Playing on the Playground at Disney's Art of Animation Resort

My little one wanted to put on her Tinkerbell dress and go to the Magic Kingdom today but it's been incredibly busy due to the holiday weekend so we compromised and I told her she could wear her Tink dress and go play at one of Disney's playgrounds instead.

Many of the resorts at Disney have playgrounds for the little ones but they vary greatly in how much they have to offer. Although it is adorably themed Art of Animation's playground is so small it can barely be called a playground but I chose this resort anyways because Alyssa likes to wander the grounds and look at all the character statues and also because we had an arcade card with lots of points on it and Art of Animation is one of the few resorts that still has its arcade prize counter before they all get removed at the end of this month.

Art of Animation consists of 4 themed sections-Little Mermaid, Lion King, Finding Nemo, and Cars. I parked by the Little Mermaid section because the statues in this section are Alyssa's favorite. She spent some time having fun running around the treasure chest statue with some kids she met. We took pictures with some of the other statues as well.

After Little Mermaid we walked through the Lion King section. This section has one of the "playgrounds" but it puzzles me as to how it can actually be called a playground. The bone theming is a little scary for young children and it doesn't consist of anything more than a cave and some bones to run through. Although it is supposed to be a play area there are signs posted that say "No Climbing" and there are no slides or other play features. It is good for running through the cave a few times but it honestly doesn't hold Alyssa's interest for very long. 

Alyssa enjoyed some of the other statues in this section more than she enjoyed the "playground." 

The Nemo section is the next one after Lion King. This is the main section of the resort and the one that has the main playground. The playground is located right behind the awesome splash pad but unlike the splash pad, which is fenced in and only accessible by room key, the playground is accessible to everyone.

The playground is very small and says it is for children up to age 12. In reality it is geared more towards children from about ages 2-5. It is themed to finding Nemo and consists of one really big piece of coral with a few slides coming out of it. There are also a few tunnels to crawl through and areas to climb on.

Benches surround the area for parents to sit on. The surface underneath the playground is a soft, spongy material, which is great during cooler weather and prevents things like mulch, sand, and pebbles from getting into the nearby pool and splash pad but in the summer the surface and the playground itself can get really hot.

The smallest of the three slides is off to the slide and perfect for very young toddlers. It is very low to the ground and easy to climb up on. Alyssa enjoys climbing on the coral and anemone behind it but the slide itself really is too small to hold a three year old's interest.

The other two slides you have to climb up stairs to get to. The first one is just your typical traditional slide but you can also continue climbing the stairs to the second slide, which is an enclosed circular one. Alyssa really enjoyed playing on both of them but I think she liked the enclosed slide more. Neither slide us really high and the stairs to both are wide and easy to navigate so they are perfect for young children.

This playground is so small I thought Alyssa would quickly get bored with it. I couldn't have been more wrong. What it lacked in things to play on was made up for by her big use of imagination. Nemo's reef somehow became pixie hollow in her eyes and she spent almost two hours playing on the structure, gathering up "pixie dust" in the little coral "bowls" and running and hiding from trolls and other scary creatures. Playtime was even more fun when numerous kids stopped by to play for a little while on their way to the pool or back to their hotel rooms. Most of the kids playing were between 2-6 but a few 7-9 year olds joined their younger siblings as they played and using their imaginations seemed to have just as much fun.

Alyssa played on the park until the sun started to set and I told her it was time to go. She reluctantly left and we walked through the final section of the resort, the Cars section, where she had fun running around the statues.

We grabbed a quick snack in the reasonably priced food court before heading into the nearby arcade to use up our points. 

I was pleasantly surprised by how much fun Alyssa had on such a small playground. Although this playground doesn't really look like much if you have a young child with a big imagination you will probably have a hard time dragging them away!

A Parenting Perspective: Yes, the Bathroom May Have Been A Disaster but the Kingdom of Albador and the Tiny Plastic Animals Were Saved!

