RachelNinja
Sometimes I'd rather live in VMK than in real life
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2007
Goodbye, Animal Kingdom Lodge! Goodbye, Disneymoon!
Staying at the resort the day before worked out really well because we also had to pack all of our things in the suitcases. I'm very particular about NOT putting dirty clothes in the suitcases, so we did pick up some extra merchandise shopping bags from the gift shop to put the dirty clothes in that weren't yet washed. We didn't have too much though; we actually did more of the laundry there (although the dryers didn't dry the clothes completely) because we didn't yet have a washer/dryer at home. We would have to bring our clothes over to my parents' house to wash, so it was a great way to force ourselves to bring home clean clothes. I might be weird saying it, but I don't necessarily think that resort washers/dryers are the cleanest either, but I definitely think throwing it in the wash is cleaner than however dirty the shirts and shorts got from sitting on all the rides and the ground in the parks!
We did have to wake up fairly early in the morning to get the Magical Express. Since then, we still do the same thing in that we book the earliest flight possible that day because we know that there's no way we'd hit a park in the morning and then go back to the resort to catch ME. I'd be so nervous about getting back on time since there are those rare occasions where the buses aren't completely reliable. We also went back to just having our no-expiration tickets, so there's no way that we would waste a day on our ticket if we weren't planning on staying from open to close. Lastly, even though the flight itself is fairly short at just a little over 2 hours or so, waiting at the airport and getting luggage and getting home takes a while, so I like the idea of getting home earlier so that I don't feel as if we spent the ENTIRE day traveling. The feeling of traveling for an entire day can be reserved for the days we actually DO sit in the car for over 20 hours when we drive home when vacationing with my parents!
Of course, we were still extremely sad that we had to leave and that our Disneymoon was ending.
It wasn't just being away from work for over a week, but it was really the fun of finally being able to go on vacation by ourselves. I know a lot of couples go on vacation before they get married, but for the two of us, we saw that as something to reserve for our marriage only. It really made it extra special, and it might sound silly to a lot of DISers, but that's why we were thrilled to get on an airplane by ourselves and check in by ourselves and look for our hotel room by ourselves. We did go on vacation together beforehand, but that was with my parents and brother and then again with my cousins and our friends where we had a guys' room and a girls' room. So all the fun of being able to experience WDW just the two of us without worrying about matching our schedules with anyone else was leaving us!
However, this was unlike the previous two WDW vacations we went on together in that we wouldn't have to leave each other! I remember when he came with my family on vacation, and we had to drive him back home and drop him off before we could go home. I was super sad about that because it was such a treat seeing my best friend EVERY DAY as opposed to just twice a week on Saturdays for our date day and Sundays at church. That was definitely the light at the end of this sad tunnel because we would be together! Haha, I told Howard to smile here, and this face is what I got.
And even though we would have to take off our "Happily Ever After" buttons, I wouldn't have to take off my wedding ring! To this day, I still get excited every morning when I put my rings on before I head out. I hope that feeling never leaves me. I know I wrote about it in the beginning of this TR, but I absolutely LOVE my rings. Though they're not super fancy and the diamond in my e-ring is definitely not as big as the rings that both of my sisters-in-law have (mine is half a carat, and theirs are at LEAST a carat ... but if you combine my e-ring and wedding band, it's a carat!), I love it the way it is. I'm a simple girl, and I'm a huge fan of my simple rings! I think it's interesting when people who have huge e-rings don't wear them than often because they're afraid it'll get stolen. I can wear mine every day!
Of course, my rings are probably not the things you were looking at in that previous picture because my nails were HORRIBLE. Haha, since that trip, I have learned about base coat and top coat and have used them when I paint my nails. I actually have a rather large collection now once I knew how to do my nails the right way to make the color last. But the only thing that mattered was that the color lasted throughout the wedding, and in the pictures, no one can tell that I didn't pay for a manicure or pedicure! Yay for that! Haha, that $1.99 bottle of Sinful Colors nail polish that I had for YEARS (it was the only real dark color I had because the other two I had were translucent pink) was definitely worth it!
The bus arrived, and it was only the two of us and another small group of 3-4 getting on. I liked the bus driver, and I attempted to get a picture of him from the window, but then at that same second, he opened the ... huh, what is it called? It's not a trunk ... haha, the storage space under the bus ... yeah, that door thing. He opened it, and it blocked me.
This was my second attempt, but then he turned around to talk to that little boy, haha. Never mind!
Here we were feeling sad on the bus. Even now thinking about it and looking at the pictures, I'm saddened by it knowing we were heading back to reality! Haha, and we've had a few trips since then!
