Disney For the Weekend: Pandora Preview

Happy Saturday, everybody! It's been a little while since I've brought some Disney for your weekend, but I have something exciting to share!

You may or may not know that Disney is bringing Avatar's Pandora to Animal Kingdom. Why? I haven't the slightest clue, honestly. I have no idea why Disney thought a movie from almost 10 years ago was the best material to work with, but here we are anyway. Pandora opens on May 27th, 2017, but I had the amazing opportunity to attend an Annual Passholder's preview this past Monday and I have the details for you!

I arrived at Pandora at the beginning of my two hour window, which was 12pm - 2pm. Let me be the first to tell you, two hours is not nearly enough here. Sure, there are only two rides, but there is SO MUCH to look at! Walking up to the new land, you really cannot see anything.

Although I knew there should be floating mountains on the horizon, all I could see were the standard Animal Kingdom theming. I trekked on and the hype was building! A Cast Member handed me a FastPass for Flight of Passage, which ensured that not every guest would rush the ride right out of the gate. The trail wound around for a while until I finally came upon some distinctly alien plant life. 

I couldn't tell you what this thing is supposed to be, but it was pretty cool! The theming in this land has all the extra touches you'd expect from Disney World. Everything was totally unreal, but believable at the same time. And my favorite part was that I really felt like I was IN Pandora. I couldn't see any other part of Animal Kingdom once I crossed the threshold. I kept on down the path a little more and finally I saw what I'd been looking for!

Didn't I tell you it was gorgeous?? The floating mountains really look like they're FLOATING! I don't know how Disney Imagineering pulled it off, but they did and the pictures really don't do it justice. There are multiple levels to explore. You can see the mountains from several angles and they look incredible no matter where you're standing. 

Once I got my fill of sightseeing, I headed over to Na'vi River Journey: Discover Shaman of Songs, a dark boat ride through Pandora. I really don't know how to explain this to you other than that it's awesome. Yes, it's just a dark ride, but there is so much new technology in this ride that my jaw was open the entire time. There are realistic projections and amazingly fluid animatronics, among other things. I won't spoil it all for you, but I will share a couple videos from inside!

When I exited the ride, my time had come to experience Flight of Passage! I will preface this by telling you that I get severe motion sickness. I cannot ride any simulator without a hefty dose of Dramamine and even then I get pretty nauseous, to the point that I usually will not do them. But this was something new and had beed described as "Soarin' on steroids," so I decided to brave it and see what happened! 

The FastPass queue was well-themed and seemed to be leading us deep into some kind of laboratory. I know there is another really awesome animatronic in the standby queue, but I didn't have the chance to see it! Once we were lined up, we were ushered into a pre-show where a "scientist" described what we'd be experiencing. We were told we'd be matched with an avatar based on our genetic makeup in order to ride a banshee. It was honestly one of the longest pre-shows I've ever been in and I could have done with it being a little shorter.  Finally, we were sent into the room with the ride vehicles! They looked a lot like motorcycles, which was a little weird, but I hopped on, donned my 3D glasses, and waited as the restraints locked into place behind my back and legs. I sat there and waited... and waited.  The lights began to flash suddenly, momentarily blinding me. Then the wall was gone and in its place was a massive screen and on the screen was Pandora. I was flying! And I could feel the banshee breathing against the sides of my legs! It was the single most odd and cool ride vehicle I've ever been on. I soared through the skies on my banshee, mist in my face, and the scents of Pandora washing over me. This is definitely a full sensory experience. We banked and turned and plummeted at the last second to avoid another massive flying creature, and I didn't get the least bit nauseous. Whatever the ride engineers did with this particular simulator is A+ and I hope that this is how every simulator in the future is made. My flight did seem to last for a decent amount of time, but it wasn't nearly long enough! I exited the ride area with a smile on my face and already calculating when I could come back to do it again.  I exited through the gift shop, where there were some really unique Pandora items for sale, including tiny banshees that could sit on your shoulder and move. I didn't even ask how much those cost, instead heading towards the one restaurant inside Pandora.

