Stealing Candy From the Kiddies...A Halloween ptr/tr!

[MattsPrincess]

So, here we are planning again. This trip came up with really short notice. We had planned on going for Halloween this year, but then DH got orders to deploy in July so that got scrapped. Then I was going to go in June with my mom, but that got scrapped as well. Then in late May or maybe early June, the deployment got cancelled, and my parents planned a trip to visit in August, so we were all going to go. Then my dad's employer only approved half of his vacation time, so that plan got scrapped. Then they ended up not coming at all. Now we've come full circle, and are back to planning for a Halloweentime visit!

The plan for this trip: We'll be gone 5 days, with 3 day hoppers. We're trying a new tour, a new character meal, and this will be my first time at DL with my DSLR. This will be our third, and sadly most likely final, trip to DLR.

We'll be attending the MHP on Tuesday the 25th, in costume of course! I'm going to be a blue crayon, and DH will be Doctor Who (11th regeneration). We'll also be doing the Happiest Haunts Tour on the 26th. And on Friday the 28th, before we head home, we have a 9am at Goofy's Kitchen!


I'm literally planning this trip less than two weeks before we leave, so we'll see how it goes.

Table of Contents:

Meet The Cast!

Day One

Day Two, part 1

Day Two, part 2

Day Three, part 1

Day Three, part 2

Day Four

Mickey's Halloween Party

Happiest Haunts Tour review

Goofy's Kitchen Breakfast

Hotel Pics & Review (Fairfield)

Additional Misc. Pictures​

 

[MattsPrincess]

I posted an intro for us in my last TR, for our Christmas visit last year. I won't rehash everything for this one, just give a brief "this is who we are" type thing.

ME: Elyse, 23. Just finished college, and started a photography business. I love music more than almost anything and am rarely not listening to something. I also like to read, write, travel, cook/bake, etc. I'm a huge dork, and very proud of that. Just your average nature loving, tree hugging, hippie chick.

HIM: Matt, also 23. Mechanic in the Air Force, in his 5th of a 6 year enlistment. Also a dork, also proud of it. Likes video gaming, skateboarding, hanging out with friends, etc. Typical younger guy stuff.

US: We're both from Michigan but live in Arizona because that is where the AF stationed him. We've been together since we were 14, married since we were 18. No kids. One dog, Delilah the beagle, that is spoiled beyond reason but i'm okay with that! We like doing things like going to concerts, community events, Ren Faire's (and yes, we both dress in full garb!), Steampunk, etc.

So, that's basically us in a nutshell. Weird dorky people.

 

[JennyLynn21]

Hello!! Hope you have a great trip!! I am from Michigan as well and will be at disney the same time as you!! haha In fact I will be at the same hotel and also the Halloween party!! Hope we both have a great time!!!

 

[MattsPrincess]

Well, everything is booked and ready. Made our reservations for the tour and Goofy's yesterday, kennel has been booked, and bought our MHP tickets today!!! All that's left to get is our park tickets, which we will be buying at the park.

MHP on Tuesday the 25th.
Happiest Haunts tour at 4pm on the 26th.
Goofy's at 9am on the 28th.

 

[MattsPrincess]

So, we don't like to plan a lot for trips...not at all the "park commando" types here. We like having a general outline, and maybe one or two things that need to be done at a certain time each day. Other than that, we wander and do whatever. So, said general outline is looking like this:

Monday, October 24th- get up and eat breakfast. drop the dog off at the kennel around 9am. Hit the highway. We should be on the road by 10am, which will have us arriving at our hotel around 5 or 6 pm. Check in, drop off our stuff, and go have dinner at DTD, as well as go buy our park tickets. Early bed.

Tuesday, 25th- be at the parks at opening, stay at DL all day. Head back to the hotel around 3 to change into costumes, then back to DL for the MHP.

Wednesday, 26th- slightly later start, do DCA most of the day. Happiest Haunts tour at 4.

Thursday, 27th- last day in the parks, so early start. Hop around between the two doing last minute rides, photos, shopping, etc. Soaking it all in.

