Mom's buying so we're flying TR About This Page:

[lazanya]

What a great last day! I can't believe your trip is almost over.

[shnewell]

I am sitting here chuckling to myself because after your last cliffhanger, I thought to myself, "I wonder if they rode Small World again?" And then to read that you rode it not once but twice made me giggle!

Sounds like you packed in a lot on your last night. I can see why you all fell right to sleep!

[CinderAbby]

Originally Posted by taylan1

What a great last day at MK! So happy that Abby got to ride IASW so many times. We made up for it being closed in October on our June trip this year. I think we rode it 4 or 5 times. LOL I too like to spend the whole day from open to close but sometimes it is just not possible with my son so we go with the flow. He (in the past) has not liked fireworks at all and will not where headphones( let alone a hat) so we have avoided fireworks like the plague. However on our last trip he actually watched illumations and was fine with it, so there is hope for the future. I am sorry that your TR is coming to an end, I so enjoy them even with the arguements ( that's life) and so on. Too bad the scooter had issues again, bad luck there. I hope your plane ride home is just as smooth as the one down. Waiting for more.

Thanks - I'm glad you've been reading along and have been enjoying my TR. As hard as it is to go with the flow for me, you gotta do what you gotta do (especially if it's to keep the peace). Good luck with being able to see more fireworks in the future. I remember reading here on the boards that you were able to see Illuminations this year and I thought Way to Go! We really don't know what happened with the scooter but thankfully we were getting ready to go home and didn't need it again. I'll be posting in a little while so you won't have too long to wait for our plane ride home.

Originally Posted by WeLuvTheWorld

Got all caught up (I was only on page 18 when I started reading today!!!) and I'm so sad that your TR is already ending.

I appreciate that you give us the good as well as the not so fun times. Like others have already said, it helps us to realize when that happens on our trips that we aren't the only one dealing with those issues.

I love the pictures of Abby trying to pull the sword out of the stone! Too cute and she looks so determined.

Hope that your flight home was as easy as your flight to Orlando!

Wow, you did some reading today. Glad you're caught up and I know the feeling. I'm sad it's ending too - it's like my trip is coming to an end all over again. Knowing I'm not the only one who has ups and downs makes it easier to write about them. I wish they didn't happen and don't always want to put them in but then chunks would be missing making for a choppy TR and I don't like them when they're like that - even my own. Abby with the sword was priceless. She did that entirely on her own - I didn't tell her to stand up there like that - and she was determined to get it out. Stay tuned, I'll post more today.

Originally Posted by saibot0001

I agree with you! Luckily for us, my entire family are early risers (even my dd's). So we are all up at the break of dawn and ready to go. We are usually only at the resort for a couple of hours usually mid afternoon. We did not do that our first trip, but have on the rest and we can all tell a difference! And we don't do it at parks that close early like AK if we are only going there for one day.

We have one picky eater in my family....my youngest dd so sometimes we do have to wait in additional lines for her, unfortunately.

Glad to hear about COP. Maybe we will get to try it this upcoming trip. I agree, when you are tired, you are tired and it doesn't matter what is going on.
Enjoying your TR and will stay tuned to see what happens at the airport!

I can somewhat see the advantages of going to the resort - I think the fact that we did made our CM meal all that more enjoyable - but that day we were up and out early (we were at breakfast about 8:15). Being out any later than that and it's just not worth it IMO but one day at a time. Next time we have a trip, we'll see how it goes. Right now (I know, I'm bad) I'm thinking of letting everyone have late mornings (when feasible) but until we're even seriously looking (I know - every thought is serious) at going again, that's all they are - thoughts. Like I said, we're not overly fussy - Abby is the most out of the three of us so we just get food based on her wants at Cosmin Rays. You have to try CoP at least once but AFAIK it's a "seasonal" thing so I'm not even sure when it's typically open. I know it has been every time we've gone in the summer but outside of that, I have no clue (could that be why you've missed it - is it closed when you go?). Glad you're still enjoying my TR - I'll be posting more later so keep checking back.

Originally Posted by alexsmommy0412

Sounds like you had great a last day

We really did - it's the kind of day I wished we had every day but at least the last day was really, really good.

