elgerber
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2000
- Messages
- 24,411
Departure Day, 10/24/04
The cast
Me, Erika, 35, Disney obsessed for as long as I can remember
Dh, 37, lucky for me, while not obsessed, also loves Disney
Ds, 11, much like dh
Dd, 8, much like me, Disney Obsessed
This is the part of the trip I hate the most. Departure day. I am always miserable on this day. Most of the time I get in the shower and cry. While I am really sad, I somehow manage not to cry in the shower LOL. It didnt last long however. I know, Im a weird sap, but I never want to leave. Its made worse by not having the dates set for my next trip yet. We manage to stuff all our stuff into our suitcases, except the prints we bought, Ill carry those on, and dh asks the words I hate. Ready to go? No, is my answer, through the tears.
We pick up our rental car (for the only time this trip, what a waste of money) and were on our way. Dd is wearing her motion sickness bands in hope, that for the first time in our family trip history, she will not throw up in the car on the way to the airport. I cross my fingers all the way there. But, its a miracle, she doesnt!!! Might help that we didnt give her any breakfast before we left. We arrive at the airport by about 9:15 for our 11 am flight. We check in, and see Karen and her dh, and head for security. This is much busier than the little Mpls. Airport we flew out of. I would not want to be running late and try to get through here. Yay, this time I am not flagged for the pat down.
Since the kids did not eat yet, we have poptarts in the carryon for them to eat now. We look for a place we can buy some milk, and settle on Burger King. We grab a table, and already sitting at the table next to our is Karen and Pat again! The kids see the cinnaminis on the menu and ask if they can have some of those. So I get in the long line at BK, only to have them run out of cinna minis two people before me. Its Sunday at 9:30 am, how do they run out of food??? This BK was very unorganized and poorly run. So, poptarts and milk it is. We go to our gate and sit and talk with Karen and Pat and their family until boarding time. They are such nice people, it was fun to sit and share stories about our trip. We also decided we should take a picture of the 3 of us, which I will try to post soon. You might be able to see it here
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4cf23b3127cce99c0bccc5cc600000026108AauWbly3cti
We board the plane, and take off on time, how refreshing. Even more refreshing is the quick takeoff. When you fly out of Mpls, you sit on the runway forever waiting your turn. Here, we pulled out onto the runway and took off immediately. It was so quick, we were surprised we were already in the air. The flight was quiet and uneventful and we landed almost 10 minutes early. Time to go back to reality.
Final thoughts
I was so hoping for a test run of Stitch while we were there. We walked by so many times and never had any luck. The night of MNSSHP, they had removed the rolling bushes, but still no luck. I was so mad to find out they opened it on Saturday while we were at Epcot. Oh well, next trip.
We certainly come across our share of incredibly rude people while were are there, but there are just as many wonderful people. We had many great conversations with people we met on the bus on the way to the parks.
This is the first time we did not use our rental car at all. I guess we may have to consider a towncar or something next time.
MNSSHP was a blast. We actually enjoyed this more than MVMCP we did in 2000. We would absolutely do it again.
3 buffet dinners in 4 days is too many LOL. I dont think well do that again!
Food and Wine Festival, we didnt even really participate. I had some champagne and that was it. We are simple eaters, and while there were some things that looked good, I couldnt believe the lines. I was shocked people would wait that long for something to eat.
The crowds were definitely larger than the first week in December, but not bad. If you know how to manage them, it was no problem at all. We love the warmth of October for the pool, but were surprised at how drained we were by the heat on a few days. Not as bad as our August trip however.
I love the Boardwalk, and we are very happy with DVC. That said, every time I visit the Contemporary, I love it. I have always wanted to stay there, since I was a child. I think on our next trip, we will stay a couple of days there as well as the Boardwalk.
All in all, WDW is still every bit as magical for us as it always has been. I am not sure when out next trip is. Its probably at least a year and half from now. I do not know how I will be able to stand waiting that long!!! Its getting harder to decide when to go, now that ds is in middle school. We dont have any idea yet what time of year we want to make the next trip.
