"Last day" management

We Be Pirates

New Member
Anyone have any ideas or experience on the best way to do "the last day"? Do you leave early and get going or take late flights to make the most of it? SUGGESTIONS PLEASE!! We are returning in 285 days...!!:xmas:
 

Phonedave

Well-Known Member
I try to get a 7:00 PM or so flight back. That means we are getting in around 9:00 PM - not super crazy late. We can be home by 10:30 PM or so.

I get up, do RAC, and put a carry on with swimsuits in bell services. We go to a park or DtD and then come back to the resort around noon, get the bag out of bell services and relax at the pool (if it is not pouring rain of course). We then shower and change (it helps if you are DVC, because you have access to shower faclilities at the health clubs - I used to LOVE doing this at SSR because you used to have access to the Spa locker rooms, now its just a shower room :( ) and eat a light early dinner (or later lunch) at whatever restaruant is in the resort. Finally, relaxed and rested we catch the DME around 4:00 PM
 
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We always drive to Disney.

It used to be that we would get up early, have breakfast in the room, take a few pictures at the resort and head out with many tears. :cry: We would always shoot to be on the road by 9:00 but it was always somewhere around 10:00.

Then a few years ago we wanted to do a little bit of extra shopping, and we had an Annual Pass that year, so we went to the Magic Kingdom right at opening on the last day, had breakfast at the Bakery, got our shopping done, watched the first MiSiCiSP and headed out for the day with many tears :cry:. Through this method, we got an extra shot of Disney magic and were on the road by 1:00. We just got to the first hotel a little later that night.
 
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Zenmeister

New Member
Maybe I've been doing the Magic My Way thing wrong all these years, but we have park tickets on our departure day, so we try to spend at least half a day in our favorite park of the trip before getting on the road (it's a two-day drive anyway, so we might as well have a little Magic for the road!).
 
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coltow

Well-Known Member
We used to do afternoon flights. Check out and hit the pool for a little bit. Now we do evening flights. We let the kids dictate what we do on the last day. In 2009 we asked 5yo what was the one thing he wanted to do again before we left...Kim Possible missions it was so we spent our last few hours at EPCOT
 
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Mimi

Active Member
We always try to make the most out of our last day. I figure, why squander the opportunity to enjoy a park for half a day - something I would kick myself for once we're back home and into the daily grind of ordinary life again.

We always get up early, pack and check our luggage. Then we are off to a nice breakfast somewhere and then on to the MK. We make sure to hit all of our favorite rides one last time and take a final stroll through the shops on Main Street for last minute souvenirs before heading out - waving goodbye to the castle. :wave: :( Then we head back to the hotel and take an evening flight home.

I always make sure we all have off from work and school the next day. This makes the late flight home easier to handle (and justify). Its nice too because it gives us a chance to unwind, unpack and talk about our favorite moments from the trip.
 
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ShookieJones

We need time for things to happen.
I can't make a trip to WDW without going down on the earliest possible flight getting almost a full day and evening in the parks and then an evening flight out on our last day. Last day is...get up early...Do the early flight check in at the resort jump in the rental car and have our traditional last day (actually half day) in the MK.
Last minute rides, last minute sights,sounds and smells. Say goodbye to the castle..;) and head home.
As one of the other posters mentioned it's going to be a few weeks of prozac and tissues, so I might as well be in the 'magic' until the last possible minute.
 
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SuprDav

Active Member
It's a 10.5 hour road trip back home for us so we grab some breakfast at the resort & get on the highway. I love WDW but its always nice to pull back up at home around 4 that afternoon too.
 
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Mikester71

Well-Known Member
We drive down from Canada and it is usually a 20+ hour car ride home (crazy as it sounds, we usually drive straight through on the way home :hammer:), so we usually sleep in a little on that last day, wake up and eat, pack the van and check-out of the Pop, and drive over to Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon and relax and swim for a few hours before hitting the road for the LONG drive home.

We did this the first trip due to Typhoon Lagoon not being opened until that last day of our vacation due to its winter rehab. It happened another time also. Now last year's trip, I believe we just hit the road at 9am so that we could try to make it home at a decent time.
 
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jlevis

Well-Known Member
We drive and it is about an 18 hour trip. We are frequent visitors, at least once a year, so the departure isn't as tramatic as it is for some. After coffee and some pastries at our villa we'll try to get on the road by 5 or 6am. The drive down and/or back are part of vacation and we enjoy them. Lots of CD's in the player as we begin planning the next trip. We'll talk about what our favorite part of this trip was and what we need to be sure to do next time. After a couple of hours on the road it is time for Cracker Barrel and a pit stop.
 
