CR/Yacht Club, No ADRs and ONE KILLER UPGRADE!!! UPDATE on the upgrade!

[cjnix29]

Ok....here it goes. I have never written a trip report before. I honestly had no intention of writing a trip report for this trip. I obviously didn't write a pre trip report....that being said....I just HAD to write one for this trip. It was so incredibly fantastic, that I wanted to world to know!

I also do not know how to add photos, so I will figure that out as I go. But let me introduce US!

First...me, DW, 35, lawyer turned stay at home mom, disney freak!
DH, 40, also a disney nut. We were married at the Wedding Pavilion 10 years ago.
DS, 7, not as much as a disney nut as his parents, but he likes going. This was his 7th trip, the first being when he was 2 1/2. He gets excited about going, but not our eternal OCD planning! He doesn't care where we are going to eat, what day we are going where (with one minor exception, to be discussed later). He just wants to be there, ride the rides, and find the STORES!
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Ok...I'll give a little "pre-trip" background. In July, I sent my DH an email because the urge to go to Disney had overcome me. We had just been in December, but I've spent too much time on the DIS, and thought I needed to go back. His response..."and I want to win the lottery. So if you can figure out how to do that, we'll go."

Darn. Not what I was hoping to hear! But for some reason, about a week later...he said, Ok, let's go. (because one dancing banana just wasn't enough.) So I quick booked our airfare. After all, that makes it official, and harder to change if he changes his mind! We are going in September, 21-26. Next...where would we stay?!

DH has always wanted to stay at the Boardwalk. Fortunately, there was availability with a 40% code. So...boardwalk it is. I booked this through Mouseunlimited.com. Normally, I don't like to lose control of my reservations, but they are a sunshine rewards merchant, so it's cash back. And I'm pretty sure Tom, at Mouse Unlimited, may wish I had never done it. I become a pretty 'needy' customer! But more on that to come.

We realize that DS's little "girlfriend" and her family are going at the same time we are. DS is ecstatic about this. Yeah, at 7! I'm in so much trouble! They tell us they are going to the Halloween party on the 23rd. Wouldn't it be fun if we all go together? So....we are going to the Halloween Party. This is where DH and the DIS get us into trouble. He starts reading about people complaining about the bus service to the MK, and he is concerned about the party night. Our friends are staying at the Polynesian...and how much easier it would be to be on a monorail resort....and lucky enough. The POly is available at the 40% code! Woo Hoo. So now, it's the Poly here we come!

For some reason, I should learn to stay off the internet. I keep checking online for the different availability. Just for the fun of it. Ok...I know there are those of you just like me out there! And one Saturday....I check for availability, and what to my wondering eyes should appear...but the Atrium Club, MK View at the Contemporary. HOLY COW. Knowing DH like I do, I run it past him. Now, it is significantly more expensive than the Poly, and I'm not sure he will go for it. But he does like nice, shiny things. Once the idea has been planted, the wheels start turning. I have about 1000 in "free" money from my visa rewards and sunshine rewards. Which means it wouldn't be that much more out of pocket for us than a regular vacation. Hmm.....what does he say...but YES!! holy cow! So change #2 on hotel. Thanks Tom! We have upgraded our resort to the most awesome view in the place. So very excited for this. So we are off and running.

This is now the beginning of August that we made this switch. A whole month and a half left to plan. This is actually a last minute trip for us, as usually we plan atleast 6 months out. But for some reason, me and the darn internet...

 

[cjnix29]

So as time goes on...I start to think about whether we will feel like we have enough time at WDW, with only four days of park time, since we are going Tuesday - Sunday. The wheels again start turning. Hey...I booked our plane tickets through Southwest...we can change them! I convince DH to add two days to the trip. But now the dilemma....there isn't availability at the CR for those extra two days. My thought is....hey, let's stay at Pop. It's two extra days. But DH on the other hand...could we really go from the Atrium Club to pop? No, probably not. So how about an Epcot resort, since that's where we started to begin with. But do we want just two days there? We ended up canceling one night at the CR, to add two at the Yacht Club. Then it's 4/3, which should be enough. This will be our first split stay, with no car. We'll see how it goes.... Thanks again, Tom at Mouseunlimited. (Need a TA....TALK TO TOM!!! He rocks!)

