Turn the Bus Around and Take Us Back to Disney! *COMPLETED*

[Denovagirl]

I have been putting off this post because this is the day we finally say ‘Farewell’ to our beloved Disney World. On top of that I am finding it difficult to remember all the details of that morning, because

#1 – I was beginning my Disney depression

#2 – All my notes got deleted!!!

But from what I do remember, I know the family got up around our usual time of 7ish, I got up a bit earlier to go throw our clothes in the laundry. Our flight was in the 11 o’clock hour, so we had to be down to the ME around 9am.

My plan for this morning was to wash all our clothes and fold them and finish packing up, eat some breakfast in room, take back the stroller, check our bags, and then explore the Car’s section of the resort that we STILL had not seen.

Well…basically nothing went according to plan! I don’t think I realized how much stuff we’d acquired during our stay, and how spread out it was in our room!! I also didn’t take into account that I’d have to wait for a washer, boo.

So basically that half hour or so I lost on waiting for a washer threw me wayyyyy off! I did manage to get all our clothes washed/dryed/packed, and then we frantically managed the rest. We called for help on getting our bags to the luggage services because we had SO MANY!!!



The man that came to help with those was SO FUNNY! We had all this food we’d not even opened or barely touched, and this must happen a lot, because he graciously took it all! He laughed it off, like it happens all the time, which I can see. I was just happy all our food and unused water bottles would not be wasted!

Anyway, by the time he came and we’d packed up it was like 8:45….I knew we were cutting it close to our ME arrival, but he assured me we’d make it in time. Basically, I had like two second to say my goodbye to our lovely room and snap this quick photo before power walking the trek up to the luggage services building! Goodbye room! Goodbye little-towel-animals-I-didn’t-know-you-were-allowed-to-take-home!!!





Once there, they skipped us ahead of the people waiting, citing an emergency that our bus was on the way, Chris ran to turn in our stroller, and I got everything taken care of with our luggage. We made out to the ME and waiting only a couple minutes before our bus pulled up…




Goodbye AoA, we’ll miss you!!



At the airport, it wasn’t very crowded at all, and we had a lot of time, so what is one to do?? Check out the gift shops, of course!!!



We, obviously, had to spend some time at the Disney Store!













We had fun looking around in there and snapping photos before we meandered off to the Universal store. Surprisingly, we did end up making a rather large purchase in here!!



See, we didn’t want to carry anything around at Universal, since it was just Chris and I that day, so we didn’t buy any souvenirs, but Olivia had requested a Harry Potter broom. She literally had asked us for one months before our trip, and I basically scoffed at the idea of it, they had to be ridiculously expensive, right? So when it came to our day at the parks, I’d noticed them but I didn’t even LOOK at the price tag, just went right on by… I mean, c’mon, a robe was like almost $200! Well, low and behold, what’s the FIRST thing she finds at the gift shop?? A flying broomstick, complete with fiber optic lights…and guess the price?? $35! I was pretty shocked… $35 seems reasonable to me, I mean tee shirts at Disney cost that much! And this was a full size ride on broom! So we let her get it, after speaking with the cashier, and having her confirm that it was allowed through security and could be carried on the plane. And that, my friends, is how we ended up lugging a FLYING BROOMSTICK around with us through the airport and on the plane! Haha… we got many a remark regarding that!



Anywho, I do believe we ate some fast food in the airport and our flight was on time and went off without incident.



Soon enough we had landed back in San Antonio, and we were on our way home. It was bittersweet coming home to our pup. As I am sure most of you know all too well….

One fun thing about arriving home; getting to check out all your LOOT!!



So that’s it, the end. No more.

But have no fears, I’ll be back with a couple more posts on my final thoughts as a first timer in Disney, and as you probably already know, I now have the comfort of my current Pre-Trip report, Walk-ing Back to Disney, to keep me warm at night! Obviously, this means that we are now BOOKED and PAID and ready to go back to Disney Sept 29th-Oct 8th! Read all about it on my PTR!!

Up next, my Ultimate List of Likes/Dislikes!


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[Dugette]

Awww, time to leave!

Note to self: don't attempt laundry on last day
Second note to self: you can take towel animals home with you?!?

Your run to get to the Magical Express on time reminded me of our trip. Until you got there and had to wait for a bus instead of the bus waiting on you.

Nice flying broomstick! That must've been a sight to lug through the airport and all.

I like the "loot" picture. Wish I'd done that. You guys got a lot of good stuff!

