A Hauntingly Merry Journey (10/17-11/8)-updated 1/7

[mickey916]

10/28 continued…Making the Most of our Final Party Time​

After the parade we walked to Fantasyland and finally had a chance to see the beautiful lanterns near the Tangled restrooms. So Pretty! I liked the purple and green trees too!



We went through the treat line at Mickey’s Philharmagic and Donald Duck was there greeting fans in his Halloween costume. Very cute! However, CMs were rather aggressively telling people to keep the line moving as people were attempting to stop and take a photo. There weren’t even many people going through the lines but the CMs didn’t allow people to stop. My flyby photo came out pretty good. I appreciate that they want to keep the lines moving but it is odd to have characters along the lines that people obviously want to stop to greet and expect people not to stop.



We walked around taking some cool photos of the Halloween inspired decor.

Beast’s Castle…


Seven Dwarf Pumpkins



We headed to Tomorrowland next and stopped in for a bit at Monsters Inc Laugh Floor. This was a treat stop but they also allowed people to sit in the theater while the monsters told jokes and commented on people’s costumes as they walked by. It was very funny and a nice rest stop.

The newly refurbished Astro Orbiter looked so pretty all lit up.



Space Mountain had an overlay for the party called Deep Space Mountain where the ride is in total darkness with spooky music playing. I rode it with only a 5 minute wait. It’s usually fairly dark but it definitely was completely dark. It was a bit unnerving to not be able to see anything ahead of me. I don’t remember the spooky music at all but there was a 9-ish year old girl seated behind me that screeched a very high pitched, ear-piercing screech the entire time so I probably just couldn’t hear the music. I’m not a huge fan of Space Mountain anyways but this was worse than usual. I felt much more jerked around probably because I couldn’t see the turns coming to prepare for them mentally. My back (and ears) hurt a bit when I got off.

Space Mountain was lit up very well though in green and orange so at least it was pretty.



After my ride on Space Mountain it was time for the fireworks. We watched them from the Tomorrowland bridge. It wasn’t too crowded and we had a decent view. My pictures didn’t come out great though so I won't include them here.

I’ve always wanted to ride Tron at night so I headed there next. The ride was a walk on.



I didn’t really notice the outside portion too much as it went by so quickly but I love the Ares overlay. I think it’s better than the original.

We rode the People Mover, stopped for a couple Photopass photos and then went to Liberty Square to see the headless horseman lead the second parade.

I took some more photos of decorations. I love this lit-up Mickey wreath!



We finished our night in Adventureland.



We went through the Skipper Canteen treat trail and rode the Jungle Cruise. I had read online that there was some sort of special treat given to people after riding Jungle Cruise but we didn’t get anything. Maybe it was too late in the evening. We rounded out our evening by stopping by the Pirate Band again. Yes, they were still playing just before midnight! I don’t know if these musicians perform anywhere else but they were awesome!



We didn’t stick around for the final showing of Hocus Pocus on the stage and opted to head out with the crowds. We took the ferry boat back to the TTC as the monorail line was really packed.

Overall we had a fabulous 15 hour day in the park. The morning was great with lots of rides and minimal waits. We got way more candy than we anticipated as we hadn’t really planned on going through all those lines. We ate some, donated all the non-chocolate to my sister-in-law’s classroom, and actually froze the rest for future sweet tooths. We loved the parade and the Cadaver Dans, we enjoyed the fireworks, we rode a few rides, and we loved all the special effects throughout the night. We even enjoyed (most) of the party-specific treats we tried. All that being said, I think next time we may try Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party before repeating this one. I was partially regretting that I hadn’t booked that as well for this trip (the first night of that overlapped our trip but was already sold out by the time I thought of it). While it was expensive we felt like we got our money’s worth. It was a great birthday gift!

Total steps: 28,432

Up next..DH’s favorite breakfast before heading to Hollywood Studios

 

[Wood Nymph]

I don’t remember the spooky music at all but there was a 9-ish year old girl seated behind me that screeched a very high pitched, ear-piercing screech the entire time so I probably just couldn’t hear the music. I’m not a huge fan of Space Mountain anyways but this was worse than usual. I felt much more jerked around probably because I couldn’t see the turns coming to prepare for them mentally. My back (and ears) hurt a bit when I got off.

