On the bus to Epcot
If you ask Annie who her favorite character is, she'll say Cinderella (her fav movie) or some other princess. But, she is wrong. haha Her real favorite character, (at least to meet at Disney) is Minnie Mouse, (Mickey is a close second). We love meeting characters and so if you've met one Minnie/Mickey you've met them all, right? WRONG. Annie always lights up the most for these meets and it has made them a priority every trip! I had her dress in her red Minnie dress to meet them. Y'all, prepare yourselves!
Mickey
Watching Mickey sign- I'm not crying, you are!
Dancing with Mickey! 😍😍😍
Goofy
Do you feel that excited build up in your tummy? I sure do! It is the palpable, residual excitement Annie had that somehow connected to these images- that is how strong her excitement was!
Showing how they match- and Annie tried to do the same smile as Minnie 😍
Same gloves!
We had just bought her this "Snuggle Snapper" a day prior. They had other characters that I tried to encourage her to pick. She insisted on Minnie, (usually she'll pick others), but at this meet and greet I was so excited she did!!
Test Track
We rode it twice as you will see from costume changes and the pictures of the different car designs...
Annie's 2 cars- you can tell which one she built with Daddy and which one he didn't help her one bit! haha
I brought her holiday gear along knowing we could get these shots:
Since we met Mickey, Minnie and Goofy in the Minnie dress, we wanted to meet Pluto too.
We met up with another Disney friend, A. We can't wait to see her again this trip! We ate pizza with her in Italy!
We stopped in Germany to get a picture of Pinocchio and the Keierleber family, (both German in origin haha).
We had to meet Mulan in her new costume!
Magic Kingdom
2 more rides on the Mine Train
Mine Train is Annie's obsession, but my favorites with her are the Tea Cups and Small World. We both love them so much!
In August, Annie wore Pinocchio when we ate here, but we missed this photo-op!
Though it was supposed to be small crowds, it was super crowded! Even the Cast Members were shocked! We never have to wait for Small World, (wheelchair), but we waited about 45 minutes! 😨
While waiting I took advantage of taking a few pics of the clock, (one of my favorite things about Disney), and I chose 7 since it was Annie's 7th birthday trip!
Waving to everyone in line!
Annie's favorite part has always been the Can-Can girls in France!
We go go go when we are at Disney- we want to get the most bang for our buck. Now that we are Annual Passholders and we go multiple times a year, we can relax a bit. This day we were tired so we chose to go back early. I am SO glad we did!
We grabbed dinner at our resort and Annie chatted with a Cast Member she had befriended, (there were a few at our resort and throughout the parks). Before I go further- ALL Disney CMs are part of the magic! ALL of them! To us, a restaurant CM is just as precious as a character CM! We love them all!
Anyway, we chatted for awhile and I was filling her in on Annie's birthday and recent brain surgery, (just a little over a month prior). Paul joined us and she told us to hang around a bit. I assumed she'd bring us ice cream or maybe a birthday cupcake. Now, I never expect anything special, but the way she told us to wait, I knew she had something up her sleeve.
The funny thing is, Annie never got a birthday cupcake on her birthday! When we were there in August, (my 30th and Annie's 5th adoptionversary), we both got cupcakes and candles at every meal. At the end of Annie's actual birthday, (the second day of our trip), I realized she didn't get one cupcake and didn't get to blow out a candle. Now, I wasn't upset with Disney at all- just because they spoiled us in August doesn't mean I will expect it in the future! But I did feel a little bad that her birthday came and went with no candle. Oops! I mean, all I had to do was ask and you know Disney would have obliged! I was just as "at fault" as they were! haha I told NO ONE about this and kept it to myself. Like I said, I wasn't even slightly upset with Disney- I had just realized we missed her birthday. No big.
So, when the CM told us to wait, I knew she was bringing us a treat for Annie, but what could it be? An ice cream, or maybe even a birthday cupcake, (since we hadn't blown out one candle all trip, I was secretly hoping for that).
BUT Y'ALL!
Y'ALL!
We had finished eating and were ready to get to the room, (we were exhausted). Our CM friend still hadn't returned. What could be taking so long?
Y'ALL!
They brought her an entire Birthday cake, complete with her NAME! They also let us keep the light up Tinker Bells too!
I was blown away and incredibly grateful! I am in tears now just looking at the pictures again! It was oh so special!
Do you see all of the different CMs represented here? All of them sang to her and made her birthday so special! Honestly, as much as I am obsessed with Disney and as much as we love the rides/meeting characters, etc, THIS is why we are Annual Passholders even though we live in Texas. It is not even the special moments that keep bringing us back, but it is the people who made those moments happen. The love and acceptance they show Annie means more to us than they could ever imagine! It is not the value of the cake that they gifted us that I cherish, it is the value of the moment. The value of the love they showed our Annie.
And I'm crying again.
Thank you CMs. Thank you so much! For this moment, and every other second y'all spend loving on Annie! Y'all have no idea how precious y'all are to our family!
(And just in case it is not clear enough, this "thank you" is for every CM that has shown Annie love over the years, not just in this pic! I am always so grateful, but can never put into words my gratitude!)
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