My wait at the bus stop wasn’t too bad. When I got back to the resort, I bought a bottle of water and a lemonade in the gift store, and then headed back to the room, where I lounged in the air conditioning and told myself I would rest, but didn’t actually nap. Instead I found a tweet of the Boo Bash event map for that night and well...yeah…
Eventually I headed out to my car and drove over to Disney Springs. It was a REALLY straightforward drive, which made me very happy. I easily found parking in the orange garage, level two (hint...that’s the level that you go to Disney Springs from), close to security. Security was easy, and then I did a little shopping.
First stop was Everglazed for breakfast for the next morning. The Flavors of Florida promotion was wrapping up on my last day in Disney, and Everglazed was selling a key lime doughnut as part of the promotion. I needed to try it.
Next I explored multiple stores around Disney Springs before dinner. I bought some new flip flops in the Havianas store and the pina colada cheesecake in Amorettes for a future dessert. More on that cheesecake another day!
About 4:30 I headed for Morimoto, home of tonight’s dinner reservation. I was seated immediately after checking in, at a table upstairs. This was my first time eating here. It’s very unlikely to be my last time. First off, what a clean restaurant with a great design (although I’m pretty sure those stairs are designed to be a sobriety check!). Service was wonderful. And then there was my meal. I had the sake sangria (SO refreshing, but I did wonder by the second sip if it might just knock me on my rear) and the beef lomein (absolutely delicious!). I kind of regret the fact that I’ve always overlooked this restaurant. It gets 2 thumbs up from me. Also, hint...you can make reservations for Morimoto on Open Table, and those reservations are easily/fully cancelable AND can be made before Disney reservations open up.
Dinner thoroughly enjoyed, I passed the sobriety checkpoint that was those stairs, and went back to the hotel to get ready for the evening.
Tonight is Boo Bash, the After Hours Halloween event. And it’s opening night! The official start time was 9:30, the Disney website said attendees could get in on their event tickets at 7:30, but I had been there earlier in the day on a regular park ticket, so I was good to go back whenever. So I was ready and at the bus stop probably by 6:15.
I was back at Magic Kingdom by about 6:45. There was a little bit of confusion at the tapstyles because they already had quite the crowd of event attendees gathered at the right side tapstyles, but soon enough I was in the park and in line for the first of the fall photopass shots, and the Boo Bash attendees were let in minutes after I tapped in. This photopass line was long, but oh well. My agenda for the next hour-ish was pretty short.
Pictures taken, I did some picture taking on Main Street, noticing that the atmosphere was electric. Everyone was so excited for Boo Bash. It was pretty cool!
Then I headed for Tomorrowland, where I officially checked in for the event. I got my event map, trick or treat bag, and my wristband. My arm really is too short for all of the wristbands I ended up with this trip.
Boo Bash gear acquired I went and got in line for the Peoplemover. Pretty soon after I got in line, I noticed the Peoplemover wasn’t actually moving. Then it started moving. Then it stopped again. Then it started again.
Third times a charm, but not with breakdowns. At the third stoppage, I left the line. I want to ride the Peoplemover, but I’ve got other stuff to do tonight!
So I headed for Fantasyland where I more or less walked on It’s a Small World. I forgot how long this ride is…
When I finally escaped the ear worm, I headed for Main Street, but I desperately needed a bottle of water first. WHY are all of the snack carts closed now? The park is still open and it’s the most humid part of the day as the sun goes down! And all the restaurants are mobile order...
Thankfully I remembered seeing barrels of ice with bottled water in the Christmas shop this morning, so I checked and they did have bottled water for sale still. Crisis averted!
Then I headed for the hub, and checked into the strategy I’d read online. I had read that the grassy fenced in area on the left side (Casey’s/Crystal Palace area) was open to anyone but most didn’t actually realize that, so it was often a very uncrowded spot. This turned out to be absolutely true. I wouldn’t have wanted to seat a family together in here at this point (8:20 with fireworks starting at 8:45), but I had my pick of spots as a solo, and there was one woman that kind of became the mother of the Hub grass, who was happy to point out best available spots to anyone entering. It was great. I sat down on the grass, with personal space, 20 minutes before the fireworks, with a solid view.
