Family, travel, mom blog | Theme Park Mom (Leigh Caldwell)

Once upon a time,

in a Magical Kingdom…

There was a tea party.

Little princesses from near and far

Gathered their mothers and donned their tiaras.

They made new friends…

To dance and play with.

The cameras rolled

To welcome a new princess.

And a talk-show princess came, too…

To make some special little girls’ dreams come true.

Magical fireworks lit up the skies…

And all was right with the world.

Walt Disney World invited my daughter and me to a mother-daughter tea party and taping for the Tyra Banks Show Friday night at the Magic Kingdom. We had sweet treats and lots of fun at Swan Boat Landing, where we got to visit with Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen from the new Disney movie, “The Princess and the Frog.”

We also took the time to reflect on Disney’s first African-American princess, and how important it is to have strong, diverse female role models for our daughters.

And, after lots of practice, we got to hoot and holler when Tyra Banks herself arrived. She was dressed casually in jeans and a polo, but her shoes were, as she would say, fierce!

Tyra watched the fireworks with three very deserving little girls who had been treated to an ultimate princess experience at Walt Disney World. You can see their stories on the Tyra Banks Show this Wednesday, Nov. 25.

When you watch, keep an eye out for me, Stefanie, Lorraine and our daughters!

The Princess and the Frog opens in movie theaters on Dec. 11.

Wow! You came back! I hope you find my site helpful. Please contact me if you have any suggestions or story ideas.

My friends at the Kissimmee Convention & Visitors Bureau have launched a new blog today that I have been waiting to tell you about. i.seeKissimmee is a blog about vacationing in Central Florida. The innovative thing about it is that it could be written by YOU!

The Kissimmee Convention & Visitors Bureau has set up a guest blogger program to provide content for the site. Here’s how it works:

1. Apply to be a guest blogger by sharing information about your travel plans and a writing sample or two.
2. If you are approved, the CVB will get back to you to firm up your dates. They’ll also help you with making arrangements – and possibly getting discounts – on accommodations, attractions and your itinerary. If you already have your reservations made, that’s OK, too. (One quick note here: They can help with some discounts, but don’t apply expecting a totally free vacation.)
3. Take your vacation! While you are in Central Florida, you’ll be expected to write a minimum of 11 blog entries for the i.seeKissimmee blog that include photos and/or video.

So what do you get in return? How does a stipend of $100 a day (max of $700) sound? That would really help with your vacation budget, right?

So get those applications in! I’m going to guess that some of the popular vacation dates (like Spring Break weeks and summer) will fill up quickly, so make your plans now.

And there’s one more thing I want to stress that I love about this program – you don’t have to have an existing blog to be a guest blogger. You just need to be able to write. So, if you’ve always thought about starting your own blog, this would be a great way to get your feet wet.

I’m excited to say that I have been recruited to be the first i.seeKissimmee guest blogger, and I have been busy this week choosing lodging, dinner shows and outdoor activities to experience during my trip. I can’t wait to share my plans when I firm them up!

One of the big-ticket items on a family vacation is food. Dining out for every meal, every day certainly costs more than your average grocery bills.

One way to save some money on vacation is to frequent restaurants that offer “Kids Eat Free” deals. The challenge is that many of those restaurants only offer the deal on a particular night during the week.

Kids Eat For is a new Web site that aims to list all of the deals in a particular area. Searching for a certain city will bring up a nifty little calendar, like the one above.

The site also has an iPhone app that makes it especially handy for travelers. The app includes Yelp reviews for the restaurants listed. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Disclosure: I do not have any connection to the Kids Eat For Web site, nor have I received any payment or goods for this post. I just thought it was a cool site that might help you save some money, so I shared. For reals, y’all!

Celebrity animal expert Jack Hanna will visit SeaWorld Orlando Nov. 21 and 22.

Jungle Jack will appear in two shows a day at the theme park, at 1:15 p.m. and 3:15 p.m.

You can also go to a Breakfast With Jack Hanna each morning. The breakfast buffet is held at the SeaFire Inn restaurant and features some up-close animal encounters. A ticket to the breakfast also gets you a reserved seat to the first Jack Hanna show of the day.

Breakfast with Jack Hanna costs $18 for adults and $16 for children ages 3-9. There is a discount for annual passholders. You can book online or call 1-888-800-5447 for reservations.