Hidden Mickey Hair: Quick Hairdo for Girls

If you have little princesses of your own, you may be enticed to book a Bippidi Boppidi Boutique experience for them. If you do, you may be wondering what a great 2nd (or 3rd) day 'do for them would be. 

Even if you don't book a BBB experience, this Hidden Mickey Hairdo is a great quick fix in the mornings for girls with medium to long hair. 

1. Divide the hair in half, from ear to ear. If you're working with thinner hair, be sure to make the bottom half end higher on the head, closer to the crown. Clip or tie each half loosely. 
2. Spritz the bottom half with water or spray gel to contain fly-away. Comb out to smooth everything down. Using a small elastic create a ponytail. Keep in mind that this will be Mickey's "face" so you will want this to be pretty high on the back of the head. Once you have the pony tail, you're going to twist into a bun, tucking the end underneath. Put an ouchless pony band around the bun to secure it.
3. Divide the top section into two halves. Tie or clip each away from each other. 
4. Begin with one side and spritz it with water or spray gel. Comb it back toward the bottom ponytail and use a small clear elastic to tie back into a pony. Get it as close to the bottom bun as you can without causing loose strands. 
5. Twist the entire strand until it's tight. Then twist the twisted strand into a bun, only ONCE around itself. On the last twist around, take the strand down the middle and around the bottom bun. Use a bobby pin to secure the end.
6. Repeat with the other side but do not twist around the bottom bun. Before twisting, take the bun if it's becoming tall and double it over itself and then twist the strand around it. It will give the bottom bun a fuller look and create the style above. 
7. OPTIONAL: Add a bow to one side to make this a Minnie 'do! 

I like to finish with some Aussie Sprunch Spray and then top it all off with some glitter hair spray.

How do you fix your princess's hair for the parks? Do you do something special? What is your go-to style for Disney World?  

Top Ten Things to NOT Do at Walt Disney World

Below you will find my Top Ten Things to NOT Do at Walt Disney World. I had eleven, but it didn't seem like a very popular number for a list. I took a vote, in my own head, and these are the top ten I came up with.

1. Park your stroller and expect it to be in the same spot you left it. In the "Sea of Strollers", Cast members like to keep things tidy. They will move your stroller to keep things looking nice and linear. I like to tie something to the handle of mine to make it easily identifiable among all the other strollers.
2. Forget what time the 3 o'clock parade is. When most people ask this, what they really mean is "What time does the parade pass by (Frontier Land/ The Hub/ Main Street etc.). 
3. Experience Captain EO. This may have been mind bendingly cool 20 years ago. Now, the MJ fan craze is over and it's time to move on. Seriously. 
4. Leave your tour group flag at home.  If you've never been to WDW, then you may have never experienced the impending doom of seeing a tour group flag approaching. If I see one, I run the other way, find another attraction or take a break. I imagine I'm not the only one. If you want to clear out a queue, don't leave your tour group flag at home. Bring it. Even if you're alone. Because, you never know when finding a person in your party could be made easier with a really tall flag on a stick that is retina burning bright. 
5. Get lost. Separating from your group in a place, such as Down Town Disney's Marketplace, with no plan as to where to meet or communication capabilities is NEVER a good idea. It is, however, a great teaching tool for your kids when their grandmother decides to go to the restroom and doesn't plan where to meet her family. She never shows up to where her family said they were going to be and has no cell phone. Which leaves her family to wonder where in the world she is and what they should do. Eventually all is well when she is found, however your children learn a valuable lesson at the expense of someone much older than them. True story. 
6. Resist making dining reservations and "wing it".  Make those reservations. A walk-up to Cinderella's Royal Table is virtually unheard of and Chef Mickey's can be just as rare in the busy times. If you wish to dine with characters, give in to temptation and make that reservation. 
7. Passive aggressive flash photos on dark rides. Flash photography on dark rides is not only annoying but also quite dangerous. It can alter the homing signal and that's not good. However, when flash after flash over your head and in your eyes has made your temper flare. After repeated requests to please stop, it's never a good idea to use your snazzy smartphone with LED flash to take a picture of the photo-offenders. The photo won't turn out very good. 
8. Miss the Stroller Derby. You won't find this on any of the park's Times Guide. It's something that only the most seasoned park goer will avoid. Every night, after the night time fireworks show (or afternoon parade in Disney's Animal Kingdom), throngs of strollers descend on the parks' exit. I like to wait to exit. Missing the view of the Derby and participating in it isn't something I relish. I would much rather watch than compete. I like my ankles too much. 
9. Have a bigger meltdown than your three year old. Kids get tired. In three days, my family and I walked over thirty miles on our vacation. The kids were troopers, they were full of energy and kept on going. The parents, well, we were ready for our nap and had some tantrums that only subsided after a trip to the candy store and some ice cream. We learned that mid-day breaks were a great way for parents to recharge and kids to burn off some energy. So many meltdowns could have been avoided with resting mid-day. 
10. Leave your sense of humor at home. Things happen. It's a family vacation and that doesn't mean that the pixie dust will make everyone happy all the time. The perspective with which you view your circumstances can either put a damper on your vacation or turn a less-than-stellar experience into something you can laugh about...someday. Maybe not today, but someday. Unless you don't find the Mother-in-Law. That might not be too funny. Then again.... maybe it could. 

