Murphy’s Law Takes Vacation — The World’s Longest Dream Review (Part Two)featured

Mom woke us all up at 7:00 am to get an early start to Florida. Stephanie and I had tickets to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party for tonight and we *could* get into the park at 4:00 pm if we made decent enough timing, so we were more than eager to get an early start.

Our stay at the Hyatt Place Buckhead included a continental breakfast, so we grabbed some quick nibbles before packing up the car. They didn’t want me taking pictures (I’m not sure why), but you know me…where there’s a will, there’s a way.

I don’t even know why this was important enough to photograph…

Peace out, A-town

We were on the road by 8:00 am and we made the decision (again) to minimize our stops, which meant forgoing our stop at the peach farm. Disney > everything in between Georgia and Orlando, after all.

Passing the time reading the Disney Food Blog and mapping our proximity to the mouse

I slept a lot between Georgia and Florida. The motion of the car makes me sleepy and between the heavy workload I’d taken on at work before we left and the events of the past 36 hours, I was pooped…and we still had nearly a week at Disney ahead of us.

The plan was for us to spend the night at the Gaylord Palms (forever a favorite). Stephanie and I were going to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. Mom and grandma were going to rest up (the Halloween party didn’t really appeal to them), and then the next day, we’d check into Port Orleans – French Quarter for four days. We’d go back to the Gaylord Palms for one more day and then we’d get on the boat. Why so much back and forth? I don’t even remember anymore, but it probably had to do with the way we were constantly extending our vacation.

We made pretty good time on the drive and we pulled up to the Gaylord Palms at 2:45 pm, and Florida was every bit as beautiful and humid as I remembered. We scored the Gaylord Palms off Priceline for $80ish a night (easy to do, too — there’s only two hotels in its class and area on Priceline and people rarely get the other one) and I was so excited. We haven’t been to the Gaylord Palms since 2009 and I’ve missed it sorely. If you’ve never been, I can’t recommend it enough. It really is a destination onto itself.

A small glimpse of the massive atrium

Our room in the Everglades section of the resort

Stephanie and I got ready as fast as we could for the Halloween party. While we could get into Magic Kingdom at 4:00 pm, we didn’t want or need to rush it, so we ended up leaving at 4:45 pm. Mom dropped us off (oddly reminiscent of my high school days when Mom would drop me off at Six Flags) so she and grandma could go out if they wanted to. Stephanie and I hopped onto the Monorail and…magic. We love Disney World. There are few greater feelings than that first Monorail ride when you arrive and those first few steps into the park.

Magic Kingdom was heavily crowded, but those crowds were quickly thinning out (though party guests were allowed in at 4:00 pm, normal park guests could stay until 7:00 pm, at which point, those without a wristband aren’t allowed on attractions and supposedly, aren’t allowed to purchase food or merch). I was starving (we had made a quick pitstop at a Burger King in northern Florida earlier in the afternoon), so I grabbed a quick snack at Casey’s Corner: some of those delicious corn dog nuggets. And they didn’t disappoint: hot and crunchy, sweet and savory. Fantastic.

Corn Dog Nuggets — $4.49

Stephanie and I made the rounds, walking through the lands and hitting up some of our favorite rides (HAUNTED MANSION!!!). And it was just so much fun. Really. I was 14 the first time I went to Disney World (our childhood Florida winters were limited to southern Florida), so I don’t really have some sort of childhood ties and memories there, but I think that kind of speaks to the magic that even teenagers and adults can find that kind of magic there much like children do.

Haunted Mansion had a new divided queue: you could go straight into the waiting room or you could go through a haunted queue and then into the waiting room. Most people go the haunted route. We discovered that once was enough and after that first time, we took the quicker, more direct route in our subsequent visits.

And then we hit up the family favorite It’s a Small World. I hate to be redundant, but there’s just something so magical about it. It’s comforting in how unchanging it is. It’s just about the same now as it was when I first rode it in 2000. And I’ll just always cherish it for being grandma’s favorite ride, too.

When we got out of Fantasyland, it was just about time for trick-or-treating to begin. I’d, personally, like to thank the good people at Disney World for indulging my childhood excitement in trick-or-treating and doing so with the good stuff. And they were GENEROUS! I filled two bags to bring back to the hotel for Mom and grandma to nosh on.

And in between trick-or-treating? MORE RIDES! And people watching. It was so much fun to see what everyone dressed up as. By this point, nearly all rides were walk on and that, in and of itself, was worth the $55+ admission charge for the party.

We grabbed some seats outside of Tomorrowland for Hallowishes and holy cow, what a fantastic show! I mean, Wishes will always have a nostalgic place in my heart, but these fireworks spanned the entire park and I went around the park singing “Happy happy Halloween Halloween” for the rest of the night.

Most people left the part after Hallowishes (why? I don’t know. The park was open for another few hours). Stephanie and I went to grab some dinner. She’d heard some good things about the burgers at Peco’s Bills and was insistent we try them. We both ordered some cheeseburgers and they really, really hit the spot. Pecos Bill’s has a toppings bar with all kinds of goods (sauteed onions and mushrooms, chili, nacho cheese, shredded cheese, a plethora of veggies) and those fries with some of that nacho cheese? Delish.

Pecos Bill’s Tall Tale Inn & Cafe

1/3 lb. Angus Cheeseburger — $9.69

After our late dinner, we hit up some of our favorite rides and took a nice, leisurely stroll up Main Street USA, stopping into some of the shops to look around.

Around midnight, we got a text from Mom that she was somewhere with a bible and Obama (did I ever mention that autocorrect isn’t her friend and I could probably make a blog out of the hilariously misspelled and misconstrued texts she sends and Facebook comments she posts?), so Stephanie and I met her at the TTC.

We hit up a McDonalds drive-thoughs because Mom and Stephanie needed a diet Coke fix and headed back to the hotel. My feet were killing me (never, ever wear new shoes in Disney World, even if they’re just for the sake of completing your costume…I was never more grateful that I had the foresight to throw a pair of flip flops in my bag before I left that afternoon) and I was exhausted, but so, so happy just to be there. I let Mom and grandma cherry pick their favorites from the candy bag while I showered and then I passed out. Top day.