Rajah
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 17, 1999
This morning the alarm was set for 9:10, but for some reason I'd forgotten to turn it on *again*. You'd think I'd learn, wouldn't you? Luckily, I woke up at 9:15 anyway and found that the alarm was off so turned on the radio.
Michael got up as soon as I turned the radio on, and I was up shortly after so that we could finish packing since we'd been too tired to finish last night. We ended up packing until about 10:30. This morning, being Sunday, we knew we wouldn't have time for the character breakfast downstairs, so opted to go to the Magic Kingdom before getting something to eat.
On our way out the door, I tried calling Randall again, but had no luck. That didn't surprise me, I didn't expect to reach him, but it was worth a try. So we checked our bags (with two claim slips since I would be leaving several hours before Michael would) and hurried down to the bus stop to wait for our ride to the Magic Kingdom.
We ended up waiting for about 15 minutes, but had a fun little show while we waited. Two girls who were waiting for the bus with their families (the only others waiting) spent the time challenging each other to do various gymnastic stunts. Mostly it was seeing which of them could do a handstand or headstand the longest, or the best cartwheel. I forget whether they were sisters or friends, but they were pretty close whichever they were. I think sisters.
The bus arrived and we had a leisurely ride to the Magic Kingdom. After the usual bag check at security, we decided to spend a bit of time wandering the stores. Even though we didn't end up getting anything, it was still fun to explore.
Finally, though, my stomach growled enough that we decided we had to eat. So, we opted to try a place we've never been in before: The Plaza Restaurant. I knew the one at Disneyland was really good and had heard here was good too. And, as hoped, the food was rather good for simple burgers and hot dogs and such.
Our service, unfortunately, was rather slow and mediocre. Nothing bad, but nothing as good as what we usually get at a Disney restaurant. Plus, we were seated right next to the door to the kitchen, and watching the servers come in and out so quickly behind each other started making me dizzy.
The thing that looked the best, but unfortunately which I couldn't eat, was the huge milkshakes they were bringing to almost every table. It was pure torture for someone lactose intolerant, who was out of lactaid (which sometimes allows me to eat milk products without problems), and who was going to fly later that day and thus have limited access to a restroom. OH I wanted one of those shakes so badly! (Hmm... now I'm wondering where I can try to find one here, because just writing about them is making me crave those shakes! LOL!)
After we finished eating, we hurried out of the restaurant because we were a few minutes late to meet a couple of friends. As I said at the beginning, the reason this trip was possible was because of a conference Michael would be attending as staff in the following days. Today was the day that two of his co-workers (and good friends) would be joining us in Orlando. Since they had half a day before they had to start doing anything at the conference, we'd decided weeks earlier that Mary and Jerry would join us for a fun afternoon at the Magic Kingdom.
We were supposed to meet them at Tomorrowland Terrace, but there was no sign of them. So, I decided I really needed a poweraide and the closest one we knew of was back at the Main Street Bakery. Since Mary and Jerry weren't in the park yet (ascertained by the use of cell phones), we decided we would catch them on their way in and we probably had time to get the drinks from the Bakery.
As we were buying my poweraid, though, Michael and I looked up to see Mary and Jerry charging past the window, heading for the Terrace. Michael ran out to catch them while I stayed in line then bought my poweraid and joined them.
After much "hi, how are you, give me a hug"s, we continued on our way to Tomorrowland. The first stop, however, was the smoking area and restrooms near the Tomorrowland Terrace. Jerry smokes, but is one of the most considerate smokers I've ever met. Also one of the fastest. By the time Mary, Michael, and I had finished our restroom break (which wasn't long), Jerry was through with his smoke break so we could continue on.
Our first stop was to ride TTA, which Mary enjoyed. This was, I believe, her first time to the Magic Kingdom, and it's always fun showing a first-timer around. The Tomorrowland Transit Authority (TTA) passes through Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, both of which Mary excitedly said we just HAD to go on. Since those are two of our favorites, we didn't complain at all.
