Departure Day and Final Thoughts
This morning I got up early, but what’s the fun in that when you are leaving for home. Must of our stuff was packed the night before so we loaded up into the van for our trip to the Contemporary resort for breakfast with Chef Mickey. TJ stayed behind as usual ( we have never been able to get him to go to a character meal in all of the years we have gone to Disney ). Boy, it sure bought back memories driving into the Contemporary Resort ( this was our favorite vacation when we stayed there back in December 2001 ). Of course Marc seemed to have forgotten, because he got turned around, and we had to retrace our steps back through the gates ). Follow the signs honey, they are not that hard ! The girl’s seemed excited about the meal, but as with many things on this trip, something just seemed a bit off and although we had a great meal and a very nice server it was not the same. I am hoping that the fact that we will be with little ones on our next trip that this will bring back some of the excitement. Everyone seemed grumpier then usual on this trip, and it showed in our picture. So no examples of a great meal with Mickey are proudly taking up residence on my refrigerator this time. The girls and I did want to show Trice our favorite resort at WDW ( the Grand Floridian ). So we boarded the monorail and promised to meet Marc back at the Pop Century Resort in a little while. We were even lucky enough to ride up front with the conductor. It was getting cloudy outside as if the sky knew I was leaving. Or was that tears because I felt so sad about leaving and feeling as if I had not accomplished all I wanted to on this trip ? We checked in at the Grand Floridian for a brief tour inside, and then on the grounds, but the rain looked like it was coming soon, so we made our way back onto the monorail and then to the buses at MK for our trek back to Pop Century ( I stopped briefly to take a picture of the boats at the MK entrance , one more thing I did not get a chance to ride on this trip. Marc and TJ had most of the bags outside and were in the process of loading up the van. By the time they finished strapping the luggage to the top it had started to rain. We loaded everything into the car, checked the room one last time and pulled out. Good-bye Pop Century, see you in May. The ride home this time around was fairly calm. No car trouble, and with the exception of a brief stop in Jacksonville to the Beltz Outlet not much to write home about. We pulled in around 2 am and Trice parent's met us in the driveway to pick her up ( poor thing she had only been home briefly before vacation to drop off her stuff from the dorms , and I think she was a little home sick ). We were only two days away from Christmas. No Christmas tree, gifts ( well maybe a few ), no lights, etc. I love Disney at Christmas time, so if I had to do it all over again I would stay through Christmas. Even with the crowds, there is something about the atmospheres at Christmas that makes it ……Magical. In closing I will have to say that we do not do well when we are all looking for something different out of the trip. Marc wanted to shop, and take a break from the parks in the afternoon. The girls wanted to go their on way, and TJ did. I think mostly it is the fact that we have been so many times that we each have special things we like to do and its hard to do that when you are trying to show someone the park for the first time. I see future trips for me and Marc alone, or me and the girls alone. Perhaps not all of us together ( at least not until grandkids come along ). Also Trice is a thrill ride person, and for the first time that I can remember a lot of the rides were down. Well, maybe they have been down before, but with the exception of Test Tracks we are not big thrill ride folk, so perhaps I did not notice. I’m still not sure if she really enjoyed it the way we did, so the girls and I are planning a Girls vacation to US/IOA for Trice and her mom and aunt, my mom, and my girls and my little cousin Gee ( part of the C- Unit, which consist of my two daughter’s Nicki and Quisha, Trice and Gee ). Now that should be a trip to write home about.
So Stay Tuned…..Girls Gone Wild at US/IOA 2007 (at this rate it will be 2010).
Update: After our last trip to WDW in May, I'm not sure that I will ever be up to traveling to Disney in the summer time again. So I have postponed our Girls Gone Wild trip to US/IOA. That's the bad news. The good news is that as a family we have decided to give US/IOA another try. So stay tuned for a trip in 2007. We have even decided to try Seaworld again. Maybe this time I can actually see Seaworld (lol). To understand all of this you would have to read our May trip report.