I wouldn't like a totally dark ride, either. But I have spent a large part of a ride with my eyes closed. I didn't know that RNRR went upside down until my teenage daughter told me.

The screaming girl would have been annoying.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

So did you and DH dress up? I was hoping to see a costume. Haha
Looked like a fun time. I like that the rides were mostly walk ons. That surprised me.
I probably won’t do another party but thanks for sharing so I felt like I experienced it too.

 

[mickey916]

I wouldn't like a totally dark ride, either. But I have spent a large part of a ride with my eyes closed. I didn't know that RNRR went upside down until my teenage daughter told me.

That's funny! Probably was less scary when you didn't know!

The screaming girl would have been annoying.

It was very annoying. It wasn't like an occassional screaam. It was constant, the entire ride!

So did you and DH dress up? I was hoping to see a costume. Haha

No. I wore a Mickey spider T-shirt and he wore a Jack-o-lantern tee shirt. We considered going as Dr. Doofensmirtz and Perry the Platypus but life was too hectic before our trip to put it together. Also, DH was convinced we were going to be wearing raincoats the whole time so everything would be covered. Before our trip it seemed like it poured every party night. We really lucked out though with perfect weather on our party night.

Looked like a fun time. I like that the rides were mostly walk ons. That surprised me.

It seemed very crowded around the parades and in the bottleneck areas but the rides and the treat lines weren't crowded at all. It surprised me too, especially since it was Halloween week.

I probably won’t do another party but thanks for sharing so I felt like I experienced it too.

Happy to bring you along!

 

[tinkerbellmagic]

I’m so late to the party but I’m starting at the beginning now. I’m so happy to read about your fun adventures!
Looks like waffle time!!!

 

[mickey916]

I’m so late to the party but I’m starting at the beginning now. I’m so happy to read about your fun adventures!
Looks like waffle time!!!

Welcome to the party!

 

[cheryllarsen]

What a fun read. Thanks so much for posting!!

 

[mickey916]

What a fun read. Thanks so much for posting!!

Thank you so much!

 

[mickey916]

10/29 1900 Park Fare & Hollywood Studios​

Back in April of 2024 when 1900 Park Fare re-opened we booked an ADR for breakfast during their opening week. DH loved their double chocolate muffin but we felt there were issues with keeping the hot food hot and cold food cold. We gave it another try in April of 2025 and luckily they had worked out all the kinks regarding food temps. It has become one of our top two breakfast choices (with the other being Boma). So, we headed there again on this trip.

For my first plate I chose: cinnamon pull apart bread, beef and potato hash, cheesy potato casserole, carved ham, bacon and cheesy scrambled eggs.



I loved each one of these dishes once again. The beef hash can be a little salty but it has great flavor.

DH chose the double chocolate muffin (of course), fresh strawberries, breakfast pizza and cheesy potatoes.



He liked all of these items but felt like the double chocolate muffin wasn’t as good as previous visits. It was a little dry.
We both got bowls of the famous strawberry soup. I always add fresh strawberries to mine.



The first time we tried this it was served room temperature and we didn’t care for it. Now that they do a better job of keeping it cold, it is delicious! We both had two bowls!

We also each had a small serving of bread pudding with vanilla creme anglaise which I didn’t get a picture of. We’ve never met a bread pudding we didn’t love so this was quite good too. We also tried the oven roasted turkey from the carving station which was good but not as good as the ham.

We had quick visits from Cinderella, Tiana, Aladdin and Mirabel pretty much just as we were seated. We’re not really big character visiting people but we said hi to each of them and took some photos.

One of the common complaints from this restaurant is that it can be very noisy. However, oddly enough on this visit, it wasn’t noisy at all because the restaurant was basically empty. Our ADR was for 8:30 and there was one large party of about 10 people and then maybe two other families of four. I don’t know if it was just a slower time of year or if the high price tag has scared people off (currently $58 per adult, $37 per child for breakfast). While we really enjoy this breakfast it is a bit pricey and probably not going to be something we do every trip. It is very good food and we have had excellent service. It is a nice splurge from time to time. We gave 1900 Park Fare breakfast an A.

After breakfast we headed to Hollywood Studios, arriving there at 9:45. There’s not a lot DH can ride at Hollywood Studios so we decided to focus mainly on seeing the shows. We headed first to the newly reopened Little Mermaid - A Musical Adventure to catch the 10:00 show. We felt it was perhaps improved since the previous version but still just okay. The platform that the Little Mermaid “swims” on was very visible and kind of awkward looking. We think the Finding Nemo show at Animal Kingdom is a better show.

