Magic, Memories and You with Valentine's Day Tag

Last night the Valentines Day tag debuted for the Magic, Memories and You at the Magic Kingdom.  Sorry that the video was extra shaky.  I was trying to balance everything that I was left holding, but it gets steady early on.  Let me know what you think!

Wordless Weekend

Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party

I was lucky enough to attend Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party a few weeks ago at the Magic Kingdom. This was my second year to be able to attend and I was really looking forward to it.  For those of you who haven't heard about it, this is a "hard-ticket" event, meaning that your regular park ticket will not admit you and you need to purchase separate admission to enjoy the party.

The Magic Kingdom closes to the public at 7pm and then all the fun begins.  You have a special wrist band that gains you access to the trick or treating, the parade and the other special attractions.  We made our way back to Space Mountain for a quick ride with virtually no wait and by the time we were out it was time for trick or treats!

Each Trick or Treat location is marked with these balloons.

I was pretty happy with the candy selection.  There were several brand names in the mix.  And the lines moved fast too!

I dressed up this year too.  It was a last minute decision to wear a costume and I was able to pull together some items that I already had in my house.  Thankfully I had a "mini-dot" skirt from Running Skirts and a new pair of shoes.  It all came together very nicely.  What do you think?

We made sure to stop by the Haunted Mansion too.  One of my favorite parts of the party is the ghost that interacts with the guests in the queue there.  She is hilarious!  Last year she spent a lot of time flirting with some of the guys in our group.  This year we didn't get to see her until after we exited the mansion, but she was definitely up to her old antics.

The two things you don't want to miss during the party are Hallowishes and the Boo to You Parade.  I enjoy every fireworks show in Walt Disney World, but Hallowishes is by-far my favorite show.  The music is completely different, including "Scary-oke."  The best part is the perimeter fireworks that you can only see during the party nights (including Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party).

Once the fireworks were over, we made our way to stake out our spot for the parade.  The parade was full of some surprises this year too!  But before the parade started, we were serenaded by the Cadaver Dans!

 

The Boo to You Parade is led off by the Headless Horseman "galloping" down the parade route.  Followed with the most catching music that you will here in a parade.

Captain Barbossa was a surprise to me.  I'm not sure if he was in the parade last year.

Angelica was an addition this year!

Dr. Facilier was present in the parade!

After the parade I made my way over to see the Villains Mix and Mingle.  I was distracted by Tarzan and Jane (ok, it was really just Tarzan that was distracting me) in Adventureland, but still made it out of their queue with enough time to get to the Villains.

The featured Villain in the show was Dr. Facilier.  The dancing and lighting was amazing.  I wish my camera had been able to get some good pictures of the performance, but I wasn't that lucky.  After the performance, the Villains all come down so that you could get pictures with them.  I made an effort to get pictures of the ones I hadn't seen before.

Frollo

My last stop before leaving for the night was to visit some princesses.  This wasn't just any Princess meet and greet.  They had their Princes with them.  Quite honestly, I didn't care about meeting any of the princes except for Flynn Rider.  He and Rapunzel didn't disappoint either.  They were great!  Rapunzel was absolutely gorgeous.  We discussed my costume and I told her how I hoped to get the same skirt in purple and she squealed with delight because, of course, that's her favorite color!  The other princes weren't as exciting for me and I politely went up to them and got my pictures and made my way out of the room.

By the time I was out of the princess room, it was after midnight and the park was closing.  I blew the castle a kiss and made my way home. 

Would I go to the party again?  I only ask because one of the podcasts that I listen to actually said that they didn't think that the party was worth the money anymore.  I know that I would go again, but I would not pay full price.  Definitely take advantage of the discounts that there are out there.  If the prices continue to rise, I may have to reconsider my statement though.  In the meantime, put this on your must do this!

