In addition to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, Disney has lots of smaller Halloween events scattered across the resorts. New for this year is The Return to Sleepy Hollow at Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground, an exclusive, limited time offering in which guests attend a screening of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and have the opportunity to have their picture taken with the Headless Horseman himself. The event was announced in March and almost immediately filled up, but we managed to catch a spot someone canceled for the 10 p.m. showing on October 26th.
I love going to Fort Wilderness but I dislike getting there and dealing with the bus, so I planned to make it a multi-excursion night. We wanted to go to the Chip and Dale Campfire Singalong to make S’mores, and then we had a reservation for Trails End before the screening at 10 p.m. Like many things in my life, it didn’t go quite according to plan but we still had a blast.
[lgc_column grid=”50″ tablet_grid=”50″ mobile_grid=”100″ last=”false”]We arrived at Fort Wilderness around six and parked to wait for the bus. There was a sign directing Sleepy Hollow guests where to go, and I loved the artwork on it. It only took about fifteen minutes for the Orange Bus to arrive, and it was driven by the least friendly Disney bus driver I’ve ever encountered. He didn’t stop at a single stop, but merely tapped his brakes, so we blew right past the Meadow where we wanted to get off for the Singalong. We got off at Pioneer Hall and walked back, but it was too late. We didn’t have enough time to meet the Chipmunks and walk back to Trails End in time for our reservation so we just turned around. At least the walk let us get a good look at the decorated campsites. A lot of people who stay at the campground put more effort into their Halloween decorations than most neighborhoods![/lgc_column][lgc_column grid=”50″ tablet_grid=”50″ mobile_grid=”100″ last=”true”]
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Neither Jay nor I had ever been to Trails End before and we were eager to try something new. It’s a buffet with the same wonderful home cooking of Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue! They actually share the same kitchen, but Trails End has a broader selection. In addition to the fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, baked beans, salad, and corn bread, there’s also brisket, pork chops, mac n’ cheese, seasonal vegetables, baked potatoes, and pasta salad, just to name a few. Sadly there was no unlimited sangria, but we made do with soda refills. I’ve actually never had such prompt service with refills at a Disney restaurant. Oi Shean was “Earning Her Ears”, but she was one of the best waitresses I’ve ever had at Disney. I think I made four separate trips to the main buffet and one for dessert. Jay had to call it quits after three, but he stacked his plates higher than mine. Dessert included Hoop’s strawberry shortcake, s’mores bars, brownies, cookies, bread pudding, apple cobbler and soft serve ice cream. Despite my best efforts, I only finished the s’mores and about half of everything else. Trails End is now probably my second favorite buffet on property behind Cape May. My literal only complaint is that it shares its bathrooms with Hoop-Dee-Doo so I had to go outside, and it was surprisingly chilly.
Trails End food. YUM!
We finished eating around 9 p.m. and waddled our way over to the gift shop across the way to kill some time. We bought a Hoop-Dee-Doo pin so I could finally finish the shadow box I wanted to make with my certificate for being the Can-Can Dancer from the last time we went to Hoop. Then we wandered back out where Jay wound up teaching me how to play checkers, and then promptly lost.
Finally time to head for the event, we made our way over to the Tri-Circle-D Ranch stable, which is essentially the barn where Disney keeps their draft horses. Check in was a breeze, I just gave my last name and they pulled a blue card out of the box with our reservation printed on it. I signed and they presented us with our collector’s pins. There were two levels of seating options and as I was signing Jay inquired about what one got with the upgraded package. We had the basic option which was $22 per person. It came with a pin, popcorn, general admission seats and the chance to meet the Headless Horseman. For $38 you would get a cooler with candy, a bottle of water, the pin, a lanyard, and a seat in the first five rows. I never saw the lanyard, but while the cooler had some neat artwork, I’m okay with missing out on it.
We grabbed two seats at random, and since it didn’t seem completely full I put Duffy in the chair next to me. Sold out Disney events are rarely full in my experience once you actually arrive because people don’t show up, but they also didn’t have a way to take payment for any one extra either.
The movie screen was lit up the Return to Sleepy Hollow logo and some light animation as we waited with spooky music playing in the background. Right before ten it switched to a countdown and Jay asked if I’d ever actually seen Sleepy Hollow before. “I don’t think so. Just the chase scene.”
The movie started with a round of applause as the cartoon started to play. Right about then one of the horses stuck his head over the door to look at us, which drew laughter from everyone seated next to him. Throughout the movie we had lots of ambient noise from the horses: snorts, stomping and one who decided to throw his water bucket in protest when the fireworks started at 10:15 p.m. from Magic Kingdom. It was fun to watch everyone jump. I grew up working with horses so I recognized every sound, but I can see where if you’re not familiar those noises would be startling. The movie wrapped a little after 10:30 p.m. and then the best part of the entire night happened. I wish I’d had my camera out. The movie screen said something about “Join us if you dare…” and then it slowly rose before the doors flew open and revealed the Headless Horseman standing there. Jay did manage to find it on YouTube so you can see it for yourself!
They called us row by row so we were one of the last to meet the Horseman since we were towards the back, but it went super quick. They had a Photopass Photographer taking photos and they offered to use my camera, but I decided to just stick to the Photopass since my camera likes to be difficult in low light situations. They took two normal photos and a scared one, which I am terrible at posing for. We made our way out of the barn, and stopped for one last photo in front of the sign before heading for the bus. We were back to the car around 11:10 p.m.
The Return to Sleepy Hollow was one of the coolest Disney special events I’ve ever been to, and you honestly can’t beat that price. Since it was so popular, I fully expect them to bring it back next year and I suspect the price tag will jump, or they’ll eliminate some of the swag, or both. I definitely recommend making a night of it with dinner somewhere at the resort first, and Trails End will definitely be a repeat for us next year.
Cost: $22 per person for the screening. With Trails End we spent about $120.
Duration: The actual event lasted a little over an hour with travel time; we were at Fort Wilderness for about five hours.
Value: 10/10, hope on going again next year.
Add Ons: For $38 you can do the Premium Package. It was sold out when we booked. Given the choice next year, I’d probably book one at the Regular Package and one at the Premium to get all the swag. I’m not that concerned about sitting up front.
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