Yesterday after a looooong day hanging out with my 3 1/2 year old (you know the ones when you are counting down the hours until bedtime!), the clock finally struck the magic "let's get the bedtime routine started" hour and I hustled her into the bathroom to get ready for her bath. We played, I washed her, we argued about the water in her eyes and the need to clean her fingernails, we talked a little about our long and busy day. It was almost time to get out of the tub when I realized I'd left her nightgown and towel in the other room and decided she'd be fine left alone for a few minutes while I went to get her things.
Now, before I get flamed for leaving a young child alone in the bathroom for a few minutes, let me remind you that this is not a really young baby. She is almost four and at an age where she has started routinely asking for privacy when she uses the bathroom. She was still full of endless energy and showing no signs of sleepiness or sickness. Our house is a very small one story structure and the noise in the bathroom can be heard from any other room you are in not to mention the baby monitor I had nearby amplifies that noise. And, on any given day, I usually leave her alone in the tub for five minutes to play while I hang out in the next room trying to get a few things done so I can get to bed at a decent hour myself.
So off I went to get her towel and nightgown and decided to use the bathroom while I was at it. I figured it would be nice to use my own bathroom instead of the one with the pretty pink princess toddler seat on the potty with said child playing in the tub as my audience.
While I was in the bathroom I could hear her playing in the tub both through the walls and on the baby monitor loud and clearly. Playing indeed she was. I heard a lot of splashing and shouting and laughter and it sounded like she was having a grand old time.
That was all fine and dandy until I returned to the bathroom less than 10 minutes later to get her out of the tub and OMG! It looked like a pipe had burst in my bathroom. There was definitely more water all over the floor than there was in the tub and all of the rugs were soaked through completely. Thrown in the middle of it were some of her favorite little tiny plastic animals.
I did what probably any typical mother exhausted at the end of a long busy day walking in on this type of situation would do. "Get out of the tub!" I screamed. "What on earth do you think you were doing? Take this towel and clean up this mess right now!"
Her lip quivered. She knew she was in big trouble. "But momma," she told me. "I was saving all the animals. The kingdom of Albador got hit by a huge wave. The animals were all getting washed away. They needed me to save them!" (Did a mention that this 3 1/2 year old has an amazing imagination that rivals that of kids at least twice her age?)
As I watched her attempt to mop up the mess I thought back a few minutes ago to all the noise, laughter, and splashing I'd heard over the baby monitor. I realized what a wonderful time she'd been having interrupted by the mean old mommy who walked in on it. I realized how blessed I was to have a little one with such a vivid imagination whose evening could be filled with joy by the simplest thing like small plastic animals that almost got washed away by a tidal wave she created in the tub. I wished for a moment that I could be 3 1/2 again and find so much joy and fun in such a simple little game.
"Well did you save the animals from the big wave?" I asked. The little lip stopped quivering.
"Well the cheetah and the elephant..." she began. I knew I was in for a long, drawn out story that wouldn't make much sense to anyone except the 3 1/2 year old telling it. Together we cleaned up the bathroom as I listened. The animals she saved finally got placed neatly in a row on the windowsill to watch as I helped her finish getting ready for bed.
A few years from now small toy animals and a kingdom that exists only in her imagination will no longer be cool. The 3 1/2 year old will be replaced by a girl who probably wants her mommy nowhere near the bathroom door while she is showering.
Until then Albador and the kingdom of little tiny plastic animals await although they will promptly be moved outdoors to the water table on our back porch as soon as the sun has risen.

An Evening Out With My Little One at Ringling Bros Circus Extreme

I was lucky enough to win tickets to last night's showing of Ringling Bros Barnum & Bailey Circus Extreme show. It was opening night in Orlando and the show began at 7:30 pm. I think my husband was even more excited than my 3 1/2 year old daughter to go!