 

[cjnix29]

Ok, it's finally trip day! Our flight doesn't leave until 4. So the plan is that DH will work from home that day, and I will pick Ethan up from school after lunch. Well....that day was soo slow! I thought 4:00 would never come!! We left the house at 2, and headed to the airport. FINALLY...we are on our way!!

The flight was uneventful, and we are so thrilled to land in Orlando. We get on the Magical Express giddy with excitement!!! Contemporary Resort, here we come!!!

We pull up to the CR, and we are expecting someone to come get us. Problems from reading the DIS! We got to the check in, and were told normally there is someone to get us, but we checked in so late that it didn't happen. Ok...no problem. They take us up to the 12th floor...with our gold KTTW card. Nice touch with that!! We go into our room....and immediately run to the balcony! There's the castle, there's Space Mountain, there's the Grand Floridian....HOLY TOLEDO!! We are NEVER leaving that balcony!! Then we walk into the lounge...drinks, desserts....how can it get better than this?!
Wait for it......

We can lie in our beds and watch the castle change colors. This is what I want my heaven to be like when I die! No sleep for us tonight....I'm watching the castle!

By 10:30 pm, our luggage still hasn't magically arrived. So I call to bell services to have them wait until the morning to deliver it. Thankfully, I had packed a carry on with pj's and clothes, etc. for the first day.

What to do our first day?? DH and I wanted to go to the MK, after all, we were right there. Until Ethan reminded us of a family tradition we had forgotten....we always go to Epcot on our first day. And how can we break tradition?! Thank goodness we don't! Because one of the best things ever to happen to us on a Disney vacation is about to occur....

 

[smacky1]

OOOOHHHHH! I cant wait to find out what it is! The view sounds fantastic!

 

[cjnix29]

Yay! I have a reader!

So our first day, we get up and head to the Club lounge for breakfast. Here's where I am going to disappoint some....I have no pictures from the lounge, or the food. Sorry! As I said, I wasn't planning on writing a trip report! Otherwise, I would have been all over it! But there were croissants, fruit, bagels, and some assorted pastries. Good breakfast in our bellies, we head down to the monorail to Epcot.

We get there, wait in line to go through the turnstiles, and then head to rope drop. DH and I get separated a little. I start towards where the line is forming to the left. He heads to this nice wide open area of rope. I see that his idea makes more sense (boy does it EVER!), so Ethan and I join him. Dave points out the test track car that is underneath the walkway towards The Land. We figured the characters were going to come out in the test track vehicle. It was then we realize that for as many times as we have been to Epcot, we have never been there for rope drop! While we are standing there, a nice CM who is earning his ears, starts to chat with DH. He asks us if we like Epcot, if we have been there before, etc. Of course we LOVE Epcot. It's our favorite park, and as I have already said...Ethan insists on continuing the first day family tradition. Just then another CM (Jillian) joins him. The first CM says to the second...I have found a great family of 3. And she starts talking to us about Epcot too. Just then...she asks us if we want to be Epcot's Family of the Day!!!

WHAT?!!?!?!?!? Are you kidding me?! To quote the Incredibles..."that was TOTALLY WICKED!" I don't even care what the benefits are...we can say we were Epcot Family of the Day!!

So they take us under the rope, and in front of the fountain. There we are told that the Fab 5...Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto will come out. We will then be able to get our picture taken with all five together! (will post this as soon as I figure out how to do it!). Then...the test track vehicle comes out, where we get in, and are driven to Test Track. We get to be the first riders of the day. So we ride once, and then again! Jillian then meets us at the end of the ride, and pulls up our photopass picture. We head to the store, and we are given the picture.

