Day 3:
MNSSHP
I'm not good at creating costumes. I lack that kind of talent. So, for MNSSHP, I went with what I had: work clothes. Scrubs are a costume, right? I've got plenty of those. I also have some scrub caps. So, the previous day, I picked up a pair of Mickey ears and cut holes in the scrub cap to fit the ears through. And just like that, I've got myself a costume! Turns out, I also have Mickey ears that will stay on my head without that annoying elastic band choking me all night. Score!
I walked over to ASMu to hit the bus to MK to get the party started. As expected, the bus was pretty full. There were quite a few of us crammed in tight and standing up. Whatever, it's temporary. Upon arrival, we're funneled into the event check in and given a bag for candy. Let the fun begin! I just start walking in no particular direction. I head towards POTC because that's where the crowd that I'm mixed in seems to be heading, and we hit our first candy stop. A nice handful of candy later and I've got myself a little snack. I then turn towards the castle and make my way to Haunted Mansion. With a 15 minute wait, we're loaded into the room for the ride to begin. As we approach the doombuggies, though, there's a problem. They're not moving, and there's a fair line of people who are all stationary. That's not good. How crappy would it be if Haunted Mansion is broken for this Halloween party? Five minutes later, things are moving again. Halloween is saved! I think Haunted Mansion is becoming my favorite ride. There's a real charm to it that I love. After the ride, I trek across to the tea cups. Mission: Alice. There are quite a few character stops for this Halloween Party, especially some characters that don't get out much, so my hope was that Alice was a quick stop. No such luck. There's a massive line for Alice and the White Rabbit. Odd. There's some relief though as I see Alice. She looks visibly annoyed. Not "I'm annoyed because it's part of my character" kind of annoyed, but closer to "some creepy weirdo said something completely inappropriate and now I need to push it down inside but it's still bubbling up to the surface" kind of annoyed. I think I'll let this Alice go. I got my previous Alice pic, so we're cool. With that done, I keep walking towards Tomorrowland for the next two candy stops. These lines are much longer, but they move fairly quickly. After the stop near Carousel of Progress I head straight for the Buzz Lightyear meet and greet. The line is fairly short and is moving pretty quickly. Why not get a picture? Sure, the face on the Buzz Lightyear mask looks horrendously creepy, but that's part of the fun, right? We start moving along and I'm talking to a very nice family in line next to me when we notice that the line isn't moving anymore. What's going on here? I peak around the heads in the line to see that Buzz isn't there anymore. He's stepped away for a break. That sucks. I like Buzz well enough, but have no pressing desire to get a picture if it's not convenient. So I bail on the line and head to the next candy stop by Stitch's. After the candy stop, I realize I'm pretty hungry for some actual food. Candy isn't going to cut it. There's only one place that I want to go: Friar's Nook. It's time for the best meal at Disney.
I pass by the tea cups again on the way to Friar's Nook and see, with some dismay, that the Alice line is only getting longer. Pass. Let's get some food in me. I'll need the energy for all of the walking. Friar's Nook has a small crowd, but the line moves fairly quickly. I order the Pot Roast Mac and Cheese, because there's nothing better anywhere else, when I notice something different. A large group had placed an order before me and the CMs were busy pounding out that order as quickly as they can. They're making a mac and cheese that I haven't seen before. I take a look at the menu to see if there's a change, and it pops right out at me: Barbecue Chicken Mac and Cheese. Interesting! But what did it replace? A quick once over of the menu gives me the answer. They've gotten rid of the Bacon Cheeseburger Mac. I'm ok with that. I've had that one before and it just did not work for me. Imagine taking mac and cheese and mixing in a salad and some strange tasting ground beef and two strips of bacon. Bleh. I guess others felt the same. I'm watching them make the new variety to see what goes into it and it seems pretty simple: Mac and Cheese, shredded (maybe?) BBQ chicken, and something that looks like it might be coleslaw. Yuck. If I got it, I'd probably omit that part. Eventually my order comes up and I manage to find an empty table to sit down at and dig in.
That's what perfection looks like. There aren't enough words to explain to you how perfect this stuff is. I'll be making a strained attempt to do so in my dining review thread, but it would behoove you to eat it yourself. It's just spot on perfect. Just looking at this picture is making me ravenously hungry.
I wolf down the entire bowl and clean everything up. My table happened to be right next to a modified entrance to the princess meet and greet. They've had to move the entrances because the area behind the castle has been blocked off. There aren't any posted wait times, just two CMs guiding people through. I ask one of them how long the waits are looking to be.