The show was held downtown at Amway Arena. We arrived around 6:30 and parked in the lot that is across the street underneath I-4. Amway Arena has its own parking garage but we prefer to park across the street not only because it is cheaper ($10 vs the $17+ to park in the garage) but also because we find it takes a lot less time to get out of the lot & onto I-4 after the show. The only annoying thing about parking across the street is you have to walk past all of the PETA supporters (who were very vocal and seemed to push their thoughts onto the children & hand out their leaflets directly to them this year instead of the adults they were with). While I completely respect their views and think it is wonderful that we live in a country where everyone can make their own decisions about things like whether or not to take their children to the circus, my daughter is at an age where she asks tons of questions and I'd prefer the opportunity to discuss things with her in an age appropriate way at home myself vs having a stranger thrust a pamphlet into her hands and having her repeatedly ask me what it says. Luckily it is a quick 5 minute walk so I was able to pick her up and shield her for the most part from the PETA protestors shouting and trying to get her to take their leaflets.

Bags are checked outside the Arena. No outside food and beverages are allowed inside and I saw them make several people throw food and water bottles away. If you have a baby, toddler, or preschooler with you, however, they seem to be a little more leniant with the content of diaper bags. I've always brought in sippy cups and several snacks for my little one in the individual size toddler containers and never been made to throw them away, even now that my bag no longer contains diapers because my little one is potty trained. When she was a baby I was always allowed to bring a water bottle in as well (probably because they assumed it was going to be used for mixing her formula). Food and drinks are very pricey inside so I try to avoid buying more than one treat.

Once we made it through the bag check we showed our tickets at the door and were told how to get to our seats. Many people ask if you can bring a stroller indoors. The answer to that is yes. Personally I think it would be a lot easier to leave it in the car if you can but if you absolutely must bring a stroller they have an area where you can leave it that is inside the Arena but outside the seating area. 

The seats I won this year happened to be on the 4th floor club level. This was our first time having seats on this floor and I learned you need to take the elevator from the ground floor to get to it. The line for the elevators moved very quickly and we had no problems getting upstairs to the actual section. I really liked being in the club level box because the view is awesome, there is only one row of seats in it with a shelf for food and drinks in front of you, and there is plenty of floor space in the room behind the seats for little ones who get antsy to stretch their legs and wander around a bit without worrying about them wandering out of the room or disturbing others.

I have now seen shows with my daughter from every level of the Arena and if you have a child preschool age or younger and can not get box seats I highly recommend skipping the 200 and higher section and spending the extra $ on seats on the lower level(s). The view from the 200's section is very high up and slightly obstructed and my daughter definitely does a lot better and enjoys the shows a lot more when we have better seats where she can see the action well (there are no large screens the show is projected onto for the circus).

After we found our seats we took our daughter back downstairs to participate in the pre-show. If you have a little one with you I highly recommend attending the pre-show, which takes place from an hour before the show begins until 15 minutes before showtime. The earlier you get to the pre-show the better because it does get more crowded the closer it gets to showtime. During the pre-show our daughter had the opportunity to meet some of the performers as they wandered through the crowd (lots and lots of clowns!), try on part of a circus costume (ie a cape or jacket), see some of the animals (ie elephants) up close, and dance and interact with some of the performers in a specific area.

They also had a free photo op set up, a place to register to win a painting done by one of the elephants, a place to get free tattoos and clown noses, and my daughter's favorite thing, a bounce house. The bounce house was $5 for one run through or $6 for unlimited run throughs, so we paid the $6 and let her run off some steam before the show. (There is a minimum height but I'm not sure what it was. She is just over 38 inches tall and seemed close as she rushed past the marker so I'm guessing 36 or 38 inches.) She was able to go through the bounce house several times and still have plenty of time left to see everything else on the floor.

When they made the announcement that the pre-show was ending we headed back to our seats. Be forewarned that unless you are sitting on the first level there are lots of stairs to climb and you will get quite a work-out, especially if you are carrying a child. Lines were shorter now to get refreshments so we stopped to get popcorn and a drink. Popcorn was $8 for a typical box of popcorn but also being sold elsewhere for $10 and up if you wanted it in a bag or with a little souvenir. Soda was around $4 for a regular size cup so I was glad I'd brought my daughter's drink in her sippy cup from home. The box we were sitting in had drink and food service but it was VERY expensive, so everyone I saw brought in food and drink from elsewhere in the Arena. I did take advantage of the plates, cups, and ice in the box to split up the popcorn and drinks amongst our family.

