As we drove into the parking lot, we noticed that there were giant inflatable snowmen with Mickey and Minnie ears that weren't there earlier, so I assume they were just inflated for the Christmas Party. Disney is all about the details!
The party didn't officially start until 7pm but our tickets allowed us entry into Magic Kingdom at 4pm. So, we had a few hours before the Christmas festivities officially began. But we made our first stop just inside the entrance to admire the train station and the Mickey-shaped poinsettia garden.
Of course, we also had to get a group shot all decked out in our Christmas gear. I made shirts for the boys and bought Santa Mickey shirts for the adults. (I also made zip hoodies for the adults that said Ho Ho Ho but it was warmer than I expected, so we didn't need them until later in the night.)
We were heading to Adventureland to spend some time over there once we entered Magic Kingdom. On our way, we came across the same parade we happened upon the first day. Only, what we didn't realize on the first day, is that all the floats stop in the circle area just in front of the castle. Then, some of the characters get out on the streets and dance with the kids!
So, we let the boys go out and dance with Jesse and Woody! They had an absolute blast! (I do have to admit that I was a bit nervous with the crowds and them being even just a few feet away from us but Justin went to one side and I stayed on the other side and Shira and Auggie were watching them too, so we had them surrounded while allowing them some independence.)
After that, we headed to the Swiss Family Tree House.
Before the party officially started, we wanted to be sure to see the show at the castle where Elsa "freezes" the castle. Our plan was for Shira and I to get some Dole Whip and Justin, Auggie, and the boys were going to go get a spot to watch. Well, it all ended up be a bit more complicated than expected. First, the Dole Whip stand was busy and the cast member filling order had a much less than magical mood (which is really unusual at Disney). Once we finally got all the ice cream, it started melting down our hands before getting to the castle. Then we had no idea how busy it would be! As we approached the castle and saw the massive crowds, I knew this was going to be tough. Thankfully, Shira took the lead and wove through the crowds of people (most of which complained about us cutting in line). Ok, so we arrive with half melted ice cream and are crammed together. So, needless to say, there aren't many pictures of the show. But it was a fun little show and we all enjoyed seeing Anna, Elsa, and, especially Olaf!
And the castle did look beautiful with all the ice.
Of course, we had to get a picture with the castle as the backdrop.
And another one just with just a slightly different angle...and Olaf joined our group. Looks like the Christmas party was officially under way!
Then we headed over towards the Christmas parade route. We ended up finding the Holiday Hootenanny where the kids could do some more dancing with characters. The only character I knew was Claribelle, the cow, but the boys enjoyed dancing with whichever character came their way.
Claribelle even convinced Auggie to get out and dance!
The boys even tried to break dancing style moves...some were dangerously close to the characters, who I'm pretty sure can't see that well...yikes. The boys sure do love to dance!
Pretty soon it was time to go outside and wait for the parade to start. Aunt Shira had given the boys some light-up Buzz Lightyear spinning toys...thankfully! That kept them quite entertained while we waited for the parade to start.
The Christmas parade did not disappoint! It was great! However, our pictures aren't wonderful because we were both trying to hold up a child so they could see better and manage to get pictures in the dark...so all the pictures are slightly if not horribly blurry. Here are a few of the better ones.
So, it was hard to get a good picture of the most impressive part of the parade...the toy soldiers! Luckily, Disney included some stock photos of the parade in our photos. So, here's the Disney official version of the Christmas parade.
And some group photos from Disney.
After the parade, we headed towards Main Street. Our version:
Disney's version:
We stopped in at the Crystal Palace restaurant for some free hot chocolate and cookies (a perk of going to the Christmas party).
After our refreshing snack, we watched the special Christmas castle show and fireworks. (Garytt's commentary is pretty amusing in the video clips.)
We headed back towards the entry gates because I was determined to get a family picture with the toy soldiers that were set up near the train station.
Disney even made it into this little animated greeting card.
While we were near the front of the park, we decided to go into the theatre and meet Tinker Bell. There was no line!
Right next door to Tink was the meet and greet for Mickey. We had already met Mickey at breakfast the previous morning but since there was no line, we decided to go see the main mouse again. I'm so glad we did! This Mickey was able to talk and interact! While the family in front of us was visiting Mickey, Garytt whispered to me, "Mom, this is the REAL Mickey...he can talk and his eye move!" So precious!
By the time we were done visiting with Mickey, the second Christmas parade was nearly over and we were close to Santa's meeting spot. We were told it would be just a few minutes before Santa could get off his sleigh and get back over to his spot. So, we waited in line since there were only a few people before us. How awesome is it to visit Santa at Mickey's house?!
By this time, we decided it was time to call it a night since it was nearly midnight. We had a great time at Mickey's party!
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