Frozen Wedding Party

We were excited about tonight's character dinner. It was Anna and Kristoff’s Valentine’s Day Wedding. Marina and I wore our Frozen 2 dresses for the occasion.

It started snowing right around the time we needed to leave. It was heavy enough that it took us an extra 15 minutes to get there. So we were super hungry when we arrived. Our favorite server took our order quickly. We all got salads and polished them off quickly.

While we were waiting for our pizza, Marina socialized a bit with the actress who was playing Elsa. Sven also came over to our table where he played with us.

Our pizza arrived at during the “wedding” ceremony. The actress who was playing Anna finally saw us and gave Marina a big hug. After the ceremony, we took photos with all the characters. Then we got ready for the drive home. The streets were covered with snow, so it took a long time and it was late when we arrived at home. 

Frozen With Friends

Marina and I were at the last Frozen 2 dinner a few weeks ago. We were scheduled to go again tonight with other friends. However, they weren't feeling well today, so we had to go without them. This time, Marina decided to dress as Elsa in her travel dress.

We arrived early and the staff were still cleaning up from the earlier seating. We chatted with the owner a bit while that was happening. Since the early dinner had run late, she asked if we would wait at the bar for a table to open up. We were happy to wait. When our table was ready, we invited her daughters to join us. Marina loved that.

While we ate, we got to know the girls. Shortly after our food arrived it was our turn to take photos with Anna, Elsa and Sven. We all went together. It was fun to interact with these actresses we have come to know.

The owner very kindly paid for our meal tonight. We weren’t expecting that. We’d had a fun night with all the changes.

Frozen Friends

We’ve been to quite a few events featuring the characters from Frozen. But we were excited about the one scheduled for tonight. It featured Anna and Elsa in their outfits from Frozen 2. They were also bringing Sven along. Fortunately, our friends were able to join us.

Marina and I wore our travel outfits from Frozen 2. We arrived early and we had a great table inside. Our friends joined us a little while later. Marina was thrilled to see them.

After we ordered our food, it was our turn for photos. I took lots of different poses with the characters. Of course, Marina wanted to hug them all! We ate dinner. Marina even joined the group for the singing and dancing part of the evening. But the best part was hanging out with our friends tonight.

More Frozen Fun

Last week, we brought friends for dinner with Anna and Elsa. This week it was the same dinner but we invited other friends to join us.

We met these actresses last week. They loved our costume from Frozen 2, so we told them we’d wear the other costumes this time. We wore the dresses that are from the movie’s opening scene.

We were running a bit late, but we arrived at the same time as our friends. Our seats which she said were “right in the middle of the action.” We were in the covered patio where a large space had been cleared for the performers.

After we ordered our dinner, Anna, Elsa and Olaf arrived, The actress playing Anna was the same as last week and she remembered us. Since our seats were in the performance space we could stay at our table and see everything. Marina took every opportunity to talk with the actors. It was a lot of fun.

New Frozen Friends

Last month we took our friends for Dinner with Villains. They enjoyed it so much we invited them from Dinner with Anna and Elsa. They were both looking forward to it. Marina and I decided to wear our costumes from Frozen 2.

We arrived a bit late but our table was waiting for us when we got there. We were all hungry so we all ordered salads. Marina really likes the wedge salad. She and I also got chicken wings for our entrées.
While we were waiting for our food, Anna and Elsa came to our table. This time, they used a new company to supply the actors, so we didn’t know either of them. They loved our costumes and made a big fuss over Marina. They even asked Marina how old she is – I think they were trying to recruit her!

When our food arrived we were all ready to eat. Marina only ate a few of her wings. Then she went to join in on the activities with the princesses. When it was time to leave, we all agreed we’d had a great time.

Frozen 2

It’s been six years since Marina and I saw Frozen for the first time. We’ve both been excited to see the sequel which officially opens tomorrow. However, tonight was the preview night. So we decided to go see it tonight.

We arrived at the theater early – too early since the movie before it hadn’t gotten out yet. Once it was ready we went to our seats and placed our food order. Shortly after we settled in, a group with three little girls in costume came in. They reminded me so much of Marina when she was little!

Our food arrived just before the previews started. Marina was very excited. Frozen 2 was action packed and emotional. We both enjoyed it. Marina wasn’t happy about staying for the last scene after the credits but it was cute.

After the movie was over we found it was snowing lightly outside. that seemed appropriate somehow.

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.

Frozen with Friends

Marina and Ainsley have wanted to get together for the past few weeks.. So we invited her to join us for dinner with Anna and Elsa. She came over to our house a couple of hours early so the girls could get ready.

Ainsley was happy to dress up for dinner. She was able to fit into the Anna summer dress, so she decided to wear that. Marina had a tougher time deciding what to wear. She finally decided on the Elsa coronation dress.

When we arrived at the restaurant the owner met us at the door. Our friends were already at the table, so we went to join. Just as we did, Anna and Elsa arrived at the table. So we visited for a while and took photos.

Marina decided to have a salad for dinner while Ainsley and I shared a pizza. After we ate, the three girls went to watch the song and dance part with Zay. They even made sure she got a hand stamp.

After the performance was over we chatted with the princesses for a while and the Marina walked Zay to Angie’s car. Then we left and dropped Ainsley off on our way home.

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.

Tea with Queen Elsa

Marina and I  we were looking forward to the Disney Tea this afternoon. I found out ahead of time that Queen Elsa would be the special guest. Marina and I invited one of her friends to join us. She’s still unsure about having tea, so we thought we’d try again.

Marina came down with a stomach virus yesterday and she still wasn’t feeling well today. But she wanted to try to go to the tea anyway. At first, the girls didn’t want to dress up, but I talked them into it. So Marina wore the Elsa coronation gown and her friend wore the green Anna dress. They each added a sparkly tiara.

