pure magic

Originally day 7 was a chill day.  We were going to enjoy the new room, hang out at the resort, then head to Magic Kingdom for the evening, and our "finale".  Well, when the Pea got sick I ended up making it a day out instead and booked a late breakfast at 1900 Park Fare, which had the Mad Hatter and Mary Poppins, and planned an entire day at Magic Kingdom, with a quick hop to Epcot if we felt like it, and THEN the evening festivities.  We ended up reverting back to the original plan.  After waking up, and trying to hustle to get ready the Pea said "Mom, can we skip breakfast and just sit here and watch the animals?" Thank you, God.  "Yes, baby, whatever you want."

*the hallelujah chorus singing in my head*

She had a Mickey rice crispy treat, I had cold medicine and coffee, and we chilled out on the balcony, watching the animals.  We stayed in the room for most of the day and it was heavenly.

Standing on the balcony.

I think she enjoyed people watching more than animal watching.

She had an appointment at the Bippity Bopppity Boutique at 6pm and we had dinner in the Castle planned for 8pm.  This was our final night...our last hurrah...and while we wanted it to be great, it was also supposed to be the busiest that we would see the Magic Kingdom, so we didn't plan on any rides.

Chip & Dale!

We ventured out about 4, assuming the bus stop would be mobbed, and it would take us forever to get to the park and from the front of the park to the castle.  We were pleasantly surprised to not only get on a bus fairly quick, but to get into the park quickly as well.  We had plenty of time to stop and see Chip & Dale, and get a few photos on the stroll down Main Street.

When we got to Fantasyland we grabbed a fastpass for Pooh, because I figured we could squeeze it in at some point, and if not, could pass it on to someone else, and since we still had a few minutes to kill, headed into Philharmagic since there was no wait.  After the show we got in line for the Carousel.  I don't remember exactly what happened, but at some point the Pea sassed me, said something ugly, which garnered a warning, then more sassing, which garnered me pulling her out of the line.  Then instantly the line got humongous so we no longer had time to get back in it, and then there was a breakdown, so we headed for the bathroom.  For a good 10 minutes she stomped, cried, pouted, and screamed while I wrestled her into her Cinderella dress...there was then another breakdown because she said the dress was terrible and didn't want to wear it (which crushed me because it was my Christmas present to her and I was sure it was the most beautiful princess dress ever). 

At exactly 6pm (which is late for me as I am always 10 minutes early for everything) we raced into the Bippity Boppity Boutique, both red faced and teary.  At that point I thought for sure the night was gonna be a bust.  She wanted to leave, I wanted to give up, and the place was mobbed and running late.  There were flustered mommies, pissed off daddies, and cranky princesses all around.  We fit right in, but this was not how I pictured our last night, and the one that was supposed to be the most magical.

Turned out to be a good thing they were running a little behind because by the time they called her back (at 6:45) the tides had turned, she was happy and excited and loved her dress, and things were back on track.

Bippity, Boppity, Boo!

She did the middle package (it was around $60) which included hair, crown, make-up, and nails (and they get to keep the make-up and nail polish).  The full package includes the princess dress and accessories but is up around $250, I was able to bring a dress that I found on clearance for $25 earlier in the year and accessories that she already had, and she was perfectly happy.  She got a ton of compliments on her dress, and I didn't see any other little princesses with that particular one, so I'm glad we went that route.

Your highness...

 She also got to do a photo-shoot, which she thoroughly enjoyed, and while I didn't buy any of the shots, they were all put on my photopass account, and since I bought the CD, I now have.  After her photo-shoot we checked in for dinner and were taken upstairs.  Normally you are greeted by Cinderella and have a few photos taken BEFORE you go upstairs to eat but Cindy was "having tea" when we arrived, so we went upstairs right away, and then were taken downstairs after ordering, for the Cinderella meet.  It was all very rushed and chaotic and really kind of pissed me off, because I wanted a nice dining experience, and like to settle in once I am seated...BUT, it was either that, or not see Cindy at all, so we went with it.

The dining room.

 

Not sure what she was pointing at.

Aurora



And finally!  Cinderella

Overall, the dinner was fine, despite feeling very rushed in the beginning...our server was a little too attentive at first, constantly asking how we were, but no where to be found when we had finished our meal, and were just sitting waiting to check out.  The Akershus dinner had better character interaction, and felt much more leisurely, it was also a much better value at 1 dining credit, versus the 2 credits we paid for dinner in the Castle.  For the Pea though, eating INSIDE the castle was magical and amazing, and she beamed with joy the entire time.  Snow White, Belle (in her blue dress), Ariel, and Aurora all came to our table.



Ariel was sassy

Belle was sweet

The food was surprisingly good (I had read many bad reviews), about the same quality as the meal we had had the night before (unfortunately, with that same sauce that tasted like it came from a dry package mix).  I liked the asparagus, and the meat was very tender.  The Pea had chicken tenders, which were chicken tenders, and was most happy with the Mickey plate and the corn.  The dessert trio was fine, looked better than it tasted, and the Pea was overjoyed with her make your own sundae, even though after making it, didn't eat a bite.

Cheese plate

Our Meals

The Make Your Own Sundae that never got eaten.

One happy girl.

We walked out at 9pm and since Fantasyland was deserted (with everyone watching the nighttime parade) we took full advantage.  We rode the Carousel a few times, Walked on Pooh (which was great because she finally got to go through the interactive queue and touch the honey wall) then used our fastpasses to ride again, then headed to It's a Small World and rode that twice.  About this time I remembered a post on Lines Chat that mentioned riding Dumbo during the fireworks and we got in line for Dumbo.  There was about a 15 minute wait (which for Dumbo is good because most of the time we saw 45 and avoided it) and the fireworks started while we were in the queue.  We boarded our elephant about halfway through and were up in the air during the finale.  It was very cool.  I never would have thought to do that if not for reading that post. 

She was amazed that her dress "glowed" in the Pooh ride.

She RAN to IASW and all the way down to the boat

I asked the Pea if there was anything else she wanted to do, since this was her last chance, and she said cotton candy and the parade.  We grabbed a bag of cotton candy and took our time wandering to the hub.  There were far less people than I expected and we grabbed a primo spot.  Before we knew it the parade was on it's way.  Watching it from the hub, with the Castle all lit up in the background, and my little Pea happy and smiling, was glorious.
 

Got this shot right as they dimmed the lights for the parade

We took our time leaving, after the parade passed us by, and as we were walking out it started snowing on Main Street...magic, pure Disney magic.