Club Africana, Drinks Are Free! - Day 6: Wham! MNSSHP

[Stewboy]

The Index

Sunday 29th October 2017

Today was Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party day, so we were planning on a chilled out morning at the resort.

Jo and I woke up at about 8:30am, and got dressed and headed straight up to the club lounge for coffee.

Coffee was drunk out on the balcony admiring the savanna - that view never gets old.

Isabella eventually woke at about 9:10am, and by 9:30am the Sears were off to the club lounge for breakfast.

We found a table and I tried to order a couple of mimosas again as I did yesterday morning. However, the young server was apparently swayed by my youthful good looks and grey hair, and believed me to be under drinking age. Having no ID on me due to the fact that I was 40 and haven’t been IDed for at least 15 years she refused to serve me! I know she’s only doing her job, but it’s still really annoying!

Despite the lack of mimosas, breakfast was still lovely. Having nowhere to be any time soon meant we took our time, which meant once Isabella was finished she went to watch some DIsney Junior on the TV in the corner while Jo and I chilled out.


Watching some Disney Junior

Eventually we headed back to the room and got ourselves ready. We had decided, for the first time since we arrived, to venture off property in our car. If you’ve read any of our previous trips, you’ll know that usually in the car every day driving to and from the parks, and beyond; this holiday had been really unusual in that we were relying on the buses for most of our transportation needs.

We headed out to the car park and located the car, which for those who had forgotten (I had!) was a Dodge Caravan - we had one a few trips ago and really liked it, so it was a bit of shame that we not really making full of use of it.

Our destination was the Super Target at Rolling Oaks off the 192 - only about 15 minutes drive via Sherberth Road. We bought a few bits, including a couple of t-shirts and some straighteners for Jo (she’s fed up trying to use her UK straighteners in the US, and decided to buy some American ones for holidays) and then headed straight back to the Disney bubble - we were only out for about an hour or so.


Super Target

Back at the resort, we dropped our stuff off at the room, then Jo went to put some washing on while Isabella and I went brass rubbing in the lobby.

Jo eventually joined us and had stopped by club lounge to get me a soft drink - she’s a lovely wife.

Once the rubbings were done, it was time to go and get some lunch. Today we’d decided to try out the Mara - the quick service restaurant - for a change of scenery.


Hard at work




The fruits of her labour

We ordered chicken nuggets and fries, and an African stew which we shared between us. Although it doesn’t look much in the photo, it actually tasted pretty good.


Lunch

After lunch we stopped at the laundry room to put the washing into the drier, then back to the Mara so that Isabella could take part in the ‘Inkoma’ - a daily ‘Cultural Immersion’ activity involving creating art with animal stamps.








Inkoma

Isabella enjoyed the stamp activity - she loves creating things - and once she was finished, there was more creative fun to be had in Boma ‘Cookie Decorating’ (and eating!) - one of the ‘Culinary Exploration’ activities.






Cookie Decorating

I’ve mentioned before about all the activities going on around the resort, there is a full recreation program that runs from 8:30am till gone 10pm. The activities run daily and most of them are free. Helpfully, it’s all detailed in handy leaflet, which also notes which activities earn the kids a bead.


Recreation Calendar for October 2017


Map of Jambo House

As it was now 2pm, we headed up to the club lounge to relax and have a drink. The washing was dry by now, so once I was done with my drink I went down to the laundry room to pick it up and take it back to the room.

When I got back to the room with the clothes, a club level CM was dropping off the items we’d bought from Hollywood Studios a couple of nights ago. Isabella and Jo also got back to the room at the same time.

Now it was time to get ready for tonight’s Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. This was going to be one of the highlights of the trip and we were all really excited. We’d done it back in 2015 when we spent a few days at Royal Pacific at Universal at the end of our Transatlantic cruise. That time we’d dressed up as characters from Up, so when Jo put forward the idea of doing MNSSHP again we definitely wanted to dress up again because it’s a lot of fun.

