10th September
This morning we had another late start as we were heading to
the Halloween party tonight and so were in no hurry to go anywhere.
We skipped breakfast and headed to Downtown Disney for lunch
at the Rainforest Cafe. We had a nice meal but there did seem to be quite a few
empty tables. Also, I took this photo – yellow mustard?!
We then decided to take a ride on a pontoon boat. We have
done this on several trips and we quite like them, it can be quite relaxing.
However, if you are going to take a boat ride I suggest
doing so at one of the resorts that access the Seven Seas Lagoon. The
Sassagoula river is quite busy and there is a lot of traffic on a relatively
narrow channel which can be quite challenging at times!
Boat ride over and we grabbed a slushie drink from Goofys.
Then we went back to the resort to get ready for the party.
We arrived at the Magic Kingdom at around 6pm and I headed
into Town Square Theatre to meet Mickey quickly. I was wearing my Mickey and
Minnie Halloween T-shirt and Mickey seemed quite impressed :)
We headed over to Splash Mountain to see if the Seven Dwarfs
were still meeting over here on party nights but they had moved this year.
So, we took a quick ride on Splash and then got in line to
buy some special pins. There was quite a big line but we got in eventually!
We headed across towards Fantasyland and saw the Seven
Dwarfs along the way – they had a massive line so we skipped it. We collected a
little bit of candy along the way and then I met Gaston outside his tavern.
We decided not to watch the first parade so we headed down
to Storybook Circus and then Tomorrowland. I decided to meet Buzz as he had a
really short line.
As there was no dessert party we decided to watch
Hallowishes from Tomorrowland Terrace. We got some chairs and sat next to the
barrier. It was an exceelent view for Celebrate the Magic and the fireworks and
was so nice not to be surrounded by people for once!
After the fireworks we headed away from Main Street to find
a parade spot. We ended up in Liberty Square near the bell. We found a spot
behind a rope where no one would stand behind us :) It was excellent not to be
pushed around or have someone push in front of us!
After the parade (which we love) we went about collecting
candy. I always take some back for my work colleagues and we use it for
Halloween at home (we are quite popular in our neighbourhood). We managed to
get 2 cast members in Storybook Circus competing against each other and they
essentially filled 2 bags in one go (there was no one else in the line!)
We eventually collected around 8 kilos of candy (it was most
of my hand luggage on the way home)!
We eventually headed out of the park shortly after 12 and
took the ferryboat back to the car park. We got back to the room around 1am!
11th September
After our late night we had another late start this morning.
We headed across to Downtown Disney for another Earl of Sandwich lunch! Then we
did some shopping – Rob had been trying to find some new sunglasses and finally
picked a pair of Oakleys after much deliberation!
We stopped and facetimed home again – the kids were excited
by the mention of shopping!
Then we decided to pop over to Epcot – we saw the
Illuminations barges being brought out. We had originally planned dinner at Paradiso
37 for tonight but we changed our mind and decided instead to go to Tony’s in
the Magic Kingdom. I swapped our ADR using the app and had quite a few choices
available.
We popped back to the room and then over to the Magic
Kingdom. I picked up a fast pass for the Princess meet and greet so that I
could get some more autographs in my book.
We had dinner as planned in Tony’s (although for some reason
the ADR that I had made had not come through on their system), the food was
just ok but our server was great and it was nice being in the Lady and the
Tramp themed restaurant!
We watched Wishes from Main Street which was quite crowded and
reminded me once again why I like to stay at Bay Lake Tower with a Magic
Kingdom view.
Afterward we headed to Town Square Theatre to meet the
princesses. Oddly, they were on a break and we ended up waiting about 20
minutes but we were the only people in the fast pass line and so they let us
through first. I met Rapunzel, Princess Aurora and Cinderella!
Once we were done we headed back to the room for the night.
12th September
Another late start this morning and so we got lunch at Artist’s
Palate and then we popped to Walmart and Target to buy some Halloween stuff for
when we got home.
We had dinner planned for Yak and Yeti this afternoon so we
headed to the Animal Kingdom. We arrived and another mega storm arrived! We
hadn’t even got to the front gate and we would have been completely soaked if
we had continued to the restaurant.
So, I cancelled our ADR using my app and changed our ADR to
Sanaa for about an hour later. We stayed in the gift shop until the rain
reduced a little and then we got back in the car and drove to the Animal Kingdom
Lodge.
Thankfully they have an undercover parking lot and so we
stayed dry. We had a quick look around and then checked in for our ADR. We were
seated quickly and got a table by the window and so we could see the animals
while we ate!
We were pleasantly surprised by the food here. We weren’t
sure what to expect but our meal was lovely and we are going back again in
December!
After dinner we went for a look around outside as the rain
had stopped. We could see lots of the animals and we really liked the look of
the resort.
Back to the room early as we have an early start tomorrow.
13th September
The alarm went off at 6.30am this morning :( We headed over
to the Magic Kingdom for breakfast at Crystal Palace. We took the resort
monorail across and headed into the park around 8 and got our picture taken on
Main Street with hardly anyone in the background.
Breakfast was great and I got my photo taken with Pooh and
friends. I have however decided that a early reservation in the Magic Kingdom
is too early for holidays...! Next time we are going for 9.25 so we don’t have
to get up so early.
After breakfast we had a few more photos taken outside the
restaurant and then we walked back towards the front of the park.
We got a ride back down Main Street on the fire truck and
got some nice photos on the way down. We also had a few great pictures taken by
one of the photopass photographers on the way down when we had to stop to allow
the Main Street Trolley show pass by.
We headed into Fantasyland and went on the carousel followed
by It’s a Small World and the Haunted Mansion.
I stopped to meet Chip ‘n’ Dale in their cowboy outfits as I
had seen them loads of times on our trip but they had always had a long line.
Unfortunately I managed to upset Dale – I hugged Chip and
then handed him my autograph book and so Dale thought I was ignoring him and so
sulked for a little while. Then Chip decided to find me some leaves and twigs
as a gift!
We went and got a quick drink in Pecos Bills before having a
ride on Pirates before heading out of the park. We picked up a new polo shirt
for Rob before we left.
As we were leaving I spotted Snow White with no line and so
we had a quick photo on our way out.
Back at the resort we went and did some laundry at the
Paddock pool. Rob started on the ironing whilst I went and got us a cheese
flatbread for a snack.
