The girls in our family have never trusted people in costumes. This makes visiting a place like Disneyland a bit of a problem. When we went five years ago, our travel agent enthusiastically urged us to book at least ONE character meal and so we did with Ariel over in the California Adventure Park.
After avoiding all eye contact with every character in the park, this was pretty impressive. She managed to say hi to Snow White and Cinderella too.
Fantasyland has expanded to make a sweet little place to meet all the gorgeous princesses of Disney. Now you can head over to Fantasy Faire and in between watching some of the amazing stage versions of the classic tales have a chat and a photo op.
Tara was following in Caity’s footsteps and was not impressed with any of the characters….she wouldn’t even talk to TINKERBELL!!!
But cruel parents that we are we felt that if she wanted to WALK the princess walk, she had to TALK the talk….tears ensued. After the Fairy disaster I had shelled out $17 for face paint to make her feel better. This all vanished in the wailing and tears as we approached the princesses. We had already decided to not push it and instead bribed Adam $20 if he would put his arm around Cinderella. 🙂
It went slightly differently and really this what Disney is all about.
The “page” could clearly see that Tara was not happy…..she quietly took control of the situation and made it clear to the lovely Snow White that Tara was a bit shy. However, Tara was quite giddy about Snow White being there and went up to her with Caity and told her how she was feeling. Snow White patiently listened to Tara, held her hand and slowly brought her closer and closer to her ending in a big hug. We were in awe.
Now WE could feel the clock ticking and were aware of the people waiting outside. THEY were not. Snow White then proceeded to take Tara to ‘meet her friends.’ She took her hand and strolled into the next section where Ariel was waiting. Tara has professed a love for Ariel and had LOVED her ride. Not so much up close and personal. However Snow White and Ariel crouched down and chatted away with her…..again we were in AWE.
The princesses continued on and quietly brought her round to their OTHER friend Cinderella where again it was explained that Tara was terribly shy and they fussed over her until she was ready and relaxed.
Now unfortunately NONE of the photo cards I have seem to have the ‘official’ photos from the session. I don’t know why. 🙁 Suffice it to say though, the experience is burned on my brain.
Character meet ups at Disneyland have HUGE lineups. We waited 45 minutes to see the Fairies. The crowds around Mickey and Minnie were insane. We were amazingly lucky at Mickey house in Toon Town to have NOT wait at all. In all honesty the line was not that long for the lovely damsels but I can only imagine again how lucky our timing was. My point is that in my mind, it is the job of the staff and princesses to hustle as many people through as much as humanly possible.
This was not the case for us. I was so impressed by their patience and their kindness and their ability to make Tara feel that she was the only one that mattered. THAT is what Disney magic is all about. That is why people love all things Disney. The ability to make every kid feel that they are special and magical is what they do best.
Five years ago Adam felt like he was chosen to be THE Jedi.
Caity managed to show us this time that SHE could save the universe.
Tara is not destined to save the universe however and was NOT impressed with how REAL it all was. I however LOVE how great the people are in all their roles. That is to me what makes it all so magical…..walking into Disneyland is all about escape from reality.
Do you have a magical moment from your visit to Disneyland or Disneyworld? Please share.
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