Celebrating Merida – The Royal Coronation of a Disney Princess for all! #DisneySMMoms

One week ago we were at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom during the Disney Social Media Moms Conference with a VIP view of the royal celebration welcoming Merida into the official Disney Princess Royal Court!  It was a grand event (even under the hot Florida sun) and a very rare opportunity to see ALL 11 of the Disney Princesses together! For our family of all boys, there couldn’t have been a more perfect princess to celebrate. It’s the first “princess movie” that they seem really excited about. We’ve watched many of the princess films and I’ve sung “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” to the boys as a lullaby since they were babies.  But, they really haven’t been “taken with” any of the princess films before. Sure, they like Tangled, but I think that’s more because of Flinn Rider than anything having to do with the princess. But, in BRAVE, the whole focus is on Merida. Maybe it’s her fiery red hair & personality to go with, her bravery, or her archery skills; or maybe it’s the fact that there’s not a romantic love storyline in the film. Whatever the case is though, the fact is that they are very drawn to her. At Disneyland this past summer, Big Brother was SO thrilled to meet her and get her autograph! Then, the night before her coronation, we received a fun bag of Merida goodies (think dolls, figurines, wigs, etc.) and the boys were so excited! They’re still playing with those toys!  Merida is strong, brave, opinionated, independent, full of adventure, fiesty, and fiercely loves her family (as she discovers throughout the movie). And, this mama of all boys is just fine with the boys being drawn to a girl like that! So, it was quite a privilege to watch her be officially welcomed into the Disney Princess Royal Court!

In true Disney fashion, the celebration was beautiful! It started with Gold Medal Olympian Gabby Douglas and her mom, a special Mother’s Day weekend treat! They were then joined be Royal Majesty Maker, Lady Llewellyn, who introduced the Princess Court! What a site to see all those beautiful Disney Princesses! So fun!Then, we heard it…the distant sounds of bagpipes and Scottish drums.  The crowd began to murmur and just behind us, we saw glimpses of Merida riding in on her gorgeous steed, Angus. We were close to the castle, so didn’t have the best view of this. But, Josh Hallett, the Disney Social Media Moms photographer got a couple of great shots of this (his are the bottom 2 in this collage)! She strutted up to the castle, where Lady Llewellyn introduced her and read the Royal Proclamation! Then, in fitting fashion for the movie BRAVE and for Mother’s Day weekend, Queen Elinor took the stage to present the crown to her daughter. “I am proud of all that you are and all that I know you’ll become. I’m proud of you…”It was a beautiful moment! Then, Merida proudly proclaimed (in thick Scottish brogue), “I am strong. I am brave. I am Merida. And I am a Princess.” Fireworks erupted and a large banner fell across the castle.

Photo credit: Josh Hallett

It was SUCH a privilege to be present for such a rare Disney occasion! Welcome Princess Merida! And, if all those pictures weren’t enough, you’ll find the official Disney Parks video of the celebration below. It’s extra exciting for us as Big Brother (& a number of other #DisneySMMoms kiddos) appears in it briefly (at the 47 second mark)! So special!

Who is YOUR favorite Disney Princess? 

Dis­clo­sure: My fam­ily was invited to the 2013 Dis­ney Social Media Moms Cel­e­bra­tion. I paid a con­fer­ence fee to attend and received dis­counted & com­pli­men­tary items from Walt Dis­ney World as part of the expe­ri­ence. I was not asked to write about our expe­ri­ences at the con­fer­ence or our fam­ily trip. All opin­ions and expe­ri­ences are entirely my own.