The Seven Dwarfs Take on Disney

Well, it seems like a lifetime ago, but there was a glorious week at the end of March called 'Spring Break,' and as Allie will randomly recount...'IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!'

We grabbed some grandparents and headed to Florida for Allie's first visit to Disney World. There were many times during the week that I thought they should have renamed it 'Allie World.' They could not have designed a more perfect place for this kid at this age with this excitement. I don't know whether she had more fun experiencing it, or we had more fun watching her, but it was a huge blessing to be there together.

Here are just 'a few' pictures from the house of the Mouse...

Welcome to Disney!

Let the magic begin!

The Mickey Mouse Club

Castle Cuties

Waiting to see Minnie.

Allie's first character cuddle.

And ours too!

She was in great hugging company. She just went for it.

This one about sums it up. We snagged curbside seats for the Festival of Fantasy Parade (think ALL Disney princesses and characters on floats parading along the street with huge smiles, huge dresses, and huge hair). Just about everyone blew her a kiss or waved right to her. It was amazing :o).

Allie met just about all of the princesses and each one signed her autograph book.

Our first royal encounter...Ariel.

Allie was bubbling over with excitement.

We waited in the heat to catch this ice queen. 

This may come as a surprise, but Allie was NOT shy when she met the characters. In fact, she had quite a bit to share...

We knew Anna would be a good hugger.

Star-gazing with one of her first princess loves...

Tiana.

She edged out Anna for the best hugger award.

We headed over to the circus to see some of the original friends.

Goofy knew he was among kindred spirits.

Wardrobe change for Minnie.

We went to the Enchanted Tales with Belle which is where they allow about 10 kids and their parents into her cottage to take part in the story-telling of Beauty and the Beast. They 'auditioned' the kids in the group by asking them to give them their best (insert character noise or motion here). When it was time for the Beast, they asked to hear the kids roar. Little did they know that Allie had been training for this role for all of her spunky four years...she nailed it.

So Allie roared her way to the part of the Beast for the show...complete with 2 improve bows to her dance partner. 

It was one of my favorite memories of the trip. 

RRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOARRRRRRRR!!!

It was like she was dancing in our living room...only with a real live Belle.

She could not have been happier.

Beauty and our Beast.

Later that week, Chris, Allie and I had dinner at Belle's Castle, only this time Allie was Belle and the Beast...was the Beast.

Waiting to be called into the castle.

Ready to try the gray stuff!

In front of The Happily Ever After Window with her Daddy. Only this kid could get Christopher to waltz in public in full prince character.

Allie made sure we knew that she pulled one over on the Beast since he thought she was the real Belle.

Turns out the Beast gives pretty good hugs too.

And of course...a curtsy.

More chit-chat.

Tale as old as time.

With a smile as true as it could be.

We had a wild time at Animal Kingdom...

She fit right in.

The Tree of Life photo op.

We kept...

the photographer...

busy :o).

When we went back to Magic Kingdom later that week, we realized just how much of an adrenaline junky we had on our hands.

Front row on Big Thunder Mountain.

Loved every minute of it.

We took a little trip to Pooh Corner for some more hugs.

And smiles.

That night we stayed at the park late for the night-time Main Street Electrical Parade. We again lucked out with curb-side seats complete with a family from Brazil with amazingly sweet 'big girls' who Allie was possibly even more enthralled with than the parade. (It didn't hurt that one was named Anna.) 

It's never too late for snuggles with Daddy.

This picture is another classic summary of our week at Disney. 

She literally fell asleep (and stayed asleep) fully dressed, clutching her massive balloon after a long day of fun.

We decided that we'd bite the bibbidi-bobbidi-bullet and let a Fairy Godmother give Allie a princess makeover on the day that we were going to Epcot for our princess-bonanza dinner at the Akershus Royal Banquet Hall.

Sven and Grandpa were taking notes while the Fairy Godmother worked her magic.

She would NEVER let me do this.

And a little pixie-dust (or Hixie-dust as Allie calls it) for the road.

And there's Tiana Eicholtz.

When she saw Merida later that day, and Merida asked her what she had been doing, she told her she had been 'Sitting on a couch.' 

And it was true.

Merida got a kick out of it.

And Allie got a kick out of her.

She was one of our favorites.

But don't worry...

we still kicked it old school. 

The princess leg-pop in action.

Followed by the dress flare.

We even got to see Tink and show off her matching hairstyle.

And then...the Talking Mickey. Apparently this is a big deal. Little did they know that Allie prefers to do the talking.

Ready for Epcot.

It's another Belle sighting (and chat-session) for our Royal Banquet dinner in Norway.

We hopped on over to Germany to see (and of course chat with) Snow White.

Snow White nailed it.

Allie would have been dwarf #8 if Snow White had let her.

Allie had a Disney giftcard from her birthday and she made a great decision to use it for Sven...who then photo-bombed the next 15 pictures.

Allie insisted on taking our photos at Epcot...she almost got it.

We topped off our trip with a farewell ride on Big Thunder Mountain where, as Allie said, she 'put her hands in the air like she did not care.'

We were so grateful for the blessing of being able to take this trip with this kid at this time in our lives. It was...

So...

AMAZING!!!