So, finally, here we are at the actual anniversary of my birth. Before we headed to WDW, I told G I wanted to get a makeover at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique for my birthday. Something totally ridiculous, I thought it would be hilarious to do. He got an appointment for me on the morning of my birthday. We arrived at the boutique in Downtown Disney at 11. I gave them my name and received my invitation addressed to “Princess Amanda.” This contained my makeover options. The “Fairytale Princess,” involving a topknot and tiara, the “Disney Diva,” involving extensions and rhinestone barrettes, or the “Pop Princess,” involving rainbow extensions and sparkley clips. I already knew I wanted the Fairytale Princess option. I was walked over to and introduced to my fairy godmother-in-training. She seated me in a pink salon chair, and went over the options with me, and I told her my selection. She placed a cape over me and got to work. Another fairy godmother-in-training came over with a makeup pallet and had me select eye makeup, which she promptly got to work on. My godmother-in-training was very bubbly, and quickly pulled my mass of hair on top of my head, making sure it was okay for her to pull back my bangs. “My, you have very thick hair, Princess,” she exclaimed as she bundled the hair into a ponytail. The other godmother brought over a selection of tiaras for me to choose from. It had it down to two choices, so I called G over to help me decide. I selected a tiara of white rhinestones. It was explained that when a princess got crowned, she got to make a wish. I closed my eyes and made a wish. The makeover continued, with more makeup, much hair combing and lots of hairspray. There was a plastic shield I held over my face to keep it from getting covered in hairspray. After getting a dollop of lip gloss and learning the “princess pop,” I was sprinkled with a lot of glitter from a glitter fairy wand. The final touch was to have a princess sash placed on. I was asked to cross my legs like a princess and place my hands in my lap. I was then asked to close my eyes. I could hear the sash being prepared, then it was placed over my shoulders. Once again, I was asked to make a wish. My chair spun around while a fairy spell was said over me. When the chair stopped, I opened my eyes to see myself in the mirror. It was pretty hilarious. My hair was pulled so tight, I looked like I had a face lift! We went to the counter, where my princess bag was waiting for me. It contained all of my makeover goodies, including the makeup pallet and adhesive rhinestones. We killed some time at the Disney Store, while waiting for G’s parents to pick us up. I was wearing a black strapless sundress that my sis had given me. I thought that once I put my sunglasses on, I looked a little like Holly Golightly. It was a little cooler than it had been, so despite the Breakfast at Tiffany’s appeal to what I was wearing, I thought it would be even more fun to wear the Snow White dress my mother-in-law had brought with her. She had picked it up from a costume shop that was going out of business, and I had considered wearing it, as I didn’t really have another hundred bucks to drop on a princess dress at the parks. With the heat, I’d pretty much ruled out getting to wear it. Since we’d need to go back to the resort anyway, it would be the perfect chance to change.
We met up with the ‘rents, and headed back to the hotel. I changed, moving my sash and birthday button to the Snow White dress. I kept on my black sandals, and popped my sunglasses on top of my head. G’s dad took a couple of snapshots, and G went downstairs to get a couple more of me looking out over the balcony. We then set off for Epcot. We figured that since we were going to be eating dinner there, we would hit the park while we were at it. Then, the plan was to go to Hollywood Studios for extra magic hours to hit the rides we couldn’t get to at the race after party. We arrived at the park to a minimal line to go through security. We went to will call to get my park birthday gift, while the in-laws went to get a wheelchair for my mom-in-law. After hearing all my options, I opted for the $79 gift card. We headed into the park, hitting Future World first. We started with Spaceship Earth, then split up so we could check out Mission Space and Test Track and the ‘rents could hit Soarin’. Unfortunately, there were no more fast passes for Test Track, and we weren’t up for waiting for an hour. We went to Mission Space, which was fun as usual. Cast member after cast member wished me a “Happy Birthday, Princess!!” In one of the gift shops, a cast member fawned over my dress. It was a fun and silly day. We met back up with the ‘rents, and headed over to the World Showcase. We saw a kiosk for the Kim Possible scavenger hunt. G had heard it was fun, so we got a ticket for it, and were told to go to Norway where we would get our device. We had a bit of time, so we perused a bit around the showcase. I popped into a gift shop, where I picked up a stuffed Stitch popping out of a happy birthday cupcake. I got a gift for a friend, and we kind of poked around checking out pins and such. A young teenage girl (probably 13) asked if she could take my picture. I obliged, and that sort of thing happens to me a lot, since I tend to dress, um, eccentricly. She then proceeded to take pictures of just about everything in the store. We checked out, and continued on to Norway. We found the Kim Possible kiosk where we were to pick up our hunt devices. It was decided that we would grab fast passes for the Maelstrom, so we could do the scavenger hunt then go on the ride. We were strolling over to the Maelstrom when I heard G call out to me. I turned to see him and his parents with a security guard. I skipped over, figuring it was another happy birthday wish. “That attire might be appropriate for the Magic Kingdom, but here we have our own show.” I chuckled, thinking he had a weird sense of humor. He looked at my shopping bag and said gruffly, “You have something to change into?”
