Trip Report August 2024- Now With Half The Whining!

Hello everyone! My daughter Sage and I were in Disney from August 17th-24th so I thought I should finally get going on this trip report!

I have done several trip reports here over the years so I apologize if this is repeat information but, just to give you a quick refresh, I am married and have two girls, they are 13 and almost 9. We have been to Disney many times as a family. Unfortunately my kids are very high maintenance and both tend to have behavior issues. They also fight constantly. Yes, even in Disney. Our last family trip was in March of 2023. After that trip, my husband decided he wanted to take a break from Disney. This was absolutely out of the question for me; Disney is my one true love (and also my job) and I could never give it up. I knew there was no way I could handle both my kids on my own so I decided to take them separately. Hence why this trip report only has half the whining

Sage and I planned our trip first for two main reasons. One, she is starting to like bigger rides whereas Aria does not. And two, she could hang out briefly by herself if there was a ride I wanted to do but she didn’t, and Aria definitely isn’t old enough for that yet. We decided on August because she doesn’t like to miss school. I also thought it would be fun to do the Halloween Party. I am planning to take Aria in November 2025 and we are planning to do the Christmas party.

For this trip, I really wanted to focus on things I haven’t done before. And that started with our resort. I have stayed in almost every value resort (some multiple times) and a few deluxe resorts. But, I had never stayed in a moderate. I had also never used the Skyliner so of course, we decided to stay at Caribbean Beach.

Before I dive in with day one, here is a picture from our last family trip in March 2023.

 

[fractal]

For dinner, I booked the Spice Road Table Fireworks Dining Package. When my 60 day window initially opened up, I was actually hoping to book Rose and Crown. Mostly because I heard the overall view was better but also because my family had just eaten at Spice Road Table the year prior and I was hoping to try something different. But, R & C was booked for the few days I could make work so I booked Spice Road Table instead. I checked R & C multiple times a day and signed up for dining alerts but nothing ever came up.

While I very much enjoy the food at SRT, I was a little worried about Sage, who is technically an adult in terms of price. I had also read a few negative reviews such as people from the restaurant being allowed into the viewing area and the overhead lights being left on. I was hesitant as to whether the price would be “worth it” but wanted to give it a try after having a horrible experience with MK fireworks the year prior.



Well, let me just say I absolutely LOVED this experience! The food was amazing, Sage actually tried (and liked!) new things, the view was spectacular and we did not experience any of the negativity that I read about.

First, the food pics. Each table gets a tagine of couscous and vegetables to share. This was delicious!
View attachment 814235


Each person also chooses 2 small plates and don’t let the term “small plate” discourage you, we found this to be plenty of food.

Sage ordered the cheese phyllo and naan plate and I ordered the hummus fries and spiced chicken.
View attachment 814237View attachment 814236View attachment 814238
View attachment 814239

Dessert was a platter of cookies and baklava and I apologize that I forgot to take pic before digging in
View attachment 814240


Check in begins at 8pm so you have a full hour to enjoy your food before the show starts. We felt the pacing of meal was perfect and our server was great. We were really full from dinner so we asked for the cookies to brought out right before showtime.

This was our first time seeing Luminous and we really liked it! It was great to just sit and relax and have a perfect unobstructed view. This dinner was definitely a splurge but 100% worth it my opinion! We loved it all from start to finish.
View attachment 814241View attachment 814242View attachment 814243View attachment 814244

Spice Road has become a favorite of ours.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Day 5- Wednesday 8/21

This was our rest day. I decided to check something else off the list of things I’ve never done before- a Disney water park! Since it was August, that of course means we went to Typhoon Lagoon. I was excited to check out something new but also a little nervous. I am not a water park person at all. But Sage was super excited!

Typhoon Lagoon opened at 10 and my goal was to get there at about that time. But, even on our “sleep in” day, Sage still couldn’t get herself ready in time

Getting to Typhoon Lagoon is definitely time consuming. You first have to take a bus to Disney Springs and then get on a different bus for Typhoon Lagoon. All in all, this took about 45 minutes and we arrived almost exactly at 11am.

I don’t have a ton of pictures from this day partly because my phone was secured away in an absolutely necessary water proof pouch, but mostly because as you would expect, it’s filled with strangers in bathing suits

We first secured a locker for our bags and drinks, then went to Miss Adventure Falls.

