Thursday, October 19th - Pool Time, and Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party
We decided to sleep in to make sure we had high energy levels for the party. Got up around 9am. Steph went and got us breakfast from Artist's Palette. G got lots of bacon, and I got the Breakfast Bounty Platter.
The main pool (High Rock Spring) opened at 10am. We remembered from the Feb Princess trip that getting a seat at the pool is SUPER competitive. Well that wasn't the case this time around. There were far less people and we wondered whether that meant good things in terms of crowd capacity for the weekend. We had a great time at the pool for several hours. At some point G and I headed over to the arcade.
The Saratoga Springs Arcade is mid-level. It has some good games, but lacks a pinball machine which would put it over the top. It did have a really good air hockey table that pushed out several different colored pucks worth varying points. It added a nice twist to the classic game.
After arcade, we headed back to the pool again. I headed back to the room and took a shower and then headed back to the pool. I just watched G swim and I absolutely baked in the sun. I was sweating profusely despite not really moving. I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried about how hot the costumes were going to be.
I think we had some lunch at Artist's Palette (pizza and a salad), and then it was time to put the costumes on. The Magic Kingdom Halloween Party officially starts at 4pm, but you can start lining up before the start of the party. We were aiming for leaving at 2:45pm, and planned to head to Contemporary because everyone else had a reservation at Steakhouse 71. I started assembling the costumes, and was really happy to see everything was in working order.
Because of the green man suit, it was going to be a chore to use the restroom, so I tried to really empty the bladder before putting the costume on. At about 2:40pm we were right on schedule and then I adjusted my hat a touch and the half circle styrofoam that was being used as a support detached from the velcro. UGH.... I had to disassemble the whole hat to put it back together. And then the velcro didn't want to stick back on the styrofoam. Thankfully we had brought a cosplay med-kit with all the essentials to fix anything that might have gone wrong. So we cut some extra velcro, reattached it to the styrofoam, and then reassembled the hard hat. Thankfully, everything was all good, and then I finished putting everything back on. It was about 2:55pm when we finally headed out, so not too far off schedule.
We drove over to the Contemporary. We were about halfway when we realized that my FIL didn't bring his phone. We hemmed and hawed about whether we would turn around and go back to get it. We've had previous trips where we get separated and then have all sorts of issues. So not having the phone could have been an issue, but we ended up not going back for it.
We got to the Contemporary and informed them of the Steakhouse 71 reservation. We parked the car in the disabled parking, and then started putting all the parts of the costume on. While we were in the midst of putting the costumes on in the parking lot a family walked by and gave us our first compliment. "Great costume you all." I looked up and thanked him. Did a double take... and then tapped Steph on the head. I was like, "Steph... that's the Trackers!" Now for those that don't know the Trackers are Disney vloggers. Steph, MIL, and SIL have been watching their videos for years and years. So I was like, "you've got to say something." So Steph, said something like "Tim, Tim Tracker." And then my MIL came out of the car crying. She couldn't believe it. The whole Tracker family was there and they had just enjoyed Steakhouse 71. They spent a good 20 minutes with us just swapping stories. My MIL informed them of her cancer and everyone cried. She spent a good bit of time talking about how much their videos meant to her and how much she's been involved in their story as they've gained more and more of a following. We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.
Look. The universe can really throw you a **** sandwich sometimes. But this. This was truly serendipitous. And the Trackers may never truly understand what this moment meant to my MIL. She's had a rough few months. She wasn't sure she could/should go on this trip. We were suppose to arrive 10 min earlier to the parking lot. We could have turned around in the car to get my FIL's phone. And yet, we didn't. And then Tim didn't have to say anything about the costumes as just another guy without us even seeing him or knowing who he was. And yet he did, and that made us aware of their presence. It just all felt like the universe just saying, hey ya'll you've had it rough and here's a toss up.
After we left the Trackers, we headed towards the Magic Kingdom. It's at this point that my MIL realized she forgot to bring her phone as well. So BIL and FIL headed back to the hotel to get the phones, and Steph, G, and I headed towards Magic Kingdom. We got a picture with the Contemporary bushes in the background.
