The Finished at Last Trip Report - Day 11 – But you should know me better!

[Poohshoney]

The Cast:
Roland (37, German) – World’s best husband.
Carol (42, British) – Trying to live up to him.

Wednesday, 10 December. Day 11 – But you should know me better!


Well, this was it, our last day in the magic. We were very tired when we woke up and the going was slow. I had been a complete fool last night. I definitely win the `Idiot of the Year´, award. Because I told Roland that, even though it was our last day, we should take things easy and just enjoy things lazily. And I meant every word – at the time. However, in the cold light of the last day, I changed my mind…

Sooo, because we were tired, we took longer getting ready. We’d already decided we’d go to MGM to watch the Little Mermaid and then Roland said the words I love – let’s go to MK! As that’s my favourite park, I’d wanted to finish up there and Roland had read my mind. Magic! But first, we had to go to MGM.

Even later than normal – yikes - we set off for MGM… the bus took forever to arrive. I was so desperate to get to MK and things weren’t going as I wanted. Yep, I began to get tetchy. By the time we got to MGM, we’d just missed a LM show. Roland decided he really needed to do some secret shopping, so I volunteered to hang about by the ugly hat till he returned. I should have gone in One Man’s Dream, I'd have been better occupied there. But he said he wouldn’t be long and it was handy for LM, so I went for the hat. By the time Roland returned, I'd looked at every pin twice and some three times. I'd spent all week looking for Mary Poppins merchandise for a little friend of mine, (you’d think the UK in Epcot would at least have some but no, nothing), and finally found a MP pin in the hat. Unfortunately for Judith, I just wasn’t in a buying mood by then. It was our last day, I wanted to go to MK…

By the time Roland returned, I was bored out of my mind and getting REALLY tetchy. Trying hard to behave like a civilised human being because I didn’t want to spoil our last day, I followed Roland over to LM. The air there was so sticky. It was so bad, I had to use my inhaler. Let’s just say this didn’t put me in a better mood. But the show was good and we did enjoy it. The second it finished, though, I was up and at ‘em, trying to get out and over to my favourite park! That was when Roland dropped the bombshell. He didn’t want to carry whatever he’d bought round with him all day – he wanted to go back to our room and drop it off. I lost it. I didn't strop much, really, it was more trying not to cry and a lot of whinging. I was too tired to cope with the injustice of most of my last day being spent on busses and hanging around when all I wanted to do was be with my mouse. That was when Roland reminded me that it had been my idea to do LM first and that I'd been the one who’d insisted we take things at a leisurely pace and not rush and I'd been the one that told him to sleep as long as he liked. Aaah. Yes. So it was. Drat, I'd forgotten that. But you should know me better!

By the time we got to the bus, we’d established that I didn’t blame Roland and it wasn't his fault that half the day was nearly over and we still hadn’t got to my mouse - and I really did mean it this time! Unfortunately, the Disney gods decided I should still be punished for being so unfair to my beloved. Their revenge was a bus driver, he was anything but sweet. Well, his nature was. It was very sunny with not a care in the world. And he drove so slowly he was dangerous - and I really am NOT exaggerating. We were horrified and frightened he’d cause an accident, he was so slow. I doubt he hit 15 mph, tops. We watched people stare in disbelief as they passed us. By this time, I was a little unhappy heap in the corner. Oh, woe is me.

Our first stop was the main depot. We wondered if it would be quicker to get out and walk through the grounds. When we saw that there was a girl in a wheelchair, we began to gather our bags. By the time we saw him start chatting to the girl’s family, making no effort to move the girl onto the bus, (he had his arms folded across his chest, still not a care in the world), we were getting off the bus. It took some doing as he’d closed the front door and he, the girl and her chair and the girl’s family were blocking the back doors. But we managed to squeeze past him, leaving a completely empty bus. And a crowd of people staring open-mouthed at the driver in complete disbelief. When we glanced back, he was still chatting and the crowd were beginning to look ugly but it was our last day, we zoomed!

I had to wait outside the room whilst Roland hid whatever he’d bought. It was at this point I realised it couldn’t be the T-shirts I'd shown him. Hmmmm, wonder what it was! The best thing about the hiding place was I had to pick it. That way I would know where I mustn’t look. We do this with Christmas presents, too. I was a little intrigued as to why I had to wait outside if I knew where it was going but that was top secret info, I was told. Very strange.

Roland was under orders to check on the stuffies. I'd left them with Mickey doing my logic puzzles, watched by the others. Roland said they were how we’d left them but the bed hadn’t been made. There’s hope yet!

