An Enchanted Dinner

This evening, our favorite pizzeria had an Enchanted Dinner with Belle and Cinderella. We made plans to attend with our friends. Marina decided to dress up as Cinderella. She was especially excited to wear a pair of new sparkly light blue heels. I wore my Belle dress and we added fancy capes to help us stay warm.

When we arrived, Angie and the girls were already there. The restaurant was still being set up, so Cinderella and Belle came outside and visited with us while we were waiting. Once everything was ready, we went to our table. We also had our usual server.

Shortly after we sat down, Cinderella came by to see us. She’s an actress we know so it was fun to see her again. A little while later, Belle also came by. Our friends loved having time with them and Marina enjoyed hanging out with them.

Marina wanted a wedge salad and I also ordered a pizza. The salad came with dressing, which Marina usually doesn’t like. But she didn’t seem to mind and she ate the whole thing minus the tomatoes. She also had a slice of the pizza.

After we ate, Marina took the girls outside for songs and stories with the princesses. While they played along, Marina stood with the parents and watched. When storytime was over we got ready to leave. We’d had fun with our friends.

Fun on the Farm

For the past few years, Marina and I have gone to a corn maze in the fall. This year we decided to try a new one. It was about an hour drive to get there and traffic made it take even longer.

When we arrived, we could see that this was more than a corn maze – it was a fall festival. After we bought our tickets and entered the farm we saw Cinderella posing for photos in front of a pumpkin coach. We got into the short line for that. Marina also took a look inside the coach.

We walked around and saw farm animals, including goats and llamas. There were crafts and farm equipment to look at as well. We decided to take the wagon ride to the pumpkin patch. One the way we heard that the snow we had a few days ago damaged many of the pumpkins. But it was fun anyway. The pumpkin patch was huge and filled with pumpkins on many varieties and colors. We found two small pretty ones that we decided to buy.

After we got back from the pumpkin patch, we tried out the corn maze. We didn’t realize there were three different mazes at first. The one we chose ended up being the longest one and without items to find. Fortunately we were able to get through it without getting lost. Once we did that we tried the murder mystery maze. Marina used the map and was able to direct us to all the clues. We were too tired to try the last maze though.

By that time we were ready to go home. We hadn’t even looked around the entire farm. But we enjoyed our day.

Cinderella and Her Barely Godmother

Every summer we enjoy the theatre hikes. The July hike is Cinderella and her Barely Godmother. This season one performance was offered at a historic par. Since it’s much closer to home, I decided we’d see what it was like.

Just as we arrived it started to rain. We checked in and were greeted by some of the staff we know. One was the hike leader and the other was taking photos (although she also wrote and directed the play). It’s always fun to see them.

The start time of the show was delayed about ten minutes while it rained. By then it lightened up and the show started. By the second scene, the rain had stopped and it turned out to be a nice evening.

The show was fun. It was silly and surprising. Marina loved the scene in Godmother School where the actors were dressed like wizards from Harry Potter.

After the show we took photos with the cast and talked with them for a while. By then Marina was completely exhausted and ready to go home after a very long day.

Cinderella Tea

We had reservations for a Cinderella Tea at a tea room we hadn’t been to before. Marina didn’t want to wear a costume, so she wore her Belle inspired dress.

At first we had trouble finding the place, but Marina spotted it as we were driving around. I found a parking place and we walked over. When we arrived we were taken to an outside area for the tea.

Everything seemed a bit disorganized. It took a while for us to place our order. Marina wanted to try the Black Vanilla Rose tea. When it finally arrived we both rally liked it. Unfortunately it took a very long time for our food to arrive. We were really hungry and Marina was getting a bit grumpy.

While we waited, we watched Cinderella dance. We had seats right in front so we had a great view. At first they couldn’t get the music working, so it was a bit strange watching without music. When they got the sound system fixed, she danced again. We all enjoyed it better with the music. We took photos of with her and the Prince.

