Disney Princesses 101

About 10 years ago, give or take, some brilliant person at Disney decided to expand on the idea of all the different Princesses in the Disney movies. Thus started a mulit-billion dollar industry of toys, clothing, dress-up clothing, food products, etc. Disney World has also really developed their park and dining (character) meals to make little girls feel like true princesses in the Parks. There is a Pirates and Princesses Party after hours. There is the Bippity Boppity Boutique where little girls are transformed into tiny princesses (more to come on that experience). Cast Members greet little girls as "princesses" - for example - when going through a food line, the cashier would look at Beth and say "good morning princess!" If a little girl was all dressed up and on a bus, the bus driver would come on and say that we all needed to be on our best royal behavior, we were riding with a Disney Princess! If you have a little girl age 3 and over, you are probably super familiar with the Princesses, but for those you may need a proper introduction, let me introduce you to all the Disney Princesses:

First, is Princess Cinderella. Probably the most famous Princess and definitely the most popular at Disney World. After all, her castle is there! There are ample opportunities for little girls to meet Cinderella - at character meals and within the park (in Mickey's ToonTown Fair). We met Cinderella at her Happily Ever After Dinner at 1900 Park Fare in the Grand Floridian. "Cinderella" even slipped her an invitation under our hotel door for the dinner! (more to come on that dinner, later)

Second, meet Princess Aurora, aka Sleeping Beauty. She is Beth's favorite. Probably because she has a pink dress! You might remember that she pricked her finger on a spinning wheel and fell into a deep sleep until her "true love" Prince Phillip kissed her! **sigh**

Third, we have Snow White. The "oldest"of the Disney Princesses, she makes her home in the forrest with the 7 Dwarves. She is my least favorite, probalby because I'll never be able to get that horrible singing voice from the cartoon movie out of my head! Beth is indifferent to Snow White, thankfully!

Fourth, meet Jasmine. A more recent Princess, Jasmine comes to us from the 1990's movie ALADIN. She is middle-eastern and quite spunky! She has a pet Tiger, Raja. She was cute!

Fifth, let me introduce to Mulan. Mulan is of "Asian" decent and comes from the movie aptly named after her - MULAN. Not sure when this movie came out - late 90's or early 00's. Beth LOVES this movie, but doesn't consider Mulan to be one of her favorites.

Sixth, we have Belle from BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. She is from a small village in France, and she dreams of adventure and romance. She soon finds it in a scarey castle with an intimidating Beast! Luckily for her, the Beast turns back into a prince and they live happily every ever! Belle is my favorite and this movie is my all time favorite Disney movie. It came out in the early 1990's, so I was 15 or so. Beth also likes Belle - according to her - she is her "second favorite." The "Belle" we met was just delightful!

Seventh, meet Pocohantus. She is Native American and came from the movie named after her - from the late 1990's or early '00's. Not sure. Beth also adores this movie, but doens't consider Pocohantus a Princess...and honestly, she really wasn't. We found Pocohantus at Animal Kingdom.

Lastly, meet Ariel . She is from Disney's LITTLE MERMAID, another favorite of mine. Beth likes it a lot, too, and considers Ariel her "third favorite" she tells me. Ariel lives under the sea but longs to be human so she can marry Prince Eric. After some drama, she eventually is turned into a human by her dad, King Triton! WOOHOO! We found Ariel in her "grotto" at Magic Kingdom!

I tell you what, the Princesses we met were all truly "their" character! I can't imagine how many times those girls have to watch their movie over and over again to learn their charcter. They were all so "into" it - from their movements to their voices. It was amazing! I give major snaps to those young women. It may not look like they have a hard job, but its has got to be exausting to wear those heavy dresses all day and do nothing but smile for the camera every 2-3 minutes! It would be like you are a Bride all day every day! (heavy dress- lots of pictures!) Bless their hearts for doing what they do and making thousands of little girls' dreams come true each and every day!