Today was Polly’s 11th birthday. We had a tough night as Winnie was up constantly. Those of you who have children with anxiety know that their worries can manifest as physical symptoms, and she had gotten herself into such a state about being poorly in the night because she was poorly the night before her own birthday that she was really sick and up and down the whole night, which meant nobody slept much. At 5am I called it and we decided to just get up and as soon as the light was turned on to start the day, Winnie was fine.
The girls were worried the birthday fairy wouldn’t have been able to come as they’d not really slept, but I told them she’d sent me a message and had definitely been. They suspected she was disguised as the cleaner who was hoovering outside our room at 2.15am and were so excited that daddy had seen her. It still took them ages to find the presents as they’d been left in fabric sacks (I suspect so that they could be carried easily without rustling and getting their attention, but what do I know?!)
They eventually found them and as always, went for the presents from/ to each other first (Winnie’s present to Polly was the biggest toy in the world…thanks Birthday fairy. I’m going to need a bigger packing pod!)
Presents open and giant birthday cookie consumed we got ready to head to the Magic Kingdom. We again made a list of a few things we wanted to do but planned on a chilled day with seeing the 50th characters (especially Donald & Daisy) and watching Festival of Fantasy as the main focus.
We were there before park opening so Steve got his mandatory coffee before we headed for a few rides.
At 9 we headed to meet Mickey & Minnie (they aren’t available for early morning hours) and as we were walking out we saw the characters on the train station (luckily the girls have vivid imaginations and decided Mickey & Minnie must have run through the underground tunnels as soon as they’d met them to get there!!)
After a lot of waving and kiss-blowing, Donald gestures to the girls to head over to the Chamber of Commerce for a hug, so they did. As the characters left the station Donald & Daisy ran up to the girls and had the biggest hugs with them. It was the perfect birthday moment, one of those pieces of Disney magic that completely fills your heart, and I am so grateful we got to experience it. (The video is up on my social media pages if you’d like to see it.)
We then headed to the only place that could possibly top that…Carousel of Progress! The girls loved seeing all the changes in the final scene, although the people behind tutting are them when they sat in front of them did make my overly sensitive girls a bit upset, and we ended up moving.
We headed to Sleepy Hollow to grab a funnel cake and watch the cavalcade which was so lovely. Donald and Daisy tend to stand on opposite sides of the float, so we often end up rushing from the Christmas shop to Main Street to catch them on both sides, but this time when Daisy saw them she stamped her foot to get Donald’s attention and they both saw them in the one spot, which was lucky as I’m not sure any of us had any rush left in us!!
We decided to head for a few rides in Fantasyland before the 12pm Festival of Fantasy parade, and bumped into a lovely couple who we previously met on our last summer trip and stayed in touch with virtually. This time they were a trio with the gorgeous baby Arlo, and while we chatted the girls sat with Arlo who was obsessed with Polly’s birthday badge. It was so nice to see them.
It was really busy and hot (not really a shock on a summer in August) so we found a shady spot outside The Diamond Horseshoe about 20 minutes before the parade and sat to wait. I love watching it from Main Street but it’s so much more relaxed closer to Frontierland.
It was lovely to see the parade back, but it’ll the lack of dancers definitely showed and it felt quite empty in places. We still loved it though.
Polly really wanted a birthday foot long from Casey’s, so we mobile ordered one for her and she ate it before we set off back for the hotel. She’d decided she really wanted to see the fireworks so wanted a nap as after the night we’d had she knew she wouldn’t make it otherwise. Both girls and Steve slept for a couple of hours and we then headed to the pool. I love Animal Kingdom Lodge, but as it doesn’t have a quiet pool there are never any spaces to sit around the pool if you don’t get there early. The water in the pool is also crazy warm at times, so after a while the girls got out and we found an area outside of the pool fence for them to chill for a while where we ended up chatting to a couple from Texas. It started to rain and the pool closed so we set off inside, but a CM told the girls the arcade was free during the storm and we decided to go there for an hour instead.
We are quite possible the least tech game-savvy family in the universe, so it was interesting trying to work the games out. Still, we had a lot of fun and Freddie, a lovely CM we got chatting to, gave us free rice crispy treats.
We headed up to the room and all decided that we wouldn’t make the fireworks. Polly really wanted to watch a movie and eat a quick service tea to finish her day, so that’s what we did. Maybe not the most exciting end to a birthday, but it’s what Polly wanted, and as she said, it had been the best birthday ever, and she couldn’t have wished for anything better than the Donald & Daisy hugs.
So we’re finishing the day with a very happy 11 year old. I can’t remember a time before I grew a whole new heart full of love for her. I am so incredibly lucky to have this amazing, funny, eternally optimistic, slightly oddball, ray of sunshine in my life, and I am so grateful every single day that she’s the one who made me a Mummy.
Tomorrow is Hollywood Studios day to continue the extended birthday fun (Polly feels a fraud wearing her birthday badge in any day other than her actual birthday, so has decided on once in each park, although I’ll not be surprised if she decides against it. Winnie, on the other hand, would wear hers every day to milk it to the max!!)
Doodle & Peg Do Disney 