Well, I've put it off as long as possible. It's finally time to report on the last day. I've been avoiding this post, simply because every time I look at the photos from our last day, or read my journal, I am struck by the same sense of sadness, loss and melancholy that plagued me that whole day - everywhere we walked, a small sad voice whispered "this is the last time you will see this....)
So, to compensate, I began taking pictures of absolutely EVERYTHING, so this post may be fairly photo-heavy!
Now, please don't get me wrong - I am not depressed in any way about our trip, and there is very little about our experience that I would change - perhaps slow down a bit, but that's just me. The trip itself was the most amazing experience of our lives! We have never, even travelling as a couple, been this euphoric about a vacation! I mean, the kids had their moments, and bad behaviour was rampant, but we still recall all of the good times over the bad, and the good outnumber the bad at least 100 to 1!!!
So our final day was Monday, May 5th, so we were back to open late, close early type hours, which was probably good, because I wasn't tempted to cram a ton of stuff into the last day and drive the kids too hard. After all, the flight home was going to be just as much of an adventure!
We had decided the day before that we would call and change our pick up times for the Supershuttle. Judging by the time it took us to load up, get thru customs and security at our local airport and then the 1hr + commute from LAX to the hotel, we decided a departure time of 7am for a flight at 10:30 may not be early enough. So in light of the earlier departure, we decided to begin packing the night before. Since we had ps's for Lilo and Stitch at 8:20, I threw a few more things into the suitcases and we tidied up a bit for housekeeping before we took off. the breakfast was great, but I should have budgeted a bit more time to find the PPH and where we needed to go. I figured it was just a minute or two walk past the DLH - by the time we got there, I was sweating buckets and puffing like a steam train!
We were given a beeper, and looked around in the gift shop for a while till our table was ready. We were greeted by Minnie, then were seated. The spread of food isn't as elaborate as at Goofy's, but I liked the atmosphere more at Stitch - it seemed more laid back, somehow. Every 10 or 15 minutes there was a game or activity for the kids to take part in, and the character interaction was great!! Stitch came to our table almost immediately, and stayed to play for about 5 minutes. Then came Pluto fast on his heels, and we noticed Daisy taking over for Minnie as greeter, so we went over to see her too! Then Lilo came over, and just put her hands on Logan's head and rested her chin on them - Logan thought it was dh, and was pretty shocked when he looked behind him and saw Lilo!
Allie loved Stitch - from a distance!!
Logan and Lilo
Even dh got into the swing of things!
I don't remember actually eating much!! I was having so much fun taking pics and watching the kids interact with the characters that I didn't eat much at all. But, really, who goes to a character bfast for the bfast part??
They brought our birthday treats, which looked great but tasted kind of bleck, but the kids loved the thought and the extra attention!
We arrived at the park shortly after 10 and we headed straight to TL, Adam wanted to ride Star Tours again. So us girls waited outside while the boys did the ride. Allie was full of energy , so we walked around, climbed benches and played. While standing near the pin trading tables outside the Little Green Men store, I noticed a small commotion on the walkway to Tomorrowland Terrace, so, being nosey, I of course wandered over for a closer look! And we encountered the Dream Team, for our 3rd time this trip!
I spoke to the CM as she handed Allie and I Dream FP's, explaining that my dh and sons were on a ride, and would there be any way to get DFP's for them as well. She kindly, but firmly, explained that winners need to be PRESENT to be issued the prizes, and said that they would be there for a few minutes more, so if they got off the ride soon, they could still get a pass. Unfortunately, they ran out a few minutes later, and left. Dh and the boys came out about 10 minutes later, and dh was in shock over the new passes! So he and Logan decided use them to do Autopia, while Adam, Allie and I did Buzz. After Buzz, Allie caught a short nap while we waited for the Autopia ride to be over, then we all decided to hop on the DLRR and ride to NOS, since Logan wanted to do Splash next, and we hadn't rode the train yet. And now I come to our only bad experience in the park - trying to load the stroller onto the DLRR. We waited at the ramp to the handicapped access, thinking they wouldn't make us try to maneuver the stroller thru the turnstile. Well, we were wrong. We were told at the handicapped gate to walk back down the ramp, pack up the stroller, lift it over the turnstile in order to get on the train. So dh tried to manage all 3 kids, while I tried to manage our hefty borrowed tandem stroller overtop the turnstile. A very nice gentleman behind us helped me lift it over (the thing weighs about 40 lbs when NOT loaded down with a day's supply of water, snacks and coats!), while the kids cried because the train was going to leave without Mommy,
and all the while the CM just stood there looking upset that we were taking so long. Dh was furious, but I guess they can't just bend the rules. However, it would be nice if they would put up a sign or something explaining that your stroller has to go through the turnstile, and we could have been ready with time to spare, not rushing and frantic! Next time we will know better.