We all head next to Mission Space. I start to get a big nervous, I have never ridden this ride, nor has Ethan. Not really sure I want to, but all bets are off this morning!! Jillian introduces us to another CM, I can't remember her name, but she was from Charlotte, Michigan. Wish I could, she was so nice!! She hands us our Mission cards, and says she is going to take us on a little tour. We head back to the HP lounge. HP, the sponsor of Mission Space, has an employee and guest lounge. We get to go up, get some drinks and check the place out! We can see down into the ride loading zone, as well as the ride exit where all the computers and stuff are. It was pretty cool!! So....as if this isn't all enough....

 

[hill6]

Loving it so far.

 

[DisneyMissy318]

I do hope you are still typing! What an AWESOME start to your trip! Absolutely can't wait to hear the rest!

 

[natebenma]

Yacht Club? Upgrade? I'm in!

Dee

 

[cjnix29]

Ok, so after the HP lounge, we are taken to ride Mission Space. I breathe in, and out...we are on the green side, so I should be Ok. And sure enough, we made it Mars, I didn't die, and Ethan had fun. No problems!! And I can say I finally did it! Ok, so the chicken side, but minor details!

After Mission Space, we were given two fast passes to any attraction, for the whole family. Plus, we would also have VIP viewing for illuminations that night. We are all just still stunned this has happened to us!! So after Mission Space, we start walking towards Soarin' with our newly acquired fast passes. On the way, we pass the Character spot. We were told we could use our fast pass for that as well. Since we had already ridden Test Track twice, and Mission Space, we figured we would use one of the fast passes to get autographs of the fab five. We hand our fast pass to the CM at the door. I am not sure he knew what to do with it! He went to find someone to ask, and we were in. We were let in the head of the line. Not sure the Cm there was too happy about it. This may be the only grumpy CM we encountered this week. But....we got our hugs from Mickey and the gang, and were off to Soarin'.

Soarin' is my favorite ride in about all of Disney World. So I was excited. Unfortunately, fast passes don't always do a lot of good on this ride. You still have a half an hour wait at times even with a FP. I think we were at 20 minutes. Ethan was not all that patient, but we finally got in. Ah...pine trees and oranges. LOVE IT!!!!

By this point, our stomachs were talking to us. Ethan was getting cranky from hunger...time to find food!! Best place to snack...World Showcase! Since La Cantina de San Angel just opened, thought we would try that. DH and I split a Tacos de Pollo. Ethan had the chicken tenders. Although I think the CM ringing things up was new. We couldn't get her to understand that the child's meal came with a drink even if we weren't on the dining plan. (oh, forgot to mention that....no dining plan for us. We are winging it! Plus with the Club Level breakfast/snacks, we thought we could get by.) Finally figured it out, and we were sitting at a table next to the lagoon. Just great! It would be a great place to watch illuminations. The tacos were good. It came with tortilla chips and cheese. The chips and cheese were good as well. Would recommend it, and would go back. Alas...no food pics, sorry!

Next stop....the Mexico ride! Ethan loves this, and always has. He has really gotten into finding hidden Mickey's and this is one ride we always have trouble finding them. Although he did snag one this time!

I forgot to mention....my sister had made Ethan an Epcot passport. So we really wanted to get it stamped and signed by all the countries. We do the kidcot normally, but never manage to finish it. So, we wanted to get it all going. And thanks to the thread with the designs on here! the discreates, or whatever it is. Ethan also decided he wanted to do a mask too. So at each country we had the mask and the passport.

We made our way around the World Showcase, but about Great Britain, we started losing steam. I had to upgrade our tickets, so I headed to guest services. DH and Ethan finished out the passport.