Sad the trip is over, but looking forward to hearing more about the next one. Can't remember if I commented on your PTR yet or not, so I'll head over there now and catch up.

 

[pepe3penelope]

Thank you for your trip report. Been following along also on your PTR!

 

[STLMickeyMom]

Nope, I don't like this post at all. Leaving Disney is the absolute worst! But I do like the picture of all the Disney you got to bring home (and some Harry Potter too! How fun is that broom?!?). Thank goodness you have another trip in the works!

 

[Denovagirl]

Awww, time to leave!

Note to self: don't attempt laundry on last day
Second note to self: you can take towel animals home with you?!?

Your run to get to the Magical Express on time reminded me of our trip. Until you got there and had to wait for a bus instead of the bus waiting on you.

Nice flying broomstick! That must've been a sight to lug through the airport and all.

I like the "loot" picture. Wish I'd done that. You guys got a lot of good stuff!

Sad the trip is over, but looking forward to hearing more about the next one. Can't remember if I commented on your PTR yet or not, so I'll head over there now and catch up.

Haha, those are good notes for me to remember this fall! Although the laundry threw me off it worked out SO nice!!!! I am one of those who would've had our suitcases sitting with clothes for MONTHS if I had not done it then, all in one shot. So nice to come home and just put things away and not have them be dirty. I am pretty sure I will do the same thing this time, only I will try to do some mid-way through and rise earlier! Though, we hope to get later flights this time too!

That's too funny about rushing to make it to the ME, oh well, we were early for everything else the rest of the trip...

Yes, you should take a loot pic next time, its amazing to see how much you ended up with! We had even more than that when I started finding all the extra's the girls had from BBB & PL and other things like that. It's nutso! I am taking someone's advice and want to make a Disney treasure chest to keep all our keepsakes in one place! That's on my upcoming projects list....

Thank you for your trip report. Been following along also on your PTR!

Oh thank you!!!

This is so fun for me, and the people here on the Dis are all just the BEST EVER! You gave me major FEELS for saying that! I really appreciate people reading and enjoying my TR the same I have read so many others!

See you over on my PTR!

Nope, I don't like this post at all. Leaving Disney is the absolute worst! But I do like the picture of all the Disney you got to bring home (and some Harry Potter too! How fun is that broom?!?). Thank goodness you have another trip in the works!

Haha, I know, I typed this post up so fast, I just really hated doing it.

Trying to not dwell on the feeling of leaving though, and just remembering the fun times!

That broom is quite awesome, btw, and had held up with all the playing quite nicely too!

 

[sweetpeaandevie]

Well, you had the perfect first trip........thank you for sharing it with us all!!! Can't wait to see what happens on your next one

 

[Jackiemarie21]

Going home is the worst! But it helps to be planning another trip!
I love that broomstick! I bet you guys looked funny carrying it through security!
Looking forward to your final thoughts. And you know I am with you on your PTR!

 

[Denovagirl]

Well, you had the perfect first trip........thank you for sharing it with us all!!! Can't wait to see what happens on your next one

It was pretty perfect for a first trip in my humble opinion

Thank YOU for reading along, this is so sad for it to be almost over!!

Going home is the worst! But it helps to be planning another trip!
I love that broomstick! I bet you guys looked funny carrying it through security!
Looking forward to your final thoughts. And you know I am with you on your PTR!

You are right about that!! Even before this trip was actually in the works I had writing my TR to keep me company, so at least I haven't had to go through a spell of nothing Disney going on!!

 

[Chicago Mo]

Hate reading last days in disney... So bittersweet. glad to be home yet miss all the love in Disney. The family time, and adventures..

THANK GOD FOR ANOTHER TRIP!!!

 

[Denovagirl]

Hate reading last days in disney... So bittersweet. glad to be home yet miss all the love in Disney. The family time, and adventures..

THANK GOD FOR ANOTHER TRIP!!!

PREACH!

 

[Denovagirl]

Alright, let me just say before I do my likes and dislikes list that these just apply to ME and MY FAMILY!! Everyone tours differently, and some things work for some and not for others. So no hating!! Lol!

About these likes, obviously, I cannot list EVERYTHING I liked (or should say LOVED) about Disney or the list would go on and on and on. So these are more like things that I found to be surprising, or above and beyond.

LIKES:

Disney Service!!!!

