I awoke one last time to that familiar wake-up call. Although this time, I didn't bother listening to Mickey's message. Now that I think about it, I wonder if
DCL has a different wake-up message for debarkation day? We got up around 7 a.m., took showers, and got dressed. The nice part of having to send off all your luggage the night before, is that there really isn't much to do that last morning. We made one final walk through of the two rooms, then headed down to A.P. for our final breakfast. Thanks to me, DW made the journey downstairs barefoot. I'm sure at least a few people got a chuckle! I offered my socks to her, but she took one look at the holes in the heals and turned me down. Unlike our last cruise, our same waiters were there for us for the last breakfast. DMom and DSis were already at the table and had just ordered. In a strange twist of fate, DSis happened to have an extra pair of socks in her purse.
I have no idea why, but it worked out great. We ate a light meal, said our goodbyes to the waitstaff and walked back towards the lobby. This is when it really set in-the vacation was over. DSis and DMom went back to use the restroom, and we told them we would meet down in customs. We left the boat, went down into the luggage hold (Customs area) and found a porter to help with all our suitcases. It happened to be the same guy who took our bags a week ago. What a character this guy is. I know they don't work for DCL, but this guy definetaly could! While we were loading the bags, DS2 disappeared. DW and I had about 30 seconds of THAT FEELING you get when you can't find a child. It seems to last more like an hour, and your heart just stops. Then I spotted him with a cast member over at the lost and found table. Where else would a lost child be? The porter knew exactly which customs agent to go to, and he simply waved us right through. I had reserved a rental van through Budget, so we dropped the bags at the curb, DW and the kids sat in the lobby entrance, and I went out to the street to the clearly marked Budget shuttle waiting area.
It didn't take me too long to realize that we were no longer in the Carribean-it was freezing out! We were all still dressed in shorts and short-sleeves. Anyway, it took about 25 minutes for the Budget van to arrive. I was the only DCL passenger to get in. But we then went over to the Carnival terminal, and LOADED up the van. It was a ten minute trip over to their office, five minutes worth of paperwork (TIP: sign up for RapidRez), and back to the terminal to pick up the family.
Now our flight didn't leave MCO until 8 p.m., so we had planned on going to SeaWorld for the day. As we left the Port Canaveral area, the cold, cloudy day turned into a cold, rainy day. We really wanted to see SeaWorld, as we had never been there, but this didn't seem like the type of day to see it. I also wasn't too anxious to drop another $300 in admission tickets after I saw the final stateroom charge statement that morning.
When we booked the WDW portion of our trip, Disney automatically upgraded our Park Hopper passes to include an extra day. So we called WDW and asked if that extra day was still valid. They pulled up our reservation and told us that today was the last day they could be used-perfect! Back to the Magic Kingdom it was. Half way back, DD1 got car sick all over herself and the rental. She had just spent an entire week at sea and was totally fine, but twenty minutes in a car, and up came breakfast.
I just don't get it! When we got to the MK parking lot, we spent twenty minutes going through suitcases, and had everyone change into some warmer clothes. I also cleaned out the van the best I could-didn't need any surcharges on the rental fee.
I was quite surprised at how busy the park was considering the weather. Then again, when you come to WDW for vacation, you can't let the weather stop you. The first stop was to the ice cream shop on Main St. It was completely empty. They must have known we were from New England. Only people from cold climates would think about eating ice cream on a cold, rainy day. And why is it that this was the first food item that the kids actually finished for the first time in two weeks. Now that we are not on a meal plan, or on a cruise with unlimited food, they decide to get their appetites back-typical! We then walked around and rode a few of our favorite rides one last time. We were able to get on Space Mountain, Dumbo, and Winnie the Pooh. We were walking by It's a Small World when the sky opened up. We ran in there for cover, and ended up riding that again.
It was kind of surreal walking around MK this day. I was trying to take in as much as I could, because who knows when/if I will ever be here again. I made this point to the kids also-not that they listen to stuff like that. Even with the crummy weather, it was a nice way to ease back to the reality of going home. We left the park around 4 p.m., and drove back to the airport.
The rest of the day was rather uneventful. Dropped the luggage and the family off at the Southwest terminal. Brought the car back to Budget (right downstairs), and walked back over to meet them. We got through security quickly, and took the tram out to the terminal. We got some dinner at McD's and Sbarro, then went to our gate awaiting the flight. About half the passengers were young families, and the other half were adults without kids (making comments about how unfair it was that families get to board first).
One guy was obviously saying it so that we could all hear him, so I offered him one of my kids, if he wanted to deal with them for the whole flight. The kids were actually very good, considering Southwest doesn't have individual T.V.'s like JetBlue. DD2 didn't have her own seat, but she fell asleep on my lap the minute we sat down, and didn't wake up until we landed. Boy did I luck out there!
We arrived back in Providence around 11 p.m., and the weather was pretty much the same as it was in Orlando.
That is it. All-in-all, it was the longest and best vacation that DW or I had ever taken. Months and months of obsessive planning makes it last longer than it really does. Unfortunetaly, when it is over-it's over. That is why these trip reports are so great. Writing them keeps the memories fresh in your head, and helps you escape from everyday life for the first few weeks after getting home. I know I plan on printing up this TR and putting it in the photo album with all the pictures from the vacation. Then we will have both a pictoral and literary review of all our experiences.
As I get ready to post this, I see that the countdown for my next DCL cruise is at about 15 1/2 months. That is just about the time when we began obsessing for this past vacation. Perfect, the TR bridged the gap! L.A., here we come!
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