We arrived right on time. I was surprised that none of the other attendees wore costumes – not even the kids. At first, the girls were self-conscious about that. We went on a tour of the castle again before sitting down to tea. The tour was a bit dull and Marina had to sit down and rest often.

When we sat down to tea, we had the same table we had the last time we came. We also noticed the Alice in Wonderland decorations. But as we looked around we saw that each table had a different Disney theme – Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, The Princess and the Frog and Aladdin.

We were welcomed by Queen Elsa and she made regular rounds to all the tables. She called us “my people” when she saw how the girls were dressed.

We were served peppermint tea followed by the first course, tomato soup. Marina tried it, but her stomach wasn’t having it. For the second course we had four mini sandwiches and a broccoli cheese quiche. We felt bad that Marina was so sick.

Each girl received a chocolate frog and Marina couldn’t help herself, she ate part of that. Then we had scones. Marina managed to eat half of hers. The last course was dessert. We each had a mini Snow White apple pie, a Cinderella pumpkin cake and a Briar Rose berry tart. We were pretty full by this time.

Marina was still not feeling well, so after getting photos with Elsa, I got the car and picked the girls.

Family Enchantment

Marina and I have been going to Disney on Ice shows for years. This year, her aunt and cousin wanted to join us. So we arranged to go together this afternoon.

Marina is not allowed to dress up for the shows anymore, so she wore her Alice in Wonderland dress. We left early to avoid the crowds. We got a good parking spot and easily got into the building. We picked up drinks and went to our seats.

When the show started, both girls were drawn in by the show. We saw a long Toy Story segment followed by The Little Mermaid. The second part started with a short scene from Cars and ended with Frozen. When the show was over, we took a few photos near the ice before walking out to the parking lot.

Frozen Pizza Party

Last month we went to a Princess Pizza Party with our friends at a pizzeria. While we were there, they advertised for an Anna and Elsa party. Since our friends are big fans of Frozen, we all decided we wanted to go to this one too.

The pizza party was this evening. Marina was excited to see our friends again. She decided to wear her Elsa coronation dress. She put on her own makeup and I put her hair in a bun. She looked so pretty and she loved playing with the long cape.

We arrived early and waited outside with other families. The weather was nice and Marina enjoyed playing with the kids.Our friends hadn’t arrived when we were seated. But they showed up a few minutes later.

Marina and I ordered the same pizza we got last month. While we were eating, Anna and Elsa stopped by our table. We were happy to see that they were played by two actresses we know. It seemed that they spent a bit more time with us than the other tables and they called Marina by name!

Marina and the girls listened to the princesses sing and she happily sang along. After the performance, we said goodbye to Anna and Elsa. Then we went back to our table to finish our dinner. It was another fun night but it was getting late.

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.

Unicorns, Fairies and Princesses

Last year we attended the first annual Unicorn Festival. It was very overcrowded and poorly organized, but we decided to give it another try, especially since some of our friends would be there!

Marina wasn’t sure what to wear this year. Last night she put together a dance costume someone gave us with one of her skirts, fairy wings and a flower wreath to be a fairy. It was a cute outfit!

We left the house fairly early because we knew a lot of people would be there for the beginning of the festival. We didn’t leave as early as we hoped but we did arrive at the park before the festival opened. We got into line to enter and talked with the people around us. While we were waiting, we saw Snow White arrive. It was one of our friends!

It only took us 15 minutes to get inside after the festival opened. So we went immediately to the Princess Palace to see Phoebe. There was no line to see her, so we took pictures and talked with her for a while. We also saw Moana.

We moved on to some of the vendor booths. Marina loves to shop and she happily looked around at everything on display. While we were looking around, we ran into Prince Charming. We’ve been running into him since Marina was six and he was amazed at how much she has grown. We also came upon a group of fairies and Captain Jack Sparrow.

The line for the mermaids looked short, so we got into it. It moved really slowly and we were roasting in line. Bur fortunately we finally got through to see the mermaids. At the end was Ariel. Marina spent quite a while visiting with her.

While we were waiting for the mermaids, we saw Anna and Elsa arrive at the Princess Palace, so we went over there. This time there was a line but it moved quickly and we got to meet with them before their sing along. By this time, Jasmine had arrived at the Agrabah Bazaar. Marina joined the kids for story time and then waited in a quick line for a photo with her.

Next, we checked out a petting farm with "unicorns,” goats and a bunny. Marina loved that! We also met a large white “unicorn” who was a bit restless. Then we stopped in a shady spot to eat lunch. We made our way over to the Princess Palace again to meet Merida. She had a bow that Marina tried out and they posed with them.

We wanted to walk around the rest of the festival and ran into Tinkerbell who remembered us from the Princess Partea last month. We looked around a some of the other activities and then went to make sure we got to meet Belle, who was another of our friends. We had a bit of a wait, but we were thrilled to see her.

We decided to look at the Creation Station to see what crafts they had set up. Marina decided to make a wand. We had to scavenge around for the pieces but she ended up with one she was happy with. Marina wanted “something sweet,” so we looked around the various food trucks and she decide she wanted a snow cone. We sat for a while as she ate it. The line to sit on a “unicorn” was as short as we had seen it, so we got in it. It took a while but it was worth it. Marina got to sit on a white unicorn and pet a baby one. The foal tried to eat part of her costume!

By the “unicorns” was a Harry Potter sorting hat. We both tried it out and were surprised we were put into the Slytherin House. Rapunzel was the last visiting princess and we could see it was another friend of ours. Even though the line was long, we wanted to say hello to her. We were both tired so we decided this would be our last stop. We got some really cute photos and then we decided to go back to the car. It was a fun day but we were both exhausted.