The Duncans Do Disney, Evening Two: Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom

Nobody does the Holidays quite like Disney. You really do have to experience it to believe it! We were fortunate to be able to attend Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party on our second night in Orlando. (Thank you, Scott, for making sure we knew how important it was to go!) As you can see, Jack and Spence were very excited to go (the two little ones stayed at the hotel with Buddy and DeeDee), although a good bit of their excitement came from the fact that they were getting to ride in the stroller together.

Basically, the park closes at 5:00 p.m. to everyone except those who purchase tickets for the party. The park - shops, eateries and rides - stays open until 12:30 a.m., there are two parades, spectacular fireworks and free all-you-can consume hot chocolate and sugar cookies. Everything (and I do mean everything) is decorated up for the holidays,there is Christmas music playing, and all kinds of other sights and smells that transport you right back to your Christmases as a kid. In short, it's magic.

We had perfect weather the entire time we were there except for this particular night and we were rained on pretty much from the beginning. We all abought ponchos (Jack called it his ghost costume and walked around Boo-ing for quite some time.) and braved the weather. Fortunately, the rain really cooled things off to the point of almost making it chilly - which only added to the Holiday ambience.

Our wonderful evening ended with the Christmas Parade. I am running out of adjectives here, so I'll use an old standard here and say again that it was amazing! The lights, the music...the snow! Yes, friends, they even pump in snow. I love the photos of Jack and Spence watching the parade. When these two are together, it's as if they are the only two people in the world who get the joke. What a sweet bond they have - and now what sweet shared memories!