Day 9 — Parrrrghhhhty Day

We’ve been trying to see the Indiana Jones stunt spectacular at the Studios for a ong time. Thus today we started out in Disney-MGM Studios.

We got off to a late start but it was not an Extra Magic Hour morning for the park and things don’t start “cooking” until mid-morning in that park anyway.

Well, well, look what new addition we found when we walked into the park.

That wasn’t there a day or two ago. Of course I asked around and I was told, “Oh we’re just fixing stuff.” Hmmm, wonder if the High School Musical gig has something to do with this barrier being up.

We checked out a couple of shops, always looking for that interesting souvenir, and then headed to see my favorite Disney princess.

We then grabbed a Fast Pass for Indy and had lunch at the Backlot Express.

As we left I decided to take this photo of the activity going on next to Star Tours.

Next May is going to be a big month for Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando.

I’m always interested is seeing Indy because it always is just a little bit different each time.

Well tonight we are going to the Pirate & Princess Party which is running from 7:30 P.M. to 12:30 A.M.

We decided that it would be wise to get out of the heat and humidity and go back to our room and rest up for tonight’s party.

Of course Carol heeded her own advice and did rest while I spent the afternoon reading and answering email…obviously i did not heed my own advice.

We changed into our party wear –basically I had a shirt with Captain Hook on it and Carol had a shirt with a sparkling skull and cross-bones.

We had an ADR at Trail’s End so we were trying to figure out how best to do this. Should we drive to Fort Wilderness and then take the boat to the party? Hmmmm, that would make for a long time getting back to the car at the end of the night. We’d be taking the boat to Fort Wilderness and then would have to take a bus back to the the parking lot to get to the car.

So we decided to drive to the Magic Kingdom and take a bus from the Ticket and Transportation Center or Magic Kingdom or take a boat from the Magic Kingdom to Fort Wilderness.

It seems like the WDW transportation system is always tweaking with their busses so we were not sure of exactly how our evening would go.

On this particular night we ended up taking the boat from the Magic Kingdom to Fort Wilderness.

We had a pleasant meal at Trail’s End. We always make it a point to visit that restaurant on every trip and for myself on one solo trip I had lunch there three times. It is off the beaten path and that makes for a nice quiet meal. The price makes it one of the best if not the best deal on all of WDW property.

The signs were up for the Pirate and Princess Party.

We received a “Booty Bag” to use to collect the goodies to be given out during the party. The goodies turned out to be either beads or candy.

I found this party to be so much different than the other parties I’ve attended at the Magic Kingdom, namely Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. There did not seem to be as many party events to dissuade us from attempting to do some attraction touring.

In fact our first attraction of the night was Pirates of the Caribbean and before the night was out we would ride this attraction no less than six times with five of those times seeing us have our own boat to ourselves and each visit to the attraction having no wait time at all.

Ladies and Gentlemen again let me say that his is “The Year of a Million Refurbishments-¦

We also rode the Magic Carpets of Aladdin, watched a few performances by some CMs doing little shows for the guests, and also collected our “Booty.”

We continued to squeeze in some attractions that we had not been able to do previously on the trip. We did Snow White’s Adventure, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, Peter Pan’s Flight, and just about whenever we wanted to and as many times as we wanted to.

All in all we made 18 visits to attractions between 7:30 and 12:30 and we did not miss the special fireworks or the parade.

We watched the fireworks at the top of Main Street USA. The official park lights for the party seemed to be red.

I enjoyed the fireworks more than anything else during the party.

I took this picture of a Hidden Mickey in Mickey’s Star Traders

All through the park there were pirate images.

The parade was somewhat of a disappointment as the term “Pirate and Princess” seemed out of balance during the parade.

I think there was too much princess and not enough pirate references in the parade.

Before I forget, here’s a homework assignment. Can you find this Hidden Mickey in Fantasyland?

Well after the parade, we watched the late parade, we actually rode another six attractions before calling it a night.

Our hosts bid us a good evening with a wave…

…and a sign.

And once again to point out that the primary color for the evening was red or pink….exhibit ‘B.”

We got back to our room around 1:15 A.M.

Regarding the party, I found it to be not as enjoyable as MNSSHP or MVMCP. The fireworks was good, the parade seemed to need a bit more, and the other lesser events need work. I am not trying to discourage anyone from going to this party. Carol says it is her favorite of the three parties.

So give it a try.

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