Oh...one funny thing. It is amazing how time changes things. The first time we took Ethan to Disney World, he was 2 1/2. He was absolutely in LOVE with the Princesses. He would collect kisses! And even on subsequent trips, he loved the characters, and even the princesses and the fairies. Well....this trip, not so much!! So...we decided when he got whiney, or was having trouble listening, etc. we would find the first princess line we could find, and he would be forced to get an autograph and a photo with the princess. It was hilarious! Needless to say...we only ended up having to do this once. It is just much fun being a parent!

Side note: I had originally bought 4 day tickets from undercover tourist before the price increase. So when we increased our days, I needed to upgrade to 6 day tickets. As per the advice on the DIS, we used our passes first. Then at Epcot I went to guest services to upgrade them. Went perfectly great. The CM there knew what he was doing, did the bridge thing, since we got them at a discount, added the days, cost me $30. We had also decided that we wouldn't be coming back to Epcot that night, so I asked if we could change our VIP illuminations viewing to Sunday. Ethan's girlfriend and her family were coming to our room to watch the fireworks at the MK that night. Sure enough...we were able to switch!! Again, can't remember the CM who did this for me, he was from China, name started with either an S or a D, can't remember. But shout out to you....very helpful and Great!!

 

[cjnix29]

Ok, I must add a comment about a recurring theme I see during our stay at the World....I post it here, because it is after leaving guest services that I really start to notice a problem.

LADIES....PLEASE PUT YOUR BREASTS AWAY! THIS IS A FAMILY PLACE!!! I have never seen so much cleavage pouring out of shirts in my entire life!! So many people expect a small piece of cotton to do much work! Wear a bra, tuck them in, you can wear your bikini at the pool. Ok...off my soapbox. Well, until we hit Hollywood Studios. I shudder just thinking of that event....but that's our last day, you'll have to wait in suspense!


Ok....so if anyone can help me on how to post photos, I would greatly appreciate it! and this trip report may be more interesting that way!

 

[cjnix29]

After guest services, and finishing the world showcase, it was only about 2:00. But we decided it was a good time to head back to the hotel, rest a bit, and maybe hit the pool. We made it back on the monorail, changed at the TTC, and then onto the Contemporary. We put our gold key in the elevator, and head to the lounge. It's was great to be greeted with a "welcome back" from the staff as we stepped off the elevator! We grab some snacks in the lounge. The chips were soooo yummy! And I am not even sure I want to know how many chocolate chip cookies Ethan ate during this trip!

Head back to the room to lie down for a bit. Then we changed into our suits and hit the pool. We liked the CR pool. It may not have a really fancy, kitchy waterslide, or a sand bottom. But we liked that it was large. The slide was fun. The pool games were good. It was great to watch the activity on bay lake while in the pool. Funniest thing is when a duck got in the pool. But it swam towards the end of the slide. Well the current from the slide just pushed the duck clear to the other end of the pool. Ok, guess you had to be there.

After swimming for awhile, we head back to the room to change. Then to the lounge for some appetizers. I can't remember what they had that night, but it satisfied us, and we didn't need to eat dinner. For some reason, we honestly seem to eat less at Disney. Maybe it's because we are drinking more, or snacking more. But at mealtimes, we don't seem to be as hungry. This worked out well for us. As I mentioned, we are not on the dining plan, and haven't made ADR's. Well, we did make two, but that's it for the whole week. So we would get breakfast in the lounge, eat lunch in the parks, and then just do appetizers and snacks at the lounge. Ethan wouldn't always like the appetizers in the lounge, so we would get him a kids meal from the Contempo Cafe. For some reason, he thought that place was the coolest around. Who knows!

This night, our friends from home, and Ethan's girlfriend are coming up to watch the fireworks from our room. They had dinner reservations at Kona for 6:15. We start to worry about 7:30, when we haven't heard from them. Fireworks are at 8. We are sitting on our balcony watching the monorails, NOT moving! Finally, at about 7:45, I get a call from them telling me that are at the monorail stop at the MK. I go downstairs to meet them. When we get to the room, Ethan goes crazy. He is so excited to see his friend! The adults head to the balcony. The kids....find the toys and start playing! They could really care less about the fireworks. Oh well, it's their vacation too, right!?

