Tuck your elbows in - day 16 - Baby Giraffe and broken down pirate ships

[lumosq102]

So, it’s been a while! The last time I posted we were just heading of on our 2 coast Disney odyssey. That was in June, it is now September and I’m still whining that I just want to go back to Disneyland. The post Disney depression has hit hard this time. Still, we have 244 days to go on our next countdown, and lots of fun stories and photos to share from our Florida / California trip of all the jetlag, so its time to get moving!


Day 16 – Friday 6 October
Index is here
Day 15 is here

We had had a bit a of a late night the night before so we accepted that we would not be up and out in time for rope drop at Animal Kingdom. Nope. We had reached that point in the trip where we were a little worn and emotional so a little extra sleep was needed. But not that much apparently – I still found myself on the balcony at 7am taking pictures over Seven Seas Lagoon







It was looking like a murky start to the day, but I had fingers and toes crossed that the day wouldn’t be a washout.

Excessive amounts of coffee consumed to get us moving, we opened the room door a little before 8.30am to be confronted by this:



Party pooper. The eviction notice. Boo.

No need to let that keep us down however! We had places to be and adventures to have so on to the bus stop. Where we waited.


And waited.

And waited.

The Animal Kingdom bus finally showed up at 9am where we boarded with quite a crowd – there was a professional services conference in town and all of the families of the bored accountants were also planning on an Animal Kingdom day too. They spent most of the journey complaining that they were not given their tickets until they checked in the day before, so had no fast passes. Can you imagine? Hope they enjoyed their day of long lines and patchy FP availability.

The humidity was ramping up too. We hopped off the bus at Animal Kingdom at 9.15am where Kirsty promptly demonstrated the high humidity levels:



Who needs to see anyway.

Thankfully we managed to make it into the park without R falling over / walking into a wall, and headed straight to Africa for a ride we hadn’t included in our FP allocation for today – Kilimanjaro Safari. But first, photopass:



Those are some tired eyes I’m sporting there.

Thanks to the hoards all being in Pandora, we had a delightfully short walk on to Safari, walking through the line and were boarding by 9:30am. Not bad at all since we hopped off the resort bus at 9:15am.

We were then promptly seated on the wrong side of the safari vehicle. Bah. Well, that’s just how the luck of the draw goes sometimes.

Lets visit with our animal friends for a while:



The waterfalls were running again – this had been empty after hurricane Irma so it was good to see that things were slowly coming back together



Getting the cold shoulder from the herd



Prepare for a onslaught of Giraffe – they were having fun that morning



Snack time







Hello little one



sweet baby



This is what happens when you are using your long lens and a giraffe decides to visit with your safari vehicle



Uber Giraffe close up.

Now back to snack time:









Heading along to Elephant country demonstrates why I’m not a big fan of the right hand side of the vehicle



There is a baby elephant in there somewhere. Really.

Our lion friend was feeling sociable



As was the lioness.



Hopefully she wasn’t considering her breakfast options



Snooze time for both of the girls



And this was a first for me – the lion was actually moving



We said asante sana to our safari driver and headed straight into Pandora – our fast pass for Flight of passage was open. Frustratingly the bridge from Africa into Pandora was closed (they were using it as overflow for the Flight of Passage line) so we needed to head in through the main entrance. Not so bad as it gave us the opportunity to grab a few photos in front of everyone’s favourite Pandoran frisky foliage:





It has to be an Imagineering joke, right?



Then comes the dreaded email – FoP was down. Darn.



Hey ho, we now had time to wander Pandora and take some photos as we decided what to do. It really is just so beautiful.







I was cursing the gloom however, these would be so much prettier with a gorgeous blue Florida sky as backdrop

[lumosq102]

The Disney gods were shining upon us as by this time Flight of Passage was open again and it was time to, uh, fly.

I adore this ride. For me, it’s strangely emotional. I have never seen the film, don’t plan on doing so, but soaring over those glorious vistas whilst feeling the banshee breathing underneath you is finest Disney magic. Your mileage may vary of course, but for me? I just adore it.

Soaring across alien landscapes had worked up an appetite in both of us, and it was just about to hit 11am so we decided to rope drop Satuli Canteen.



Yummmmmmy. Here we have the bowl with rice, spicy tofu and slaw with the creamy sauce. R also went with the creamy sauce, but opted for the hash and beef with the slaw. Both were exceptional. I was worried that the tofu wouldn’t be crispy as it looked very pale, but thankfully they were little bites of crispy tofu deliciousness with a hint of spice (it is Disney after all). I loved the hash and said that the steak was cooked perfectly.

For drinks, R went with the Pandoran sunrise which she really enjoyed - again. My cherry coke is out of shot, but I have to give points to a quick service that has cherry coke as one of its options. We then split dessert – we had to try the blueberry cream cheese mousse



We had to try this, it looked delicious. And you know what? It wasn’t bad. I loved the curd on top, and the mousse itself was tasty, but I think it was a one and done for us.