As soon as we got off of TTA, however, Michael realized he still didn't have his ticket for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. He and I had already gone a couple of nights earlier, but Mary and Jerry wanted to attend tonight so Michael wanted to join them. So, Michael took off with a radio to return to City Hall and get his ticket. While he was gone, Jerry and I took the time to show Mary around Tomorrowland. I also challenged Jerry (who has even more of an eye for detail than Michael or I do) to help me find "Where in the World" items to take pictures of.
We were still snapping pictures when Michael joined us. While he was gone and we were taking pictures, Mary, Jerry and I grabbed fastpasses for Space Mountain (Michael had left his ticket with me so I could get one for him). Our return time was for 1:35, and it was 1pm now. So, since we had 30 minutes to kill, we decided to try Buzz Lightyear.
Buzz had a posted wait time of 30 minutes, however once we got inside we found there was almost no line at all. We had a lot of fun trying to earn points for our marksmanship, but none of us did that great really. And since the wait was very short, we came out of the ride with even more time to spare.
No problem, we decided to just get in the standby line for Space Mountain. By doing the standby line, we got to ride the left side of Space Mountain. The wait was posted as 30 minutes, but again it was less than 10. We were really lucking out on wait times this morning. As usual, we had a really good time on Space Mountain. Jerry took the very back seat, Mary the seat in front of him, Michael the front of the rear car, and I took the back of the first car with a party of two in front of me.
As we got off the ride, we still had a few minutes before we could use our fastpasses so decided another smoke/restroom break was in order. However, when Mary and I joined Michael and Jerry, we returned to news that Jerry had somehow lost his lighter while on the ride. He figured it probably flew out of his pocket on one of the bumps on Space Mountain. He was lucky enough to find someone who gave him a light in the smoking area, but now came the search for a lighter.
After another ride on Space Mountain, though, since our fastpasses were now valid.
The search for the lighter led us back to Main Street. I knew that at one time, they hid lighters, matches, and cigarettes under the counters of some of the stores on Main Street but wasn't sure if Jerry would be able to find them any more. It was worth a try.
We asked at the Emporium and the Expo Hall, but had no luck. As I thought, once the new smoking policy took effect (smoking in designated areas only), the parks stopped carrying any smoking paraphernalia. Jerry was able to find someone who gave him one of her spare lighters, though, so the search was successful -- even if his new lighter was a hot pink thing.
While at the Expo hall, we picked up a spare set of batteries since I was running low and didn't want to run out of them again. Then we visited the back of the Expo Hall where we didn't find any characters this time, but did find the trivia podiums in the back theater area. Mary and I stayed long enough to answer all the questions before we rushed to find where Michael and Jerry had disappeared to. Luckily, they hadn't gone far -- just around the corner in the Hall. But Jerry's not the trivia buff I am.
Next stop was back at City Hall. We (Michael especially) were starting to feel like ping-pong balls with all this bouncing from one end of Main Street to another and back again. But, I *really* wanted to see the Villain's float for the parade, and knew *someone* at City Hall should be able to answer the question. It took a bit, but someone was finally able to answer our question so we set off for Frontierland by way of Adventureland.
We didn't actually stop and do anything beyond passing through a few of the stores on our way to Frontierland, but at least this gave Mary a chance to see some of Adventureland. As we were wandering through Frontierland (trying to make our way to the area in front of the Country Bear Jamboree), Mary and Jerry decided it was their turn to get something to eat. I suggested Pecos Bill's Cafe, so they took off to find food while Michael and I held our spot on the parade route.
Only it wasn't our spot for long. Shortly after we arrived, it started raining. And no gentle light sprinkle either, this was a true Florida downpour. We, as well as a good portion of the would-be parade viewers took shelter near the Frontierland Mercantile. The rain lasted for a good 40 minutes, and Michael disappeared a time or so to find anything from a restroom to Mary and Jerry to trying to find a poncho. But he had no luck in the latter two searches.
