IloveJack
12-16-2013, 11:24 AM
We were up at 5:00 and made it back in the park by 5:45, entered the park using our MVMCP tickets, and headed up Main Street, which was no small task, as the street party was going on. However, with everyone distracted by that, we got front row (almost) "seats" for the castle lighting, and I was able to film it, one of my goals for the night. Wow, it's so much prettier in person!
I'd come to regret not stopping in the Emporium first thing.
As soon as the castle lighting was over, we split up again. DD and ODD headed to ride BTMRR again, as I wanted to spend every minute of the party doing party-exclusive things. Oh yeah, I'd found out on the way into the park that tonight's party was sold out. It obviously wasn't yesterday when we bought our tickets, but it was as of tonight. Holy rusted metal, Batman! It was crowded!
Anyhow, while DD and ODD went to ride, I and the littles went to wait in line for Mickey at Town Square. We sat, yes sat, in line for a full 30 minutes, plus some, because it took the other two an extra 10 minutes past our "should have been" wait time just to wade the crowd back to us. In fact, our wait was a waste of time anyhow. By the time they arrive, the line was down to 10 or so people. I could've been doing something else for the past 30 minutes. Beside, Mickey wasn't dressed for Christmas anyhow.
But he did talk! Boy, you should've seen ODD's face when he spoke! She was shocked! We got a few pics with the kids, and then a couple of family shots, but yet again, the PP photog's gear wasn't working, so it was all on our camera. Ugh, I was starting to get frustrated with this.
I'd had a plan to see Duffy (as I read a 2013 review of the MVMCP and had listed where to find the characters, well, I guess they lied, cause many of them weren't at the party), but found out that he was only at Epcot. Okay, save him for tomorrow. What about Minnie? Nope, not in any special Christmas attire, either. Well, dang it! I guess we'll head to see Rapunzel.
Our pretend daughter's birthday had been 2 weeks before our trip, and I promised her that I'd get a special pic with Flynn as her gift, so we had to go see him at the party, cause where else would we get to meet him. We stood in line for well over an hour for this one picture (it's a good thing we love her!), but Flynn was fairly cool to meet, so I guess it was okay. When we finally got there, the DDs were busy with Rapunzel (aka, "Tangled" at our house), so Flynn wandered over to us to see DS. We chatted for a while, and then I said, "I need a favor; can you sign this note and let me take a picture of you with it?" He obliged, and I got a picture of him holding a sign that said, "Paige, see you in January, Flynn Rider." I told him that she was joining the DCP and Rapunzel exclaimed, "You mean she's finally getting out of her tower!" which is quite funny, seeing as how our pretend daughter often refers to her mom as the evil mother in Tangled.
It was so crowded that we decided we should attempt to find a spot for the fireworks about 30 minutes early. We ended up in a little niche on the path to Crystal Palace, where it intersects with Main Street. However, it was right at that time that ODD decided she needed to potty, so DH took her and left me with the other two. I looked to my right and saw a just-big-enough spot on the sidewalk of Main Street, and I raced to it (if you can call it racing for 5 feet).
I parked the stroller by a nice family that had just watched the first parade. While we watched the fireworks, they gave YDD a light-up necklace that I ended up wearing the rest of the night. They were also well-mannered fireworks watchers, and didn't crowd out our kids. YDD did a fairly good job again of not being scared, a worry of ours (July 4th didn't go so well).
When the fireworks were over, that family left, so I turned the stroller parallel with the street and parked it right on the curb. Then I left DH with the kids and went to Casey's to get our dinner. Turns out it was a good time to go, for I was only second in line, the the lines behind me grew out the door. It took two trips to get our food back out the the rest of the family, and I definitely was the only fish swimming upstream. I swear, over half of the people left. By the time I got back out with the drinks, there were very few people around us.
We loved the parade, also. The toy soldiers were awesome! I found it funny that the chipmunk float went by, with the chipmunk voices playing, but no Chip and Dale were to be found. I filmed this one (had also filmed the fireworks), but by now, had decided I wasn't terribly impressed with this party. Oh, by the way, a chili-cheese dog and fries, two orders of corn nuggets, cotton candy, fries, and three drinks gave us a total of $37 for dinner.