Friday, 28th- up early to pack and check out of hotel. Goofy's for breakfast at 9am, then head home. Pick up some dinner and the dog.

 

[MattsPrincess]

ONE WEEK!!!! This time next monday, I will have just had dinner in DTD, and will be getting ready for bed so that I can be at the parks bright and early!!!!

 

[reyasmommy]

Have a wonderful time, can't wait to hear about it. Glad you're finally able to make it to Disney... I completely understand. We're leaving in 3 weeks FINALLY after many, many cancelations. Have FUN!

 

[MattsPrincess]

We stayed at the Fairfield Inn on Harbor. We got a standard, 2 Queen room, number 528.

I was very happy with this hotel, and would definitely stay here again. The staff was friendly and helpful, the room was spotlessly clean, everything was very nice. It was a little farther from the parks than I thought it was (thanks, Google maps!) but still very easily walkable.

I do have two minor complaints, though-

1. The toilet flushed VERY loudly. It wasn't a problem for us, as Matt sleeps very heavily so even though I was getting up earlier there was no risk of waking him. But if he wasn't such a sound sleeper, or he had gotten up first, or we had kids, etc...it could have been a bigger issue.

2. The bed was way too firm for me. I actually had trouble sleeping because of it. Matt was perfectly comfortable though, so just a matter of personal preference on this one.

(there was a small hot tub as well, off to the left)

Room was spacious and comfortable.

Bathroom was medium sized, clean, well layed out.

Ladies, if you need a hair dryer bring your own, there wasn't one in the room.

There is a daily parking fee, and the lot is self park, not valet.

There is a small shop downstairs with drinks, food, medicine, etc.

Room had a coffee pot and fridge, no microwave.

Internet was available in the room free.

 

[MattsPrincess]

We had taken the Holiday tour last November and both really enjoyed it, so we decided we would try out the Happiest Haunts tour this time around.

Had no issues getting checked in, etc. Tour was scheduled for 4:00, but we didn't actually start until around 4:30, not sure why. We were a group of 12, no children. Our tour guide was Joanna. Our other "ghostly" guide was "Gracie", who we are almost positive was Sheila, our tour guide from the Christmas tour last year! They were both great.

I don't want to go into too much detail, so that if you take it you won't know everything.

We rode Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Snow White, Ariel and Tower of Terror. You have the option to not ride any of them if you don't want to, and several people in our group opted out of the bigger rides.

I will say it was fun, but I liked the Christmas tour a little better. For just under $130, we got to skip the line for all of those rides, got a very yummy rice krispy treat, and had a nice, amusing, fun time.

Joanna was fabulous, to the point that we went to City Hall the next day to tell them how great she was.

My only complaint about the tour:
They switched from the glow in the dark key necklace from previous years, to a paper pumpkin you tied onto something. While I don't care about the loss of the necklace, the pumpkin poses a problem. Because it is just a little piece of paper, that we all tied to various clothing, bags, etc it isn't the most visible thing. Due to this, two men snuck into Space Mountain with us, and actually took the seats Matt and I were supposed to be in, separating us from the group for a good 10 minutes. Luckily, Joanna noticed we were gone and waited for us at the exit.

 

[MattsPrincess]

Had a slight delay in leaving. Even though Matt was officially on leave, he had to go do some things at work before he could drop the dog off at the kennel. We stopped at McDonald's and Dunkin Donuts for an on the run breakfast, and were on the I 10 by 9:40.

Drive is about 7 hours, give or take. We were checking into the hotel at 4:30.

The original plan was to not go into the parks today, but instead to hang around DTD. However, after a little thought, we decided we wanted the extra day and bought 4 Day Hoppers instead.

We got into DL around 5, and it closed at 6. In that hour, we rode Buzz and BTMRR. I took a ton of pictures. We generally strolled and got into the groove of being there again. Planned out what we wanted to do the next day.

I was surprised to find that a light snow had already begun to fall on the castle:

I tried to be all artsy for a minute:

For only having had an hour, we did a lot and had a great time.

