Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party 2013 Review

  

     About this time every year, Disney becomes a little bit more magical. Beginning with Halloween and continuing through Christmas, Disney loves to put up decorations for the holidays. This is my personal favorite time of the year, and I was excited to finally get to experience Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party for the very first time this year.

   The event was really a lot of fun! Last year, Todd and I went to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party for the first time since we were children, and we had a blast! So when the time rolled around this year, we were excited for some more Disney magic. As beginners, however, we figured out a few mistakes we made.

 

My best friend Rochelle and I as Red and Snow from Once Upon a Time.

Todd as Jack Sparrow.

    Even though it's technically autumn, and the park is fully decked out to look that way, it's still Florida, and it was approximately 80 degrees. Once the sun went down it was a little better, but still pretty warm. Rochelle, Todd and myself all wore costumes with layers, with Todd and I in long sleeves and pants. My costume consisted of a peasant top, pants, boots, a fur trimmed vest and cape, and it got really old, really fast (Note: I was really psyched, however, when I girl shouted "I love your Snow White costume!" It's always nice to have more obscure costumes noticed). Even Rochelle's costume, which was significantly cooler than Todd's and mine, was cumbersome after a while because of the cape. So I cannot stress this enough: Wear something comfortable.

    Secondly, the Trick-or-Treating is pretty lame. We were expecting it to be more like the cookies and cocoa at Very Merry, with huge stations and tons of cast members. Instead, it's a lot of long lines and two cast members at the end handing out pieces of candy. Honestly, we didn't do it all, and I doubt we will in the future. With such a short amount of time to enjoy the event, waiting in line for a few pieces of candy seems to be a bit of a waste.

This ghostly woman tells stories all night long.

     Throughout the park, there are rarely seen characters to be seen, like this lady above. You can also see the Seven Dwarfs, and this year Jack and Sally made an appearance. This characters are definitely worth it to see, but get in line early, the wait gets long fast.

Dancing ghosts and the lost man with his dog from Haunted Mansion.

    The Boo to You parade is spectacular! All of the Disney Villains are in it, as well as characters from the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean and many others that aren't seen in a typical Disney World parade. At the end, cast members hand out candy to the kids, so they will get something if you skip the Trick or Treating.

Lanterns from Tangled all over the beautiful castle.

 

 

Maleficent casting her spell.

After the parade, before the fireworks, Disney showed a special Celebrate the Magic with a Halloween twists thrown in.

Oogie Boogie's eyes projected on the Castle.

 

 

     The grand finale of the night is the Happy Halowishes Fireworks show. The score is fantastic, with a medley of different Halloween and Villain favorite songs. Again, absolutely not to be missed.

    In short, Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party is a wonderful event, and is absolutely worth doing with your family for special, spooky memories.

Despicable Me 2 Review

While this is not a Disney film, it is a major competitor in the market, so I think it warrants a review. I've never written movie review before, so here goes nothing!

Todd and I went into Despicable Me 2 with high hopes, as we both loved the first one, and we had been told the sequel was just as good.  We went on Saturday morning, with a theatre full a kids and their families. If you based this review solely on the audience reactions, it would be an easy 10/10. So  to any parents, it's safe to say that your kids will love it. There were enough silly Minion jokes to make up an entire film, as well as some laughs from Gru and the girls, Margo, Edith, and Agnes. However, for parents or other older patrons, there was a lot of heart and slightly more mature humor as well, with subplots of Margo discovering the world of boys, and Gru -reluctantly- getting into the dating scene.

The plot was predictable, as one would expect from this type of movie, especially being a sequel, but not horribly so. There were a few parts that dragged on a little bit, with the same jokes being repeated a few too many times, but kids will eat it up, and probably laugh the most at these times. The ending was a good one, with a few more laughs and everything tied up neatly in a bow. One thing to consider is during the credits, there were a lot of gags put in for the 3D version, so if you do go see it in 3D, make sure to stay all the way through.

Overall I'd give this movie a 9/10. The laughs were great, the heart was in it, and we'd definitely go see it again.

A honeymoon, a family suite, and 24 hours of Disney.

Disney is so great about helping make a celebration special.

      Todd and I are officially a married couple. Yay! Our concierge gave us these buttons upon arrival, and of course, we were greeted with "Congratulations!" by many cast members throughout the park, as well as some special decorations on some of our desserts.

       For our honeymoon, we stayed at the Art of Animation. The room that was originally booked was at the Pop Century, but a reservation opened up for a Little Mermaid standard, and we jumped at the chance. Art of Animation is in a league all of it's own, as posted here and we were so excited to stay again, especially considering this trip would be much longer than the previous single night.

     We came to check in mid-morning and get on our way to the theme parks. As we were receiving our booklet, room keys, parking pass, etc. we didn't really listen to the specifics, as we have been through the process many times. However, as we were leaving the lobby to drive to the room and unload, Todd and I looked at each other and both asked: "Did she just say 'Cars Family Suite'?"

