Saturday 4-25-09 (the title above is wrong)
Once we arrived at the WL we collected our luggage from bell services and then went back to the common area of the Villas. I wanted to switch some things around in my luggage and also change to long pants and get out my jacket for the ride home. This area of the villas is so peaceful and as I mentioned before, not used very much. (from what we saw) Our ME pickup was scheduled for 4:10pm.
We got out to the front of WL a little after 3:30. A ME bus pulled up for the 3:40 pickup. We asked the driver if we could take this earlier bus instead. He said it was not full and he could not see why we should have to wait. So we got on the bus. We had several stops before getting to the airport.
Everything went smoothly at the airport so I won’t bore you with the details. We did stop for a snack at Outback Steakhouse. As airport food goes, it was ok and besides, we really were not that hungry so it didn’t matter. Once again, AirTran came through for us with on time flights. We sure do like that airline. AirTran has XM radio available on the flights. DH had brought a set of ear plugs for us so we were able to listen to the Brewer game on the way home. It was the other teams (Houston) announcers, but it still was great to be able to listen. It made the flight time go by really fast. In fact DH and I waited until almost last to get off the plane because the game was not over when we landed. It ended up going into extra innings and we heard the end of the game in the car on the drive home.
When we were walking through the airport to exit, we saw a large group of military people lined up at one of the gates. There were many veterans and honor guards lined up. There were TV cameras as well. When we got past the gates into the airport there were hundreds of people waiting. Many had welcome home signs. From what we gathered, it must have been some of our fine soldiers returning home. I get really choked up just thinking about it again. There were so many families, and you could just see the anticipation in their faces. (It sure puts our frivolous little WDW vacation into perspective). We moved through the area as fast as we could. We did not want to get in the way of any reunions.
Some random thoughts:
It was really nice to have a whole week in WDW and not feel rushed. But even though we had more time, it seemed we did fewer things in the parks? Maybe our touring style is changing.
Although the whole week was nice, I did get homesick. It is a long time to be away from my kids, parents, sister. I just miss them and miss keeping up on their day to day lives. Texting sure helps with this though. A quick, cute message can bring you back together. And somehow I always feel a little bit guilty that I am enjoying WDW (again), and they are at home. Crazy, I know.
I thought traveling on a Saturday would be more hectic than during the week. I found that was not so.
I liked our arrival day being a “no park day”. It lessened the anxiety of getting there by a certain time.
It was really nice to share our favorite vacation place with our friends. We enjoyed our time together very much. But making plans and meeting up with others can add some stress to the vacation. At the risk of sounding selfish, DH and I were less stressed when it was just the two of us and we had no obligations to be any where at any certain time.
The Wilderness Lodge is not too bad. It took a few days, but I ended up liking it. It would not be my first resort choice (because we love the Epcot area so much) but if it was the only villas available, I would not mind staying there again. The boat transportation to the MK is very nice.
A fourth floor balcony is much better than a ground floor patio.
A massage is not so awful after all.
I don’t know if we were just lucky with the weather, but the third week of April proved to be great. One brief rain shower in a week. The temperatures were wonderful and very low humidity. We will definitely go back in April but will avoid Easter.
We really love the Epcot resort area. The fact that we can walk to most everything is what attracts us most.
I really do miss the Adventurers Club and Comedy Club at DTD. We do not spend nearly as much time at DTD as we use to. Jellyrolls is fun, but not quite the same.
DH and I did not get sick of each other after a whole week. Maybe it helped that the week was broken up a little with our friends there.
The long days and late nights at the beginning of the trip started to catch up with us after a while.
I am so grateful that there were no minor or major health issues while we were there…not even a sniffle.
The time we took to enjoy the resort pools was well worth it. You know that was new for us.
I can’t say that I encountered any rude people this trip.(except the teens at HM) Everyone was quite nice. Not sure if there were less rude people or I just didn’t pay attention to them. Every CM (and I mean every) were wonderful and helpful and made our vacation more special.
Watching wishes from the Contemporary is nice, but it is not the same as being in front of the castle to see it.
Kim Possible missions are geared toward kids, but big kids should enjoy them to… if they want to.
TSM is geared toward everyone. I just love this ride. It brings out the competitiveness in DH and I (not that he needs any encouragement). And the playing field is level enough that anybody can be the winner.
I am worried that DH and I are becoming WDW restaurant snobs. But we do feel that all of the signature restaurants we have tried are worth the price. But the off site prices (like Joe's Crab Shack) are very attractive too.
I can’t imagine that we will ever get tired of vacationing here. When I look back at my previous trip reports, it is very obvious that each trip is different and it has a personality all its own.
It is ok to take flash photos of your food. It’s a little intimidating at first, but just think about all the disboard people you will make happy. Isn’t that worth it? And it is also ok if you forget sometimes to take the pictures. Disboard people are rather forgiving as well.
Darn….that restaurant in Mexico is dark.
I hope and pray that DH and I can continue to enjoy WDW for at least the next 40 years!!
ENOUGH OF THIS ALREADY……
There is a large possibility that we will not return to WDW for 11 months.
This could be a big shock to my system since we have been going two to three times a year. We will be visiting
Disneyland in California in October, but that don’t count. It’s just not the same. Maybe that Tampa Bay/Green Bay football trip in early November will materialize. I will just have to wait and see.
Thanks so much for following along. It has been a hoot. I welcome any comments from any readers. Come on you slackers….I mean lurkers!!!