Cue the Music: How we MADE money and slept with Ariel! Done!
mickeystoontown
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2006
I cry. Every. Single. Time!
Y'all (or maybe you since there may not be many reading still), I have got to wind this trip report down. It's time. It's past time. It's beyond time. I am severly lacking in pictures which means it won't take me long to actually finish this up. So, let's do this people!
Again, we were wandering. Just savoring our last night in the parks and walking off all the pounds we packed on at Crystal Palace.
Jingle Cruise was taking place during the holidays and the line was pretty much non-existant. I took a couple of craptastic pictures before we boarded.
From Adventureland, we cut through the walkway that led into Frontierland so I could make a potty stop. The closest one was really busy so we walked on a little further and stopped at the Tangled themed bathrooms.
It was nearing time for the castle show and fireworks and we decided that we wanted to watch them from Main Street USA or somewhere just to the side. I am looking through my pictures and I see just a single picture of the castle and it's this one:
I guess that I was soaking it all in and not taking pictures. Who am I kiddin'?!?! I took pictures! Lots of them. They just look like the ones that I posted earlier and I don't see them in the folder on my office computer so I'll just tell you that I took them. As always, the castle show and fireworks were spectacular. Stunning! Beautiful! Sad! Oh so sad! Actually, they weren't sad. I was. I was sad that I had to wait a whole 'nother year before I'd see them again.
Once they were over, John and I moved off to the side and waited for the crowds to move out some before we even attempted to leave. Look at the pretty decorations on the lamp posts.
We people watched while we waited and then realized that it was truly time to go. It was time to leave the Magic Kingdom for the last time this trip. I cry. every. single. time!
**Up next: Butt I don't want to go!
Y'all (or maybe you since there may not be many reading still), I have got to wind this trip report down. It's time. It's past time. It's beyond time. I am severly lacking in pictures which means it won't take me long to actually finish this up. So, let's do this people!
Again, we were wandering. Just savoring our last night in the parks and walking off all the pounds we packed on at Crystal Palace.
Jingle Cruise was taking place during the holidays and the line was pretty much non-existant. I took a couple of craptastic pictures before we boarded.
From Adventureland, we cut through the walkway that led into Frontierland so I could make a potty stop. The closest one was really busy so we walked on a little further and stopped at the Tangled themed bathrooms.
It was nearing time for the castle show and fireworks and we decided that we wanted to watch them from Main Street USA or somewhere just to the side. I am looking through my pictures and I see just a single picture of the castle and it's this one:
I guess that I was soaking it all in and not taking pictures. Who am I kiddin'?!?! I took pictures! Lots of them. They just look like the ones that I posted earlier and I don't see them in the folder on my office computer so I'll just tell you that I took them. As always, the castle show and fireworks were spectacular. Stunning! Beautiful! Sad! Oh so sad! Actually, they weren't sad. I was. I was sad that I had to wait a whole 'nother year before I'd see them again.
Once they were over, John and I moved off to the side and waited for the crowds to move out some before we even attempted to leave. Look at the pretty decorations on the lamp posts.
We people watched while we waited and then realized that it was truly time to go. It was time to leave the Magic Kingdom for the last time this trip. I cry. every. single. time!
**Up next: Butt I don't want to go!
mickeystoontown
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2006
Butt I don't want to go!
When we got back to the resort, I packed up as much of our things as I could and left out what we would need to get ready in the morning. We took a lot of it to the car instead of waiting. It was late so we were careful to be quiet and even carried our heavy bags instead of rolling them in front of the other rooms. It was probably 1 a.m. or so before we hit the sheets which is pretty typical for us.
The next morning, we showered and finished packing the last bit of stuff into the one piece of luggage that we had left and rolled it to our car. It's always a bummer when you are getting ready to leave and you see all the other guests walking by with either the luggage and checking in or heading out for a park day. But, I have to keep in mind that's what others thought when we were checking in. I can't be on permanent vacation despite the fact that I'd love to be. I got everything situated in the backseat....the small ice chest, the snack bag, John's pillow that he uses to support his back during the long ride. Even those little things were keeping me on resort property.