The ride to NOS was uneventful, and the kids enjoyed the Prehistoric exhibit, though for some reason I expected more. But I am glad we did at least that much - next time I'd like to relax and do the whole ride!
We hopped off at NOS, big boys went to SM, the rest of us to Pooh. We rode, played for a while near the river and watched the water babble along, got in line again to see Pooh, only to have Adam decide he'd rather have another pressed penny
and drool some more over the Candy store. Picked up a few treats (Tigger Tails - as if dh and I didn't have enough to fight over already!!) and a box of fudge to take home. The boys picked out candy filled plastic swords to play with, and with that, we headed off to the rafts for Pirates Lair. On the raft ride, a pirate offered to divest me of my "heavy" wedding ring, to which I responded "You'd have to ask him" indicating dh. He told the pirate he was welcome to the ring, but he'd have to take the "whole package". I guess he wasn't the committing type, so he and Dh started talking about the "wench swap" held on the island from "time to time" - which makes me curious - was he joking, or is that a part of the pirate show they do?
Anyway, the kids had a blast - pretending to patrol the island with their plastic pirate swords!
Some swashbuckling pirates guarding their newly found treasure!
It was nice to just relax and let them run around and play, however I had a few anxious moments when they went into a cave and never did come out - I found out later it went THROUGH the hill, not just into it!
But they found us again and it was all fine. The boys started to get tired and hungry, so we decided to head back to the hotel and grab a McD's lunch on the way. As we walked down Main St, we noticed that for some reason, unlike every other time we had walked past, the CC was not packed solid with a huge waiting line of people. So, on Dh's pressuring, I asked the CM how long a wait it would be for a party of 5 - she said to give her 5 minutes to clear a table ! I couldn't believe it!
I was gonna get Baked Potato soup after all! Some DL magic
was working for me that day, cause I had been dreaming of that soup all week, but knew we'd have to be really organized to make PS's for a lunch, and I didn't want to put those kind of limitations on our trip.
Then we returned to the hotel to find housekeeping still making up the room. I apologized for intruding, but explained that the kids were tired and needed to nap. I told the lady she could continue making up the rest of the room, and she said all she had left was the bathroom. So while she did the bathroom (which was in the kids' side of the suite) and I packed in the next room, both of us making a ton of noise, all 3 kids zonked out in less than 3 minutes!!
After some more packing and a short rest for Mom and Dad, we headed back to the park to catch the last PPP - we only missed it one day we were there! and even after the 4th time, it still didn't get old for the kids, or us! We even thought ahead enough to bring the video camera with us -so we found a good spot for videoing the parade, then Logan and Dad rode MM for the very last time with the DFP's Then the boys bought their most wanted toy of the entire trip - the remote controlled Pluto and Stitch toys. They picked them out the first day at the park, and since I was unsure they really wanted them, or were just attracted by the shinyness, we told them if they still wanted them by the end of the trip, they could buy them with their money. So we bought them from the vendor nearby, and then settled in to wait for the parade. I was really pleased and impressed at how the CM's played up to the video camera - almost every character waved to us, they threw us balls, the CDA guy came over with the water squirter and pretended to squirt the camera (he was probably expecting a horrified reaction from me, but I was so intent on keeping the camera steady I barely moved!!
Then we realized it was very close to closing time, so we followed the parade around to the parking lot behind the Sun Wheel, and decided to hop on my favorite CA ride for one last time. It was chilly up there, and windy, but I took some great "looking down on CA for the last time" shots with my new camera, and it was sort of a nice relaxing way to say goodbye to California Adventure.
Then we headed back to DL to find a spot to video that parade - the spots beside Alice were all taken (we got there around 6:30) so we parked just down the road and across the street - right in front of Triton Gardens.
I am so unbelievably glad we videoed those parades - even now, we watch them over and over again, and the instant Allie or Adam hear the music playing, they run from wherever they are in the house and watch and giggle and laugh and point out their favorite characters - I would highly reccomend videoing for your kids - I now wish we had done more videoing while we were there (though the camera is heavy and big and bulky to carry around everywhere....) Oh well....next time....
After the parade, we rode Buzz again one last time, and this time, instead of playing, I concentrated on taking pics. So my score was only slightly lower than usual!
Then Adam and Dh headed for their last ride on Star Tours, while Logan, Allie and I rode Buzz one last time, then sat and sadly waited for our last night at DL to end...I snapped a couple pics of the neon in TL with my new camera, but they weren't great, cause I didn't (and still don't, come to think of it) really know how to work it yet!
My last pic of
Disneyland....sigh....
However, they are very sticky for kids who don't meet it - I watched several get turned away halfway thru the queue because they remeasured the child and felt he/she wasn't tall enough. So even with a parent, the HAVE to be 48".
The last day is always sad!