It is just amazing watching the fireworks from our room. We can turn on a channel on the tv, and get the Wishes music. Being so high up, you feel like you are in the midst of the show! Just awesome!! After things are done, our friends head out. We have plans to meet up with them for the Halloween Party the next night. We get them to the elevator, and then find the desserts in the lounge. I remember the carrot cake. SO GOOD!! We take it back to our room, to sit on the balcony, watching the monorails run, the boats, the castle colors. Another perfect ending to the day! Tomorrow is our first Magic Kingdom day!

 

[cjnix29]

It's Thursday....our first MK day. It's an EMH morning, so we get up early and grab some breakfast in the lounge. I have now become a croissant addict. DH gets a cherry pastry, and Ethan gets some fruit loops. Bellies full, we head down to the walkway. We decided it was quicker to just walk to the MK, rather than wait for the monorail. Early in the week, this wasn't much of a problem. Our feet hadn't given up on us yet! I can't remember if we got there before 8 or not, but we headed in with the masses. While it hasn't been that long since we have been to WDW, it seems we have forgotten what happens at EMH! We try to head to frontierland, completely forgetting that it isn't open then! Thankfully another guest told us of the error of our ways! So, change of plans...we head to tomorrowland. First up...Space Mountain.

DH and Ethan head onto this ride. It is not one of my favorites. And the last time I tried to ride it, the moving sidewalk in it makes me light headed and dizzy. Not sure why that one does it, and none of the others do, but that's how it is. Dave and Ethan go and ride. I head to the exit, and wait for them. For some reason they are taking forever! I strike up a conversation with the CM in the gift shop. He was from Massachusetts, and has been working at Space Mountain for about 5 years. He had no interest in going anywhere else. Great thing about Disney, you have the ability to do lots of things, or the same!

They finally came out, loving the ride. We then head to buzz. Have to get as much in during EMH. Ethan rides with me. However, in the end, DH is the winner. I always forget to read ahead to find the high point dots! Next up, Fantasyland. It's so sad going into fantasyland. The construction walls are up, even around Pooh. Our only real stop in fantasyland is Peter Pan. So we get on Peter Pan, and go Off To Neverland! I love that ride! Something about it just makes me smile. Maybe because Peter Pan is one of my favorite Disney movies. Or maybe it's because I remember a few years back watching Ethan ride it with Peter Pan. Don't know, but I love it!

We join the masses again, at the entrance to Liberty Square. The rope is waiting. Finally, we get to head to frontierland....always, ride Big Thunder First, then head to Splash! When we get to BTR, I notice the right side coaster is surrounded by about 5 guys in maintenance shirts, two guys in dress clothes with ear pieces and walkie talkies. Uh Oh! Guess we are not going on the right side! Fortunately, we are still able to ride. But only once. The ride goes down when we are done. Oh well, we can do that later. On to SPLASH!! This is also a family favorite! I love looking for hidden mickey's, so does Ethan. The water cannon wasn't working, so we didn't end up getting too wet. Just wet butts, those will dry fast!

No fast passes for us, we figure once is enough for now. We head to pirates...another family favorite!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Joining in. You've certainly experienced the Disney magic haven't you!

Posting pictures if pretty easy (Believe me, if I can do it....you can Ask me a legal question and I can answer it. Ask me a computer question and I'll look at you like you have three eyes.)

You'll need to register with www.photobucket.com. Once registered, upload your pictures from your computer to photobucket's site. (Oh and I forgot to mention that it's free.) After you've uploaded your pictures click on My Album on the photobucket site. Underneath each picture, you'll see three or four links. You'll need to copy the very last link and paste it here on your trip report. Once you've clicked Submit Reply, your picture should magically appear. Hope that helps 'cause I'd love to see your pictures.