Wow, I had heard over and over again, but if you have not gone to Disney before, just know that this is not a lie!! Disney does service soooooo well. Nearly every interaction I had with a CM went wonderfully. People were so genuinely happy to be working where they were and it shone through in all their actions. From food service, to ride operators, CM’s are so friendly!! Even the character actors who literally could not speak, were amazing. Always catering to each guest individually and not as a generic. I was blown away. The reason people keep going back and back and back to Disney? The service. It truly is the happiest place on earth with great employees like they’ve got. (Not to say you might not run into a dud CM every now and then, but as a whole: perfection.)

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Attention to Detail!!!!

Wow. Details. Oh, the details. From every little thing you could think of in a ride, the line queue, the ride vehicle, the decoration, the music, it was all so great. You really experienced stories, not just a ride. The restaurants, wow, I was in heaven. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE a good theme, and Disney does that for sure. From the décor, presentation, the food, and the CM’s every little thing about each place was just so perfect. Even the quick service was impeccable! Just walking through Magic Kingdom… Ya know, they didn’t have to put the shutters on slightly crooked in Liberty Square to reflect how shutters in that time would sag due to the leather they were bound on, but they did. They sooooo did. It small things like this, things most might not even notice, but they do it anyway, that matters. Things like decorating even the INSIDE of the bathrooms! Doing everything top notch, I’m so glad that Disney has stuck with this.

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Efficiency!!!

People know what they are doing in Disney. From my resort, to food, to transportation, everything was made to be easy on us, the guests. I love all the little perks, like not having to carry money on me, and having packages sent to my room, the luggage services and the dining plan. Things that make my life easier and make our vacation amazing. My family and I felt like royalty during our stay !! There would be times we just felt like we literally were the only people that mattered, and I know others felt that too. It was just beyond anything I could’ve imagined.

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Authenticity!!!

Come on, all the people working in World Showcase originate from the Country they work in!!! Whaaaaaat! That’s nuts! I danced with African dancer/drummer guys!! My kids watched our past Presidents come to life! We ate German food while watching Germans perform classic German music!! Seriously!?!?! Where else can you do all these amazing things in one place? I was just so impressed with the authenticity of everything. Disney takes the time to do things the way they are and should be. In cases when they can they have the real-life thing, and when they don’t, they create a likeness of it that is practically real life. I just was stunned with everything .

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Transportation!!!

By bus or by boat or by monorail, it was all so wonderful. I loved not having a vehicle in Disney! The hubs and I always vacation places we don’t need to rent a car, like Vegas or DC, and Disney too!! Even though we did have some short waiting to do, and we did have to pack onto the buses from time to time, it was still so great. I never took for granted the free transportation. I appreciated it, because it was one less thing for me to worry about. It never failed us and it was quite fun to ride the monorail and the boats, another magical little part of our experience.

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Dining Plan!!!

LOVED IT! Loved. It. I know that it may not be a great savings or even a savings at all, but for me it was FANTASTIC! I am the type of person, that even if I budgeted the amount I spent on the dining plan for food, I would have been in sticker shock at the prices and would have found myself ordering the cheapest thing, or skipping dessert or ordering water. I am that way. When I have money in my hand I am cautious with it. Even when I intend to splurge I find it incredibly hard to do so! So for me just being able to pre-pay for my meals, and then not to have to worry about the prices while on vacation was a blessing. I lived it up for that week and ordered whatever I really wanted and enjoyed all the fabulous desserts and had so much fun. The hubs and I still tell people we ate like kings on that trip. Worth it.

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I literally cannot list out and write about everything I was wowed by, but here’s some additional things I thought were just amazeballs:


~AoA Resort

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~Big Blue Pool
~Laundry Rooms at the Resorts
~Dole Whips (Yes, they lived up to the hype!)
~Talking characters (Who stay SO in character!!)

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~BOG
~HDDMR

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~Ft. Wilderness
~Fantasmic!
~World Showcase

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~Safari
~AK Grounds
~Photopass

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~Character Meals
~Downtown Disney
~Disney Junior Live!
~Main Street USA
~BBB

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I KNOW I am forgetting many, many things that I should mention. But as I sit here reflecting on our trip each day, those are things that stand out to me.

As for dislikes, well there’s not too many actually, but there were a few things that were mostly “eh” to me, or that I don’t necessarily need to do more than once. I won’t go into much detail with these. But like I said, this is more of a "don't need to do every trip" list than a "dislike" list....


