Our plan had worked... we were done eating and out of the restaurant before 5pm. We had a quick bathroom break because I planned to sit in line after that until our 8pm show. Little disclaimer here: I'm a HUGE Hanson fan. Been a fan for more than half of my life (since I was 13)... yes, I was that teenybopper. DD is actually named after one of their songs. I've seen them live at least a dozen times including a backstage/soundcheck meetngreet when I was 5 months pregnant with DD. I saw them in Epcot back in 2011 with my son and this would be DD's first concert (and it was Hanson!) I was so excited!!!
My plan was working so far... I booked the late show and the earliest dinner I could get. We ended up going earlier than expected so I could get into the "Eat to the Beat dining package" line for the show. I ended up talking to quite a few people while we were in line. A few of them came back to let us know how close up they were. It sounded like we were going to be in the 3rd row which sure beats standing in line all day long (what we did last time) for front row. I was okay with 3rd row as long as we would be close to the stage.
We had fun sitting there listening to the other two shows play. Around 6pm another fan that was planning on the 8pm show got in line so we talked quite a bit with her and found out that Hanson was staying at the Beach Club. Well since this was our last night there, no stalking for me
lol... just kidding! I wouldn't do that.. haha. This girl was actually from Hanson's home town and often ran into them back at home. She was super friendly though... it made the time go by much quicker.
We were let in about 15 minutes prior to the show. We ended up in the 3rd row... I believe the 2nd row was reserved for CM's and the front row was for Hanson's family. Their sister, mother, wives & children were ushered in shortly before the show began. As I said we were in the 3rd row right against the little cat walk that comes out from the stage. PERFECT! I was so excited!!!
They came out and everyone went crazy... of course I did. Here are just a few pictures:
The greatest possible thing happened during the show... Taylor (my favorite brother) came over and grabbed hands in the audience... DD raised her hand and he missed her... as he was walking back on the stage he saw DD raising her hand and he came back just to shake her hand. I got it all on my GoPro so I took some stills from that moment
That was it. Quite possibly the greatest moment of my life.. lol. Seriously some major Disney magic in my book.
This was just icing on the cake for this trip. I may have told DD that she would get a stuffed Sven if she could touch one of them... haha.
They sang more songs than any of the other shows and ended the show with an AC/DC cover.
We had the best time ever on this trip!!!
After the show was over we got some popcorn and headed over to the Illuminations viewing area. We haven't seen this show (from inside the park) in over 3 years so it was nice to see it again.
We took our time on the way out of the park... sat on a bench for awhile and just whined for a bit about going home
We took one more picture in front of the ball.
Then we headed to the buses.
Once we got back to the resort, we checked out the store and got DD a Sven... I had to keep my word!
The next day we woke up, took our suitcases to bell services & had some quick breakfast.
Magical Express picked us right on time. Our flight was on time as well... by late afternoon we were home safe and sound and with a ton of new memories to share.
This was an amazing trip! I really can't complain about anything at all. We were so fortunate to be able to take it and I will cherish these memories forever with my little girl. DD talks about things that happened on this trip daily. We just had so much fun and this is what Disney really is all about!
Thanks for reading along!!! I do have some videos to post and will get to that eventually... time to begin our next trip report... which took place only 26 days later (that seriously makes leaving Disney so much easier!)