John and I were trying to decide if we would go to the food court and have breakfast so that we wouldn't want to stop for an early lunch or grab a sausage biscuit from McDonald's. Food court won out and we were soon sitting in the food court dining on a classic Disney breakfast. Look at those cute Nemo waffles.
Breakfast done, we could put it off no longer. It was time to go. But I needed to make one last "did we forget anything?" round in our room. I do this no matter where we go. Room check done. Bathroom break made. Oh wait! I wanted to take a few more pictures of the room!
and with that done, we closed the door behind us for the last time this trip. We walked around the corner and I took this and posted to Facebook: "Butt I don't want to go!"
I would, and do, recommend Disney's Art of Animation Resort to anyone I know. I do tell them that the Little Mermaid rooms are the furthest from the main area of the resort but the walk didnt bother us one bit. Not even when it was one of the colder days of the trip. The service that we received there was great and the room and resort was excellently themed.
We buckled up and left the resort at. Blurry picture but you can see that we left at 9:43 a.m.
Goodbye Art of Animation!
Even though the car was telling us that we could still go another 160+ miles, we decided to get gas on property so that when we hit the open road, we didn't have to stop for a while.
Tank full, we looped around to World Drive. Our pictures arriving at Walt Disney World sucked. John was determined to get better pictures on the way out. Like leaving had better views but okay. I mean, I was going to write a trip report and pictures are needed so, yeah, snap those pictures baby.
**Continued in next post
mickeystoontown
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2006
Butt I don't want to go!
I knew that the See You Real Soon sign was coming up and I asked John if he would try to get a picture of that. He took me quite literally and started snapping right then.
He got it! From there, he put the camera away and we headed towards the highway that would take us through Clermont and on to the interstate. Traffic was fine through Clermont and I saw this up ahead. John was sound asleep so I grabbed my camera and snapped a few pictures to show him when he woke up.
Ummmm, where's the driver?
Fooled ya! It's the little things that amuse me.
We cut through the little side roads that we have discovered over the years and then BAM! traffic. Miles and miles and miles of traffic. Oh my heavens. It took us three hours to go what should have been maybe an hour drive. We inched forward and when we could finally see the Interstate overpass, we realized tha there was no getting on I-75. We, along with 9,999,702 people stopped at the first gas station that had an open parking spot. Everyone had the same idea as us....go to the bathroom! There were two bathrooms. One men's and one women's. It was unamimously decided that there would be one line and no matter what gender you were, you would take the next bathroom that became available. It worked quite well. I have to say that I secretly hoped that I would get the women's bathroom because I had always heard that men's bathrooms weren't the cleanest. I got my wish.
When we walked out of the store, we could see traffic on the interstate was at a standstill. No one was gettin' on that interstate and going anywhere soon. This, my friends, is why I never travel without a real map. The old fashioned foldin' kind. The kind that you unfold and never get folded correctly again. Yep. That kind of map. We sat in the parking lot and looked at the various routes we could take. There weren't many to choose from but we made the choice to go straight and go allllllll the way over to the other side of Florida and go up the gulf coast. Fortunately for us, not many others made that choice. The speed limit ranged from 30 to 60 but at least we were moving. And we did move along at a good pace. I, not John because he was sleeping, saw some cute little businesses, the intercoastal canal and an alligator on the side of the road. And lots of nothing which, again, was okay by me because we were actually moving and not at a snail's pace. I referred to my trusty map ever now and then to confirm that I was still on the right road(s) and we were nearing the Florida panhandle after quite some time. Once we were on Interstate 10, we found a rest area. We both needed to stretch our legs and make another bathroom stop.
I tried to open one of the stall doors and it slammed against something. I looked down and there was a huge orange barrel in the stall. Like one of those that you see on the side of the interstate. I have no idea how they got it in the stall. Wouldn't it have been easier to just put an out of order sign on the door? I took this picture from the stall next to it. See how much space it takes up.