Although the party doesn’t start till 7pm although there’s early entry from 4pm, so by 3:30pm we were ready to go, and on our way to the bus stop. We had a short wait and then we were on our way - good, because after a relaxed day, we were excited about the party - we were even planning to stay pretty much till it ended at 12am.

The bus was reliable as ever and we were soon arriving at Magic Kingdom. There was a MNSSHP event line for partygoers to enter the park, and each guest was given their party wristband.


Entering MK for MNSSHP


Can you guess who we are yet?

We were then directed off to the right down the side of Tony’s Town Square Restaurant and into the backstage area where they were giving out trick-or-treat bags (for the candy).








This way to Halloween

There were also PhotoPass photographers, and so we got a photo of us in our costumes. You’ll notice I’ve not revealed who were so here’s the big reveal - although if you follow us on IG you’ll already know...




...




...

[Stewboy]

Bonnie, Stu & Judy Hopps from Zootopia/tropolis!


The real Bonnie, Stu & Judy

As we got our Hopps family photo, our photographer told us that when the ‘Move It! Shake It! Dance & Play It! Street Party’ - a parade we’d not seen, nor planned to - reaches the hub, some characters, including Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, get down (literally) to dance with the kids. She said that if we stood in front of the castle Judy would see Isabella’s outfit and be super excited.

We thanked the photographer, and decided that that sounded like a lot of fun - Isabella definitely wanted to do that! The next parade was at about 6pm so we had plenty of time to watch it after our (early) dinner reservation at 4:35pm.

The backstage route had bought us out between The Plaza and the Tomorrowland Terrace, and as the time was now about 4:25pm, we headed straight over to Adventureland to check in at Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen.

This is a restaurant we’ve not eaten at before, and another one we’ve booked and cancelled a couple of times in the past. We checked in and waited for about 5 minutes to be seated. The theming is great with differently themed rooms; we were seated in the Mess Hall. The servers were all part of the experience, very much like the Jungle Cruise.


Enjoying the free water








Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen


No photos please!

Now on to the food. Here are our menu choices:

• Me - Rice noodle bowl (Pho Broth served with Chicken, Jalapeños and mix of fresh herbs - now no longer available)
• Jo - "Tastes like Chicken" - Because it is! (Crispy-fried Chicken with Citrus and Ginger-scented Rice, Chili Glaze, and Seasonal Vegetables)
• Isabella - Junior Skip's Mac & Cheese (Classic Macaroni and Cheese served with Broccoli)

Isabella got a dessert with her meal and went for the Volcano! - Gooey Chocolate Cake with Caramel Lava and exploding Chocolate Rocks.


Rice noodle bowl


"Tastes like Chicken"


Mac & Cheese


Volcano!




Inside the Mess Hall

Jo’s chicken was a recommendation from Brett (Happyhaunt1000) and she really enjoyed it. I’m not sure I made the right choice, but it was what I fancied at the time. However, there’s probably a good reason it’s not on the menu anymore...

The bill came out to a rather spooky Halloween-esque $66.66!


All the sixes!


Book lined hallway to The (Once Secret) S.E.A. Room

As it was now about 5:45pm, we headed back to the hub and had time to get a PhotoPass photo in front of the castle, and also take in some of the other great costumes on show - including a family dressed up as characters from the classic ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’, a man dressed as Nick Wilde (who got a photo with us), and a woman in a really inappropriate Cinderella outfit!


The Hopps in front of the castle

At 6pm we were standing in the recommended place for the parade. The theme of this parade seems to be gift boxes, and the majority of the parade is the previously mentioned ‘characters dancing in the hub’. The float with Judy Hopps & Nick Wilde arrived, and as predicted, stopped for Nick and Judy to get down to dance.












Here comes the parade

[Stewboy]

Nick had already spotted us from the float and made a beeline straight for us. He took Isabella’s hand and led her over to see Judy, who went crazy as soon as she saw her outfit! She was jumping up and down, and grabbed Isabella’s hand to dance with her. It was super cute!


"Hey Nick!"




"There's somebunny who I'd like you to meet..."


This photo fills me with joy












Big Judy and Little Judy


Nick gave Isabella a wave goodbye...


Judy gave her a hug...