Finally, the news came over the loudspeaker -- due to weather, the afternoon's performance of the Share a Dream Come True parade would be cancelled. So much for our second shot at seeing the parade. At least we'd seen it once.
Not long after that announcement, Mary and Jerry found us. It was still raining, but I had the only poncho of the group. Finally it was decided that, once again, I would carry the cameras and wear the poncho. Our nice new rain jackets, surprise surprise, were packed and neatly stowed back at the Dolphin.
I also learned from my mistake in Animal Kingdom and removed my socks so I wouldn't be walking around in wet shoes and socks all day. The shoes were sandals, so would dry out faster than my socks would.
Thus prepared as well as possible, we trekked to the rear of Frontierland to get fast passes for Thunder Mountain. While waiting, we did what just about everyone else does while waiting for Thunder Mountain -- we rode Splash Mountain. Only Michael, for some reason, didn't want to ride. So we left our stuff with him while I rode with Mary and Jerry.
We didn't have a very long wait (the posted "25 minutes" was nowhere near that), and I got to have a seat all to myself while Mary and Jerry sat in the row in front of me. During the ride, I pointed out a few trivia bits I knew about Splash Mountain, including the "FSU Gopher". The only hidden Mickey we were able to find was the fishing lure shaped like a Mickey head.
After the ride (and a pause to see the picture, where I was totally hidden by Jerry, who is of the "gentle giant" type), we hunted down Michael. We still had time before our fastpass return time, so trekked to Pirates. Jerry ran ahead at one point so he could smoke in the nearest designated area, and was amazingly able to finish before we reached him -- and we weren't moving very slowly, either. He really didn't want to disrupt our touring time any more than he had to since he was the only one smoking, and since I have asthma and wouldn't be able to stand with them in the smoking area, he did everything he could to minimize my exposure to the smoke. He's a smoker that I like. (I spend so much time bashing smokers in my trip reports, I felt it fair to praise a very considerate one to show that not all smokers are as bad as the idiots I usually mention in my reports. )
Mary thoroughly enjoyed Pirates, and after the ride we returned to Thunder Mountain for our ride on the "Wildest Ride in the Wilderness"! Our fastpasses were ready, but unfortunately we were placed near the very front of the ride. For coaster-buffs like us, that wasn't nearly as enjoyable at the back, but we could see that they had a back-up of several waits at the back of the train so, despite being slightly annoyed that our request for the rear was, for practically the first time, denied, we partially understood the reasoning.
As we stepped off the train and came back around to the rest of Frontierland, we could see that the decorations for the Halloween party were already starting to make their appearances. Some of the windows were getting their decorations, and floating above Frontierland and Adventureland was one of the giant balloon ghosts.
Speaking of ghosts, that was our next stop (after getting more "Where in the World" pictures) -- the Haunted Mansion. Once again we showed off the ring in the pavement as you exit the ride, and told Mary one of the variations of the story behind the ring. That's one of the things that make Disneyworld so magical -- their attention to the fine detail and touches such as the ring that 90% or more of the guests who pass through the ride will never notice.
After collecting our ghosts that would "follow us home", we continued on into Fantasyland. The only thing we had enough time to ride was, once again, Snow White. I wanted to do Peter Pan or Pooh, but they had too long of a wait. So Snow White it was, one last time (for me, anyway) for the trip.
Upon exiting Snow White's Scary Adventures, we turned toward the castle and who should we see but Peter Pan, standing up on the castle on one of the mostly-hidden walkways and waving to guests!! This wasn't something you see every day! I tried to get a picture, but unfortunately before I could, he ran around the side of the castle and disappeared.
So, we strolled back to the hub via the wishing well, and discovered *why* Peter was up on the castle. Turns out, Cinderella's Surprise Celebration was playing and it was Peter's cue! We paused long enough to watch parts of Cinderella's Surprise Celebration (which I never got to see live in its entirety with Michael, though I was able to show him the video back at the room). But, unfortunately, I couldn't stay long enough to watch the whole thing. The time had come for me to say goodbye to my husband and friends and return home.
