannah stopped and turned to aurora and gave her a perfectly exaggerated curtsey lol it was so cute.

Beautiful Cinderella fountain. Disney is so good at hiding little magic things all over the place where you aren't even looking for them but you can see behind this fountain is a crown painted on the wall. If you kneel down (if you are an adult you need to kneel to see it) The crown sits just above Cinderellas head... like she's wearing it. But children do not have to kneel, they are the perfect height and the reason for this strategic placement was that Cinderella is ALWAYS a princess to children who remember the magic but adults need to kneel because they need to be reminded to let that child inside them out and see the magic. They are so clever lol



Time for a ride on her noble steed lol


We then headed to the dressmakers shop where they have a cute little area set up for photo shoots for the kids. it doesn't cost any extra to do this but it's all through photopass (which I pre ordered the CD before we left for $50 off the regular price) so their photographers pose the kids and do the photoshoot. So I have to wait until I have the CD to show pictures of this. it was cute and hannah had a blast doing her princess photo shoot. but here she is talking to her photographer



After a few more rides it was time to head out and get back to the resort for a nap and get out of the heat of the day. it was SO bloody hot... no more trips in september lol. On our way out we happened to spot snow white and there was almost no one in the line

They were talking about her nailpolish lol




Hannah had a thing for steps during this trip. Every stair case we passed she had to go up and make her grand entrance down the staircase... like cinderella lol


A couple videos from the first day at Magic Kingdom. We wanted to go back in the evening but it ended up raining for a few hours so we were stuck in the room which REALLY bummed me out lol. but it was the only rain we got the whole trip so I can't complain

Meeting Daisy

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Cinderella




Belle



Aurora


When we got back to the resort there was a Cinderella trading pin on the table next to a birthday card signed by Mickey and a message on the voicemail from Mickey and Minnie singing Happy Birthday. It never ceases to amaze me how Disney can make you feel so special and like an individual even though there are thousands upon thousands of guests at any given time. you don't feel like you are lost in the crowd. they go out of their way to make you feel special.

Day 2

Off to Epcot first thing in the morning. This was the actual day of Hannah's birthday. My baby girl is now 4 years old.

Riding the monorail to Epcot. Hannah loved the monorail. sometimes we would walk over to the contemporary and just go for a ride on the monorail just for fun haha


her new sunglasses lol


Grammy took Hannah over to meet with Daisy (again) while Brian and I ran to ride Soarin. if you have not had the pleasure of experiencing this ride... it's something everyone should do once lol. It is AMAZING. It's a hang glider simulator. You get in your seat and the room goes black and they lift you up into the air. The screen lights up and it's a 360 degree screen and then they take you on a flight through california. through the mountains, over rivers and the ocean, over orange groves... and because this is Disney they don't overlook anything. When you fly over the orange grove you actually SMELL oranges, when you fly over the ocean you can smell the salt water in the air. awesome. it really feels like you are flying. The ride ends when you fly over Magic Kingdom and stop in front of the castle. tinkerbell flies across the screen and sprinkles you with a little pixie dust and then they shoot off fireworks over the castle as you watch from your hang glider. When the ride ends EVERYONE cheers and hoots and hollers. You know it's an awesome ride when it gets a round of applause at the end.

After that we all headed to The Seas with Nemo. You take a fun little ride in a clam shell through the aquarium. But this isn't just any aquarium... it's filled with real fish but then you also see nemo and dory and all the characters from finding nemo swimming by the glass and going through the storyline of the movie. Tres cool. Once inside we headed to turtle talk with Crush. a totally interactive show where you get to talk to Crush the Turtle and ask him questions. HILARIOUS. Here are a few videos

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UH OH... Bruce the Great white got us



After some fun around the park it was time to take Hannah to her special birthday princess lunch at the Akershus in the Norway Pavillion at World Showcase. first we took her back to the UK where they have the red phone booths and they actually work and yes I had the phone number to call them lol. So I called and pretended to be Cinderella and invited her to lunch. that was planned... after hanging up however, the phone rang again. so we answered just for fun. I don't know who called but they pretended to be snow white and chatted to Hannah and wished her a happy birthday etc etc. Hannah was so excited. Now off to our special lunch.

When we arrived we were guided into a room where you get a photo taken with Belle. if you'll notice this is the SAME woman that was Belle from Magic Kingdom the day before. She remembered meeting Hannah the day before. When we came in she bent down and said "hello Princess, didn't we meet yesterday at Magic Kingdom? so nice to see you again" I can't believe she remembered Hannah. After seeing thousands of children the day before... not to mention how many she must have already visited with at the restaurant she actually remembered Hannah specifically. That was a very magical moment.



