AussieAngel
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2006
- Messages
- 1,318
So the day had arrived. Our leaving day. Boooooooo!!!! 
But on the other hand, we were also a bit.... Yayyyyyyyyyy!!!!
Because I know it sounds crazy, but we were ready to leave. We'd been away for 3 and a half weeks, and we were exhausted! 12 nights at Disney World, with the crowds and the lines and the Brazilian tour groups and the Deluxe Dining can really take it out of you!!
But mostly of course, we were just happy to be flying home to Annie. Awwww.
I once read a trip report where the writer had said, "We're a bit Disney-ed out now, and ready to start exploring other places." I'd always hoped I would have that feeling at the end of this trip, but sincerely doubted it. And you know what?! I really did have that feeling!!
So we awoke that last morning to our final Stitch wake-up call and did some last minute packing and organising. Everything was pretty much done the night before - we just had to shower and pack last minute things. But before we hit the road and checked out, we had one more stop...
Breakfast at Whispering Canyon Cafe! Yayyyy!
We'd made a breakfast ADR for that morning, thinking we'd need to stock up our tummies for the massive flight ahead of us. And it was a nice breakfast! The food was quite delicious and our server was fun, and reminded me of Robert Downey Jnr. Hehee. I'd thought we might be really sad and miserable as we ate, realising it was our last day... but actually, it was a nice, relaxing way to say goodbye to Disney and all the food!!
Here's my breakfast skillet... Yep, all that food for just me!!
Here's Conan's omelette, just because there's not many photos in this update!
After filling up our bellies (again), we wandered back up to our room, chilled out on the balcony for a little while, and finally, said goodbye to our room. Bye room, thanks for having us!! We loved our room, it was sad to close the door for the last time!
So we headed downstairs and checked out for the last time. Awww, bye Wilderness Lodge! So pretty and cosy! We really did love the Wilderness Lodge. Would we stay there again next time? Probably not because there's so many other hotels we want to try as well, but we both fell in love with the Wilderness Lodge.
After checking out, we met our nice towncar driver, who was driving us to the airport. Why didn't we just go for Magical Express? Welllll... I'd heard too many horror stories about it being late, and I'm such a worrier when it comes to catching overseas flights, that I just couldn't risk it!! Our towncar was great. Very relaxing!
And so, after 12 night of crazy fun, we said our goodbyes to Disney World. Waaaaaah!! I'll admit, I felt really sad while exiting the Disney gates, and seeing the signs to the Magic Kingdom for the last time. Waaaaah!!
As soon as we got to the airport though, I perked up again. Busy, busy, busy! Nothing too exciting happened (which is a good thing, I suppose!) - we checked in and waited, waited, waited for our flight. We had about 24 hours of flying ahead of us. Ugh!! Our first flight was from Orlando to Los Angeles. Then from Los Angeles to Melbourne, but with a stop-over in Auckland, New Zealand. Whew!!
We had something to distract us though... this was Obama's inauguration day!! We were fascinated by the whole event. Nothing like that happens in Australia!! We enjoyed kicking back and watching the tv's in the airports, and more than that, watching people's reactions around us. People literally cheered when he was eventually sworn in. We as Australians just giggled. Hehehee.
So anyhoo, our first flight to LA was the most exciting, because Jim Belushi was on our plane. Heh! Not the most exciting celebrity, but still a celebrity nonetheless. You know, this guy!!
We arrived in LA safe and sound, and had about 5 hours to wait until our next flight to Melbourne. Zzzzzzzz! We really just pottered around and shopped and watched some more inauguration, and the time went surprisingly quickly.
Then we were off again! A 12 hour flight this time, all the way to New Zealand. Aye, aye, aye!! I slept a lot, which was good. And watched some more movies, and eventually, we arrived in New Zealand. Yay! THEN, we got on our next flight, to Melbourne. Aughghghhhhh! THEN, three hours later, we were home! Yayyyyy!!!
Conan's Dad met us at the airport to drive us back to his house, where Annie was staying. Woohoooo!! Only 30 minutes away from seeing our cat-baby!! I was so excited by then, I could hardly sit still. I just wanted to blurt out to Conan's Dad, "How's Annie?!" But first of course, we had to ask about how he was. Hehehee.
Anyway, so he told us that the sore on Annie's eye had scabbed right up, but now the scab had fallen off so it was looking a bit icky again. Gross, sorry. But that she still seemed fine and wasn't bothered by it at all. I just couldn't wait to see her for myself, and give her a big cuddle!!
So we eventually made it to their house... and I ran straight in to where Annie was hiding (behind a cupboard) and said hello to her! Yayyyy! She looked up at me with her big brown eyes, and.... went straight back to sleep. Heheeee. Yep, that's my Annie!!!
It actually took a lot of coaxing to get her out from behind the cupboard, when we were ready to leave. I think a broomstick may have even been involved.
Eventually we got her out, and I gave her a cuddle and checked out her sore... and it wasn't so bad, really. Probably not worth all those tears I'd cried at Disney World!! 
And so, Conan, Annie and I said thank you very much to Conan's parents for having her, and we drove home. Yayyyy! And it was so, so nice to be home. We all settled back in quickly and had plenty of cuddles and sleeps on the couch!
(These photos were actually taken a while after we arrived back, once her sore was better!)
Annie jumped straight back into our bed like she'd never been away...
Curling up in our blankets...
And went back to sleeping with her tongue hanging out just a little bit!!
Aww, it was so nice to be home!
Just to update you all on Annie, we took her to our vet the next day, who said the sore looked like something that older cats sometimes get when they're stressed or away from home. Oh dear!! We kept giving her the antibiotics and put cream on it each day, and eventually it was all cleared up, and now she's back to normal! Phew!!
(On another note, a few days after we arrived home, Annie fell off our couch and really hurt her back. I know, right?! Cats are meant to land on their feet... but not our Annie!! She was really, really sluggish for a long time, but she's better on that front now too! Phew! It was a rough few weeks for her, but she's a fighter!!)
And so, we were happy to be home, and our big Disney trip had come to an end!
... but also
!
Next up... My final little review of our adventures!!