We left the theater and made it just in time to see the Frozen Sing Along at 10:30. This is always such a fun show. The “historians” do a great job.

Tower of Terror was posted with a 30 minute wait but Lines said it would be 11 minutes so I gave it a shot and went there next. It was a 30 minute wait, which wasn’t too bad anyhow.

We headed next to see the new Villains show.



We intentionally avoided watching any YouTube videos of this show prior to our trip so we didn’t know what to expect. We loved it! It was way better than we imagined it to be. This is so well done that it gives me a lot of hope for the eventual Villains land at Magic Kingdom. Don’t skip this show!

After the show we visited with Olaf and walked through Walt Disney Presents to see the models of the new attractions being built at Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios.

We watched the Beauty & the Beast musical next. We always enjoy this show as well. Our sons actually were in this musical together in middle school. Our oldest played Gaston and our youngest was Maurice. The show brings back great memories.

We rode the only ride DH rides at HS, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway next with a posted 35 minute wait. We only waited 18.

We headed to Toy Story next. The wait for Slinky was posted at 55 minutes but Lines said 18. I decided to give it a shot to see who was closer. It ended up being 33 minutes, again not bad for Slinky. While I was in line the Green Army Men came by and played their drums. So talented and very cool to see!



I enjoyed looking at all the theming while in line for Slinky.



We walked through Batuu to check on the status of Rise which had been down all day. It had reopened but due to the backlog they weren’t offering a single rider line so I decided to skip it.

Having seen all the shows and ridden all I wanted to ride, we decided to take the skyliner to get some dinner. We got off at the Caribbean Beach stop and walked over to the Riviera Resort for one of our favorite quick service restaurants, Primo Piatto.

DH was still feeling full from breakfast so he didn’t get anything. I ordered the Grilled Vegetable Pita (which used to be called the grilled vegetable skewer but never had a skewer). Grilled Pita, Quinoa Salad, Plant-based Cucumber Yogurt



This is so fresh and flavorful. This time it had a little more spiciness than I remember from last time (when it was called vegetable skewer) but this is definitely a must get dish!

Overall on this trip we gave Primo Piatto an A- (we ended up going here a few times, more on that coming up). This particular night though was an A.

After dinner we took the Skyliner back to Hollywood Studios and headed back to our hotel for an early night after the previous night’s late night.

Edit to add: We found a Hidden Mickey!



Total steps: 17,766 (7 miles)

 

[Wood Nymph]

We intentionally avoided watching any YouTube videos of this show prior to our trip so we didn’t know what to expect. We loved it! It was way better than we imagined it to be. This is so well done that it gives me a lot of hope for the eventual Villains land at Magic Kingdom. Don’t skip this show!

We saw this show in October. I was wondering if they always had the same three villians for the vote. This show was cute but not something I would return to, unless they switched up the villians.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

10/29 1900 Park Fare & Hollywood Studios​

Back in April of 2024 when 1900 Park Fare re-opened we booked an ADR for breakfast during their opening week. DH loved their double chocolate muffin but we felt there were issues with keeping the hot food hot and cold food cold. We gave it another try in April of 2025 and luckily they had worked out all the kinks regarding food temps. It has become one of our top two breakfast choices (with the other being Boma). So, we headed there again on this trip.

For my first plate I chose: cinnamon pull apart bread, beef and potato hash, cheesy potato casserole, carved ham, bacon and cheesy scrambled eggs.

View attachment 1036150

I loved each one of these dishes once again. The beef hash can be a little salty but it has great flavor.

DH chose the double chocolate muffin (of course), fresh strawberries, breakfast pizza and cheesy potatoes.

View attachment 1036153

He liked all of these items but felt like the double chocolate muffin wasn’t as good as previous visits. It was a little dry.
We both got bowls of the famous strawberry soup. I always add fresh strawberries to mine.

View attachment 1036152

The first time we tried this it was served room temperature and we didn’t care for it. Now that they do a better job of keeping it cold, it is delicious! We both had two bowls!

