Boo To You!! Halloween Vacation Part 1

Hey guys! We're back from Florida, and I thought I'd fill you in on all the shenanigans and goings on. Of course, I can't write for too long today. I came home to a box-filled house, and need to get back to unpacking and figuring out where all my stuff is.

So, here we go!

I won't bore you with details of the drive down. Long story short, our GPS battery died because I blew out a fuse on my new car during filming of The Night Shift, and had no idea. Made life a little more interesting, but not a huge deal.

The First Day

We were going for Mickey's Not-So Scary Halloween Party, in case you're new to AN, so we didn't spend the entire day in the park. According to Disney, the party starts at 7pm. According to everyone else on the planet (it seemed), you could get in as early as 4pm. We were at the Magic Kingdom by 3:45, checked email on our phones, figured out our game plan, and hopped in line.

Already, the costumes were many and impressive. An entire family arrived in full-on Cinderella gear. Mom was Cindy, Dad--the prince, Grandma was the Godmother. The only people I couldn't figure out were the kids! They were really tiny and stayed in strollers, so in my head, they're mice. Who needs reality.

There was a Princess Aurora that a few people thought was the "real" Sleeping Beauty. The Southern deb from The Princess and the Frog, and a whole zombie family. The main problem, though, with costume scouting at Disney, is that it's so crowded, and you're constantly shuffling through stores and onto rides, that it's darn near impossible to take pictures, so sadly, you're just going to have to take my word that there were some awesome costumes. I think my favorite may have been Superbaby. At first, I thought the infant in the Superman costume was cute....until I turned and saw the other Superbaby! TWINS!!! Even cuter, their parents had on Superman t-shirts.

So, how was the party? Honestly, much the same as last year. The trick-or-treat spots were the same, though they seemed to give out less candy at each station. The parade was the same (still amazing, but identical, save for a sober Captain Jack Sparrow. That was off-putting and a little disappointing). The Villains show was the same. The photo ops were the same. I skipped the fireworks to ride Peter Pan, but the music was cool. A highlight for me was the ghost storyteller in front of The Haunted Mansion. She was great at improv, and just a hoot to listen to. Unfortunately, she only hangs out for a few minutes at a time, so you have to time it just right or you can miss her.

Lines were relatively short, since only a limited number of tickets are sold. My main problem was that a lot of construction was going on in the park. Several rides were either very difficult to get to, or closed altogether. Then, the cruelest blow--Pirates broke down. Completely. We didn't get to go on it at all, much to Thomas' disappointment. To stall for time, I guess, the park sent out Captain Hook to entertain the crowd--for a couple of hours, at least. He hopscotched with kids, let tiny Peter Pans chase him through Adventureland, and posed for countless pictures. I don't know, but I think the stress may have gotten to him.

Somewhere around the second hour the ride was closed, Thomas and I sat down on a nearby planter to figure out our next move (which ended up being "go home", but I digress). A small Peter Pan and toddler Tink battled the Captain to the death--er, handshake, then ran off to find some more sugar. With no archnemesis to fight, Hook went off to find a new victim to torcher--me.

Hook stalked his way over to me, handler in tow, and tried to steal my candy bag! Um...no. I told him that I needed to keep my bag. Well, then he just started to dump the candy out. Um...no. At this point, small children are gathering to watch, so I jump into big sister mode and decide to use this as a teaching moment (almost 18 years older than my only sibling. Watched a lot of Sesame Street). I told him I would share, then reached in a pulled out the first piece of candy my hand touched--a lollipop. As I handed it to him, his handler yelled out, "It's a sucker! 'Cause she thinks you're a sucker!!!" He grabbed it, through it on the ground, and stomped on it, then huffed off. Seemed a little much, honestly. Thomas was like, "you just ticked off Captain Hook". Yes. Yes, I did. Of course, of all the villains to anger, he's probably the best bet. The others tend to have magical powers. All he can do is run you through.

So, that was the Party. Cuteness abounded, and a good time was had by all. Well, except maybe for Captain Hook.

Oh--here's a picture of me with Dr. Facilier. Yes, I am wearing my MAC Villain lipgloss.