Living the Dream - Dec. 3 - 13 - with photos Finished 3/09

[bbangel]

Leaving on a jet plane

That final morning was really hard. I was still feeling bad and then there is the inevitable sadness at having a vacation end.

Mom had another waffle platter breakfast and I had a bagel and a banana. I saved half of the bagel for lunch on the plane.

Checking out was simple. We hadn't charged anything to the room, we just had a few phone calls to pay for. The whole thing took only a few minutes.

Magical Express makes you leave 4 hours before your flight if you have an International destination, so we left about 8:30 am. This was absolutely ridiculous as the counter for our airline didn't open for almost an hour after we got there. I did take the opportunity to buy a Dora the Explorer doll for my friends two year old. She is in love with Diego from that show. I like that you can shop at the stores at the airport and not have to actually visit the other parks.

The one bit of fun we had in the airport was watching people have to get rid of their liquids before going through security. One couple sat in some chairs next to us and pulled out several bottles of juice, ice tea and water and tried to drink it all. I think the man's teeth must have been floating! I don't know why they had packed it all as the restrictions on liquids had been in place for awhile at that point. I guess some people just don't pay attention.

We did finally make it on the plane and had a fairly uneventful trip back to Vancouver. Going to work the next day is one of the hardest things I have ever done!

Used one counter service and two snack credits. (Side note – all other snack credits were used for bottled water)


... I do know when I'll be back again. I have just booked a solo trip in October! I received one of those fabulous emails from Disney in January and couldn't resist the lure. I'll be back at Pop October 2.

 

[missj1975]

Great trip report, Thanks for sharing!!!

 

[oybolshoi]

Nice trip report!

I see you had Jack for your guide on the Behind the Steam Trains Tour - we had him too when we did this tour in October. He's great, isn't he?

Glad you had such a nice trip.

 

[bbangel]

Jack was wonderful! He was able to give a lot of information without it sounding like a lecture.

Thanks everyone for reading! I can't believe over 1000 people have viewed it.

 

[CourtneyandRyan]

So sad it's over =(

But at least you have your next trip planned! That gives you something to look forward too!

Thanks again for sharing with us!

 

[bbangel]

Some final notes about the trip:

I'm very glad I had done so much research. There was a potential to be very overwhelmed with all there is to see and do. Forewarned is forearmed.

Was the dining plan worth it? Yes. It allowed us to eat at restaurants that we would have felt beyond our budget. Some of our best experiences were at table service meals. Am I getting it again for my trip in October? No, as it wouldn't be a good deal for me alone.

We did pretty well on our budget. We didn't pay for any food OOP. We both kept our souvenirs in the $200 range (would have been cheaper if not for the Christmas shop!). About half of what we spent was also Christmas gifts for the people on our list (so two birds, one stone). On the whole this was a pretty reasonably priced vacation. In the end the total we spent (including airfare, package and spending) was about $2225 for 10 days.

We got two towel animals during our stay. A small (washcloth) bunny/dog (we couldn't agree on which it was supposed to be) when we arrived. And a Mickey head a few days before we left. We had lots of fun with the mousekeepers. We would move the smaller one around to different places in the room each day and they returned the favour. He watched tv, had some snacks, worked on Sudoku puzzles and read while we were away. The towel animals were a nice surprise but don't be disappointed if you don't receive one. And yes, we brought them home with us. They can't reuse them once they put the stickers and things on so they are gifts to you.

The longer we were there the more I wanted to come back. I'm even considering buying into DVC. If only money grew on trees! So be warned, you too may catch the Disney disease ODD (Obsessive Disney Disease).