Our Seemingly Silly Semi-Illogical Four Day Whirlwind Trip

[kpk89]

Ouch! That nasty man. He probably, in fact, works for Universal. He hijacked the DME bus.

 

[TigerKat]

I would have been sobbing out loud - the ARRIVAL video!
I'm always so sad as everyone else is when leaving, but then I get home and start planning the next trip!

 

[SunKat]

That was a fabulous installment about the un-fabulous ride back to the airport. OK. I didn't even realize there was an arrival video - until we departed. Our driver played fairly old Disney cartoons on the way to WDW, and yep, he played the arrival video on our ride back to the airport. I remember thinking, "this is SO wrong! , I don't like you Mr. Bus Driver!" The next time I'm on that DME bus on the way to the World, I'll make a special request to the driver to put on that arrival video. No cartoons for me, Bub.

I feel like I'm on that return DME ride right now, because it's very near the end of your report.

 

[wvgoofyfan]

Kay,

I have always thought that Disney's ME hired the most sadistic, cruel drivers and assigned them the trip from WDW to MCO....only those runs, never the happy, I'm here, vacation is just beginning runs. But to actually run the arrival video....I'm all for rushing him, committing high seas mutiny, and turning the bus around.
And furthermore, I think it's just cruel to dump you in the MCO airport a full two hours before your flight so you have all that time to know that WDW is so close but so far behind and I think that is why most people have their next vacation semi planned and jotted down before they board the plane.
Someone mentioned the fuel prices. I jumped on Southwests recent offer of $36.28 one way from Pittsburgh just a few weeks ago. Figured it will cost me more in gasoline and parking than the actual flight. So looking forward to this trip...
So glad I have one more installment to look forward too!

Have a great week!

 

[MagicAddict2178]

My god, Kay. We don't even leave for our trip for another month but I'm already feeling the depression of coming home! There is nothing worse than that ME trip back to the airport. Oh, I'm dreading it already. And I won't even get to see the happy, fun arrival video because we're renting a car at the airport (but returning it in the World & taking ME back to the airport). Unless of course I luck out and get your same sadistic bus driver. Then maybe, just maybe, I'll be lucky enough to experience the arrival video upon departure. Oh, the horror!

 

[nebo]

You are much nicer than me, Kay. I always take an active dislike to all those happy, excited new arrivals on my departure day. :rotfl

Hi dere Special K. We just got back yesterday from the opposite of a " Whirlwind" Weekend Trip. We were gone for more than two weeks. Ours was more like the Bataan Death March. And, of course, I am going to take issue with you on one point you mentioned.
See quote above, from a very smart woman named Amy. I think. Or New Mexico Army, can't tell, I have my glasses on. Anyway,,,,,,,,,,,
I couldn't have said it better.

Well, ok, maybe I can.
I'm thinking that your magnanimous nature towards the incoming guests, is based on the fact that you were only there four days. Ah, my dear, the stakes change the longer you stay.
After a week or longer stay, THAT RESORT becomes HOME! And you have not only been evicted, but these new smiley faces getting off the Magical Express Bus are moving into YOUR HOUSE! So, whether or not we are taking ME to the airport, or packing up the car at six in the morning,,,, doesn't matter. When I see newbies coming in, I want to take hostages and climb a tower and try to pick off them off as they get off the Magical Express bus.
Or at least stand on the roof at Wilderness Lodge with my Buzz Lightyear ray gun and scream "Yeah, I got your Pixie Dust right Here!
No, I don't handle leaving as well as you do. Guess that's why I never get invited back to parties.
K , great chapter, you nailed the feeling perfectly on the bus. You da man!

 

[MagicAddict2178]

Or at least stand on the roof at Wilderness Lodge with my Buzz Lightyear ray gun and scream "Yeah, I got your Pixie Dust right Here!

So true!

 

[Kay7979]

Hello friends and barnacles!