Miss Adventure Falls is a group raft ride and you must have 3 or 4 in a raft. So we were paired with another mom and child. There are a few times you go under waterfalls, which I was really dreading, but it actually wasn’t that bad! I didn’t mind it at all and Sage loved it.

From there we went over and did Keelhaul Falls which is a single raft ride. Also not too bad, I survived

Sage then did Mayday Falls which is another single tube ride but a bit more intense so I sat it out.

Wandered a bit and took some pictures while I was waiting for her.

Disney Springs balloon in the distance

Wave pool

Cute Mickey raft

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Sage then went and did Crush n Gusher solo and we did Miss Adventure Falls again.

Then we stopped for lunch. We went to Leaning Palms which is one of the few places that has mobile order. The line for people not mobile ordering was huge so definitely take advantage if you can! Even though the seating area was a decent size we still had to circle a bit to find a table. Literally my biggest Disney pet peeve. Just have enough seating

Sage got a cheese flatbread which was fine and I got the pork nachos which were delish! Definitely recommend.

We then went over to the wave pool. I was shocked by how absolutely huge the waves actually get. I hung back towards the shore but Sage went out pretty deep.

I love how it looks like sand & the ocean

After about an hour in the wave pool, we went over to the lazy river. It’s really hard to find free rafts and the lifeguards get pretty upset if you hang out on the stairs for too long.

Sage abandoned her raft part way through

After the lazy river, Sage wanted to do a few body slides (no raft) which is a big heck no for me. I will say, there are often small seating areas at the bottom of the slides which is quite nice for wimps like me.

We then decided to get another treat- dole whip bathtub sundae from Snack Shack. I have no idea why it’s in a bathtub It’s dole whip pineapple, strawberry and green matcha tea with strawberry boba. We both agreed the green matcha tea was the best!

We took one last pic then made our way out.

It was about 3:30 at this point which was a little later than I was hoping but we also arrived a little later. Honestly Sage could have spent the whole day there. I had to literally drag her out.

My overall impression of Typhoon Lagoon is very positive. It was actually a really fun day and I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. It was super relaxing and just nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of the parks. While yes it was crowded and some of the lines were long, no one was running or rushing. It was just a much more relaxed, low key day.

Oh and one thing we of course didn’t do was go in the little kids area. There is a separate spot for little ones with a splash area and really cute little slides. I don’t have any pictures of course but I very much appreciated that there was something for everyone. If you are on the fence about the water parks, a good thing to do might be to take an early flight on your check in day and then go to a water park for free with the new 2025 perk being offered.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

After going back and changing, we made our way to Disney Springs.

We did a little shopping and had dinner at Pepe by Jose Andres. We’ve never been there but I’ve seen a few good reviews (specifically from Molly/Mammoth Club). It’s a tiny little quick service with only a few tables and a counter with stools. Sage got the three cheese panini and I got the Spanish ham & cheese panini. I also got a side of patatas bravas- Spanish fried potatoes with aioli and brava sauce. These were excellent and plenty big enough for Sage and I to share. We loved it all!

Our plan was to enter the area for the drone show around 8:15. At about 8, I went to use the restroom and captured this pretty sunset.

Sage texted me as I was walking back because she saw a big line forming and was anxious to get in and grab a spot.

So by 8:05 we were camped out and waiting

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

And then it was time for Disney Dreams That Soar

This show was so fun and so cute and we absolutely LOVED it. I’m so glad we were lucky enough to see it in the short time it was offered. Of course I’ve heard the crowd control was horrible for the Springs cast members. We found it to be very organized and well run and had no problems getting in and out. Getting to the buses was a whole other issue but that is 100% on me. We don’t go to Disney Springs very often and I literally couldn’t find my way to the buses

Anyway, if you didn’t get a chance to see this show definitely look it up on YouTube. I would love if they could bring a similar animal themed drone show to Animal Kingdom.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Day 6- Thursday 8/22

This was our Hollywood Studios Day! Sage wanted to do the mid day break again but this time, I over ruled. I just don’t like it Especially considering how far our room was from the Skyliner. I just couldn’t do it again. We had plans to see Fantasmic that night so I told Sage we would just take our time. DHS has plenty of shows where you can rest and relax. I even gave her the option of starting the day a little later but she still wanted to go for early entry.

