jodyb
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 15, 1999
Liav and Jody's Excellent DLP Adventure 2005 –Last Day
Cast:
Liav (13)
Jody (Old enough to be her Mom...)
Last Day (for this trip).. Sunday, Jan. 16, 2005….
Sad to say, this is the end of our trip. We still had the whole day, though, since our flight back to Tel Aviv would take off at 9 PM. We decided to have a very leisurely day with no pressure to do anything.. just see where our feet would take us.
First, of course, we had the sad job of packing and checking out of the Sequoia Lodge. I had to make a final decision how we would get back to the airport. You might recall we had used Euro City Shuttle to get from CDG to the Disneyland Hotel very early on our arrival morning. They cost 75 Euros. I knew the VEA would get us back to the airport for quite a bit less. However, each evening I had seen the CROWDS waiting for that shuttle, and I knew it would not be the most pleasant ride… so in the end I decided to splurge on yet another private ride with Euro City Shuttle. I had lost their Paris phone number so I used my cell phone to call their number in Tel Aviv. They said no problem the driver will be at SL at 6:30… I asked if they would accept credit cards since I am almost out of Euros, but NO.. cash only. Okay, I just thought I would get some cash using my card… OOPS – my Visa PIN only works in Israel, and I never bothered to memorize my AMEX PIN!! Ouch! Why? It was Sunday so the person at the change window in the village insisted she could not call for any information and she could not call American Express for authorization. I offered to call my bank in Israel (Sunday is a work day here) but this would not help either apparently. Sigh… I did not have 75 Euros cash for the taxi so we would have to take VEA which does accept credit cards. Oh well. I again phoned Israel to Euro City Taxi, to cancel, telling them sorry but I don't have enough cash -and was told don't be silly - no problem at all- we will still take you - just send us a check when you get back home!! Wow. Really? Okay…
So, that's squared away… let's go to the park. But – wait – let's first go to EVERY SHOP in the village and see what pins the CMs are wearing today… and.. do I even have to tell you? Liav ended up trading ALL her starter pins – even the ones we'd bought with the idea that they'd be for NEXT TRIP!! Oh well. She did get some great pins and she was very excited about that.
It was past lunch time by the time I finally dragged Liav into Disneyland, and we went straight to our favorite Mexican restaurant near BTM – and AGAIN had chili and fajitas… one last time. Yummy as usual. We rode BTM (my all time favorite) a couple of last times… sigh… and then we went to another million or so shops to look at MORE PINS… At some point we took the railroad clear around the park (to rest my feet), and I think we also went on some Fantasyland rides. I didn't take great notes this last day for some reason. But I do know it was very laid back….
We had planned to go on Space Mountain, using our patches as Fastpasses… but when we got to Discoveryland and saw the huge crowds…
we passed. We do like SM, but we're not fanatics about it… so we can't say we rode it on its very last day (which this was), but we did ride it during it's very last WEEK… that will have to do! 
So we walked and looked and took pictures and told one another how sad it was that we were leaving and that we must come back soon…
When we could not delay any longer we took that last lingering look backwards at Fantasia gardens, and then finally turned our backs and walked back to SL…
AT 6:30 our driver was there – and I was SO glad I'd arranged the private ride. There were SO many people waiting for the VEA… and it was very cold… it was just so pleasant to be picked up and taken straight to the gate – no other stops, etc. I started to tell the driver that I'd spoken to the office in Israel… he cut in and said he knew all about it and everything was fine, he was happy to take us, they didn't like credit cards, but they had no problem trusting me until I got home. (and yes, I did send the check – I had to pay the Israeli tax in addition to the 75 Euro equivalent in shekels, but I certainly could not complain about that).
The driver took our bags right into the terminal and showed us where the line for our flight was…
Sigh. We're not in DLP anymore Toto….This is CDG. This is one place where I understand people who like to take mind-altering substances! Yuck! Get me out of here!!
Well, in a couple of hours we WERE out of there, winging back to Tel Aviv… and then taxiing back to Haifa… to our own beds. (where we promptly came down with a horrible flu, but that's another story!!)
So what can I say to sum up? It was WONDERFUL!!!!! Magical! Fantastic! Everything a Disney trip should be!!
We LOVED the things we did for the first time, such as Disneyland Hotel and Castle Club, Billy Bob's, Pin Trading… and we also loved all of our tried and true old favorites – too numerous to mention, but my favorite remains BIG THUNDER MOUNTAIN!!
We'll be back….!!!