The traffic had us running pretty far behind schedule (about 4 hours behind) and our drive is 811 miles one way. By the time we were nearing the Florida/Alabama line, we were tired. Tired tired. We had been up until 1 a.m. the night before and go go going on the trip. We were hitting a wall. So, we decided to find a hotel for the night and drive the rest of the way home the next day. We found a newly built Comfort Inn in Daphne, Alabama and they had a room at a semi-decent rate. Now, I usually have an overnight bag packed on the way to Disney but not one on the way home because we never stop on our way home. We drive all the way. But, I did have a bathroom bag and it was easily accessible. I also found a large suitcase that had our "leftover clothes" (the ones that we didn't wear on the trip. I dug around in it and found underwear and shirts but no shorts or jeans. I pulled those out and tucked them into the bathroom bag. We would just have to wear the same pants the next day. After taking our things to the room, we headed back out for some dinner. There was a Taco Bell nearby and it's always cheap so we hit the drive through and were back at the hotel in less than 15 minutes.
We called home to let Hunter and Mama know that we wouldn't be home that night so there was no need to watch for us.
Tummies full, we went to bed and got a good night's sleep.
The next morning we were up around 9:00 a.m., showered and were on the road by 9:00 a.m. The drive from Daphne was a little over 5 hours so we were home by dinner.
**Up next: Final thoughts!
I knew that the See You Real Soon sign was coming up and I asked John if he would try to get a picture of that. He took me quite literally and started snapping right then.
He got it! From there, he put the camera away and we headed towards the highway that would take us through Clermont and on to the interstate. Traffic was fine through Clermont and I saw this up ahead. John was sound asleep so I grabbed my camera and snapped a few pictures to show him when he woke up.
Ummmm, where's the driver?
Fooled ya! It's the little things that amuse me.
We cut through the little side roads that we have discovered over the years and then BAM! traffic. Miles and miles and miles of traffic. Oh my heavens. It took us three hours to go what should have been maybe an hour drive. We inched forward and when we could finally see the Interstate overpass, we realized tha there was no getting on I-75. We, along with 9,999,702 people stopped at the first gas station that had an open parking spot. Everyone had the same idea as us....go to the bathroom! There were two bathrooms. One men's and one women's. It was unamimously decided that there would be one line and no matter what gender you were, you would take the next bathroom that became available. It worked quite well. I have to say that I secretly hoped that I would get the women's bathroom because I had always heard that men's bathrooms weren't the cleanest. I got my wish.
When we walked out of the store, we could see traffic on the interstate was at a standstill. No one was gettin' on that interstate and going anywhere soon. This, my friends, is why I never travel without a real map. The old fashioned foldin' kind. The kind that you unfold and never get folded correctly again. Yep. That kind of map. We sat in the parking lot and looked at the various routes we could take. There weren't many to choose from but we made the choice to go straight and go allllllll the way over to the other side of Florida and go up the gulf coast. Fortunately for us, not many others made that choice. The speed limit ranged from 30 to 60 but at least we were moving. And we did move along at a good pace. I, not John because he was sleeping, saw some cute little businesses, the intercoastal canal and an alligator on the side of the road. And lots of nothing which, again, was okay by me because we were actually moving and not at a snail's pace. I referred to my trusty map ever now and then to confirm that I was still on the right road(s) and we were nearing the Florida panhandle after quite some time. Once we were on Interstate 10, we found a rest area. We both needed to stretch our legs and make another bathroom stop.
I tried to open one of the stall doors and it slammed against something. I looked down and there was a huge orange barrel in the stall. Like one of those that you see on the side of the interstate. I have no idea how they got it in the stall. Wouldn't it have been easier to just put an out of order sign on the door? I took this picture from the stall next to it. See how much space it takes up.
