Off to Neverland...A BOGO Trip Report! PG 44 ~ It's over

[princessjv]

Okay, I've been wrapped up in my very first PTA meeting, Tink 1st day of BIG GIRL SCHOOL (ECFE Class) soccer and final preparations for our Fall Fundraiser. Busy work. But I love it! I am working on the last day, after we come home from Gramma's. Promise.

 

[DisneyJo]

Can't wait

 

[princessjv]

Now it’s time to saw goodbye to all our family. M-I-C, see ya real soon! K-E-Y, Why? Because we like you! M…O…U…S…EEEEEEEE!


Our last moments with the mouse… I have expressed it before, and I know most reading this agree…it is sad to leave.


We like to see the MK on our first day in the parks and we also like to see it just before we go home. It is our way of a final goodbye. We suck up all the magic we can, because when the dawn rises, we will be leaving for the real world. A world not filled with magic, a world not filled with peace. And sadly, we see very few lime green Mickey heads in our real world.


We arrived on our final visit, knowing the routine to enter well. To what had become old hat by this point, we opened our bags, prepared our entry cards and fingers for that one last scan, to enter our ‘happy place’. We would walk under that sign that hangs high above as you enter. The sign, which reminds you to leave the world behind, as you are about to enter a place where your dreams can come true. You are entering a place where magic is everywhere, as long as you allow yourself to believe.


This is our Happy Place.


Yes, it is true we have a very happy home. But there is something special about escaping our normal life, which we lead 350 days a year. Escaping the bills, phone, emails, and world news about who is trying to hurt whom, carpools and bickers between neighbors over how one should landscape their yard. This is a place where the outside world doesn’t exist, just long enough for you to believe in yourself, believe the world is filled with only good. Long enough for you to open your heart and let the child within escape from reality. Long enough to open your mind and let yourself visualize magic. This is the place where your dreams can come true. As small or big as they are, you just have to believe.


We took the last walk up Main Street, slowly walking, enjoying every step we took. We made sure to take in the sounds of people excited, children both crying and laughing. We watched as a Balloon CM handed a extra large, over priced, size of TINK princess balloon to a young girl. The smile on her face, told her parents and everyone around that the balloon was worth a million dollars. We passed the Bakery and took note of the line extending from the building, wondering how many of those people where in line for one the famous Ice Cream Cookie sandwiches? When we came to the center, just in front of the castle, we smelled the charm of freshly popped WDW popcorn. My DH & I smiled at each other as from the double wide screeches of Canwegetsomepopcornmomanddad? Came forcefully from below. To date, I have never been able to figure out just what WDW does to their popcorn to make it taste so much better there.

It was then that we realized that this would be our final time to enjoy the WDW popcorn & the ice cream sandwiches. DH and I split up and within minutes…well make that 15…we met back, in front of the castle. Together we shared some time eating our popcorn and quickly melting ice cream sandwich. We laughed, we reminisced about the fun vacation we had had. We planned what things were must do’s for the remainder of the evening.

Lil’l Diz picked ‘Big Thunder Mountain Rail Road’, Daddy picked ‘Peter Pan’, I chose ‘It’s a small world’ for TINK and for me it was ‘WISHES’. We were able to hit all of our must do’s and even threw a few in for bonus’. Not one person was disappointed when we left that evening.


I held my children tight as we watched Wishes for a final time. I sung to them the Wishes song, quietly to not disturb those around. We swayed to the music and cheered once again, for Tink to safely fly home. When it was all over with and done, we waited in front of the castle. Tears streaming down my face, I shared a funnel cake with my family, as the castle turned colors behind us. Although funnel cakes are pieces of yum-yum, they are not the cleanest of snacks. By the time our family was done with our treat, each one
of us was covered in white, sweet powder. But we were happy, very happy.


As we did, as we entered the MK that evening, we took our time walking down Main Street. This time would be our last, until next time. We always hope it will be real soon, but with life’s ever changes in the real world, you just never know for sure when you can return.


