The Elusive Snow White

Throughout our trip to Disneyland, we had made an effort to meet and great every Disney character we possibly could. We waited in long line-ups, battled screaming kids, braved the hot hot sun, and forged through turnstile after turnstile in an effort to get a picture with each and every one. But by our last day, we still had not even caught a glimpse of Snow White...and with Lucy's costume being a delicate snow-white replica, it was getting a bit disappointing. On our second last day, we headed to the park in the evening to get a few more rides in, knowing that the next morning (Friday), we would be packing up and heading to the airport. The kids wanted another turn on Pirates, Small World, and Tarzan. As we entered the park, Tyler decided to head over to the town-hall to see if he could ask anyone about the possibility of meeting Snow White while the kids and I headed to Small World. Unfortunately we were hitting the park just moments before the parade started, so getting around was a bit more difficult. There were crowds of people (not unusual) not moving (very unusual) as they were all jockeying for their spot to see the parade. Plus there were roped off sections to keep people off the parade route. For those not stopping to watch the parade, it made it very difficult. We waited and waited and waited at the entrance to Small World for Tyler to link up with us, but our time kept getting short. We saw the start of the parade and then decided to just go ahead (which I'm sure Tyler was fine with since Small World was his least favorite). As we got off the ride, we saw Tyler waiting at the gate. He had missed us only by moments. He had made arrangements at the town hall to get a "Front of the Line" pass so we could go to the Fantasy Faire (where the princesses are) to meet Snow White first thing in the morning before our flight. We finished our rides in the park for the evening and then headed to bed excited for our opportunity to finally see our last Disney Princess the next day.
We awoke early on Friday, knowing it was going to be tight, and got a tired and grumpy Lucy dressed into our Snow White costume and loaded up the car for the airport. We trucked over to the park and headed to the Fantasy Faire (which is pretty much on the exact opposite side of the park from the entrance), needless to say, Tyler and I were sweating before we got there, at 9am. We approached the line-up (already longer than we had seen it the whole time we had been there), and were grateful to have our "front of the line" passes. We showed them to the person AT said front of the line, only to be told that those passes were for attractions (meaning rides) only, and not for entertainment, which included the meet and great with the princesses. We explained our quandary to a number of people, and explained that "Jody" at City Hall said we could use these passes for this purpose. A few parents who had made it through the meet and great told us that Snow White was in fact in there at that moment. Oh, we were so close! Kyle, who worked the meet and great (and was more managerial because he wore a suit instead of a costume) was trying everything he could to give us an opportunity, without taking away from all the other kids who were waiting in line. We explained that our time was short (to say the least!) and he was working miracles. He told us to hold tight for 10 minutes and when the new princess came to switch off with Snow White, he would set up a private meeting in a separate room for Lucy. We watched our watches, sweating even more than we had trucking it across the park carrying two kids. We were getting worried that it just wasn't going to happen. We had a flight to catch in a few hours, and an hour and a half drive from Anaheim to Los Angelas still ahead of us.
Finally, we were ushered into some strange elevator and emerged into some back 'princess' staging room. We waited, and all of a sudden, Snow White appeared!
She was sweet and wonderful and so excited to see Lucy and Max. She spoke in a tiny voice and told Lucy she looked just like her and asked if she had gone through her closet this morning. They exchanged hugs, Lucy got an autograph, and took a few pictures. (You can see that Lucy still has a bit of bedhead in these pictures...proof that we literally woke her up and dragged her out there!) There was a lot of build-up to this moment and I admit I was a bit teary seeing it finally come to fruition. Max got a chance to great Snow White as well, and was happy that he called her a handsome prince. They got a few pictures as well, and then it was time to say goodbye.
We rushed off as quickly as we had arrived, but made a quick stop to thank Kyle for everything he did. Disneyland truly was magical. Every moment was fun, and they really did everything to help all of our dreams come true.
And we didn't even miss our flight. Although it was a treat for me to be in a stall in the ladies washroom at LAX and hear, "Heather Williamson, please come to gate blah blah blah, your plane is leaving!" Nice.