When our food finally arrived Marina and I dug in right away. It was all petty tasty. We both loved the mini cream puffs though. After we ate we paid our bill and then went out for a carriage ride. Since no one else was ready, Marina and I got a private ride with no one else. It was fun. Marina loved petting the horse and the corgi that rode up front.  After our ride, we went back to the car. It had been a bit disorganized, but we still had a nice afternoon.

Unicorn Festival

Today was the annual Unicorn Festival. This year, we invited Ainsley to join us. After considering many options, Ainsley wore her Belle costume. Marina was excited to wear her new Anastasia costume.  I offered the girls capes to wear over their dresses instead of jackets since it was chilly today.

We arrived at the Unicorn Festival early. We found a really good parking spot and checked in quickly. We had to wait for about 15 minutes until the festival opened. While we waited a little girl asked if she could have her picture taken with Ainsley and Marina.

When the festival opened we went first to the Princess Palace. A friend of ours was dressed as Mary Poppins. We visited with her for a few moments. We also knew the actress playing Moana, so we took photos with her as well.

Next we went to the Mermaid Lagoon. Last year it had a long line all day. We arrived before it opened and had a short wait for our turn. We took photos with two mermaids before meeting Ariel. We got some nice photos there as well.

When we exited the Mermaid Lagoon, we were at the Mad Hatter Tea Party. We planned to wait for the show but it was taking a bit longer than usual, so we browsed some of the booths. We went back for the show and after we got photos with Alice and the Mad Hatter, we stopped for lunch. I also bought fancy cupcakes for dessert.

After lunch, we decide to wander around the festival. The girls loved shopping the various vendors. Marina insisted that we stop by the Harry Potter Sorting Hat. She was pleased that both she and Ainsley were sorted into Hufflepuff. We ran into Peter Pan and Tinkerbell along the way.

We headed back to the Princess Palace where we took photos with Tiana and Jasmine. Cinderella arrived as we were there but her line was pretty long, so we decided to come back to see her.

We did a little more shopping. At one booth both Marina and Ainsley found necklaces they loved, so I bought them. By this time, Cinderella’s line had shortened, so we took photos with her.

We checked out more booths and the petting zoo, which both girls loved. They also went through the castle maze. By this point it was starting to sprinkle. Because of that, the line to sit on a “unicorn” was as short as we had seen it, so we waited for Marina and Ainsley to have their photos taken on the larger “unicorn.”

By this time, it was starting to rain. At the Princess Palace, Anna and Elsa were there. Since there wasn’t much else to do, we waited in the line. It was pretty cold by then so we teased Elsa that she must have brought in the bad weather.

We were all ready to go home but since Rapunzel was due in 15 minutes, we decided to take a photo with her and then go home. Unfortunately the waited ended up being nearly and hour. Marina got a bit grumpy. Eventually she went over to the Storytime Cottage and talked with the drag queen there. Apparently she was asking for makeup tips.

Eventually, Rapunzel arrived and we quickly took a photo with her. After the long, cold wait, we were all pretty miserable. We headed to the gate, stopping along the way to pet more “unicorns.” So we left the festival and stopped for dinner.

Another Princess Partea

For the past two years Marina and I have attended The Princess Partea. While Marina said she wanted to go, at times she felt reservations about being too old. However, today she was excited to go. She wasn’t sure what to wear, so I suggested a Cinderella costume. She finished it off with sparkly shoes and a blue crystal tiara.

The hotel the Partea was at this year is fairly close to our house. So we were able to arrive early. We ended up in a long line when we arrived but it moved very quickly. Once inside, we looked for the princess meet and greet lines with the shortest wait. We quickly saw Merida, Mary Poppins, Tinkerbell and Sleeping Beauty. Then we saw Jasmine’s line was fairly short, so we met with her. Marina was particularly excited to see her with a new Aladdin movie coming out soon.

At that point, we were shocked that the line for Anna and Elsa was pretty short, so we went o see them. Last year their line was long the entire time, so we happy about that. Next we went over for pictures with Moana, who had an amazing palm tree made of balloons near her.