On our way out, I made sure to stop in every store. I was looking them over, from top to bottom. I needed to make sure that had purchased all of the magic that I wanted to bring back to our real world. Lil’ Diz was also on a mission. My DH & I had told him that he could pick out one toy on our last day. Something special, but within limits. Lil’ Diz browsed those stores, from top to bottom and then bottom to top again. Searching, rationalizing with himself, to find that ONE thing he wanted most. It is a memory that will never leave me. My little boy, so grown up, was picking out something to remember his happy times. After much search and discovery, he chose a Power Ranger. I didn’t question his decision. I knew that what ever made him choose that toy, was a well thought out. It wasn’t until we were on the plane home that my sweet little boy asked to play with his new Power Ranger. He looked up at me and said, “Mommy. Do you know why I chose this Power Ranger?” To which I replied, “No, would you like to tell me?” “I chose this Power Ranger because he is the coolest of the Power Rangers. He came up to me and introduced himself to me at the Parade. I am pretty sure he would like to be my friend.” With that, I put my arm around him and gave him a hug. I knew he ‘got’ the magic and was taking it home with him.


One hour after park close, we were on our way out the gates. We were not alone, though. There were a few hundred people leaving with us. All had won a ‘Dream’ to stay in the park for one hour after park close. They were granted the park to them selves for one hour of unlimited fun, without lines. Mickey was there to wave goodbye to them and us. It was a wonderful way to leave on our last night. Although we were not granted the ‘Wish’ to have the park to ourselves, we were given the gift of one final goodbye to our pal Mickey. And as we turned for our final view of the castle, it sparkled in pixie dust and then went dark.


We had witness the Kiss Good Night.


We waved to Mickey and said our goodbyes and then took that final step out of the park, until next time. Tears streamed down my face. Not for the sadness of leaving, but for the happiness for all that I held in my heart. I was thankful for the happy memories that I shared with those who I love the very most and the magic that had lit our lives.


Up Next: We leave WDW ~ Pg 44

 

[KatGarcia]

OK Ya got me! I'm all teary eyed over here! You painted a wonderful picture and I am seriously touched by it. I'm so glad you had a wonderful last night, you all deserve it!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Sounds like you had the perfect last night at the MK. I am so sad that this report is coming to an end.

 

[Marion]

You got me too Thank you for sharing your trip with us... I know it's been a rough road these past few months, but you did it! A huge job well done and a lovely record of your trip to share with your family


now you can start writing a pre trippie :>

 

[IluvXU]

You expressed so nicely how I feel too our last day at the world.

 

[mkluvsmickey]

What a great post! You had me in tears! Y ou have a real gift for capturing what many of us feel on that final Disney day!

Looking forward to meeting you in October!

 

[DramaQueen]

awwwwww, what a PERFECT ending to a wonderful trip!!!
i'm a bit teary-eyed right now.
lil diz sounds like such a lovely boy.

That was a really GREAT trip report. I really enjoyed expiriencing the magic through your family.
I've laughed and cried along with you, and i'm really sad it's over.

oh...and here's a picture of boo for future reference;

 

[momoftriplets]

You outdid yourself, Jen. You captured all the wonderful feelings. Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful story with us. Blessings to you & your family. I think of you often.
Barb

 

[TheDISneyFamily]

Awwww... What an ending! Jen, this has got to be one of the best trip reports I have ever read! Thank you so much for taking the time to share your vacation with us. I loved getting to know your family. I can't wait to hear about your next adventure!

Take care,
Michelle

 

[acourtwdw]

Jen,

If you ever decide to write book, let me know. I would be the first at Barnes and Noble to buy. Your writing is wonderful. I can't wait to read more.

Look forward to meeting you and Lil Dis in October.

 

[princessjv]

OK Ya got me! I'm all teary eyed over here! You painted a wonderful picture and I am seriously touched by it.

I am glad that I share the feelings I do, with good people...just like YOU! (wasn't trying to rhyme, just did)

Sounds like you had the perfect last night at the MK.

I was absolutely everything that I could have asked for.

You got me too Thank you for sharing your trip with us... I know it's been a rough road these past few months, but you did it! A huge job well done and a lovely record of your trip to share with your family

It took me longer than I wanted to, but I got it done. I even met a few wonderful new friends along the way! Thank you for your support and PM's, Your continued support has meant the world to me.