First photo of the day, approaching the CBR Skyliner station.

Early entry was at 8:30 and our plan was to go to Rise first. I’ve done this ride once before and Sage has never done it. I should note we are not Star Wars fans. I didn’t need to do this ride again but Sage wanted to check it out. And I definitely didn’t want to pay for it. So rope drop it was!

As we approached the line outside DHS, I made the comment to Sage that I hoped they let us in early as we were unfortunately in direct sun. And thankfully they did! I took this photo at 7:59am.

We quickly made our way to Rise. Even though I’m a big fan of rope drop, one thing I’m not a big fan of is when people take off running Getting in front of a dozen people is not going to make a difference, I promise. Sage got really mad that people were running past us and even more mad when I refused to run

We made it to Rise and started walking through the queue. It was still not quite early entry time so I figured the line would come to a stand still at some point.

Imagine my surprise when we walked into the first preshow room at 8:15! I don’t know how common it is but I was shocked they opened the ride prior to early entry.

We were done with Rise and walking into Toy Story Land at 8:41!

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

We first went to Toy Story Mania. I did have a LL for this but it was a little later than I was hoping for so I figured we’d knock it out during early entry while the line was still short. I did cancel the lightning lane but since I hadn’t tapped into anything yet, I could only book another tier 2. So I didn’t book anything for the time being.

Sage used to hate this ride when she was little. She hates feeling rushed and like she can’t take her time and do her best. She got so stressed the first time she rode it that we purposely skipped it on our next trip.

But she did really well this time and at one point in the game, she was actually beating me. I ended up winning but it was very close!

Next we went over and did standby for Alien. It was still early so maybe a 5 minute wait.

And finally, time for our first LL, Slinky Dog. It was for 9:25 and we tapped in pretty much on the dot.

Quick weather note, before we left that morning, there was a 30% chance of rain around 2pm. That’s it. It ended up raining ALL DAY Most of the time it was just showers or light rain but it did get heavy a few times. It was raining pretty hard while we were on Slinky Dog and it was not very fun being pelted in the face with rain

After tapping into Slinky, I booked both Runaway Railway and Rock N Roller coaster. For MMRR, I took the first available but for RnRC, I purposely a picked a time later in the day. That was one of the rides Sage wasn’t doing so I was trying to space out that and Tower of Terror so she wasn’t alone for a big chunk all at once.

At 9:40 we left Toy Story Land and I was feeling super accomplished. An hour and 10 minutes of park time and 4 rides done!

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Next up, Muppet Vision! A must do for both of us.

We then saw the Frozen Sing a Long. I am actually not super fond of the Frozen movies but I LOVE this show. The historians are hysterical.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

It was then time for my ToT lightning lane. Sage decided to stop in the bathroom while I continued down to the ride. She told me when she came out it was pouring and she ran as fast as she could to the gift shop

Tower of Terror is my all time favorite Disney ride The absolute best queue and details! I didn’t take a ton of pictures because the lightning lane was moving fast.

Yup it’s pouring.

Not the best photo but I saw the dummy!

After tapping in, I initially booked Toy Story Mania since we used standby the first time. I like this ride and would have liked to do it again. But shockingly, Sage said she would rather do Smuggler’s Run. So I ended up switching it.

We then decided it was lunch time. Eating indoors was an absolute must so we went with ABC Commissary.

We mobile ordered and found a table. When I went up to get our food, the guy in front of me had a shirt on that I knew Sage would love

For lunch Sage had the buffalo chicken grilled cheese and I had the pork tacos. Sage also got the strawberry lemon cheesecake. Every thing was great! We were pleasantly surprised.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

It was then time for our Runaway Railway LL. I actually really really love this ride but I so miss The Great Movie Ride

After tapping in, I booked the Indiana Jones Stunt Show.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

We then went over to the Indiana Jones show, Sage’s pick not mine. This one is not my fav Sage was upset it was modified due to the rain.

There wasn’t really anything else left to book so I just booked the Beauty and the Beast show even though I knew we likely wouldn’t need it.

We then went over to Vacation Fun. A first for both of us. It was actually really cute! I’m glad we finally took the time to see it.

