Thursday morning, all of us moms were up bright and early to catch the bus to Epcot for breakfast. I met some fabulous 'Disney moms': JL, Jennifer, Jackie, and more delightful ladies than I can remember! While we were enjoying a yummy breakfast, we listened to a fabulous presentation by Guy Kawasaki. He was so real and funny as he gave us tons of tips on how to harness the power of Twitter for our sites… such great information that was especially appreciated by us busy moms who are always trying to make the most of our time!
Then came one of the highlights: Disney’s involvement in the conference was to share about Disney’s Give A Day, Get a Day program. Already, 600,000 volunteers have signed up and completed the program to date – but Disney's goal is to get to one million volunteers. The entire day's events focused on honoring those who have volunteered, spotlighting volunteer opportunities and encouraging people to continue to give. It was inspiring!
And, boy, was the audience surprised when Ty Pennington from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition made an appearance and had the audience to shout with him “move those balloons!” to reveal the world’s largest canned food sculpture–more than 115,000 cans. (Later that day there was a volunteer event to pack all the canned food into boxes for distribution to food shelters.) Can you believe I forgot my camera for this morning? Of all mornings! Like I'm going to run into Ty Pennington again someday. UGH!!
After the presentation, my family and I headed over to the Princess Storybook Dining at Norway's Akershus. We've never been to any character meal at Disney and it was everything I'd heard! This was the highlight of the trip for Gracie, so for me it was worth every penny. We met Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Ariel, Belle and Cinderella:
I was worried the kids wouldn't really enjoy Epcot after our day at Magic Kingdom, but they had a blast. Disney has done a great job of providing fun activities throughout the park. They loved walking through World Showcase (where we saw tons of characters: Aladdin, Jasmine, Mulan, and Mary Poppins to name just a few). The girls were crazy about Test Track and rode it twice. But the highlight for the entire family was when Colin got to see Nemo! The Seas with Nemo and Friends ride is totally amazing… I was blown away. SUCH a cool ride! We rode it three times, I think. I wish it had been around when Ellie was 2 and totally obsessed with all things Nemo. Colin was squealing with excitement the entire time. I'll never forget it!
Later that evening, we were treated to yet another surprise: an amazing dinner prepared by Chef Robert Irvine and his crew from Food Network's Dinner Impossible. Thursday night’s event was held outside and it was cold, but Disney staff was handing out hand warmers and had outdoor heaters to help kept us warm. We parked ourselves next to a heater at a table with Mandy's adorable family and enjoyed the food that was inspired by the Disney Princesses! I loved the seafood shepherd’s pie while Gracie and Colin inhaled the chicken lo mein: I can’t wait to see the show when it airs on Food Network in the spring!
After dinner we were treated to a concert by a new band, Allstar Weekend (winners of Disney’s Next Big Thing contest), then Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato took the stage. The night ended with a fabulous fireworks display. This was my girls first concert experience and they were totally into it! They were waving their glow sticks and dancing around with their arms in the air… they were so cute they even got up on the big screen 
It was a fantastic night and a terrific party. I love how Disney pulled out all the stops to honor the volunteers!
Disclaimer: I paid a fee to attend this conference, but as an attendee I received complimentary items, special discounts, and other exciting benefits such as food and entertainment, so my family and I could experience the magic of Walt Disney World.
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