You expressed so nicely how I feel too our last day at the world.

What a wonderful thing that we all share. Just simply wonderful.

What a great post! You had me in tears! Y ou have a real gift for capturing what many of us feel on that final Disney day!

Looking forward to meeting you in October!

Oh no! I am sorry about the tears. I do hope they were happy ones. I too am looking forward to our little DIS meet in Oct.

I've laughed and cried along with you, and i'm really sad it's over.

oh...and here's a picture of boo for future reference;

Thank you for finding this and jumping right in. I am glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for all of the warm wishes. Life is full of surprises. Some days are happy and some are sad, but it is such a gift to be here.

As for boo...Ahhh...yes, she is similar.

You outdid yourself, Jen. You captured all the wonderful feelings. Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful story with us. Blessings to you & your family. I think of you often.
Barb

Thank you so very much for all of your encouragement. From PMing me when we get a bad storm to leaving all of your nice messages, I am honored to have met such wonderful people...simply honored.

Awwww... What an ending! Jen, this has got to be one of the best trip reports I have ever read!

Michelle-

I bet you say that to all of the girls . It has been my pleasure to have also read along with your wonderful travels. You have one very fine family...DISney style! Thank you so much for your posts. They mean so much to me.

Jen,

If you ever decide to write book, let me know. I would be the first at Barnes and Noble to buy. Your writing is wonderful. I can't wait to read more.

Look forward to meeting you and Lil Dis in October.

I am totally flattered, let me start out there. There are so many wonderful TR writers here. What a gem, that we all can share what is so special to us with others who have the same love as we. What a pleasure.

I too am looking forward to meeting you in OCT. I am totally still surprised that you will be there at the same time. Let's hope for a little bit of a cool down. Until you get on the sea that is.

 

[Goofyluver]

WTHeck??? You tryin' to make me cry???

It can't be over yet! It just can't! What am I supposed to do now??? Finish my own TR???

 

[distrekker]

Thank you, thank you for sharing this with us. I felt each time I read an update, I was magically transported into your trip, as a silent observer! It is so sad it is over . . . but with any good read, there is alway the hope that there will be a sequel - a sequel equally as good but with new adventures and characters. I do know there will be many, many sequels in your life. Hopefully one day a sequel will include both our families!!

It was so great seeing you guys last weekend - thanks for coming over. Thanks for the decorating advice too - we are finally getting settled in and unpacking more boxes every day. It is good to have the old house sold, be moved and have that behind us.

Thanks again for bringing some magic into our homes with each update!

 

[DisneyJo]

Oh Jen That was beautiful, you're an incredible writer

 

[princessjv]

Okay, I did it. I pushed...the button. On a Pre Trip Report that is! here is the link if you would like to come along...I still have no clue how to link it inside of the name...anyone?

Off to Neverland: Shhh…It’s a Surprise!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=20958753#post20958753

Come along...It's gonna be fun!

 

[DisneyJo]

Jen to have the words in the link, when you add the link it goes blue, now don't touch any buttons and just type what you want to say and it will appear, well hopefully

 

[PrincessV]

We like to see the MK on our first day in the parks and we also like to see it just before we go home.

That seems to be our routine, too.

To date, I have never been able to figure out just what WDW does to their popcorn to make it taste so much better there.

Seriously - WDW's the only place my DS ever wants popcorn. Weird!

We waved to Mickey and said our goodbyes and then took that final step out of the park, until next time. Tears streamed down my face. Not for the sadness of leaving, but for the happiness for all that I held in my heart. I was thankful for the happy memories that I shared with those who I love the very most and the magic that had lit our lives.

Yep, I'm all verklempt. Too.

 

[princessjv]

Exhausted. That is the one word that described our entire family. We had come, conquered and were magic’d out. We had two final tasks at hand, 1.) We needed to pack ourselves up 2.) We needed to get ourselves on an airplane headed to MN…with all of our luggage this time. We were not in the mood to have a repeat of lost luggage on our way TO MCO. Didn’t sound fun. Didn’t wan to do it.


