Disney…Part 2: Special Events!

I mean, at Disney, what *isn’t* a special event, amirte? but I wanted to highlight two in particular.

It is a picture of Justin. Where he is not making a stupid face. I win!
It is a picture of Justin. Where he is not making a stupid face. I win!
Waiting for the Hoop-Dee-Doo to start,
Waiting for the Hoop-Dee-Doo to start,

The first was the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue, which we attended for Clayton’s official birthday dinner. It was at the Fort Wilderness Resort aka Disney Campground. I have fond memories of camping there as a kid and riding a boat over to the Magic Kingdom, so it was super fun to go back there as an adult.

Clayton’s sisters and their husbands came too, so we had a full table.

We had a great time seeing everyone. I don’t get to see JC’s aunts and uncles very much–some years, only Christmas–but they are super fun.

aunts and uncles
aunts and uncles

The show itself was pretty good. Cheesey, but in a good way. One thing I noticed everywhere at Disney was that, no matter how silly something was, everyone did it with total commitment. That’s hard to pull off, over and over. The theater person in me couldn’t help but wonder how the actors have the stamina to do this hoop-dee-doo over and over–probably four times in a row. Amazing, really.

And then we took the boat ride back to the Magic Kingdom and the ferry to the parking lot. Lots of transportation.

Clayton had made everyone shirts that said “Party with Poppy and Mickey” and had our names on them, so we wore them to the park all day.

The birthday boy in his "Party with Poppy" shirt
The birthday boy in his “Party with Poppy” shirt

What was kind of funny was that Katie and Kassi had made “Wish this guy a happy 60th birthday!” shirts as a surprise. So we all brought them to the Magic Kingdom and changed before we came over. One totally hilarious thing that happened was on the ferry on the way back–a kid who looked about nine was tugging on his mom’s sleeve, pointing to JC, and saying, “That guy just turned SIXTY today!” I guess he looked a bit like the face on his shirt. 🙂

The other big meal event that we did was Brunch with the Princesses.

It was very exciting.
It was very exciting.

I had heard not-so-good things about the version they do in the castle at the Magic Kingdom. We ended up doing the one at Epcot, in Norway. It was FABULOUS. So good. The food was great, and the character interactions were amazing. The princesses stopped to talk at each table. There was a guy I saw going up to the princesses and telling them things like, “That big table on the left had a kid who was in the bathroom when you were there. Go back!” His whole job during the thing was to make absolutely sure that every kid got to meet every princess.

Amazed at meeting Cinderella!
Amazed at meeting Cinderella!

The princesses each had little unique things they’d say. Like Ariel–she called Petra, “angelfish,” which was such a perfect detail.

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Silas got to practice his Chinese with Mulan. I think she was pretty surprised! He just said simple things like, “Hello,” “Good bye,” “Thank you,” and “I love you,” but it was more than she seemed to expect.

He also tried to say "Ni hao" to the Chinese children in the Small World ride, but it went by too fast.
He also tried to say “Ni hao” to the Chinese children in the Small World ride, but it went by too fast.
We found Snow White a little creepy, but the kids didn't seem to notice.
We found Snow White a little creepy, but the kids didn’t seem to notice.

They also had two “Parades of Princesses,” where they led the children on a march around the dining hall. For the first one, Silas happened to be standing right by Cinderella, so he got to hold her hand. He was over the moon.

Leading the parade.
Leading the parade.
Post-parade high five!
Post-parade high five!

It was 100% worth doing. Would do again. Five stars.

Meta

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