Friday 4/13/18 (Departure Day)
Chapter 16: A Farewell Breakfast at Chef Mickey's
We were able to sleep a little later on Friday as we had no PPO ADR or RD to race off for. As I mentioned back in Chapter 1, it has become a family tradition to eat at Chef Mickey's on our Departure Day. We like this because it is a fun thing to do that does not require a park ticket, and also because it gives us something to look forward to even as we are packing to go home.
After packing, my daughter and I checked out of the Red Lion, which served us very well on the trip. We drove to the Contemporary and checked in at Chef Mickey's. The last time we were at CM's was in November when it was being held in the Convention Center while the usual location was under renovation. That was a very different experience, and didn't quite have the same feel because of the surroundings. Now it was good to be back under the monorail.
We showed up right at our reservation time and were called in almost immediately. A few quick photos and then we were shown to our table.
The breakfast offerings were as I remembered, with lots of options to choose from and pretty good quality overall. As usual, it felt quite crowded, but that's to be expected for such a popular character meal. We had a chance to enjoy our breakfast and even go back for seconds before the characters made their way to our area. Our server was very attentive, refilled our drinks several times, and did a good job of keeping us updated as to when to expect the characters to arrive in our area.
Once the characters started coming, they came in pretty rapid succession, with a new one arriving just moments after the prior one had departed. Our table was near the window, which was nice, but created a bit of a glare in some of the photos. Pluto was first to arrive, followed by Donald.
Goofy was next. He and my daughter got a good laugh when she pointed out that they had something in common: they were both missing their front teeth
Next came Minnie.
And finally the main mouse himself, Mickey!
This was a great way to finish off our time at WDW! After breakfast, we spent a few minutes walking around the Contemporary and BLT before returning to our rental car for the drive to MCO. We had plenty of time before our flight, so took one last spin around some of the main roads around the parks on our way out. We stopped to fuel up the rental car as we got closer to the airport, and then dropped the Dodge Grand Caravan off at Alamo when we arrived.
I had never flown Spirit before, so was not really sure what to expect. As my father-in-law likes to say, the key to happiness in life is low expectations. This would actually make a fairly decent slogan for Spirit Airlines. What savings we got by flying Spirit that wasn't wiped out by the exorbitant luggage fees was certainly negated by the very small, cramped seating on the plane. Fortunately I had bought my daughter a few puzzle books that she liked in the airport bookstore, so that kept her occupied for most the return flight. We took off and landed later than expected, but it wasn't too bad.
My parents, who also live in NJ, picked us up at the airport, which was nice. They dropped me off at home and then took my daughter to stay with them for the rest of the weekend. After spending the week with daddy at Disney World, she would then be pampered and spoiled by her grandparents for the weekend. Not a bad spring break
And I certainly appreciated the chance to rest at home and catch up on work and other real life stuff that I had successfully avoided even thinking about while down in the Disney bubble.
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Overall, it was a truly phenomenal trip that exceeded all of my expectations. We set a pretty aggressive agenda of rides and other activities that we wanted to do, but with lots of good planning and some good luck we were able to do everything we wanted and more, having a great time in the process. The opportunity to spend this precious time with my daughter was priceless, and since coming back I have genuinely noticed that the trip seemed to bring us closer together. Writing this TR has been lots of fun too, not only for the great feedback I have been getting here, but also because it has been fun to remember and relive all the great times we had. Most nights my daughter and I have been reading one chapter together before she goes to sleep, and it gets her very excited.
Our lives move fast, and kids grow up even faster. As parents, we so rarely get the chance to slow down and, despite our best efforts, we miss a lot along the way. Vacations are a wonderful opportunity to catch up with each other, to do things together, to recenter, and to remind ourselves of what really matters. Sometimes it is a day at the beach, or a few days in the mountains, or a week exploring museums and big cities. For my daughter and me, this time it was 4 crazy days running around WDW riding every ride in all the parks. And I wouldn't have traded it for anything. It was truly the trip where everything went right not only because we did everything we set out to do, but because we got to do it all together.
Thanks to all of you who have followed along on our journey!
Final Trip Stats
Park days: 4
Parks visited: MK, AK, HS, and EP
Rides: 88
Our goal of riding every ride? 46/46, accomplished in 2.5 days (and then we went back and rode our favorite half of them again)
Total distance walked over our 4 park days: 50.41 miles
Laughs, smiles, and hugs: Too many to count