Pocahontas at the Parks

We slept in again today. Three nights of fireworks will make one tired! Today’s first stop was the Animal Kingdom. It was a very hot day. Marina was dressed as Pocahontas, but she wanted a hat. So we picked up one as we entered the park. She also bought herself some binoculars. She certainly looked ready to see some animals. Our first stop was the Kilmanjaro Safari. This year they let Marina sit next to the window. She was happy about that. We got a good look at quite a few animals including hippos, elephants and giraffes. It was as good as we remembered from last year. The train to Rafiki’s Planet Watch was near Africa, so we went ahead and took it. We met with Pocahontas and Jiminy Cricket while we were there.

We were both hungry, so we stopped at the Yak and Yeti and had honey chicken for lunch. We had a hard time finding a place to sit, but a nice newlywed couple from Georgia offered to let us share their table. The food was really good and perked us both up. We headed deeper into Asia and went to the Kali River Rapids ride. It looked like river ride at our local amusement park but, as it turns out, you get much wetter on the Kali River Rapids. Marina was not pleased about how soaked she was. When we talked about the ride, she said, “I hated it!” Then we walked the Maharajah Jungle Trek where we saw a tiger playing in a fountain. She kept roaring. The guide said she was calling to her sisters to come play. We also saw bats, birds and snakes on the Trek.

We decided to Park Hop today and went over to Hollywood Studios. We found out that the unscheduled character visits still happen at the same time, so we were at the right place to see that. Marina got to meet Stitch, Goofy and the Queen of Hearts. But the best part was, Pocahontas and Meeko were there. So Marina had her picture taken with her again. It was fun for all of them.

We went over to the Streets of America to meet Phineas and Ferb. She loves that show and they are new to Hollywood Studios. It was a long wait, but we were entertained by songs from the show while we waited. Lightning McQueen and Mater were just around the corner, so we stopped to see them as well.

After dinner, we watched The Voyage of the Little Mermaid show. Then we went to the stadium to watch Fantasmic. We missed this show last year – it was canceled due to technical difficulties. This year it was delayed by weather, but it finally started. It was an amazing show. Marina loved it – especially since it featured Pocahontas. She definitely wore the right costume today.

Tangled

Ever since we saw a gallery dedicated to the new Disney movie Tangled at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Disney World, Marina has been waiting to see it. It opened today and since she had the day off from school, I took the day off so we could go.

Marina specifically requested we see the 3D version. We caught a showing after lunch. Marina wore her Rapunzel hair piece and brought her Rapunzel Barbie for the occasion.

We both really liked the film. And despite some intense action scenes, Marina was not scared at all. (It just shows how much she is growing up!) I have a feeling we'll be seeing it again!

Rapunzel

While we were at Hollywood Studios in Disney World, we saw a gallery dedicated to Tangled, the newest Disney movie about Rapunzel coming out later this year. When she saw the Rapunzel costume on the Disney Store website, she was sold. For several weeks she has said she wants to be Rapunzel for Halloween. So today, after a long day at work, I decided to treat her to a nice evening.

After I picked her up from school, we headed to our local Disney Store. I had called earlier in the day to have them hold a costume and hairpiece for us, so I knew we'd get one.

I hadn't taken Marina to a Disney Store since she was a baby, so I don't think she knew that stores like that existed outside of Disneyland and Disney World. She went from display to display just exclaiming over what she saw there. She was pleased with the costume but she didn't spend much time looking at it. She was off looking at other things.

When I finally got her out of the store we headed to the food court for dinner. Then we went home. She tried the costume on. She's going to be pretty this Halloween!

Disney World - Day Five

We had another late morning after last night's fireworks. So we took our time this morning. When we arrived at Hollywood Studios Marina spotted The Voyage of the Little Mermaid. We were able to get into the next showing. It was a 15 minute live version of The Little Mermaid. It was a bit choppy, but the performances were good. Naturally, Marina loved it.

We did a little shopping and had lunch. Then we went over to see the Beauty and the Beast show. Marina had worn her Belle dress for the occasion. She loved this show too.

We went back to the Animation Courtyard where Marina wanted to meet Handy Manny. A cast member asked if we'd wait for a Make a Wish family to meet with him. I said, "Of course." Then she told me about an unannounced character meet and greet time. She told me there would be characters Marina would like. Naturally, I assumed that meant princesses, so I made sure we were there.

We went over to The Art of Disney Animation to meet the Incredibles and Frozone. Marina found some fun activities to keep her busy and we looked at animation from the next Disney movie Tangled.

And then, right on schedule, a whole group of characters came in. We saw Aladdin, Mary Poppins, Chip and Dale and Minnie Mouse. While we waited to see Aladdin, Marina said she saw Belle. So as soon as she was done with him, she ran off after Belle. Sure enough, we found Belle by herself in the gallery. Marina got quite a lot of time alone with her. When that group of characters left, another group came in. This group had the Genie, Jafar, Snow White and Mulan. It was quite a lucky break to be there.

Marina wanted to see the Playhouse Disney show. After that, we had dinner at the ABC Commissary, then went to see the Muppet Vision 3D show. It was much like Philharmagic. Marina loved it. When we exited, we saw Luigi's Garage with Lightning McQueen and Mater. She was excited to have her picture taken with them.

We planned to see the Fantasmic show, but it was canceled for technical reasons. So we left a bit earlier than planned. But that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. We would have loved to see the show, but we were tired.