Once in the room, we quickly and painlessly got our kids to bed. There were no complaints what so ever. They were too tired to be excited, by this point. My DH & I gathered our things, which by this point were spread from one end of the room to the other. We made piles of clothes…either clean or dirty. It didn’t take to long and I was beyond exhausted. The Disney cold had put me over the edge. I needed sleep. DH, being the nice guy he is, saw the tire in eyes and told me to head to bed, while he finished up. I don’t really think I let him get the whole sentence out of his mouth, before my head hit the pillow and I was nighty night.

We had bright eye and bushy tail reservations for Spoodles for breakfast the next morning. The unused LeCellier TS credits were burning a hole in my pants and I needed to use them. It is not often that Disney ‘gives’ us something without paying for it. I wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity, since it just may never come again. But when that telephone rang at that ungodly hour, there was just no way this exhausted family was going to budge. We were pooped. Too pooped to eat. Therefore we left WDW with 3 unused TS credits. Yes, we passed on the freebie and opted for more sleep.



At some point we realized we had to get ourselves out of bed or we would miss our ME bus. So we readied everyone, called for our bags to be brought down to and ourselves the lobby and I did the daring and checked our bags at the BWV with the new handy dandy airport check in. That is some swift stuff people! Try it, if you haven’t! My DH & Lil’ Diz stayed up in the room and did a final once over, whilst I took Tink to the bakery & Mercantile…or whatever they call it at the BWV. We had a few snack credits to use, so I got us some sandwiches for the ride home . I also got a bunch chocolate coins with the character faces on them, for Lil’l Diz to give to his PreK class.


Before I was even out the door, my phone started screaming at me. DH was calling telling me to run up the stairs, cause our ME bus was there…early! This was a shocker to me, considering that the ME bus already gets you like 3.5 hours before your flight…what are we gonna do 4 hours before our flight? In some ways I kick myself, for using the ME. Yes, it saves you around $150, but time is money in WDW. Wasting my time on an ME bus, or sitting in the airport is not my idea of a magical good bye to Disney. Okay…vent over.


So Tink & I got up to the valet area lickity split like. When we approached, I saw DH holding what we had forgotten to take care of. THE BALLONS! You know, the ones that were the size of TINK. Ohhhh…shoot, we never gave them away and spread our Pixie Dust. It was too late at this point. Giving the balloons away would have required a good heart to heart with Lil’l Diz and for sure we couldn’t have done it in front of TINK. So on we loaded the bus. Myself, pushing Lil’l Diz Man(sporting a backpack) along down the small ME aisle, Tink in my arms holding her balloon string, with a backpack & my purse over my shoulder, DH carrying the camera & lap top bags and holding the other larger than life Cars Balloon.



We were a sight.



We were also a nuisance.


We bonked a few heads along the way. We walked all the way to the very back of the bus.


We heard a few huffs and puffs and a couple of Tracy-like hisspers.


I gave a few apologies and a few more glares. Come’on people, you are leaving your wonderful, Magical, Disney vacation. Cut a mom a break. The bus was early and we got suckered into buying a few over sized balloons. We forgot about the dumb things, when packing. Mind your business people!


So down we sat. Just about half way to MCO we are finally all situated. Seriously, we had a lot of stuff. Stuff that we weren’t dealing with hiding in the under-butt compartment, to be given to another family when they hightailed their butts of that us fast than we could. Now, would we been given the opportunity to place TINK in that compartment and not had to deal with her standing up, sitting down, jumping on the seat, screaming because she was being held down…we may have. Just kidding. Or am I?


When the dust and our rats were settled, DH whipped out 2 straws, one for him and one for me. We then each inserted the straws into the balloons and deflated. At that point, we got a lot of stares and AH HA’s. Well Ah Ha back at you to…


The flight home was much less eventful than the bus ride. We seriously were all far too tired to think.


Lil’l Diz Man did leave me with some parting words as we were boarding our plan. He simply said, “Mom, today is the saddest day of my life.” And with that we were off to MN and back to our reality.



About one week after we returned we were faced with…

SNOW and a lot of it!

Here I am! I made an appearance!



UP NEXT: Really a few final thoughts.