After closing out the Animal Kingdom, we went back to the resort and did one of the things we dread each trip. That would be getting everything packed and organized for the trip home. My wife did the organizing and I took our daughter to the pool because it didn't work out up to that point to get her in there. Seeing that packet on the doorknob is as depressing as getting on the Magical Express at arrival is happy. The things that make it bearable are the fact that after nine days, just being home isn't a bad thing. Also, after a few months to write these reviews, get our Photopass pictures done, and decompress a little, the next trip is within sight. The savings started already and I always pass the time by helping friends and family plan their trips. It is good "practice."
Our plan was to just eventually head back into the MK and get dinner at Pinocchio and stay as long as we could. It was well after nine and we made it back to the MK to finish out riding as much as we could. We had intentions of returning for a few hrs the last morning, but one never knows. We have eaten at Pinocchio every trip but one, and that includes my childhood trip that got me hooked on Disney parks in the first place. The menu stayed the same, so we wanted it again.
I think our daughter was a little sick of pizza so she went with the meatball sub and fries. She had the chocolate Gelato for dessert. All was just fine with this sandwich. I even had a bite just to verify!
The last trip my wife had the flatbread pizza and we all loved it. I went with the pepperoni with cake for dessert. There is no side with these, as I will explain later, but it was the second best pizza we have ever had at WDW, next to Via Napoli. It is much better than Pizza Planet or the resort food court pizza.
My wife had the cheese flatbread. Like the pepperoni, it was very good also.
Here are the desserts. We have a very portable chocolate chip cookie, the gelato and the chocolate cake. None is something to go out of one's way for, but they are all "safe" for certain.
Now, here's the weird thing. On our tray was a salad with cheese, eggs, olives, etc. We sat down and didn't really think much of it. I just assumed, incorrectly, that the pizzas came with a side salad and we just got one. We kind of didn't care that we only got one and just kind of picked at it. When we were getting ready to leave, I looked at the receipt and saw we were charged a meal credit for the mediterranean salad. I never even considered this since we didn't get a drink or dessert with it. Here, I first thought we were doing them a favor by not saying something, but realized we had a salad we shouldn't have. I just went up and explained it and they refunded the CS credit. That is a good lesson to learn because had I not looked, we would have been short a credit the next day. Always look and make sure the credits are right, even if you screwed up a little, because mistakes happen!
Looking at the salad, I probably would never get it as a meal! It looked like a side dish, not a main offering!
One other really neat thing about eating here is that unless you are dining during prime hours, try and get a seat as far in as possible and wave to all the boats on It's a Small World. It is a fun thing to do that really can't be duplicated anywhere else on earth!
We are big fans of Pinocchio Village Haus and will continue to eat there every trip, especially if they keep the flatbreads. Make sure you keep a lookout for the stray salad because it will cost you a counter service credit if you aren't careful!
After, we stayed late and just basically repeated rides we enjoyed. The last night is definitely bittersweet, but going home is just part of the process!
I was so upset! So as we were leaving the park on our way back to the bus stop, I was fussing at him and a security officer overheard me. He directed me to Guest Services and they scanned my MB and printed him out a hard ticket that was attached to all our parkhoppers and fastpasses. I thanked him because even though it would not have taken us long to go back to the lodge, I was upset with my son because he waited til that time to tell me 
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I agree that it would not be the same without the step sisters, thats kind of the whole point of that meal.