Michael, Mary, and Jerry did go to the Halloween party and said they had a wonderful time, despite the rain. Rain kept a lot of people home, so that the park was almost deserted. One of the parades was cancelled, but they were able to see the second running from a distance (from Thunder Mountain area if I remember correctly) as well as watch the Headless Horseman make his run. Michael said it was even eerier seeing the Horseman run from a distance.
Here, the trip report ends for Michael, but I had just a little bit of magic left to experience.
After saying my goodbyes to Michael, Mary, and Jerry, I returned to the Dolphin via bus and ran through the rain to get the car. After bringing the car up to the covered drop-off/loading zone, I retrieved my bags and got directions back to the airport since this was the first time I'd be driving by myself from Disneyworld.
I did the usual mundane end-of-the-trip routine from there: filled up with gas, called my parents to let them know I was on my way to the airport, drove back to the airport (a very long drive when done alone while knowing your husband and friends are still having a ball at the Magic Kingdom). The drive to the drop-off zone for Emerald Aisle was even longer than usual since I missed a turn somewhere and had to circle back around.
Eventually I found the correct drop-off point and returned the car, then set off on the trek to find the check-in counters for Southwest. I searched, and searched, and searched, and searched... went the wrong way several times. I sure appreciated the wheels on the bags, because by the time I finally found the Southwest counter, my arms were aching and I was ready to drop.
I'd expected long lines at the counter, especially since this was a Sunday afternoon, but there was absolutely no-one in line! So I checked my bags then went through the security check (where I discovered that I actually had one more set of batteries than I'd thought -- the security guards found them ). Dinner was McDonald's, followed by a very long wait while I attempted to read my book and not think of the fun Michael, Mary, and Jerry were having without me.
Where's that last bit of magic I mentioned? Well, as my flight took off and circled over Orlando to head west and home, I looked out the window just in time to see the fireworks for Illuminations bursting into bloom below me. I've never seen fireworks from an airplane before that, but it was a very fitting and beautiful way to say goodbye to Disneyworld.
Or, rather than goodbye, "see you later".
Michael got up as soon as I turned the radio on, and I was up shortly after so that we could finish packing since we'd been too tired to finish last night. We ended up packing until about 10:30. This morning, being Sunday, we knew we wouldn't have time for the character breakfast downstairs, so opted to go to the Magic Kingdom before getting something to eat.
On our way out the door, I tried calling Randall again, but had no luck. That didn't surprise me, I didn't expect to reach him, but it was worth a try. So we checked our bags (with two claim slips since I would be leaving several hours before Michael would) and hurried down to the bus stop to wait for our ride to the Magic Kingdom.
We ended up waiting for about 15 minutes, but had a fun little show while we waited. Two girls who were waiting for the bus with their families (the only others waiting) spent the time challenging each other to do various gymnastic stunts. Mostly it was seeing which of them could do a handstand or headstand the longest, or the best cartwheel. I forget whether they were sisters or friends, but they were pretty close whichever they were. I think sisters.
The bus arrived and we had a leisurely ride to the Magic Kingdom. After the usual bag check at security, we decided to spend a bit of time wandering the stores. Even though we didn't end up getting anything, it was still fun to explore.
Finally, though, my stomach growled enough that we decided we had to eat. So, we opted to try a place we've never been in before: The Plaza Restaurant. I knew the one at Disneyland was really good and had heard here was good too. And, as hoped, the food was rather good for simple burgers and hot dogs and such.
Our service, unfortunately, was rather slow and mediocre. Nothing bad, but nothing as good as what we usually get at a Disney restaurant. Plus, we were seated right next to the door to the kitchen, and watching the servers come in and out so quickly behind each other started making me dizzy.
