Well, we are just in the door. Who's up for a trip report?
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Trip Report Completed - Relaxation, Stress, and everything in between - an August 2014 trip report
- Thread starter gwhb75
- Start date
Thanks. Hope to finish the report shortly.Just started reading your trip report...enjoying your pictures! We love Tim Horton's in Rochester NY
Thanks. DHS was fantastic this year.
Wonderful report!
Your daughter's supergirl outfit gives me an idea that my daughter will love when we go!
yeah, she was getting a lot of compliments on it (especially from the CMs she walked by).
Day 9 - Last day – Closing It Out In Style
So the last day is here. Last day always sucks. I was up around 7:30, made coffee, and then headed to the front door to retrieve the worst piece of mail there is.
Everyone was up just after me, and we were out the door by about 9:00. I will say that I am in a much better frame of mind today, and ready to finish this thing out properly. We decided that MK had to be the final park (which also bookends the trip perfectly, since we started at MK on day 1), So we walked over to MK, and got there just after 9.
The park wasn’t all that busy which was nice. Also, all the fall decorations were up (that's pretty impressive since they weren't up the day before)
We decided we wanted to try something new, so we went to Sleepy Hollow refreshments and got two Nutella waffles.
On our way to Sleepy Hollow
Delicious Waffles
We enjoyed them a lot. After breakfast the kids took pictures of us in Liberty Square (I picture our retirement looking something like this)
We then wandered through Liberty Square, and got our annual picture of the kids in the stocks.
It's hard to believe that they looked like this on our first trip in 2008 (our 10th anniversary)
and now they look like this
With breakfast and pictures out of the way, it was time to do attractions...and we definitely made the most of this day.
To be continued
So the last day is here. Last day always sucks. I was up around 7:30, made coffee, and then headed to the front door to retrieve the worst piece of mail there is.
Everyone was up just after me, and we were out the door by about 9:00. I will say that I am in a much better frame of mind today, and ready to finish this thing out properly. We decided that MK had to be the final park (which also bookends the trip perfectly, since we started at MK on day 1), So we walked over to MK, and got there just after 9.
The park wasn’t all that busy which was nice. Also, all the fall decorations were up (that's pretty impressive since they weren't up the day before)
We decided we wanted to try something new, so we went to Sleepy Hollow refreshments and got two Nutella waffles.
On our way to Sleepy Hollow
Delicious Waffles
We enjoyed them a lot. After breakfast the kids took pictures of us in Liberty Square (I picture our retirement looking something like this)
We then wandered through Liberty Square, and got our annual picture of the kids in the stocks.
It's hard to believe that they looked like this on our first trip in 2008 (our 10th anniversary)
and now they look like this
With breakfast and pictures out of the way, it was time to do attractions...and we definitely made the most of this day.
To be continued
last day continued
I’m not going to go into a list of rides we did because this day was all about rides, and you’d get “and then we went to…and then we went on…”. We did take full advantage of the FP+ system today (by the end of the day we had used something like 9 FPs and also did a few standbys). A lot of the rides were walk-ons in the morning (BTMM, HM, SM) which was great. Our final count was around 21 rides/shows by the end of the day.
Some random pictures
We rode mine train one last time.
I really wish this was a longer ride. It is really good, just too short.
Around lunch time we all kind of split up to get our own things. The kids went with the Oh-So-Healthy funnel cake,
Tammy got a Dole Whip,
and I got a BBQ slaw dog from Caseys.
All were great.
After lunch Tammy and I left the park to go finish packing, while the kids hung around the park (when we asked them what they did while we were packing they said they went and got a bunch of pictures done and rode Carousel of Progress (proof that we are raising future Disney fans - a teenager and a tweener alone in the park and they decide to do Carousel of Progress...love it). The packing went well and we were back out of the room in around 45 minutes. We decided to do loop on the monorail to get back to MK.
The monorail had to stop briefly and I saw where the keep the floats for the Electrical Water Pageant.
to be continued
I’m not going to go into a list of rides we did because this day was all about rides, and you’d get “and then we went to…and then we went on…”. We did take full advantage of the FP+ system today (by the end of the day we had used something like 9 FPs and also did a few standbys). A lot of the rides were walk-ons in the morning (BTMM, HM, SM) which was great. Our final count was around 21 rides/shows by the end of the day.
Some random pictures
We rode mine train one last time.
I really wish this was a longer ride. It is really good, just too short.
Around lunch time we all kind of split up to get our own things. The kids went with the Oh-So-Healthy funnel cake,
Tammy got a Dole Whip,
and I got a BBQ slaw dog from Caseys.
All were great.
