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View Full Version : 3..2..1 Time to go back Sept/Oct trip Day 9



conan617
04-10-2015, 05:13 PM
Cast of Characters
Me - Big Daddy - that's the name on my magic band :mickey:
DS - Turning 14 while in FL
DD - Turning 11 in Jan but celebrating in WDW

Day 9 - AK and MNSSHP

Today we started at AK. The sun was bright and the temp was up. Our first stop was Kilimanjaro Safari and it was a walk on so I pushed our FP to later. Next was Everest and it was also a walk on so I pushed that FP to later as well. Next Primeval Whirl and Dinosaur followed by Tree of Life. Grabbed some lunch at Pizzafari and then back to Everest and the Safari to use our FP+s before we went back to CSR for a swim and to change into our costumes.
Although I've walked through the Dig Site for the last few days, this will be the first time we have actually used the pool. The slide was really fun and we splashed in the fountains and on the pyramid for a couple hours.
Our Dinner ADR is at O'hana so we changed into our costumes and got on the bus. Our costumes for the party are minion T-shirts. We tried full fledged costumes in the past and they were either too uncomfortable because of the heat or too cumbersome for the attractions, so this year we decided to go with nice, cool T-shirts. DD wore the purple minion and DS and I wore yellow. We got lots of nice comments from other guests about our minion gang.
We arrived at the Poly and checked in at O'hana. As usual, we were told we would have to wait a few minutes for our table - no big deal, we would check out the gift shop. 30 minutes later we still haven't been called so I asked at the reception desk what's up. The look on the CM's face told me all I needed to know. She appologized many times, but we just got skipped over. I asked if we could get seated because we on our way to MNSSHP. She got us a table and we were seated right away. Dinner was fantastic. The kids were invited up to a special luau for their birthdays and then we were on our way to the party.
We were going into MK about 7PM and I felt like a salmon swimming upstream against the crowds leaving the park. We battled up mainstreet to Casey's, made the turn to Tomorrowland and never dealt with another crowd the rest of the night. All the rides were walk on and we took full advantage. I asked the kids if they wanted to trick or treat and they weren't interested - later they said. It was all rides for them. The only ride that had a wait was 7DMT and that was 20-30 min. So we rode and rode and rode until 15 min before Hallowishes and then walked into the hub. Found a nice spot in the middle of the hub and watched. Hallowishes is my favorite fireworks show on the planet so far. The music and Halloween theme along with the fireworks is simply magic to me :thumbsup: After Hallowishes, I wanted to catch the parade but the kids wanted to ride so I brought them over to SpaceMT and said ride all you want and I will meet you here after the parade. I went back to the hub and watched the Boo To You parade. Some knucklehead decided to cross in between two of the floats but other than that, it was wonderful. I made my way back to the meeting spot and met up with the kids a few minutes later. They saw me and came running with huge smiles on their faces. They rode SpaceMT 5 times in a row while I watched the parade. They walked in, rode the attraction, got off, walked back around and got back on. They were thrilled!:thumbsup: Plus I had the memory maker and so I have pictures of them riding over and over. We kept partying until Midnight and then caught our bus home. MNSSHP was a wonderful time and although it is an additional expense with the hard ticket, I won't hesitate to go back every chance we get.:mickey:

faline
04-10-2015, 07:37 PM
Except for the mix-up at dinner, this was another terrific day!! Love the Boo to You Parade!!!

dtootsie42
04-13-2015, 11:50 AM
Another terrific day!

KylesMom
04-16-2015, 02:07 PM
Fun morning at AK - and very nice that you could push those FP back & get double the Safari & E:E!

We too have had our "technical difficulties" at both O'Hana breakfast and dinner before. In fact, someone decided to pretend they were us, dined and ditched the bill whilst we waited over an hour to be seated for breakfast. Glad you checked after what was a reasonable time and they were able to get you right in!

How cool that the party was not overflowing with people! I can imagine how much fun it would be to ride the attractions & see the fireworks/parade with a clear line of sight! I had an absolute blast at MNSSHP back in 2012 but it was late October and very crowded. Thanks for sharing another great day!

conan617
04-20-2015, 05:26 PM
Fun morning at AK - and very nice that you could push those FP back & get double the Safari & E:E!

We too have had our "technical difficulties" at both O'Hana breakfast and dinner before. In fact, someone decided to pretend they were us, dined and ditched the bill whilst we waited over an hour to be seated for breakfast. Glad you checked after what was a reasonable time and they were able to get you right in!

How cool that the party was not overflowing with people! I can imagine how much fun it would be to ride the attractions & see the fireworks/parade with a clear line of sight! I had an absolute blast at MNSSHP back in 2012 but it was late October and very crowded. Thanks for sharing another great day!

It took me a few trips, but I finally have come to the realization that the ADR time is just the time you are expected to check in. The actual seating time is dependent on how other guests are moving through their dining experience. We had planned to visit the gift shop at the Poly so the wait was accounted for in the planning. Getting skipped was not, but we weren't rude or mean about it. I just said that we were on our way to MNSSHP and the hostess did the best she could.


I love going in Sept and one of the reasons is MNSSHP. I have never been at the party within two weeks of Halloween so I don't know how the crowds are closer to the big day, but I do know that if you can go on a Tues or Thurs in Sept - Woohoo! :thumbsup: