Andrew's Bar Mitzvah Bash....THREAD TWO....COMPLETE WITH WRAP UP.....5/18 About This Page:

[PrincessSharon]

Sounds like an absolutely perfect evening! After reading about the ceremony and that wonderful meal and the awesome entertainment (love the balloon Stitch!) I'm sorry I wasn't there. Looking forward to more!

[kmurburg]

What an amazing evening for your family and friends! Andrew's cake was beautiful and the balloon art was very cool! That guy is amazing! The food sounded scrumptious - I wouldn't know what to try first! The fireworks must have been an absolutely perfect ending to Andrew's magical evening!

[WHMom]

What amazing pictures! And what an amazing evening! Words can't describe how happy I am for you and your family!

[hildai]

The pictures from dinner looked wonderful! I hope the cake tasted as good as it looked! It looked beautiful!

Thanks for sharing all of your photos!!!

[Tiggerbelle]

What a fabulous, magical evening! (And as a side note -- you definitely chose the right dress, as you look beautiful in it!) I loved the Mickey-ear-topped cake!!

[DrDolphin]

Amazing update!!

[KandJluvdisney]

great update dani
glad that the food was izzy safe so you all could enjoy everthing else
great pics
hurry back with more

[bsblady01]

more please

[piratefreak]

Sounds absolutely perfect. The pictures are gorgeous.

[Starla4436]

what a perfect ending to a truly magical and memorable event.

[Mulan2]

Wonderful update Danielle!! How perfect the ceremony and the dinner went!

[Grammy Grumpy]

Caught up again and I have to say it felt like we were there with you for this memorable celebration. All you hard work made this event, congrats!!!

Can't wait to hear more about the rest of the trip.

[disneydani]

Saturday March 15th…

We awoke the next morning and started to rehash all the events of yesterday. Truly, it was such an amazingly magical evening and was everything and more than Andrew could have dreamed for. He kept telling us how lucky he was and how this celebration was so much better than having a party at home. We have a wonderful kid, for sure!

I have to say here, that I am so glad we were a little unconventional and held the ceremony Friday evening. Now that the serious stuff was over, everyone was more relaxed and looking forward to enjoying the rest of the weekend. With that, we quickly dressed and grabbed a bite to eat in the lounge before going our separate ways. Since we had a wide variety of ages and interests, I specifically didn’t plan any one activity for Saturday day. My grandparents rented a cabana and hung by the pool. Andrew, Paul, and bunch of the bigger kids and their parents went to explore Epcot. My older cousins went to Typhoon Lagoon while my Aunt and Uncle headed to DHS. Isabelle and I led a contingency to the MK. Not just any old contingency….a group of newbies!

We hopped the monorail and arrived just minutes before opening ceremony. A kindly CM handed Izzy and her cousins Mickey ear-shaped confetti, the girls were already in awe and we hadn’t even made it onto Main Street yet! As soon as opening was over, we made our way in and stood for a few seconds at the beginning of Main Street. It was so very cool to see the faces of my sister and my nieces as they took in the sights around them. I played tour guide and shared little anecdotes about forced perspective, the number of ‘bricks’ in the castle, the names and dates on the various shops. Time was ticking, though, so I tried to shuffle them along a bit quicker and get to the number one stop, Fantasyland. Given we had limited time; I tried to pick and choose what I thought my nieces would enjoy the most.

Dumbo was up first and the line was still manageable…about 10 minutes until the girls were flying above Fantasyland. I stayed with my feet on terra firma…I don’t like anything that goes in circles. (Or upside down, fast, or has hills, for that matter! Still, I adore WDW). We headed to Pooh next and I sat with my oldest niece, answering her various questions and listening to all her observations. It was a great treat to spend some special moments with my nieces and Izzy was equally thrilled to be sitting with her cousins. The lines at Snow White were reasonable so we hopped in queue. I was a bit concerned that my older niece, who is a bit more timid, may not enjoy it. My sister and she decided to sit this one out a do a little pin ‘window shopping’. My younger, daredevil nieces loved the ride, though. We met up again and made our way into Mickey’s Philharmagic. Of course, my nieces were asking a thousand questions and Izzy, in the style of Mary Devall, was in her element giving them all her observations! It was absolutely adorable to watch and listen to and amazing how on target my six year old is! Lastly, we headed to IaSW and went around the world in a matter of minutes.

I was very pleased with all that was accomplished thus far. The girls had two more requests so off to Tomorrowland we went. I sent everyone into Cosmic Rays for lunch while I secured FP for Buzz. I made sure to tell them to sit in the lounge with Sonny Eclipse and the girls got a complete kick out of him. It was lovely to sit and relax in the cool a bit; today was unseasonably warm and the temps were in the mid 80’s by now. I didn’t keep track but I think the kids ate PB&J while the adults had burgers or salads. We had a few minutes to spare before our FP window so I ushered everyone onto the TTA which is one of my favorite after-lunch-allow-for digestion rides. I sat with three of my nieces and it was once again, an absolute hoot! The girls had a sneak peak at Buzz and were excited to learn that we were on our way there next. Thanks to our FP, we breezed through the line and were on our way within minutes. I sat with my youngest niece and was mostly assisting her so I won’t even bother discussing my score…. It was almost time to head back for some pool time but we had one last stop….The Laugh Floor. This is one of my kids’ favs and I feel like I have seen it a lot lately. In any case, I was pleasantly surprised to see some new shtick. The girls adored it and it was a perfect ending to our time at the MK. I know we only hit the tip of the iceberg but I think it was a wonderful introduction to my newbie nieces based on their age and personality.

I was so busy playing tour guide that I didn’t take but two pics and they are not the greatest but it’s all I got!



You probably can't tell but the girls were dancing around in circles.





We walked down Main Street, out the turnstiles, and onto the boat for a quick trip back to the GF. The girls were all clamoring for pool time and my Mom graciously offered to take Izzy so I could go upstairs and get horizontal for awhile. I happily took her up on that offer and later learned that Izzy had a ball in the pool with a variety of cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents! In the meantime, I enjoyed a nice 20 minute refreshing nap. Paul and Andrew returned a bit later and Andrew was very animated recalling his day at Epcot. He loved touring with his buddies and spent a good deal of time touring WS, eating his way around. At some point, Izzy came back up and we all relaxed a bit before heading out for another spectacular evening!

[jpod523]

the magic kingdom with newbies! it can't get much better than that!!! the day sounds like it was very successful for everyone!

[kmurburg]

Sounds like another wonderful day! I would love to experience MK and the rest of WDW with a huge group of family! I think that would be the ultimate way to spend a WDW trip!