What a wonderfully accurate description of the bus ride out of disney. I remember that feeling, and in the future will try to chuckle at your description of it. It's sooooo sad to get back to reality, but you just relived a wonderful vacation while writing this trip report. Thanks for the laughs.

mikamah: Thanks. Yes, it’s best to keep a sense of humor when leaving since there’s not much you can do about it. I temper my sadness at leaving by repeating the Wizard of OZ line, “There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home.” And truly, while I love Disney World, I also love home. When I’m away I miss Tornado, my computer, my house and our property with its beautiful trails in the woods, and all the little comfortable familiar routines we enjoy at home. I guess if I had a more stressful life waiting for me at home I would be sadder about leaving, but home is a great place to be, too.

UGH! NOT the arrival video! That man is horrible!!!

I love your Haunted Mansion metaphor.

YOU are the queen of Trip Report, Kay!


The ONLY thing that cures the sadness of having to go home is planning the next trip.

UtahMama: I agree. And trip planning is a lot of fun. Almost as much fun as the trip itself. You picture all the places you’re going, and the things you’re going to do, and the weeks and months of anticipation become part of your overall experience.

Great episode! I haven't taken Magical Express, but that is exactly how I feel when leaving the World.

SmallWorld71: The bus isn’t so magical when you’re leaving, but we enjoyed the convenience of being picked up and dropped off. We usually rent a car, so this was fun for a change. I never thought Lowell minded driving, but he really seemed to appreciate being able to skip the whole car rental scene. Next time, when we stay longer and (off site!!!) we’ll be back to driving.

Omg girl! I absolutely love your descriptive writing style!

I still feel like I was right there with you, I almost teared at the feeling of leaving the world after a fabulous vacation.

You really are the queen.

Thank you for sharing this experience I look forward to the next...

tiggerwannabe: You’re very kind, and I appreciate you reading so faithfully. I’d rather make you laugh than cry, but I’m glad I’m creating the sense of realism that you’re with us on our trip.

I missed the arrival movie during our Magical Express experience, however I got to see the departure movie. Like I need reminded about the wonderful shopping opportunities available at the Orlando airport? My son has a wonderful expression for moments like this: Kill me now.

Marie

mmeb144: To tell you the truth, I barely remember what they showed in the return video. I guess the experience was too traumatic! But it shouldn’t surprise us that the Disney Marketing Machine doesn’t end when you step on the bus. Passengers are a captive audience who may have some spending money left. They haven’t properly done their jobs if you return home with money.

Sis, sadly, I never experienced the bus ride either way, and likely never will.

But your writing makes me feel right there! You are truly gifted!

If you post anything on the Community board, please let all us devoted readers know, we will be there in a flash!

Backstage_Gal: Add Magical Express to your list of Disney Experiences you must try. Maybe they’ll send you a private bus so you can commute to and from work. Of course that video would get rather tedious after the first week!

So true!!!

But as UtahMama said, "The ONLY thing that cures the sadness of having to go home is planning the next trip."

And I just bought plane tickets for our September trip today Before the price of jet fuel jumps like the price of gas has recently.

Thank you for entertaining us so well these last several months, Kay!

Minnie_Moo: Hurray! Another trip in September. Good for you. BTW, I love that license plate! I think you have the right idea to book your flight as soon as possible. Every time I think fuel costs can’t go much higher, they set new highs. I wonder if they can make Hybrid Planes?

I did not get to see the video on my DME arrival trip. No video no music just silence.
On the way back to the airport I did see the going home video and I thought it was cute. I then listened to the drivers jazz music the rest of the way.
Now the bus driver putting on the arrival video....that was just evil. He was lucky to escape without a scratch I tell you.

Maine-iac: No video or music! Dreadful! Some people don’t get the Magical Express design busses, from what I’ve heard, just a regular bus operated by Disney. Maybe that was the case for you? I can’t understand why they wouldn’t play the video, otherwise. It’s really cute and puts you in the mood for your stay (as if you’re not already excited enough when you arrive.)

Kay, you completely captured our feelings when boarding that ME bus to return home from our trip last May. It was certainly not as Magical as our arrival bus. But as Utah said, there's always the fun of planning for a new trip and I'm counting down in double digits to our next one! Your writing is a delight, as always, and I can't wait for more. I'm especially interested to see how you conquer the great airport divide.