Finally it was time for the show to begin. The show opened with the ringmaster and typical animal and multiple performer act. My daughter enjoyed watching all the lights and colors and watching the camels parade around. Acts after that were a mixture of animals, clowns, acrobats, and other performers. The focus of Circus Extreme was definitely more on the human performers than the animals. Unlike other Ringling Bros shows we saw in the past this one was centered on the performers and while there were a few animal acts they were pretty few and far between and there was a lot of commentary going on during them that was not the easiest to understand. BMX bicyclists replaced the motorcycle act, which was one of my daughter's favorites last year. she didn't find the bicyclists' stunts to be quite as exciting and I would have to agree.

Tightrope walkers, strongmen, a human cannonball and clowns you'd expect in a traditional circus all made an appearance during the first half but they also included some more modern and exotic acrobatic acts. The only animals featured in complete acts were camels, elephants, tigers and poodles, which was a bit of a disappointment to both me and my daughter. She asked several times if she would see a lion or bear but one never appeared. During the elephant act they had a long running commentary going on about the elephants' backgrounds, care, how they were trained, etc.  The information was way over my daughter's head and I found it to take away from my concentration on the act a little bit. The elephants performance was pretty short but fun to watch. The finale was a bit interactive with the audience with the elephants all lying down and the audience screaming "wake up elephants!" to have them all return to a standing position. It was cute but I very much preferred the wooly mammoth and unicorn act they did in last year's circus.

Before the tigers came out they had an act with a man on this big spinning double wheel. It was interesting at first but seemed to drag on a bit. I think the main reason it dragged on for so long was because he was performing while they were bringing out the tigers and setting their area up. I think he was supposed to distract the audience from looking at the tigers but it didn't work out that way. Most people seemed to be more interested in watching the tigers walk out so this performer wasn't getting a lot of attention by the end of his act. The tiger act was interesting to watch but it also included a running commentary from the (tiger tamer?...not sure of the proper name!) and a lot of it seemed to be in Spanish. My daughter kept asking me what he was saying and I honestly had no idea.

After an hour of acrobatic acts with the few animal acts mixed in it was time for intermission. One advantage to being on the club level is it has a really nice bathroom accessible only to people on that level without the usual enormous lines. I took advantage of the intermission to take my daughter to the bathroom and wander around the floor and explore a bit. The 4th floor also has its own grill with a menu similar to the ones on the other floors and the same high prices. Close to it was a souvenier stand with the typical circus souveniers (programs, light up items, stuffed animals, etc) for $10 and up. My daughter is young enough that I can still bring my own light up items from the dollar store and give her those instead of spending the money on the high priced items they sell at the circus. I promised her I would give her a light up toy when we returned to our seats where it was hidden in my purse. The bounce house was set up on the floor below us but I have no idea if the wristband she got at the pre-show was still good or you had to pay to go in it again because I somehow managed to convince her that only the big kids were allowed in it now since the little kids were allowed in during the pre-show (looking down it was mostly much bigger kids in it that I would not want her playing in it with). They made the announcement that the second half was starting soon so we headed back to our seats.

The second half of the show began with a lot of clown and acrobatic acts. My daughter is obsessed with mermaids and she enjoyed looking at the colorful mermaids hanging from the ceilings. There was this futuristic boat/car involved with the act and I think there was supposed to be a storyline that went along with the whole thing but if there was it was hard for me to understand. That is about when my daughter and all of the other kids in our section started to lose interest. There were several other acrobatic acts after this one but much as we and the other parents tried to bring them back to see the show they would look for two minutes and decide they'd seen enough of the same old stuff and it was more fun to run around in the carpeted area at the back of our box and bounce on the couches, build tunnels with the tables, and play hide and go seek. The only animal act featured during the second half (other than the finale) was a poodle show which held their interest a little bit longer but they still weren't interested enough to watch the entire thing. I spent the second half of the show half trying to keep an eye on my daughter, half watching what was going on in the arena. The other parents in our box all were doing the same and attempts to get the kids (who ranged in age from about two and a half to eight or nine) to go back and sit down and watch never lasted more than a few minutes. Most of the parents ended up giving up and leaving early so by the time the circus ended at 9:30 we and one other family were the only people still remaining in the box. We cleaned up our trash, made a quick exit, and were home and in bed by 10:30.