We hopped over to DCA, as it didn't close until 8. I knew from reading on here to expect DCA to be a construction mess, but I guess I underestimated just how much of a mess it really is. We were starving and had been hoping to eat dinner here, but we walked a good 10 minutes before even finding a popcorn cart. We grabbed a regular popcorn and pretty much inhaled it.

We made our way toward the pier area, and found the new Little Mermaid with a 30 minute wait, and decided to go ahead and knock it off the list. It ended up being a longer wait than that, and I didn't feel it was worth it. Had I know we were going to ride this on the Haunts tour, I would have skipped it.

When we got off that, we were cold tried and hungry, and overwhelmed with the walls, etc. We decided to go get dinner in DTD, and headed for La Brea Express to get the wonderful bread bowls we got last time. Once we got there, we found out they didn't have chicken noodle, and that is the only one I could have eaten. We wandered around a little before caving in and buying a chocolate cupcake from Marceline's. It was really good, but i'm glad we shared it. we both said there was no way we could have finished it alone.

Even more tired, colder, and now uncomfortable hungry, we decided to head back to the hotel. On the way back we spotted the Denny's and practically ran to it, lol.

Matt got some fajita skillet thing. Steak and chicken, with tortillas, potatoes, cheese, sour cream and pico. He said it was very good. I got my favorite thing on their menu, the Fit Slam. Egg whites with spinach and tomato, and english muffin, turkey bacon and fresh fruit. SO very good, I highly recommend this!

After that we were running on fumes, and headed straight to bed. Early morning the next day!

 

[MattsPrincess]

We attended the Mickey's Halloween Party on Tuesday, 10/25.

Around quarter to three, we decided to go back to the hotel to change into our costumes. On the way we stopped into Denny's again for a late lunch/early dinner. Went to the hotel and got dressed for the party, and snapped a few quick pictures:

As soon as we started walking back to the parks, kids started pointing at me and yelling "mommy look! a crayon!" This continued through the whole night with kids, and even some adults lol! I got a lot of oh "oh that's so cute!" and "oh how cool, a crayon!" I also had my hat stolen by a lot of characters, lol. The best was with the Storm Troopers, who spent several minutes passing it back and forth, trying to "figure out" what it was! They shook it around, put it on their guns, etc.

Matt was worried no one would know what he was dressed as (Doctor Who). For a little while it seemed like he was right. Then we were walking into Tomorrowland to watch the Jedi Academy, and a man passing by simply tipped his invisible hat and said "Doctor", and kept walking. After that, he had several people come up to him excitedly asking "ARE YOU THE DOCTOR?!?!" The best for him was Jack Sparrow, as he and his photopass girl were apparently fans of the show. We talked with them for several minutes while Jack asked "The Doctor" a few things and interacted. Very cool, made Matt's night.

The first line we got in was for Phineas and Ferb, because they were the top of my "must meet" list and I figured their line would build up fast. I was in line behind a whole family that dressed as the characters from the show! There was a Phineas, Ferb, Candace, Mom, Doof, and even a tiny Isabella! I loved watching them go up for their turn, as the characters played it out very well.

After that, we decided to get some candy! This wasn't really a focus for us, as we both don't really eat a lot of candy and didn't want the burden of heavy bags all night. At the end of the night, we had a World of Color Picnic bag about half full. We got a lot of variety. Tootsie rolls of all sizes, tootsie pops, snickers, M&m's (plain and peanut), 3 muskateers, butterfingers, twix, sour patch kids, skittles, now and laters, a lemon head, nerds, reese cups, kit kat, nestle crunch, sweettarts, smarties, laffy taffy, apples, sour punch straws, and dots.

The lines for the treat stations were long, some so much that we skipped them. We didn't get to every one of them, and still got more candy than we needed! It took us a little bit to realize that the big Mickey ghost lights were marking the stations, lol.

The lines for characters were decent, we thought. No worse than regular ones during the day. We met Storm Troopers, Captain Sparrow, Pooh, Eeyore, Rabbit, Phineas and Ferb, Hook, Pan, and Wendy. We were told Chip and Dale and the fairy Godmother would be there, but never saw them. The only one we didn't even try to get in because it was so crazy long was for mickey and minnie.