And we got a family selfie!

Judy hung on to Isabella for the whole ten minutes or so that they were dancing in the hub; they did all the dances together, and when it was time for Judy to get back on the float, she came over to us for a Hopps family selfie! As well as Nick and Judy, King Louie was also really excited about our outfits - we reckoned whoever was playing Louie may also sometimes play Judy.


King Louie showing the love


One final farewell

The parade had been so much fun - iit turned out to be one of the highlights of the holiday. It was not something we would have done if we hadn’t been told about it, so a huge thank you to that PhotoPass photographer!

Once the parade was over, we had a Peter Pan’s Flight FastPass to do, and by the time we came off of that it was 7pm which meant that the party had officially started, and we could start collecting candy.

We got our first lot of candy by the Haunted Mansion, then headed over for more candy from Jungle Cruise, followed by yet more candy from the Enchanted Tiki Room. On the way we saw some rare characters out meeting (another fun element of these parties) including Jafar - who was meeting near the Magic Carpets - and Jane and Turk, who we stopped to meet near Sunshine Tree Terrace.


Jafar




Meeting Jane and Turk

It had gotten dark now, so we wandered down Main Street, partly to see what it was like at night, and partly to collect the stroller, which we’d bought with us but left near the entrance on our way in.

Once we’d collected it, we turned and walked back down Main Street to the castle where the Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular was due to start. As we’d watched the film for the first time before coming, Jo and Isabella wanted to watch the show in front of the castle.






Main Street




Hocus Pocus

After Hocus Pocus we walked round to Fantasyland. Jo and Isabella went on the Mad Tea Party - a ride I refuse to do as it makes me sick!

We got some more candy from Pete’s Silly Sideshow in Storybook Circus, and as we exited we saw the Seven Dwarfs were meeting in the tent opposite - apparently it’s called the Calliope Tent. The line to meet them was long, partly down to people getting different combinations of photos with all the different dwarfs. We decided to give that one a miss!


No tea for me thanks!


Seven Dwarfs

Time for a snack - there were still 3+ hours to go! We headed over to Tomorrowland where we got a pepper jack pretzel from the Lunching Pad. We then made another candy stop and decided to ride the PeopleMover - taking advantage of the fact that the first of tonight’s ‘Mickey’s “Boo-to-you” Halloween Parade’ was due to start soon. We had decided to watch the 11:15pm parade as we thought it might be less busy, due to it being late and coming after the ‘Happy Hallowishes Fireworks’ at 10:15pm.

Once we got off the PeopleMover, Jo wanted to dance with Mike and Sulley at the Monstrous Scream-o-ween Ball, but Isabella was having none of it, despite Jo’s best efforts - I think she was all danced out tonight!

Instead we stopped for more candy then headed back to Fantasyland where we were accosted by one of Cinderella’s stepsisters Anastasia! The stepsisters are always fun, much more fun that Cinderella, we’ve met them at the 1900 Park Fare restaurant in the Grand Floridian a few times and they usually make us laugh.

We got a couple of photos with Anastasia and then we jumped on It’s a small world which was also quiet. Isabella and I got our names shown on one of the screens again on the way out.




Bumping into an old friend...


Well, it is a small world...


..after all!


Goodbye Stewart & Isabella

As well as being a candy stop, Mickey’s Philharmagic was showing cartoons all night instead of the usual attraction, so we went in to get candy and sat down for five minutes to watch an old Mickey, Donald & Goofy ‘spooky’ cartoon. This was a nice idea, giving people a place to chill out for a bit and have a decent place to sit down.


Taking a break

[Stewboy]

We decided not to watch the fireworks on Main Street because we thought it was going to be too busy, so instead we settled down behind the castle to watch from the near the carousel.

Isabella was tired by this point - it was way past her bedtime! She was sitting in the stroller and while we waited, she fell asleep. Sitting around, I was beginning to get cold, so Jo being the lovely wife that she is, went and had a look in the Fantasy Faire shop to see if she could find me a hoodie.

She returned a little while later; she’d found one but she wanted to make sure I liked it. I went in to have a look at it, liked it, and bought it.

