We left the kids home...F&W 2018 pictures!

[Nicholmom3]

Since it is raining and cold and I am recuperating from our fun packed weekend, I thought I would post a trip report for posterity!

When: Friday, Sept 21- Monday, Sept 24 2018
Who: 4 Crazy Friends who left the kids home- Kristen (that's me!), Scott (my husband), Suzanne (my partner in crime), Seamus (her partner in crime)
Where: Parc Soleil Hilton
Why: Because we like you

The Plan:
Day 1-Flight outta Boston at the crack o' dawn, MNSSHP
Day 2-Calories Don't Count
Day 3-Flying Banshees and Karaoke...and a very wet Kristen...again
Day 4-A very painful shopping trip, and an unusually long flight home (or was it?)

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I’m in!

 

[WorldWalker18]

Following along! First trip without kids starting this Sunday.

 

[Nicholmom3]

Pre-Day 1...
I have to slip this one in. The night before we left for Disney I had an equally exciting evening planned.

That's right. First I went to Hamilton, and mere hours later I was on a plane to Disney. BEST WEEKEND EVER!!!

 

[Nicholmom3]

Day 1...Flight outta Boston at the crack o' dawn, MNSSHP

Since Hamilton had me all kinds of hopped up, I got very little sleep. I know Suzanne didn't sleep well either, we were way too excited about our Adults Only trip!

Suzanne and Seamus made their way to our house around 4:45am, and our son drove us to the airport. Security was an adventure as always, but we all made it through relatively unscathed. I think Scott was sitting down with a bit more care, but he brought it on himself.

Breakfast in hand, we were soooo ready to get it started!

(clockwise from TL-Seamus, Scott, Kristen, Suzanne)

(Good grief my hair was something else. I had it in a weird curling mechanism so that I would have some semblance of curls for my costume later)

Flight was fine. Suzanne is a master negotiator and managed to get the 4 of us seated together in the exit row, so we enjoyed the excessive leg room. I did homework, the boys zoned out, and Suzanne got to read a book. UNINTERRUPTED.

Glorious.

Once we landed we made our way out to the curb where we enjoyed a pickup by the one and only, legendary Bill Hogan! What a great guy! He drove us to the Parc Soleil and entertained us the whole way. Thanks Bill!

Once at the hotel our master negotiator worked her magic again and got us into a room 3 hours earlier than promised! She's so good.

We made our way upstairs and began the relaxing in earnest. We swapped our "new englander" pants for shorts and made our way down to the grille for some lunch and the first official bevvies of the trip.

After lunch we went BACK upstairs and proceeded to get ready for MNSSHP! We ladies took awhile as our costumes were involved.

(L-R Maleficent/Sleeping Beauty, Prince Phillip/Dragon, Jack, and Sally)

We took an Uber to the Contemporary where we plopped our butts down and enjoyed the second round of bevvies. Habanero margaritas for the win!

I'll throw a bunch of pictures in the next post. MNSSHP was an absolute blast, we received many compliments on our costumes, and we enjoyed every minute.

 

[Nicholmom3]

First ride was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and it was soooo much fun! No ride pictures as we didn't use magic bands this trip , but I have a queue pic!

I had a hell of a time keeping my horn crown on, so I resorted to pressing my arm against the side of my head while keeping my hands up, as I love to do on thrill rides.

Next up we hit Splash Mountain...

(see me pressing my arm against my head?)

Oh, and this is the first time "Kristen got wet..." (Spoiler alert: This becomes a running theme)

Kristen didn't just get wet. Kristen caught a wave directed at her face. Kristen was gifted tissues by a kind soul in the back of the boat, after they all finished laughing.
The rest of them got a little damp.

 

[Nicholmom3]

We hit all the big rides, Haunted Mansion, Halloween TeaCups, 7Dwarves, I made friends with Cruella DeVille (she was walking beside me for a couple of minutes before I realized she was there), and Space Mountain in the dark (whoa.)
Another blast of photos!