When I asked my daughter what her favorite part of Circus Extreme was she said it was the bounce house, tigers, elephants, and dogs. She remembered in detail the human cannonball and the mermaids but her recollections of everything else were very vague. This was a big difference from last year's Barnum and Bailey Circus where at 2 1/2 she sat quietly in her seat through the entire show and talked about it for days afterwards. Overall I would only give Circus Extreme one thumb up. We had a great night out as a family and the acts were entertaining. I honestly thought, however, that it lacked a lot of the excitement of last year's show and last year's acts like the human chandelier, mythical creatures, and motorcyclists were actually more extreme. I hope that next year we will see a return of more animal acts and less acrobatics. Circus Extreme was fun but far from the most amazing and extreme Ringling Bros show I've ever seen.

Ten tips for bringing a little one to Ringling Bros Circus Extreme at Amway Arena:

1. Park across the street instead of in the garage. It's a short walk and you can use the $ you save to buy a treat at the circus.

2. Strollers are allowed inside the arena but leave yours behind if you can. You can't bring it on the escalators used to get to most seats so you will have to wait for the elevators. It will be parked out of your sight during the show and you will have to claim it afterwards. If you have a really young child consider bringing a baby carrier because there can be a lot of walking up and down stairs.

3. Outside food and drink is not allowed indoors. If you have a little one bottles, sippy cups, and the small individual toddler snack containers are fine. Bring a few treats so your little one can snack.

4. Buy a light up toy from the dollar store or Target beforehand and pack it in your purse. They are a lot less $ than the ones they sell at the circus & little ones don't notice the difference. Same thing would work with a small stuffed animal.

5. Arrive early and enjoy the pre-show. It's interactive and lots of fun for little ones. Most of the stuff is free. If you pay for the bounce house pay the $1 extra for unlimited runs through.

6. The show is approximately two hours long with a short intermission in the middle. It is not the most exciting Ringling Bros show we've seen and a long time to hold a little one's attention. Don't feel bad taking a short walk during the show. The bathrooms won't have the long lines they'll have during intermission anyways and with a potty trained little one that can be important.

7. Most but not all vendors take credit cards. Bring cash with you so you are prepared.

8. The show contains a lot more acrobatic acts than it does animals. Prepare your little one for this beforehand. My little one was expecting to see a lot more animals and kept asking when we would.

9. Take advantage of the intermission to explore a little and let little ones stretch their legs. It is a long time for a little one to be sitting and little ones don't necessarily understand the concept that intermission us supposed to be in the middle of a show, breaking it up into fairly equal parts. By the time you get to intermission many little ones may think they've seen enough.

10. Don't feel bad leaving early if you have to. The first half of this circus was a lot more exciting than the second half. Your child will still have seen and enjoyed the circus. Next year they may be able to sit through a little more. Better to get up and leave than tough it out while your antsy child possibly disturbs others around them and ends up melting down.

Have fun!

Resurrecting this Blog

So it's been a really long time since I've written anything in this blog. My goal for 2015 is to update it more often, which shouldn't be too difficult considering there is only one published post right now from all of 2014 :-) . (I have one post about holiday activities from Dec 2014 I plan to finish up & publish but not counting it since it hasn't gone live yet!) Not that 2014 wasn't a busy, active year for us full of adventures. My daughter is now 3 1/2 and loves exploring new places and visiting old, familiar ones. 2014 saw not only visits to the beach and local theme parks but also some fun new places like a real, true, pick your own pumpkin off the vine pumpkin patch. Who knew that such a place existed in Florida? I hope that 2015 is filled with just as much fun and adventure but in the interest of writing more I am going to expand the blog a little to include things like more of our everyday adventures, favorite deals I find, and reviews of some of our favorite kid friendly products. Welcome back, I hope 2015 is a great year for you as well!

