Wednesday, October 5, 2016

2nd Annual Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party!

Last year, me and some of my favorite girls started a new tradition - a girl's trip to Disney for the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.  This was our second time going, but we followed pretty much the same plan as last year.  We drove down in the morning, got lunch and got ready, and hit the park for the party from about 4:00 pm - 1:00 am, slept in, and drove home on Saturday.  It might be less than a 48 hour trip, but we cram in as much as possible!  Here's a recap of our trip:

Ready to hit the road!  Just like last year, it was me, Emily, Casey, and Katie

When we got to Orlando, the first thing we did was find some lunch!  Last year, our plan was to eat a big lunch and then go light at the park for dinner.  That didn't work well.  This year, we decided to do a normal lunch and plan on eating a normal dinner in the park.  It worked much better!  We stopped at a Panera for lunch.  I have only been to a Panera once before, and that was when my sister and I were in California when I was pregnant with Cooper.  We went for breakfast, and I wasn't feeling good that day, so I don't even think I ate anything?  So I decided that technically this was my first experience - haha.  And it didn't disappoint!  It was super yummy!

Is Casey not the cutest thing ever??  Gah - I just love her style!


We made it to the resort!  Last year, we stayed at All Star Movies - this year, we stayed at All Star Music.

When we got to the hotel, we had about 2 hours to chill and get ready.


Last year, we had very toned down costumes (if you could even call them that).  This year, we decided to make it a little more fun!  We definitely stepped up the "costume" part of it, and we had a new theme: villains!

All dressed and ready!


Alright: Costume introduction time!  

First up: Me!  Can you guess?  Queen of Hearts!

I actually really kind of love this.  I'm not a super silly person, but I was being silly (for me) and dancing after they took my picture, but Katie just kept snapping away and got this one of my dancing my way to her.

Next: Casey as Cruella De'ville!

Next: Emily as Ursula the Sea Witch!

And Finally: Katie as Maleficent! 

Group selfie in the elevator down to the car!

First group picture of the night!

Shoving our tutus into the car was actually pretty hilarious - especially Katie's huge tutu that had tons of glitter!

Back seat selfies!

Emily doesn't get to have fun since she sits up front with the driver - boo!

We made it!

We got through the lines just a little after 4 and we were ready to go!

First stop?  Castle pictures!



Major props to Em for carrying the trident all night!


Katie knows how to work the camera!  I admire her enthusiasm!

We got a photopass guy to take our group picture, but...

...then he insisted on some super intense posing!  He was soooo into it and took a million pics and gave us a ton of direction.  It was so hilarious!


The Queen of Hearts has to stop and take a picture in front of Alice!

Metting princesses is always fun with a group!


One of our goals this trip was for all of us to meet up with our counterparts.  Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) did so good playing along with Katie/Maleficent!

Next up was riding the carrousel!





Katie and I enjoyed riding together on the Little Mermaid ride - it's one of my favs!


Last year, we got some of our favorite pictures in front of Triton, so it was somewhere we for sure wanted to take pictures again!

Ursula and Triton!


There were some really pretty doors right next to Triton, so we stopped to take some more pictures.




Then we traded off taking group shots.




Next, Emily got to meet her counterpart!  She tried to play along with Ariel, but Ariel seemed confused and did not want to get into it like Aurora did.  It was a tad disappointing.



Dinner break!  We ate a Pinocchio's restaurant overlooking It's A Small World

These girls got free brownies from the counter service worker because he loved their costumes!




Casey got stopped by a cast member who asked for her autograph.  They had Bingo cards with characters and were asking guests who were dressed like those people to sign it so that they could play Bingo.  How fun!

Time to ride Pirates!


A pirate picture for Cooper!

After Pirates, we took a break to call the kids, and then we went over to the Jungle Cruise.  I love this picture because of the cast member photobomb.  ;)


Randomly a cast member was handing out free churros and Casey scored one!  It was her second free dessert of the night!

This area has some significance?  But I have no idea what it is.  You'd have to ask Emily.  ;)

The Halloween Party officially started at 7:00, and that's when the Haunted Mansion cast gets super spooky!  I love it!




Casey and I braved the Haunted Mansion together!  (including the 5 minutes it got stuck and I scared myself in the graveyard - haha)

My absolute favorite part of the night?  The candy corn ice cream!!!

After our snack break, we took a turn on It's A Small World

We waited in line for about 10 minutes so that I could meet my counterpart - Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatter!



Probably one of the funnest parts of the night was meeting Cruella!  I've never seen her in the parks before, and this woman was amazing!  She played along with Casey and was so much fun!


We crashed a Dance Party with the cast from Monsters Inc.  Emily and Casey headed up to the front, while Katie and I broke it down in the back.  I love this picture that Emily got of Casey dancing with Sully.  It just cracks me up!


Dancing with Boo!


Casey and Katie hit up Space Mountain (which Emily and I don't do)

So Emily and I spent some time trick-or-treating!

We were headed to get a space for the next show and parade, but it started raining, so we ducked into the Laugh Factory to wait out the rain.

It only rained for about 30 minutes, so after it stopped we found a spot near the castle for the fireworks show and the parade.

Katie was a little over the crowd situation, so she found a less crowded spot while we stayed near the front.


After the parade, we went for one last ride of the night - Buzz Lightyear.  This was literally my highest score ever on this ride!

We got Zurg!

We are done!

See Ya Real Soon, Magic Kingdom!

Taking a rest on the Ferry Boat on the way back.

What happens when you're the first to take a shower?  Your wonderful friends throw a bucket of ice on you.  Thanks, guys.


This was my step count as of midnight (at midnight it rolled over to the next day).  After midnight, I did almost another 3k steps.

We had some plans to do some shopping the next day before heading home, but I wasn't feeling great.  We decided to just get lunch and then head home instead.  We did lunch at Joe's Crab Shack, and I did an awesome job parking - haha.

You gotta love the bibs!




Some clam chowder and hush puppies!

Before hitting the road, we did stop at Barnes and Noble to score some #deals.

About an hour away from home, we decided we needed an ice cream break!




I had such a good time with some of my favorite girls!

2015 (Anna) vs. 2016 (Queen of Hearts)

2015 (top - Anna, Elsa, Ariel, and Belle) vs. 2016 (bottom - Cruella, Queen of Hearts, Maleficent, and Ursula)

When I got home, my sweet babies had made me a "Welcome Home" sign and put it up on the wall!

The trip was so much fun, and I can't wait to go again next year!  The costume planning has already begun!

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