Days Off: Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

I did my first program in the Spring of 2012. Was it nice? Absolutely. The Epcot Flower & Garden Festival is stunning and the weather is perfect. But the Fall program offers a lot more, like Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. This is a special ticket event, on select nights Magic Kingdom will close at 7 and from 7-12, those with their MNSSHP tickets will be allowed to stay in the parks for this exclusive party. For Cast Members, we usually have a discounted system for the September dates but unfortunately I was working and ended up going on October 3rd. Yes, this is something you will have to pay for. I ended up paying $66 but it was worth it. I am itching to go again but know that I have to save my money (for the Christmas party of course!) Here are some highlights from my night!

I ended up going solo which was nice because I was literally running around and I got to do everything I wanted to do. There's tons to do that is exclusive to the party so this isn't really your time to go ride rides and meet characters you can meet any old time. I didn't even do everything! I didn't hit up the 2 dance parties in Tomorrowland and Frontierland but that's ok. Your main priority is characters, parades/shows, and candy. Candy? Yes! You can go trick or treating! Hey, if I'm paying all this money, I want my candy! Go with a plan, I was already in line for Jack & Sally at 5 and they didn't come out til 7 and then I ran right over to the Dwarves, just keep the parades and fireworks time in mind and you'll get stuff done!

This post is picture heavy so hit read more to see all my pics! Here's a sneak peek though! Can you guess who I am?!

Jack and Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas made their WDW debut at this year's MNSSHP, one of the best character interactions I've ever had!

Update!

Oh goodness it's been a while! I always start blogs thinking that I will never fall into that phase where I go weeks without posting...and that's exactly what I did. Whoops! I've just been passing out after work and spending all my time off in the parks and scoping things out that I often forget to even post about it. I've officially been here a month already and that's a bit scary! I just filled you in on my trip to Be Our Guest a few weeks ago in my last post, but what else has been going on?

Because there's so much to catch up and it's picture heavy, click read more!

Be Our Guest? Don't mind if I do!

One of the key components of the New Fantasyland expansion that opened in December 2012 was the long awaited for Be Our Guest Restaurant. Tucked away inside Beast's castle, you can dine in the grand ballroom, visit the forbidden West Wing, and stroll through a gallery of portraits of life in the castle with Belle and the Beast. While the reservations for dinner's table service have been filled for months in advance, quick service lunch is an option until 2:30. I paid a visit yesterday thinking maybe you can stroll around during lunch to take some pictures but in order to get in, you have to get past the ordering section. So what, I had to eat lunch there, did I have any complaints? Not at all!

This post is very picture and text heavy so continue reading by clicking read more!

Hop to It!

Despite it being 1:30 in the morning and the fact that I will be getting up in 6 hours, I know that if I don't write this now it will never get written. Considering I'm exhausted I apologize if it's a bad post!

Although I am technically a cast member still due to my campus rep status, I am without an ID so therefore my access to Disney was anything outside the parks. That didn't stop me! The Holiday Inn has complimentary bus shuttles to Disney Parks so I used that at about 12 to get to Epcot and then take a bus from there to wherever I wanted to go. For those who don't already know, Epcot is where I will be working!

So close yet so far!

From here I took a bus to the new Art of Animation resort. It was in construction on my last program and I just missed its opening. This was my first look at it and I am in love! It is definitely in your face Disney themed so it is made for us disnerds. There are 4 themed areas: Finding Nemo, Cars, The Little Mermaid and The Lion King. I personally think Finding Nemo takes the cake but here, take a look for yourself! The figures are HUGE!

 The lobby is filled with various concept sketches and paintings!

 Squirt comes into play at the Righteous Reef Playground

 Cars is Radiator Springs themed with the Cozy Cones acting as cabanas for the pool

 The tri, Mufasa, Rafiki, Scar and his heyenas and Zazu can all be seen in The Lion King area!

 Ariel looking out over her pool

 

The outside of the resort gives you a taste of what to expect behind its doors

Afterwards I took a bus to DTD to do some strolling. I walked around the shops, did some pin trading (yep, I'm one of those!) and ate at Cookes of Dublin (fish n chips is my favorite comfort food) and killed some time taking pictures

 Don't worry, I added plenty of tartar sauce!

Purchased the new LE 1000 Cinderella Good Luck/Bad Luck Pin. Pictured is Good Luck and she slides to reveal Bad Luck which is "You Lost One!"

 Purchased American Mickey to commemorate being there for Independence Week. Traded for Orange Bird and the Cinderella shoe. More posts on pin trading to come!