The thing that looked the best, but unfortunately which I couldn't eat, was the huge milkshakes they were bringing to almost every table. It was pure torture for someone lactose intolerant, who was out of lactaid (which sometimes allows me to eat milk products without problems), and who was going to fly later that day and thus have limited access to a restroom. OH I wanted one of those shakes so badly! (Hmm... now I'm wondering where I can try to find one here, because just writing about them is making me crave those shakes! LOL!)
After we finished eating, we hurried out of the restaurant because we were a few minutes late to meet a couple of friends. As I said at the beginning, the reason this trip was possible was because of a conference Michael would be attending as staff in the following days. Today was the day that two of his co-workers (and good friends) would be joining us in Orlando. Since they had half a day before they had to start doing anything at the conference, we'd decided weeks earlier that Mary and Jerry would join us for a fun afternoon at the Magic Kingdom.
We were supposed to meet them at Tomorrowland Terrace, but there was no sign of them. So, I decided I really needed a poweraide and the closest one we knew of was back at the Main Street Bakery. Since Mary and Jerry weren't in the park yet (ascertained by the use of cell phones), we decided we would catch them on their way in and we probably had time to get the drinks from the Bakery.
As we were buying my poweraid, though, Michael and I looked up to see Mary and Jerry charging past the window, heading for the Terrace. Michael ran out to catch them while I stayed in line then bought my poweraid and joined them.
After much "hi, how are you, give me a hug"s, we continued on our way to Tomorrowland. The first stop, however, was the smoking area and restrooms near the Tomorrowland Terrace. Jerry smokes, but is one of the most considerate smokers I've ever met. Also one of the fastest. By the time Mary, Michael, and I had finished our restroom break (which wasn't long), Jerry was through with his smoke break so we could continue on.
Our first stop was to ride TTA, which Mary enjoyed. This was, I believe, her first time to the Magic Kingdom, and it's always fun showing a first-timer around. The Tomorrowland Transit Authority (TTA) passes through Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, both of which Mary excitedly said we just HAD to go on. Since those are two of our favorites, we didn't complain at all.
As soon as we got off of TTA, however, Michael realized he still didn't have his ticket for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. He and I had already gone a couple of nights earlier, but Mary and Jerry wanted to attend tonight so Michael wanted to join them. So, Michael took off with a radio to return to City Hall and get his ticket. While he was gone, Jerry and I took the time to show Mary around Tomorrowland. I also challenged Jerry (who has even more of an eye for detail than Michael or I do) to help me find "Where in the World" items to take pictures of.
We were still snapping pictures when Michael joined us. While he was gone and we were taking pictures, Mary, Jerry and I grabbed fastpasses for Space Mountain (Michael had left his ticket with me so I could get one for him). Our return time was for 1:35, and it was 1pm now. So, since we had 30 minutes to kill, we decided to try Buzz Lightyear.
Buzz had a posted wait time of 30 minutes, however once we got inside we found there was almost no line at all. We had a lot of fun trying to earn points for our marksmanship, but none of us did that great really. And since the wait was very short, we came out of the ride with even more time to spare.
No problem, we decided to just get in the standby line for Space Mountain. By doing the standby line, we got to ride the left side of Space Mountain. The wait was posted as 30 minutes, but again it was less than 10. We were really lucking out on wait times this morning. As usual, we had a really good time on Space Mountain. Jerry took the very back seat, Mary the seat in front of him, Michael the front of the rear car, and I took the back of the first car with a party of two in front of me.
As we got off the ride, we still had a few minutes before we could use our fastpasses so decided another smoke/restroom break was in order. However, when Mary and I joined Michael and Jerry, we returned to news that Jerry had somehow lost his lighter while on the ride. He figured it probably flew out of his pocket on one of the bumps on Space Mountain. He was lucky enough to find someone who gave him a light in the smoking area, but now came the search for a lighter.
After another ride on Space Mountain, though, since our fastpasses were now valid.
The search for the lighter led us back to Main Street. I knew that at one time, they hid lighters, matches, and cigarettes under the counters of some of the stores on Main Street but wasn't sure if Jerry would be able to find them any more. It was worth a try.
