Disney World Day 4 - Princess Breakfast

Tuesday dawned with temps hovering in the low 40s, quite a change from yesterday's warm afternoon. Today was our special breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table so we dressed in our finest Princess tiara and took the boat launch from Wilderness to Magic Kingdom.

Even though it was super-cold, we rode the Magic Carpets of Aladdin, another flying Dumbo ride but with carpets. Then we went in search of an indoor ride discovering Pirates of the Caribbean nearby. We rode this one twice - just to warm up! Both girls enjoyed the ride, while I tried to guess which scenes I remembered from Disneyland circa 1986 and what has been updated to reflect the popular movies. Obviously having Johnny Depp as Capt. Jack Sparrow is an update. Then we walked up to Liberty Square and rode the Haunted Mansion. Brenna was very hesitant to ride this at first, but I sat with her and we laughed at the "movie magic" so that in the end she really enjoyed it.

As a special treat we made reservations for the Cinderella Royal Table breakfast with the princesses. This is a special dining area in the Cinderella castle where the Disney Princesses come around and greet you at the table. We checked in just before our 10 a.m. reservation time and were told to wait in line. We waited in the shade of the castle, with the wind blowing through our jackets, freezing, for about 30 minutes. I even went into a shop and paid an exorbinant amount of money for their last pair of Princess gloves. Finally our part of the line entered the outer door and we waited a little more comfortably to have our photo taken with Cinderella.

After meeting Cinderella, we could (at last) go up the spiral staircase to the dining hall. We relaxed with some (hot) coffee and hot chocolate and a nice hot breakfast of eggs, hashbrowns, sausage, bacon, fresh fruit, and muffins. One by one the princesses came to our table to sign autographs, talk a moment, and take photos.

Each girl was given a wishing star and a wand and there was a little ceremony to make a wish. I have a video of them doing this and Cameron's face is so genuine, so intent on making that wish, so believing and trusting, that when she opens her eyes and the only thing that has happened is the lights are flashing she's looking around not quite sure what to believe.

After breakfast we had a slightly more leisurely day planned. We walked away from the castle and the girls went nuts over Excaliber in front of the Carousel, insisting that Bryan come and pull it out.

We wandered into Mickey's Toontown Fair where Mickey & Minnie keep a house. We walked through both of their houses; then Cameron and I rode the Barnstormer roller coaster.

Bryan and Brenna checked out more of the area including the souvenir shop and the lines to meet Princesses and Fairies (over 60 minute wait). When Cameron and I finished the Barnstormer we went back into Fantasyland and rode The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, which Bryan really enjoyed since Pooh was one of his favorite childhood characters.

We crossed back into Adventureland and climbed around on the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. We were getting pretty tired so sat down to watch the Country Bear Jamboree show.

Even though it was only 2:30, we decided it was time to call it a day and rode the Walt Disney Railroad around to the Main Street entrance. We were about to leave when Cameron asked about buying a pair of Mickey Mouse ears. We popped into a store near the entrance, then another store. Suddenly the parade was coming around the circle. We stood on the store porch and had a great view of the parade.

When the parade was over we immediately went to the boat launch and rode back to the Wilderness Lodge. Bryan and Cameron went downstairs to do something while I put Brenna to soak in the bathtub. Afterwards she rested and I soaked in the tub to warm up my body. At 5:30 we went down for dinner in the Roaring Canyon restaurant in our hotel. (Yes, we had to make dinner reservations for our own hotel restaurant.) Sadly we were a bit too tired to really enjoy the rowdy rootin' tootin' atmosphere that included stick horse rides, twirling napkins, tall milkshakes, and huge skillets of all you can eat bbq.

Brenna wanted to sit by one of the fireplaces, so we took some homework and playing cards. After she did a page or two, we played Go Fish for about thirty minutes before calling it a night.