I had a fabulous time!! Not drastically different than last year, but still fun!
The free pin we got in our packet was a little bit of a downer for me... just a Santa pin that looked like the one on Disney Auctions, but the pin we got when we left the park that night was more than I could have dreamed of! A pin of the reindeer skeleton which is one of my favorite creatures in the movie! I was so excited that I was literally jumping up and down!!
They also had a really nice dangle pin and Haunted Mansion pin available. They are both very cool! The dangle
pin has about 6 heads dangling from it and the Mansion is pretty big with a glow in the dark clock on it.
I also got the 6 open stock tombstone pins that were available on that day as well as the first of the 13 week pins that was offered on Sunday.
Okay so the differences between this year and last year... no Cynthia Harris at the panel, which was kinda surprising because she's been at all the other events we went to. She did do a little video intro which was kinda cheesy, and yet kinda funny at the same time. Glen Shadix was on the panel again which made me extremely happy!!
And a couple of guys that did voices for the vampires, the corpse family, the Jekyll/Hyde guys, the snake with spiders in his hair... and then the big surprise... Catherine O'Hara! I never expected her to be there!! It was so wonderful!
The dinner was good, but not as good as last year's. The cheese dish was smaller, but still yummy with cheddar, gouda, smoked gouda and a cheese spread (that was not yummy actually). Then came a fabulous squash soup and I don't even like squash!
Then a small salad in a hollowed out tomato which paled
in comparison to the super wonderful salad we had last year. Then the entree. Most people had a steak/halibut dish, while I had a portobello mushroom dish. Our dessert was great! Always the highlight of the meal!
Pumpkin custard in a chocolate mousse.... yuuuumm! And some fluffy ghosts, chocolate pumpkin,
and liquor rasberries (which I didn't eat because I don't like liquor. Besides I was getting very full!). The entertainment wasn't as good as last year's, but still fun. Jack came out and introduced a desceased band who sang "Scarols" to us. No vampires this year, no Sally, and no monsters walking around the tables. Even the artists didn't walk around the tables, but we did get to
shake their hands on our way out the door on our way to the mansion.
In the mansion the loading dock was different. It had presents in the background that said "Do not open till" and a date on each one. I suspect they'll open on a different week for the 13 weeks. As we went up the bannister we got to see our names there on cards. Unfortunately the names went by pretty fast and we only had once chance to see them so I missed mine...Oh well!
They added a cute dog bone box to the stack of presents and a tree with chains in Leota's room which was very cool looking. In the
ballroom there were presents coming out of the sleigh and a new hidden mickey in the snow. There were little clapping monkeys in the attic and a reindeer skeleton serving tea in the graveyard scene
All-in-all a great night!
We bought a TON of merchandise! Vampire teddy bear beanie, a really nice men's shirt with Jack's entire body on one side and the mansion on the back, a print-on-demand of my favorite mansion tombstone, a nightmare rug/blanket, Jack head lights, and as I mentioned... lots of pins!!
Sadly the lenticulars weren't available when we went to pick up our merchandise. They are going to send them all to us free of
charge. We did get a sneak peek of them and they are really, really cool!!! We are now kicking ourselves for not getting
the Santa Jack one.
=Tabby=
