We get a leisurely start and head to our park of the day. It’s shortly after 10:00 A.M. which I think might be considered late. There’s no one in line with us and we depart in our “private” Nova.

We breeze through security and the turnstiles to find an uncrowded Magic Kingdom.  We walk through the Emporium to escape the heat.  I easily maneuver the double stroller through aisles without any detours.  It feels like we have the shop to ourselves.  I’m so happy to have another uncrowded park to play in!

As we arrive at Casey’s Corner, we decide to stop for an early lunch.  We are the first to order.

A short visit to the Baby Care Center then we stop for a ride on the Jungle Cruise.  The wait is short; the ride is sweet and we move our way onward to Pirates of the Caribbean.  Absolutely NO wait here and we all fit in one row for a cozy float through Tortuga.

 Time to head to Tony’s Town Square for lunch.  This is a first-time visit for us and I’m pleased.  I have the Shrimp Scampi and a delicious pistachio dessert.

We trek back down Main Street through the shops again.  This time we start at Main Street Confectionary.  There’s so much to see in Arribas Brothers and Main Street Gallery.  We spend a lot of time browsing.  I could create a very lengthy wish list here.

The small crowds today enable us to take advantage of attractions we normally skip. The Tomorrowland Indy Speedway is one of them. Hannah and Anton zip around the track for a lap. Andy rides Space Mountain repeatedly and I let Jonah entertain himself in the Tomorrowland Arcade. When Anton returns, I ride Space Mountain with Andy. Then Anton takes his turn.

We travel down the path to Mickey’s Toontown for a ride on Goofy’s Barnstormer. I convince Hannah to take a ride with Andy and myself. Anton and Jonah stroll through Toontown Hall of Fame. Hannah is not impressed with her coaster ride and we move on. She has repeatedly requested a spin at the Mad Tea Party so this is our next stop.

A quick pass through Fantasyland and we are off to my favorite attraction, the Haunted Mansion.  I detour through the shop on the corner to pick up some Mickey macaroni and cheese.  There are oodles of kitchen related items here but no luck finding the mac & cheese.  A CM checks in back and none there either.

Like everything else, we walk right in to the Haunted Mansion.  I will always love this attraction and could ride endlessly…for eternity perhaps!

By now it’s past time for Anton to leave.  He’s heading back to Fort Lauderdale but will return later in the week.  We leave as well.  It’s time to go back to our room and get ready for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party.  Thank you for the tickets Anton!  I’m so excited!!

Hannah is the prettiest mermaid I’ve ever seen at Walt Disney World, but Jonah wants nothing to do with his Sebastian suit.  We ride to the Magic Kingdom with a family of three who are on their way to Chef Mickey’s.  Hannah is delighted to inform them that she’s not the real Ariel…only pretending for the Halloween party!

Yet another first for us, we are attending a hard ticket event at the Magic Kingdom.  Halloween may be my favorite holiday of all, so spending the best holiday with some of my most favorite people in my very favorite spot in the world…well, I’m good.

We start out by walking to all the treat spots and collecting our goodies.  As the candy lines start to get longer, we head to attractions.  We walk onto Snow White’s Scary Adventures and It’s a Small World with absolutely no wait.  To our amazement, there is also NO waiting at Voyage of Peter Pan.  We ride it three times consecutively!!  We walk by the Haunted Mansion and sadly, we keep on going.  The line is just too long for me.  The kids are too tired at this point to get into a line for ANYTHING!

Pecos Bill’s is calling and we go in for a late, late dinner.  Andy points out a couple of self-service kiosks and I happily place my order there.  The line for human cashiers weren’t that long, but the touch screen kiosk actually helps me decide what to order.  I think they are there as a test, but I hope to see more of them in the future!  We have an easy time finding a quiet table and enjoy our cheeseburgers and awesome toppings.

As we are clearing our table, the parade is just beginning outside.  I don’t want to get trapped by the parade or lost in the parade crowd.  I noticeably pick up my pace.  It is my full intention to beat it to the bus stop pronto and get back to my hotel bed.

We hurriedly follow the parade route towards the hub.  The song is catchy though and it gets to me.  I am hopelessly drawn to this parade and we stop right in front of the castle to enjoy it.  We have the most perfect spot to view it.  Hannah sleeps through the entire thing which leaves me feeling extremely guilty.  I ease my guilt by promising myself that we’ll be back to see it again next year…and for now, I have it on video.  If only I could find a site to host such a large file.