My apologies for the lack of updates since Friday. A busy weekend has ensued and I’ve neglected my trip reporting as a result. Let’s see if we can get back at it this evening......
.
After our ride on Big Thunder Mountain, we decided to head back to see if Jungle Cruise still had a huge line. Knowing it wasn’t open during the party, we thought it would be prudent to squeeze it in before it closed at 7.,...but alas, the wait was still listed at over 30 minutes. Scratch that one off the list. Instead, we headed to the Enchanted Tiki Room since we knew it, too, would close for the party (as it turned into a trick or treat location). Added bonuses: we hadn’t done this attraction on our 2009 trip either (so it would be another “first”) and there was barely any line....perhaps only another 6-8 people awaiting entry for the next show.
We sat down to peruse the party map while we waited, and it wasn’t long until this fellow popped out from behind the waterfall with the pre-show spiel:
In we went. I would rate this particular attraction on the same level as the Country Bears. Glad we did it once, not in a hurry to do it again.
As we exited the Tiki Room, we spied Aloha Isle and noted that they sold the infamous Dole Whips that we had heard so much chatter about on the boards.
Neither one of us was hungry enough for dinner yet, but the air was pretty warm and we thought a cool refreshment might be just the pick-me-up we needed to kick off the official party hours. Let’s see what all the hype is about, shall we?
I didn’t realize Dole Whips came in both cup and float versions.....so I made the executive decision and ordered a cup ($4.47 including tax). I carried it over to where Steve was patiently waiting with all our stuff (he held on to the pirate bag and our swords while I fetched us our snack)...and we took our first bites.
The rest, shall we say, was history. We had just found our newest Disney indulgence
. We were
in love 
. I don’t know what we were expecting, exactly.....but this exceeded it. It was Disney’s answer to Universal’s Butterbeer. We polished it off (dueling spoons for the last bites!) and wished we had purchased two cups instead of one to share. We would have to return before the end of the night for another round
.
As we savoured our treat, we people-watched and laughingly relived this episode from Family Guy:
No matter how hard we try to avoid it, whenever we talk about the Dole W
hip now, it’s with an emphasis on the
H a la Stewie Griffin. Yeah, we’re weird like that
.
It was heading toward 7 pm by this point...not yet dark, but the sun was getting pretty low in the sky and the temperature was moderating quite nicely. It was warm but not uncomfortable, even in our costumes. We sent up a little prayer of thanks for the awesome weather that we were blessed with today
, as the potential for rain (and the frustrating inability to do anything about the forecast) had been a big concern for us during the planning process.
It’s A Small World was a walk-on at that point, so we hopped into a boat and took “the happiest cruise that ever sailed”
:
I know this ride doesn’t always get a lot of love, and I’m sure Steve groaned inwardly as I skipped my way into the queue, but I love it and he humoured me (and he enjoyed himself too, I will note
).
After It’s a Small World, we hit up Mickey’s Philharmagic (again, no line at all except that to wait until the doors opened for the next show). I could be wrong, but I’m sure the show content has changed since we were there in 2009. Some of you Disney regulars will know better than me, so if I’m incorrect, feel free to put me back in my place. At any rate, we enjoyed what we deduced was a new-to-us version of the attraction and by the time we exited, we were definitely beginning to feel the Disney glow
.
At this point, we decided it might be prudent to grab some grub before getting down and serious with all the official party events. Neither of us were really that hungry, so we decided to go light and grab some flatbread to share at Pinnochio’s Village Haus.
More thirsty than anything, we also ordered two lemonades. Since they sounded kind of good, we added on an order of pesto knots for good measure.
Sadly, I have nothing good to say about this meal. It was soooo disappointing
. On a scale of one to ten, the food was a 3 at best. It was
edible, but completely tasteless: the lemonades were most certainly the highlight of our dinner. Since we paid for it (total price of the meal, with tax, was $20.84), we did eat it....but wow, were we suddenly extremely glad we had an ADR for The Plaza for the Friday night party. If this is Disney’s idea of quick service, we wanted no further part of it. Steve declared that we would simply have to survive on Dole Whips for the rest of the night
.
Now, I have a confession to make: about this time, I put away the camera. I didn’t want to spend the whole party peeking out at the events behind a lens...I wanted to really enjoy it. It was important to me to soak up the atmosphere, admire the costumes, wield my sword, and be the best pirate wench sidekick to my Blackbeard that I could be. That means I didn’t get a huge amount of pictures for the balance of the party, so for that I will beg your forgiveness (but don’t worry....I did get
some). It did, however, mean that I really made the most of our first party experience......and I was glad that a good portion of the night was spent with the camera tucked safely away.
We headed over to Tomorrowland for a while, and we rode the Peoplemover, watched the Monsters Dance Party for a bit, snagged some candy at a trick-or-treat stop or two, and took in Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin:
(ah, the concentration on those faces....yes, that was serious business!
)
We also got some photos taken on the bridge entering Tomorrowland, which turned out quite nice with the castle lit up in the background:
This was also a location for some of the
MNSSHP magic pics, with the Haunted Mansion dancing ghosts showing up for this video (click to view):
Much more yet to come.....
.
and come up with something appropriate.....'cause using her actual name just seems so wrong
. The suggestion box is officially open for your best ideas.
Though I thought my northern friend would already know. But ya know, I've been known to be less tactful!
.
I hope you got some treasure by the end of the night!!
.
