I finished up at the Plaza and had more than an hour to kill before the start of the party at 7:00 p.m. I had gotten my wristband already when I entered the park earlier and had looked over the brochure with the party schedule of events during my dinner.
My only priorities for the party were to see the parade (maybe twice, if it was good), the fireworks, and try the special Halloween party treat that I mentioned earlier. Oh, and there was one more thing...I wanted to have my photo taken with a certain character who pretty much embodies the Halloween theme. I had heard that the lines for this character were extremely long from start to finish of the party, so with nothing better to do I decided to check and see if there was a line forming yet for him at the front of the park, next to City Hall. At around 5:45 (more than 1 hour before the party was to start) there was a line beginning to form, but it wasn't a very long one. I debated about whether I should jump in line or not, and decided to go ahead and bite the bullet. About 5 minutes later a CM came out and announced that these characters would be coming out early tonight and she then started checking everyone in line to make sure they were wearing a
MNSSHP wristband. Then at 6:00 out came both Jack Skellington and Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas and according to the time on my photo, I had attained one of my party goals by 6:20...40 minutes before the official start of the party, Not bad for a party rookie!
With extra time on my hands now, I decided to add one more character meet and greet to my schedule. I had heard that the Winnie the Pooh characters appeared in really cute Halloween costumes during the party so off I went to Fantasyland to check if there was a line forming yet. I spoke to a very nice CM by the Winnie the Pooh ride and was told that the Pooh characters would not come out until 7:30. She showed me where I could sit for the 45 minute wait, if I wanted to be first in line to see them and that is what I decided to do.
So by 7:35 my second goal was accomplished and it was time to find my spot in Frontierland to watch the first parade, which would start from there at 8:15. However, the wonderful smell coming from the popcorn cart drew me to it as I was walking through Liberty Square. And here is where I admit a shocking fact about me.
I had never before tried the popcorn at Disney World! It has been on my Must Try list for years now, but somehow I just never got around to it. But I finally managed to mark this off my list...
And it was good...lots of salt and butter. Much like the popcorn I had last night at our local movie theater. However, there is something about eating popcorn while watching a parade, fireworks, etc. at Disney World that makes it taste special.
I then had to walk quite far down the parade route through Frontierland before I finally found an open spot on the curb. It wasn't long then until the start of the parade that is now my all-time favorite Disney parade...
I think I took about a thousand pics of this wonderful parade, but I won't subject you to them all...just a few.
Disney Royalty - Donald & Daisy, Minnie & Mickey
The Ballroom Dancers from the Haunted Mansion came to life...
The Haunted Mansion float, my favorite of the parade...
And no Disney Halloween parade could be complete without the villains...
All this combined with an unforgettable song (yes, it's running through my head even now
) from "The Night Before Christmas" movie...
"This is Halloween, this is Halloween
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!"
...had me thoroughly convinced that this was in fact Halloween, even though it was actually only October 23rd.
After the parade finished up in Frontierland, I cut through the path that comes out by the Crystal Palace and Casey's and watched the end of the parade again as it went down Main Street. Then it was time to find a spot to watch the fireworks. I decided to stay right there in front of Casey's, as the view of the castle seemed pretty good. The wait didn't seem too long before the Celebrate the Magic light show began at 9:15 and then the start of HalloWishes at 9:30. Again I took about a thousand photos of the fireworks, but I'll just post a few...
After the fireworks, I had just enough time to get my special treat (available only during the Halloween Party) from Liberty Square's Sleepy Hollow...
Spiced Pumpkin Waffle Sundae
I didn't regret my decision to skip dessert at the Plaza. This was seriously good!!
Here is the list of all the specialty treats which were available only during MNSSHP...
After my snack I found a spot on Main Street to watch the parade again...and it was even better the second time around. I had originally planned to leave after the parade, but apparently most of the other party guests who watched the parade on Main Street had the same idea because there was a mass exodus. So I decided to head in the opposite direction of the herd and found myself in Fantasyland. This is when I noticed that the line to see the seven dwarfs was relatively short. Therefore, even though seeing them had not been on my list of party goals, I decided to go for it...
And with that it was time to call it a night. The clock had struck 12 and much to my surprise I had made it to the end of the party.
ETA: As I was making my way out of Fantasyland, I passed by Pinocchio's. This was one of the trick-or-treat locations and I thought I remembered reading somewhere that they gave out Werther's caramels here. Since there was not much of a line and I love Werther's candy, I decided to check it out. So here is a photo of my entire haul of candy for the evening...
Sadly, there was not a single piece of Werther's caramel candy.
) but have just spent a very enjoyable evening catching up on your adventures 
that seasonal dessert looks very good!
I was so upset. BUT I WILL see it this year in October when I'm there for my wedding!
Oh no, how sad that you missed out on the parade. 
Congrats to you and Jeff! 
For a partial answer to this question, read my first installment of...
I debated between getting my favorite Mickey waffles from Roaring Fork...
