So, it was 4:00pm on the second day of the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration (see day 1 & 2 recaps before you go on!). I have my bag packed and am standing in the lobby of the Grand Floridian Conference Center with Andrea, Toni, Crystal, Amy and Briana waiting for OUR PRIVATE CAR TO TAKE US TO CINDERELLA’S CASTLE!
We were whisked away by Sean (our driver, tour guide & recipient of many squeals) to meet our VIP Tour Guide, Steve BACKSTAGE at Magic Kingdom. I’ll tell you, “backstage” is not very magical. It’s just a parking lot. With trash cans. But when you are being driven in a private car (ok, mini van) to meet your VIP Tour Guide because you are spending the night at Cindrella’s Castle–well, it’s pretty darn cool. In fact, we were screaming pretty much the whole time.
Briana & Amy screaming. You can’t see it but Andrea & Toni are screaming, too. See Steve there? He’s laughing at us.
As we began to walk to our room (IN CINDERELLA’S CASTLE!) Steve gave us commentary along the way. And this would be just the preface to our evening. We were all mesmerized by his Disney-knowledge. He’s like an encyclopedia, or a savant, or google! We took a left and walked through the entrance of Liberty Square and right by Sleepy Hollow (oooh, funnel cakes!) to come along the backside of the castle. We went this way so we could SEE OUR ROOM IN CINDERELLA’S CASTLE!
Then we walked in through the castle hallway (what do you call that?) to the last door on the left (or the first on the right if you’re coming from the front) and walked into our lobby. (OUR LOBBY!) Really all it held was a desk for OUR CONCIERGE. Our own private Cinderella’s Castle Concierge!
{{You have no idea how hard it is to portray the squealing, excitement and fast-talking I want to add in this post!}}
Me taking a picture of myself in one of the mirrors downstairs.
Andrea pointing to the clock–always 11:59!
The Fairy Godmother gave this to Cinderella so the pumpkin would remind her of her humble beginnings.
Now, the whole time they are giving us the tour of this tiny office and the elevator (ie. “carriage”) they are acting like we were actually IN the REAL LIVE Cinderella’s Castle and the REAL TRUE Fairy Godmother had given her these pumpkin gifts. And somehow that magic rubbed off on us because…well, just wait…you’ll see. So, we ride the “carriage” up to the suite and in the foyer we find more beautiful decor (from Cinderella and the Fairy Godmother herself)…
The ceiling was even breathtaking!
One of many paintings by Mary Blair who designed Small World
Two pumpkins given to Cinderella by the Fairy Godmother.
The mosaic floor of the foyer. Stunning.
Can I just stop you here for a sec? WE HAVE NOT EVEN STEPPED FOOT INTO THE ROOM YET! It is just unbelievable!
Finally we get our own Cinderella’s Castle Suite keys and enter the suite. Are you ready for this?
We let Princess Andrea do the honors!
The first room is 2 rooms and a fireplace. Each bed is marked by a “C” for Cinderella and Charming.
The bathtub. HELLO MOSAICS.
More decor: books (a gift from Belle), the phone & (hidden) alarm clock, ceiling & writing desk
We oohed and aahed. We walked around taking pictures. We tweeted and twitpic-ed. But I certainly did NOT crawl up on the windowsill to get a picture of the new Fantasyland expansion from the highest point in Magic Kingdom!
eeek!
After a few short minutes in the castle, we decided to take Steve out for a road trip. Because Steve was now our personal tour guide for the next eight hours! And we planned to get as much info out of him as we could (Amy had her pen and paper out taking notes!). We hit up Philharmagic, Pirates and Haunted Mansion before we had to get back to our Disney Junior dinner. And the entire time Steve is telling us the stories behind each ride, who did the voices, which Imagineer put an inside joke in the queue and where the Hidden Mickeys were. And that is speaking my Disney-love-language! I LOVE knowing the behind-the-scenes stories.
