Day Three: MNSSHP
Without a break we were off to the Magic Kingdom where we were given super cool wristbands and ran inside by 4pm!
Our first stop was the Seven Dwarves Mine Train which was down to about a 40 minute wait. We played around a bit in the queue where Coda was constantly irritated by adults (not kids) holding up the line by stopping at each play station for 5 minutes while the people in front of them kept going (he's not so good with the patience virtue). The coaster itself was really amazing! I LOVED the combination of thrill and dark ride. The cottage at the end was so cool! Were those animatronics from Snow White's Scary Adventure? The only downside to the mine coaster was that it was so incredibly short.
Next we headed to the Emporium to grab the limited edition MNSSHP magic bands! I wish I had pictures... but I don't. Here are some stock photos of them though:
We were told they'd do something unique when we came through the gate! We later tried them and they made the magic band reader light up with multicolored lights vs. the normal green. Unfortunately, it only happened once and I'm not sure if it will ever happen again.
When we left the Emporium we noticed a line starting to form next to City Hall. When we stopped to ask about it we found out it would be Jack and Sally who were coming out early tonight! We were lucky enough to get close to the front of the line! Coda is totally obsessed with Jack Skellington.
Yay!! Oh, and as you can see, we did not dress up because my husband is a party pooper. Moving on...
By this time in the day we were literally about to starve to death (okay, not literally). We ended up settling on Pecos Bill since we'd never been. We were both very impressed and agreed it would be our new go-to place at the Magic Kingdom! Yummmm! With food out of the way, it was time for another ride.
The Haunted Mansion!! Everything worked perfectly with no stops or hangups... SIKE (yes, I said that). We got stuck for about five minutes in front of Leota.
We had a photo taken with the ghost outside but my photopass pictures expired and I accidentally deleted it from my computer. Oops.
Now, I have something rather embarrassing to admit. I spent a good portion of the night standing in a line not related to rides, characters, or candy. What line, you ask? Well, the line for the soft opening of Memento Mori, the new Haunted Mansion store.
As you can see, I was not the only one mad enough to stand in a line for two hours to get into a store that I didn't buy anything from... It was extremely cool though! There are a couple of neat hidden elements to the shop that you will either see by chance or by patience.
Following our short venture into the gift shop, we exited and went to see the ghosts out on the lawn.
She was so entertaining and a definite high spot of the night! I only regret she did not stay out longer.
By this point in the night we were beginning to think about getting a spot for the parade. On the way we stopped to meet Rapunzel (no pics because I look like a hot mess in those particular pictures). We also met Cinderella. She was probably the strangest of the face characters I've ever met. She was pretty out of character, in my opinion. Perhaps she was just having a bad day, but she seemed pretty exasperated at having to take pictures with people.
Finally, it was time to get a seat for the fireworks and parade! We got a seat close to the castle on the sidewalk. The Celebrate the Magic show was so cool! I loved the addition of the villains and Frozen characters.
I also loved the perimeter fireworks! But then it was over.
We decided to hang around and wait for the parade. In the meantime, I ran down to Main Street Bakery for a cupcake that wouldn't have orange flavored frosting! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures because it quickly went into my belly.
Then the Boo To You Parade started... OMG. My life was pretty much complete when I saw the headless horseman.
I was so glad it hadn't rained! I would've been devastated if the horseman couldn't ride. The parade was AWESOME! The parade alone is totally worth paying the entry fee, in my opinion.
This picture is really interesting... Someone took a flash photo in the middle of mine so half the ghosts are lit up and half aren't.
Once the parade (sadly) ended, we decided to hit a couple rides. First was Peter Pan's Flight (no pics, obviously) followed by Under the Sea!
It was now that Coda decided we should start trick-or-treating. Let me tell you, waiting until the end of the night is the way to go for sure! Every station we went to filled our bags at least halfway! Pics later
On our way out of the park we ran into Jafar!
By now the park was closing and we tried to make one last dash for Pirates of the Caribbean. The CM at the front told us we would be the last ones of the night! We ran through and almost got lost in the process. When we got to loading, however, they told us we couldn't ride. So we turned around and walked back out.
The entire park was perfectly spooky with the fog and Halloween music (did I mention we were totally alone?). When we got back to Main Street where people were filing out, it was blue!
We left the park considering coming back the next night because our bags were so full of candy and we'd had such a great time! We got in the car and headed back to the hotel. Once there, we decided to organize our candy because we're adults.
Good night!
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