Wednesday, June 19, 2013

WDW: October 4, 2012

Despite a nice, relaxing day and a good bedtime, the night was extremely rough - so we skipped Epcot in the morning. Instead we just went straight to Downtown Disney when everyone was in a good mood, where Hartley quickly reminded us that we needed a picture on the Winnie the Pooh bench!


 
We also all made/chose delicious creations from Goofy's Candy Company, which Emmersyn and Hartley thought was great. We had a lot of fun watching them watch their treats being made :)
 

 
Lunch at Earl of Sandwich was very ok - but it didn't matter, because it was time for the big surprise reveal! When we told the girls they were going to Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, they were not nearly as excited as I expected them to be... but by the time we got there, they were ecstatic. The experience overall was wonderful, and the girls seemed to have a really special time. We couldn't wait to show everyone our beautiful princesses at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party!
 






Dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern was good, but very chaotic. We made a new plan given our late arrival, and realizing our main priority for the night was to get autographs of characters we don't have. We had no interest in the shows, etc for this party, and even the parade was one we weren't going to stake out a spot for hours in advance. It's just, for our family that isn't really at all into Halloween, not a great party. We forget that sometimes - but other than character sightings, find it's absolutely not worth the extra money.

We decided to start with the princesses in town square, because a line was already forming well before the party's official start time. We ended up waiting about 40 minutes, but only "using up" about 15 minutes of party time. The girls were so excited to see the princes with their princesses, though to be truthful, we had already met two of the three. Still, our meeting with Rapunzel and Flynn Rider, with our two Mini Rapunzels and sweet little Pascal in tow, totally made the evening. Which is saying a lot...
 



... because it was, hands-down, the most wicked thunderstorm the area had seen in a long time, and most certainly during our trip. We tried to wait out the rain, brought giant towels and extra clothes, and did our best to survive the evening with positive attitudes since these things are notorious for their "rain or shine, no refunds" policy.

Eventually it would slow long enough to get somewhere else, so we made our way to Adventureland to see Tarzan, Jane and Terk. Tarzan had to leave just before our turn, but the remaining two were very fun.
 

We hit a few trick or treat stations, but many of them were closed because of the rain - and the lines for some were literally 40 minutes long, because everything else was closed and guests had nothing else to do. The characters all went in "to get ready for the parade", which never happened. The dance party was postponed because the floor was dangerously slippery, and couldn't stay dry. We were trying to make the best of a wet night, but a night in which nothing was offered? That was infuriating.

Apparently everyone else agreed, because the line for guest services was 3 hours long. Literally. After waiting about an hour (and Zach taking all the soaking wet, screaming kids home), Cast Members were doing the best they could to share the decision from the Disney brass with everyone throughout the line. They would, in fact, happily refund money for such a disastrous event. They'd prefer you go to another party, but if that didn't work out with itineraries, as was our case, there would be a refund available no questions asked at any guest services for the next 2 days. Hallelujah!

The next morning I was able to go to the Magic Kingdom and get a refund as simply as they stated I should. They didn't ask for our candy back, we saw a few cool characters, and - maybe - it was worth the stress since it ended up being free. Maybe.

But for the night, I had to go dry off - and get some sleep!




 
 
 

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