After a nice leisurely lunch it was time for our next fastpass – Dinosaur.

But first, our peaceful walk through Pandora as we head to Dinoland





A little blue peaking through the clouds



Dino time. Who doesn’t love a rocky trip back in time on a full stomach?



Apparently I was taking the time to catch up on my reading.



Dino rescued from a fiery end it was time to check out the local tourist traps



Some of the punny details in this area are my favourites. Who doesn’t want a prehysterically low price?



And that air conditioning was very much appreciated



The store dino was getting ready for Halloween too



Heading into dino land itself we found one of the oddest photopass spots thus far



Who doesn’t want to commemorate their ride on TriceraTop Spin with a family photo?

Moment of honesty – we have ridden this once. A badge of honour that’s only held by 3 WDW rides total (Stitch and Orange Mission Space round out that list).

Heading to our next fastpass we find a photopass photographer who wanted to test the efficacy of our anti-perspirant



According to the timestamp on the photo, I took the following photo at 12:59 exactly.



Something wasn’t working quite right with that display there…

Pandoran views



Happy Kirstys



Love this little toy I found in the gift shop on our way out



But I’m so tired!



it was time for us to think about heading back to the hotel, but not before yet another photopass photo



That’s one of my favourite spots for a photo too, such a lovely backdrop there

And with that it was time to say farewell to Animal Kingdom for this trip. Sob. So long beautiful tree of life!



And just in time too – things were getting busy at DAK



We were waiting at the bus stop or what felt like a very long 10 minutes thanks to the heat. The bus finally arrived at 2pm and we were back at the Grand Floridian at 2:25pm – a whole 10 minutes longer than the morning journey. The vagaries of Disney transportation.

[lumosq102]

The afternoon for us would be a flurry of packing and changing into our second set of MNSSHP costumes. We were keeping it a little more casual today, and parts of my costume were scrapped altogether thanks to a rather foreboding forecast for rain, rain and more rain.

We were running late due to the usual packing squabbles (packing is always the most stressful part of the trip for us – out and back) but were finally in the lift up to the monorail station at 5pm.

R went with Minnie Mouse:



Can you guess who I am?



I guess it depends on your parade nerdery – do you remember this little fellow?

goo.gl/images/UNwJRq

Well, I’m still not over the loss of the Main Street Electrical Parade, so my second costume was my small tribute to my favourite MSEP snail. He is such a cutey.

We hop aboard the monorail and head into Magic Kingdom just as the rain starts. And oh boy does it rain. Ponchos on, we grab our trick or treat bags and head into Fantasyland for a visit to rides that are under cover – a short wait beckons at Pooh Bear, then the rain seems to be subsiding in time for us to dash over to Auntie Gravity’s for an ice cream sundae, enjoyed in the rarefied surroundings of Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café. Suitably serenaded by Sonny Eclipse, it was time to venture on and start the Halloween fun. We wanted to get in line early to meet Moana so we did not have to spend a big chunk of time waiting to meet her – the line had been 2 hours long the previous night. We dodged a few showers and made it over to Adventureland to find that she was already meeting, and as long as you already had your party wristband on you could get in line. Fantastic!

We must and waited maybe 25 minutes before we got to meet princess Moana herself. She was just lovely, talking of adventure and, of all things, making clothes. Most worth the time in line!





By 6.30pm it was looking like things were drying up and I was starting to consider taking my camera out of its protective hiding spot in my bag, but first, a few photos around the hub:





I’m guessing it was this photographers first day on the job



Ahh, much better!



The camera came out and the skies cleared just in time for the last of a pretty sunset over the castle





With just the hint of a rainbow



magic!

Is there such a thing as too many castle photos?



It was just before 7pm when the first treat trail opened – and one we had never visited! Philharmagic, which also was showing Halloween themed cartoons



Treats procured, we head over to Liberty Square for our first experience of the evening.



No not Punzie’s pee palace, although doesn’t it look lovely as the sun is going down?



that’s better



There were a few photo ops we had missed out on the previous night that we wanted to pick up this evening, starting with the hearse outside of the Haunted Mansion:





Happy Haunts



The line for the ride was pretty non existent, so off we went



creepy



the lighting package on party nights is glorious



Attempting to be arty



There’s always my way




Ghostly



I did





By the time we were back outside the sun had almost set and it was time for the party to start in ernest





next photo op – creepy Kirstys





Still spooky as we hopped into another line for candy. We needed sugar to get us through the night after all



Heading back into Fantasyland for our next photo op – this time with the dancing skeletons from one of the Silly Symphony shorts



You have to stay very still as someone walks behind with a light to create the effect, so R wins this with her expression – she had to hold that for a good 15 seconds or so.