The restaurant was quick service, but the fare was pretty unique as far as Disney quick service goes. The first main option were bowls made at the grill including things like sweet potato hash, quinoa, kale, wood-grilled chicken, beef, and tofu. The second was steamed pods filled with a hamburger or curry vegetable filling. Obviously I skipped both of those and went straight for dessert. 

Ordering was the same as every other Disney counter service, but was quick and painless. I ordered the Blueberry Cream Cheese Mousse, solely based on how pretty it looked in the pictures. I was not disappointed! I don't know how to describe it to you, but it was blueberry and cream cheesey and delicious. The inside was purple! And the outside was so gorgeous I didn't want to eat it (but I did)! I will definitely be ordering this dessert again.  After I finished eating, my time had come to an end and I had to leave Pandora for the day. Like I said, two hours isn't nearly enough. I snapped one more picture in front of the floating mountains before heading out. 

Although I've seen some people say Pandora didn't live up to their expectations, I loved it! I do wish there was a little more to do, but I expect that with the massive wait times that are soon to come, what's there is probably plenty to keep everyone occupied. I thought Pandora was fantastic and I hope all of you get to experience it someday too! 

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Have you been to Pandora? Did I forget anything?

Let me know in the comments!

Disney For the Weekend: reviewing all the gingerbread

//Disclaimer: I am not a food critic and I don't know what I'm talking about//

It's the most wonderful time of the year: Christmas at Disney World! It's at this time each year that the most magical place on earth gets just a little more magical with the addition of holiday touches everywhere you look. One of my absolute favorite parts of a Disney Christmas is the gingerbread! Last weekend my husband and I headed over to the Magic Kingdom to have dinner and ride all three mountains and on the way out we decided to stop by the Contemporary Resort for gingerbread.

Each year in November resorts around Disney property create incredible displays from gingerbread. The Contemporary Resort builds a two-dimensional castle (this year the theme was Frozen, shockingly), while two others go for three-dimensional structures. The Grand Floridian is the most impressive with its massive gingerbread house, made even cooler by the fact that the house is an actual store that sells gingerbread! Over at the Yacht Club Resort you can find a giant carousel made of gingerbread that's nearly life-size!

While I've always known that gingerbread can be purchased at each location, it wasn't until this year that I realized each resort has a very different recipe for their gingerbread. I made it my mission to get all three and try them out!

As you can (maybe) see from the ingredients list, they each have slightly different ingredients and, presumably (based on the order of ingredients), recipes. I didn't know how many different ways gingerbread could possibly taste, but I set out to test each one. For science!

Exhibit A

First up was Olaf, the gingerbread shingle from Disney's Contemporary Resort. This little guy is what the gingerbread castle is made of and I expected him to be fantastic for obvious reasons. The first thing I noticed was that this gingerbread shingle was really hard to break. It was super flexible and took a few tries. This gingerbread was very dense and tasted very strongly of ginger. (It was almost tangy.) While it was okay, I don't think I'd buy this one again. I like my gingerbread to be a little less spicy.

Exhibit B

The next gingerbread I sampled devoured came from Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. This is what the entire gingerbread house/shop is made out of and it's amazing to see in person! While this gingerbread is the plainest of the bunch, don't let it fool you! There's a thick slab of dark chocolate on the bottom that makes it even more delicious. The first thing I noticed about this one is that it smells just like the cookies my relatives send from Germany (you know, these). It was much less dense and had a much more cake-like texture. It was also a little sweeter and much less gingery than the first! I'll definitely be going back for more of this one.

Exhibit C

The last gingerbread shingle I had to hunt down was at Disney's Yacht Club Resort and I really had to hunt. Instead of being sold at the gingerbread carousel, this one can only be found in the Marketplace, a small store off the lobby. The Yacht Club's gingerbread is much, much thinner than either of the other two and it's also the sweetest. There's a sweet glaze on top and a thin layer of chocolate brushed on the bottom. There's also a white chocolate Yacht & Beach Club logo over much of the top. The ginger in this one was definitely overpowered by the sweetness, not that I'm complaining. This one was also the least bang for your buck. I'll probably buy another one though, because it's already gone.

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So there it is, folks. I purchased and ate three different types of Disney World gingerbread just for you. If I had to rank them, the Yacht Club gingerbread would be my favorite (because sugar) and the Contemporary would be my least favorite (because spice). I see more Disney food projects in my future...

Do you prefer your gingerbread full of more sugar or spice? 

What's your favorite holiday treat?

Let me know in the comments!

Disney For the Weekend: Dessert party comparison

It has been way too long since I've done a Disney feature on this blog, but never fear! I'm back with all the Disney goodness. Specifically, Disney dessert goodness. Oh yes, friends. Today I'm going to review two Disney World dessert parties and tell you which one I liked more and why. You should probably bring cupcakes.

IllumiNations Sparkling Dessert Party - Epcot

Last week my husband decided we should go do something special together and, obviously, Disney was involved. In May 2015 he went to the IllumiNations Sparkling Dessert Party by himself while we were on vacation in Orlando (back before we moved here). I had gotten really sick and had been stuck in bed for the entire day. I cancelled my ticket but insisted he should go instead of being confined to the room as well. He went and he loved it and so he wanted to take me!

We arrived to Epcot on Thursday evening around 7pm. We knew check in was at 7:45, but we moseyed over to the roped off fireworks viewing area at 7:30 where we found out that the party had been moved indoors because of possible rain. And that was when I totally freaked out! See, I'm kind of obsessed with behind the scenes Disney. Recently I had noticed what looked like a mountain on the Epcot skyline near Canada and had done some digging. I'd discovered that this was a giant tent known as the World Showplace, which had been put up back in 2000 as part of the milennium celebration. Rather than taking it back down, they just left it up behind the scenes to be used for special events. Since discovering this I had wanted to find a way in, but I didn't think it would be this easy! We walked straight over and, after walking through some giant gates I'd never noticed before, stood outside with the other people who had already gathered.

 The inside was gorgeously decorated! It was dark with chandeliers and projections on the walls. Tall tables decorated with long blue tablecloths filled the room, so no seating was available. My husband immediately headed straight to the food tables while I snagged a table for us to stand at while we enjoyed the party. 

My husband decided to sneak off around the corner to scout out some more of the building (tent) that was blocked off because we're nosey like that. He was excited to report that the bathrooms were the biggest he'd ever seen and he also said that the blocked off side of the room was as big, if not bigger than the side we were in. Quite an impressive building(?) hidden back behind the World Showcase! I just wish I had gotten a chance to see it as it was originally intended. 

The offerings seemed great to me! There was a variety of desserts available including warm brownies with ice cream, baklava, rice krispy treats, pretzels with hot cheese, chocolate ganache tarts, as well as other delicious treats! Because this is the "sparkling" dessert party, there were also two sparkling wines to choose from (one dry, one sweet) and two syrups that could be added (rosé and pomegranate). While I enjoyed the desserts that were available, my husband was actually a little disappointed. According to him (and some other reviews I've found), several more unique dessert offerings were missing and had been replaced with more generic desserts. Not something a one time guest would notice, but it was definitely something my husband picked up on! 

After the desserts, we made our way out to the roped off fireworks viewing area in front of the World Showcase Lagoon. The viewing area was perfect! It's an area I've often envied when I've been around for the fireworks and this is the only way to get it.

The show, IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth, was amazing as it always is. Illuminations is not my favorite Disney fireworks show, but it is gorgeous and thrilling to watch! 

Overall, I really enjoyed the IllumiNations Sparkling Dessert Party! I'm a champagne lover, so I really enjoyed a lighter drink with my party. The deserts were enjoyable but I wouldn't call them fantastic. At $50 per person, I'm honestly not convinced I'd do it again. Instead, I might just make a FastPass for a comparable fireworks viewing area and grab a dessert and a drink from the World Showcase!