One of the longest lines was for Belle. But we were willing to wait. She was, as always, just lovely to us. After a few pictures, we went into the Under the Sea Tea Party where we sat down for a bit and had a snack. Then we got into the fairly short line to see Ariel.

The longest line during the whole party was for Cinderella. But since Marina was wearing a Cinderella costume we had to see her. While we were waiting in line, Marina saw there was no line for Moana, so she talked with her and Merida to pass the time.

After a lovely visit with Cinderella, we saw that the lines for most of the princesses were practically nonexistent. So we stopped by to see many of them again before we were ready to leave.

Still Daring to Dream

I’ve been taking Marina to Disney on Ice shows for a long time. When tickets went on sale for Dare to Dream she said she didn’t want to go this year. But when one of our friends wanted to bring her niece to the show, Marina was much more interested in going. Instead of dressing as a princess, marina wore her elf dress.

We had a busy day today and didn’t leave as early as we’d hoped. We also ran into rush hour traffic on the highway. But we arrived about fifteen minutes early. We were on the club level they had fancy sodas. So Marina was happy to have a cream soda.

Our friends arrived after the show started. They had been in the wrong seats! Despite her earlier misgivings, she enjoyed the show. The first part had the stories of Belle, Cinderella and Rapunzel. Marina particularly enjoyed the aerial stunts in the Tangled portion.

Marina was hungry at intermission so we picked up some churros and popcorn. When we were back at our seats, she played with our friend's niece for a while.

The second act featured the stories of Frozen and Moana. Both had some great special effects and we all enjoyed singing along. After the show we left fairly quickly. It was a school night after all. Fortunately it didn’t take us as long to get home as it did to get there.

There's Something About the Woods

Into the Woods is one of Marina’s favorite musicals. So she was happy to see it again  this summer. To make it even better, a friend of ours was playing Cinderella. Marina thought about wearing a Red Riding Hood costume, but she ultimately decided to wear an outfit inspired by Cinderella. She even experimented with false eyelashes. For her first time using them, she did a good job putting them on.

We went downtown early We got drinks and went to our seats as soon as the house opened. The show was presented in the round – I hadn’t taken Marina to see a show in this format before. We both enjoyed the actors coming and going from various places throughout the theatre.

The show was wonderful. Marina was very excited each time Cinderella came onstage, especially if she was near our seats. It was designated as a “sensory friendly” performance. So instead of clapping the audience used the ISL sign for applause. It was a new experience for us.

After the show we waited in the lobby, hoping to talk to Jenna. While we were waiting, we saw the actor who had played Prince Charming. We had met him after Jekyll and Hyde about four years ago. He said he remembered us and spoke with us for a while. When our friend came out she greeted Marina with a big hug. We also talked with the actress who played Little Red before we headed out. We had a fun evening!

Party with Princesses

Last year, we attended the Princess ParTEA. When I got an announcement that they were having another one this year, Marina wanted to go. We just got an Elsa coronation dress last week and she wanted to wear that. We decided not to use the cape because it was so long we worried it would get stepped on and damaged.

There was a line when we arrived and we went through that only to get in another line to get in. When we finally made it into the ballroom. We headed to the back of the meet and greet area and saw our friend as Mary Poppins. She didn’t have a line, so we went over to see her. Then we found  Rapunzel. Her line was short, so we visited her as well. By then most of the lines were so long that we went into the tea party room. We got a photo with Belle and then got a snack.

After we ate, most of the other attendees were also in the tea party, so we went back to see princesses. By now, the liens had gotten much shorter. We saw Cinderella and Aurora. We also got photos with Merida, Elena, Moana, Peter Pan and Tinkerbell. Before tackling the huge line for Anna and Elsa, we saw Ariel and browsed the vendor tables.

The line for Anna and Elsa was long and slow.  Marina was tired by then. Fortunately, the line sped up after a while and we were able to get through it.a. Of course, Else had to make a fuss over Marina’s dress.

Once we finished with Anna and Elsa, we said goodbye to all our friends before heading out.