The end of a truly wonderful evening. That only got better as it aged. Like a wonderful sharp cheese, or robust red wine on a nice fall evening.
Savvy?
But this evening isn't over yet. And you're probably all wondering one thing. Did we get to see the fireworks?
There we were, to the right of the hub, holding our breath and waiting. DS looked done. I mean, totally asleep, totally content, totally done. Was it actually possible that my little nut could sleep through something so loud as Hallowishes? Especially considering how close we were to the castle.
Well, it appeared that he could.
And even though we were fully ready to make a break for it, it was completely unnecessary. And so for the first time ever, I got to see Hallowishes, in its entirety. Its beauty. Music and all. With my DH. And my sleeping nugget. I remember that there were moments that took my breath away. I remember saying "Wow," out loud. I remember being amazed and awed by the beauty, the wicked fun, the Halloween of it all.
I was in awe. And I was happy.
And whenever I'm having a moment that's less than stellar, I go right back to that night. Right back to that moment. Where I had a little spot on the bridge, a bunch of happy / tired Disney vacationers around me, and in that moment, I was so happy. Just me, and DH, and DS. A pirate's life for three. A night that seemed too good to be true. Whenever I get frustrated with work, or with life in general, I remember that night. I remember those fireworks.
But our night wasn't over yet. As the fireworks ended, DH and I still had some sport left in us, eh? So we decided that more trick or treating was in order. And since we hadn't been over to Tomorrowland yet, that's where we headed. Treat bags, and sleeping toddler in tow.
Now at this point, my feet were hurting.
A bit.
Okay, a lot. But not as much as they'd be hurting at the end of the night. Because during all this galavanting, let's not forget I was wearing heels. In the Florida heat. With no rain to cool me off. That's one thing I didn't think of. That in that dress, without rain, it would be SO hot at night. So, although I was up for trick or treating, I was not up for walking up the ramp to Carousel of Progress to do it. So I did what any self-respecting damsel in distress would do.
I sent DH instead.
And got to witness one of the funniest moments, at least it was to me. See, I know my DH looks good. Especially when he's dressed like Jack Sparrow. Oh, who am I kidding, he looks good all the time, it's just enhanced when he's dressed like my favorite pirate. But I don't necessarily expect other people to feel that way, because I am partial. After all, he's my husband.
But you all remember the looks I was talking about? The looks that we got that night, and the compliments, mostly reserved for DH, but some for me. Well, one of the best compliments he got, that he was completely unaware of happened while he was trick or treating at that Carousel of Progress stop.
The cast members, god bless them, must hand out so much candy. And at this point in the evening, one of the girls just looked tired. So tired that she was just dumping candy into bags without even looking at the guests. Except for some reason, when my DH got up there, she decided to glance up.
She glanced up, and looked back down as if he were just another guest. And then it registered. The costume. The eyeliner. The hotness, if you will. And she looked up again quickly and smiled, this really big wide smile. And my DH was totally oblivious, and I just sort of chuckled to myself.
I made sure to clue him in when he came back down with the candy. I don't know why I got such a kick out of it, but it was just the nature of the double take that struck me. Too funny! And not an ounce of jealousy on this lady. If you appreciate my Captain Jack, I take not offense. After all, he is MY Captain Jack.
We wandered over into Fantasyland, trick or treating along the way. I thought to do the Winnie the Pooh meet and greet, and actually got in line. I chatted up a mom who was there with her toddler, a bit younger than DS, and her mom. They were going to meet Pooh as well, but decided the wait was too long. And you know what? It really was. But before I left that line, we chatted about my dress, and how I often wonder how all those little girls must feel in their princess dresses, doesn't it bother them to be so hot? Now I know! Even if you're feeling warm, when you're dressed like your favorite character, it just doesn't matter. You're living the magic. She complimented my costume, and we went our separate ways.
I had a goal in mind. Shocking, right? I really, really wanted to see if we could get our picture in front of Cinderella's Glass Coach. With all the pumpkins, it just looks so magical. So pretty, and so Halloween. And I LOVE pumpkins. Deep, abiding, rooted in childhood love of pumpkins.
The line for the photopass there was long. Very, very long. But DH humored me. Since we had a sleeping DS, we had time on our hands. We were happy. Now in humoring me, that's not to say he didn't make fun of me during our wait, about my desire for such a photo. To which I good naturedly replied with some such nonsense. Because that's pretty much what we do.
Does any remember the "fight" scene in My Cousin Vinny between Vinny and his fiance? The one where they're talking about the drip in the faucet, and how can you be so sure? That's sort of like us. Except my DH is much, much taller. And I don't have Marisa Tomei's body. Sad, but true.