C. Marie. Wow, it’s almost time for your trip. Have a fantastic time. I think this is a nice time of the year to go. There shouldn’t be big crowds, and the weather ought to be nice. Be careful crossing the Chasm of Fire!

I was three episodes behind! Oh no!
But now I'm caught up. And craving tonga toast (I went back a little for the pictures).

celerystalker: There you are, reader #100! I’m glad you’re caught up now, and I hope you’re not still craving Tonga Toast. I still have a Tonga Toast deficiency. There is no cure until I get back to the World and get my fix.

Ouch! That nasty man. He probably, in fact, works for Universal. He hijacked the DME bus.

kpk89: I wonder if he’s still driving the bus? Maybe he gave it up after being attacked a few times by departing guests who rebelled at watching the arrival video on their way home.

I would have been sobbing out loud - the ARRIVAL video! I'm always so sad as everyone else is when leaving, but then I get home and start planning the next trip!

TigerKat: That’s a common refrain: The cure is to quickly book another trip. Man, Disney really has us well trained. A Disney vacation is habit forming, but there are far worse addictions, so I guess that’s alright.

That was a fabulous installment about the un-fabulous ride back to the airport. OK. I didn't even realize there was an arrival video - until we departed. Our driver played fairly old Disney cartoons on the way to WDW, and yep, he played the arrival video on our ride back to the airport. I remember thinking, "this is SO wrong! , I don't like you Mr. Bus Driver!" The next time I'm on that DME bus on the way to the World, I'll make a special request to the driver to put on that arrival video. No cartoons for me, Bub.

I feel like I'm on that return DME ride right now, because it's very near the end of your report.

SunKat: Wow, I wonder if you had the same sadistic driver we did. Someone at Disney HQ really ought to train these drivers and tell them NEVER to play the arrival video on the way back to the airport. It’s just plain MEAN. Drivers should know that by common sense, so it’s either that their stupid or cruel, I’m not sure which.

Thanks for the compliment that reading the end of my story feels like leaving on the DME. That’s very sweet.

Kay,

I have always thought that Disney's ME hired the most sadistic, cruel drivers and assigned them the trip from WDW to MCO....only those runs, never the happy, I'm here, vacation is just beginning runs. But to actually run the arrival video....I'm all for rushing him, committing high seas mutiny, and turning the bus around.
And furthermore, I think it's just cruel to dump you in the MCO airport a full two hours before your flight so you have all that time to know that WDW is so close but so far behind and I think that is why most people have their next vacation semi planned and jotted down before they board the plane.
Someone mentioned the fuel prices. I jumped on Southwests recent offer of $36.28 one way from Pittsburgh just a few weeks ago. Figured it will cost me more in gasoline and parking than the actual flight. So looking forward to this trip...
So glad I have one more installment to look forward too!

Have a great week!

wvgoofyfan: Wow, $36 is unbelieveable. I’m glad you snagged that deal. I agree that getting to the airport two hours early is a bummer, but the airlines are insisting on that amount of time to make sure everyone gets through security without being rushed. I liked it in the “good old days” when an hour early was plenty.

My god, Kay. We don't even leave for our trip for another month but I'm already feeling the depression of coming home! There is nothing worse than that ME trip back to the airport. Oh, I'm dreading it already. And I won't even get to see the happy, fun arrival video because we're renting a car at the airport (but returning it in the World & taking ME back to the airport). Unless of course I luck out and get your same sadistic bus driver. Then maybe, just maybe, I'll be lucky enough to experience the arrival video upon departure. Oh, the horror!

MagicAddict: It’s too bad that you’re only doing the return trip by ME and not the arrival as well. Don’t be depressed though, you’re going to have a great time, and I hope the Time Dilation Effect kicks in and makes it feel like you’re there for a month.

