Sunday, October 23rd (the conclusion)
As our dinner experience was ending, the party activities had just nicely kicked into full force: party guests were being asked to show their wristbands at various checkpoints and day guests were being ushered to the exit. As a result, crowds were thinning noticeably and ride waits were shrinking too.
Having watched the parade and fireworks at the first party as part of the Hallowishes Dessert Party entitlements, we didn’t feel the need to have to include those in this night’s activities: one of the big reasons we like doing two parties versus a single night is that there’s less pressure to do it all and see it all. Spreading out some of the party highlights over the two nights make both visits so much more relaxing. On this particular night, it was our plan to do more rides and try to get a meet and greet with a character or two…..no schedule, no itinerary. We would go with the flow and see where it takes us.
We did try to locate Lisa, Joe and the kids but despite multiple texts back and forth, we simply couldn’t spot them anywhere regardless how hard we tried. We were so bummed that we didn’t get a chance to see them all in costume…..they had gone as Scooby Doo and the gang…..but we were both happy that they would have some Photopass pictures from the night. If we couldn’t see them live in and in person, then their Photopass memories would be the next best thing.
Having done a party the week prior, I also took far less photos on this night than I did on the first go around. My camera stayed stowed safely in the case for most of the night, and the bulk of our memories were captured via Photopass. While taking pictures is my favourite way of preserving some very special moments, sometimes it’s nice to take a break and just soak up the atmosphere without being behind a lens.
We did a LOT of rides that night: lines were short and we made the most of it, especially during the parade and fireworks. Big Thunder was still down for refurbishment, but other than that and 7 Dwarves Mine Train (which had a 40 minute standby time all night long), we managed to hit pretty much everything else: some of our favourites, like Pirates and Haunted Mansion, we enjoyed more than once. Of course, there was trick or treating, too! We both collected completely full bags and ended up ceasing our trips through the treat lines before the clock struck 11. We simply had no room left for more.
Sometime during the middle of the evening, we stopped for Dole Whip floats. With having the dessert party as part of our our first party, we didn’t have the chance or the stomach room to indulge in our favourite MK snack. With his Crystal Palace meal from earlier in the night now sufficiently settled, Steve could hardly wait for me to take the requisite photo before he dived in for the first slurp.
One aspect of this party that did seem lengthy were the waits for characters…..as a result, we ended up taking a pass on many of the scheduled meet-and-greets. Certainly the fact that we had enjoyed the character meal at the beginning of the night helped with that decision…..since spending time with Tigger, Pooh, Piglet and Eeyore, we felt we had already had a good dose of character time. We did, however, get the chance to meet Goofy near Barnstormer:
…..and we also joined in the meet-and-greet with Jafar:
Wait times were very reasonable (under 15 minutes) in both cases so it didn’t cut into our ride time hardly at all
.
Throughout the night, we made another point of stopping for as many Photopass opportunities as possible. Lines for pictures were super short, so most of these were walk-ups with no waits at all.
Around 11:30, as the party dwindled into its final minutes, Steve decided he needed another snack so we dropped into Gaston’s Tavern to rustle him up some vittles. After perusing their selection of available goodies, he picked himself out a chocolate croissant: I had to agree, it looked pretty delicious. As the smiley CM took it from the display case, Steve reached for his wallet to pay. She promptly waved off the $5 bill in his hand, with a cheery “Happy Halloween Mr. Pirate. I love your costume! This treat is on Mickey
“. That little bit of pixie dust, right there, just made Steve’s entire day. Sometimes it’s the little things that can mean the most.
We left the park at about 11:50 pm…..if our plan worked, we would be just ahead of the mass exodus and hopefully avoid the crush of people trying to board the ferry boat and monorail. It had been such a fun night that we both hated to see it end, and I wondered if we should have squeezed in one more ride during that final 10 minutes after all. That said, our feet and legs were feelin’ weary
, so perhaps it really was time to call it a night.
We wondered aloud how Lisa, Joe and the kids had made out. Did they manage to stay until the end of the night? Hopefully they had as much fun as we had
.
With our packed candy bags in tow, we took the monorail back to the Ticket & Transportation Center with a remarkably short wait to board.
Arriving at the TTC, we were thrilled to see no wait at all for a tram. Heading out that 10 minutes early turned out to be a genius move after all.
It sure felt good to climb into that big, comfy king sized bed that night. We slept like a pair of rocks: the resort was marvelously quiet and the only noise I heard all night was Steve snoring [and, well……I’m rather used to that]. As we wearily stretched out our achy legs as we snuggled in under the covers, Steve tentatively inquired…..”You planned tomorrow as a ‘down day’, right?”.
Yes sweetheart, you’ll have plenty of time to recuperate
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Our lazy Monday morning breakfast of epic proportions is next
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. If I'm too traumatized to walk to the pool alone in the dark on our trip next month, I'm blaming YOU
. When the babies need love, well.....the babies need love!
......we weren't really planning on dining there this time around but the $20 for $40 offer is tough to pass up.
. No matter how much I focus, I apparently have no sense of aim. I guess its a good think I never got into law enforcement 
. Autumn in Orlando is just so much fun with all the special events at the parks.
. I just had to go up and correct a few things in a couple of my posts above....I have no idea what happened in a few of them, but for now, I'm blaming Violet 
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