May 5, 2009
For some of you, I'm sure you thought this day would never come. The day in which Emma's Dad posts his final entry in the never-ending saga of a trip report from April 2009. I kind-of feel like saying "I told you so". As noted in the first paragraph of this TR, I do tend to get distracted... and procrastinate often. However, I will not say those words. Instead, I offer a humble apology for allowing houses to be built faster than it took to complete this endeavor. Come to think of it, many major events have occurred during the time it took to write this TR:
- Michael Jackson gives up the ghost
- Sonia Sotomayor was sworn is as the first Hispanic to hold a seat in the Supreme Court
- President Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize
- Tiger Woods admits indiscretions
- Fantasyland expansion project officially broke ground
These are many events that seemed impossible or had come as big surprises... yep... just like the ending of this TR!!
Anyway... I digress. it's our last day in the World! As millions of people have done before, we prepare for the inevitable end of our wonderful vacation. Words cannot express the feelings that come with the final farewell... the lack of desire to get up in the morning... the dread of packing the suitcases and hoping everything fits... the tears (that you try to hide from your kid). For some it's harder than others. My DW has had enough. She wants to get back home to our own stuff. Me... well... I could stay for a few more weeks
Our flight to depart from Orlando International is scheduled for 4:45pm. Fortunately, I called ahead and was able to get a late checkout. This gives us plenty of time to play around at the resort until we needed to arrive at El Centro for the ME bus ride to the airport.
With the late night at MK, we were all able to sleep in until around 7:30ish. The sleep really felt good. I have to admit... those new queen beds are TOTALLY worth it! They felt soooo good. I really did not want to leave! But... we all managed to eat some quick breakfast and start packing up our stuff. As we were packing it seemed as though it would not all fit into the bags. But after some wheeling and dealing between the cases, we made everything fit... and hopefully make it under 50 pounds!
It was close to around 9:30 when everything was ready for departure. DD and I then spent a few hours in the pool while DW enjoyed her quality time with "her" hammock. It was a very enjoyable way to spend that morning. Originally we were going to try to hit a park, but it just didn't make sense. Besides, DD really likes the pool and could literally spend the entire vacation there! HAHA!
I'd say it was around noon by the time we got all showered up and ready to move on to the next level of departure. One more cursory search around the room to make sure nothing of value is left behind and we were finally dragging our luggage to El Centro. While walking, I was going through a mental checklist... and that's when I realized I had forgot to do something. We're flying Southwest... which means you have to print out your boarding pass prior to the flight. And if you wait until you get to the gate, you pretty much have the pick of leftover seats. So now I'm anxious to get to the lobby so I can have the front desk print our our boarding passes (hoping all the while we get an A or B seating).
The nice lady at the counter had no problems getting to the Southwest site and printing out our boarding passes. We didn't get A seating... but we did end up with B seating. Should be good enough. Just want to be sure one of us is next to DD and that we are close enough together. OK... with that done... rather than keep our luggage by our side during lunch, we decide to check it in at the front desk. Then, off to the Pepper Market we go!
Lunch at the Pepper Market was good. Nothing unusual there except that it seemed a conference session had let out or something. It was very busy with a bunch of people who had name badges. Still, plenty of food and service was quick. Our bellies were full and we still had another 20 minutes to kill. The gift shop was a perfect place to mull around. There were a few snack credits left from our QSDP, so we bought a few things for the road. I've heard of other people having a LOT of snack credits left at the end of their trip... but we really enjoyed using them throughout the week. Those Mickey Head Ice Cream Bars are just TOO good to pass up! Anyway... here are some final pictures of DD and I as we were trying on the hats in the store:
Me and Mickey ears:
DD and Mickey Ears:
For all the DIS Dads out there:
Peace out!
Back to the luggage room we go... and it takes just a few minutes for the CMs to gather our belongings. The staff there was very pleasant and helpful. I noticed as we were getting the luggage that the ME bus had pulled up to the front of El Centro. That's good timing! We get loaded onto the bus and off we go to MCO! (Yeah... had to rhyme that one)
We happened to find a young man who was asking if anyone needed help with their luggage. We promptly accepted his help.. and to our surprise he started to go back out the door of the airport. We thought he meant helping us get the luggage to the check in counter. DW and I look at each other, confused, and then followed him out the door. That's when he proceeded to tell us that he has an "in" and that he can express check in our luggage using the outside check in counter. Cool! The guy just saved us at least a half hour wait to get our check in luggage handled. He got a pretty good tip for that move! Hope we can find him again on our next flight out of MCO!
Well... the rest of the traveling back to our Virginia Beach home went very well. We got through security with no issues and embarked our flight in the scheduled time... we even had a whole row of seats to ourselves on the plane. And although leaving WDW behind was emotional and difficult, it was still nice to be back in our home city. Another enjoyable WDW trip behind us
Although I did not plan to write this TR, I am glad I did it. I have a feeling that as the years go by, and more Disney trips get counted, the memories will get mixed together and I just don't like it when that happens. Thank you for letting me share these moments with you and I certainly hope you have gained something from it... whether it be useful information or just a few laughs. And certainly I would think SOMEONE had to learn a little patience!
May God bless each of you today and every day!
The End
is ticking Don...
And trust me... I will NOT forget the laptop this time! 
Whew! That was close...all the saddness isn't even needed. We should all stretch out our reports to last between one and trip and almost right up until the next one! 