I tried hard to walk slowly to the bus stop, just to prove that I was a woman of my word, really I was. I all but had a heart attack when I saw three buses coming but Roland took pity on me and we got there in time to see none of them were for the MK anyway. Quite a few people said they’d been waiting a while for one already. So that must mean there’ll be one soon, right? Nope. It was over 20 minutes before one arrived. By that time I'd accepted the fact that I was never going to get there, the world hated me, I would never be happy again. It’s this memory that makes me realise, more than any other, that I NEED afternoon naps to cope with DisneyWorld. Even with the heat, the jetlag and the three extra days, I wasn’t this tired at the end of last year’s holiday. Oh well, you live and learn!

Guess what, the little black cloud over my head evaporated the second I saw the castle! I didn’t care about a thing that had happened any more. I was so happy, I floated down Main St. The sky was a glorious blue, the flowers were beautiful, it was the warmest it had been – it was just perfect!

The first thing we did was take lots and lots of photos of the castle, from every angle. We went mad. We’d never seen it so absolutely perfect, it was just too good an opportunity to miss. They don't half make lovely wallpaper.

Roland said the day was mine to do with as I wanted – I don't deserve him, I really don’t. I picked Buzz Lightyear first. It was the best ride ever - it broke down! Or maybe they just halted it for a wheelchair. Whatever, we stopped somewhere and I had a field day, getting loads of points. This has a good side and a bad side. The good side is that for the first time ever, I beat Roland! The bad side is that we established then that Roland had had no idea what he was doing. He hadn’t realised what the targets were and had just been shooting blindly the whole time. And still beaten me!!!!! Oh, the shame…


Pooh next! We were thinking about Fastpasses but there was only a five-minute wait so we didn’t bother. I don’t think we used more than three FPs the whole trip. When we came out, we managed Peter Pan with a ten-minute wait. You can’t get better than that, can you? (Well, unless it just happens to be MVMCP!) The Haunted Mansion was quiet too, I think five minutes was posted and we waited for ten. I was so pleased that the Disney gods liked me again!

We’d thought that morning that we’d have a nice big lunch on our last day, really push the boat out. We hadn’t decided on where, just a nice sit-down meal. When the time came, we didn’t want to. It was partly because it was such a gorgeous day – we didn’t want to spend it sitting around, waiting for food – and partly that we weren’t very hungry. We decided we’d eat at Columbia Harbour House. We’d really enjoyed our food from there last time and we hadn’t been back this trip anyway.

According to our receipt, our server was Karyn. I do vaguely remember there being someone female with food in her hands. We were slightly distracted, however, by the lovely CM to our left. His face lit up when he heard my voice – “Say, are you from England?” When I told him I was, his smile got even broader. Whilst we were waiting for our food, he told us all about how he’d been in England as a soldier just after the war. How he’d been stationed in Portsmouth and how much he’d loved his time there and how nice the people were. What a lovely man! We made him promise to go back as soon as he could and to visit the north of England this time. We really hope he makes it.

Last time we’d been here, the top floor had been closed off and we’d eaten outside. This time, with it being so sunny, we were going to go outside again when I noticed that the stairway wasn’t closed off. Having read how nice it is up there, I shot up, followed by a confused Roland. The posters weren’t exaggerating – it’s lovely! It’s made to look like a ship with gorgeous wood and finishing touches. We sat in a part that juts out above the crowds, like the bow of a ship. We had a lovely sunny view of the lake, the Riverboat and the Mansion with nobody else there till we’d nearly finished. Roland had the starboard sandwich and I had the combo fish and chicken strips – all very delicious! And we finally felt the peace we’d promised ourselves last night. This is the moment that we realised that ok, it was our last day, but we’d had a lovely time and that though the time was over, that was ok too. It was time to go home. It was a good feeling after all.

We strolled over to Pirates next. It was a happy stroll. We walked right the way through it again and got a boat to ourselves again. I have a feeling that, even though it’s dark, Pirates wasn’t envisaged as a romantic ride. I mean, “We wants the red!” isn’t the most romantic of things to snuggle up to. But as I snuck my arm through Roland’s, it felt like the most romantic place on earth. I was with my man and we were very very happy –that’s pure romance for you! I didn’t even mind when we got out and Roland asked if it was ok if he popped off on his own for a little while. Nope, that was ok this time. I was with the mouse, not the hat!

Whilst Roland disappeared in a direction I wasn’t allowed to see, I took a good look round Main St and discovered a little more magic. When I went down the path in front of the Crystal Palace, I couldn't believe my nose. I think it was jasmine, or was it gardenias? Whichever it was, it was pure heaven! I went up and down it three times, just breathing deeply. I thought I might be getting some funny looks by then so I headed for the shops. Course, Roland had made me promise not to buy anything in case I got what he’d already bought me, but I was sure chocolate chip cookies weren’t included in that promise. I'd covered everything and still had a few minutes left so I went into the sweet shop – mistake. Just because they have free chocolate fudge samples, doesn't mean you HAVE to eat them! I didn’t half feel sick. I don't even like fudge, it’s too sweet. I'm now rolling my eyes at me, are you?