The cast
Me, Erika, 35, Disney obsessed for as long as I can remember
Dh, 37, lucky for me, while not obsessed, also loves Disney
Ds, 11, much like dh
Dd, 8, much like me, Disney Obsessed
This is the part of the trip I hate the most. Departure day. I am always miserable on this day. Most of the time I get in the shower and cry. While I am really sad, I somehow manage not to cry in the shower LOL. It didnt last long however. I know, Im a weird sap, but I never want to leave. Its made worse by not having the dates set for my next trip yet. We manage to stuff all our stuff into our suitcases, except the prints we bought, Ill carry those on, and dh asks the words I hate. Ready to go? No, is my answer, through the tears.
We pick up our rental car (for the only time this trip, what a waste of money) and were on our way. Dd is wearing her motion sickness bands in hope, that for the first time in our family trip history, she will not throw up in the car on the way to the airport. I cross my fingers all the way there. But, its a miracle, she doesnt!!! Might help that we didnt give her any breakfast before we left. We arrive at the airport by about 9:15 for our 11 am flight. We check in, and see Karen and her dh, and head for security. This is much busier than the little Mpls. Airport we flew out of. I would not want to be running late and try to get through here. Yay, this time I am not flagged for the pat down.
Since the kids did not eat yet, we have poptarts in the carryon for them to eat now. We look for a place we can buy some milk, and settle on Burger King. We grab a table, and already sitting at the table next to our is Karen and Pat again! The kids see the cinnaminis on the menu and ask if they can have some of those. So I get in the long line at BK, only to have them run out of cinna minis two people before me. Its Sunday at 9:30 am, how do they run out of food??? This BK was very unorganized and poorly run. So, poptarts and milk it is. We go to our gate and sit and talk with Karen and Pat and their family until boarding time. They are such nice people, it was fun to sit and share stories about our trip. We also decided we should take a picture of the 3 of us, which I will try to post soon. You might be able to see it here
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4cf23b3127cce99c0bccc5cc600000026108AauWbly3cti
We board the plane, and take off on time, how refreshing. Even more refreshing is the quick takeoff. When you fly out of Mpls, you sit on the runway forever waiting your turn. Here, we pulled out onto the runway and took off immediately. It was so quick, we were surprised we were already in the air. The flight was quiet and uneventful and we landed almost 10 minutes early. Time to go back to reality.
Final thoughts
I was so hoping for a test run of Stitch while we were there. We walked by so many times and never had any luck. The night of MNSSHP, they had removed the rolling bushes, but still no luck. I was so mad to find out they opened it on Saturday while we were at Epcot. Oh well, next trip.
We certainly come across our share of incredibly rude people while were are there, but there are just as many wonderful people. We had many great conversations with people we met on the bus on the way to the parks.
This is the first time we did not use our rental car at all. I guess we may have to consider a towncar or something next time.
MNSSHP was a blast. We actually enjoyed this more than MVMCP we did in 2000. We would absolutely do it again.
3 buffet dinners in 4 days is too many LOL. I dont think well do that again!
Food and Wine Festival, we didnt even really participate. I had some champagne and that was it. We are simple eaters, and while there were some things that looked good, I couldnt believe the lines. I was shocked people would wait that long for something to eat.
The crowds were definitely larger than the first week in December, but not bad. If you know how to manage them, it was no problem at all. We love the warmth of October for the pool, but were surprised at how drained we were by the heat on a few days. Not as bad as our August trip however.
I love the Boardwalk, and we are very happy with DVC. That said, every time I visit the Contemporary, I love it. I have always wanted to stay there, since I was a child. I think on our next trip, we will stay a couple of days there as well as the Boardwalk.
All in all, WDW is still every bit as magical for us as it always has been. I am not sure when out next trip is. Its probably at least a year and half from now. I do not know how I will be able to stand waiting that long!!! Its getting harder to decide when to go, now that ds is in middle school. We dont have any idea yet what time of year we want to make the next trip.
