Meeting Princesses | Disney

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

I am just loving writing these Disney posts and sorting through all my pictures, I feel like I am reliving the experience all over again. 

On our most recent trip to Disney World (remember how we had one gifted to us by Disney and our next one was previously booked months in advance- it just happened that they were only weeks apart), we were given a Guide to take us round the park and help us with anything we needed. It was amazing! At $400 an hour for a minimum of 6 hours, they are a real luxury but the benefits of having them include - being picked up and dropped off from any location, being able to dine at pretty much any of the restaurants without a reservation, fast pass to every ride, VIP seats for parades and shows, a wealth of insight and knowledge into all things Disney and fast pass to meet all the Princesses. 

With a Princess obsessed 3 year old, they were top of our agenda. When I was little we never stood in the queue's to meet anyone because I think my Dad preferred rides, but knowing how much Darcy loves those ladies, I would have waited hours. 

I'd already prepped her for maaaaybe meeting one Princess (at this point I didn't know we were going to be given a Guide) but at least seeing all of them in the parades or shows. So Darcy would say, 'When I see Cinderella I'm going to cuddle her all the day and all the night and all the conkers!' (conkers are a measurement to her. ie. 'Mummy I love you as much as all the conkers in the park'). In return, to manage expectations I would say, 'Well, we can see Cinderella in the parades and give her our biggest waves and smiles' and Darcy would be really pleased with that. 

Thinking we weren't going to meet any Princesses at all made it all the more special when we met so many (six in total. Or five. Is Tinkerbell a Princess??). 

Each Princess is completely in character and will spend a good few minutes with you or your child, talking and chattering about things kind of related to them. So when Darcy said, 'You got earrings on' to Cinderella, she replied, 'Yes I do. Do you know who gave them to me? My Prince Charming of course' and such like. It was brilliant. I was so impressed by them and Darcy was fully immersed in the 'I'm meeting real Princesses' experience. 

The Princesses will allow you to film, photograph and touch (as in hugs and Darcy wanted to touch their hair or feel their dress, yanno, innocent touching obviously) them and when asked, will do little video messages for you (we asked several of them to say something to Scarlet BitsandClips which will be revealed this week). I am so impressed that they take so much time with each guest and really give them such magical memories. 

Although I didn't have to queue long for these experiences, I think next time I most definitely will line up because just hearing all the little things Darcy wanted to talk about made my Mama heart melt.

If you are ever able to meet the Princesses, some bits of advice I would give are ::

♥ Have two cameras. One for photos and one for filming. If we'd only had one we would have had to pick either or and I treasure the snaps and the vlog footage equally. Disney do have a photographer at each station so if you don't have 2 you can still have the pictures but I like to have my own.

♥ Prep your child so they know who they're meeting and might be able to think of the things they want to say ahead of time. Darcy was a little start struck so just said whatever came into her head but this might be handier for older children.

♥ Be prepared for the Princesses to stay in character even with you. At first it's a bit weird because deep down you know it's an actress but after a while it's just really cool.

♥ Be prepared to cry. Watching Darcy run and throw herself only Cinderella's dress was the sweetest thing I've ever seen. Just to witness pure, innocent, unrestricted, uninhibited joy like that was a privilege and was so, so beautiful.

(When Darcy saw Tinkerbell, she ran, grabbed her legs and stayed like this for a LONG time. It took all of Tink's pixie power to prize her off.)

(Tinkerbell asking Darcy where she got her oh-so-sparkly shoes. *Whispers* Primark). 

We are returning to the parks in one week and I think if the lines aren't too cray cray (I've heard it can be up to 5 hours to wait for Elsa and Anna) then we might give it a go. I really wanna get a full length shot of Ariel because I'm annoyed I didn't get her beautiful tail in frame- grr!

What do you think? Would waiting an hour or so to meet the Princesses be worth it to you? If you didn't have a child or young person with you, would you still want to do it? Lemme know because this Princess meeting thing is pretty new to me!

Toodlepip!

xx