We had an early breakfast this morning at Crystal Palace, and I think we got in before the park opened. It was kind of nice wandering down Main St with so few people, and we got a couple of nice pictures out of the whole thing.
The breakfast was good, as we remembered, but like Tusker House, it’s a basic buffet, so nothing much to say about it. Oh, apart from the fact that I tried the Puffed French Toast for the first time. It was good, but Mickey Waffles are still the king for me.
Final Thoughts
Am I Glad I Ate Here? - Yes. Rin loves the Winnie the Pooh characters, and aside from Peter Pan, they’re her favourites in the park. Plus, we know what we’re getting, which is nice.
Would I Go Back? - Yes, if we continue to do Character Breakfasts.
Rating: Me - 8/10
Rin - 7.5/10
Cost - $45.98
After breakfast, we decided that since we’d been here a good chunk yesterday, and since we’d be back on the 4th, we’d go to Blizzard Beach. I’d been hoping to get to a water park since our first trip, and I finally made it to one.
First off, we should have just left everything in the car (shirts, shoes, etc)and not bothered with lockers. But then, I’m not sure how I would have felt walking through the parking lot with no shoes.
First thing on the list (for me) was Summit Plummet. We walked all the way up the stairs, we got up there, then decided to do Teamboat Springs instead, since Rin wouldn’t go down any of the others. Teamboat Springs was quite enjoyable, although I would have been ok with it being a touch faster.
Next up, we did Runoff Rapids. I thought that this would be fine, since Rin would be in a raft with me. I knew it emptied into a pool at the end, but for some reason, Rin didn’t realize that. So, we went down, and it was faster than Teamboat Springs, which we both really enjoyed. Then we hit the pool at the bottom, and Rin freaked out. She kicked, and wound up scraping her toes on the bottom of the pool. That was basically the end of the day for her.
I still hadn’t done Summit Plummet, so I went on that while Rin waited at the bottom. I forgot how much fun these slides are, but since Rin was stuck waiting, I didn’t want to take the time to do it again. We then did the Cross Country Creek (lazy river) for a while. It was enjoyable, but not as fun (imo) as Roa Rapids at Aquatica. It was a nice touch that the ‘melted snow’ coming off of the one mountain was actually ridiculously cold. We heard a lot of screams as people went under it.
After we did a full round of the river, we hit Meltaway Bay (the wave pool) for a few minutes. I liked that there were tubes available, and we both jumped on one of them. It was nice to just bob around on the waves. Rin got stuck in her tube when I grabbed her as the surf was pushing us ashore. The tube got stuck on the bottom of the pool, and Rin was in it in such a way that she couldn’t get out. Guys, don’t do what I did; she wasn’t happy with me for a while after that.
At this point, it was almost time to head out. We had a late lunch ADR at Whispering Canyon Cafe. But I really wanted to do one more slide, so I went in search of one. Really, I just didn’t want to leave. I love water, and this is the first water park I’d been to since 2008, so I was trying to make the most of it.
After wandering, I finally found the slide I wanted to do. I can't remember the name of it, but it was a tube slide where you 'race' someone on the slide next to you. The line didn't seem long, but it took forever, close to an hour to do it. The slide was good, but not worth the amount of time I waited for it.
So now, it was time to head out. After all, we had to make our ADR. So off we went to WCC. When we got there, we were told the kitchen was closed. Well crap. They suggested the Quick Service place, but we figured we'd just head back to AKL, snag a couple of snacks from the Lounge, and get ready for tonight. Because tonight was Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. Yay!
When it came down to it, it was probably good that we missed our ADR. We wound up heading to a nearby Target to grab some temporary hair dye for my beard before going back to AKL. When we were finally ready (I should say 'I was finally ready' since it took me longer than Rin), it was around 6:00pm. So we did one final stop at the Lounge to get more water (and were told by the staff that we should have been filling our bottle with rum) and a couple of snacks, then we were off to Magic Kingdom, as Captain Jack Sparrow, and Pirate King Elizabeth Turner.
We wound up getting there just before the Party officially started, and we made our way immediately toward Splash Mountain to get our pictures taken with the Seven Dwarfs. The line was massive, but didn't take too long, maybe an hour or so. During this time, Rin grabbed some popcorn, I did Brer Rabbit's Laughing Place Candy Trail, and we talked to some people around us. I got a few comments on my costume, which was nice, and finally, pictures with the Dwarfs.
After that, we did Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. I decided to try to sit in front of Rin since the line was so short and get a couple of pictures of her. Unfortunately, it was so dark the pictures didn't turn out well, and I think I pissed off a woman a few seats back. Sorry if that was any of you. We didn't realize this until later in the evening, but Rin left the full bag of candy we had on the ride. Hopefully a kid found it, and it made his or her day.
Otherwise, we mostly wandered and did a few rides. We hit Jungle Cruise, Space Mountain (the ride picture was of my arm in front of my face, since I was holding on to my hat - Jack can't loose his hat), Mickey's PhilharMagic, etc, etc. Oh, and Haunted Mansion.
If you're ever at MNSSHP and you only have time to do one ride (for some strange reason), make sure you do Haunted Mansion. Or at least go over to see it. They had 'ghosts' on the lawn conversing with each other, and with guests in line, as well as a few other things I'd never experienced before. It was kind of awesome.
