Disney World Final Chapter

Just as our magical vacation had to end, this blog recap must also come to a close. There are many more photos to share, but I’ve narrowed them down considerably to just a fraction that give an overview of our trip.

The Weather - We had mostly sunny, HOT, HUMID days, but also a few rain showers and one very dramatic thunderstorm. Maile improvised protection from the sun

and from the rain.

The Characters – Maile wasn’t insistent about seeing the characters, especially if there were long lines, but if the opportunity presented itself to be photographed with one, she took it! Here are a few shots of her with some of Disney’s finest. In the Disney Hollywood Studios, she met Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc.

In the Magic Kingdom, she ran into Mary Poppins and Bert near Adventureland, then the evil Emperor Zurg (from Toy Story) in Tomorrowland.

 

In the Animal Kingdom, besides meeting Donald, Daisy, Mickey and Goofy at breakfast, she also posed with Dale and Jiminy Cricket.

  

Happy 7th Birthday, Maile! - The theme at Disney World this year is “What Will You Celebrate?” so when we made our reservation, we told them we’d be celebrating our granddaughter’s 7th birthday. When we checked in, our welcome packet included a birthday pin for Maile, which she wore proudly everyday. Several times during meals, Maile was treated to a special dessert as part of her week-long birthday celebration. Here are just a couple of our special moments. In this photo, she is getting ready to blow out the candle on her birthday cupcake at Donald’s Safari Breakfast.

Another day, after our buffet lunch at the Hollywood & Vine Restaurant, not only did the waiter bring her a cupcake but also a card signed by some of the Little Einstein characters.

A Few Final Highlights– Maile wasn’t sure she wanted to go on the Haunted Mansion ride but once she did, she was very proud of herself. She loved reading the silly sayings on the gravestones in the cemetery outside the mansion.

Maile wanted to have her face painted and chose her favorite character, Tinkerbell.

Maile loved exploring Tom Sawyer Island, which was no surprise to Bill or me. It was so cute; she read all the signs and put a lot of thought into which way to go whenever the path had a fork in it.

One of the pools at our hotel was called the Duck Pond because it was located near the buildings that represented The Mighty Ducks movie. Maile deemed this pool her favorite, possibly because of the poolside Goofy goalie statue.

 

See the large yellow fire hydrant in the background? That’s a stairwell on the end of our building, which was 101 Dalmatians. Do you recognize the little celebrity on TV in the photo below?

I hope these blog posts have shown what a wonderful trip this was. Bill and I will never forget this special week with our oldest grandchild, and look forward to having memorable experiences with Mason, Nikos, Kira, and Olive for their 7th birthdays. I’ll close with one of the last photos we took, showing responsible Maile proudly taking her own luggage off of the carousel when we returned to the Sacramento Airport. What a great little traveler she is!