Then I headed for the hub, and checked into the strategy I’d read online. I had read that the grassy fenced in area on the left side (Casey’s/Crystal Palace area) was open to anyone but most didn’t actually realize that, so it was often a very uncrowded spot. This turned out to be absolutely true. I wouldn’t have wanted to seat a family together in here at this point (8:20 with fireworks starting at 8:45), but I had my pick of spots as a solo, and there was one woman that kind of became the mother of the Hub grass, who was happy to point out best available spots to anyone entering. It was great. I sat down on the grass, with personal space, 20 minutes before the fireworks, with a solid view.
This was actually my first time seeing Happily Ever After. I really enjoyed it. And I really enjoyed this viewing area. I actually got to stay seated through the whole show, with a solid view, and personal space. And I didn’t pay extra for it. The show was great.
When the fireworks ended, I stayed within the fenced in area and watched the chaos. Turns out not only was this a great spot for watching Happily Ever After, but it was great for watching the mass exodus too. The park closed to day guests at the end of the fireworks, and the CMs were working hard to clear the park for Boo Bash. They opened up the backstage gates by Crystal Palace and basically formed a human chain, so anyone on that side that didn’t have a wristband for Boo Bash funneled right out through. Those with Boo Bash wristbands were kept on the other side of the human chain, and told to keep their wristband up in the air. And of course there was the mass exodus down Main Street itself. It was a solid 10-15 minutes of a steady crowd of people exiting. I enjoyed watching, with “So long, farewell” conveniently stuck in my head…
Once the river of people exiting slowed to a trickle, I left my nice protected fenced in area, and headed for Frontierland, doing some picture taking along the way.
My goal for tonight was Halloween stuff. I knew there wasn’t enough time in such a short event to tackle both Halloween and a significant amount of rides, so I chose Halloween. I’ve never been to a Halloween party, or any kind of After Hours event, but my thought was, this was Halloween, so that was my focus.
At 9:40 I watched the Cadaver Dans. This was fun. They were pretty corny, and obviously sounded great.
Almost immediately after the Cadaver Dans I caught my first cavalcade of the night. This was fun, but talk about another ear worm!
Then I worked my way toward Main Street. My goal was a mix of photopass magic shots and seeing the rest of the cavalcades. Unfortunately, some of the magic shots didn’t work, and some of the photographers were pretty terrible. But, I got a few ok pictures, and I really enjoyed the cavalcades! I also tried the specialty Maleficent Churros. The flavor of these was great (churros rolled in oreo, how could they not have great flavor?), but the texture was just WRONG. Serious bummer.
By the time I was done with Main Street I was limping hard core. Actually, that’s not really accurate. I was basically shuffling along. I’m positive that my blisters had blisters at this point. Thankfully bottles of water were complimentary (and plentiful) during the event, and I always carry Advil. But this absolutely slowed me down.
Done with Main Street and Advil onboard, I headed for Liberty Square and Haunted Mansion for one more magic shot.
I then decided since the night was short (seriously...by this point it was 11:45 and the event ended at 12:30), to do a little trick-or-treating. I also stopped for the Tangled photo op with the lantern, which I am so sad to say still has not appeared in my photopass account, despite submitting a missing photos form a week ago. So I trick or treated at about 4 stops in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland, saw some characters, and then headed for Peoplemover, which I finally got on!
After my ride around Tomorrowland, it was after midnight, so I made one more trick or treat stop at Monsters Inc (which, actually was like two stops in one), did a little last minute photo taking, got one more complimentary bottle of water, and headed for the exit. The event was ending in about 15 minutes and I was toast!
Was Boo Bash worth it? For me, knowing this is a weird year, yes. Do I hope they bring back something closer to the normal party as things normalize? Also yes. This was a nice taste of Disney Halloween, and it was a cool experience.
I got back to my room about 1 am and eventually crashed, after taking a picture of my candy haul to send to Nick. Not bad for barely trick or treating. And yes, that haul is now nearly gone.
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