Cafe Orleans and Disney at Night

 

After naps and relaxing at the hotel, we were ready to head back to the park to see all the fun nighttime festivities!

We headed straight to Cafe Orleans for our dinner reservation, we had a couple minutes to wait while they prepared our table, so we introduced the kids to the gorgeous window displays that Beth and I love so much.

Then it was time to be shown to our table! We were seated inside which is unusual for me, I almost always dine outside at Cafe Orleans, so it was fun to get to appreciated the inside.

We were instructed to wear our masks at our table until our drinks were served.

Even though the beloved Monty Christo is what we usually order here, we were both in the mood for something warm and savory. So we ordered the roasted chicken dinner, I switched out mashed potatoes for the pomm frites because they are another must order item here (they weren't serving the pomm frites as an appetizer at that time because they couldn't keep up with the demand, our server told us they are still severely short staffed in a lot of areas around the park #pandemiclife)

Monty ate his whole dinner! It's a miracle! I will never understand why kids don't want all the delicious things we serve them like creamy, cheesy mac and cheese and buttery, sugary angel toast.

For dessert Beth and I shared their special halloween dessert. The presentation was fantastic, the cake was shaped as Dr. Facilier’s iconic hat made of velvety, rich dark chocolate. The red band was Twizzler’s licorice, and the brim is a chocolate-covered lemon cookie that added a welcome lightness. The mousse cake was light, and the praline added a nice crunch. It was served with a creme anglaise sauce.

It was so much fun.

After dinner we introduced Monty to Pirates of the Caribbean. He seemed like he was kind of enjoying while we were on the ride, but when we asked him about it later he said it was scary. He throughly enjoyed the gift shop though!

We passed by the Haunted Mansion on our way to Critter Country and it looks beyond magical at night.

Pooh Bear was a BIG hit with the kids, we rode it multiple times in a row.

Then it was time to head back to the hotel, we were all exhausted! This tree was so festive, it is super cute during the day with lots of little pumpkins hanging from it's branches, and it is amazing at night when it's all lit up. Its located in Fronteirland.

The kiddos holding hands in their strollers, can't get more adorable than that.

We made sure to make a stop at the castle to enjoy it's nighttime lighting.

The store windows looked even better at night!

We got to say goodbye to Mickey, Minnie and Goofy as we exited the park!

Whew! What an awesome first day! The next day we got to introduce Monty to California Adventure and we had our very own Dapper Day!

Solo Afternoon in Disney

I love having a couple of hours in the park by myself, I wander through the shops, check out the treats and  occasionally ride a lesser known attraction, like the classic vehicles on main street. This time I headed straight to the candy store to peruse all the adorable Halloween treats.

There were so many cute treats to choose from!  A lot of them I wanted to enjoy with Beth so I waited until we were together to get them. But I couldn't pass up this ADORABLE pumpkin pie rice krispy treat. I packed it away in  my purse because I like to savor and enjoy my Disney treats, not eat them on the run.

I loved having some time to really appreciate the halloween store windows, they were spellbinding.

This shop was decorated with so many blackbirds. It was so hard to capture the magic feeling of being surrounded by so many crows and ravens, but I tried!

I love looking at ears in the parks, there are always so many cute new ones and I love to see the creativity. I never wear ears in the park though so I can never justify buying any (which is probably good, I am a big collector so if I went down the ear collecting rabbit hole, I would get too many) so instead of buying the ones  Like, I take pictures of them.

I thought these were adorable, I loved the vintage vibe.

I love looking at all the fun vintage decor in each store.

The flower cart is always super cute, this time it was full of autumn colors.

I stopped to watch Mickey and Minnie dance down Main Street with The Disneyland Band.

The other characters followed up behind the band

Donald in his pumpkin costume is my favorite.

More magical shop windows

This little halloween tea party set up was so adorable!

Aaaand I stopped and watched as the band circled back around

Then I strolled over to New Orleans Square, my favorite area in the park, and I spontaneously decided to take a ride on the Mark Twain! I can't remember the last time I rode this attraction, and the thought of sailing slowly around the lagoon sounded delightful after a busy morning of walking all over the park.

I about lost it when I turned a corner and saw TIANA!!! She is my favorite princess and I was overjoyed at getting to see her and snap a selfie with her! Dreams do come true in New Orleans (square)! She is so cute, her accent is adorable, and I loved her warm, winter outfit!

After our photo she had to attend to her princess duties of waving hello to everyone as we embarked on our voyage around the lagoon. I got to ride the Mark Twain with Tiana! Definitely one of my top favorite Disney moments of all time.

I wandered down to the first floor to find a seat and I was surprised to see the very front chair was available, once again, thank you Disney magic! I sat down, enjoyed the feel of the soft breeze on my face and I pulled out my rice krispie treat to complete this blissful moment.

As I was taking selfies, I noticed Tiana was photobombing me in the background! We are now best friends.

It was the most gorgeous day for a boat ride.

After we arrived back at the dock I decided to just stay on and ride again since the ride really isn't that long. After the second ride, I felt I needed to stay on and go around again. I sailed three times in a row!  I just couldn't get enough, and it's so nice that you can just stay on the boat in between rides, not a lot of people do that, so you basically have the boat to yourself for a few minutes. 

*happy sigh* what a wonderful, relaxing, solo afternoon in the park. After my 3 rides on the Mark Twain, I felt ready to join the rest of the fam back at the hotel and maybe sneak in a little nap before our dinner reservations at Cafe Orleans!