The bus had to pick up more guests, of course, especially since it's super empty. We headed to Pop Century and saw the huge crowd! Thankfully, we had gotten on the bus first, so we got to sit in the front and watch everything happen. I couldn't believe how packed it was in comparison to how empty it was for us at AKL! We've had two trips where we stayed at Pop and had a lot of people there (not as bad as this though), and it's fine because clearly Disney knows what to do, and it's not like there won't be enough room on the bus!
We also watched as the bus driver pulled a book out from behind the bench out front. I guess all the drivers have to write and keep record of times or something in that book.
Well, it took a lot longer for us to get going. There was a guy in a wheelchair that needed to get on the bus, so they tried lowering the wheelchair ramp in the back of the bus, but it just kept getting stuck and wouldn't hit the ground completely. Then it got stuck as they tried to get the ramp back up and into the bus, so there was no way that we would be moving soon.
We actually had to get off the bus as they called a new one to pick all of us up to get to the airport. When that happened, they let all the Pop Century people on first before we could get onboard, so in my mind, it felt as if it took forever. I guess that's why Disney forces you to take a really early bus before your flight! Even so, I was really nervous that we'd be late because it really took a LOT of time for all of this to be worked out. I did quickly snap a picture of 1980 because both of us were born in the 80s.
FINALLY we got on the bus! The screens were really nice and much bigger on that bus, and it clearly was a newer design. I think more of the buses are probably like this now as we've been on this kind since then.
PHEW, when we finally arrived, I kind of breathed a sigh of relief, but even then, I was STILL NERVOUS. We were there JUST in time. I wasn't feeling the greatest and needed to take Tylenol, so I did that with one of the remaining water bottles before we went through security. We actually had to bring home Vitamin Water and water bottles in our luggage, and I guess that was a cause for alarm because when we got home, there was the paper in there indicating that our stuff was searched.
We also went to the food court to pick up food for the flight because we knew we'd be hungry. I can't even remember if we ate anything for breakfast. I'm sure we ate something small because I wouldn't have been able to sit on the bus without having something in my stomach. The original plan was to get some Chik-fil-A and eat it in the food court, but the bus mishap took up too much time and we had no choice but to just pick up food and head straight to our gate. We chose Quiznos because we figured it would be the least fragrant on the plane. We didn't want the smell of food to bother anyone the way that Oscar and Andy brought egg salad sandwiches on the plane in The Office!
Although security itself always looks like such a MESS, I think the line moves pretty quickly considering how bad it looks just because there are so many separate lines. We waited for the fake-o-rail, which would be our last "ride" in Florida. I don't remember if I mentioned it before, but when I uploaded the video of riding this for the first time on the way to Disney, someone commented on it on YouTube that it was still a monorail and made me feel stupid for calling it a fake monorail! I commented back saying that we just called it that because in the eyes of Disney fans, the real monorail is on Disney property. The person ended up deleting the comment anyway, but I was just thinking like, wow, people on YouTube (and the internet, really) feel as if they can say anything without thinking about being nice about it!
Final "ride vehicle and track" type of picture?
Alas, another sad picture! Haha, Howard saw these pictures and said that I had made some sort of comment that we just had tons of sad pictures that day. Oh well, we couldn't help it!
We got to our gate and LITERALLY only had time to go to the bathroom before we had to get in line to board. There were absolutely NO seats at all in the area (why is the airport SO small with so few seats?!), so it was fine for us to stand until our rows were called and we took turns in the bathroom.
We sat near the back of the plane, and thankfully it was a short flight since it wasn't the most comfortable. Since then, we ALWAYS fly JetBlue. Too bad we didn't choose that for our honeymoon or we would've had some snacks and such! But we did have our wraps from Quiznos to eat. And yes, this is seriously the final picture that we took during our trip, haha. Food. And not even Disney food!
My parents were kind enough to pick us up from the airport after we got our luggage. They dropped us off at our apartment, and I think they gave us a few food items too since we definitely didn't have ANYTHING in our fridge since we only had one day in our apartment before we went on our Disneymoon. And thus, our Disneymoon was over! Thankfully, we both took off another day of work or going home would've felt even WORSE! We still had one day to kind of adjust to being at home (and get some groceries!) before we had to get hit with reality once more with work. I had less than a month of work left, so I knew I could push through it especially since the state tests were BEFORE our trip.
Though our Disney trip was over, we knew we'd have the rest of our lives together as husband and wife!