Oh! And delicious snacks were had! Whoever tells you that the Maleficent cones are not delicious, tell them to shove it. They are a perfect blend of sweet and tart, and so refreshing!

We also enjoyed cinnamon buns the size of our face, pumpkin cheesecake, and a light dinner at Columbia Harbor House. (Yes, we are from Boston and we chose the NE themed restaurant)

(Some pilfered SM photos)

and wrapping it up with some sweet pre-Hallowishes photos

 

[WorldWalker18]

Absolutely love your costumes and you are all so photogenic. How were the crowds for the party?

 

[Nicholmom3]

Absolutely love your costumes and you are all so photogenic. How were the crowds for the party?

Thank you! We had a lot of fun with the costumes.

I would say the crowds were moderate to heavy. More people than I would have liked, but we waited in lines less than 20 minutes all night.

 

[siren0119]

LOL @ my husband's soggy bottom

 

[Nicholmom3]

Day 2- Calories don't count!

Saturday found us having an easy morning, with Suz and Seamus attending a meeting while I caught up on most of my remaining homework. Man, it was TOUGH trying to concentrate on writing my paper when I had visions of Epcot floating around in my brain! Nevertheless, I persevered.
We called up a Lyft and made our way to Epcot for Food & Wine! This was the entire point of our kid-free trip and boy were we excited! Seamus is a massively talented graphic designer and had designed our matching t-shirts for the day. He and Suzanne are also super creative and came up with some doozies for the backs of the shirts.

All of the shirts say "Just Keep Swigging, Epcot Food and Wine 2018" We each chose a saying for underneath.
From the left- "Poke me in the coconut", "The bottle said Drink Me", "Drunk up, me hearties, Yo Ho!", and "Shut up Liver, you're fine"

The shirts were a big hit. Etsy shop coming soon.

We began our travels around the world at the Stroller and Wheelchair rental kiosk, where we picked up Remy's Scavenger hunt passports. That damn rat...
From there we went to the F&W Festival Center to kick it all off. I was feeling both hangry and lightheaded, so a quick sugar hit was in order. We grabbed our passports and hit the mimosa bar!

There was also chocolate crossaints and a beer flight (or 4) imbibed.

(Judgy kid in background)

Blood sugars stabilized and feeling strong, we decided on our gameplan and headed out into the World.
We agreed to start on the Mexico side and work our way alllllllll the way around.
First stops! Greece, Thailand, Mexico!

Hold tight...I can't find my passport and I've already forgotten what we got in Mexico...

 

[siren0119]

Day 2- Calories don't count!

First stops! Greece, Thailand, Mexico!

Hold tight...I can't find my passport and I've already forgotten what we got in Mexico...

Greece - Spanikopita, Greek nachos, Taste of Greece (lamb and veggies) and bougatsa (an AMAZEBALLS custard/phyllo dough dessert

Thailand- Spicy Thai curry beef over rice and marinated chicken in peanut sauce with stir fry veggies

Mexico - mango coconut rice pudding, an “Ay Caramba” (smoky margarita with a chili liqueur) and an “El Padrinho” (blackberry wine with tequila)

 

[Nicholmom3]

Greece - Spanikopita, Greek nachos, Taste of Greece (lamb and veggies) and bougatsa (an AMAZEBALLS custard/phyllo dough dessert

Thailand- Spicy Thai curry beef over rice and marinated chicken in peanut sauce with stir fry veggies

Mexico - mango coconut rice pudding, an “Ay Caramba” (smoky margarita with a chili liqueur) and an “El Padrinho” (blackberry wine with tequila)

You are so handy to have around.

 

[WorldWalker18]

Your Epcot shirts are too funny!
Sadly, I didn’t notice any clever and unique teamwear on my visit...but I may have just been preoccupied...

You did a fabulous job choosing a wide variety of foods. Somehow, I ended up trying like six types of beef in gravy, all delicious, but not adventurous.

Most importantly, good call taking siren0119 with you. Those margaritas make note taking a challenge sometimes.

Looks like a great trip so far!