Fall Has Arrived in the Magic Kingdom

I know that other bloggers have already shared their pictures of some of the Halloween decorations that are already in place at the Magic Kingdom, but I wanted to share some of my own.  I made my way over to the Magic Kingdom last Friday night to see the Magic, Memories, and You and Wishes!  I got these pictures before the sun went down:

And something that I don't think I've ever seen in the evening at the Magic Kingdom.  A few of the Main Street vehicles were still out.  I thought that they were only out in the mornings.  Hmmm...  Does this have something to do with a closed Toontown?  I'll keep my eyes out for them and let you know if I see them in the evening again.

A new tradition!

I woke up early on Monday morning and got my bags and my Owner's Locker.  I planned on checking into my flight and checking my bags with Magical Express nice and early.  There was rope drop to make it to!

Yup, I planned on making it to the Magic Kingdom for rope drop that morning.  I hadn't really spent a lot of time there during my trip and Monday was looking to be a lot warmer than the rest of the weekend.

I didn't have any trouble getting my luggage taken care of and I was quickly on my way to the park.  I made it there as the show was going on and I was caught behind a bunch of people.

It looks like I actually got through bag check and maybe even got to scan my ticket but then I hit a wall of people.  It was neat to see the show, but I wish I had seen it from the beginning.  That's something to shoot for on another day!

I do wish I was part of the family that got to be in the show!

I got to Town Square and decided to take a ride on a Main Street Vehicle.  That was a nice treat for the day.

Once I got to the hub I realized that I was there nice and early.  Early enough to go on a ride that I hadn't ever been on.  Ever.

Dumbo!!!

It wasn't too long a wait.  I think it went for maybe 3 rounds before it was my turn.

And it was what I expected.  I guess.  It did take me 33 years for my first ride on it.  I probably won't go out of my way to go on it again unless I am trying an Ultimate Touring Plan or I am with children.

After Dumbo, I made my way to It's a Small World.  I wanted to test out my camera on the ride (without a flash of course).  Here's one thing I would ask of all parents when boarding a boat ride.  Please look at the groups around you.  If every family is having their child board first, then every adult will be on the same side of the boat.  The boat will then be leaning to one side (significantly sometimes) during the whole ride.  Yup.  I sat on the side that all the kids were sitting on, but it wasn't enough to counter balance 6 adults.

After Small World, I headed to the Haunted Mansion with almost no wait.  Then Toontown was opening.  I thought it would be great to go see Tinkerbell and her friends since I hadn't met them yet.

The wait for Tinkerbell was only about 15 minutes.  They use Pixie Dust to shrink you down to pixie size and then you go into meet everyone.  Of course, they were all excited to see me and when they saw my medal, they were ever more excited and wanted to hear all about my race.  They asked me if I was ran really fast or if I was given Pixie Dust so that I could fly to the finish and win.  I told them I wasn't fast at that the medal was a reward for finish.  Tink ask me if it was a "slow and steady wins the race."  I had to laugh at that and tell her that was my approach.

Tink was full of energy and practically bouncing off the walls.  She came over to me when I was with Fawn and started talking my ear off.  We went to her are to take picture and then she walked me over to Terrance.

She had to tell Terrance about my medal and how far I had to run.  I think he was really impressed. 

He, of course, posed for a picture with me too.

After I headed back into Toontown and decided to hop onto Goofy's Barnstormer.  It was a day of firsts so, why not?  It wasn't a bad ride and the theming of queue is lots of fun with loads to look at.

I figured I had time for one more ride so I headed over to the Jungle Cruise.  I had never had a chance to ride it in the daytime.  I had a good skipper.  I also had an almost full memory card so I didn't get to take very many pictures.

I then started making my way out of the park when I saw that Princess Tiana was about to come out for a meet and greet.  Of course I had to get in line!  I got to meet her and Prince Navine!

After meeting the Princess and her Prince, I caught a few minutes of the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! parade/show and then headed back to my resort to get some lunch and take the sad Magical Express ride back to the airport.

Overall, this was a really good trip.  I've never been so cold in Florida before in my life.  Even when I went over Christmas during my senior year of high school, it wasn't this cold.  It was a great experience for me though and I'll be back there with Team in Training this January so I can do the full!