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Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular Dessert Party - Hollywood Studios

On Sunday night, just three days after the Epcot dessert party, my husband made reservations for another one. This time we were going to Hollywood Studios and Star Wars was involved. I didn't know much beyond that and I didn't do any digging for spoilers!

We arrived around 7:30pm and rode a few rides before checking in at 8:15 at the Disney Junior building next to the Launch Bay. We tried to check in early approximately 13180 times, but they wouldn't budge! We did get to watch some Storm Troopers roaming around in the meantime and we also played some Disney Infinity in the Launch Bay, so that was a fun time killer. Like last time, we had been moved in because of rain, which I'm honestly okay with because Florida summer.

Similar to the Epcot party, this one was set up with tall tables, this time in red and black. I did notice some handicapped tables this time to accommodate wheelchairs. Again, the room was dark, which gave it a fun ambiance. They also had music playing from all the Star Wars films! There were various Star Wars decorations around the room, which added a nice touch!

The Disney Junior stage was, you know, not very Star Wars-y, but I was totally fine with it if it meant staying out of the rain. At this party you could tell that a lot of the people were huge Star Wars fans and were there mainly for that experience. It was kind of cool to be in a huge room made up mostly of nerds. I also noticed that the crowd was slightly smaller at this party as well.

The food was totally to die for!! The thing we were most excited about on this night was the one thing we'd heard about already - freeze dried Nutella. There was some kind of Star Wars name attached to it, but my husband just kind of ran up to the table and asked for "The Nutella." They knew what he meant.

I loved that all the desserts were Star Wars themed! There were BB-8 and Darth Vader cupcakes, Darth Maul eclairs, Death Star chocolate cake, Yoda pistachio cherry bites, galactic warm space debris bread pudding, and the list goes on.

There were also some savory options including C3-PO crackers and scorched pesto crisps, among others. This party included a bar with mixed drinks in place of champagne. My favorite was "The Force," a pomegranate lemonade with bourbon.

Again, we headed to the roped off area for viewing the fireworks. I had never seen this show before, so I was really excited!! There was also a projection aspect where different Star Wars scenes were projected directly onto the Chinese Theater.

This show was SO cool!! Scenes were projected and matched to the fireworks from all seven films. There were also lighting effects over the crowd that tied in to the show. I actually think this has replaced Wishes as my favorite fireworks show at Magic Kingdom!

At $70 per person, this party is not cheap, but I think it was totally worth it! The desserts were delicious and there was a huge variety and the drinks were also really great. If you're on the fence about which party to go to, I definitely recommend this one! I'm sure we'll be back sometime too!

Here are some extra photos! 

(You can click to make them bigger.)

Disney for the weekend: stranded

Welcome back to Disney for the Weekend!

This feature is all about Disney and I'll be posting things from Disney movie reviews to reviews of Disney restaurants.

Today I'm sharing a mini-trip report from a partially impromptu Disney trip I ended up taking earlier this week!

For those of you who don't know, I'm getting ready to move to Orlando in the very near future. Last Friday, I went with my husband (Coda) and my brother (Michael) to look at apartments. We drove down on Friday and arrived in Orlando that evening. But before the apartment search began we had a little fun planned! That night we had plans for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party!

We got to the Magic Kingdom around 6pm and headed straight into the park. Michael had only been to Magic Kingdom once before and that trip lasted only a couple hours, so I was really excited to show him the ropes! Our first stop was for dinner. Michael grabbed a meal from Casey's and Coda and I had chicken pot pie at Columbia Harbor House.

Once our bellies were full, we jumped right to the rides! We rode the Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Peter Pan's Flight, It's a Small World, Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid, Space Mountain, and the Seven Dwarves Mine Train.

  

We also did a ton of trick-or-treating, landing an entire backpack crammed full of candy (the good kind)! We saw the parade twice and the Hallowishes fireworks show was completely amazing! We ended up leaving around 1am, not getting to our room (first time using AirBNB) and to sleep until 2 in the morning!

