Disney with E.

Shhh… don’t tell my boss, but I played hooky and spent the day at Disney.

My friend Jackie (who writes one of my favorite must-read-as-soon-as-it’s-published blogs, MomJovi <- seriously. read it. ) and her daughter E. are Disney regulars and invited me along for the day.

Ok. That’s a lie. The truth is that I had so much fun reading about their weekly Disney adventures, that I tweeted Jackie asking if I could join in on the fun next time. Instead of immediately un-following me, she sent me an email with possible dates and lots of smiley faces. I knew I liked her.

We picked November 18th because the week before Thanksgiving is traditionally the least crowded week of November AND we were hoping for Christmas decorations.

Score!

Let me tell you, Jackie and E. were a BLAST to hang out at Disney with. There’s nothing better than seeing Disney again through the eyes of a child. Things that I normally would have ignored or walked right past, E. stopped and threw her arms up in excitement over.

  

I promise, that’s a face of excitement.

We hung out in Fantasyland, went on a few rides (Peter Pan is E.’s favorite and she knows every part of it by heart), danced in the street, and said hello to a few of our favorite characters. I’d say a good time was had by all.

Good Jackie packed PB&Js for the group to enjoy in the park. Bad Meghann convinced her to try the new Sweet and Spicy Chicken Waffle Sandwich at the Sleepy Hollow service counter.

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of the Disney Food Blog (<– another must read) and love keeping track of all the new foods hitting the Disney food scene (you’d be surprised just how many and out-of-the-traditional-theme-park-norm there are). When I saw a post go up last month about the chicken and waffle sandwich, I knew I had to try it.

On the bottom was a big fluffy waffle drizzled with syrup then topped with coleslaw, sweet and sour fried chicken, and arugula. Sounds strange, looks just as weird, and surprisingly pretty tasty.   

I split the waffle combo with Jackie and even just half was super filling (this thing was huge). I wasn’t a fan of the drizzle of syrup on the waffle (I just don’t like maple syrup, period), but thought the rest of the flavors worked great together. The chicken was just a tad spicy and the waffle was just a tad sweet. Perfect.

I know it wasn’t the healthiest option available in the park, but it was fun to try it just to try it.

Dessert came after lunchtime and before parade time. E. won the award for cutest popsicle eater…

And her Mom and I split a Dole Whip cup.

I think the Dole Whip cups shrunk, this baby was tiny. Boooo….

We finished our ice creams while watching the Celebrate Parade.

Not going to lie, I was hoping for a Christmas themed parade, but I’m pretty sure E. didn’t care.

She was so excited that she gave us a play-by-play of everything that was going on after each character walked by. She also gave out many high-fives, hugs, and waves with all the characters.

Seeing Alice was like spotting a real life celebrity. Who needs Angelina Jolie when you’ve got the entire cast of Peter Pan to impress you?!

Love her.

The parade was our big finale of the day. After that I gave Jackie and E. big hugs good bye and headed back to Tampa.

I was oddly hungry, but wasn’t in the mood for the sweet granola bar I had packed. I wanted something salty and managed to come up with two hard boiled eggs from a gas station I stopped at.

Random, but they got the job done.

Derek and I had dinner tonight with his parents at a family friend’s house and dined on steak, veggies, and potatoes.

There was pie and cake for dessert, but I passed. I think my sweet tooth was still on overload from my out-of-the-norm lunch and Dole Whip afternoon snack.

Alright, time for bed.

Good Night.