Pirates & Princess’ OH MY! PART 1
As you walked up to the MK it was literally a mess of people.
Those were attempting to get in were colliding with all of the day guests who had waited until the very last minute to leave. Everywhere you looked there were Pirates of all sizes and genders, mixed with little girls dressed as every Disney Princess imaginable. Moms and dads from both directions were shouting to their children to stay put in their strollers or hang on tight to their hands.
We kept close to the rail, attempting to not let anyone push us into the crowd. As we cleared security and got through the turn styles, the first views of what was to come for the night, took our breath away.
The red carpets were laid, welcoming us to enter through the tunnel to the right. To add to the ambiance, the tunnel walls were draped with heavy ornate drapery. A mysterious, yet haunting steam swept across the ground, giving you the feeling that evil was looming somewhere, however for the time, beauty was prevailing.
CM’s stood in front of the tunnel handing little, black, velvet bags for our treasures to be stored. Inside the tunnel we picked up our map with the evenings activities and schedules. We made mental notes of the things that were not to be missed. There was a choice of 2 parade times and a fireworks display, which was scheduled in between. From my research on the other extra curricular events, I was aware that we should pick the 2nd of the parades for the least crowd level. Our plan was to enjoy as much as we could until the fireworks, then we would see if there was time to enjoy any other activities and rides before the parade.
Knowing that this was a Pirate & Princess event, we headed to get through pirate experience first. I had a feeling that there would be many who came to see Jack and that many would be in swarms as the night advanced. Take my advice…I was point on, for this prediction.
The swarms of people exiting was amazing! I felt bad that all of those people couldn't stay for the fun. But at the same time I felt special. I was glad we made the choice to be on the side entering the MK and not the side who was leaving. I could hear the squeals of the kiddos as they were being escorted out. Excited at the cool effects that Main Street USA had been transformed with. On one side was goodness, princess like. There were pink and purple special effects gleaming from the buildings. On the opposite side was evil, with dark black and purple effects. It was all too cool and such a sight to take in.
We grabbed some treasures to fill our ‘oh so big’ bags. Literally these pirate booty bags were smaller than my hand. It became apparent at the first treasure spot that the CM’s dolling out the loot were going to be stingy with their treasures.
The CM’s were in charge of barrels filled with either beads or chocolate coins/nuggets. Barrels large enough, that an average man could fit into them.
Just beyond the CM’s there were always barrels filled with small bags of raisin. No CM’s were ever standing guard at the raisin barrels. The raisins were for the taking. Mostly people would dig in, pull out a large handful, then through them back and walk away. It was clear that raisins were not to par with the chocolate or beads. For our family this was a bonus. My kiddos love raisin and my DH & I love giving them to them. They are a great ‘healthy choice’ and are virtually messy-less. So the PJV family loaded up on the raisins. We took a handful of them at every station. At some stations the CM’s would yell over to us to take more. Before the evening was over we had a nice layer of them in the bottom of our doublewide basket. To date, my kids are still eating raisins from their trip to Disney, last Jan. Oh ouch, that is just another reminder of just how long this thing has taken me to write.
A few booty spots hit, we headed to set the mood for the evening with Cap’n Jack & his Pirate friends. The wait was none. We walked through the queue, boarded a boat or are they ships? We were off, but not to Neverland. Mood set, we stopped to watch a pirate battle, Disney style. The battle was inclusive to a woman Pirate, who kicked butt, the men’s butt that was.
We skipped the mansion and pushed our way through the thousands of other P&P Party guests. Okay, so there really were not thousands, in reality there were very few people anywhere. It appeared as if the swarms of people at the entry vaporized with the rest of the ghosts at the Haunted Mansion. We were headed to Fantasy Land.
I had heard a rumor while in the parks that THE ACTUAL, REAL Cinderella Carriage was brought in for the event. Of all places that I thought we would find it, the first place that came to me was Fantasy Land. As we entered Fantasy Land we were not disappointed. A carriage did await us in the stroller area on the side of Small World. Along with the carriage was a line of little princess’ and their mommies and daddies, which seemed a block long.
I seemed to have found where all of the people were.
Quick, I was to jump right in this line. There was no way that my little princess would miss her chance to take a photo with the carriage. Her next chance may not come until her Disney Wedding, which I have already planned for her.
Okay...I will let her have some day in it too... Her wedding that is.
The line did move rather fast. No one was allowed to enter the carriage, only photos were allowed on the outside. There was a Photo guy ready to take a snap for you, along with a Character CM for the carriage. Her job was to make sure we moved along and did not touch the goods.
When it was our turn, I reluctantly sent Tink up with daddy, who had strict instructions to get her in front on the carriage and ditch her, quick like, so I could take some pictures. She wasn’t going for it. She was on the verge of jumping for joy and crying, all at the same time.
I then sent in the weapon, Lil’l Diz. She was sure to take a picture with her brother by her side. He could grab her hand out of her mouth, hold her hand and then daddy could stand behind me and get her to smile. Nope, nope and triple NOPE!
Over the next half hour or so, we then took a journey to Neva Neva land, as Tink now says. Followed by another journey with the little people. We headed over and did our first carousel ride of the trip. The kids had been asking and asking to do it and I’d put it off. Not tonight. The carousel was almost all theirs.
There were NO lines. We would get off one thing and walk over to another. It was like a dream, I have dreamed over and over again. Fantasy Land was ours for the riding. All of the ‘others’ were either watching the first parade or inline for a picture with the carriage, which at this point was all the way to Small World.
UP NEXT: PART II of Pirates & Princess’ OH MY! TOP OF PAGE 41 
i'm sure he's having the time of his life. and 
about grammie.....i know that's so hard. you're in my prayers.
