Ernie's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party

I've been to Disney parks a couple few times at this point in my life BUT today was cool because we were going to an event which is something I've never done.

Maybe the coolest thing about Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party is that you can go Magic Kingdom in costume. Usually they don't allow guests to dress up for safety reasons, or just they don't want a fake Peter Pan walking around cursing and spitting. Anyway we went with a group Toy Story theme for our costumes.

Grandma Linda dressed as Forky which was a bit embarrassing for me because I don't believe I've seen Toy Story 4.

Ernesto was Woody. He luckily does not have to worry about finding a snake in his boot because he does not wear shoes.

Lydia and I were Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head.

I loved the hat but it Florida is a warm place and so it didn't last very long.

There were some exotic birds poking around near the airbnb.

Linda got detained in the security line for smuggling who-knows-what so I was chilling with Ernie and waiting. A dude with his kid walked up to me and started lamenting how expensive the Halloween event was compared to going to the park normally. He said the shindig cost the same as a yearlong season pass for his kid. His kid was uncomfortably standing nearby so I engaged with him in some conversation about Tron. I think he had Tron shoes or something. Anyway it was kind of a downer conversation. I felt bad for the kid, I felt guilty that I was blowing so much money on frivolous things and this dude with bad teeth was clearly feeling something about not being able to have the best possible memories with his child. I especially regret then yelling "Mickey! Arrest these peasants!" and pushing Ernie's stroller away from them. In the moment I couldn't think of any other way to end the conversation, and I had candy to collect. 

I was actually kind of pissed off about this part. Because we were doing this special Halloween thing we couldn't just stroll in the park like a normal human, we we herded around like cattle and stood in the hot sun with no shade for an eternity. And we paid extra for this treatment. Sad!

Things were good once we entered the park.

This goofy looking bear may be from the Country Bear Jamboree. 

There was some country line dancing.

The app did a good job of whipping up random frames for your pics.

I was pretty impressed with the advancements in the Photopass program.

Our first move of the day was the Enchanted Tiki Room.

I was a bit worried that the Magic Carpets of Aladdin would be too intense for the Ernie Wernie. They twirl and then you get to control your altitude. He had a good time. He doesn't seem to like being splashed in general, and I thought we would be safe here but sure enough there was a camel spitting at us. Due to my ace flying there were no casualties.

The trick-or-treat portion was fun. There were stations posted and they dumped a scoop of candy in your bag. Pretty straight forward. It was sponsored by Mars though which I thought was a little lame because that sort of limited the scope of the candy variety. Being a candy connoisseur isn't as easy as it looks.

Another fun part of the event was the special foods that are only available for us. I thought they did a pretty good job coming up with imaginative treats.

We did Pirates of the Caribbean. It was a lot scarier than I remembered.

Disney really seems to make it a priority to make babies and their parents comfortable at their parks.

We ended up in the Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor, which was a bit odd. It was a comedy club for monsters so I suppose a measure of oddity was to be expected but it was just walk-in walk-out and I was just there to rest a bit. Next thing I know my face is on the big screen and a monster has challenged me to a staring contest. I lost but in retrospect I'm not even sure that thing had eyelids so I would like an asterisk next to this in the record book.

I was super excited about Tron Lightcycle Run. I love Tron, it looked like a cool ride, and I don't believe I've ever laid eyes on the thing let around taken it for a spin.

Part of the ride is open air so you can see it whipping around overhead and hear the yelps of the fearful as you near the line.

The ride itself was kind of uniquely designed because you had to sort of lean forward like you were really riding a crotch rocket motorcycle.

I did a little bit of screaming and I'm not proud about it, ok?

I give them creativity points for this stuff.

You could record your voice and maybe your face in these booths and then.. the action figure would look/sound like you or something. I used to be excited about He-Man action figures that I found at garage sales so give me a break.

Yes I bought this $18 glow in the dark Donald Duck wearing a candy corn costume sippy cup. I have no regrets!!

We ordered some of the spookiest food around.

Zombie Fingers

Almond cookie fingers, key lime pie white chocolate ganache, salted caramel crisp pearls, and sugar eyes

Linda is vegan and so had a special person trick-or-treat bag when no real treat would ever be invited. Instead she got vouchers to use on other snacks.

We got a snuggly seat on the curb next to a trash can to gaze at Disney's Not-So-Spooky Spectacular hosted by Jack Skellington.

Another fun unique thing about this festival is that there were different and rare characters to get your picture taken with. This being spooky dooky time many of these were Disney villains, and some were normal characters that were wearing Halloween costumes. A certain crab was doubting my wisdom but we got some great shots with Alice of Wonderland fame who was teamed up with the Mad Hatter.

Ernie had a crush on Alice.

In Ernie's defense she started the flirting. "If he was a tea what kind of tea would he be? A cu-tea!"

We ran out of time to wait in the giant line but at least got a peek at one of the other photo ops.

There was a parade and we got to see our recently made Wonderland friends.

One of my favorite things ever is: the day is almost over and your walking toward the exit. You pass by a ride randomly and there's a short line so you just pop in casually. It's the best. Peter Pan's Flight!

We had a lot of fun and there's was lots more to look forward to!