Lesley Wake
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2017
A recap of my day at Disney yesterday including the Halloween party. I was solo and ended up taking the day off work because I had been feeling the Disney withdrawal (due to schedules hadn’t been in a month).
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- Went on a couple rides and tried some of the special food. They were definitely super cute and some were great. Other things were a bit too sweet, and I have an insane sweet tooth, so that’s saying something! I also got the cauldron bucket and they seemed to have plenty of those and the new Oogie Boogie without waits at popcorn stands!
- Stopped into Westword Ho and saw they were selling all the party pins, which was a surprise!
- Ended up deciding to chill in the Grand Californian lobby to rest up some energy for the night. Got to hear the Halloween acapella group, which was awesome! I also got there around 3, and all the characters from the explorer breakfast were wandering around the lobby. I also got to see Chip and Dale dancing to some of the songs!
- Eventually made my way into DCA (I had a FP for Monsters After Dark). At 5:30 the standby line was only 30 minutes and took up half the garden! Super surprising! By the time I was off the ride though, it had gone up to 80 minutes and was using the extended queue outside the garden.
- Headed back to DL and skipped the front check in line since it was super long. Instead got changed into my costume and then checked in at the Starcade, plus went thru the AP trail. It was around 6:15 and there was no wait for either.
- Used a FP for ghost galaxy. Still not a huge fan, though the single rider line was still an option and appeared to have no wait.
- Wandered a bit around the Hub and then into Frontierland. Watched a bit of Cadaver Dans.
- Also did the Golden Horseshoe treat trail, which is so well themed-definitely recommend!
- Found Sally at the French Market and had no line so I hopped in. She was excellent, really staying in character and had a great interaction.
- Into Adventureland and saw only a few people in line for Jane and Turk so I decided to get a photo. It was a fun interaction but I was a bit annoyed that they didn’t have a proper photopass person so they just used my phone.
- Around 7:30 decided to camp out for parade and fireworks (I also had an upset stomach so it was best for me to just sit for a while). I got a spot right on the corner against the Hub where the parade starts to turn onto the street. Both were excellent and I didn’t regret waiting around for them! Especially fireworks which just blow away the Disneyworld version. The wait also wasn’t too bad since they have a looped projection/music show on the castle and I could watch that. There actually was a large gap in the crowd dead center on the castle, so if you get thru the other people on the side, you may be able to get a great view closer up without waiting a long time!
- After the fireworks I went back to NO Square and took photos with Constance, another excellent interaction with really no line. I noticed on the guide map they do indicate a character greeting in that spot, just don’t list who!
- The treat trail line along the river was insanely long! Like looped around the taped lines on the group! Tip-DO NOT wait in that one (or really for any of them).
- Ended up taking the path from Frontier up to Fantasy. There are 2 trails up there and neither had a line. Also the trails themselves aren’t that long, with several stops almost next to each other (not like some which can be time consuming). A tip: wear a recognizable costume and do the trail 3x in a row. By the last time they were giving me scoopfuls of candy since they knew me!
- In Fantasy I considered the Dumbo trail but it had more of a wait than I wanted.
- 10:20, shortly before the parade started, I got a spot at the front along the route to small world. Definitely less crowded but it let me see it again!
- Did some more trails: Fantasyland theatre-no line but a hike to get to all the stations; Matterhorn-did it 2x.
- Tomorrowland. Nemo treat trail was another super long one that I skipped-looped around the queue and not worth it. I did do Star Wars Launch Bay trail which has a lot of stops, but there was a line within the trail, so took up more time than I liked. I did glance over at the Pixar Pals dance party but it didn’t interest me. Rode Astro orbiter as I was able to walk right in and into a rocket.
- Did the pixie hallow trail-no line but another hike to get thru.
- Considered getting photos with pirates but decided to skip, though the line wasn’t too bad. Mickey and Minnie meet together in the Rancho seating area and were super cute in their outfits but the line was too long for me.
- Frontierland trails again. They were starting to run out of candy, with some stops gone and another one with the girl just standing next to it empty handed.
- Dumbo trail-no real line but also starting to run out of treats
- Decided to call it a night and headed back down Main Street-picking up my other bag from a locker.
- Tip: make sure you are in Town Square when the party ends, preferable on the East side. The characters come out and wave goodbye before walking thru the crowd to the backstage area. I just missed it but caught Goofy and the Incredibles walking past.
- Home and bed.
