Day 8, Running backwards through the crowds at MK opening, farewell to WDW
Cast:
Me, 30 something in charge of planning everything, last time at WDW was 1992, and the only thing I really remember was that my feet HURT.
DH, 30 something who wants to eat well and have fun, remembers every detail about our trip to WDW in 1992.
Wishgirl, DD10 who’s wish was granted to go to WDW (uses a wheelchair, well, we actually use it, she sits there like a princess!)
Toothless, DD6 who lost her top 2 front teeth on our last night at WDW
The Plan: Up early, MK opening ceremony, catch some favs before heading back to the hotel for Magical Express at 12:15pm.
What happened:
Well, our last day was upon us. We were up early, and got our call from Mickey and Stitch, which I recorded with the video feature of my camera so Toothless could hear it any time she likes!
Toothless discovered that the toothfairy comes to WDW too! and even listend to her note and let Toothless keep her "special" Disney teeth, and left money.
After some photo ops in the room,
we actually managed to get dressed, ready to go, some pastries from downstairs and were at MK for the opening ceremony! I was so excited for this, getting there so early (without ADRs to head to) and getting into the park so I could go on Space Mountain with Toothless.
So, we arrive, pretty early, managed to get up near the right side of the entrance so we could get in and get to SM quickly, DH and Wishgirl were hanging back some since they were not into squishing in with the crowds. Wishgirl is a Stitch fan, so they were going there first, though I told DH that it was not the best attraction, Wishgirl would enjoy it.
The opening ceremony starts, and Toothless is somewhat interested. I’m telling her that as soon as the gates open, we are to head in, walking quickly so we can get to space mountain and ride AND get fast passes to ride a 2nd time before we have to leave. So, she’s all prepared to go when the gates open, until she sees “STRINGY THINGS” (the paper streamers they shoot at the very end of the opening ceremony). She turns around, and starts walking back the way we came! At this point, I am still unaware what is making her go that way, but she’s getting away from me as I yell to her and ask why she’s going backwards….then she says “stringy things!”, and I’m ready to murder her. She’s wasting precious Disney time on our last few hours to get some pieces of PAPER?!? Some people she walked by had less than pleasant comments, though I cannot recall anything specific now, I just know they were displeased at this kid, then her mom who were getting in their way from getting into the MK.
So, finally she gets some of the precious paper, and I stuff it in my bag, and we’re off again. By the time we got to the entrance of Tomorrowland, by the noodle place, that gate had not even been let down yet. So all was not lost by going backwards. We made it onto Space Mountain,
her now favorite ride, in the 2nd car. Here is something she wrote about it in school, this came home 2 days ago, I was amazed at the detail she remembered, though I have no way to tell if she even remembered correctly! Here goes, I’ll fix some spelling to make it readable:
Spase Montin
I was on Spase Montin! I had to sit alone! I was not scard! I put on my sete belt. First we went thro blue lites. I went on with my mom. We toc a sharp turn. I said “WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE” Wosh! Then it was darc with stars! We went down a HUWMOGIS BIG HILL! I scremed “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” Next we went throwbig red lites! Aftor that we went throw more stars and DOWN MORE BIG HILLS! Finale the ride was ovr I said “OOOWW, I want to go again!” Mom said “we will” There was a mooving flor to get outside! I wanted to go again so……..WE DID! THE END!
Anyhow, that was that ride (though she went again later with DH with the fast passes we got when we got off), we still had time before DH and Wishgirl were done with Stitch, so Toothless and I went on Astro Orbiter.
We then caught up with DH and Wishgirl, headed over to do the Carousel (one of Wishgirls fav rides), then DH and Wishgirl went onto the Haunted Mansion, while Toothless and I did Goofy’s Barnstormer (2nd ride, not with Goofy, Toothless was sad about that part). Toothless declared the barstormer (should have done it before Space Mountain) boring, and too short, so we went on it again since there was no line. Met back up with DH and Wishgirl……can’t recall exactly what happened next, though I recall getting my first and only Mickey Bar with Wishgirl while the two of us waited for DH and Toothless watching Cinderellabration again (we found some shade a bit away from it, near the Mickey bar cart!). Maybe that was when DH and Toothless went on Space Mountain again.