"Depends on which princesses you want to see. Anna and Elsa are 45 minutes right now. Cinderella and Rapunzel are 10 minutes."
Looks like I'm meeting Cinderella and Rapunzel. The wait was closer to 20 minutes, but that's a fair time. The Anna and Elsa line is not moving. I wonder if they're doing more interacting with people. I've never seen Frozen, so the thought of trying to interact with them without any frame of reference beyond "you're the cold one" doesn't sit well with me. Maybe in the future. A group of us are escorted into the room with Cinderella and Rapunzel and right away Rapunzel is interacting with everyone. Here is my uncomfortable confession. She had me blushing. Blushing! She was stunning. I don't mean the character of Rapunzel, though in character she was too, but the person playing the role of Rapunzel was just gorgeous. Her interactions with the people seemed incredibly natural as well. Most of the princesses have a thing that just stands out where I can see in my head the parts that are pounded into their heads during training to maintain the look and feel of the character. It's charming, sure, but it's stands out like neon and glitter on a black backdrop. It's the laughs, the slightly off gait and the exaggerated movements. Alice is spinny. Her turns are exaggerated so that the dress and hair spins with her movements in a flowing arc. Tink has quicker movements. They're almost bouncy. They emphasize the small stature of the person in the role and give them a flighty look. Cinderella's movements are drawn out. There's a floaty flow to them that fall in line with the animations. If glitter flowed from under her arms, I wouldn't be surprised. But Rapunzel is so natural. There weren't any tells. It was easier to interact with her because it didn't feel like an act.
Anyway, enough with the gushing. On with the pics.
Cinderella was very nice. She approved of my choice of color. The interaction was short, but cute. No worries, really.
Rapunzel was fantastic. High energy, fun, and just fantastic and beautiful. We talked about the candy that's being given out in the park and how she likes Dots, but hasn't seen them this year, and how Pascal had sour candy and it makes his face squeeze up, so if I have any, please don't feed him the sour stuff. Adorable.
With that taken care of, I make my way back towards Dumbo for a few of the candy stops. At this point, I have a small layer of candy at the bottom of my bag. There's a stop on the way to Dumbo that has a quick line, so I breeze through it. At the circus tend, there's a fair line for candy, so I take my place and we're moved through. Turns out there are two stops in there, and they're not being stingy with the candy. Two handfuls in and I've gone from nearly empty to half full. Sweet! I head towards the next glowing pumpkin on the path leading back to Tomorrowland. This turns out to be a candy gold mine. There are multiple stops set up along the path. By the time I hit the last of the candy checkpoints, I have one full bag and the start of a second. Jackpot! With that successful haul, I start to head towards the Emporium. There's something that I want.
Look at this awesome Magic Band! As soon as I saw it in the literature, I knew I wanted it. I purchased it and had it immediately activated. The lighting in the room is kind of dull, but that orange is much brighter than the pictures make it appear. I love this thing!
After my purchase, I head across and see that Tinkerbell is a 10 minute wait. Tinkerbell is always a 10 minute wait, and that's ok with me. At some point I'm going to have a collection of pictures with me and Tink, and that's also ok with me.
There's an adorable kid in front of me having a great time. She's singing her Halloween songs to me, and then sings a doctor song because I'm in my scrubs. Just adorable. When she gets to Tinkerbell, she's silent. She's up with Tink and then runs away. Her parents get her back and she finally loosens up as Tinkerbell gets her talking, but it was cute.
I get to Tinkerbell and she asks me if I'm a pirate (nope) and if I can sword fight. I actually sort of can. I took stage combat in college way back when and learned very basic fencing, so yes, actually, I can sort of kind of sword fight. Tinkerbell was great, as usual.
Add another Tinkerbell picture to the collection.
It's hot and I've been sweating out, so it's time to get a drink. I pop into the candy shop and grab two bottles of water. I'm just dry and starting to feel it. As I step out, I notice the time. It's almost time for Wishes and Fireworks. I get about half way up Main Street and end up just plopping down in the middle of the road by a few other groups. This seems as good a spot as any to watch the show.
The Wishes part has small alterations to account for the Halloween theme. It's a nice change. There's a small intermission and then it's time for fireworks.
my plan (or as much of a plan as I can have since I just found out about it 5 mins ago 