After lunch Tammy and I left the park to go finish packing, while the kids hung around the park (when we asked them what they did while we were packing they said they went and got a bunch of pictures done and rode Carousel of Progress (proof that we are raising future Disney fans - a teenager and a tweener alone in the park and they decide to do Carousel of Progress...love it). The packing went well and we were back out of the room in around 45 minutes. We decided to do loop on the monorail to get back to MK.
The monorail had to stop briefly and I saw where the keep the floats for the Electrical Water Pageant.
to be continued
last day continued
We met back up with the kids at the front of the park and got pictures taken with Tink (using a FP).
the Dapper Dans
We also went back to MILF and SGE for the first time since our first trip back in 2008.
MILF was really good. SGE was OK, but I really wished I had been able to go on Extra Terrorestrial Encounter back when it existed.
We did some more rides (Peter Pan, IASW, Teacups, CoP, TTA,).
to be continued
We met back up with the kids at the front of the park and got pictures taken with Tink (using a FP).
the Dapper Dans
We also went back to MILF and SGE for the first time since our first trip back in 2008.
MILF was really good. SGE was OK, but I really wished I had been able to go on Extra Terrorestrial Encounter back when it existed.
We did some more rides (Peter Pan, IASW, Teacups, CoP, TTA,).
to be continued
last day continued
Dinner tonight was at Liberty Tree Tavern (one of Tammy’s favourites). It did not disappoint. A few meal pictures
After Dinner we rode BTMRR (using a FP), and then decided to head out
….but we weren’t done yet. I booked one last FP for POTC. Interesting ride to say the least. We went through the FP line and got to the boat. The gates opened and we sat down…and waited…and waited….we waited for about 10 minutes, and thought we may be evacuated. Apparently there was a software glitch so the system had to be reset. HOWEVER…when they were resetting the software, I guess it released our boat, so we went through the ride with no sound track going. It was very strange. We got to the drop section and that is where the boat was stopped. A CM came out of a “hidden” door by the drop and was looking around with a flashlight. Eventually the brakes were released and we were sent down the drop. Very interesting ride, and a sort of cool way to close out the night at the park.
After we got off of POTC we made the sad walk down Main Street for the last time. We had a few final pictures taken by one of the photographers (and used our sad faces).
Given the uncertainty of my work situation now we don’t know when we’ll be back, so we were all feeling a bit sadder than usual.
One last look down Main St.
And a little MK love
We decided to do one last monorail ride with the kids, so we did the loop from MK all the way around, and then got off at the Contemporary. We decided we’d finish the trip off back at the Top of the World Lounge.
We had a good time up there. We got some drinks
(a Pina Colava, a Colaval Smoothie (non-alcoholic) a Nojito (a mojito made without alcohol) and Mickey Mouse (Sprite with grenadine). We watched wishes one last time and then headed out. We got back to the room, changed, and headed down to the pool for a final swim. It was a nice time by the pool. Steph and I stayed to watch the Electrical Water Pageant one last time, and with that the trip was over. We headed back up to the room, booked a 4:45 wakeup call, and went to bed. Hard to believe the trip is over.
Leaving day to come
Dinner tonight was at Liberty Tree Tavern (one of Tammy’s favourites). It did not disappoint. A few meal pictures
After Dinner we rode BTMRR (using a FP), and then decided to head out
….but we weren’t done yet. I booked one last FP for POTC. Interesting ride to say the least. We went through the FP line and got to the boat. The gates opened and we sat down…and waited…and waited….we waited for about 10 minutes, and thought we may be evacuated. Apparently there was a software glitch so the system had to be reset. HOWEVER…when they were resetting the software, I guess it released our boat, so we went through the ride with no sound track going. It was very strange. We got to the drop section and that is where the boat was stopped. A CM came out of a “hidden” door by the drop and was looking around with a flashlight. Eventually the brakes were released and we were sent down the drop. Very interesting ride, and a sort of cool way to close out the night at the park.
After we got off of POTC we made the sad walk down Main Street for the last time. We had a few final pictures taken by one of the photographers (and used our sad faces).
Given the uncertainty of my work situation now we don’t know when we’ll be back, so we were all feeling a bit sadder than usual.
One last look down Main St.
And a little MK love
We decided to do one last monorail ride with the kids, so we did the loop from MK all the way around, and then got off at the Contemporary. We decided we’d finish the trip off back at the Top of the World Lounge.
We had a good time up there. We got some drinks
(a Pina Colava, a Colaval Smoothie (non-alcoholic) a Nojito (a mojito made without alcohol) and Mickey Mouse (Sprite with grenadine). We watched wishes one last time and then headed out. We got back to the room, changed, and headed down to the pool for a final swim. It was a nice time by the pool. Steph and I stayed to watch the Electrical Water Pageant one last time, and with that the trip was over. We headed back up to the room, booked a 4:45 wakeup call, and went to bed. Hard to believe the trip is over.
