Very Merry

I started writing this on 12/26/12:

I just got back from lunch with these two handsome fellas.

I have a bit of a list going of things I want to do and places I want to eat while I'm home for the holidays.  The lovely gentlemen pictured above, Captain Livsey and Sir Reading, were gracious enough to help me cross one of my restaurants off my list -- Mellow Mushroom.  I thank them for that and for their hilarity.

Another thing on my list was a trip to Disney World.  I arrived in Florida on Monday and I made my way down to Disney on Tuesday afternoon with mi madre.  Last year around this time, we had annual passes to the second happiest place on earth (second to the temple, of course).  Those annual passes granted us discounts to special events tickets, like Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.  This thrilled us beyond description.  Once Christmas was around the corner, we were so stoked to get tickets to the one and only Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party.  However, once we set a date to go, we were informed that tickets were all sold out.  Complete bummer.  Fast forward a little less than a year later, and I'm struggling to pick a gift out for my mom's birthday.  I finally had a real job where I could get her something that showed her just how amazing I think her to be, but I could not come up with an adequate gift.

During my struggle of a search, I was procrastinating on my usual internet procrastination routes.  As I was reading about the New Fantasyland for the millionth time, the thought of Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party burst to the surface of my mind and I had found my answer.  It was a little difficult keeping it a secret from my mom until her birthday, but it was so worth it.

So, less than twenty-four hours of me being in Florida, and I was on my way to Disney World.

Once we got through Orlando's hideous traffic and checked in to our hotel, we had quite a bit of time to kill.  So, we decided a trip to Downtown Disney would hype us up even more for our magical time at the park.  We weaved our way through a store or two, including the Christmas store, obviously, and we decided to have dinner at the Irish Pub in Downtown Disney, called Raglan Road.  It's an awesome place.  Sometimes they have Irish bands and it's a lot of fun.  Unfortunately, they didn't have any the evening we were there, but their fish and chips were superb to say the least.

After our feast of champions, we decided to make our way to the par-tayy.  It was a fun night full of plenty of free hot chocolate and cookies.  The parade was so awesome and the fireworks were as incredible as ever.

Two of my favorite things in the world are Disney and Christmas, so to have them together in one setting sent my five year-old heart a little over the edge of happiness and into insane, joyful delirium.  The castle was at its most beautiful and the decorations throughout the park were gorgeous to say the least.

The free hot chocolate and cookies, the million and five Christmas-themed shows, the fantastical fireworks, and the awesome, awesome parade made for an amazing night at one of my favorite places on earth.  However, there were a few aspects that I would like to point out that I'm not particularly sure how to feel about.

Anyone who knows me knows that Disney is one of the many nerdy things that makes me the magnificent creature that I am.  I love it more than any eighteen year old should.  I follow Disney blogs; I freak out when I see something that even remotely resembles a Mickey head;  I covet just about any article of clothing that comes from the Disney franchise.  That being said, I have been counting down the days to the opening of the New Fantasyland, and I basically peed my pants when I heard that the Beauty and the Beast portion would be one of the first parts to open.*

I approached New Fantasyland with my hopes held high and my eyes glistening with the same excitement I felt when I first entered Hogsmeade at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  To be honest, I was a little disappointed.  Don't get me wrong, the attention to detail for Belle's little village was excellent to say the least, but I'm kind of sad the Beast's castle wasn't actually a castle in the same sense that Cinderella's castle is a castle.  I wasn't able to go into the restaurant "inside" the castle because it was kind of packed, so I imagine it would probably heal my wounds of disappointment a bit if I were able to enter its doors.  The castle was atop a hill, and it gave the illusion that the castle was far away, which is exactly what I didn't want.  I'm not going to lie, though, I was more than overjoyed to be able to pee in a bathroom whose theme was based around Belle's world.  Weird, but true.


The Little Mermaid ride was pretty good, but I wouldn't say it was spectacular.  It had the same sort of set up as the Haunted Mansion, minus the ghosts and ghouls, of course.  It didn't breakdown or anything, which is always a plus.  It was exactly like any other Magic Kingdom ride, which isn't bad, but maybe I was looking forward to something new?  I'm not an over-the-top Ariel fan, so maybe that has something to do with it?**  Ariel/Eric's castle-esque building was pretty awesome; I will give you that.

Perhaps my expectations were just too high.  Who knows?  Maybe I'll be happier when I get the chance to eat at the Be Our Guest restaurant.  Until then, let me tell you the tale of something a tad peculiar that I experienced during this Christmas extravaganza of a night.  As was aforementioned, there were about a bajillion shows and features to watch and participate in every second of the night.  One such thing were the "dance parties" held in two locations throughout the park.  One of them being in Liberty Square.  Quite patriotic, Disney.  I have only ever heard the term "dance party" at the nerdy events I have attended, such as LeakyCon, and never have people under the age of ten been in attendance.  My mom and I decided it was absolutely necessary to see what exactly was goin' down at these dance parties.  From the outside, it looked like a full-on nightclub, which was a tad disconcerting considering kids can be quite impressionable and starting them off early with clubbing isn't exactly good for this world's future.  We entered this club of sorts without any clue as to what to expect.  Our eyes beheld what I can only describe to you as my still-lingering childhood dreams.  There, in the center of the dancefloor was Woody dancing with several little kids.  Yes, I felt creepy taking pictures of other children.  Yes, I may have done it to live vicariously through them.  Yes, never have I wanted more to be seven years old again than I did at that moment.  Oh, how I wish I knew how awesome childhood was when I was experiencing it.

There were two showings of the parade, so we decided to ride our rides first, and then see the later parade.  It did not disappoint.  My only complaint is that I failed to get perfect shots of two of my favorite people -- Belle and Mary Poppins.

Also, Mickey had far too much hip action going on to be the Mickey I know and love.

Having been away from home so long, it was so nice to be back to the familiar, which includes Disney. I don't understand how anyone could not want to be there all the time.  Every detail is centered around increasing the happiness of every child that enters the park's gates.  The Disney parks are the result of a father wanting a place to take his daughters for the weekend, where their dreams could come true.  Now that is magical.

*Belle is my favorite Disney princess, in case you were not aware.
**I love her movie's soundtrack, but I am not a fan of the princess herself.