The rest of the weekend was spent searching for apartments (we found one) and visiting Ikea for the first time ever! We spent some time at Disney Springs having Ghirardelli ice cream and watching the street performers and just having a generally awesome time! But then the hurricane happened and completely flooded all the roads leading back home to North Carolina. We were stranded.

Michael ended up buying a plane ticket home on Monday because he had to be at work and Coda and I were able to get a room at Disney World using our timeshare since so many people had to cancel due to weather. As far as places to be stranded, Disney honestly wasn't that bad! On Tuesday, we checked into Saratoga Springs Resort. We had a great view of Disney Springs from our balcony!

Once we were settled, we went to Epcot where the Food and Wine Festival was taking place. Coda tried some kind of honey craft beer and I had a Dole Whip with rum! Delicious! We rode Test Track, Spaceship Earth, The Seas With Nemo and Friends, Ellen's Energy Adventure, and Journey Into Imagination. We grabbed a quick dinner at the Lotus Blossom Cafe in China and called it an early night. 

On Wednesday, we checked the weather and roads before heading down to the desk and booking another night, since it was apparent we couldn't drive home that day either. Then we hopped a bus to Hollywood Studios. The only rides we went on were Tower of Terror and The Great Movie Ride.

We had a salad at ABC Commissary and spent the rest of the afternoon roaming around and taking in the sights. We headed back to the room to relax (we were exhausted) and ordered pizza for dinner. The evening was spent roaming around Disney Springs, just a short walk away from our resort, before going to bed early in preparation for the next day's journey home.

We woke up bright and early on Thursday and got on the road home. We had to take a detour around the large chunk of I-95 that was closed, costing us about an extra two hours on the way home. We finally made it home and only saw one really scary river that was WAY too close to the bridge we were driving on. Our dogs were thrilled to see us and we were thrilled to be home, but we weren't too torn up over our two days stranded at Disney World!

Disney World Trip Report: Days 3, 4, & 5

Welcome back to my Disney World trip report! Make sure to catch up with days 1 & 2 if you haven't already!


Day Three
On day three I slept in a little later and didn't make it to the Magic Kingdom until 12:30! But that's half the fun of vacation, right? Getting to sleep in! As soon as I got there I met up with a couple ladies from a Facebook group to get lunch at Cosmic Rays Starlight Cafe. We got to sit close to Sonny Eclipse, who sings the funniest songs! I've never gotten to sit near him before. I had the veggie burger with fries and we hung out and talked for a couple hours before heading over to Sunshine Tree Terrace for Dole Whip floats!

Source

I had to leave soon after because I had FastPass+ reservations elsewhere. I bade farewell to the Magic Kingdom and hopped a bus to Hollywood Studios around 5pm. I had some time to kill before any FastPasses once I got there so I browsed the shops for awhile. It was also really nice to get out of the heat!

My first FastPass was for the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, which is also one of my favorite rides! I noticed something new while I was in the library section of the queue. Up on the highest shelf was what I thought had to be one of the most terrifying creatures ever to exist...

It was. It was one of those stupid, tiny Twilight Zone aliens from the scariest episodes ever made!! Nope, nope! Once I escaped from that room I got a quick pass to the front of the line because I was by myself. The ride itself was great!!

I spent a little more time wandering around before I got a text from a friend who lives in the area. She invited me to dinner at the California Grill, which is on top of the Contemporary Resort. I had to really rush to get there in time, but I made it!

Dinner was totally amazing and so was the conversation!! The restaurant was beautiful! I had gnocchi and a glass of Malbec. Once we were finished eating we headed over the the Bay Lake Tower. Since I'm a Disney Vacation Club member I was able to get us up to the Top of the World Lounge, a members only area. I left her shortly after, but first got an amazing view of the Magic Kingdom at night!

