Downtown Disney

Wednesday, September 20th

This was our last full day at Disney. We had planned to go to Blizzard Beach water park but decided on Downtown Disney instead.

Downtown Disney is a big shopping and entertainment area. We started at one end -- browsing Christmas ornaments and scrapbook items -- and worked our way to the middle where the biggest Disney store EVER is located. We were looking for nightgowns for the girls -- princess nightgowns. Unfortunately, the largest size we could find was 10/12, and Emma Grace really needs a 12/14 in order to wear it over any period of time. We were just sure we'd find something there. But we didn't. She was very disappointed.

So instead of nightgowns, Cliff treated the girls to an appointment at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. Each girl got her own Fairy Godmother to transform her into a princess. Emma Grace chose the Fairy-tale Princess look, and Vivian chose the Disney Diva. Their makeovers included hairstyle and makeup and a sprinkling of pixie dust.

Cliff was so cute watching his girls get glammed! He was Prince Charming -- if only for a little while.

After the boutique, we made our way to Disney Quest -- a 5 story gaming store. We spent most of the day there playing games. I took an animation class and learned to draw Minnie Mouse. The girls saw it and decided they wanted to do one, too. So they learned to draw Goofy (it was the next class). We actually did fairly well, and of course we came home with our artwork.

The first few interactive games we did really upset my equilibrium. We did a "magic carpet ride" with Aladdin that was a virtual reality thing. I was woozy after that. Then we went straight to a vr raft ride. I was so disoriented after that, I couldn't even think about doing another one. So Cliff took the girls on the Pirates of the Caribbean vr game. Emma Grace was the captain, and Viv and Cliff were her sailors. They had such a great time. I could hear her yelling, "FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! Come on guys! FIRE!" I kept trying to look through the glass doors to see what was going on, but every time I did, I'd get dizzy from the graphics. Suffice to say that they had a great time.