There really weren't lines for rides. We walked onto the tea cups, BTMRR, and one or two others.

The whole atmosphere was really cool, with all the added lights, fog, etc. We also spent some time just sitting and watching other people, checking out their costumes. There were a lot of cool ones. I also really liked the dance parties, and I felt that music really added a lot.

We didn't watch the parade, though I can't remember why. So I can't comment on that.

We did catch the fireworks, and got a pretty decent spot about 10 minutes before they started. To be honest, I wasn't that impressed and didn't feel that they alone would be worth paying the extra price for a party ticket. They were cool, just not as great as everyone says they are, IMO. Of the three fireworks shows i've seen now, i'd rate this one at 3rd, with RDCT at 1st and the Holiday Magic at 2nd.

All in all, we had a blast and would attend again for sure. We didn't do everything, and didn't meet as many characters as we would have liked, but still feel it was well worth it.

**there a few pictures I don't have yet, have to wait for the PP cd. Will add them in later**

 

[starshine514]

Coolness! A fellow Tucsonan, steam punk, Dr Who fan. I'm subscribing!

 

[MattsPrincess]

Day two started out early, as we wanted to be at the gates by opening. We were only a few minutes late, and walked up and through security just as the first people were being let in.

It was a little overcast and slightly chilly, but comfortable. Everyone headed straight for the castle, which allowed me to take a few pictures of a nice, quiet Main Street.

After that we decided to check out our breakfast options. We decided on Riverbelle Terrace, because I really wanted to try the Mickey pancake. We strolled over that way, stopping at Tarzan's Treehouse on the way to take in the early morning view. No one else was in there, so I was able to take my time and get some really good shots:

We really enjoyed being able to take our time and really look around, spotting little details we had never noticed before...like this familiar table setting:

After we got out of the trees, we headed across the path to grab some grub! We both decided on the Mickey pancake, and chose to eat outside to enjoy the nice weather and wonderful view. Breakfast was very good (though the fruit was a little...pruny), and very filling.

After filling up, we strolled around New Orleans for a bit, and it was pretty much deserted. Very quiet and peaceful.

From New Orleans, we made our way toward Critter Country to ride Pooh. That was a walk on. We were too early for the characters to be out, so we started to make our way back toward Main Street, and ran into Mr. Skellington, who told me that the Platypus is a very scary animal, indeed.

On the way, we stopped and checked out the pumpkins at Big Thunder Ranch, and the Dia de los Muertos display.

Got back to Main Street to take a picture of the castle, as more snow apparently fell overnight!

From there, we headed toward the villains meet and greet area, where we ran into Captain Hook, the Queen of Hearts, and Dr. Facilier.

From there, we set off for ToonTown. It was also pretty empty still. Pluto was out playing tag with some kids! We went to mickey's house and found a short wait. We got in line and met Sorcerer Mickey!

After ToonTown we headed back toward Main Street once again, and stopped to do a little browsing as well:

Day two to be continued...

 

[MattsPrincess]

Ok, so, we were heading back toward Main Street. We noticed a good size crowd in front of the castle, waiting for the band to do their little show. We grabbed a fairly good spot, and only had to wait a few minutes before it started.

After the show was over, we continued on our way to Main Street, to see if any of the characters were out in the plaza area. We lucked out with Halloween Minnie and Goofy!

We then decided to head back toward Frontierland, and on our way came across this band performing on the street-

then we rode BTMRR:

We headed over to Pooh Corner for a nice snack. I got a mickey shaped sugar cookie with orange dipped ears. It was very good, but very dense, so filling. I saved half for later. Matt got a Tigger tail, which we had never tried before. We really liked it, but again saved half for later because it is just so sweet. Just as we were finishing, Pooh came out, so we jumped in line for a quick picture.

From there we just sort of roamed a bit, did a little more browsing, and killed time until heading to the hotel to change into our costumes for the MHP that evening!