I definitely wanted to see Capt Jack, since there was no other time to get a picture with him, so we headed that way next. He was... okay. He had the movements down, but rarely talked, and it wasn't so Jack-like. He also looked nothing like Capt Jack, way too much blond in the facial hair. Oh well, it was still cool. YDD wouldn't meet him, and ODD wouldn't talk to him, so I had to get in the picture with her. Oh darn. ;)
Since it was our last hour or so in the MK, I sent DH and ODD off to ride her two favorite mountains again, and I took the two littles to find cookies and cocoa and some more characters. Well, I just about struck out on all. By 11pm, we could only find one station still open for treats. We walked through three different lands to find that one. We also couldn't find any characters. By then, they'd all left.
I'd promised a friend back home that I'd bring a Mickey ornament back to her niece, who's about the same age as YDD, so we went to look in Liberty Square. I found one with Mickey Santa, and his sack was a picture frame, so I got that one. DS was exhausted by this point (he'd not slept since our afternoon nap), and he was letting me know it.
Since the party had died by this point, and the other two were off riding, I decided to take the two littles on the carousel for one last ride. I put YDD on her horse and strapped her in tight, then rode with DS. He had a huge smile on his face and obviously enjoyed the ride.
We met up with DH and YDD near the Tangled Tower, where they spotted me taking pics of the lanterns. This is ODD's favorite movie, so we got a couple of pictures with her, too.
It was midnight, by then, so we headed toward the Emporium so I could buy a party pin. Imagine my disappointed to find the doors locked. The stores always stay open late, so I was shocked and quire disappointed. I collect pins that commemorate our trips, and I'd really wanted this pin. I guess I'll have to keep an eye on ebay.
And if only to pour salt in the wound, I'd packed us coordinating outfits for the party to try to get a pic for our Christmas cards. Not one character was in Christmas attire, and they'd removed all the swag from Main Street, plus filled the flagpole area with gear for the parade filming. It was amazing how many internet sources were wrong about this party. We (or my mother) paid $193 for a parade and fireworks, plus two character pics. Absolutely nothing else was different about the MK tonight than on Monday night.
We hopped a bus back to the resort and went straight to bed at 2am. The alarm was set for 7
I'd come to regret not stopping in the Emporium first thing.
As soon as the castle lighting was over, we split up again. DD and ODD headed to ride BTMRR again, as I wanted to spend every minute of the party doing party-exclusive things. Oh yeah, I'd found out on the way into the park that tonight's party was sold out. It obviously wasn't yesterday when we bought our tickets, but it was as of tonight. Holy rusted metal, Batman! It was crowded!
Anyhow, while DD and ODD went to ride, I and the littles went to wait in line for Mickey at Town Square. We sat, yes sat, in line for a full 30 minutes, plus some, because it took the other two an extra 10 minutes past our "should have been" wait time just to wade the crowd back to us. In fact, our wait was a waste of time anyhow. By the time they arrive, the line was down to 10 or so people. I could've been doing something else for the past 30 minutes. Beside, Mickey wasn't dressed for Christmas anyhow.
But he did talk! Boy, you should've seen ODD's face when he spoke! She was shocked! We got a few pics with the kids, and then a couple of family shots, but yet again, the PP photog's gear wasn't working, so it was all on our camera. Ugh, I was starting to get frustrated with this.
I'd had a plan to see Duffy (as I read a 2013 review of the MVMCP and had listed where to find the characters, well, I guess they lied, cause many of them weren't at the party), but found out that he was only at Epcot. Okay, save him for tomorrow. What about Minnie? Nope, not in any special Christmas attire, either. Well, dang it! I guess we'll head to see Rapunzel.