“No,” I replied, confused. He told us to follow him. He walked us over near the restrooms, where he started talking in his radio. We couldn’t hear what he was saying. We were standing in the sun, so G and I walked over to the shade. We figured the hubbub had something to do with my dress, but we weren’t clear, and Jerry, the security guard, wasn’t telling us. After nearly fifteen minutes without knowing what was going on, G’s dad headed off to find a manager to help us. We waited some more, with no more info, so G’s mom called information to get connected to guest services. We just had to stand there with the security guard as masses of people passed us in and out of the restroom. I felt like a criminal. Finally, the manager came over with G’s dad. He took us back stage to talk. By this time I was livid. I am a pretty emotional person, unfortunately this often manifests itself in tears, which were flowing beyond my control at this point. It was explained that they have different policies for their adult guests than they do for children. “Sounds like discrimination to me, ” I said sharply. He went on to say that they want to protect their characters, and it was just too easy for a kid to think that I was really Snow White. I found this pretty hard to believe. I mean, I have red hair (which was in a bun), was wearing all my birthday stuff, etc. I think that a kid would have to not know what Snow White looks like, at all, if they were to mistake me for her.
He continued that he would allow me to keep the dress on, since I wore it into the park and didn’t have a change of clothes with me. Then, he wanted to know what he could do. We told him it was our last day at the parks, and we really didn’t have a lot of time left, and a bunch of it had just been wasted. Finally it came to us riding the Test Track, since they didn’t have fast passes. I wasn’t to keen on this, but he insisted that he would get someone to drive over, take us there and get us right on, then drive us back. I agreed, just because I wanted things to be over. He implied that getting me on the Test Track would, “wash all the bad memories away.” Hardly. We asked if they could do something for us on a return trip. He said he was hesitant to do so, since he felt that would, “bring all those memories back.” Bullshit. He finally agreed to take our information so they could do something for us then. I asked him to have a chat with Jerry. I told him I was completely appalled at the way Jerry treated us. I told him what he said, and that he pulled us away without telling us why. He replied that I just said he told me why. I repeated what Jerry said again, and said that was not stating a policy, or explaining why he pulled us aside. It was being rude and sarcastic. I said that I never expected anyone who worked at Disney to act that way, and I would never want another guest treated that way, especially not on their birthday for crying out loud. He assured me he would have “more than a chat with Jerry.”
Eventually, a cast member came over in an SUV to take us to Test Track. Curtis, the manager, kept asking if we were good. I just had to nod, as there wasn’t really much, outside of me kicking Jerry in the junk and embarrassing him the way he had me. We went off to Test Track which, for the record, is really hard to enjoy when you are furious. Once we rode, we were taken back to the ‘rents. By this point, we had to start heading to Chefs de France for our dinner reservation. I really just wanted to go home. People continued to wish me a happy birthday, but I didn’t want any of the attention. I felt like there was an APB out on me by this point, and everyone knew I was a criminal. I didn’t have much of an appetite, and the thought of sitting through dinner was unpleasant. I felt like I couldn’t ruin anyone else’s day, so we went. I got the appetizer and meal I’d planned on, but the joy of eating it was lost on me. Instead of the Kir I’d planned on drinking, I stuck with soda, of which I managed to drink one. I heard the staff singing to other guests at the restaurant and prayed that they would somehow skip me. This was not the case. For the first time in my life, I did not want anyone looking at me, I didn’t want any attention, I just wanted to slide under the table. It really sucked.
I don’t embarrass easily. I’ve done some stupid things, and gotten myself into awkward situations, all of which I could laugh off. This, however, I couldn’t laugh off. I am still furious. So, I am researching, and compiling my letter of complaint. So far, the only things I have been able to find on rules for apparel at the parks have nothing about dressing too accurately as a character. The closest thing I found was that one dressed as a character could not accept money for photos and autographs, which I did not do. I really have no desire to go back to the parks for a very long time, and am disappointed that those are the memories I have of my birthday.
I bet that is not how one would expect me to get into trouble at Disney World.