Looking forward to more.




Lisa

 

[cjnix29]

Joining in. You've certainly experienced the Disney magic haven't you!

Posting pictures if pretty easy (Believe me, if I can do it....you can Ask me a legal question and I can answer it. Ask me a computer question and I'll look at you like you have three eyes.)

You'll need to register with www.photobucket.com. Once registered, upload your pictures from your computer to photobucket's site. (Oh and I forgot to mention that it's free.) After you've uploaded your pictures click on My Album on the photobucket site. Underneath each picture, you'll see three or four links. You'll need to copy the very last link and paste it here on your trip report. Once you've clicked Submit Reply, your picture should magically appear. Hope that helps 'cause I'd love to see your pictures.

Looking forward to more.




Lisa

Thanks! I have uploaded to photobucket, but wasn't sure how to do it after that. I will give it a shot!

 

[cjnix29]

 

[mickeystoontown]

This picture is definitely worth waiting for! Glad to see that you have got picture posting down pat.

 

[natebenma]

Congrats on getting the pictures up. They are fantastic! WOW!!! Sounds like you have had a super time so far and some major pixie dust! Look forward to hearing about more of your trip!

 

[cjnix29]

Congrats on getting the pictures up. They are fantastic! WOW!!! Sounds like you have had a super time so far and some major pixie dust! Look forward to hearing about more of your trip!

Thanks! I have more cool ones to share. Thanks to mickeystoontown for the instructions!

 

[cjnix29]

Ahoy matey's! It's a pirate's life for me...and DH and Ethan! This ride is so Disney to me! Although....no Davey Jones on this ride! We got into the pirate ship battle section, and at the same time, the people in the seats ahead of us and us said "What happened to Davey Jones??" Who knows. It was working the next time we rode it!

After the ride was over, and Ethan had pointed out the hidden mickey in the jail, we hit the pirate shop. Ethan loves this store, and it always takes awhile to get him out of there. We found the section where you can fill a treasure box full of treasure...with a 40% off! Woo hoo! So the great CMs there helped Ethan to stuff that box as full as they could possibly make it. Outstanding!!

We started criss crossing the park at this point. After Pirates, we head to Haunted Mansion, get stretched and picked up some hitchhikers. We head towards fantasyland and stop off at the teacups. It was DH's personal mission to see just how fast he can get that thing going. He may have beaten his personal record!

Next is a tour of toontown. So sad this is going away....so for old time's sake, we have to take Ethan's picture in front of the toontown sign....since this may be the last time to do so. He was so thrilled about it too...

It's barnstormer time. This is another sad moment. I will never forget the first time we rode this. Ethan was so little, and it was his first roller coaster. All you could hear was him giggling! So great. Will be interesting to see what they do with this ride. Another family tradition...we have many pictures of the backs of our heads on this ride! Thanks, Dave (DH).

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After this....we need lunch! No ADRs, so we decide to walk over to frontierland to see about the Diamond Horseshoe. We have never eaten here, and honestly, didn't even know they served food. Well...today they didnt'. Unless Donald was cooking! The front porch was a character meeting spot. Ok, looks like that's not where we are eating! So instead...we head to Columbia Harbor House. Always a good, quick meal. We ordered food...me, fish and fries, Dave...shrimp and fries, Ethan...chicken nuggets. dumb me, never realized before that you can eat upstairs! Headed up there, and there was plenty of seats. Tried to get a window, but we were too late. That's Ok....still good. Bellies full... we start to head towards the front of the park. Time for a break, since tonight is the Halloween Party. After walking through the emporium, we take our leisurely stroll back along the walkway to the Contemporary. It's about 2 at this point.

We get to our room....and it still isn't clean. Boo! We were going to rest, but figure we would head down to the pool to give mousekeeping a chance to get our room cleaned. Pool time was good, slide was fun, all was well!