Leaving day to come
Leaving day
We were all up and out the door at a good time. One last picture of the artwork in the hallway
It was weird being up before anything was running. No monorails, no busses, nothing.
Almost eerily quiet. We took our bags to the hotel check-in and ran into a small snag….the people on the desk didn’t know what the Nexus cards were and kept asking for passports. I kept trying to explain that they were like passports for travel within North America. They didn’t believe me and had to call a supervisor to come over (we were hopeful they’d tell us we weren’t allowed to leave). Sadly, the supervisor knew exactly what the cards were, and our bags were checked without further issue. We headed into the lounge at the Contemporary to wait for the ME.
The ME showed up on time (it’s the worst feeling when you can see it pulling into the parking lot in the distance and know that it’s coming for you).
We boarded the bus and got seats up front. As the driver was putting the bags under the bus I asked Tammy for my camera bag…”I don’t have it”…kids?...”we don’t have it”….uh oh….I ran back into the Contemporary to find it sitting next to the couches we were sitting on. Glad I asked for it before we left otherwise the camera may have become a ward of WDW.
Some sleepy kids
The flights home were pretty uneventful (other than landing in Boston which freaked me out since you come in to the airport from over the ocean, so it looks like you are landing on water and then suddenly the landing strip is there). So that was it. A great trip. Thanks for reading.
We were all up and out the door at a good time. One last picture of the artwork in the hallway
It was weird being up before anything was running. No monorails, no busses, nothing.
Almost eerily quiet. We took our bags to the hotel check-in and ran into a small snag….the people on the desk didn’t know what the Nexus cards were and kept asking for passports. I kept trying to explain that they were like passports for travel within North America. They didn’t believe me and had to call a supervisor to come over (we were hopeful they’d tell us we weren’t allowed to leave). Sadly, the supervisor knew exactly what the cards were, and our bags were checked without further issue. We headed into the lounge at the Contemporary to wait for the ME.
The ME showed up on time (it’s the worst feeling when you can see it pulling into the parking lot in the distance and know that it’s coming for you).
We boarded the bus and got seats up front. As the driver was putting the bags under the bus I asked Tammy for my camera bag…”I don’t have it”…kids?...”we don’t have it”….uh oh….I ran back into the Contemporary to find it sitting next to the couches we were sitting on. Glad I asked for it before we left otherwise the camera may have become a ward of WDW.
Some sleepy kids
The flights home were pretty uneventful (other than landing in Boston which freaked me out since you come in to the airport from over the ocean, so it looks like you are landing on water and then suddenly the landing strip is there). So that was it. A great trip. Thanks for reading.
Quick February update - We got home and decided we'd at least start planning for our next trip, so when we hit the 11 month window we booked Saratoga for 10 days around the same time as this year's trip (August 2015).
However.....well.....it turns out that my job ended up being eliminated in the new structure of the company, and I was let go at the end of January. It was a great 13 years, but it's time to move on to something else.
So, for now, we haven't cancelled our trip in August. If I find a new job in the near future then we still hope to go, but we'll need to see.
However.....well.....it turns out that my job ended up being eliminated in the new structure of the company, and I was let go at the end of January. It was a great 13 years, but it's time to move on to something else.
So, for now, we haven't cancelled our trip in August. If I find a new job in the near future then we still hope to go, but we'll need to see.
Last edited:
mrdrift
Well-Known Member
Thank you for sharing this wonderful family trip with all of us. All of the pictures turned out really cute and beautiful. Its always so sad when the trip is over and you get on the bus and head to the airport. But you made it home safely. Sorry to hear of the job loss. Take care of the family under these stressful times, I sure you will find a job quickly and we will be seeing a pre trip report soon.
Thanks. I enjoyed writing the report and I like re-reading them myself once they are done (kind of like reliving the vacation all over again). The job loss thing "is what it is" (seems to be my saying as of late), and gives me the chance to do something else now. We are in a holding pattern with regards to a 2015 trip right now (we don't want to talk about/plan too much in case it takes a while to find a new job and we end up not going this year). Hopefully I get to write a 2015 pre-trip report soon...
Sudcaro- Sudcaro
Well-Known Member
Loved your report!
Sorry about your job, though. Fingers crossed for you to find something soon!
Sorry about your job, though. Fingers crossed for you to find something soon!
Thanks. glad you enjoyed the report.
jingle7147
Member
I really enjoyed your report! I'm really sorry about your job though. I hope you are able to find another one that you enjoy soon. You should always apply at Disney. Right?
Thanks. Glad you enjoyed the report.
We've always talked about working at Disney, but that's a big move (from Ontario to Florida). Hoping to find something a bit closer to home that will allow us to continue to go to Disney.
Thanks. Glad you enjoyed the report. We are fortunate that Steph and Liam get along so well (although they do have their moments).
Thanks