Now that I was nice and warm the waiting didn’t seem so bad. Eventually, after a total of about 20-25 minutes, the ‘Happy Hallowishes Fireworks’ display began - Isabella woke up just in time.

The view from behind the castle wasn’t too bad. The fireworks go off all around you, so you feel like you’re in the middle of it! You don’t quite get the fully intended experience that you get from in front of the castle, however one big plus is that there are no iPads or kids on shoulders to block your view, even if you are watching from a stroller!


The view










(check out the kid at the front)


Happy Hallowishes Fireworks

Hallowishes was over by about 10:30pm, and as people flocked to the exit, we went to find ourselves a place to watch ‘Mickey’s “Boo-to-you” Halloween Parade’

Despite the park emptying, Main Street was still busy - people had obviously staked out their places for both the fireworks and the parade.

Leaving Main Street behind, we headed over to Frontierland to see if we could stand in the same place that we watched the Christmas parade from last year. Fortunately we could, and as Jo and Isabella settled in I headed off to Pecos Bills to get coffee - there was probably about 20 minutes until the parade started.

Pecos Bills wasn’t too busy, but unfortunately I joined the wrong queue. I had multiple opportunities to switch queues, but my indecision proved costly, as someone else always made the jump before me. After a few minutes of this I felt that I’d invested time in this queue, and felt certain that whatever issues the people in front were experiencing would soon be resolved!

At last I got coffee, and went back to join Jo and Isabella - just as the Headless Horseman began the parade. Apparently I’d missed seeing the gravediggers high fiving Isabella, and Brer Bear looking for Brer Rabbit.

The parade got underway, and we enjoyed it, much more we did two years ago; Isabella is older now, and we had a much better view - even with the CM who was keeping the way clear but kept getting in my way!
























Boo to you!

Once the parade was past, we made a dash for the exit hoping to get to the end of Main Street before the parade did, and beat the crowds out of the park. We made it, and by 11:40pm we were outside the park and heading for the bus stop.


A spookily light Magic Kingdom entrance

We only had a five minute wait for the bus, and we were soon back home. While Jo took Isabella to the room, I went up to the club lounge to get some water. Unfortunately it was shut, so I went to the Mara instead, and while I was there I ended up getting a flatbread each as well. I wasn’t the only one - it’s obviously a popular destination when returning late from the parks.

After a short wait for the food, I headed back to the room. Unsurprisingly Isabella was asleep by this point, and Jo and I ate our flatbreads before we also called it a night at about 1:15am.

We had a brilliant evening at MNSSHP it’s definitely worth the money if you get ever get the opportunity do it. I also recommend dressing up too, it really adds to the enjoyment of the evening.

Tomorrow we have more fun things planned as we’re off to Epcot to spend the afternoon with some fellow Dibbers!

Thanks for reading.


Candy haul

[Lisaw1971]

Sounds like a lovely relaxing day & what a fabulous evening! Especially the special interaction with the characters, how amazing was that?

We are there for Halloween this year & desperately trying to think of costumes! Your off again soon aren’t you? Best get thisnfinished b4 the holidays start merging into one!

[Palm trees]

What an awesome day, and what an amazing experience dancing with Nick and Judy. Great memories for you all

[Mexy02]

We watched the fireworks from bay lake on a cruise that night and boy was it chilly lol. Fab report, I love mnsshp.

[DisneyDreamer81]

Aaah, this brought back so many lovely memories of our night at MNSSHP last year! It really exceeded my expectations - such a fun event!

Those photos of Isabella with Judy brought a tear to my eye! Such joy

[Unexpectedpenny]

Fabulous day. The photos of Isabella and Judy are so lovely!

[margyloveswdw]

Great day!

You look so different in that costume - think it's the combination of no glasses and the hat! Great family costume and I love how the characters in the parade interacted with you all.

We've watched the fireworks from behind the castle (accidentally) and it was like a different show with them going off all around. Definitely cool to see once or twice. I love how you captured your photos just as it was so lit up!

That's some candy haul too