24 Days to Go - Special Events

We've managed to be lucky enough to visit Walt Disney World at various times for some special events. So far our favorite event has been attending Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party and we've managed to do that twice.

The first time was in October of 2003 and it was planned as an event we were going to attend without the kids. Since our in-laws were with us for the trip, we made plans to leave the kids with them one night and have a nice dinner and then attend the party. With the park being open until midnight, we figured the kids wouldn't tolerate that anyway.

Little did we know my mother-in-law would fall ill on that trip and they would end up leaving after only 2 days there. We made due without them by purchasing tickets for the kids to attend the party with us instead.

It worked out just fine for us. That day we had dinner at the Garden Grill with the kids. Not only did the kids have fun with the characters there but I also surprised Frank with a re-hitching ceremony where they pronounced us married again and had us kiss in front of everyone, and then brought out a cake for us to enjoy. It was fun.

That evening we hit the Halloween Party. We arrived pretty early and secured a spot on main street when the headless horseman came galloping down on the horse. It was so cool to see the park lit up for Halloween and all of the characters dressed up. The kids had bags for trick-or-treating and even though Noelle wasn't yet walking, we wheeled the stroller up to various lines so even she could get something. The park wasn't terribly crowded and we managed to watch the special Halloween parade which was very cool. I think we only stayed for a few hours, and Noelle slept for some time there, but we still had fun.

Three years later we would get the chance to enjoy the party as adults. This time Frank and I made a special 3-night trip to Walt Disney World for our 8-year anniversary. It also coincided with the Food and Wine Festival at EPCOT, which was also very nice. We ran ourselves ragged at the parks for those few days but we still had a good time. We enjoyed hitting the ride at the Magic Kingdom at night and bypassing the parade the first time. We did watch the fireworks show at the castle later in the evening and caught the parade as well. We also did a pretty good amount of trick-or-treating too. It was fun and we plan to do it again for our 10-year anniversary next year.

The Food and Wine Festival at EPCOT was also very nice. We spent one afternoon just eating and drinking our way around the World Showcase at EPCOT. We would look at the booth for each country and determine if there was anything we wanted to try, then purchase a small food item or a drink or both and share them. By the time we made it all the way around EPCOT we were no longer hungry, which was a shame because we had dinner reservations a few hours later at Narcoossee's which ended up being a fabulous meal, and I'm not saying that just because I had already had plenty to drink before we arrived. We are looking forward to returning next year to the Food and Wine Festival and this time we'll be smart about it and NOT make dinnner plans early on the night we plan to visit the festival.

This year we'll experience another special event at Walt Disney World and that will be Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. It will be cool to see the parks all decorated for Christmas and be able to see the lights and everything else which I'm sure will be great since it's Disney.