Roland looked worried when I met him. We do this all the time – buy each other things then worry we haven’t made the right decision. And it gets harder each year. I cheered him up by showing him `my´ path. He loved it just as much as I did. We wondered if we’d missed it last time or if it had been something else planted there.

So, what did I want to do next? How about the TTA? Another romantic ride as far as I'm concerned. Hang on, if I can snuggle up to Roland, it’s romantic? That makes everything we’ve ever been on, except Alien Encounter, romantic. Aaah, I do like DisneyWorld!

We had to do my new favourite when we came out – Carousel of Progress! Only when we were in there, much as I love it, I had to fight falling asleep. I managed quite well till the last scene. But I've seen it before, I know what I should have seen – either they cut the burning turkey out of it for that one show or I finally succumbed to the land of nod. When we got outside, I told Roland how tired I was and he admitted he felt just the same but hadn’t wanted to spoil things by saying so. Hmmmm… It was only 4pm and we’d planned on staying till the very last minute possible. We were going to watch Spectro and Wishes and the Kiss Goodnight for the very last time. Did we still want to? Would we enjoy them as much if we forced ourselves into zombiehood, just because it was the `last time´? I think maybe I've hit adulthood after all because I decided no, it wasn’t a good idea. Better to quit whilst you’re ahead. Why risk more tetchiness and stropping and all-out-exhaustion?

Roland asked if I was sure, and I was. My only request was that we do Mickey’s Philharmagic one last time, thereby coming full circle: our last ride was our first ride. When we got to the end of Main St, Roland started rooting round for tissues for me. By the time we got through the station I'd said goodbye to every building and had a soggy little pile of them in my pocket. The castle was the hardest, it always is. Roland asked again – was I sure? But I was. The time had come to say goodbye to the magic – it had been sooo wonderful. The best time EVER!

And guess what – the stuffies had moved! Mickey was being a kind and loving friend to the others; he was reading to them from my book. Thankyou, kind Mousekeeper, you brought the tears back to my eyes – happy ones!

There’s not much to write about the rest of the day except that it was uneventful. Just packing, strolling round the grounds, getting the maximum use of our mugs, wearing my hat for the last time when we ate our last batch of nachos. We finished the day off with the last chocolate cookies and milk, slowly acclimatising to the real world again. Would our town car turn up? Would the weather be too bad to fly? Would we be able to meet up with Jennifer? Oh well, we’d soon find ou

 

[LeslieM]

Carol,
"tetchy" -- what a fabulous word that I haven't hear in forever !! Keeping it in mind since, as my family will tell you, that's what I become when under pressure. (like getting ready for a trip !)

I would wish that everyone would feel ...
QUOTE "This is the moment that we realised that ok, it was our last day, but we’d had a lovely time and that though the time was over, that was ok too. It was time to go home. It was a good feeling after all." END QUOTE
...at the end of their trip to WDW.

Eager to hear the finale but sorry to see the end.

Leslie
(sure I can't talk you into that really big corner of the villa ?? The stuffies can come, too, and Roland goes without saying !)

 

[jjpenguin]

You almost had me blubbing along with you! There's only one good thing about a trip ending... it means you now have a new one to look forward to!!

jjpenguin

 

[tinawv]

Carol,

WOW! You sure did a lot in a short period of time; even with the r e a l l l l l y slow bus driver. Sounds like a great way to end a trip. Can' wait to read the last part of your trip report even though I hate it to end.

 

[dsmom]

Please tell me there will be more reports!! I am crying along with you. I have loved your reports and hate to see them end. Thanks so much for all the details.

 

[jennymouse]

 

[Poohshoney]

Oh yes, Leslie, I can tetchy with the best of them. I was definitely around the day they were handing tetchiness out! And I wish - believe me I REALLY wish!
Only nearly, JJ? I'm losing my touch! I must admit, I sniffled rather a lot just typing it... I love my mouse.
I'm getting better at this, Tina - last part tomorrow, definitely!
I'm sorry, Kerry, there won't be any more for a while. We have no Disney trip planned at all. But when we do, I promise to write one again - straight away this time!
Jennymouse, that's hysterical - Roland wondered what I was laughing at - just perfect!

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Thanks Poohshoney for the great trip reports. I have enjoyed reading them alot.

 

[Minniespal]

Have really enjoyed reading your trip reports.

 

[newmousecateer]

Great report Carol!!! {{HUGS}}