But on the other hand, we were also a bit.... Yayyyyyyyyyy!!!!

Because I know it sounds crazy, but we were ready to leave. We'd been away for 3 and a half weeks, and we were exhausted! 12 nights at Disney World, with the crowds and the lines and the Brazilian tour groups and the Deluxe Dining can really take it out of you!!
But mostly of course, we were just happy to be flying home to Annie. Awwww.
I once read a trip report where the writer had said, "We're a bit Disney-ed out now, and ready to start exploring other places." I'd always hoped I would have that feeling at the end of this trip, but sincerely doubted it. And you know what?! I really did have that feeling!!
So we awoke that last morning to our final Stitch wake-up call and did some last minute packing and organising. Everything was pretty much done the night before - we just had to shower and pack last minute things. But before we hit the road and checked out, we had one more stop...
Breakfast at Whispering Canyon Cafe! Yayyyy!

We'd made a breakfast ADR for that morning, thinking we'd need to stock up our tummies for the massive flight ahead of us. And it was a nice breakfast! The food was quite delicious and our server was fun, and reminded me of Robert Downey Jnr. Hehee. I'd thought we might be really sad and miserable as we ate, realising it was our last day... but actually, it was a nice, relaxing way to say goodbye to Disney and all the food!!
Here's my breakfast skillet... Yep, all that food for just me!!


Here's Conan's omelette, just because there's not many photos in this update!

After filling up our bellies (again), we wandered back up to our room, chilled out on the balcony for a little while, and finally, said goodbye to our room. Bye room, thanks for having us!! We loved our room, it was sad to close the door for the last time!
So we headed downstairs and checked out for the last time. Awww, bye Wilderness Lodge! So pretty and cosy! We really did love the Wilderness Lodge. Would we stay there again next time? Probably not because there's so many other hotels we want to try as well, but we both fell in love with the Wilderness Lodge.