     Sure enough, that's the room we were in. We still have no idea what happened, but we're guessing the Mermaid rooms were overbooked, so they upgraded us. Since AoA has opened, Todd and I both have been dying to stay in one of these family suites. Basically,  Disney gave us an amazing unintentional wedding present.

Love the cleverness!

There are great stills on every floor right outside of the elevator.

 The theming and layout of the rooms are really great. While Todd and I certainly enjoyed all of the extra space, it definitely was not used very much by us, but it would be perfect for a larger party.

 

The master bedroom is large, with a dresser, two nightstands, a flat screen television, and a connecting bathroom. 

The living room has a kitchenette, a pull out bed/ sofa, an easy chair, another dresser like the one in the master, and a coffee table. The kitchenette comes stocked with paper plates, paper cups, paper towels, a coffee maker ( with coffee and tea), and plastic cutlery. 

It's hard to see, but the towels next to the t.v. are shaped into a car.

It's a map of radiator springs!

 

  In the main entryway, there is a table with four chairs that pulls out into another bed.

You get to sleep next to Mater!

 Right off of the living room is a second bathroom, where the exquisite theme continues.

     The accommodations, obviously, were amazing and made our honeymoon a very happy one. Next month, we're staying here again for a family vacation, so it will be interesting to see how the stay goes when there are four adults and one child, as opposed just us two.    

I'd love to see a Rapunzel meet and greet right here.

     During our stay, we spent a lot more time at the Magic Kingdom then we have been as of late, and it was nice to take in some updates. The Tangled bathroom/ D-Zone charging station is a really cool area that opens up the area surrounding it nicely.

Rapunzel has decorated every surface of the Ladies room.

She even stores her paint supplies here!

The Starbucks signs are up out front of the Main Street Bakery in anticipation of the reopening in a few weeks.

24 hours of Magic Kingdom!

     On our final day was the Monstrous Summer 24 hour Disney Day. We got up at and were at the park by 6 o'clock in the morning. There were themed baked goods, and buttons were given out to celebrate the event. Unfortunately, as the evening approached, it got terribly crowded, so we skipped out at about 10 o'clock pm. But we got to experience most of the excitement!

Lots of buttons!

Mike Wazowski is the perfect shape for treats!

Sully marshmallow kabobs.

These cake pops were so delicious! The cake inside was more like a chocolate brownie.

     The little details everywhere made the event quite the spectacle!

 

Our first married visit to Disney!

     Needless to say, we had a wonderful honeymoon. Disney is truly a master at special events, and even staying at Value Resort, any romantic trip is sure to be special.

Long Overdue Update

     It has been quite a while since I've updated this blog and for that, my dear readers, I do apologize. However, the neglect has been for good reason: I'm getting married in 4 days! Following which will be a 6 day honeymoon at WDW, the grand finale being (drum roll) 24 hours of Disney. So, before the joyous nuptials take place, I thought I'd do a mini update, and then an itinerary of our honeymoon.

We have recently become vary enamored with the Canada Pavilion.

The great and powerful Oz crash landed at Flower and Garden Festival.

The smoked brisket, greens and jalapeno cornbread from the Smokehouse was really quite tasty.

The pulled pork was excellent as well!

            The artwork that goes into the Flower and Garden Festival is definitely not to be missed.

Todd and I got our RFID annual passes!

Loving the new Test Track.

We had a beautiful lunch at Rose and Crown, right on the lake.

The corned beef sandwich was sort of like a reuben. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't amazing. And, as you can see, the portion was HUGE.

Todd got the fish n' chips, which he loves, so he enjoyed them thoroughly.

The highlight of my meal was the pomegranate lemonade. It was perfectly sweet, and not overly acidic, like lemonade often is. I drank way too much, but I would go back to Rose and Crown just for this.

As you can see, we have recently been spending most of our time at Epcot. Magic Kingdom has seemed extra crowded lately, and we are just loving the more relaxed atmosphere of World Showcase.

For our honeymoon, we are quite excited to try a lot restaurants we haven't had before. Here's our itinerary:

Day One: Lunch at Be Our Guest, Dinner at Liberty Tree.
    We've eaten at both of these restaurants, but they are sentimental favorites.

Day Two: Lunch at Sunshine Seasons, Dinner at Le Cellier.
     Surpisingly, we have never enjoyed either of these. So excited to try the cheese soup!

Day Three: Dinner at Sci Fi Dine In Theater.
       Not sure where will begin this day, but we will be ending at Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic! We have eaten at the Sci-Fi, but only once.

Day Four: Lunch at Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie, Dinner at Chefs de France.
         We've never eaten at either of the restaurants in the France Pavilion, and I hope we get to see Remy.

Day Five: Lunch at the Liberty Tree Tavern, Dinner at Tony's Townsquare Restaurant
        I've heard lunch at Liberty Tree is really good, and am definitely excited. We've eaten at Tony's a lot as well, but as we are going to be there all day and night, we chose a late night reservation and this was only one available.

That's all for now, stay tuned!