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[JennyLynn21]

I just got back from that hotel on Thursday..and actually the hair dryer was in that black bag hanging by the iron and what not. you can see it in your picture!! I used while there

Glad you had a nice time.

 

[MattsPrincess]

We had a 9am reservation at Goofy's Kitchen for Friday. We figured it would be a good way to end the trip, and get a big meal in for the drive home.

We got there a few minutes past 9, and were one of three or four groups waiting. We paid and got out picture with Goofy, then went and sat down.

We were kind of off to the side, in an area with only three tables in it. But we were really close to the food, so we didn't really mind. Right when we were being seated, Alice was at the table next to ours, so we got our pics with her right away. She was super adorable! I was really excited to finally get to meet her! This was the first time in all three trips, and I had just missed her in the park the day before.

After Alice left, we didn't see any character for a while. We would see them walking around, but none of them headed in our direction. I was worried that we might not get any more pictures.

We went up and got some food. I'm not a big eater due to some digestive issues, so my plate was pretty boring, lol. I got a mickey waffle, a mickey pancake, a croissant and a mini pumpkin pie. They were all super yummy, and hard as it may be to believe, I was full.

Matt got an omelette with a bunch of crap in it, and he said it was very very good. He also got a plate of fruit, cup of coffee, PB&J pizza (which we were both freaked out be, but both loved!), banana's foster crepes, and a few other things. He said everything was great.

While we were eating, the place started filling up and more character started popping up! The next one we saw was Baloo, which excited us both, as Matt is a big jungle book fan, and I loved Tale spin when it was on. He was very tall, lol. He liked my hat, and pointed out that it was similar to his own head.

After Baloo we met Chef Pluto.

After Pluto, Dale walked into our area as the two little girls at the next table were leaving. He walked them to the door, but then didn't come back So, we didn't get to meet him.

The next one to come around was the Mad Hatter, who also really liked my hat! I suspected he would, as I did purchase it from his shop He was very funny and played the part well. He even forgave us for not ordering any tea! As he was leaving our area, they started playing music, and he danced with a group of kids for a good 5 minutes! It was entertaining, and all the kids seemed to think it was pretty cool.

And that was it. The whole time we were there, we only met those three. Well, four including Goofy. I found it pretty disappointing, to be honest. The food was really good, but we could have got most of the same stuff anywhere in the park for half the price.

I much preferred Minnie's Breakfast at the Plaza. The atmosphere was a lot cooler, and the character interactions were better and much more numerous. If we get to go back, we both agreed we would do Minnie's again for sure. I had a nice time, but didn't feel this one was worth the price tag.

 

[MattsPrincess]

Wednesday was another early start for us, and once again we got to the gates just as people were being let in.

We were both extremely hungry, and decided to go see how the wait was for Carnation Cafe, because we'd never eaten there. We only had to wait about 15 minutes before being seated. I got the apple pancakes, which were VERY good. The apple flavor was there, but not overpowering or too sweet.

Having seen pictures of it on here, I tried to sway Matt toward the cinnamon roll french toast, but didn't tell him why. It worked, and he ordered that. The look on his face when she set the plate in front of him was priceless! His eyes practically popped out, lol. I was like, haha I knew it was all huge and stuffs! I didn't think he would eat it all, but he actually did...at the cost of neglecting two of his three sausages, lol. We also both got a plate of fresh fruit on the side, which was wonderful and very refreshing. The grapes were perfect.

After eating to near popping, we decided to head back toward the villains photo area. For some reason, we kept forgetting this was here, so we weren't able to meet a lot of them. I had wanted pictures with Cruella and Maleficent, but both times I saw them out the line was too long. This morning, we were greeted by Honest John, Gideon, and Jafar! This little stop resulted in 3 of my favorite pictures from the whole trip!

Honest John was very well cast, I must say. When I walked up to him, he put out his hand as if he were going to kiss mine...then started taking my bracelet!

Gideon was also well cast. As we walked up to him, he hooked his cane on his pants, turned around, and started clawing at the curtains behind him! Then he started "admiring" Matt's pins.