Our pretend daughter's birthday had been 2 weeks before our trip, and I promised her that I'd get a special pic with Flynn as her gift, so we had to go see him at the party, cause where else would we get to meet him. We stood in line for well over an hour for this one picture (it's a good thing we love her!), but Flynn was fairly cool to meet, so I guess it was okay. When we finally got there, the DDs were busy with Rapunzel (aka, "Tangled" at our house), so Flynn wandered over to us to see DS. We chatted for a while, and then I said, "I need a favor; can you sign this note and let me take a picture of you with it?" He obliged, and I got a picture of him holding a sign that said, "Paige, see you in January, Flynn Rider." I told him that she was joining the DCP and Rapunzel exclaimed, "You mean she's finally getting out of her tower!" which is quite funny, seeing as how our pretend daughter often refers to her mom as the evil mother in Tangled.
It was so crowded that we decided we should attempt to find a spot for the fireworks about 30 minutes early. We ended up in a little niche on the path to Crystal Palace, where it intersects with Main Street. However, it was right at that time that ODD decided she needed to potty, so DH took her and left me with the other two. I looked to my right and saw a just-big-enough spot on the sidewalk of Main Street, and I raced to it (if you can call it racing for 5 feet).
I parked the stroller by a nice family that had just watched the first parade. While we watched the fireworks, they gave YDD a light-up necklace that I ended up wearing the rest of the night. They were also well-mannered fireworks watchers, and didn't crowd out our kids. YDD did a fairly good job again of not being scared, a worry of ours (July 4th didn't go so well).
When the fireworks were over, that family left, so I turned the stroller parallel with the street and parked it right on the curb. Then I left DH with the kids and went to Casey's to get our dinner. Turns out it was a good time to go, for I was only second in line, the the lines behind me grew out the door. It took two trips to get our food back out the the rest of the family, and I definitely was the only fish swimming upstream. I swear, over half of the people left. By the time I got back out with the drinks, there were very few people around us.
We loved the parade, also. The toy soldiers were awesome! I found it funny that the chipmunk float went by, with the chipmunk voices playing, but no Chip and Dale were to be found. I filmed this one (had also filmed the fireworks), but by now, had decided I wasn't terribly impressed with this party. Oh, by the way, a chili-cheese dog and fries, two orders of corn nuggets, cotton candy, fries, and three drinks gave us a total of $37 for dinner.
I definitely wanted to see Capt Jack, since there was no other time to get a picture with him, so we headed that way next. He was... okay. He had the movements down, but rarely talked, and it wasn't so Jack-like. He also looked nothing like Capt Jack, way too much blond in the facial hair. Oh well, it was still cool. YDD wouldn't meet him, and ODD wouldn't talk to him, so I had to get in the picture with her. Oh darn. ;)
Since it was our last hour or so in the MK, I sent DH and ODD off to ride her two favorite mountains again, and I took the two littles to find cookies and cocoa and some more characters. Well, I just about struck out on all. By 11pm, we could only find one station still open for treats. We walked through three different lands to find that one. We also couldn't find any characters. By then, they'd all left.
I'd promised a friend back home that I'd bring a Mickey ornament back to her niece, who's about the same age as YDD, so we went to look in Liberty Square. I found one with Mickey Santa, and his sack was a picture frame, so I got that one. DS was exhausted by this point (he'd not slept since our afternoon nap), and he was letting me know it.
Since the party had died by this point, and the other two were off riding, I decided to take the two littles on the carousel for one last ride. I put YDD on her horse and strapped her in tight, then rode with DS. He had a huge smile on his face and obviously enjoyed the ride.
We met up with DH and YDD near the Tangled Tower, where they spotted me taking pics of the lanterns. This is ODD's favorite movie, so we got a couple of pictures with her, too.
It was midnight, by then, so we headed toward the Emporium so I could buy a party pin. Imagine my disappointed to find the doors locked. The stores always stay open late, so I was shocked and quire disappointed. I collect pins that commemorate our trips, and I'd really wanted this pin. I guess I'll have to keep an eye on ebay.
And if only to pour salt in the wound, I'd packed us coordinating outfits for the party to try to get a pic for our Christmas cards. Not one character was in Christmas attire, and they'd removed all the swag from Main Street, plus filled the flagpole area with gear for the parade filming. It was amazing how many internet sources were wrong about this party. We (or my mother) paid $193 for a parade and fireworks, plus two character pics. Absolutely nothing else was different about the MK tonight than on Monday night.
We hopped a bus back to the resort and went straight to bed at 2am. The alarm was set for 7