Who knew choking each other would earn us fastpasses?

[TinksThree]

The picture of the snake is a python....no I mean plastic! I love Jungle Cruise's corniness! It fits in perfectly with my "raisin'"!!

Ahhhh, those final moments are always so sad yet bitter sweet! I love that you had tons of pictures! I am all about the pictures!!!

 

[Caretames1]

Lisa, you are so funny! The reason there are so many post is because you are so funny and sweet and ......goofy And you have a nice family who lets you show us pictures that amuse us so

I loved your TR and can;t wait for your next one!

 

[aprilisis]

I found additional pictures that I took at the Magic Kingdom. Those pictures shed some light on other things we did (but I couldn't remember if we had ) before we went to Fantasyland again. I'm writing up the installment now then I'll finish up with the dreaded drive home.

I guess it's about time I wrapped this trip report up since it's been almost a year since we were in Walt Disney World. Very rarely do I look at the "stats" of my trip report (or anyone else's for that matter) but, for some reason, I noticed them this morning. I have 2,631 posts and 197,879 views on this report. Holy moly! I can't believe it!

I believe that! You have such a great way with words & always have the best sense of humor. I think this should be in the TR hall of fame!! I can't wait for you to get back & start the next TR.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I have to say Lisa...I am very happy you took this long...it won't be long and a new one by you will be started!

I never ever expected it to take me this long to finish up the report. I can't wait to get back!

yay....love the Jungle Cruise! We just rode it at night for the first time as well!

Cute pictures of Hunter "driving" his carpet! I'm not sure I'd want to be his passenger.

I can't believe it took either of us this long to ride Jungle Cruise at night. What was wrong with us?

Hunter knows that I am scared to death of heights and he was making sure we stayed up high the entire time. Little trouble maker!

I always like to ride Jungle Cruise twice, once in the day and once a night it really does feel like two different rides. I'm sorry your tr is ending but at least I get to look forward to a new one very soon!

I'm glad that we rode it twice and that one of those times was at night. I really enjoyed it.

I rode Jungle Cruise at night for the first time last November. It definitely has a different feel to it.

It does have a different feel when you ride it at night and I'm glad that we did it.

 

[mickeystoontown]

The picture of the snake is a python....no I mean plastic! I love Jungle Cruise's corniness! It fits in perfectly with my "raisin'"!!

Ahhhh, those final moments are always so sad yet bitter sweet! I love that you had tons of pictures! I am all about the pictures!!!

Had that darn snake been at my house, I would have been passed out on the ground. I, too, love the corny boat captains at the Jungle Cruise. The silly jokes they tell sound like the ones we tell at our house.

Lisa, you are so funny! The reason there are so many post is because you are so funny and sweet and ......goofy And you have a nice family who lets you show us pictures that amuse us so

I loved your TR and can;t wait for your next one!

That's so sweet! As you have seen, I have no problem sharing my goofy family with my friends on the Disboards. I'm glad that everybody enjoys my stories and pictures.

I believe that! You have such a great way with words & always have the best sense of humor. I think this should be in the TR hall of fame!! I can't wait for you to get back & start the next TR.

Awww, that's so nice of you to say. I have never really paid attention to any of the stats before but, for some reason, saw them the other day. I couldn't believe there were so many views.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Because we didn't leave the Magic Kingdom until 2:00 a.m., we were all exhausted. But, it was the most wonderful kind of exhaustion I had ever experienced. I mean, think about it. Would you rather be exhausted from a hard day at work or exhausted from a day at Walt Disney World? Stupid question huh?

There were only a handful of people on the bus back to the resort. I guess not many could make it until 2:00 a.m. We shuffled our tired feet across the pavement and to our room. Thank goodness the walk wasn't long or we would have crawling on our hands and knees up the sidewalk.

When Mama asked what time we thought we would want to get up, we said we had no idea. The drive ahead of us was a long one....over 15 hours...but we didn't want to get up at the crack of dawn to make it either. Heck, the crack of dawn would only be a few hours away anyway. I wanted to at least get a little sleep. So, no alarm clocks were set.

I gathered up what little energy I had left and threw a few more things into the suitcases. That was a few less things I would have to pack in the morning. We changed out of our day cloths and into our night cloths and fell into the bed. Nope, we didn't take a bath that night...err...morning.

My inner alarm clock woke me up the next morning. Or was it John's snoring that woke me up? Either way, I don't recall the exact time but I'm thinking it was around 7:00 or so. That would have been 6:00 our time at home which is when I wake up anyway. I jumped in the shower and then packed up the rest of my stuff. I nudged Hunter and John awake so they could start their morning rituals as well. When I placed the call to Mama, she sounded like she had just woke up but insisted that she would be ready to go by the time we were. I told her to take her time and not to worry.

Once everybody ready, I went over to Mama's room and saw that she had everything ready. We talked about what to do with what little groceries we had left. There was only a couple of little boxes of cereal, a banana and a few canned drinks. We put it all in a paper bag and took it to the car. Who knows, we might want to snack after a while on the road.

I absolutely hate packing the car after we've spent over a week in Walt Disney World. How come it's easier to pack it before you leave than when you are leaving? I guess I buy too many souvenirs. Or maybe we're all excited about leaving home but not about leaving WDW and simply don't care how things are put into the trunk. If we can't fit it all in the trunk, we might have to stay a couple of more days. Yeah, I like that idea!