So we waited in line, and eventually, it was our turn. We parked DS in his stroller by the photographer so we could see him. We then proceeded to do our classic Jack and Elizabeth pose. And then, the photopass photographer said something so sweet. So wonderful. Something that, although we are young, I don't expect, because most days I feel like a married old fart.
She told us to kiss.
So we did. Not crazy, mind you. We kept it Disney appropriate. But it was nice. A nice romantic kiss for TK and her DH. Or Elizabeth and Jack. However you want to look at it. Those two photos, one of us posing, and the other kissing, are some of my favorite from the trip. I'm seriously considering blowing one up to almost poster size to display in our home, that's how much I love it. It was my dream to get that picture. I've always wanted to. And that night, that dream came true. And to steal a term from LL, it was romantical.
Seriously, check out all those pumpkins!
Despite how long a line may have been, DH was game. And that's not always the case when we go with other people. He indulged me. And I felt indulged. And so happy.
But, it was getting late. And my feet were killing me. I mean, they were sore. They were as sore as the day we got married and I danced to my heart's content practically all night long even though we were leaving for Disney on our honeymoon the next day. Heck, it was our wedding! We danced and danced and danced. They actually had to pull me off the dance floor to take pictures. And I would run back.
We had a great DJ, he played everything I asked. I'll never forget my wedding reception.
Just like I'll never forget this Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.
It ranks right up there.
So DH and I got into a little debate. The second parade was fast approaching, and we really hoped to make it out before then. We had a lively discussion about just how fast I could walk in those heels at the end of the night, and I said, and I quote, "We may beat the parade, but we won't beat the Headless Horseman."
DH thought we could.
I, being the Disney geek that I am, knew better.
And that my friends, is how I got to see the Headless Horseman again, this time from Main Street. After which, we quickly crossed to the candy shop, where I decided I simply needed to have a piece of peanut butter fudge as a night cap. At which point the cast members were feeling a little playful and pretended to flick the light off in the case as if they were closed. And then one of them got into a discussion with my DH about his costume, and some how, they started talking about some comic book type movie and yadda yadda. I was happy to see that DH could let out his inner geek, even if he was dressed like Jack Sparrow.
So we bought the peanut butter fudge and made ready our escape.
Can we beat the crowds?
Well, we can. Except that I got sidetracked.
By this guy.
Who was all ALONE!!!! Seriously, he needed someone to take a picture with. I looked at DH, and said, "Please?" Well, of course the man said yes. We were so close to the exit anyway, and you couldn't even hear parade music yet.
Goofy was still very flirty with me. Must have been the dress.
We eventually left the park and began a debate. Since DS was sleeping, we thought we'd give the boat ride a go. Being as how we hadn't used it yet.
I know, I know. Shame on me. I talked about the gloriousness of the boat for months, and we hadn't even used it yet on this trip. Until tonight. A boat was just leaving as we got there, and it was one of the smaller ones. Thankfully, the next boat to pull in was a large boat, where you didn't have to break down your stroller and wake your sleeping child.
That boat ride was so peaceful. Black water, lights reflecting. It was peaceful, and beautiful. And I was content. Snuggled into my DH, the nugget asleep, life was good.
I couldn't wait to get back to the room and take off those shoes, and even though it was pretty, the dress, too! Minds out of the gutter people.
DH was hungry, so we decided he would stop into Roaring Forks before we went back to the room. In his full costume. The Cast Members liked that so much, they made him the LAST bacon double cheeseburger of the night. No joke, right after they gave DH is meal, they shut down the grill. I got a lot of smiles while I was waiting for him, in my Elizabeth dress in that hallway, with a little sleeping pirate in the stroller.
I have notes in my journal here about unrobing. I think it's because I made a comment to DH about how similar it was to getting undressed after our wedding. You're tired, and happy, but so encumbered by the clothes and glad to take them off. AGAIN, minds OUT of the gutter.
And I remember the quest for soda. Ah, yes. Why didn't I just have DH get me a soda when he was in Roaring Forks? Well, I reasoned there must be a vending machine near our room with soda.
Um, no. No soda for TK. NoSoupNazi. There was a vending machine, but it was all food. Say it with me. Oy vey. Closed Mercantile, would Roaring Forks still be open? I believe it was, and that's where I eventually procured my soda. But not after searching for vending machines. Because, yes, I am that stubborn.
Imagine my surprise when I finally did laundry on our trip (which was located in close proximity to our room) and finally discovered the one vending machine in the Lodge that had soda. Except I never found it on my quest. Because until I went to do laundry, I never discovered that shortcut to Roaring Forks, which led me right past the one and only soda vending machine.
I blame it on being tired.
Lack of sleep has adverse affects on the brain, you know.
Up next - We Finally Move On To Another Day!
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for wearing heels... you are a far better woman than I am. My feet felt like they'd fall off and I wore sneaks!!