Staying at the resort the day before worked out really well because we also had to pack all of our things in the suitcases. I'm very particular about NOT putting dirty clothes in the suitcases, so we did pick up some extra merchandise shopping bags from the gift shop to put the dirty clothes in that weren't yet washed. We didn't have too much though; we actually did more of the laundry there (although the dryers didn't dry the clothes completely) because we didn't yet have a washer/dryer at home. We would have to bring our clothes over to my parents' house to wash, so it was a great way to force ourselves to bring home clean clothes. I might be weird saying it, but I don't necessarily think that resort washers/dryers are the cleanest either, but I definitely think throwing it in the wash is cleaner than however dirty the shirts and shorts got from sitting on all the rides and the ground in the parks!
We did have to wake up fairly early in the morning to get the Magical Express. Since then, we still do the same thing in that we book the earliest flight possible that day because we know that there's no way we'd hit a park in the morning and then go back to the resort to catch ME. I'd be so nervous about getting back on time since there are those rare occasions where the buses aren't completely reliable. We also went back to just having our no-expiration tickets, so there's no way that we would waste a day on our ticket if we weren't planning on staying from open to close. Lastly, even though the flight itself is fairly short at just a little over 2 hours or so, waiting at the airport and getting luggage and getting home takes a while, so I like the idea of getting home earlier so that I don't feel as if we spent the ENTIRE day traveling. The feeling of traveling for an entire day can be reserved for the days we actually DO sit in the car for over 20 hours when we drive home when vacationing with my parents!
Of course, we were still extremely sad that we had to leave and that our Disneymoon was ending.
It wasn't just being away from work for over a week, but it was really the fun of finally being able to go on vacation by ourselves. I know a lot of couples go on vacation before they get married, but for the two of us, we saw that as something to reserve for our marriage only. It really made it extra special, and it might sound silly to a lot of DISers, but that's why we were thrilled to get on an airplane by ourselves and check in by ourselves and look for our hotel room by ourselves. We did go on vacation together beforehand, but that was with my parents and brother and then again with my cousins and our friends where we had a guys' room and a girls' room. So all the fun of being able to experience WDW just the two of us without worrying about matching our schedules with anyone else was leaving us!
However, this was unlike the previous two WDW vacations we went on together in that we wouldn't have to leave each other! I remember when he came with my family on vacation, and we had to drive him back home and drop him off before we could go home. I was super sad about that because it was such a treat seeing my best friend EVERY DAY as opposed to just twice a week on Saturdays for our date day and Sundays at church. That was definitely the light at the end of this sad tunnel because we would be together! Haha, I told Howard to smile here, and this face is what I got.
And even though we would have to take off our "Happily Ever After" buttons, I wouldn't have to take off my wedding ring! To this day, I still get excited every morning when I put my rings on before I head out. I hope that feeling never leaves me. I know I wrote about it in the beginning of this TR, but I absolutely LOVE my rings. Though they're not super fancy and the diamond in my e-ring is definitely not as big as the rings that both of my sisters-in-law have (mine is half a carat, and theirs are at LEAST a carat ... but if you combine my e-ring and wedding band, it's a carat!), I love it the way it is. I'm a simple girl, and I'm a huge fan of my simple rings! I think it's interesting when people who have huge e-rings don't wear them than often because they're afraid it'll get stolen. I can wear mine every day!
Of course, my rings are probably not the things you were looking at in that previous picture because my nails were HORRIBLE. Haha, since that trip, I have learned about base coat and top coat and have used them when I paint my nails. I actually have a rather large collection now once I knew how to do my nails the right way to make the color last. But the only thing that mattered was that the color lasted throughout the wedding, and in the pictures, no one can tell that I didn't pay for a manicure or pedicure! Yay for that! Haha, that $1.99 bottle of Sinful Colors nail polish that I had for YEARS (it was the only real dark color I had because the other two I had were translucent pink) was definitely worth it!
The bus arrived, and it was only the two of us and another small group of 3-4 getting on. I liked the bus driver, and I attempted to get a picture of him from the window, but then at that same second, he opened the ... huh, what is it called? It's not a trunk ... haha, the storage space under the bus ... yeah, that door thing. He opened it, and it blocked me.
This was my second attempt, but then he turned around to talk to that little boy, haha. Never mind!
Here we were feeling sad on the bus. Even now thinking about it and looking at the pictures, I'm saddened by it knowing we were heading back to reality! Haha, and we've had a few trips since then!