Aurora came to our table first. Hannah didn't realize that the princesses would be visiting the tables so she wasn't paying attention. she was just drawing in her autograph book and here comes aurora. Aurora got right up to the table but didn't say a word. just waited for Hannah to notice her. LOL I wish I had the camera ready to catch that moment. she stood at the table and Hannah glanced up briefly and did a double take. when she realized who was standing there her face just LIT up. Aurora cracked up. such a priceless moment



Kissing aurora on the cheek


Cinderella was next. she left a kiss in hannah's autograph book


Mary poppins was also there... I know not a princess but that didn't matter to hannah. Plus this was the first time we had the chance to meet Mary. She complimented Hannah on practicing her artwork in her autograph book LOL I told her she was perfecting her princess signature lol



Snow white was next






Brian did not join us for the princess lunch. it was a girls day lol. Just Hannah, Grammy and mommy. After the lunch Grammy broke off to go spend a little time with Brians sisters family group. Hannah and I were supposed to be heading back to the room for a break and nap but I remembered a few things I wanted to do that we hadn't had a chance to do yet so Hannah and I got some mommy/hanny time. Just the two of us which was AWESOME. It was so nice to have a little unplanned one on one time. We headed over to the Japan Pavillion to do "Pick a Pearl"

Pick a pearl is a fun little thing where you get to pick your oyster from a tank and they do a little ceremony and everything while they open the oyster and harvest your pearl. We did two... I wanted two pearls so I could make necklaces for both Hannah and I. a nice little keepsake. Another amazing thing about Disney is how they try to keep everything as authentic as possible. The people that work in each country are actually FROM that country. Our server at Akershus in Norway was actually Norwegian and all the ladies at the pick a pearl in Japan are actually from Japan, etc etc. An awesome little touch to the world showcase experience.

opening the oyster

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Where is the pearl?



Would you believe the first oyster she opened contained a silver blue pearl. AWESOME!!!!. A rare experience. The pearl is stunning. The second oyster had the usual ivory pearl but still very beautiful.





Then they play the drum to celebrate your treasure lol and everyone claps and cheers



On the way out we passed by Daisy and we just HAD to stop for another meeting... it actually turned into TWO meetings lol. We visited Daisy and then saw Stitch and then Hannah wanted to see Daisy ONE more time and since there were only two people waiting in line I figured WHY NOT.

Admiring hannah's dress



Polishing Hannah's Tiara lol






Then they twirled together

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Video of Hannah and Daisy



Then we met Stitch. Hannah wanted to meet him but she was a little nervous so I had to hold on to her. but she did great. gave him a high 5 and we posed for a photo (thank you to stitchs wrangler for taking the pictures for me)



We headed back to the resort after that but there was a wrench thrown into the works. the monorail was down. ruh roh. So there I was. Just Hannah and I and a big honking stroller and I had to wrangle it onto the special bus they set up to take us to the transportation center where we could grab the other monorail (still in working order) back to the resort. I told Hannah we were going on an adventure. she was thrilled LOL and it just made me SO thankful that she is such an easy going child. I had more trouble with wrangling the stroller than I did wrangling her. She listens very well lol. It was SO hot though and first thing I did when we got back was take a COLD shower. I had to fold up the full size stroller to take it on the bus and then I had to lift it OVER my head to get to the back haha. it was an adventure alright.

That evening Grammy offered to watch Hannah while we went back to Epcot for a bit just the two of us. I think Tuesday was the greatest day. I got one on one time with my best girl and then got to spend one on one time with the best hubby I could ever wish for. the day didn't end there either.

This photo was a fun experience because there was a couple standing next to us so I offered to take a photo for them and They thanked us and offered to return the favor. I LOVE fellow Disney people. We talked to more strangers like they were friends on this trip and no one finds that strange lol. We are all friends at Disney World



We drank around the world. stopped in Canada for a Torontopolitan, stopped in Morrocco for a oasis slushie and then Brian stopped in Germany to get a beer... which he ordered in German lol. The girl behind the counter (who is from germany) was awesome and thought it was very cool that he was ordering in german so they chatted (in german) for a few moments while she poured the beer. it's little moments like that that make this place so amazing.