Day Four

Noooo! My last full day at Disney World! I planned to spend the full day at Epcot, so I wasn't too worried about sleeping in a little (again). I got to Epcot around 12:30 and sped right over to Spaceship Earth, my favorite ride! I absolutely LOVE the ride through history!

Next I went over to Journey Into Imagination with Figment. I know that most people loved the older version of the ride and hate the new one, but I never got to see that one so I don't have anything to compare this to! I enjoy it though.

The Land was my next stop! I took a (not so quick) ride on Living with the Land where I got to take a closer look at Epcot's greenhouses! I also saw the creepy farmhouse that is the subject of this creepy story I've shared on a past Spine Tingling Saturday.

When I got off the ride, one of the ladies I'd had lunch with the previous day was on her way into the park and we decided to meet up at Sunshine Seasons for lunch. I had the vegan noodle entree and a carrot cake cupcake.

After lunch I took a quick ride with Nemo at The Seas before doing another ride on Spaceship Earth. By this time it was starting to rain so I spent some time in Mexico shopping and taking a quick boat ride!

I had dinner plans at 5:45 with a woman I'd met on a Disney forum I frequent. We met at Spice Road Table, a new restaurant in Morocco. We were seated outside and settled in for some really interesting conversation! She is from the Netherlands, but currently lives in London. We talked for a few hours before heading out of the park for the night.

Day Five

Nothing exciting happened on day five. I woke up early, had my oatmeal, and hit the road. On the drive back I listened to We All Looked up by Tommy Wallach (review to come) and hit some REALLY heavy and terrifying rain! I also saw a tiny dog at a gas station in South Carolina and called animal control. Hopefully they were able to get him somewhere safe! The nine hour drive came to an end around 6:30pm and then it was back to reality...

Disney World Trip Report: Days 1 & 2

As you may have noticed, I was pretty scarce last week. I did pop in to comment back every night (I tried to at least), but I didn't have much time for roaming around the blogosphere. This was because I was at Disney World in Florida and disconnected from the internet!

Day One

I woke up early and got on the road around 8:30am. The drive was about 9 hours and was relatively painless. There was some pretty heavy rain (check out that line in the sky!), but it was over quickly. I listened to Crown of Midnight on the way!! I really enjoyed the second book in the Throne of Glass series more than the first, but I'll be posting a full review of that soon.

The Disney World sign came into view around 5pm, so I didn't make bad time at all! I pulled into the parking lot at Saratoga Springs Resort at 5:15, checked in, and got to my room. Once I got there I was so hungry I took the boat straight to Disney Springs (previously Downtown Disney) and grabbed some dinner at Earl of Sandwich. At that point I was spent though, and headed back to my room to turn in early.

Day Two

I woke up at 9am, ate my oatmeal in the room, and got on the bus to Animal Kingdom with one thing in mind - Harambe Market, the new food and shopping area in "Africa." Dinosaur was my first stop! I love this ride! It's a dark ride with lots of twists, turns, and some jump scares. Next I got in the single rider line for Expedition Everest, a really awesome roller coaster inside of "Everest" and got on after about a 10 minute wait in the blazing sun. Finally, I went over to Harambe Market where I got the beef kabob flatbread with broccoli and tomato salad with the African milk tart for dessert! The main dish and side were fantastic, but the dessert wasn't for me.

As soon as I finished lunch I saw the clouds rolling in and basically RAN to the exit and got on the bus just before the massive downpour began. I hung out in my room to wait out the rain and then jumped on another bus for Magic Kingdom and was there by 3pm!

The first stop once I was inside Magic Kingdom was using my first FastPass+ at the Haunted Mansion! I noticed some upgrades from the last refurbishment and the ride looked great overall! Of course, I'll always love it no matter what. Next was Under the Sea Journey of the Little Mermaid. I noticed that the Under the Sea scene has had a HUGE makeover and looks absolutely amazing. There was an annoying woman taking flash photos the whole time though... I did some window shopping until my next FastPass+ at Peter Pan's Flight. This is one of my favorites! I love the neon characters and the flyover!