Posing with a few of the backdrops.

We then went into Walt Disney Presents and first walked to the back to meet Ariel.

Sage literally can’t be still during these meet and greets and always moving all around, touching everything

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Then we went back to properly view the exhibit. Only a few pictures, it was hard to get good ones through the glass and it was pretty crowded, likely due to the downpour happening outside.

Sadly the theater part was closed for a refurbishment. It’s been a while since I’ve seen One Man’s Dream.

It was then time for our Smugglers Run LL. A first for both of us! We were pilots. It was fine but nothing I need to do again. Sage enjoyed it.

We then made our way over to Rock N Roller Coaster.

Sage again hung out in the gift shop. There was a short downtime right before I boarded. Followed by the ride running the cars empty. I’m guessing a clean up was needed

I do love this ride but can usually only ride once. It gives my old lady brain a headache 🫨

We then used our LL for Beauty and the Beast. Super cute, as always.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

We then needed dinner and Sage insisted we eat inside again despite all the Sunset Boulevard quick service locations literally right next to us. We hauled it all the way back to Backlot Express. No pictures of the food, I just got a burger and I think Sage got chicken tenders. But I do have a pic of my super cute cupcake. I am normally not a cupcake person but this one sounded good and looked too cute to pass up. It was a vanilla cupcake with raspberry filling and pistachio buttercream.

So at this point, we had accomplished everything on our list with time to spare. Fantasmic was at 9 so we decided we would wait standby for one more ride. Sage initially wanted Slinky but I want to say the wait was around 90 minutes. Her second choice was MMRR which was a posted 50 so we went with that.

And lucky us, we only waited 37

We then poked through some of the stores and slowly made our way towards Fantasmic.

My haunted girl looking all spooky

We went into Fantasmic at about 8 which I don’t think is at all necessary. But we were tired and just wanted to sit and relax. We ended up having really great seats just a few rows back.

We both love this show so it was a great end to the day!

Final stats for DHS with LL MP:
9 rides
5 shows
1 character

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Day 7- Friday 8/23

Our final full day but also, the Halloween Party

Our day started out with brunch at Topolino’s. It is a personal goal of mine to try every character meal. There were (technically) 3 I hadn’t done prior to this trip- Ohana, Cape May Cafe and Topolino’s. I have done all the others although we did 1900 Park Fare prior to the pandemic when the characters were different. I gave Sage the choice of the above 3 and she chose Topolino’s.

We were a little early so we explored Riviera a bit and then went and checked in.

Once we were seated we were given the cute little character cards.

Our pastries, coffee and juice were promptly brought out while we looked at the menu.

After ordering, Donald came over. There was no attendant so I first took a selfie, then we took pictures separately. Thankfully the table next to us saw this happening and offered to take pictures for us for the remaining characters.

Next was Mickey!

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Then our food arrived. I ordered the sour cream waffles and Sage ordered the bread pudding brûlée. Our waiter also brought us a side of potatoes to try.

The waffles were absolutely delicious but sadly Sage didn’t care for hers so I offered to switch. I was so sad to not eat those waffles but it was more important she get my monies worth

Minnie came by next.

And then Daisy. I told Daisy I was a dance teacher so the kind woman taking our photos suggested we do a dance pose

After wrapping up our meal, we of course went out into the terrace.

All in all, we really enjoyed Topolino’s. The food is definitely some of the best you will find at a character meal. I will admit though, the characters rushed through meeting us pretty quickly. And I was a bit bummed there was no character attendant. But I have now done 10 out of 12 character meals and I’m happy to check another off the bucket list!

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

We then went back to the room to change and then went down to the pool

Sage went down the water slide a million times, I walked over to the Joffery’s at the Skyliner station to get a Shaken Jamaican, Sage relaxed in a hammock, and then back to the room to get ready for the Halloween party!

I am kind of dreading this part. Spoiler alert, the party was a disaster ️️

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Ok guys, Halloween Party time

This was Sage’s first Halloween party and my first since 2008. My husband and I went once before the kids were born and I actually didn’t have the best time. I foolishly assumed we would have time to do everything we wanted and didn’t really plan anything. It was so crowded and I made the mistake of prioritizing the rare character meet and greets. We spent so much time in line and were literally running from one thing to the next. It was really stressful.