The bus had to pick up more guests, of course, especially since it's super empty. We headed to Pop Century and saw the huge crowd! Thankfully, we had gotten on the bus first, so we got to sit in the front and watch everything happen. I couldn't believe how packed it was in comparison to how empty it was for us at AKL! We've had two trips where we stayed at Pop and had a lot of people there (not as bad as this though), and it's fine because clearly Disney knows what to do, and it's not like there won't be enough room on the bus!
We also watched as the bus driver pulled a book out from behind the bench out front. I guess all the drivers have to write and keep record of times or something in that book.
Well, it took a lot longer for us to get going. There was a guy in a wheelchair that needed to get on the bus, so they tried lowering the wheelchair ramp in the back of the bus, but it just kept getting stuck and wouldn't hit the ground completely. Then it got stuck as they tried to get the ramp back up and into the bus, so there was no way that we would be moving soon.
We actually had to get off the bus as they called a new one to pick all of us up to get to the airport. When that happened, they let all the Pop Century people on first before we could get onboard, so in my mind, it felt as if it took forever. I guess that's why Disney forces you to take a really early bus before your flight! Even so, I was really nervous that we'd be late because it really took a LOT of time for all of this to be worked out. I did quickly snap a picture of 1980 because both of us were born in the 80s.
FINALLY we got on the bus! The screens were really nice and much bigger on that bus, and it clearly was a newer design. I think more of the buses are probably like this now as we've been on this kind since then.
PHEW, when we finally arrived, I kind of breathed a sigh of relief, but even then, I was STILL NERVOUS. We were there JUST in time. I wasn't feeling the greatest and needed to take Tylenol, so I did that with one of the remaining water bottles before we went through security. We actually had to bring home Vitamin Water and water bottles in our luggage, and I guess that was a cause for alarm because when we got home, there was the paper in there indicating that our stuff was searched.
We also went to the food court to pick up food for the flight because we knew we'd be hungry. I can't even remember if we ate anything for breakfast. I'm sure we ate something small because I wouldn't have been able to sit on the bus without having something in my stomach. The original plan was to get some Chik-fil-A and eat it in the food court, but the bus mishap took up too much time and we had no choice but to just pick up food and head straight to our gate. We chose Quiznos because we figured it would be the least fragrant on the plane. We didn't want the smell of food to bother anyone the way that Oscar and Andy brought egg salad sandwiches on the plane in The Office!
Although security itself always looks like such a MESS, I think the line moves pretty quickly considering how bad it looks just because there are so many separate lines. We waited for the fake-o-rail, which would be our last "ride" in Florida. I don't remember if I mentioned it before, but when I uploaded the video of riding this for the first time on the way to Disney, someone commented on it on YouTube that it was still a monorail and made me feel stupid for calling it a fake monorail! I commented back saying that we just called it that because in the eyes of Disney fans, the real monorail is on Disney property. The person ended up deleting the comment anyway, but I was just thinking like, wow, people on YouTube (and the internet, really) feel as if they can say anything without thinking about being nice about it!
Final "ride vehicle and track" type of picture?
Alas, another sad picture! Haha, Howard saw these pictures and said that I had made some sort of comment that we just had tons of sad pictures that day. Oh well, we couldn't help it!
We got to our gate and LITERALLY only had time to go to the bathroom before we had to get in line to board. There were absolutely NO seats at all in the area (why is the airport SO small with so few seats?!), so it was fine for us to stand until our rows were called and we took turns in the bathroom.
We sat near the back of the plane, and thankfully it was a short flight since it wasn't the most comfortable. Since then, we ALWAYS fly JetBlue. Too bad we didn't choose that for our honeymoon or we would've had some snacks and such! But we did have our wraps from Quiznos to eat. And yes, this is seriously the final picture that we took during our trip, haha. Food. And not even Disney food!
My parents were kind enough to pick us up from the airport after we got our luggage. They dropped us off at our apartment, and I think they gave us a few food items too since we definitely didn't have ANYTHING in our fridge since we only had one day in our apartment before we went on our Disneymoon. And thus, our Disneymoon was over! Thankfully, we both took off another day of work or going home would've felt even WORSE! We still had one day to kind of adjust to being at home (and get some groceries!) before we had to get hit with reality once more with work. I had less than a month of work left, so I knew I could push through it especially since the state tests were BEFORE our trip.
Though our Disney trip was over, we knew we'd have the rest of our lives together as husband and wife!
I'll be there seven weeks from tonight eating at Whispering Canyon, and I have plenty of change. 
Your last post summed it up so great, and made me remember our Disneymoon nearly 7 years ago. It was our first time traveling just the two of us, and it was so fun to have control of ALL of the plans for the first time ever. 