The traffic had us running pretty far behind schedule (about 4 hours behind) and our drive is 811 miles one way. By the time we were nearing the Florida/Alabama line, we were tired. Tired tired. We had been up until 1 a.m. the night before and go go going on the trip. We were hitting a wall. So, we decided to find a hotel for the night and drive the rest of the way home the next day. We found a newly built Comfort Inn in Daphne, Alabama and they had a room at a semi-decent rate. Now, I usually have an overnight bag packed on the way to Disney but not one on the way home because we never stop on our way home. We drive all the way. But, I did have a bathroom bag and it was easily accessible. I also found a large suitcase that had our "leftover clothes" (the ones that we didn't wear on the trip. I dug around in it and found underwear and shirts but no shorts or jeans. I pulled those out and tucked them into the bathroom bag. We would just have to wear the same pants the next day. After taking our things to the room, we headed back out for some dinner. There was a Taco Bell nearby and it's always cheap so we hit the drive through and were back at the hotel in less than 15 minutes.
We called home to let Hunter and Mama know that we wouldn't be home that night so there was no need to watch for us.
Tummies full, we went to bed and got a good night's sleep.
The next morning we were up around 9:00 a.m., showered and were on the road by 9:00 a.m. The drive from Daphne was a little over 5 hours so we were home by dinner.
**Up next: Final thoughts!
Last edited:
thumper*
Disney Dreamer
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2010
HOw considerate of you. On my last trip at 4:30am I heard someone rolling their luggage at POFQ. My original thought was they were leaving and I felt so bad for them since that was our first sleep at WDW.
"Butt I don't want to go!"
mickeystoontown
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2006
I've heard rolling suitcases in the wee hours and late at night too and always think "I don't want to do that to someone."
I have most of my pictures organized for our 2018 trip but want to take another look at them to make sure. If they are in good order, I'll probably get to work on writing it up.
Cloe Colton
Registered
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2018
We hit traffic like that on the one and only time we drove and we never drove again! lol didn't help that my Aunt who was there at the same time as us flew home and was calling us from home telling us how wonderful her 2 hour flight had been haha
I definitely wish that beginning of a trip feeling could be bottled!
Sounds like you guys had a great trip! I feel like the distance from the Little Mermaid rooms is definitely more of a problem during the hotter months! I got pretty woozy making that walk a couple of times before haha Are you going back again this year??
I definitely wish that beginning of a trip feeling could be bottled!
Sounds like you guys had a great trip! I feel like the distance from the Little Mermaid rooms is definitely more of a problem during the hotter months! I got pretty woozy making that walk a couple of times before haha Are you going back again this year??
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Woth2982
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2008
Last days are always so sad! Yes it HELPS that there is always another trip on the horizon, but it still stings! Love your Butt I dont want to leave photo! Also I think the "see ya real soon" sign is some form of mental harassment. Oh my goodness that traffic sounds horrible! Do you know if there was some type of accident, or just post Thanksgiving travel?
mickeystoontown
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2006
Oh my heavens! I hate traffic and I am sure you did too!
Lacey used to live in Tennessee and we'd visit them over the Thanksgiving holidays. What would normally would have been a 10 1/2 hour drive took us 17 hours! 17 hours! From that point on, we started leaving Tennessee around 5 a.m. to beat the traffic.
Last days always suck! But, like you said, it helps knowing that we have another on the books already.
It was strictly holiday traffic going from one end of Florida to the other.
mickeystoontown
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2006
Final Thoughts
This trip was a totally different trip for John and I. It also included a lot of firsts. Thankfully, even though we have been 25 times and have spent over 300 nights on property, Disney still provides firsts for veteran guests.
The first "first:
It was just John and I. I felt some guilt planning the trip and then leaving family behind at home even though they are grown kids and an 84 year old woman. But, it did feel really good not to have to be constantly turning around to see if the rest of the group/family was behind us or keeping up. It was also easier when deciding what to see and do next. Sharing a bathroom between two people is a whole lot easier than with three or four. Oh and on the drive and in the parks, we only had two bladders to answer to.