So this time around, I made a solid plan. I looked up times for all the shows and special party happenings and had everything carefully planned out.

Since we had accomplished almost everything we wanted to on our MK day, we didn’t feel the need to arrive prior to 4. We got to MK a little after 4, used the restroom outside the entrance and at about 4:20, walked right in.

We were a little disappointed that Cruella wasn’t out greeting guests like I’ve seen others post.

We first stopped to take a picture in front of the castle. I was already so hot and sweaty

We then started walking towards Adventureland and I noticed the spring roll cart had a short line. Since we hadn’t really eaten anything since Topolino’s, we stopped for what ended up being our “dinner”. We shared the two spring rolls (one cheeseburger and one pepperoni) and while they were very good, it’s hard to justify the $10 price tag.

We then went over to Tiki Room. This was one of the things we missed our first day. Always a favorite.

As we were walking by Pirates, there was a short posted wait so we figured why not.

We then went over to Haunted Mansion.

As we were exiting Haunted Mansion, Sage bent down to pick up her bag from the floor of the doom buggy and somehow dropped her sunglasses over the side onto the track. I told the cast member as we were exiting and he told us to tell the cast members out at the podium. We stopped to tell them and they told us the tracks are cleared every half hour or so so to come back in about an hour. I won’t keep you I suspense- we never got them back and Sage is still salty about it. We went back an hour later and they still didn’t have them. They said to come back at the end of the night but because of the chaos that was soon to come, we never made it back. I filed a lost and found report online and a week after, I got an email that they were never found and our case was closed. Sage hasn’t let me live it down.

Anyway, after Haunted Mansion, we started walking towards Carousel of Progress, the only other thing we missed our first day. As we were walking past Star Traders in Tomorrowland, we noticed they had the Halloween party merch out. We decided to stop and do our shopping then instead of saving it til the end of the night.

Once we had our goodies, we walked over to CoP only to find it was already closed. Apparently it closed at 6 so they could set it up as a trick or treat trail. Sage was way more upset about this than I was expecting her to be

It was probably about 6:45 at this point so we figured we’d see if Space Mountain had switched to the party overlay yet. This was high on our must do list. When I asked the CM standing outside, all she said was no, it wasn’t running yet.

We decided to check out Mad Tea Party to see if that party version was running. It was but since it was still light out, you really couldn’t see the extra lightning effects. So we passed on that for the time being and walked back towards Space. It was now 7 so I figured it must be ready. When we went back over to ask, we were told Space was down for technical difficulties and likely would be for a while Step one of my plan was already messed up

We decided to walk over to Princess Scarytale Hall to see Maleficent and the Snow Queen.

This was definitely a highlight of the night. It was pretty much downhill from here

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Since Sage was dressed as Jasmine, meeting her was high on our list. We made our way over to Adventureland. Aladdin and Abu were currently out but we knew they would be switching for Jasmine and Genie soon so we got in line. After waiting for just a few minutes, it started raining.

It got heavier and heavier so we took our umbrellas out of our bags. Within 5 minutes, it was suddenly like a hurricane. It was super windy, the rain was whipping all around us, and it started thundering and lightning. We still weren’t really close to the front of the line and Sage started crying and asked if we could leave the line. I checked the weather app on my phone and it looked like the storm would be brief so we ran for cover.

We waited under the underpass for a few minutes trying to come up with our next move.

Meeting Jack and Sally was also high on our priority list. While some characters had wait times listed in the app, others did not. And Jack and Sally’s wait was not listed. I figured it would be high but with everything outside closed and Space still down, we figured it was worth a shot.

Now just picture where we were in Adventureland and where Jack and Sally’s meet is in the Town Square Theater. It was still pouring and windy and there were areas of flooding. At times, we were running through ankle deep water. We quickly walked as fast as we could, heads down, under our umbrellas until we got to the theater. And what was the wait time? 120 minutes I asked a CM if that was the actual wait and he said sadly yes.