Back to the room....it was cleaned! Gearing up for the Halloween Party! We start to get Ethan ready. He is going as Phineas, from Phineas and Ferb. I had brought orange and red hair spray. So we do that out on the deck. I went with the red, should have done the orange, probably. But it turned out Ok.

Grabbed some food from the lounge, and off to the MK. We were meeting our friends sometime after 7, so we had some time on our own. We got our wristbands, bags, and thought we would catch some rides before the party started. First up....Haunted Mansion. For some reason, this ride is always better at night!!

IMG]http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad278/cjnix35/098.jpg[/IMG]

I must digress here. The weather this night was great! This was our fourth Halloween Party...the previous three had all had rain. So much rain one time that Disney let us come back to the MK once in the next year on our party ticket. So the thought that we would have a rain-free party was totally exciting to us!! We have never seen the headless horseman! Tonight would be the night!!!

Ok...back to the party. By the time we get out of the Haunted Mansion, it is after 7, so the party is getting started. We walk into fantasyland and see the Seven Dwarfs. We have pics with all of them, so we keep walking. Then we see Cinderella's carriage. No way are we getting Ethan to stand there for a picture, so we keep walking. We come to Dumbo. We haven't ridden this in such a long time! And there is no line. So...we are on it! Dave took some pictures over the construction wall....so for those of you that are curious to see what is going on at this point...here ya go!

While we were on Dumbo, got the call from our friends. They are waiting for us at the Crystal Palace. We get off Dumbo...and see there is NO line for Snow White. Well, what's a few more minutes to meet up with the Swiger's! We rode Snow White, also a ride we hadn't done in awhile. I like this one, but can see why little ones might not.

Oh...here are a few more shots of things around the MK that night.

 

[cjnix29]

Gosh, I was buried on page three! Back to MNSSHP...without rain! Yippee!!

We met up with our friends, and Ethan was in hog heaven. His "girlfriend" was excited too. We tried to figure out a game plan. Our friends had never been to a halloween party before, so they left it to us to lead the way. We headed to adventureland. There was a candy stop at the Jungle Cruise, complete with a giant inflatable Pumba. So cool! So we got our candy, and headed to Pirates! Great thing about party nights, you can ride with no lines! So we get into pirates, and Ethan and Shannon wanted to ride together...so the mom's rode in the seat with them, while the dads were behind them....have to keep an eye on the "love birds." It was so funny!!

With pirates done, we scuttle the kids through the gift shop...where Ethan had to show Shannon where the treasure boxes were. Next off to Frontierland. Another treat stop...through the mountain by Splash. It was an area I never knew even existed! But we got our candy, and headed to Big Thunder Mountain RR. The mom's stayed behind, as Shannon's mom has some health issues that doesn't allow her to ride. So the men and the kids went to ride. When they got done, they wanted to do it again....Ethan and Shannon had their own seat. Boy did they think they were cool! So they rode again.

By the time they finished the second ride, the 8:00 parade had started. So we watched while we walked....took the walkway to head towards the Haunted Mansion. I love this ride at night!!

Next up, we walked to fantasyland. Part of our party needed to hit the restroom, so we waited for them. As we are waiting, the Seven Dwarves all walk past us to get to their meet and greet! That was cool! We didn't stand in line to meet them, because as I said before, we have already seen them before. We keep walking...

Come across the carriage...kept walking. Shannon wasn't interested in standing in line...so off we went. Found the next candy stop. There was actually some good stuff....twix, baby ruth....not some junk like we had gotten in years past. Of course, Ethan wasn't still thrilled with the raisins, but such is life!

We are headed to toon town next....but on the way we catch a glimpse of a character I have never seen before...the HAG! So very excited for this one, but alas, her line was closed! They said she would be back out later, but we never did catch up with her. Glad to have atleast spotted her!

Ok, this is long enough without pictures!

So some random ones from the party....

Up next...Alice's treat trail, fireworks, and the parade!