This year Walt Disney World in Florida is holding their annual Pirate and Princess Party on February 9, 14, 22 and 26 and on March 1, 8, 11 and 14. These special ticketed events run from 7 PM to 12 AM.

This event is held at the Magic Kingdom park and offers a special parade and fireworks show. The Disney’s Enchanted Adventures Parade features Disney’s fairy tale characters and pirates including Captain Jack Sparrow. The Magic, Music and Mayhem fireworks is a special show just for this event full of surprises.

Children often wear princess of pirate costumes and enjoy some of the most loved rides in the Magic Kingdom. There are freebies, character meet and greets, pirate and princess courts, a special stage show in front of Cinderella’s Castle and much more.

I recommend purchasing tickets in advance as this is a popular activity. If you do so there is a small savings too. Regular prices are for ages 10 and up - $45.95 and for ages 3-9 - $39.95. Purchases in advance save you $2, but if you are an Annual Passholder, the savings are $10.

The great thing about this party is that the park is open only Pirates and Princesses and their parents (or maybe you’d like to be one or the other, remember this is where dreams come true!). This creates less crowds and more specialized attention to the guests attending. The treasure hunt is a lot of fun. When you arrive you get a booty bag and a map. At each “X” you receive a small prize, it can be beads, candy or a light stick. There’s special entertainment throughout the park too, be sure to catch the break dancers in Tomorrow Land.

You can call to order your tickets in advance at 1-407-WDW-AHOY or order them online directly from Walt Disney World Tickets here. If you have an Annual Pass you can order by calling 1-407-560-PASS or by ordering online here.

Welcome to my third blog! This is going to allow me to showcase some of my interests like Disney, Walt Disney World in Florida, collecting Disney items, travel and of course my family. I’m hoping that the focus of this blog will be interesting to others as it is to me.

Of course most of my writing will be about my love affair with Disney and especially Mickey Mouse. I consider him my boyfriend. This is a family joke that will be go on for as long as I’m around and hopefully after I’m gone too. There’s a story behind it that I’ll share on my first post to get started off right.

My younger sister passed away at the age of 33 from Leukemia. About 5 years before she was sick she came to Florida to visit me, my older daughter and our parents. While here we took a trip to Disney World.

We had a blast! I never laughed or smiled so much! We ate up every moment of this short trip, savoring it. My favorite part of this vacation was when my sister saw Mickey. This was when he still walked around the parks. She grabbed me and my daughter and pulled us along with her on a mad dash to get to him.

As we waited on line to get our photo taken with Mickey, my sister was acting all silly. It was as if she was getting ready to go on a date. Did her hair look perfect? Was her shirt tucked in? I teased her about it, but joined in on the fun.

When it was our turn for our photos, she asked if she could go first. There she went a bit shy walking up to Mickey. He hugged her for the photo. She was smiling from ear to ear. Then she did something I’ll never forget - she leaned over and kissed him on the nose and snuck away. The look on her face was priceless. How I wish I had that photo. It’s gone now. But I have the memory and to this day it makes me happy.

So in honor of my sister who died way too young, I love Mickey Mouse. I have to get a photo with him every time we go to WDW and we go a lot. I remember my sister and how we took each moment and made it into a forever place in time. I do that on our trips because Disney allows me to do it.