It was very crowded inside as many people were seeking cover from the rain. Sage immediately threw herself down onto the floor and started crying. It’s hard for me to really explain how we were feeling. Especially since no one really knows my kids and their personalities. Sage deals with a lot of anxiety in her every day life. She also has trouble controlling her emotions, even in public. She doesn’t have the ability to be embarrassed by her actions and has no trouble acting in public in a way most people wouldn’t. Even though she looks like a teenager, in a lot of ways she doesn’t yet act like one. So while I was not surprised that she was lying on the floor crying, I’m sure the people around us were. And while she may not be embarrassed, obviously I was.

I tried my best to calm her down and assure her that everything would be ok (even though I knew it probably wouldn’t be).

Even though meeting Mickey was not on our list, his line was only 35 minutes. We were already there, it was inside so that’s what we decided to do.

I am not exaggerating when I say Sage cried the whole time we were line. I kept checking the weather app and I kid you not, every time I checked, the period of rain extended longer and longer into the evening.

But we eventually met Mickey and he looked very dapper

After meeting Mickey, we decided to go back over and try to meet Jasmine. Space was still down and everything outside was still closed. As we were walking over, we heard an announcement that the first parade was cancelled. They ended up canceling the first stage show also. One thing I found really strange was that we never got any sort of notification in the app that things were cancelled. Surely there must be a way to let people know these things.

By the time we got back over to Jasmine we were drenched. Like I could feel my socks squishing in my shoes.

But, success.

I’m pretty sure we did a treat trail after that. It was really hard to take pictures and enjoy the ambiance. We were basically running from one thing to the next while hiding under our umbrellas.

We then decided to get a special party treat. The treats we wanted were supposed to be at Liberty Square Market but when we got there, they were closed. I asked a CM where we could find the treats and she was so confused by my question and had no clue what I was talking about. I actually got really nervous that she wasn’t actually a CM and just someone in a great costume We found a different CM and thankfully, he knew what we were talking about and said the treats had been moved to Sleepy Hollow. So off we went to wait in line.

While we were waiting, we heard a loud commotion over on the bridge and the loudest most ear-piercing scream. Like at first I thought it was part of a show or something. I look over and this woman is on the ground just screaming. I had no clue what was happening and then she started screaming “Lucas! Lucas!” over and over. The people she was with took off running, I’m guessing looking for help. I started to get really scared that something terrible happened. Like a child fell off the bridge or something. I honestly didn’t think he was just lost because she wasn’t looking. She was kneeling on the ground just screaming. Eventually some cast members came over, followed by a few police officers and they led her away.

I asked around after the fact and from what I heard from others, it was a missing child and he was soon found. Now here’s the thing, I have lost a child in a public place before and while I was definitely scared, I was actively looking the whole time. I still do not understand why this woman was just sitting on the ground screaming. I was so incredibly scared that a child was seriously injured

Anyways after witnessing this chaotic scene, we did get our treats.

While we were eating, I checked the app on my phone. It was now 9pm and Space Mountain was finally open! It said it was a 10 minute wait so we quickly walked over. The line was insanely long and stretched outside through Tomorrowland. I asked a CM the real wait time and they said it would be at least 45-60 minutes Considering the fireworks were supposed to start at 10, this was a no go for us and we did not get in line.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

We instead made our way to the hub to find a spot for the fireworks.

In my planning, I had basically broken the night up into 2 sections. For the first half of the night, we were hoping to meet Jasmine, meet Jack and Sally (our plan was to actually meet them during the first parade and hope for a lower wait time), ride Space Mountain, ride Mad Tea Party, see the Cadaver Dans (they actually never even came out) and maybe meet Donald. The first half of the night was over and we did one thing on that list

For the second half of the night, we were basically planning to camp out in hub and see the fireworks at 10, the villains stage show at 10:35 and then the 2nd parade at 11:15. We thought once those 3 things were done, we could quickly go do one more ride.

Thankfully at 10, the fireworks did happen but the Jack puppet did not come out on the stage.

It was really hard to take pictures while holding an umbrella but we really loved the fireworks!

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

We then made our way a little closer to the stage for the Villains stage show. They ended up doing an abbreviated version of the show It was only 5 minutes long instead of the normal 22.

Because of the shorter show, we had a longer wait until the parade. Thankfully it finally stopped raining at about 10:45.

A little before the parade, a cast member walking by told us the Headless Horseman would not be riding This was one of the things I was most looking forward to. A few people around us actually left when they found out.

I have a lot of parade photos