September/October 2017 WDW Trip Day 5

Sunday October 1st:
EPCOT’s 35th ANNIVERSARY!!! 6am alarm. Breakfast at 8am. Bus stop at 8:25am. Bus stop at 8:45am. We caught the 2nd bus but had to wait for scooters to load. There was a massive traffic backup and it had started poring rain! We were nervous if we would make rope drop and if they were going to be able to do the special ceremony this morning due to the rain! We got dropped off right at 9am! We received anniversary buttons and maps when we entered. We got pics with the fun 35th anniversary frame. At 9:40 we got a spot for the ceremony. The rain slowed just before they were to start. They were supposed to start at 10:01 for the date significance. But they started about 5-10 minutes late because they had to squeegee off the stage. It was a cute and fun show!! Loved hearing the special 35th anniversary song in person!! PS. The merchandise lines were approximately 1-2 hours, specifically for the “I was here” stuff. We passed! Off to Test Track FP at 10:35am. Then Ryan and I used our Mission Space Orange FP for 11:10am while Teri and Kailty went to their Figment FP! We then went to the Odyssey building the mac and cheese cone, soooo good! Then to Germany for a brat and apple streusel. Both were yummy! The Italy pizza window was open!!! So Ryan and I got a slice of pepperoni and the meatballs. So very yum! We had the meatballs at a previous Food Festival and they were so insanely good. So when we saw they were offered at the pizza window, we had to get them! As we were walking towards Innoventions for our Mickey pals FP, we ran into patients of ours that happen to be on vacation at the same time! What are the odds that we would see them?! We knew we would be at WDW at the same time as them, but had no clue which days they were doing which parks. And to randomly run into them was just crazy! We met Mickey and pals with our FP’s. Then off to Starbucks for caffeine! Then over to Mouse Gears to check out standard 35th Anniversary merchandise. They were out of some items, but still had quite a few! Ryan picked up a retro EPCOT hat, we got a magnet and an ornament. Then off to Nemo! We checked out the tanks for a bit and then noticed the scuba diver presentation, so we watched. Then off to SSE with a 15 minute wait. We took family pics at the front and had to say our hard goodbyes. I wouldn’t be able to see them again before we go back home. Ryan and I then went to Living with the Land with a 10 minute wait. Time for more food booths: France for both their lemon and orange slush with Grey Goose Vodka, Belgium Braise Beef and the Chocolate Waffle, Morocco Hummus Fries and their pita, Japan for the Dumplings. All were sooooo good!!!! We were shocked at how good the Hummus Fries were!!! We walked into the Japan store, they have rearranged since the remodel. It still feels very unfinished to me. The original store was so beautiful in all the details and this version just feels like cheap finishes and not quite there yet. We picked up some Japanese candies. The dark chocolate Kit Kats are so amazing!!! We then picked up a Strawberry and Tangerine Kakigori with sweet cream. Did I mention how hot this trip has been?! We ran into Chelle, Steve and the kids again! Quick hellos and a picture before parting ways again. We stopped by Germany for a few treats to go. We then went to the monorail to TTC then to MK. We had our second Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party to attend tonight!

We were running just a tad behind and got thru the turnstiles at 7:08pm. This time they had trick or treats bags at the turnstiles, same with our wrist bands. We stopped in for a quick meet with Mickey since he was now in his Halloween costume! Only a 10 minute wait! There was no rain tonight (which is what we were worried about as our trip got closer and the reason we added the Friday party, which is ironic that that’s the one that got rain and not this one!) so they had all the projections going on Main Street and the cut thru towards Tomorrowland. This was technically the first trick or treat path with multiple photo opps with frames and magic shots! As we exited the area, they had a package of candy with multiple candies in it! Since we were near Tomorrowland, we met Lotso with a 15-20 minute wait. It was a FANTASTIC interaction! He kept trying to steal our candy bags. Then he took my bag that had my Germany chocolate in it! He was in big trouble!!! So he set it down and we all got a photo together. We then did a trick or treat stop. Then Auntie Gravities for one of the special Haunted Mansion desserts. It was decent, not the best dessert ever, but still really cool looking with the painted white chocolate depicting one of the stretching room scenes. We then got in line to meet the 7 Dwarfs back by the circus tent. It was around 8:40pm. We changed our mind after 5 minutes because they went on break and it was going to cut it close for us to get a spot for the parade at 9pm. We found the perfect spot in Liberty square and only had one row of people in front of us and they were seated and we were standing! We were able to see the Headless Horseman!! So cool!!!!! We didn’t see him on Friday night. This is such a fantastic parade, one of my favorites!! We then got a pic with Jafar, man is he intimidating and so tall!!!! Then we stopped for Dole Whips!!! We got some pics at the Haunted Mansion with a cool lantern, then off to other party photo op spots. The stage show was starting, but we didn’t plan to watch the stage show or fireworks again tonight since we had good spots for both of those on Friday. We then went back to meet the 7 Dwarfs at around 11pm and had a 20 minute wait. We did last trick or treating in the circus tent. We decided we were done for the night, it was 11:30pm and the second parade was just starting. We could have just stood at the front and watched it again, but we were so tired already. Just as we got out towards the bus stop, it started to sprinkle, we lucked out! We were on our bus at 11:45pm and in our room just after midnight. Lights out by 1am.
Miles Logged 12.5