At some point, we decided that I'd lost my ship, and the entire night was a search for it. We asked everyone we came across if they'd seen my ship. The Cast Members all played along, and Prince Phillip, who I talked to while Aurora and Rin talked, before getting our picture, was very concerned about my lost ship, and told me that if he heard anything, he would find me straight away. I never did hear form him...
So, in our search for my ship, we decided to head to Pirates of the Caribbean. And why not stop to get a picture with myself. Wow, this was a line to almost rival the Seven Dwarfs. So I told everyone that I had arrived, and that pictures could be taken with me. I couldn't understand why everyone was lined up to get pictures with an impostor. By the time we finally got to the front, the people behind us mentioned that they should have just taken a picture with me. Apparently they thought I had the better costume. We had a nice conversation with 'other Jack,' although he didn't know who Rin was (we think maybe he hasn't been watching his own movies), he complimented me on my choice of wardrobe and hairstylist, and we were on our way.
We literally walked onto Pirates of the Caribbean, and when we got to the front, I demanded my ship. The Cast Member asked how many, I said that one ship would suffice. Rin hit me and said there were two of us. Oh, yeah, how many in the party. Oops.
As we were coming off of Pirates, we got a quick picture in front of the sign, then we heard the parade in the distance. So, we ran to Main St in order to get in front of it. Surprisingly, we still got a pretty good spot, but we never did see the Headless Horseman, if he even still leads the parade. I think I enjoyed this parade more than the usual one, especially the Haunted Mansion part with the grave diggers.
Somewhere in here we saw HalloWishes as well. I think it was actually before the parade, and maybe even before seeing that imposter Sparrow fellow, but it's getting put in here. I really enjoyed this version of Wishes, but somehow it just didn't seem as good as regular Wishes. That said, I basically just sat there with my finger on the camera's shutter button. I think by the end of the show, the camera may have been smoking.
As we were walking away to do some more stuff, a lady speaking Spanish was trying to get my attention. I thought I was in her way of a picture, so I moved back, but she motioned for me to go back where I was. Turned out she wanted a picture of me in costume. That made Rin ecstatic, since she made the costume and all.
By this point, we were starving, so we headed to the only place that still seemed to be open, Cosmic Ray's. The guy behind the counter loved our costumes, and we talked to him for a few minutes while we waited for our food. We both had a Coke, burger & fries, and bottles of water for 'dessert.' The fries were acceptable, but the burgers were just lousy. They were very dry, and really not very flavourful. I think the thing I liked most about eating here was the chance to take of my coat and hat and cool off a bit.
Final Thoughts
Am I Glad I Ate Here? - Nope. Don't get me wrong, I was glad to eat, I just think I could have made a better meal of random things from the Bakery or Confectionery.
Would I Go Back? - No. But then, I said that the first time we ever ate here too.
Rating: Me - 4/10
Rin -5/10
Cost -I'm not sure, I can't find our receipt...
As the park was closing, we managed to jump on a couple more rides, and wound up way back in Frontierland at closing time. We meandered toward the front of the park, getting some pictures, then hang out outside of Casey's and waited for the park to drain. I actually had a plan here, to wait for the Kiss Goodnight. I even asked a Cast Member if they still did it on Party Nights, and was assured that they did. So we waited. We got a couple PhotoPass pictures in front of the Castle, and after the park cleared, I got a few ground level pictures up and down Main St while it still had the cool MNSSHP lighting.
Eventually, I decided to ask another CM about the Kiss Goodnight. Turns out the first CM was incorrect, so we headed to the front of the park, and got a couple of pictures with the pumpkin 'frame' around the Castle. As we were doing this, a CM came by and started talking to us about different things, showed us the statue of Roy and Minnie (which had been moved, she seemed very startled by this), and very expertly led us to the exit without us even really noticing. Well trained, those CMs.
As we were leaving, I thought we had lost our lens cap for the camera. I knew where it would be, so a CM escorted me in, pointed me toward the people to talk to, then wandered away. I was no more than 5 feet out from the tunnel when a manager was there asking if I needed anything. The park was completely cleared at this point, so I wasn't supposed to be there. I told him what happened, he radioed his people in that area, and they had found nothing. No big deal, lens caps are only about $10 (and it turned out we found it later). I'm glad I had the experience of wandering back in after the park had been cleared though. It was kind of neat, seeing all of the management type CMs making a barrier around the Main St Hub.
So off to the ferry we went. It was about 1:30am at this point, and the park had closed at midnight. The place was dead. As we were let onto the ferry, we heard the captain over the loudspeaker saying "You just let two pirates on?! Great, we're all gonna die." We were literally the only two non-CMs on the boat, so things were done a little differently for this ride. No safety announcements, no formality, just a nice, leisurely ride. I wandered up onto the top deck, and the Captain said hello - again, over the loudspeaker - and when I wandered back down, the CM that was actually working (the other two were just passengers getting off shift) gave us some ferry cards and stickers, and congratulated us for being the last people in Magic Kingdom that night. I have to say, times like tonight are probably one of my favourite times at Disney, when you get to see all of the unexpected stuff that you don't really realize happens.
I think by the time we got back to AKL, it was around 2:00am, and I was still covered in makeup. This was easily the latest night of our trip. But, no rest for the wicked. The next day was Hollywood Studios, and we wanted to be there early enough to get Fast Passes for Toy Story Mania.
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