After the villains, we decided to head back toward Toontown to see if any characters were out and about. Walked around there a bit, didn't really see anybody. As I was turning to leave, I caught sight of a purple bow right in front of me. I paused...frozen in shock for just a moment...before fully realizing who I was looking at. DAISY DUCK!!! I rushed to the line...I may have knocked down children, i'm not sure...it's all a blur! lol. As we were waiting, a CM standing near by said this was only the 2nd time she's been out this YEAR! That blew Matt's mind. Several other CM's throughout the day told us we were very lucky to have caught her, because she just doesn't come out.

After that, we decided to head over toward Fantasyland. We rode the tea cups! We like to take our time and stroll around, catch all the little details that you don't always notice, like this:

We continued strolling, and as were walking toward the Carnation Plaza area, I spotted Aurora standing on that little bridge. She was alone with not many people around, so I headed toward her. As I got closer I spotted Ariel, and then Cinderella as well. All three were just out in that little area, no CM's or anything. Surprisingly, the lines were very orderly and short.

After getting my princess on, we decided to hop over to DCA for a while, as we hadn't really spent any time there. On the way out I stopped into city hall, to ask if Chip, Dale, or Donald would be out at all. She said all three were on their way out now. So, we sat on a bench and waited a few short moments, and they came out. However, they didn't come out and stand somewhere for pictures...the ran all over and wouldn't stand still....which was frustrating. I finally cornered the duck...

everyone behind me in line went "awwww"

Then I caught some chipmunks, but not together

can you tell I prefer Chip? lol.

My munky mission accomplished, we were back on our mission to DCA. However, as soon as we walked through the tunnel, I spied a street rat. This I found exciting, as we had never met Aladdin in anything but his prince ali outfit, and I actually didn't even know he came out in the street rat get-up. This was made even cooler by the fact that Matt had literally JUST traded for an Aladdin pin as we were walking out.

Now we finally managed to actually get to DCA, which I found a bit more manageable and less messy in the daylight. Our first stop was at the Redwood Creek area, because we're both big kids and wanted to play!

Once we were done bouncing around, we started to make our way over to the pier area, stopping for a few pictures along the way.

I was excited to get to see how the theming changes were coming along. The last time we visited everything was still walled off. I'm very impressed with the way everything is looking. The theme really carries well, and everything is so pretty and peaceful! I especially liked the Boardwalk Pizza area. I also really liked the facade changes they've done to the games. After that, we walked onto Screamin', which I actually don't enjoy as much without the music. That really added something special to it.

Continuing our loop around the park, we happened upon another character we'd never seen before...sailor Mickey!

to be continued...

 

[MattsPrincess]

After our meeting with the Mouse, we were feeling a bit too warm, and a little hungry. We made our way toward the Pacific Wharf area to sit in the shade, grab a snack from our bag, and sip on refreshing strawberry margarita.

Temperatures now dropped a bit and hunger staved off, we carried on toward Bug's Land and the backlot area, again, stopping along the way for me to get my photog on. We also ran into a real monster...

Now rather bored with DCA, we decided to head back to DL, but stopped into the Animation Academy first. We asked who they would be drawing next, and my jaw about snapped off when he said...PIGLET!!!! Needless to say, we stayed and did that. From there, we went back to DL. When we walked in, I noticed a train car of special interest...

I picked a less than acceptably filling snack when we stopped earlier, and I found myself hungry again. We popped into the candy palace, and I decided on a blue frosted cupcake. While Matt was paying, I noticed Alice and the Hatter were out for their game of musical chairs, another thing we'd not gotten to see before. I stopped there for a few quick pictures and watched them play for a bit.

After getting a few laughs from those two, we went and sat on a bench near the Partners statue so I could each my ridiculous cupcake...which ended up being a bit difficult, resulting in one of Matt's favorite pics.