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CaptainJackNO

Well-Known Member
We drive and it is about an 18 hour trip. We are frequent visitors, at least once a year, so the departure isn't as tramatic as it is for some. After coffee and some pastries at our villa we'll try to get on the road by 5 or 6am. The drive down and/or back are part of vacation and we enjoy them. Lots of CD's in the player as we begin planning the next trip. We'll talk about what our favorite part of this trip was and what we need to be sure to do next time. After a couple of hours on the road it is time for Cracker Barrel and a pit stop.

Hey, jlevis
Always enjoy your posts. Your trip home sounds like ours, except we have an 11 hour drive. Gotta love Cracker Barrel.
 
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Plowboy

Well-Known Member
Last day at the world, wwwaaaahhhhh!

As we fly home to the west coast we usually take a late afternoon flight (although we did a 7:30 am flight once. NEVER AGAIN!). We usually get up early, check the bags and resort hop and breakfast before returning to the resort around noon, then DME to the airport for the 8 hr trip home. We usually arrive home about midnight (3:00 am wdw time). By then we're usually exhausted.

For our fall 2012 trip we have a 6:00 pm flight so am considering spending last 1/2 day in a park. It'd be a first for us.
 
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SyracuseOrange

Well-Known Member
We drive down from Canada and it is usually a 20+ hour car ride home (crazy as it sounds, we usually drive straight through on the way home :hammer:), so we usually sleep in a little on that last day, wake up and eat, pack the van and check-out of the Pop, and drive over to Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon and relax and swim for a few hours before hitting the road for the LONG drive home.

We did this the first trip due to Typhoon Lagoon not being opened until that last day of our vacation due to its winter rehab. It happened another time also. Now last year's trip, I believe we just hit the road at 9am so that we could try to make it home at a decent time.

You do a few hours in the water park and then a 20 hour drive straight through?

Bless your heart.
 
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SleepingMonk

Well-Known Member
Last Day?

Renew!

Full
 
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minnielaw

Well-Known Member
It has been great reading all the "last day" suggestions! We drive to WDW from KY (a 12 hour drive). We leave on a Friday afternoon and drive to Macon, GA where we spend the night. Saturday we arrive in WDW around 3:00 and have the evening for parks. We then leave the following Sunday morning and drive straight through to KY. :eek: It is a LONG day and the drive seems interminable.

This year we have decided to check-out on Saturday, instead of Sunday, and not leave WDW until late afternoon, spending the night in Macon on the return trip as well. Not sure how this will work out, but cannot face even the idea of that 12 hour all day return drive home. Too depressing!

Thanks for the last day ideas!
 
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heartodisney

Active Member
Great thread! We were always so disapointed on previous trips..getting up early..making sure all was packed, scrambling down to catch a taxi or bus to the airport, going thru checkin just to wait for hours thinking about what you might have been able to do for that time! We were able to drive down this last time, stay one night at our halfway point with relatives and relax (and repeated this on way back), we took a boat from the WL to Contemporary for a Monorail to the Poly for a character breakfast, then shopped..then a boat from there to the Kingdom (which we got ther in time for the opening show (this was the hardest part of the morning for me..my 4 y.o. wanted to know why we were not going in..very hard to anbswer this one) then a boat back to the WL, shopped a little more..some more pics...and then on the road..it was great! This will be our M.O. on future trips..just different b-fast ressie!
 
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JessicaB

Member
We've done it both ways with early and late flights. For us we perfer the later flights. We usually check in with the airline and stow our bags then head out to Epcot for some last minute fun before catching the DME. If we drive we'll stay at the park till closing before heading out directly from there. That way everyone sleeps but me.:)
 
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rodserling27

Well-Known Member
On my last day, I almost always check my bags for DME early then go and hit classic stuff in MK. Pirates, Splash, Space, Haunted Mansion, eat at Casey's, listen to the Main Street Pianist...etc. I love LOVE to get the late night flights back home and spend the last day just sort of meandering in MK
 
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We Be Pirates

New Member
Original Poster
Tons of great input...made up our minds...thanks!

I recommend Prozac and plenty of Kleenex. :cry:

Oh my dear you are sooo right...we left in 2010 with no return plans and were all basket cases...booked before we left two weeks ago this time!! After reading all the ideas we are going with the latest flight idea....extra MK time (Yay pirates)....aaaaaand added on an extra day. :sohappy: Looking forward to Royal Rooms at Christmas! Still debating DVC...but thats another thread altogether.
 
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