As we passed the Contemporary bus stop a group of people stopped us and complimented us on our costumes. We told our first joke for the evening and got some laughs. This experience repeated over and over. As we got close to security check on the path from Contemporary, a man in a
scooter stopped us and wanted a picture. I could see security chatting out of the corner of my eye as we took the picture and they said something to the effect of "this is a decision for her." So I knew we were really close to the allowable limit.
We passed through the security and then I was pulled aside. She wanted to look at the laugh canister. She picked it up and grimaced as it was heavier than she anticipated. Then she touched the sides and said it was soft. Then she asked me if I could open it, and I said that I could open the top and bottom and showed her the insides. She agreed to allow it in. Then she wanted to check out our costumes. She gave me a once over on the costume with a wand. Asked if it was hollow inside, and then she was satisfied. She gave me the green light and let me walk in. A huge relief washed over me as I was passed the hardest part. In the back of my mind I had been going through months of "what ifs", but we were good to go. But based on how she was responding to everything, I think it was really really close.
We got a few more compliments as we headed towards the Halloween party line. I'd say there were at least a thousand people already in line (probably more). It was around 3:50-3:55, so we didn't have to wait long before they started allowing some Halloween people through the queue. The shaded parts of the line were nice. Honestly, all the delays were a good thing because it kept us from overheating. It took maybe 5-10 min before we got into the parks. The amount of compliments were endless. Just people saying, "Wow", or "How did you do it?" and the such. The entrance cast members were really impressed as well. We finally got in, and then it was time to go start our Halloween party experience.
G's classmate and friend was in Magic Kingdom as well. They had normal MK tickets so we overlapped from 4-6pm. They give you a wristband to differentiate between Halloween party and normal. We headed over to the overflow direction where we picked up our trick or treat bags, and got our first dump of candy. It wasn't really a priority for us to hit the treat trails. The Petersons were over at Casey's so we headed that way to meetup with them. They've got three boys and they had some extended family with them as well. When we walked into Casey's a cast member went absolutely bonkers about the costumes. She said you've got to follow me and she took us to the cashiers to show us off. She told us to wait there, and then came back with two Mint Juleps on her.
Honestly, I wasn't expecting that and was so thankful. I didn't think I needed it, and I wasn't planning on ordering it, but that drink was divine! It was so refreshing.
We hung out for a little inside Casey's. A few different people asked for pictures she we obliged.
I should say that we were stopped several times for pictures, and I vaguely remember that runDisney has a rule that you're not suppose to take pictures with others on the off chance they mistaken you for cast members/official. So I was trying to be careful not to upset anyone official, but obliged when asked. Took a few more pictures with others and then we headed towards the castle.
The Petersons and us got some pictures in front of the castle and then we headed towards Haunted Mansion. The whole plan for G and their son was to ride Mine Train together. So we separated for a bit, and headed towards the mine train area. We passed by a few rides, and Steph and I went back and forth about whether we should ride/see anything while waiting for them to finish with Haunted Mansion. They were going to be quick because they have
DAS passes. We ended up getting in a 25 min line for some Princesses, but then bailed on it after seeing the line in person. Steph didn't think we had enough time. I was bummed out about it, but it's hard to know what to do when you're waiting on another group of people. So we headed to the Tea Cups instead. G took the costume off, and then I stood with her outfit while Steph and her rode the ride. I was stopped SOOO many times while standing there. It was really awesome, but I was getting anxious about how many people were stopping for pictures. But I was just trying to be gracious and nice to all the kids that came by. And grown-ups. So many adults wanted pictures too.
G and Steph got off the tea cups and then we headed back to mine train. We hung out there for a bit, and then texted the Peterson's for an ETA, got nothing, and so we headed towards Haunted Mansion. By the time we got to HM, we got a text they were now at SDMT so we headed back that way. Once we got back they all rode SDMT and I hung back.
LOL at G's face!
Next -
Thursday, October 19th - Pool Time, and Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party: Part 2
Broken clouds, Wind 13mph to ?
Clear sky, Wind 0mph to ?