From there, we decided to just wander a bit and kill some time. We ended up near Pixie Hollow, which had a posted wait of 15 minutes, the shortest we've ever seen it! I decided to go ahead and get in line. We ended up waiting closer to 30 minutes. It really wasn't worth it. I stood off to the side for a minute or two when it was my turn so that Tink and the other fairy could finish their conversation. Then it was a quick picture and I was on my way out. No interaction at all. I wish I could say maybe it was off day, but this is the second time i've had this experience with Tink, and looking back at my pictures i'm fairly positive it's the same girl.

After that, it was time for us to head over to the Guided Tours office and check in for our Happiest Haunts Tour!

 

[MattsPrincess]

Thursday was our final day in the parks But it was mostly ok, as we were really starting to feel the past three days wearing on us. My feet and thighs didn't stop hurting all day, and neither of us could stop yawning.

As it was our last day, I decided to forgo the DSLR and only brought my point and shoot...but I majorly neglected picture taking.

We decided to start the day a little later so we could sleep in a bit. We got into the parks around 10am. And went to DCA first. We walked onto ToT (my new favorite!) and then grabbed FP's for it so we could come back and ride at night. Then we hopped on over to DL. The restaurants had all switched over to lunch menus already, so we hit the Blue Ribbon. Matt got a blueberry muffin that was amazingly good. I got a croissant and a banana.

We decided to head for Tom Sawyer Island, yet another thing we had never gotten around to doing before. Stopped to take a picture of Matt in front of the castle, because he was wearing his shirt for the band I work for and I thought they would appreciate the advertising!

We didn't stay on the island very long, as there really wasn't a lot to do there. Got back on the raft and happened upon a pirate band performing in New Orleans.

A guy gave us FP's for BTMRR, so we rode that one more time. Around 3 we were getting hungry and very hot. I got a dole whip and Matt got a mint ice cream sundae. We sat on the curb on Main Street and enjoyed. After that we wandered a bit, got on some rides, did a little browsing. At quarter to 5 we decided to go catch the flag retreat ceremony, which Matt participated in again.

I'd been eyeing a hat all week, and finally caved in and decided to go buy it. As the Mad Hatter shop was right there, I made my way in that direction. However, just as I was entering the shop, Halloween Mickey walked out. We had yet to get a picture with him due to the line always being crazy long. Because he had just some out, we jumped in line as fast as we could, and were third.

Our Mickey mission now finally complete, I went back into the shop. As I went to grab the hat i'd been pining away for, I noticed another next to it...it was Chip! I'd been complaining for two whole trips that they only had Dale hats...and here was a chip!

Much as I loved this one, I liked the one I had originally come for just a bit more, and opted to still buy that one. After that we wandered more, and ended up in New Orleans again. I got a churro...it was delish. Now cinnamon coated and a bit sugar high, we continued our wandering and ran across Jack Skellington again, but he was on the way out. We asked the CM with him if Sally would be out at all, as we had yet to meet her, but alas, she was not expected to appear. More meandering, more rides, and the sun began to set on our trip.

Our tummies rumbly, we decided to seek out a good last dinner. We couldn't agree on anything, so we went to different places. I got the turkey sandwich from Riverbelle, which is amazing and perhaps my favorite in park meal. Matt went around to the little walk up window place and got a steak gumbo bread bowl. While in line for his food, we noticed the little sign about holiday beverages and set our hearts and taste buds on the spiced cider in a nifty haunted mansion travel mug...but they were all out

I figured it might be worth a shot to run over to the Blue Ribbon to see if they might have it. They did! But in a different mug that Matt didn't want. So, we got it in a regular cup. Our tradition is to sit up on the train station for a bit before we leave, just taking it all in. Luckily for me, it was now dark and all the pretty lights were on. We sat and enjoyed for a bit before deciding it was time to go use our ToT FP's. I said my sad goodbyes to DL, and the enchanting Mick-O-Lantern.

However, much to our dismay, DCA was already closed as well. I thought they were open until 10, but at 8 the gates were already closed. Rather anticlimactic end to our visit.

We headed back to the hotel, munched on some of our MHP candy, and watched a little tv.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

What a fantastic report! Great fotos! I am a huge Dr. Who fan!! You're so cute ~ as teeny as a fairy