Now after that I headed to monorail resorts. I was in desperate need of some phone charging so I took over an outlet at the Contemporary Resort, perfect time to play some Candy Crush. Once that was done I walked around, took some more pictures and eyed some more pins that I want. I then took the monorail over to the Grand Floridian and strolled around there. The band was out playing Disney music on instruments and I even got to catch the pianist playing on the grand piano in the lobby. I paid a visit to the Wedding Pavilion and even though I don't want a Disney Wedding (surprise!) it certainly does get the wheels churning!

 Some Mary Blair work in the Contemporary

 The band playing at the Grand Floridian

 Where you would get your wedding photo taken at the Wedding Pavilion

The Disney Wedding Pavilion off the Grand Floridian 

Finally, I ended my night at my beloved Polynesian. The last time I was here was my last night of work, this was where I interned last year baking for the resort. It felt so great to be back and hearing the familiar music and the sounds of the water on the inside. I strolled taking in my familiar sights and sounds, grabbed a cupcake from Captain Cooks and ended it on the beach. From the Poly beach you can watch the fireworks and they play the music alongside it. Tonight was the last night for the Celebrate America fireworks and they were truly beautiful, gave me goosebumps!

 The middle of the Great Ceremonial House, where I used to work!

 Mickey Cupcake from Captain Cooks, we didn't make this when I was there!

Fireworks finale from the Poly beach!

And then I...kidding! After a long day I finally went to catch my resort's bus at 10:45. I walked back to the TTC, just like I used to do after a long day at work. After 1 day and not even being in the parks I still ended up taking about 130 pictures. But I take pictures of everything! Like Disney says, taking pictures is making memories! Now that it's already past 2 am, really time for me to go to bed! Waking up at 7:30 to shower and get ready and then crossing the street to Vista to check in at 9! Tomorrow is the day where I really get back in!

Thanks for reading!

What to Do: Your First Night

The magic can start the very first night of your program if you want it to! You wont' get your ID for the parks on check-in, but your housing ID gets you on the bus and that can take you to non-park area of Disney property to give you that first dose of pixie dust to start off your program!

You will get a break between check in and casting to bring all your stuff to your new apartment. I pretty much just dumped it and left to go back to Vista to be with my dad until he had to leave. Casting for small groups is quick and once you're through there, you're done and free to do what you please. This is a good time to put you pictures on your cork board, unload you toiletries and put your clothes in your drawers, start settling in!

But, what do you do after?

Grocery Shop
If the buses are still running, you can use this time to go to Publix or Wal-Mart to start loading up on your first set of groceries and picking up any odds and ends such as your bed linens if you didn't bring them with you and anything you forgot. Some things to keep in mind as you grocery shop during your DCP:
     *Buy reusable bags. I had about 2 bags for Publix and 2 bags for Wal-Mart. You can also buy refrigerator reusable bags to hold your dairy and frozen food. It is much easier carrying 2 or so fabric bags than 5 plastic bags. Plus, you won't have to worry about bags potentially ripping on you!
     *You can buy a caddy. If you don't want to physically carry your bags, put them in a rolling caddy, You can't take them on the bus but the bus driver will pop open the storage underneath.
     *Circulars. These will help you see what's available and at what price for the week, they even include coupons.
     *Rewards Programs. Publix already gives you automatic discounts but it's always good to scope out if where you shop has a frequent shopper card or some type of rewards or points program.

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Resort Hop. See Wishes! at the Polynesian!
Hop on a bus to a resort! This is a really good idea if you're location is in a resort, it gives you a chance to go and visualize it a walk around before you even get to training. and they are great photo opportunities! If you go to one of the monorail resorts (the Polynesian <3, the Grand Floridian, or the Contemporary Resort) you can ride the monorail and hit up 3 in 1 night! and if you go to my beloved Polynesian, you can watch Wishes! from the beach on your very first night! Resort hopping is one of my favorite activities, I'll definitely post more about it later!

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Downtown Disney

This is what I ended up doing because my roommates who had been there since January invited us to go see The Lorax at the DTD Disney theater. I kept falling asleep not because the movie was bad (it was rather cute!) but because the seats were so comfy and I was so tired! If you've never been to DTD before, it's the closest you can get to  WDW experience without going into the parks. You can dine at great restaurants (Earl of Sandwich would be a good one for your first night!) and you can shop at countless stores, you can even pick up some pins to start trading! You can even get Disney treats! It's a lot of fun to walk around and give you that reality check of "gee, I'm really here!"

I've always said you should do something everyday of your program whether it's work (obviously!) or making memories at the parks, don't just lounge around. and what better way to kick it all off than your first night!

Don't forget to leave your questions in the comments sections and rate the posts!