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The funny part about the parade is that we've never "seen" this particular parade and we still haven't! I guess we'll have to go see it
at Christmas time, because I doubt we'll get lucky enough to be in it again. :-)
After the parade, we went back to the hotel so Kyle could change into his Stitch costume and then we went to the Halloween party at the
Boardwalk courtyard for a short time. They had a DJ, games for the kids, an area set-up for picture taking, cookie decorating and a few
other things that we didn't see because we had to get to our PS at Flying Fish. Kyle chose the Flying Fish for his birthday dinner because
he loves the fish "nugget" dinner. We shared the calamari appetizer, I had the potato wrapped red snapper and Joe had the salmon. All of our
dinners were excellent. Our server then brought out a brownie with vanilla ice cream for Kyle.
Now we are off to MNSSHP! When we first got into the park, I thought we had made a mistake because it was very crowded, but once we got down
Main Street and into Tomorrowland the crowds didn't seem too bad. Kyle wasn't really interested in the Trick or Treating, the shows or the
Riverboat ride, he just wanted to do the regular rides. We did the Speedway, Space Mountain (twice), BTMR (twice), watched the fireworks
and then did Mickey's Barnstormer about 15 times while Joe waited in line so Kyle could get his face painted. Did the face painting, had our
family picture taken, watched the late parade and then it was time to head back to the hotel.
We had a great time, many people were in costume, but the night just went so fast!
November 1st:
We began our day by getting ready and then driving to the Grand Floridian. I had made a reservation for Kyle to participate in the
Grand Adventures in Cooking. We dropped Kyle off at the Mousekeeter Club at 9:45AM and then Joe & I went to breakfast at the Cafe.
Because adults aren't allowed into the program the following is in Kyle's words:
After all the kids were checked-in we got to decorate an apron and a chef's hat with markers. The cloth apron was decorated with our hand
prints dipped in different colors of paint. Then we made S'mores. Each kid got a cookie type shell, then we put on marshmallows, chocolate
chips and graham cracker crumbs. We baked them, and while we were waiting we got to watch half a movie. We watched Toy Story. Then we
got the S'mores out of the oven, then we went around the Grand Floridian giving out S'mores to anybody who wanted one as samples of our hard
work. It was fun!
We had planned on going to Blizzard Beach today, but the weather wasn't cooperating and it was a bit chilly. A good day to be in the parks, but
too cold for BB. Kyle still wanted to go swimming, so we went back to the hotel and Kyle and Joe spent most of the afternoon in the pool. I,
on the other hand, spent the day next to the pool writing out postcards, reading the paper, going to the bakery for treats and taking pictures.
About 4:30 we went back to the room, laid down on the bed and both Joe & I fell asleep for about two hours! Kyle was too busy watching cartoons
to take a nap.
Our dinner that night was at the Poly Luau. You are first greeted by a CM who gives each person in your party a lei. From there you can either
order drinks from the bar or just wait until the show begins. When I went to pick up our tickets, the CM told me that I was the first person
to make a reservation for that day. She told me our seats were excellent and they were....front row, center....a perfect view! It does
pay to make PS early. We enjoyed the show very much. The food was pretty good too. We had salad with mandarin oranges for the first
course, the second course was ribs, fried rice, veggies and chicken. Dessert was cake of some sort, that actually was pretty good. Drinks,
including alcohol, was included in the price. During the show they ask for anybody celebrating a birthday, anniversary or newlyweds to come up
on stage, then the performers sing a song to you. Kyle wasn't having any part of that! After the show is over, the performers come back on
stage and you can have your picture taken with any or all of them. These aren't done by a photographer, it's pictures you take yourself.
Oh, one more thing, before dinner a picture is taken by a photographer and then they come to your table during dinner to show you the picture
if you want to buy it.
Back to the hotel and off to bed.........
November 2nd
I didn't plan a PS for breakfast this morning so we get to sleep in.....yeah! I think we finally got out of the room and into MGM about
11:00AM. Joe isn't a roller coaster person, but Kyle and I had been telling him how much fun RnRC is, so he promised us he would try it.
Try it he did, and said yep, once is definitely enough. Sheesh....Joe & Kyle even got to sit in the front and *drive* our limo! Joe then
patiently waited while Kyle and I rode it two more times in a row. *Driving* both times of course! Kyle and I did ToT ~ once was enough on
that ride for Joe too, on a different trip ~ but he once again patiently waited for us.
We decided it was time for lunch, so we headed to the Sci Fi Drive In, but it was packed, so we went next door to the ABC Commissary. Joe had
the cheeseburger that he said was pretty good, Kyle and I both had the kids sized Fish & Chips. The fish was very greasy, but the fries were
ok. Tip: When you walked into the commissary at a busy time, look to the cashiers to the far left or right. Everybody seems to go straight
ahead not seeing the cashiers off to the side. I walked up to our cashier and probably saved at least 15 minutes standing in line just to
place our order. After lunch, it was time for ice cream! Gotta love those Nestle Toll House ice cream sandwiches.... ;-)
From there we basically just walked around the park the rest of the afternoon doing whatever struck us as fun. We got a great spot to watch
the parade, which was excellent, even though *we* weren't in it....LOL.... If you read my previous trip reports, you'll know what I
mean.....LOL!!! ;-)
We had a 5:00PM PS at '50's Prime Time ~ one of our favorites. The food was good as usual. I had salmon, Joe had meatloaf and Kyle had a
hotdog. He also got a lemonade with one of those "glo cubes" in it. Topher was our server, but he really couldn't get "into" his part too
much because while we were eating the restaurant was pretty much empty. A cupcake was brought out for Kyle and Topher tried to get a little girl
sitting at a table near us to give Kyle a birthday kiss, but she wasn't going for that!
After dinner we headed to Downtown Disney. I did some shopping in the World of Disney store, 2R's and of course the Pin Store. I made a new
"Build A Pin" to add to my collection.
Then it was back to the hotel, packed our bags, and off to bed...........
November 3rd
I had packed most of our bags to night before, so all we had to do was get ready, take one last look around the room and then get our bags into
the rental car. After doing that, we were off to the Marriott to drop off mascot Sorcerer Mickey for Roxanne.
After dropping off the mascot, we went to Downtown Disney again. I had forgotten to get a new pin book when we were there the night before. We
decided to go to the Rainforest Cafe for lunch because I had been given a coupon from another list member (Thanks Dana!). We were seated at
about 11:30AM and I'm sooo glad we got there early. When we were leaving RFC about an hour later the place was packed! Got some goodies
for the flight home from the Gourmet Pantry, drove to the airport, dropped off our rental car and had an uneventful flight home.
Thoughts: we had an excellent time, all the CM's we encountered were friendly, helpful, etc. We saw tons of characters, both in the parades
and at character meet areas. We saw Lilo and Stitch at MGM, but now that Kyle is 8, he's wayyy to *cool* to have his picture taken with
them.....LOL....
Now it's back to work until we can go again at Christmas.........counting down the days............
So ~ see ya soon Maggie, Joanie & Deb!
Thanks for letting me share,
Annette in IL šOš
Part One, Part Two
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