We asked at the Emporium and the Expo Hall, but had no luck. As I thought, once the new smoking policy took effect (smoking in designated areas only), the parks stopped carrying any smoking paraphernalia. Jerry was able to find someone who gave him one of her spare lighters, though, so the search was successful -- even if his new lighter was a hot pink thing.
While at the Expo hall, we picked up a spare set of batteries since I was running low and didn't want to run out of them again. Then we visited the back of the Expo Hall where we didn't find any characters this time, but did find the trivia podiums in the back theater area. Mary and I stayed long enough to answer all the questions before we rushed to find where Michael and Jerry had disappeared to. Luckily, they hadn't gone far -- just around the corner in the Hall. But Jerry's not the trivia buff I am.
Next stop was back at City Hall. We (Michael especially) were starting to feel like ping-pong balls with all this bouncing from one end of Main Street to another and back again.
But, I *really* wanted to see the Villain's float for the parade, and knew *someone* at City Hall should be able to answer the question. It took a bit, but someone was finally able to answer our question so we set off for Frontierland by way of Adventureland.We didn't actually stop and do anything beyond passing through a few of the stores on our way to Frontierland, but at least this gave Mary a chance to see some of Adventureland. As we were wandering through Frontierland (trying to make our way to the area in front of the Country Bear Jamboree), Mary and Jerry decided it was their turn to get something to eat. I suggested Pecos Bill's Cafe, so they took off to find food while Michael and I held our spot on the parade route.
Only it wasn't our spot for long. Shortly after we arrived, it started raining. And no gentle light sprinkle either, this was a true Florida downpour. We, as well as a good portion of the would-be parade viewers took shelter near the Frontierland Mercantile. The rain lasted for a good 40 minutes, and Michael disappeared a time or so to find anything from a restroom to Mary and Jerry to trying to find a poncho. But he had no luck in the latter two searches.
Finally, the news came over the loudspeaker -- due to weather, the afternoon's performance of the Share a Dream Come True parade would be cancelled. So much for our second shot at seeing the parade. At least we'd seen it once.
Not long after that announcement, Mary and Jerry found us. It was still raining, but I had the only poncho of the group. Finally it was decided that, once again, I would carry the cameras and wear the poncho. Our nice new rain jackets, surprise surprise, were packed and neatly stowed back at the Dolphin.
I also learned from my mistake in Animal Kingdom and removed my socks so I wouldn't be walking around in wet shoes and socks all day. The shoes were sandals, so would dry out faster than my socks would.Thus prepared as well as possible, we trekked to the rear of Frontierland to get fast passes for Thunder Mountain. While waiting, we did what just about everyone else does while waiting for Thunder Mountain -- we rode Splash Mountain. Only Michael, for some reason, didn't want to ride. So we left our stuff with him while I rode with Mary and Jerry.
We didn't have a very long wait (the posted "25 minutes" was nowhere near that), and I got to have a seat all to myself while Mary and Jerry sat in the row in front of me. During the ride, I pointed out a few trivia bits I knew about Splash Mountain, including the "FSU Gopher". The only hidden Mickey we were able to find was the fishing lure shaped like a Mickey head.
After the ride (and a pause to see the picture, where I was totally hidden by Jerry, who is of the "gentle giant" type), we hunted down Michael. We still had time before our fastpass return time, so trekked to Pirates. Jerry ran ahead at one point so he could smoke in the nearest designated area, and was amazingly able to finish before we reached him -- and we weren't moving very slowly, either. He really didn't want to disrupt our touring time any more than he had to since he was the only one smoking, and since I have asthma and wouldn't be able to stand with them in the smoking area, he did everything he could to minimize my exposure to the smoke. He's a smoker that I like.