~Cinderella’s Royal Table (Good to do once)
~DinoLand in AK
~Lotus Blossom Café
~Pizza Planet
~Lights, Motor, Action
~Captain EO
~All the WALKING
~The HUMIDITY


Haha, obviously, not too much can be done about those last couple… but still. As you can see the list is short, and all are things that just weren't my thing, but many others probably LOVE. Nothing on my list was a big thing that we encountered over and over. Some of these things could probably even be chocked up to a bad day on their part, and I would feel differently if I go again.

Overall I basically LOVED just about EVERYTHING about Disney World, and only a couple things were just so/so for me. Disney exceeded ALL my expectations and set one heck of a bar for all future vacations for my family.

I feel like having been once, now I am even better prepared for next time. I was originally bummed at the thought that no vacation could probably top our first time at Disney, but now that I am in the thick of planning our next one, I have the sneaking suspicion that this one will be even better! I know what we like, what we will probably skip, the lay of the land, and I think all those things will come into play to make this trip more catered to us. We will be going back to places we loved and getting to try new things. (Oh yeah, another thing I LOVE: Disney is ALWAYS changing and adding new things!) All in all, I’d say I expect our trip to be quite awesome this next time.

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[pepe3penelope]

Oh my goodness!!! I loved reading what you had to say! Although we have never been to WDW, bring at DLR is the same where the CM's really try their best.

I mentioned before that we are hooked on Disney cruise line. Several of your positives are our reasons for not wanting to cruise with anyone else.

Reading this last post of yours has inspired me to do the next part of my PTR! Thank you and I'll post it soon!

 

[Dugette]

Great summary! No wonder it's so easy to get hooked and keep going back! I'm sure your next trip will be amazing as well. Looking forward to hearing all about it.

 

[Denovagirl]

Oh my goodness!!! I loved reading what you had to say! Although we have never been to WDW, bring at DLR is the same where the CM's really try their best.

I mentioned before that we are hooked on Disney cruise line. Several of your positives are our reasons for not wanting to cruise with anyone else.

Reading this last post of yours has inspired me to do the next part of my PTR! Thank you and I'll post it soon!

I can't wait to find out first hand how awesome DCL is!!!

Oh, and today I watched a show on Disneyland and now I want to go more than ever too!

I'm watching out for your PTR update!

Great summary! No wonder it's so easy to get hooked and keep going back! I'm sure your next trip will be amazing as well. Looking forward to hearing all about it.

This is sooo true! I'm waiting patiently for another of your updates too, I am living vicariously through your TR right now!

 

[Dugette]

This is sooo true! I'm waiting patiently for another of your updates too, I am living vicariously through your TR right now!

Ha ha, I'll try to get another one up tonight, after I finish eating my gelato!

 

[Chicago Mo]

this was the sweetest report i have ever read!!!

there is NOTHING like your first trip to Disney. Yet when you go back over and over again you will never have the same trip. You will learn new fun things, experience new adventures!! Like you already mentioned your next trip you know what you want to do have a better lay of the land! regardless you will be lost in the magic all over again!!!

I am sorry this trip is over... I will probably reread it!!!

Thankfully there is another trip!!!

 

[Denovagirl]

this was the sweetest report i have ever read!!!

there is NOTHING like your first trip to Disney. Yet when you go back over and over again you will never have the same trip. You will learn new fun things, experience new adventures!! Like you already mentioned your next trip you know what you want to do have a better lay of the land! regardless you will be lost in the magic all over again!!!

I am sorry this trip is over... I will probably reread it!!!

Thankfully there is another trip!!!

Haha, I will probably reread it too, its fun to read it all together! lol...

 

[Jackiemarie21]

Great wrap-up! It think it really helps to read what worked for some families and what didn't work so well! Even though I have been several times there is still more to learn to have the best trip possible!
I can't agree with you more about the CMs and attention to detail! It really makes the trip! Its the reason why people are willing to pay high prices year after year!

 

[Denovagirl]

Great wrap-up! It think it really helps to read what worked for some families and what didn't work so well! Even though I have been several times there is still more to learn to have the best trip possible!
I can't agree with you more about the CMs and attention to detail! It really makes the trip! Its the reason why people are willing to pay high prices year after year!

I know! I am SOOOO excited to go back!!! I can't wait to see what new fun things we will explore!

 

[annegirl]

Just finished this trip report! It was so fun to read!
Can you really keep the towel animals? I hadn't heard that before.