Day Seven – Heading Home
As I was getting ready to head out to the Magic Kingdom the day before, I noticed my DME notice hanging on my door. I looked at it in horror to see that the bus would be arriving to pick me up at 300 am the next morning.
My flight, which would take me to Toronto first, was scheduled to leave at 700 and I was not excited to be heading to the airport four hours in advance. Instead, I ended up scheduling a Lyft to pick me up at 400am so I could get a little extra sleep.
I probably didn’t fall asleep until after 11 and I knew that alarm would be going off soon. When it did I was in sad to be leaving but excited to be heading home to my girls. I quickly showered, got dressed and packed up the last remaining loose items before taking one last look around the room and heading towards the main foyer or my ride.
I stopped at Gasparilla’s to fill up my resort mug with my first cup of coffee. The restaurant was dead silent with the exception of a few CMs cleaning up and getting things ready for the morning. With my mug filled I lugged my bags to the main area and waited for my Lyft.
It was eerily quiet as I walked through the lobby. I was the only guest lumbering around and there was only one CM working the reception desk. We said hello to each other and I sat down and watched my Lyft app as the driver was getting closer to the Grand.
I was able to take a few final photos of the lobby and reflected on how fortunate I was to have an extended stay at such an amazing resort.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2b8Xqif]
WDW 2018 by
Matt Mandrusiak, on Flickr[/URL]
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2b5T21Q]
WDW 2018 by
Matt Mandrusiak, on Flickr[/URL]
With that, my phone notified me that my ride had arrived so out I went to meet her. My driver was very friendly, even for four in the morning, as she opened the trunk to allow me to stow my bags. I hopped in the car and off we went. I was quite pleased I opted for a later ride but after seeing how dead the roads were upon leaving WDW, I was kicking myself for not sleeping for another hour. Oh well. I had no issue arriving at the airport, getting through security and simply waiting to get home.
The drive to the airport was super smooth and quick. I thanked my driver and made sure to give her a nice tip through the app. I appreciated that she was willing to pick me up so early and get me where I needed to go.
The airport was a little busier than the roads but from the ticket gate to security, to hopping on the tram to head to the terminal, I was sitting at my gate in less than 30 minutes. I loved every second of this trip but I was so ready to get home and see Kelly and the kids.
Both flights, the first to Toronto and the second to Edmonton, were as easy as I could have hoped for and eventually I had touched down back home in Edmonton. As we broke the cloud cover to land I could see that the ground was somewhat covered in snow. For mid-September, this was not a welcome sight. Kelly did send me a few photos during the trip to warn me that we’d been having some unseasonable weather but I went from absolute perfection to snow on the ground in a matter of hours.
After grabbing my luggage, heading back to my car and making the drive home, I came through the back door to be greeted by all the girls. It was so nice to be home, even with the chilly, gloomy weather.
And that’s where my reports come to an end. I loved being able to relive both of these very different trips and I most certainly appreciate everyone who has stuck it out, followed along, commented and shared in our adventures. Kelly and I love being able to share our trips with you and we love having the opportunity to live vicariously through you as well as we read your reports to get our WDW fix.
At this point in time, we have no firm plans to head back but I am working towards running the half marathon in January of 2020. If all goes to plan just Kelly and I will be making that trip and it will only be a few days long, but it would be another very cool experience that I hope we are able to live out.
We are giving Hawaii another go and will be staying at Aulani from April 6-14 so we may have to create a trip report for that visit whenever we're back. Fingers crossed this one works out better than last year!
Thank you again and I will post some closing thoughts in the coming days!
WDW 2018
WDW 2018