After checking out, we met our nice towncar driver, who was driving us to the airport. Why didn't we just go for Magical Express? Welllll... I'd heard too many horror stories about it being late, and I'm such a worrier when it comes to catching overseas flights, that I just couldn't risk it!! Our towncar was great. Very relaxing!
And so, after 12 night of crazy fun, we said our goodbyes to Disney World. Waaaaaah!! I'll admit, I felt really sad while exiting the Disney gates, and seeing the signs to the Magic Kingdom for the last time. Waaaaah!!

As soon as we got to the airport though, I perked up again. Busy, busy, busy! Nothing too exciting happened (which is a good thing, I suppose!) - we checked in and waited, waited, waited for our flight. We had about 24 hours of flying ahead of us. Ugh!! Our first flight was from Orlando to Los Angeles. Then from Los Angeles to Melbourne, but with a stop-over in Auckland, New Zealand. Whew!!
We had something to distract us though... this was Obama's inauguration day!! We were fascinated by the whole event. Nothing like that happens in Australia!! We enjoyed kicking back and watching the tv's in the airports, and more than that, watching people's reactions around us. People literally cheered when he was eventually sworn in. We as Australians just giggled. Hehehee.
So anyhoo, our first flight to LA was the most exciting, because Jim Belushi was on our plane. Heh! Not the most exciting celebrity, but still a celebrity nonetheless. You know, this guy!!

We arrived in LA safe and sound, and had about 5 hours to wait until our next flight to Melbourne. Zzzzzzzz! We really just pottered around and shopped and watched some more inauguration, and the time went surprisingly quickly.

Then we were off again! A 12 hour flight this time, all the way to New Zealand. Aye, aye, aye!! I slept a lot, which was good. And watched some more movies, and eventually, we arrived in New Zealand. Yay! THEN, we got on our next flight, to Melbourne. Aughghghhhhh! THEN, three hours later, we were home! Yayyyyy!!!
Conan's Dad met us at the airport to drive us back to his house, where Annie was staying. Woohoooo!! Only 30 minutes away from seeing our cat-baby!! I was so excited by then, I could hardly sit still. I just wanted to blurt out to Conan's Dad, "How's Annie?!" But first of course, we had to ask about how he was. Hehehee.
Anyway, so he told us that the sore on Annie's eye had scabbed right up, but now the scab had fallen off so it was looking a bit icky again. Gross, sorry. But that she still seemed fine and wasn't bothered by it at all. I just couldn't wait to see her for myself, and give her a big cuddle!!
So we eventually made it to their house... and I ran straight in to where Annie was hiding (behind a cupboard) and said hello to her! Yayyyy! She looked up at me with her big brown eyes, and.... went straight back to sleep. Heheeee. Yep, that's my Annie!!!
It actually took a lot of coaxing to get her out from behind the cupboard, when we were ready to leave. I think a broomstick may have even been involved.


And so, Conan, Annie and I said thank you very much to Conan's parents for having her, and we drove home. Yayyyy! And it was so, so nice to be home. We all settled back in quickly and had plenty of cuddles and sleeps on the couch!

(These photos were actually taken a while after we arrived back, once her sore was better!)
Annie jumped straight back into our bed like she'd never been away...

Curling up in our blankets...

And went back to sleeping with her tongue hanging out just a little bit!!


Aww, it was so nice to be home!
Just to update you all on Annie, we took her to our vet the next day, who said the sore looked like something that older cats sometimes get when they're stressed or away from home. Oh dear!! We kept giving her the antibiotics and put cream on it each day, and eventually it was all cleared up, and now she's back to normal! Phew!!
(On another note, a few days after we arrived home, Annie fell off our couch and really hurt her back. I know, right?! Cats are meant to land on their feet... but not our Annie!! She was really, really sluggish for a long time, but she's better on that front now too! Phew! It was a rough few weeks for her, but she's a fighter!!)
And so, we were happy to be home, and our big Disney trip had come to an end!


Next up... My final little review of our adventures!!