Brian trying the Beverly at The Club Cool. it's a neat place at Epcot where you can try different sodas from around the world. the beverly is NOT a tasty one haha





Then we headed back to the resort to make it home in time for Hallo-wishes. Wishes is the fireworks display they have every night over the castle. But Tuesday night was Mickeys Not So Scary Halloween party so they put on a special fireworks display and it... was... AWESOME. After that the whole lot of us (9 of us total) headed down to the pool for a late night swim. Hannah was going non stop from 7 am to after 11 pm. She was amazing. she did not have ONE single meltdown even though I'm sure she was totally exhausted. She hit the pillow and was out in literally 30 seconds lol.

The kids at the pool

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Day 3

This was our off day. We went to Downtown Disney in the morning so Hannah could pick out something for her birthday and then we went back to the resort and had a little party for her.


REady for her birthday


Had to pose with the statues again lol








For her present she picked a bride and groom Mickey and Minnie



What a princess





Birthday train ride with daddy

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This was Joe the concierge at Bay Lake. When we came in that day he spent about 10 minutes chatting with us and covering Hannah with stickers lol and then he grabbed the roll of stickers and pulled it as hard as he could and where ever it stopped that's where he ripped it off. Hannah had a 10 foot strip of stickers haha



We were supposed to go over to Fort Wilderness that evening to where Brians sister was staying but by the time they were ready (very slow going... the theme of their trip lol) it was getting late and there wasn't much point so we just went swimming and took hannah for a walk around the resort to do all the stuff there

here was her cake


Happy birthday... loving it



more posing around the resort




We stopped by the arcade in the Contemporary for some fun. This game was cool. You had to stomp or hit the random lights as they light up. she loved it and she was pretty good at it lol


that night Brian and I had a late reservation for California Grill. It's a restaurant on the roof of the Contemporary Resort. While we were waiting for our turn to be seated we sat at the bar and chatted with the couple next to us and Ray the Bartender. Ray was GREAT. he made great drinks and chatted with us the whole time (without neglecting other customers of course). When we were seated our waiter came over and his name was Taz and he was also FANTASTIC. he was funny and charming without being at all obnoxious. The food was fantabulous. I had a beefsteak and heirloom tomato soup for my starter and Brian had goat cheese ravioli for his. for our entrees Brian had Bison tenderloin and I had Mushroom stuffed pasta. For desert we had a hazlenut mousse. The meal was TO DIE FOR. Hands down one of the best meals I've ever eaten.
Day 4.... our last Disney park Day. BOOHOO

We went to Hollywood studios first thing in the morning. We wanted to try to get on Toy Story Mania but good gravy it was insanity. we got there right at park opening and by the time we got to the ride it was already a 70 minute wait and a huge line for fast passes. forget it LOL



Hannah and her prince lol


The man who made all of this possible... Walt Disney. I really wish I could have met him once in my life, He seemed like such an amazing family man


This was Jedi training. Hannah didn't participate lol but we watched the other kids and what a CUTE little show it is lol. They have their jedi master that trains them and then they spar with Darth Vader

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Then it was time to meet Minnie. She was wearing her pink dress and Hannah was THRILLED that they matched lol.

Patiently waiting her turn






Then they posed together



more hugs



They were smitten with each other lol


Twirling... always twirling



She then wanted to meet Piglet which surprised me but I guess it's because he's pink so she was willing to overlook that piglet is a boy lol





kisses

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She was tryign to teach piglet how to curtsey





Bye bye piglet


We then headed to the beauty and the beast stage show. It was great. Like a mini broadway show





As you can see... Hannah loved it






YAAAY Belle becomes a princess


Time to head back for a MUCH needed nap

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After nap we headed back to Magic Kingdom for our last night




first thing we did was head to meet the princesses we missed our first day. Ariel was first and she was greeting with Prince Eric.

So excited


Hannah liked Eric lol. So the only males she likes to meet are princes and pink pigs haha






Next came Tiana and Prince Naveen. We didn't get to see her during our last trip so I was determined to meet her this time around. They were wonderful. She was so genuine and sweet and had such a big beautiful smile. Hannah really took to her (surprise surprise lol)

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She got a lipstick kiss on her cheek and didn't want me to clean it off lol




Dreams do come true


TEACUPS


The palace lit up at night




We stayed for "The magic the memories and You" and "Wishes". You should watch a video of The magic the memories and you and youtube. it's unreal. I don't know how they do it but they completely transform the castle into a million different things during the show. it can't be just regular projection. it looks so real. when the bricks do the wave it REALLY looks like the bricks are moving for real. AMAZING.

Video meeting minnie


Video with ariel