Dinner was at Columbia Harbor House where I had the (best ever) chicken pot pie and read Everything, Everything while overlooking Fantasyland. Then it was time for Splash Mountain! Unfortunately for everyone else and fortunately for me, the ride broke down just as we were getting ready to go over the second small drop. Eventually the Cast Members rescued us and led us backstage where we were able to see the building the floats are stored for the parades! So cool!! We were also given extra paper FastPasses for any ride except a few of the newer ones. I used mine for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh!

As I was preparing to leave I found out that a friend of mine, Mary, had just moved to the area and was staying on property for a few days. We agreed to meet at Disney Springs where we had Ghirardelli Ice Cream and did more window shopping. I made it back to my room around 10:30 and relaxed with some Roku before bed.

Days 3, 4, and 5 will be posted next Saturday!

Disney Halloween Trip Report: Day 3

Click for days 1 & 2! 

Day Three
(again, I've included links for locations, rides, and events)
On our third day of Disney we slept in a little later, not rolling out of bed until 9am. We needed our beauty rest because... tonight was Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party!! We ate some cereal and headed out to Hollywood Studios to get what we didn't realize would be one of our last looks at the BAH (you will not be missed). There was some disagreement about Coda wanting me to carry an umbrella in my backpack that stuck up three feet over my head, but I lost. I walked around all day looking like an idiot.

Our first stop of the morning was to use our Rock 'n' Roller Coaster FP+. We basically walked right on without any issues. Yes, Coda was certainly enjoying the new Fastpass system.

Afterwards we walked down to Starring Rolls Cafe to grab some coffee. This time I asked for iced and they were able to accommodate, thank goodness! While we drank our coffee we strolled through the shops - the new Frozen shop was definitely... interesting. I'm sure some people are less than thrilled with that! On our way back towards the Tower of Terror we realized that the Beauty and the Beast show was about to start! We ran in and got seats near the back.





I don't have to tell you it was amazing. When the show ended it was time for our Tower of Terror FP+ and we ran down the road to get there in time.




For the first time in my Disney World history, I saw the little girl in the drop! So creepy! I definitely hope I get that side again soon!

By now it was lunch time and the cereal was long gone! We wanted to have lunch at ABC Commissary, but stopped back into Starring Rolls to get dessert... Coda got the red velvet cupcake and I got the seasonal carrot cake cupcake.


More on that later... Before I could try it we had to order lunch! We got the Asian salad to split and found a seat. The salad was great! Unfortunately... the cupcake was gross. Some genius decided to put orange flavored frosting on the carrot cake (I'd thought it was just white frosting they'd dyed orange). I took once bite and passed it to Coda. I did eat the chocolate hat on top though! My absolute favorite thing about ABC Commissary was seeing the Revenge props on display! It's one of my favorite shows!!


Our last FP+ of the day was at Voyage of the Little Mermaid. On the way we came across something unexpected. We'd been told that the Frozen Summer was over and everything was gone. They were wrong!


We had a lot of fun hanging out in the snow! And Coda decided that we'd definitely be coming back later for the Frozen Sing-a-long. But first... ARIEL!!


I love that show! I just wish it was longer!! The silver lining? We were able to get over to the sing-a-long that much sooner!


Yeah... he was definitely way more excited about it than I was. Have I mentioned he's in love with Elsa? Haha!




With Coda vowing to come back to see it again soon, we had to head out to the Magic Kingdom for MICKEY'S NOT SO SCARY HALLOWEEN PARTY!!!


Our first stop was the Seven Dwarves Mine Train which was down to about a 40 minute wait. We played around a bit in the queue where Coda was constantly irritated by adults (not kids) holding up the line by stopping at each play station for 5 minutes while the people in front of them kept going (he's not so good with the patience virtue). The coaster itself was really amazing! I LOVED the combination of thrill and dark ride. The cottage at the end was so cool! Were those animatronics from Snow White's Scary Adventure? The only downside to the mine coaster was that it was so incredibly short.