My 5 Favorite Free Ongoing Holiday Activities to do with a Toddler or Preschooler in Orlando for 2014

During the month of December there is soooo much going on around Orlando! Most weekends you can find multiple activities geared towards kids and we have to pick and choose what we'd like to do.  My favorite activities are the ones that are free and offer flexibility in the dates you can attend. Here are some of my favorites:

1. A visit to Celebration, FL- Celebration is fun to walk around regardless of the time of year you visit. During the holidays, however, they offer a special event called Now Snowing Nightly. In the evenings every hour there is a "snowfall" on the Main Street. My daughter loves playing in it! You can also visit with Santa and Mrs Claus and drive through the neighborhoods to see some amazing lights. All of these things are free and enough to keep my daughter entertained for an evening. If you want to spend some money they also have horse and carriage rides, a train ride, and a small ice skating rink. We pack our own snacks but there are several kid friendly restaurants you can have dinner at as well as an ice cream shop for dessert. Parking is free on the side streets, so you can make this a totally free evening.

2. Santa's Favorite Resort- On select dates in December Santa and Mrs.Claus come to visit what they call their favorite resort, the Swan and Dolphin hotels. Because it is their "favorite resort" Santa dresses in his tropical beach attire and has a little beach shack set up for photos. You can take as many photos as you want with your own camera for free. Santa usually appears around 6:15 but before that there are other activities like Mrs. Claus reading a story and lighting the tree and free cookie decorating for the kids. There is also an awesome display of a huge chocolate Santa Claus that smells delicious. If you get there during the daylight hours the Swan and Dolphin have a really nice playground my daughter loves. Parking is expensive at the Swan and Dolphin but Disney's Boardwalk has a free lot the public can use and we stroll over from there. As an added bonus the Boardwalk is beautifully decorated and often has holiday entertainment going on outside on the boardwalk or near their Christmas tree. The night we were there this year they were showing a holiday movie so we grabbed a treat at the Boardwalk Bakery and stayed to enjoy it!

3. Bass Pro Shop- Bass Pro Shop is one of the few places in Orlando that offers free photos with Santa. You get one free print from their photographer but you may also take as many as you'd like with your own camera. In addition to Santa they have other free entertainment and activities. My 3.5 yr old's daughter's favorite is the carousel with the reindeer, polar bears, and other winter animals on it. She always asks to ride it several times. They also have games older kids can play as well as a coloring/letter writing to Santa table and free crafts at select times. I highly recommend going on a weekday evening with preschool age and up if you can because they usually have all the activities going on at that time but it is a lot less crowded than the weekends. For toddlers and younger who would just enjoy visiting Santa, coloring, and riding the carousel, anytime on a weekday would be fine.

4. Tour the Disney Hotels and Fort Wilderness Campground-It costs money to visit the Disney Parks but anybody can park at and visit the Disney hotels for free. (Note:If you go the week right before or after Christmas they may not let you park in the hotel parking lot. Contemporary Hotel and Polynesian limit parking a lot more but you can always park free at Downtown Disney and ride a bus to your destination if this is the case.) During the holiday season the deluxe hotels are beautifully decorated. All have themed Christmas trees and many have gingerbread displays. The Grand Floridian Hotel has a huge gingerbread house that actually operates as a store where you can buy gingerbread and other sweet products. Sometimes they have a Cast Member standing in front of the gingerbread house talking about how it is made and making a mini gingerbread house. If you are lucky enough to catch this they often give out free samples of gingerbread afterwards. We usually take a few different days to visit different hotels (ie one day all the ones on the monorail loop, another day all the ones around the Boardwalk). Animal Kingdom Lodge is a bit of a drive from the other hotels but it is beautifully decorated, has a great playground for the kids, and plenty of animals to see. One of my favorites to visit, however, is Fort Wilderness Camground. Start when it's still light out and let the kids play on the playground and do the $5 pony ride. After dark it's fun to wander through the campsites because the campers decorate very elaborately. There is an inexpensive hay ride (first come, first served) or more expensive carriage/sleigh ride (reservations recommended), but I prefer to walk because I think you see more and can go at your own pace. We finish up at the free Chip and Dale campfire sing-a-long and movie. Bring your own materials for toasting marshmallows to make s'mores or you can buy them at the chuckwagon. 