Steve picked us up from our Disney Junior dinner (Bye, Les! Have fun at the Grand Floridian without me!) and then we headed back to the Magic Kingdom for VIP seating at Wishes and the Electrical Parade. And I think I’m going to have to stop there for now…we’ll do part 2 next week. PROMISE. But before I end this, here’s a picture of us SQUEEEEEing with Steve!
Crystal, Amy, me, Steve, Andrea, Toni & Briana
Read the rest of the Castle Girls’ posts:
Cinderella’s Castle Suite Part 1 & 2 by Toni at Happy Housewife
A Night of Magic in Cinderella’s Castle Suite by Andrea at Savings Lifestyle
You Can Be a Disney VIP, too! by Amy at Mom’s Travel Tales
{all photos by me except the bathtub & squeeing pictures are Crystal’s!}
{Part 2 of my Night in the Castle}
OH, AMANDA!!
I am still squeee-ing reading this post!!!!!
It was such an incredibly magical experience. 🙂 I’m so glad to have met you and to have been able to experience this with you!!
And your pictures ROCK!!!!!
Aaaaahhhhhhhh.
PS: Still not sure what to do with my key. I think I need to have it framed with a photo montage of the night. 🙂
I think I’m just going to buy one of those lanyards that you can keep your key in. And every time I go to Disney I’m going to wear it. So everyone will think I’m sleeping in the castle again. *sigh*
I think my heart is having palpitations.
How stinkin’ awesome are you?
I am covered in goosebumps now! I can not wait to see the rest of your magical, wonderful, amazing night! eeeeeeeek!
So fun and Wow! Once in a lifetime!! ;D
I don’t think I will ever read any of these and NOT smile and giggle uncontrollably. Seriously, it was SO AWESOME!!!!
That is so fun! I love reading about your adventure! Of course the mosaic tile are my favorite! Goodness that is beautiful. And… I now want to make that blue and white dress in the frame 🙂 I’ll tell you the best insider information comes when your child works in the magic… and… it doesn’t even ruin it! She still believes in the magic of it all. Amazing.
So maybe I’m not squeee-ing; but I am totally jealous. I’d love to be able to get my family in that suite for a vacation. Thanks for sharing the pictures!
I don’t think I mentioned this but you can’t even BUY a night in the Castle. Apparently heads of state and movie/rock stars have tried to buy it–but it’s not for sale!! It can only be given. CRAZY.
That is insanely crazy cool!!
Sigh! How magical! I didn’t even know there was an actual room inside the castle. This is just all so amazing. Lucky you!
Nice blog about How I Got To Stay at Cinderella’s Castle Suite | ohamanda.com. I appreciate you taking the time to write about this wonderful and insightful topic. Have a nice day and when you have time, check out my blog about IMEI Check!
The Zune concentrates on being a Portable Media Player. Not a web browser. Not a game machine. Maybe in the future it’ll do even better in those areas, but for now it’s a fantastic way to organize and listen to your music and videos, and is without peer in that regard. The iPod’s strengths are its web browsing and apps. If those sound more compelling, perhaps it is your best choice.
Hey from overseas! This is just what I was searching for, and you nailed it. Thanks very much
Terrific publish admin thank you. I identified what i used to be searching for right here. I will review complete of posts within this working day
Thanks for the read, I stand impressed.
With immense pride I wholeheartedly recommend the website http://www.seo-backlinks.org.uk to all those who are searching for quality Backlink Diversity that will knock out google panda and penguin crush your competition and catapult your website to the first page of Google search engine. I am extremely happy and impressed with their professional, prompt and dedicated services. So go online and explore the web now.
I drop a comment whenever I especially enjoy a post on a website or I have something to valuable to contribute to the discussion. Usually it’s a result of the sincerness displayed in the article I read. And after this post How I Got To Stay at Cinderella’s Castle Suite | ohamanda.com. I was actually excited enough to drop a comment 😉 I do have a few questions for you if it’s allright. Could it be just me or does it look as if like a few of the responses look like left by brain dead folks? 😛 And, if you are writing at additional sites, I would like to keep up with you. Would you list all of all your shared sites like your twitter feed, Facebook page or linkedin profile?