The second first:
We were traveling at a different time of the year. The majority of our trips have been in May/June. This trip was before and over the Thanksgiving holidays. We lost daylight almost immediately after we started the drive which made those first 7 hours or so in the dark. My trip report lacked a lot of pictures for the first part. Instead of sweating like a........... (insert your own joke here), we were nice and cool, even chilly at times. Instead of lots of flowering baskets and landscaping, we saw Christmas decorations galore.
The third first:
We packed a small ice chest and were able to picnic for lunch on the way down Florida. It was nice to get out and stretch our legs, get excited about being closer to Disney and reminiscing about the trips we took when we were younger and always packing a picnic lunch.
The fourth first:
New resorts. If you've ever read one of my trip reports, you know that we are Caribbean Beach lovers to the nth degree. Love it! In order to take advantage of free dining, we had to book All Star Music since it was the only resort that had availability with the exception of one of the deluxe resorts which was a whopping $1,000 plus a night. This was our first time staying in an All Star resort. It was also our first time requesting a room change due to the condition of the room and the fact that it was an accessible room. This request led to another first for us. A stay at Disney's Art of Animation Resort.
The fifth first:
Opting out of mousekeeping. By opting out of mousekeeping, we were given a Disney e-gift card (and then an actual gift card) which led to another first for us which I'll list below.
The sixth first:
The Caring for Giants tour. Loved it! I would not hesitate to recommend this to anyone visiting Disney's Animal Kingdom.
The seventh first:
New dining experiences:
Art Smith's Homecoming restaurant. Even though the food wasn't up to par, we did try something new but it will be quite some time before we are back again.
Pizzafari family style meal. We almost always pay a visit to Pizzafari when we are in the park so it was a no brainer for us to try the new family style dining. There was plenty of food and it was nice to get to try a little of this and a little of that instead of having to decide on one thing.
The eighth first:
Avatar, Flight's of Passage (it was new at the time) Oh my goodness gracious sakes alive! THE best attraction in the Disney parks by far. We were so glad that I was able to get a fastpass on another day of our trip so that we could experience it twice.
The ninth first:
Happily Ever After! I was skeptical as to whether or not I would like the new show as much as I did Wishes. When the singing first began, I was like "hum" but as it went on I was like "this is really good".
The tenth first:
Stopping on our way home and not driving straight through. Even though we usually don't make it home until 1 a.m. or so, we like having a full day of rest before we have to go back to work. But, this trip, it was nice to stop and rest for the evening before making the rest of the drive home.
I am sure that I left out something but those are the things that stand out the most. It was a great trip of firsts!
Thank you all so very much for sticking with me and following along on our journey. I am probably going to start my 2018 report soon. I have my pictures in some semblance of order so it may not be as hard to write as this one and not so drawn out.
Again, A BIG OLE THANK YOU for reading!
This trip was a totally different trip for John and I. It also included a lot of firsts. Thankfully, even though we have been 25 times and have spent over 300 nights on property, Disney still provides firsts for veteran guests.
The first "first:
It was just John and I. I felt some guilt planning the trip and then leaving family behind at home even though they are grown kids and an 84 year old woman. But, it did feel really good not to have to be constantly turning around to see if the rest of the group/family was behind us or keeping up. It was also easier when deciding what to see and do next. Sharing a bathroom between two people is a whole lot easier than with three or four. Oh and on the drive and in the parks, we only had two bladders to answer to.
The second first:
We were traveling at a different time of the year. The majority of our trips have been in May/June. This trip was before and over the Thanksgiving holidays. We lost daylight almost immediately after we started the drive which made those first 7 hours or so in the dark. My trip report lacked a lot of pictures for the first part. Instead of sweating like a........... (insert your own joke here), we were nice and cool, even chilly at times. Instead of lots of flowering baskets and landscaping, we saw Christmas decorations galore.
The third first:
We packed a small ice chest and were able to picnic for lunch on the way down Florida. It was nice to get out and stretch our legs, get excited about being closer to Disney and reminiscing about the trips we took when we were younger and always packing a picnic lunch.
