Last February, my sister and I took my daughter and my nephew to Disney for the Princesses and Pirates Party to celebrate my daughter’s birthday. It was amazing. Party events at Disney parks are open only to those who have purchased event tickets. So, everyone that was in the park during the day is shooed out and the party is from 7 pm to midnight. You are actually allowed in the gates at 4 pm with your event ticket, so for about half the price of a regular day pass, you can play in the park for 8 hours. It’s a huge bargain.

The entire event is centered on princesses and pirates, hence the name. We had a blast at all of the meet and greets and watching everyone running around dressed in their costumes. My sister and I did not wear costumes, but Gigi went as Sleeping Beauty and my nephew dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow. As with most party events, there were pretty much NO lines for all of the rides, though the meet and greets were a little time-consuming. If you hate huge crowds, a party event is the way to go.

I am doing it again this year, but this time we are going with one of my best friends and her daughter. It turns out my nephew only wants to go if he can skip the princess stuff and that just won’t fly with my daughter, since it is in essence her birthday party. So, we are just going to do this with two little princesses.

Gigi will get to wear a button announcing it is her birthday and every worker at the park makes a huge deal of saying “Happy Birthday, Princess”. The extra attention is a one of the draws for Gigi. She loves to be in the spotlight.

With Cinderella and Prince Charming last year

The coolest part is that my friend’s cousin works for Disney and is getting us a 50% discount at any hotel we want (in the Disney line) and then into any park the following day for free. So, I will buy all of our party tickets and my friend will be calling in favors to get us discounted hotel and a free park. I’m looking online now to figure out where we should stay. One of the value hotels is probably the wisest choice, but I think the Animal Kingdom Lodge would be a blast. I have heard you can often see animals outside your window. I’ve always wanted to stay at the Contemporary Resort as well. I love the modern furniture and the European flavor. When it comes down to it, I imagine we will agree to just book a room at Pop Century, though.

I want to hear from any of my readers who have organized a yard sale. 

I am considering having one, and it is not something I have ever attempted before. The idea came last night when I told my daughter she needed to get rid of some of her old toys to make room for all of the things she received this Christmas. I suggested throwing things away or giving them to Hospice. She said she wants to have a yard sale.

So, I went out into the garage and looked around. Right at first glace I saw extra luggage sets, old paint, baby clothes, baby toys, boxes of books and my collection of bake ware that needs thinned. This is just the garage and I have not even thought about all of the stuff in my storage unit.

I’m just cynical that having a yard sale is worth my time organizing and pricing things. Will I make enough money to justify spending a day standing in the yard with all of my junk, as opposed to just calling one of the charitable organizations in the area and having them haul it all off?

I’d love some input.

We actually had our entire Christmas celebration Sunday. I do not have my daughter with me for the entire week, so we had to gather family and do things early. We made a traditional ham dinner, complete with yummy candies yams and fresh bread, among other things. We also had pumpkin pie and an amazing praline Bundt cake. I will have to post the recipe for the praline cake, because it turned out SO good.

Lots of gifts were exchanged, but I wanted to give my opinion of just a couple of the gifts my daughter got this year.

Baby Alive
My daughter got everything she asked for, including the Baby Alive she has been patiently waiting to receive for over a year. It was on her Christmas list for last year, but at the last minute she changed her mind and asked for Disney fairies. Those fairies have gone largely untouched this past year. We live, we learn. Anyway, the Baby Alive I got her was the bonus pack available through Toys R US this year. Each of the major retailers seemed to have an exclusive Baby Alive bonus pack for Christmas, but the one at Toys R Us had more bang for your buck, with an extra outfit, a sippy cup, more diapers, food, etc.

The doll was the hit of the evening. Even my almost-16-yearold niece and my kindergarten nephew were begging for time with Baby Alive. I’m pleased with the doll and her functions, aside from a couple of things. Her lip color wore off in the center of her bottom lip within hours and I read online that most dolls lose all of their lip color typically within a week or so. Also, the skin-like soft vinyl the doll’s face is covered with attracts hair and dust. You have to wipe it off with a wet cloth and I find the phenomenon mildly icky. And, the doll “woke up” in the middle of the night last night and asked for a drink. Then she proceeded to sing and ask to play and I finally had to turn the doll off completely for my daughter. Creepy.

Disney Princess Dolls
Gigi also got Pocahontas, Mulan, and Jasmine Disney dolls. That rounds out her princess doll collection. She had been very upset that she did not have any of the “brown” dolls and I was surprised at how few stores, aside from the actual Disney retail stores, carry those characters. I kept waiting for Target to stock them, because I like the price of the princess dolls there, but no dice. They only seem to sell the Anglo dolls. Gigi did inform me that although she considers her collection complete, she really wants new Belle and Cinderella dolls, because she marked them up with pens a couple of years ago. I will replace those dolls, but only once she proves she takes better care of the new ones.

We got these last three dolls at the Disney Store and I am anxious to see how they hold up, because the particular dolls sold there tend to have very poor quality synthetic hair that tangles and knarls quickly. We will have to wait and see.