At one time or another, I've done all ten of these. Most are memories that I can laugh about now. During some, however, I thought they would ruin my vacation. Then I read something on the internet. "A bad day at Disney is better than a good day in the real world". At that moment in time I disagreed. I wanted to pout, stomp my feet and whine. (Refer to #9). Then I changed my perspective (see #10) and made some of the best memories with my family. That's what a family vacation is about. Whether you're at Disney or not, making memories and spending quality time with each other can make any vacation the best of a lifetime. 

Vacationing At Disney World: 2012 Edition -- Day One. What's that big Golf Ball Doing in the Flower Bed?

Vacationing At Disney World: 2012 Edition -- Day One. What's that big Golf Ball Doing in the Flower Bed?

 Arrive at 7am -- the room is ready! Kids are energetic! Mom and Dad are running on adrenaline!

 Super cool toilet flusher. I had to include it. I'm amazed by it.

 Project Commence Vacation Begins! 
Walking to the TTC and hopping on a Monorail is oh, so easy and convenient! We love that Golf Ball!

 So does Stitch. He's embarking on some (mis)adventures. He's on the highway in the sky, wreaking havoc, as always. 

 Poly ->TTC ->Golf Ball in less than half an hour. We're near the front of the line!

 Wait a second...what's that big golf ball doing in the flower bed? A festival? Hmmm... Sounds interesting! International Flower and Garden Festival 2012. We'll have to check out the topiaries. 


In case you haven't figured it out. We're at Epcot. You know... Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow. Remember that. Someone may ask you. 


The "golf ball" is Spaceship Earth and a wonderful resource for Homeschooling Families like ours. 

 With just a spark... of inspiration...they'll run around, and release their frustration. Fun and laughter spreads around, Makes the downside seem up and turns frowns upside down. 

 I guess Stitch used his Imagination too much. 

 It's time to eat color! The absolute best thing about eating at the Electric Umbrella is crayons and coloring pages. They produce this expression.

And this one.

 It's time to mosey over to World Showcase. 

 Stitch really liked this topiary. Of course he did. Looks like this guy is causing as much trouble as 626. 

 Little man likes Princesses. He likes to inspect, pat, hug inappropriately and most of all, meet Princesses. Here he's checking for Aurora's legs. I'm not sure why. I'm positive he has a good reason though. 

 Gotta check out the assets. You know, the necklace she is wearing. 

And lastly, Bean, our middle daughter, loves purple. On our walk from the TTC back to the Poly after a long day, we saw these flowers. They're purple, so of course she asked me to take a picture. Because they're purple. And, as a tired and obliging mom, I did just that. You know, because they're purple.