The fourth first:
New resorts. If you've ever read one of my trip reports, you know that we are Caribbean Beach lovers to the nth degree. Love it! In order to take advantage of free dining, we had to book All Star Music since it was the only resort that had availability with the exception of one of the deluxe resorts which was a whopping $1,000 plus a night. This was our first time staying in an All Star resort. It was also our first time requesting a room change due to the condition of the room and the fact that it was an accessible room. This request led to another first for us. A stay at Disney's Art of Animation Resort.
The fifth first:
Opting out of mousekeeping. By opting out of mousekeeping, we were given a Disney e-gift card (and then an actual gift card) which led to another first for us which I'll list below.
The sixth first:
The Caring for Giants tour. Loved it! I would not hesitate to recommend this to anyone visiting Disney's Animal Kingdom.
The seventh first:
New dining experiences:
Art Smith's Homecoming restaurant. Even though the food wasn't up to par, we did try something new but it will be quite some time before we are back again.
Pizzafari family style meal. We almost always pay a visit to Pizzafari when we are in the park so it was a no brainer for us to try the new family style dining. There was plenty of food and it was nice to get to try a little of this and a little of that instead of having to decide on one thing.
The eighth first:
Avatar, Flight's of Passage (it was new at the time) Oh my goodness gracious sakes alive! THE best attraction in the Disney parks by far. We were so glad that I was able to get a fastpass on another day of our trip so that we could experience it twice.
The ninth first:
Happily Ever After! I was skeptical as to whether or not I would like the new show as much as I did Wishes. When the singing first began, I was like "hum" but as it went on I was like "this is really good".
The tenth first:
Stopping on our way home and not driving straight through. Even though we usually don't make it home until 1 a.m. or so, we like having a full day of rest before we have to go back to work. But, this trip, it was nice to stop and rest for the evening before making the rest of the drive home.
I am sure that I left out something but those are the things that stand out the most. It was a great trip of firsts!
Thank you all so very much for sticking with me and following along on our journey. I am probably going to start my 2018 report soon. I have my pictures in some semblance of order so it may not be as hard to write as this one and not so drawn out.
Again, A BIG OLE THANK YOU for reading!
mickeystoontown
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2006
Girl, you know I'm too stubborn to give up. LOL I am working on my pictures now and should have my new report started either tonight or tomorrow.
Thank you for sticking with me!
rndmr2
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 3, 2009
It's always sad to see the end of a trip. But it seems like it was a really great trip. We have flown the last few times we have gone (It would probably take 2 full days to get there from here). 2 of them we flew down and then my dad met us there (He drove from Philly) and He would stay overnight about 3/4 of the way there on the way down and then pretty much straight through on the way home, maybe 15 hours, he would leave at about 5 or 6am. One time we had a late afternoon flight with a layover in Baltimore and when we were in Baltimore I called my dad to see how his trip home was going and he was passing through Baltimore! 
Looking forward to the next report.
Looking forward to the next report.
mickeystoontown
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2006
It's always sad to see the end of a trip. But it seems like it was a really great trip. We have flown the last few times we have gone (It would probably take 2 full days to get there from here). 2 of them we flew down and then my dad met us there (He drove from Philly) and He would stay overnight about 3/4 of the way there on the way down and then pretty much straight through on the way home, maybe 15 hours, he would leave at about 5 or 6am. One time we had a late afternoon flight with a layover in Baltimore and when we were in Baltimore I called my dad to see how his trip home was going and he was passing through Baltimore!
Looking forward to the next report.
It IS sad! Oh my word, two days of driving would not be fun! I think that our 14 to 16 hour drive is bad enough. Oh your poor dad!
mickeystoontown
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2006
New trip report is live!
What the heck? Is this allowed? The mickeystoontown gang is back in the World and together again!
rndmr2
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 3, 2009
Luckily he loves to drive so it isn't too bad for him. I see you linked your new report, heading off to read...
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