Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party 2006

Wow! That about sums it up completely. We had the most awesome time down in Disneyworld at the Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party on Monday night, October 2nd. There were five of us travelling together for a week at Disney. My Wife Liz and I, my co-worker Darrell and his Wife Regina, and another co-worker Detag.

The Wife and I usually go every year in early October to celebrate our Wedding Anniversary (October 7th) and it usually coincides with the Halloween festivities at the Magic Kingdom. Plus it also happened to be Detag's birthday on the 2nd. So, for the Halloween party on Monday night, the three of us guys were going as the Hitchhiking Ghosts from the Haunted Mansion, and Liz as the Bride. We knew were going to look great, but we had no idea how much we were going to totally ROCK THE HOUSE DOWN!

This is a photo of us that I found online at Flickr.com the first night when we got home from our trip.

We took the Disney bus to the Magic Kingdom from our hotel. The bus was empty except for the driver, who's jaw practically dropped when we got on. We exited the bus and made our way to the front gates and were stopped for a few photo requests (A sign of things to come!) We got to the front gate of the Magic Kingdom around 9:30 pm as it took a good 2 hours to do our makeup and get dressed. As we are going through the turnstiles, the Cast Mambers working there are applauding us! We get in, get our wristbands and start making our way up Main Street to the Mansion in Liberty Square. As we passed City Hall, a Guest Relations manager came out and complemented us very highly on our costumes, and started following us a bit, writing on some paper. He presented us with a free Fastpass to get on any ride without waiting in line and a voucher for 5 free Haunted Mansion Pins. (Again, a sign of things to come!) It worked out great that the "Hallowishes" Fireworks had just started because everyone was watching the fireworks as we were walking up Main Street from behind them. If more people had seen us walking up Main Street, I don't think we would have ever made it to the Mansion.

We made it as far as the Liberty Tree in Liberty Square when we got stopped again for photos. This time they didn't just want photos of us, they wanted photos with us!

After that stop, we finally made it to the Mansion, and after compliments from the Maids and Butlers, we were able to ride. It was so fantastic. We each got into Doom Buggies individually, in the proper order. Darrell as "Phineas" followed by Detag as "Ezra" and me as "Gus", then Liz as the "Bride" along with Gina, who acted as our handler for the evening. She kept water and took photos and was our liason with the Mansion Cast Members.

By the time we were exiting the ride, word had spread amongst all the Mansion Cast Members to get a look at us. We stopped near the ride exit, and that's when everyone wanted to get pictures with us. Parents and kids, Mansion Maids and Butlers... it was insanely cool! There was a line for cryin' out loud! Later, we were taken to some backstage VIP areas of the Mansion and were given lots of insider info about its creation and inner workings. A Cast Member named Nicole was pretty much responsible for all of the wonderful treatment we received that night.

We really made their night for them since Pirates Of The Caribbean is so huge this year, it seemed that every other person there that night was dressed as a Pirate. For us to show up, not only dressed as some of their Haunted Mansion characters, but to go to such extremes and really do them well, so well that we had lines of people waiting to get their pictures with us, and much better than even their own Hitchhikers that appear in the "Boo To You" Parade, we really put some of the spotlight back on to the Mansion, at least for a few hours. I'm glad we could make their night more special because they really made ours fantastic! We actually got to take the final ride of the evening on the Haunted Mansion and took one great big group photo with the four of us and just about every Mansion Cast Member.

Jeff Lange DVD Productions was there to catch our visit to the Mansion. Could we be showing up on his "Trick or Treat 3" DVD?

Well, we are still recovering from the best trip I have ever had to Disney. Many more pictures to come. Heck, I might have to start a separate blog just for the Hitchhikers!