Hi dere Special K. We just got back yesterday from the opposite of a " Whirlwind" Weekend Trip. We were gone for more than two weeks. Ours was more like the Bataan Death March. And, of course, I am going to take issue with you on one point you mentioned.
I'm thinking that your magnanimous nature towards the incoming guests, is based on the fact that you were only there four days. Ah, my dear, the stakes change the longer you stay.
After a week or longer stay, THAT RESORT becomes HOME! And you have not only been evicted, but these new smiley faces getting off the Magical Express Bus are moving into YOUR HOUSE! So, whether or not we are taking ME to the airport, or packing up the car at six in the morning,,,, doesn't matter. When I see newbies coming in, I want to take hostages and climb a tower and try to pick off them off as they get off the Magical Express bus.
Or at least stand on the roof at Wilderness Lodge with my Buzz Lightyear ray gun and scream "Yeah, I got your Pixie Dust right Here!
No, I don't handle leaving as well as you do. Guess that's why I never get invited back to parties.
K , great chapter, you nailed the feeling perfectly on the bus. You da man!

Nebo: I can just picture you up in that tower with a weapon, only I think maybe a bow and arrow might be more appropriate for the Lodge than a ray gun! I can’t wait to hear all your latest adventures. I see your point about the hotel feeling like home after staying for a couple weeks. But I think after that long, I would be missing my real home, so I’m not sure I’d endure too much angst about leaving even after putting down roots. What can I say, I have a homebody streak despite loving to travel!

 

[dizneydonna]

Holy moly, Kay......you've outdone yourself, lady! This intallment was brilliant! Your descriptive writing had me actually sitting on that doom-buggy bus as a sullen, slack-jawed (slightly damp with drool) captive. I could feel the pain and hear the groans of those being tortured around me. What a fantastic metaphor........the Haunted Mansion meets the Magical Express Bus back to the airport! Only you could have invisioned such a thing!

Brilliant, brilliant, BRILLIANT!

 

[DebIreland]

Oh my goodness Kay. What an amazing installment!

They stare in doomed horror at the bus driver. He is a fiend about to wrest them from paradise and transport them to a land of shadowy terrors.

Any delay is a good delay. And there will be more victims, which is a soothing thought since miserly loves company.

They must be brave now. For their children’s sake. They paste faint smiles on their lips and stare straight ahead as the bus rolls forward.

I must admit I tried the fake smile for my childrens' sake too but it lasted all of about 2 minutes and then I said to my 10 year old "This sucks, I wanna go back to Disney World". I might even have stomped my feet. Good parenting eh?

the driver jumps out to load luggage. He is cheerful and efficient.

in this version, the characters are going home, just as we are. Only they look a lot happier about it.

I know. Wouldn't it just make you sick?!

the sadistic driver says instead, “Here we go, folks. We are now leaving Disney property.”

He does the unthinkable.
Something so diabolical that my brain can barely conceive of such cruelty.
Now he puts on the ARRIVAL video.

What kind of monsters are they hiring these days??

When it picked us up, the Magical Express bus looked a lot like Cinderella’s coach, but our time is up now, and it has turned into a Doom Buggy.

Amazing job Kay. Truly brilliant!!!

 

[ericamcl]

Cinderella2004 - thanks for reading and letting me know you're enjoying the report.

Davidsmommy- It's funny that your Dad rants about NY state like Lowell does, but I guess there's a lot of us that love NY, but would love it a lot MORE with LESS taxes!

Caboosey and Eyeheartgoofy- Thanks for letting me know you're out there reading, and for giving me some feedback on what you find funny. Sometimes I wonder if anyone else sees humor in the things I find particularly funny, so it's nice when people make specific comments.

NurseJamie- thanks for jumping on board. I hope to write more over the weekend.

Poly- Glad you're enjoying the photos and the report. This was my first time at Disney with the digital camera.

KangaFan- Another person with Defective DNA, welcome! I go to the mall about once a year, at Christmas, LOL. I don't mind "stuff" and we have more than our share, but it has to be at bargain prices, or something that increases in value over time, like antiques etc.

Missj1975 - I'm glad you liked the Public Service Announcement. I plan to throw in a few others as I go, as Disney has so many little idiosyncrasies that just beg to be lampooned!

To the rest of you who have read but haven't posted yet, please take a minute to say "Howdy" and let me know if you are enjoying this. Getting feedback is a great motivator to write more.

this is a great trip review!! it's making me REALLY excited for our planned trip next year!