[lumosq102]

I love Fantasyland during MNSSHP. The atmosphere changes back here and it becomes a lot of fun, everyone is dressed up and having a great time

Tea cups looking festive



The continued tales of creepy Kirstys – would you trust these women with your produce?



We were in line to meet the Queen of Hearts and Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. Somehow in all our years of visiting the parks we had never met the Tweedles and they did not disappoint. We did not stop laughing from start to finish.







Whilst we were in Florida the signage for Stitches Great Escape had changed, with the addition of the Alien Encounter – character greeting. So long Stictches Great Escape, I won’t miss you. Almost a year later we still don’t know what is happening with this space, hopefully it will become something more than an air conditioned corridor where you can meet everyone’s favourite alien puppy.



That evening it was a treat trail so we went in to enjoy the cute pumpkin displays, get one last look at the animatronics in the line and most importantly – get more candy!





Our next destination was to meet with Lotso Bear, the misunderstood bear of Sunnyside Nursery. R is a big fan.



Whilst in line we met a group of people dressed as the Country Bears. Well, not full on furry, but fabulous takes on most of the bears. That was costume goals, right there.

He does give good hugs, old Lotso





Spookily quiet Tomorrowland



Last on our list of meet and greet must does for the evening was Mickey. Talking Mickey is a big favourite in my world, and we had not met him in his Halloween costume. We got in line at 9.30pm, thinking we would see him whilst the line was shorter as most people were waiting for the first parade to go by, then we could head out and watch the fireworks. Perfect plan.



Spooktacular, with added decapitation



Mickey Hugs





card tricks time



I’m sorry to say he cheated



But who can be mad with Mickey?



An aside – I’m still cranky that Mickey doesn’t speak in this location anymore. It was such a special experience and as I am such a sucker for the mouse I loved it – he sang happy birthday to me on my birthday a couple of years ago and I bawled, right there in the meet and greet. Nice work.

Happy faces all round this time



We left Town Hall Theatre on a bit of a Mickey meet high to find that the parade was coming, and that there were lots of spaces to watch. Brilliant! What timing! Only that the first float was the pirate section with Captain Jack Sparrow (bad photo ahead)

Jack was as surprised as me



But this fella seemed comfy



All of the walking performers were missing too, it was all very odd. We had clearly missed something.





Confused, we head down Main Street to grab a spot for the fireworks





Where we find a deserted pirate ship in the middle of the hub. Huh.



Chatting with the Cast Members we find out that it broke down during the first parade, hence the huge delay in the rest of the vehicles moving down the parade route. The walking cast could keep on going, but the poor souls on the vehicles had to stay right there and keep performing, in the rather scorching Florida humidity. No wonder the captain looked so cranky.

[lumosq102]

Still, the crowds had eased off and it was time for Hallowishes – firework spam ahead





























Time for a little wander – this time over into Frontierland for another treat trail, catching the Tiki Room treat trail on our way back



it was rumoured that the Parade was not going to run, and then it was announced that it would indeed be running, just a little late so we hightailed it back to Main Street to find a spot, settling in Town Square where the parade finally arrived at 11:55, a good hour or so later than expected.











Goofy met Goofy



Blurry Pluto was just excited to be there



It was all too scary for Tigger









The pirate ship sails again!















He’s just too cool for school.

















My favourite ballroom pair





Forever one question for this section – why?







But anything that brings me Country Bears and Chip n Dale is a ok by me

[lumosq102]

Petition for more Hercules in the parks please










Sisterly love













We were planning on seeing the midnight show of the Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular show which was also starting late, but we were done. It was 12:15 and we were beat, as you can tell in the next glamorous shot



Shiny. That’s the humidity.

A few last tired photos as even though I am beyond worn at this point I’m still dragging out every last second of the party. What can I say, I’m northern, I like to get my monies worth.

















I think Kirsty is ready to throttle me at this point. You can see it in her face, she just wants her bed



but I’m getting every last ounce out of that party



And with that our last full day comes to an end. We made it on to the monorail and finally collapsed into our room a little after 1am.

Tomorrow we experience the busiest day of the year in Magic Kingdom, or at least what feels like the busiest day. And we go home. Sob.

day 17 is here

[MrsSilverStar]

You packed so much in for your last day, fab! You’ve made me want to book multiple Halloween parties now though, you’re a bad influence

[lumosq102]

Originally Posted by MrsSilverStar

You packed so much in for your last day, fab! You’ve made me want to book multiple Halloween parties now though, you’re a bad influence

See more...

Very proud to be a bad influence! I don't know how we would fit everything in there is to do into one night, we didn't quite get everything done in two!

[Excitedx4]

Another jam packed day! Wow 2 MNSSHP!