We also each had a small serving of bread pudding with vanilla creme anglaise which I didn’t get a picture of. We’ve never met a bread pudding we didn’t love so this was quite good too. We also tried the oven roasted turkey from the carving station which was good but not as good as the ham.

We had quick visits from Cinderella, Tiana, Aladdin and Mirabel pretty much just as we were seated. We’re not really big character visiting people but we said hi to each of them and took some photos.

One of the common complaints from this restaurant is that it can be very noisy. However, oddly enough on this visit, it wasn’t noisy at all because the restaurant was basically empty. Our ADR was for 8:30 and there was one large party of about 10 people and then maybe two other families of four. I don’t know if it was just a slower time of year or if the high price tag has scared people off (currently $58 per adult, $37 per child for breakfast). While we really enjoy this breakfast it is a bit pricey and probably not going to be something we do every trip. It is very good food and we have had excellent service. It is a nice splurge from time to time. We gave 1900 Park Fare breakfast an A.

I remember you talking about 1900 Park Fare. I’m glad you had another good meal and the food was the right temperature. We had dinner here once when my niece was little.

After breakfast we headed to Hollywood Studios, arriving there at 9:45. There’s not a lot DH can ride at Hollywood Studios so we decided to focus mainly on seeing the shows. We headed first to the newly reopened Little Mermaid - A Musical Adventure to catch the 10:00 show. We felt it was perhaps improved since the previous version but still just okay. The platform that the Little Mermaid “swims” on was very visible and kind of awkward looking. We think the Finding Nemo show at Animal Kingdom is a better show.

Haven’t seen the new LM show yet.

We left the theater and made it just in time to see the Frozen Sing Along at 10:30. This is always such a fun show. The “historians” do a great job.

Tower of Terror was posted with a 30 minute wait but Lines said it would be 11 minutes so I gave it a shot and went there next. It was a 30 minute wait, which wasn’t too bad anyhow.

I will never go on ToT again!! Haha

We headed next to see the new Villains show.

View attachment 1036151

We intentionally avoided watching any YouTube videos of this show prior to our trip so we didn’t know what to expect. We loved it! It was way better than we imagined it to be. This is so well done that it gives me a lot of hope for the eventual Villains land at Magic Kingdom. Don’t skip this show!

We saw this show over the summer. It was cute. I don’t remember who won.

After the show we visited with Olaf and walked through Walt Disney Presents to see the models of the new attractions being built at Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios.

We watched the Beauty & the Beast musical next. We always enjoy this show as well. Our sons actually were in this musical together in middle school. Our oldest played Gaston and our youngest was Maurice. The show brings back great memories.

I do like the B & B show. How cute that your boys were in the same show.

We rode the only ride DH rides at HS, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway next with a posted 35 minute wait. We only waited 18.

I don’t know why but I’m not crazy about MMRR. Maybe it’s bc I miss the Great movie ride.

We headed to Toy Story next. The wait for Slinky was posted at 55 minutes but Lines said 18. I decided to give it a shot to see who was closer. It ended up being 33 minutes, again not bad for Slinky. While I was in line the Green Army Men came by and played their drums. So talented and very cool to see!

View attachment 1036156

I enjoyed looking at all the theming while in line for Slinky.

Wow a half hour for slinky is really good!

View attachment 1036158View attachment 1036154View attachment 1036155

We walked through Batuu to check on the status of Rise which had been down all day. It had reopened but due to the backlog they weren’t offering a single rider line so I decided to skip it.

The single rider line is so convenient!

Having seen all the shows and ridden all I wanted to ride, we decided to take the skyliner to get some dinner. We got off at the Caribbean Beach stop and walked over to the Riviera Resort for one of our favorite quick service restaurants, Primo Piatto.

DH was still feeling full from breakfast so he didn’t get anything. I ordered the Grilled Vegetable Pita (which used to be called the grilled vegetable skewer but never had a skewer). Grilled Pita, Quinoa Salad, Plant-based Cucumber Yogurt

View attachment 1036157

This is so fresh and flavorful. This time it had a little more spiciness than I remember from last time (when it was called vegetable skewer) but this is definitely a must get dish!

Overall on this trip we gave Primo Piatto an A- (we ended up going here a few times, more on that coming up). This particular night though was an A.

After dinner we took the Skyliner back to Hollywood Studios and headed back to our hotel for an early night after the previous night’s late night.

Total steps: 17,766 (7 miles)

We need to make it over to Primo. We almost did last trip!

 

[mickey916]

We saw this show in October. I was wondering if they always had the same three villians for the vote. This show was cute but not something I would return to, unless they switched up the villians.

I believe it's always the same three right now but it isn't always the same winner. It would be cool if eventually they switched up the three.

 

[mickey916]

I remember you talking about 1900 Park Fare. I’m glad you had another good meal and the food was the right temperature. We had dinner here once when my niece was little.

We haven't tried dinner yet. We were thinking about trying it in the spring but it's so expensive!

Haven’t seen the new LM show yet.

Worth seeing but not our favorite.

I will never go on ToT again!! Haha

DH feels the same way!

We saw this show over the summer. It was cute. I don’t remember who won.

Maleficient won our we went went. I suspect she wins a lot.

I do like the B & B show. How cute that your boys were in the same show.

Great memories!

I don’t know why but I’m not crazy about MMRR. Maybe it’s bc I miss the Great movie ride.

We like it but probably because it's something DH can ride.

Wow a half hour for slinky is really good!

I think so too! I usually don't ride it without a LL.

The single rider line is so convenient!

Works really well for me since DH doesn't ride many rides.

We need to make it over to Primo. We almost did last trip!

Yes you do and/or Bar Riva!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Yes you do and/or Bar Riva!

We did have drinks at Bar Riva! I think I might have eaten something small but I can’t remember. It was a couple years ago now.

 

[mickey916]

10/30 Heading to Epcot for First Food & Wine Festival, Test Track and Scavenger Hunts​

Our other bucket list items for this trip were to sample some of the Food & Wine Festival and ride the newest Test Track revision. We’ve attended Flower & Garden many times as well as Festival of the Holidays but this would be our first Food & Wine. I had picked several items for us to try over a few days. I had purchased Multipass LL for this visit to try the newly refurbished Test Track without waiting in a long line.

We arrived in time for rope drop and headed to the Land pavilion as soon as the park opened to all guests. Soarin’ was posted at 5 minutes but it actually took 10. For some reason on this particular morning Living with the Land, Test Track, Spaceship Earth and Remy did not open at park opening. It seemed like a staffing issue to have that many rides not open. It was a beautiful day so it wasn’t weather related.

I wanted to be able to get a Frozen LL as well as the Test Track one and knew that by the time I used my first LL Frozen would likely sell out, so my first LL for the day was the Disney & Pixar short film festival. We scanned in but the show wasn’t going to start for 15 minutes so we actually left without viewing and booked our LL for Frozen.

We rode Journey into Imagination with a 5 minute wait. As we were exiting the Imagination Pavilion, a few characters were walking past. I love seeing the characters out and about.



My next LL was for Spaceship Earth but I modified it to Remy, figuring we could pick up Spaceship Earth later.

There were two scavenger hunts available at this time, Pluto’s Pumpkin Pursuit and the Remy Scavenger Hunt. We like to find the scavenger items but don’t really care about the prizes so we just look for the items without purchasing the sticker chart. I just tracked the locations in my phone.

We found our first Pluto pumpkin, themed to Pluto on the Swirled Showcase booth.



Next we found the “Joy” pumpkin in the Port of Entry gift shop. We were surprised to find it indoors, usually they are all outside.



We had intended only to do the Pluto Pumpkin Hunt this day and save Remy for another day but we couldn’t help but find Remy as we were looking for pumpkins so we started tracking him too. We discovered he was mainly in the World Showcase and Pluto was mainly in the former Future World section.

Remy on top of La Cantina in Mexico with salt & pepper shakers:



As we made our way through the World Showcase, we stopped in the Kringla Bakeri for a new item, the orange cinnamon roll. My mom used to make the Pillsbury orange cinnamon rolls for my brother and I as kids so I was intrigued to see how this one matched up.



The quality of this cinnamon roll was definitely better than a Pillsbury one. It was good but there was a ton of the orange cream cheese frosting and it was very sweet. We definitely prefer other cinnamon rolls and would get a Schoolbread over this next time. We gave it a B.

There was no Remy in Norway but we found him with balsamic vinegar on top of the China booth.



Next we found Remy on top of the India booth with onions.



Remy was in Germany with some garlic.



Up next..continuing our scavenger hunts and trying some festival food.