(I spend so much time bashing smokers in my trip reports, I felt it fair to praise a very considerate one to show that not all smokers are as bad as the idiots I usually mention in my reports. )Mary thoroughly enjoyed Pirates, and after the ride we returned to Thunder Mountain for our ride on the "Wildest Ride in the Wilderness"! Our fastpasses were ready, but unfortunately we were placed near the very front of the ride. For coaster-buffs like us, that wasn't nearly as enjoyable at the back, but we could see that they had a back-up of several waits at the back of the train so, despite being slightly annoyed that our request for the rear was, for practically the first time, denied, we partially understood the reasoning.
As we stepped off the train and came back around to the rest of Frontierland, we could see that the decorations for the Halloween party were already starting to make their appearances. Some of the windows were getting their decorations, and floating above Frontierland and Adventureland was one of the giant balloon ghosts.
Speaking of ghosts, that was our next stop (after getting more "Where in the World" pictures) -- the Haunted Mansion. Once again we showed off the ring in the pavement as you exit the ride, and told Mary one of the variations of the story behind the ring. That's one of the things that make Disneyworld so magical -- their attention to the fine detail and touches such as the ring that 90% or more of the guests who pass through the ride will never notice.
After collecting our ghosts that would "follow us home", we continued on into Fantasyland. The only thing we had enough time to ride was, once again, Snow White. I wanted to do Peter Pan or Pooh, but they had too long of a wait. So Snow White it was, one last time (for me, anyway) for the trip.
Upon exiting Snow White's Scary Adventures, we turned toward the castle and who should we see but Peter Pan, standing up on the castle on one of the mostly-hidden walkways and waving to guests!! This wasn't something you see every day! I tried to get a picture, but unfortunately before I could, he ran around the side of the castle and disappeared.
So, we strolled back to the hub via the wishing well, and discovered *why* Peter was up on the castle. Turns out, Cinderella's Surprise Celebration was playing and it was Peter's cue! We paused long enough to watch parts of Cinderella's Surprise Celebration (which I never got to see live in its entirety with Michael, though I was able to show him the video back at the room). But, unfortunately, I couldn't stay long enough to watch the whole thing. The time had come for me to say goodbye to my husband and friends and return home.
Michael, Mary, and Jerry did go to the Halloween party and said they had a wonderful time, despite the rain. Rain kept a lot of people home, so that the park was almost deserted. One of the parades was cancelled, but they were able to see the second running from a distance (from Thunder Mountain area if I remember correctly) as well as watch the Headless Horseman make his run. Michael said it was even eerier seeing the Horseman run from a distance.
Here, the trip report ends for Michael, but I had just a little bit of magic left to experience.
After saying my goodbyes to Michael, Mary, and Jerry, I returned to the Dolphin via bus and ran through the rain to get the car. After bringing the car up to the covered drop-off/loading zone, I retrieved my bags and got directions back to the airport since this was the first time I'd be driving by myself from Disneyworld.
I did the usual mundane end-of-the-trip routine from there: filled up with gas, called my parents to let them know I was on my way to the airport, drove back to the airport (a very long drive when done alone while knowing your husband and friends are still having a ball at the Magic Kingdom). The drive to the drop-off zone for Emerald Aisle was even longer than usual since I missed a turn somewhere and had to circle back around.
Eventually I found the correct drop-off point and returned the car, then set off on the trek to find the check-in counters for Southwest. I searched, and searched, and searched, and searched... went the wrong way several times. I sure appreciated the wheels on the bags, because by the time I finally found the Southwest counter, my arms were aching and I was ready to drop.
I'd expected long lines at the counter, especially since this was a Sunday afternoon, but there was absolutely no-one in line! So I checked my bags then went through the security check (where I discovered that I actually had one more set of batteries than I'd thought -- the security guards found them
). Dinner was McDonald's, followed by a very long wait while I attempted to read my book and not think of the fun Michael, Mary, and Jerry were having without me.Where's that last bit of magic I mentioned? Well, as my flight took off and circled over Orlando to head west and home, I looked out the window just in time to see the fireworks for Illuminations bursting into bloom below me. I've never seen fireworks from an airplane before that, but it was a very fitting and beautiful way to say goodbye to Disneyworld.
Or, rather than goodbye, "see you later".