Somehow, we got everything smooshed into the back of the car and we were ready to leave. Since we hadn't made any phone calls, used the internet or had a credit card on our KTTW card, we didn't have to stop at the Custom House. We drove out of the Jamaica parking lot and down the road past the pretty palm trees and spouting fountain in the lake.

As we got to the red light and were about to turn out of the CBR, I handed Hunter the camera and told him to take a picture of the CBR sign.

I continued to snap pictures as we left "The World":

Oh No! Seeing those Buckle Up and See Ya Real Soon signs mean that we are officially not in Walt Disney World anymore. I wanted to turn the car around right then and there but knew that I had to return to the real world. We made the loop onto Hwy. 192 and passed by all of the wild and wacky buildings:

We hadn't been on the road for more than 20 minutes before John was doing this:

I know ya'll can't believe it but he was fast asleep and getting some snore on.

We drove through the rolling hills that were once citrus fields but are now acre after acre of homes. Homes all built so close to one another that you could yell to your neighbor if you ran out of toilet paper. Yes, houses nestled together like a bunch of stalls in a public bathroom. I tried to take a picture but you can't really tell how close the houses are because they were off in the distance. They were already building more closer to the highway:

The remainder of the drive was uneventful which was a good thing. We chatted about this and then chatted about that. Until, soon, the sun was setting:

After what seemed like forever, we made it to Pensacola, Florida and then, Mobile, Alabama:

Here's what Hunter did to occupy his time in the backseat...act silly and stack condiment cups up on the portable DVD player:

The drive from Mobile, Alabama to our house took about 5 1/2 hours because we stopped every now and then to fill up our gas tank and our tummies and also to walk around. We made a stop at the Mississippi/Louisiana line to take a bathroom break at the Welcome Center. I like the Welcome Center because it has a guard on duty at night and it's clean. After the short break, we made the last leg of the drive home.

I can't remember what time we actually rolled into our driveway but I know it was in the wee hours of the morning. John walked Mama across the yard to her house to make sure she got in okay. Hunter and I waved goodnight or good morning to her across the yard and said we'd unpack the car later. We couldn't go in without first letting Oddball out of his pen and to give him hugs. He was so happy to see us and could not stop wagging his tail. We stayed outside for 15 or 20 minutes with him and took a few bags in the house in between. I knew that I would have a junk load of washing in front of me so I went ahead and put a load in the washing machine before we hit the sheets.

We fell into our beds glad that we were home and glad that we had had one heck of a vacation!

**Up next: Reflections

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Awww, leaving Disney stinks! Glad you had an unremarkable trip home! And can't wait to hear about your upcoming trip! I'm sure you will have a wonderful time

 

[TinksThree]

For the ride home! Packing the car for the trip down is so much better than when it is time to leave!!

I loved the description of the houses built so close together! That is such a pet peeve of mine when looking for a new house! All the neighborhoods demand that your neighbors are more like housemates!

Awesome TR! I really enjoyed your perspective and details...plus your pictures!! I would be sad it is coming to an end but considering you are also writing a PTR and will soon be returning it is all good!!

 

[Caretames1]

The real question is, Does my neighbor have the good toilet paper?

At least you had an uneventful drive home I bet you guys can drive back and forth to WDW with your eyes closed.

 

[aprilisis]

What a great ending! Where is that tunnel you drove through? The sunset in the photos is really pretty.
I'm on a mission to get your TR up to over 200,000 views now. We'll see if I can do it by the end of the weekend!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Stink...you're home.

Lovely sunset picture!

 

[jenseib]

NOOO! It can't be over! LOL! But I am so glad you wil lbe back so soon.

 

[KatMark]

I HATE leaving Disney. And I know what you mean about the packing back up...it's a combination of souvenirs and "going home." And we have to watch our suitcases because of the weight limit on each one.

Love love love the picture of John shortly after you hit the road.

Looking forward to your reflections.

 

[jusero]

That's one of the reason I love having an SUV. Although, these days with the price of gas...not so much. But if I am flying, I always take one empty (or nearly empty) suitcase. Gots to have room for those souvies!

 

[MissLiz]

NOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your trip can't be over yet!!!!




I hate leaving WDW. My oldest DD always covers her eyes as we drive past the See You Real Soon signs. She believes that if she doesn't see them, it's not for real.

Can't wait to read your reflections of the trip. And just think, in another month, you'll have another trip report to start.

 

[charming23]

Aww I am sad to see the trip come to an end. I get what you are saying about repacking the car to leave. When we went two years ago we had an SUV and on the way down everything fit perfectly in the trunk. By the time we came home we had added two extra duffel bags and had stuff packed onto the back seats. Thank heavens there was only two of us.

 

[johnsonmatt3]

Man that was a long TR. Its sad that its over but you have a trip coming up in like,12 days. Then you can start another trip report!!!!!

 

[Kathy Jetson]

OOOHHH! Its over! Yippee I have another one to look forward to!

I hate packing to leave its just so sad and even when I put everything back the way I had it on the way down it just won't fit right on the way back. I love to go through all my stuff when I get home to see what little pieces of Disney World I brought back with me.

I can't believe I never saw the buckle up sign before I'll keep a eye out for it next month. River always when we leave. (I shed some tears too!)

Its great to see your animals when you get home you can really tell how much they miss us.

 

[Goofy35]

Wow that's amazing

 

[Goofy35]

Wow that's amazing