Cast:
Liav (13)
Jody (Old enough to be her Mom...)
Last Day (for this trip).. Sunday, Jan. 16, 2005….
Sad to say, this is the end of our trip. We still had the whole day, though, since our flight back to Tel Aviv would take off at 9 PM. We decided to have a very leisurely day with no pressure to do anything.. just see where our feet would take us.
First, of course, we had the sad job of packing and checking out of the Sequoia Lodge. I had to make a final decision how we would get back to the airport. You might recall we had used Euro City Shuttle to get from CDG to the Disneyland Hotel very early on our arrival morning. They cost 75 Euros. I knew the VEA would get us back to the airport for quite a bit less. However, each evening I had seen the CROWDS waiting for that shuttle, and I knew it would not be the most pleasant ride… so in the end I decided to splurge on yet another private ride with Euro City Shuttle. I had lost their Paris phone number so I used my cell phone to call their number in Tel Aviv. They said no problem the driver will be at SL at 6:30… I asked if they would accept credit cards since I am almost out of Euros, but NO.. cash only. Okay, I just thought I would get some cash using my card… OOPS – my Visa PIN only works in Israel, and I never bothered to memorize my AMEX PIN!! Ouch! Why? It was Sunday so the person at the change window in the village insisted she could not call for any information and she could not call American Express for authorization. I offered to call my bank in Israel (Sunday is a work day here) but this would not help either apparently. Sigh… I did not have 75 Euros cash for the taxi so we would have to take VEA which does accept credit cards. Oh well. I again phoned Israel to Euro City Taxi, to cancel, telling them sorry but I don't have enough cash -and was told don't be silly - no problem at all- we will still take you - just send us a check when you get back home!! Wow. Really? Okay…
So, that's squared away… let's go to the park. But – wait – let's first go to EVERY SHOP in the village and see what pins the CMs are wearing today… and.. do I even have to tell you? Liav ended up trading ALL her starter pins – even the ones we'd bought with the idea that they'd be for NEXT TRIP!! Oh well. She did get some great pins and she was very excited about that.
It was past lunch time by the time I finally dragged Liav into Disneyland, and we went straight to our favorite Mexican restaurant near BTM – and AGAIN had chili and fajitas… one last time. Yummy as usual. We rode BTM (my all time favorite) a couple of last times… sigh… and then we went to another million or so shops to look at MORE PINS… At some point we took the railroad clear around the park (to rest my feet), and I think we also went on some Fantasyland rides. I didn't take great notes this last day for some reason. But I do know it was very laid back….
We had planned to go on Space Mountain, using our patches as Fastpasses… but when we got to Discoveryland and saw the huge crowds…
we passed. We do like SM, but we're not fanatics about it… so we can't say we rode it on its very last day (which this was), but we did ride it during it's very last WEEK… that will have to do! So we walked and looked and took pictures and told one another how sad it was that we were leaving and that we must come back soon…
When we could not delay any longer we took that last lingering look backwards at Fantasia gardens, and then finally turned our backs and walked back to SL…
AT 6:30 our driver was there – and I was SO glad I'd arranged the private ride. There were SO many people waiting for the VEA… and it was very cold… it was just so pleasant to be picked up and taken straight to the gate – no other stops, etc. I started to tell the driver that I'd spoken to the office in Israel… he cut in and said he knew all about it and everything was fine, he was happy to take us, they didn't like credit cards, but they had no problem trusting me until I got home. (and yes, I did send the check – I had to pay the Israeli tax in addition to the 75 Euro equivalent in shekels, but I certainly could not complain about that).
The driver took our bags right into the terminal and showed us where the line for our flight was…
Sigh. We're not in DLP anymore Toto….This is CDG. This is one place where I understand people who like to take mind-altering substances! Yuck! Get me out of here!!
Well, in a couple of hours we WERE out of there, winging back to Tel Aviv… and then taxiing back to Haifa… to our own beds. (where we promptly came down with a horrible flu, but that's another story!!)
So what can I say to sum up? It was WONDERFUL!!!!! Magical! Fantastic! Everything a Disney trip should be!!
We LOVED the things we did for the first time, such as Disneyland Hotel and Castle Club, Billy Bob's, Pin Trading… and we also loved all of our tried and true old favorites – too numerous to mention, but my favorite remains BIG THUNDER MOUNTAIN!!
We'll be back….!!!
) Thank you for sharing your wonderful holiday 
, especially from members of another British forum which is why I prefer the DIS boards 