 

[Kay7979]

Hello and warm wishes to my U.S. friends for a great Memorial Day weekend!

Holy moly, Kay......you've outdone yourself, lady! This installment was brilliant! Your descriptive writing had me actually sitting on that doom-buggy bus as a sullen, slack-jawed (slightly damp with drool) captive. I could feel the pain and hear the groans of those being tortured around me. What a fantastic metaphor........the Haunted Mansion meets the Magical Express Bus back to the airport! Only you could have envisioned such a thing!

Brilliant, brilliant, BRILLIANT!

dizneydonna: Thank you, thank you. I’m so glad you enjoyed it, and it’s good to have you back from “reader retirement.” I always enjoy seeing your reaction to my latest episodes.

Oh my goodness Kay. What an amazing installment!

DebIreland: Thanks for faithfully reading my report. We’ve both been writing our novellas for a very long time, and I have fallen behind on yours lately. There’s so much to do now that the weather has turned nice. Too bad there’s not “trip reports on tape” or on a DVD so we could listen while mowing and gardening!

this is a great trip review!! it's making me REALLY excited for our planned trip next year!

ericamcl: I think you’re a new name here. Or else I’m just getting senile. Which is possible. Thanks for stopping by and posting comments. I really appreciate it, and I hope you have a great vacation blessed with lots of pixie dust.

 

[1000thhappyhaunt]

Wow.

And I loved your last chapter!!!!

Very very funny.


As are you.


In a GOOD way.


This makes me want to chuck our rental car and take the ME. Now.


So temptation, Dude.


Cheers, Mel.

 

[SunKat]

Hi Kay, hope you and Lowell have a great Memorial Day Weekend too!

 

[ericamcl]

ericamcl: I think you’re a new name here. Or else I’m just getting senile. Which is possible. Thanks for stopping by and posting comments. I really appreciate it, and I hope you have a great vacation blessed with lots of pixie dust.

I am a new name, just found the Dis a couple of weeks ago...I'm spending HOURS at a time reading TRs.....DH says he expects me to be an expert of sorts by the time we get there next year

 

[Kay7979]

Friends,

I'll be back with a few "shout-outs" later, but just want to post this news for now:

Tornado went missing for two days. I found him in the upstairs of our barn yesterday, injured. He was attacked/got in a fight, and it was something large. He had bite marks on either side of his neck so it had large jaws. We called in a vet on emergency call during Memorial day and she sad his lymph nodes were huge, and the tip of his tongue is paralyzed. Right now he can't swallow, so he can't eat or drink.The lymph nodes may go down with antibiotics, but if the paralysis in his tongue doesn't pass, he will not be able to live since he needs full use of his tongue to be able to eat and swallow. Of course we are devestated. We will be calling the Vet back at noon today to see if there is any change for the better. If you don't think it's silly to pray for a cat, please pray with us that Tornado comes through this. Thank you.

Kay

 

[dizneydonna]

Kay......I am so very sorry to hear about Tornado. I know what it's like to love an animal.........I have 2 cats, Mickey & Minnie. I know, first-hand, how scared and sad you must feel. I don't think it's silly to pray for a cat at all! I thought I was going to lose Mickey at one time and I prayed like crazy. And guess what.......he pulled through! God has given us these precious little creatures as gifts (after all, Hecreated them). I will be praying for Tornado throughout the day.

 

[MomBoyd]

So sorry to hear about your cat's injury. I will keep all of you in my prayers.

 

[2ScottishPrincesses]

So sad for you Kay, it's not silly to ask people to pray for a cat or any living being human or otherwise. You love Tornado and he needs the prayers so you've got them...take care.

PS whilst asking for support could I ask that as many people as possible pray for the safe return of the little girl shown below and for her family..thank you all

 

[DISNEYDUET]

KAY!!! I'm BACK!!!! Thanks for keeping me entertained while at the world! I gotta say you have got the gift for gab!! Your TR had both DH and I in tears!!
I am so sorry to hear about Tornado. Our dog is like a child to us and if anything ever happened to him... . You are all in our prayers. Keep us posted on the progress.

Shelley