Next we headed to the Emporium to grab the limited edition MNSSHP magic bands! I wish I had pictures... but I don't. Here are some stock photos of them though:


We were told they'd do something unique when we came through the gate! We later tried them and they made the magic band reader light up with multicolored lights vs. the normal green. Unfortunately, it only happened once and I'm not sure if it will ever happen again.

When we left the Emporium we noticed a line starting to form next to City Hall. When we stopped to ask about it we found out it would be Jack and Sally who were coming out early tonight! We were lucky enough to get close to the front of the line! Coda is totally obsessed with Jack Skellington.


Yay!! Oh, and as you can see, we did not dress up because my husband is a party pooper. Moving on...

By this time in the day we were literally about to starve to death (okay, not literally). We ended up settling on Pecos Bill since we'd never been. We were both very impressed and agreed it would be our new go-to place at the Magic Kingdom! Yummmm! With food out of the way, it was time for another ride.

The Haunted Mansion!! Everything worked perfectly with no stops or hangups... SIKE (yes, I said that). We got stuck for about five minutes in front of Leota.




We had a photo taken with the ghost outside but my photopass pictures expired and I accidentally deleted it from my computer. Oops.

Now, I have something rather embarrassing to admit. I spent a good portion of the night standing in a line not related to rides, characters, or candy. What line, you ask? Well, the line for the soft opening of Memento Mori, the new Haunted Mansion store.


As you can see, I was not the only one mad enough to stand in a line for two hours to get into a store that I didn't buy anything from... It was extremely cool though! There are a couple of neat hidden elements to the shop that you will either see by chance or by patience.


Following our short venture into the gift shop, we exited and went to see the ghosts out on the lawn.


She was so entertaining and a definite high spot of the night! I only regret she did not stay out longer.

By this point in the night we were beginning to think about getting a spot for the parade. On the way we stopped to meet Rapunzel (no pics because I look like a hot mess in those particular pictures). We also met Cinderella. She was probably the strangest of the face characters I've ever met. She was pretty out of character, in my opinion. Perhaps she was just having a bad day, but she seemed pretty exasperated at having to take pictures with people.


Finally, it was time to get a seat for the fireworks and parade! We got a seat close to the castle on the sidewalk. The Celebrate the Magic show was so cool! I loved the addition of the villains and Frozen characters.


I also loved the perimeter fireworks! But then it was over. We decided to hang around and wait for the parade. In the meantime, I ran down to Main Street Bakery for a cupcake that wouldn't have orange flavored frosting! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures because it quickly went into my belly.

Then the Boo To You Parade started... OMG. My life was pretty much complete when I saw the headless horseman.


I was so glad it hadn't rained! I would've been devastated if the horseman couldn't ride. The parade was AWESOME! The parade alone is totally worth paying the entry fee, in my opinion.


This picture is really interesting... Someone took a flash photo in the middle of mine so half the ghosts are lit up and half aren't:






Once the parade (sadly) ended, we decided to hit a couple rides. First was Peter Pan's Flight (no pics - it's a dark ride and, pro tip: flash photos are rude) followed by Under the Sea!




It was now that Coda decided we should start trick-or-treating. Let me tell you, waiting until the end of the night is the way to go for sure! Every station we went to filled our bags at least halfway! Pics later!

On our way out of the park we ran into Jafar!


By now the park was closing and we tried to make one last dash for Pirates of the Caribbean. The cast member at the front told us we would be the last ones of the night! We ran through and almost got lost in the process. When we got to loading, however, they told us we couldn't ride. So we turned around and walked back out.

The entire park was perfectly spooky with the fog and Halloween music (did I mention we were totally alone?). When we got back to Main Street where people were filing out, it was blue!


We left the park considering coming back the next night because our bags were so full of candy and we'd had such a great time! We got in the car and headed back to the hotel. Once there, we decided to organize our candy because we're adults.

   

Good night!