5. View the Christmas Lights Displays-During the Christmas season there are many neighborhoods and houses throughout Orlando that have very elaborate light displays. We love to grab some snacks and drinks, hop in the car, and drive around to view them. Radio and TV stations often have lists of the most elaborately decorated houses/neighborhoods on their websites. One of our favorites close to our house is Christmas in the Shire, which is a house that is not only decorated with tons of lights on the outside, but filled on the inside with many different themed trees and free and open to the public during certain hours. You can also seek out larger public displays. Some of the favorites we visited this year were the Holyland Experience (free on certain nights) and Light Up Moss Park ($5/car to drive through as many times as you'd like on select dates). Light up UCF is another free local lights display (activities like ice skating and an ice slide available for additional fees but they also usually show a free family friendly holiday movie nightly). 

In addition to all the ongoing free or inexpensive holiday activities I've found many that were offered for one day or weekend only. Check the newspaper and internet for events happening on specific dates (radio station and Orlando family friendly websites are great websites to start with). I hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

Our #Disneyside Party: A Preschool Playdate With Our Pals

When our #showyourdisneyside box arrived on our doorstep my daughter was so excited! She loves hearing the doorbell ring & getting packages almost as much as she enjoys going to the Disney Parks. No surprise that she was wearing her Princess Sofia dress and having a tea party with her Disney princess dolls when the UPS man stopped by. She was thrilled to discover that this box contained some stuff for her!

Once the box arrived our party planning began. Originally we were planning on having a playdate at the park with lots of friends but unfortunately the cold and rainy weather foiled our plans. We eventually ended up having a smaller scale party at our home.

Since most of the party guests were toddlers and preschoolers we decided to use the theme Preschool Playdate With our Pals, the pals being both my daughter's friends and their favorite stuffed characters. Everyone was invited to dress in Disney attire & bring their favorite Disney stuffed animals and/or princess dolls along. My daughter had plenty of extras to share for anyone who forgot!

Because our guests were so young I kept our party very simple. When the guests arrived they were invited to visit a craft table with coloring sheets, t-shirts to decorate, and the run Disney posters for them to color on. Disney Jr music was blaring in the background.

When they were finished with the crafts the kids moved on to my daughter's collection of Disney themed Fisher Price little people for playtime. Everyone loved the princess castle!

Finally it was time for lunch. My daughter and I had made several different types of sandwiches using the Mickey cookie cutters in our kit and our Mickey Mouse sandwich press. We added Mickey shaped pretzels, Mickey dried apple slices, craisins, and Disney themed fruit snacks as the sides. We had tiny sandwiches for the toddlers and their stuffed friends.

After lunch was over the kids sat and watched the latest episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Their attention span only lasted the duration of the show so we followed that up by setting out a bunch of treats and having the adults help them decorate Mickey Mouse themed cupcakes. This was a huge hit amongst everyone!

When dessert was over we wrapped up the party by playing several of my daughter's Disney themed games. The favorite was Mickey-Mouse-Ka-Tag because it really got everyone up and moving. If you have a toddler or preschooler I highly recommend it! It was lots of fun and simple enough for even the two year olds.

All that game playing tired the little ones out, so it was time to head home for naps. Instead of giving away prizes to the little ones everyone left with a goody bag full of treats. We had a great time at our Preschool Playdate with our Pals and are so happy we were selected to host a #showyourdisney side party!