As we were about ready to leave Toothless declares that there is a shirt she MUST have in one of the gift shops, she saw it the other day. Why she could not have gotten it when she saw it the first time is beyond me! So I ask her what else was in the store, etc, so I narrow it down to 2 stores, we find the shirt. It says “first trip to Disneyworld” or something like that. I look at it, and note that it only comes in sizes up to 4T. Wishgirl loses it, crying, wants it anyhow. She says her dolls can wear it but she must have it. (she did have her own money left). I try to help her find another shirt in her size, but no dice, she wants what she wants! So we get a 2T, and go to pay, when I note how large the 2T size is. I pick up the 4T (we’ve already paid), and hold it up to Toothless (size 6x/7), and lo and behold, it actually looks BIG for her!!! She’s happy again, we switch the 2T for the 4T and we’re off. DH is ready to have a heart attack we were in there so long. It’s 1140, still 35 mins til ME pickup, and only 10 mins from the hotel……..we walk back, get our luggage from the bell station, DH runs to the Mens room when Toothless loses it BIG TIME. She’s crying hysterically, she’s sad, she does not want to leave. Real tears streaming down her face. I still wanted to get pictures by the Mickey head bushes (now the bus has moved, and they’re behind the bus), when the ME folks spot us with the wheelchair and want to board us right away, EARLY! DH is still in the men’s room…….Toothless is hysterical, and I say “sure”. They’re loading Wishgirl on the bus, DH comes back, gets on with Wishgirl, I manage to get Toothless’ pic by the bushes, she managed to stop crying momentarily. And I even get a pic of her in front of the bus (would have been a good one with Wishgirl too…….darn their efficiency!). Once we board the bus the water works start again. Mean mommy took a picture too!
I told her that the picture was for her to look back on and see how much she loved being there that she could cry so hard leaving! I guess I was glad for the tears so I could see that she really enjoyed the trip. Wishgirl is not very visibly emotional, and though I know she loved the trip, she didn’t react to leaving.
The trip to the airport was uneventful, and I wish I could say the airport was uneventful too, but………we got there, and went to have lunch in the food court. I was finished early and wanted to do some shopping. I had wanted to pick up a frame I had seen in our hotel gift shop before we left, but never got the chance, so Wishgirl and I went to Earport to see if they had it. On the way we found Snow White, sitting all alone, so I got some pics:
Look at both sets of hands, I though this was cute!
Meanwhile, DH and Toothless finished lunch and headed off to find me, then I took the girls the the ladies room, and DH went off the the men’s room, we were to meet at the security area and go through together. We get there and I ask Toothless where her backpack is (inside it, among other things, are her STRINGY THINGS, along with her Thsirt and most of her smaller souveniers), if she left it in the ladies room. She says she didn’t have it in there. I see DH coming and yell for him to go back to the food court and find that backpack! I did NOT want Toothless crying again! Luckily, someone at the food court found it and sent it to a security booth near the checkpoint we were about to pass through! Hooray for some nice employee/passenger at MCO that day!
Everything else was uneventful, the flight home, we even got out of the parking garage (“short term”) after 8 days and it only cost $75 with the Handicapped parking permit with out any hassle. Drove home, on the way getting some McDonalds for quick sustenance, and arrived home. Toothless missed Home so much she got busy making a sign to put in the kitchen:
Final thoughts:
My feet: Wow, amazing what really shopping and looking for the right shoes can do! Yes, my feet hurt some, but considering the amount of walking we did, not nearly as much as they might have! I was not complaining like DH that my feet felt like they had been sawed off and reattached!
Planning: All the planning was definitely worth it!! Just knowing we can go somewhere and be able to have a sit-down meal, wow! And the few we didn’t make, no big deal. We canceled those, no problem. Cindy’s castle: the meal was ok, interaction ok. It might have seemed better had Wishgirl been having a good day, but I imagine that a meal at Askerhaus might have been just as special (and, as I heard after we got back, from Toothless, who’s friend had just gotten back, “Ariel with FEET was there! We HAVE to go there NEXT TIME!”), with less hassle and hype. I bought into the hype, think I had to get the ADR there just because it was supposed to be so hard to get. I’ll try not to buy into it next time!
Ages: I think my kids ages were great for going. There were a few rides they definitely would have appreciated more when they were younger, but, overall, since we cannot afford to go often, I think waiting til this age was a good move.
Going with a group: I liked that we went with family, but that it was for only part of the time. Planning things that would appeal to everyone in a varied group was difficult.
Schedule: We were SOOOOOOOO tired when we got back. I would like to go again, maybe in a few years, and stay for 8 days, with 4 day passes. I think we could stay at the park all day (at a cooler time of year!) if we only did parks every other day. Then we could see the parades and firesworks we missed, and have the next day to recover, rest, and relax, and discover all the other stuff to do, rent boats, bicycles, see the boardwalk, explore other hotels. That would be fun!
Well, that’s all for now folks! Hope you enjoyed!