Originally Posted by lazanya

What a great last day! I can't believe your trip is almost over.

Thanks Jodi. It was - I can't believe it either. It seems like I just started with the TR.

Originally Posted by shnewell

I am sitting here chuckling to myself because after your last cliffhanger, I thought to myself, "I wonder if they rode Small World again?" And then to read that you rode it not once but twice made me giggle!

Sounds like you packed in a lot on your last night. I can see why you all fell right to sleep!

That's the point of my cliffhangers - to get you thinking. Of course like I said, we're predictable so I'm not surprised you went right to IASW. I guess being predictalbe isn't a bad thing but I'm glad that I can get you guys to laugh with my TR's. Everyone needs a good laugh and I hope I provide enough in here to hopefully make someones's day just a little bit better. We packed a lot into the whole day and we were pooped - plus too I don't think we turned our lights out until about 1 am .

[lsugirlinutah]

What a great end to your trip! So glad y'all got to stay late at MK; you're right, there's nothing like it at night!

We are "forced" to go back to the hotel for an afternoon break because the last 2 times we have gone, we've had a toddler who needs a nap. This year we will have a 1 year old who will also need a nap. We like doing it this way, but I agree with you...you need to get going early for the break thing to work, otherwise you don't spend enough time at the parks. We also split it up...one parent stays at the park with the older kids, one parent takes the baby and preschooler back for rest and naps.

I hope your flight home went smoothly!!!

[CinderAbby]

After having gone to bed so late the night before, the last thing I wanted to do was get out of bed early on Wednesday but I did . I just have no idea what time I was up - I neglected to write any times down for this day. I wanted to get as much packed away as I possibly could and pretty much just leave all small stuff that could get thrown into our carry ons and I did just that. Around whatever time it was, I’m thinking maybe 7:30ish, I woke Lenny up because the scooter had to be back at Bell Services by 9 and I didn’t really want to push it over there. I was leaving that to Lenny (I’m nice, aren’t I? ) Other than that, the only time line I have - and the only thing I know for sure - is that we were all up and ready and everything was all packed back into the car by 9:30 . At some point in time, I had also headed to check in to see what I owed for the fridge (I never got my express checkout paperwork) and to get my boarding passes printed out. The CM told me I didn’t get any paperwork because I didn’t owe anything (Disney Magic) and she couldn’t print out my boarding passes because her computer was giving her problems with it . The Supervisor that was there that morning was able to print them for me though so I was happy.

So at 9:30, we left our rooms for good and headed up to the food court for our final meal at Disney this trip. Abby wanted some Mickey Waffles, I got a croissant sandwich and Lenny got an omelet and sides of bacon for us all the share. At 10, we finally left the food court and headed to the car. As we passed by the rooms the Mousekeeper tapped on the window to get our attention. We went over to her and she asked me about the microwave that was in the room - if it was ours. I told her it wasn’t that it had been delivered to the room but we never asked for it so she said "It belong to company?" I told her "yes, it belongs to Disney" and she said okay and waved to us. I know I didn’t mention this before - I totally forgot about it until now but when I checked in the CM told me the fridge we requested was already in the room but the microwave we requested was going to be delivered . I told her I didn’t request one and didn’t want one but she said "don’t worry, it’s free." I said "okay, but it’s okay if I don’t get it." Sometime while we were at the room on our arrival day, it was delivered, but it sat on top of the fridge all week long and not once did we use it. I don’t know if this is something new Disney is doing or if it’s something for handicapped rooms or something else entirely.

So we walked away from the Mousekeeper and our rooms and headed to the car and once we got in, we headed to the Hess station over by the Boardwalk. We know the airport is close enough that filling up there would leave the car still close enough to full that we wouldn’t have to pay Alamo for a fill up. Once we were there neither Lenny nor I could figure out how to open the door to the gas tank . We have older cars where all you have to do is pull it open. This is one of the newer cars where you have to press it in just the right spot for it to open . And it didn’t help matters that we were trying to rush. We hadn’t really paid all that much attention to the time but when we finally got in the car at AS Sports I mentioned how our paperwork said the car had to be returned by 11. I didn’t know if Alamo had any kind of grace period or not but I know it’s customary for the companies to charge you some sort of fee for being late. I thought I had read somewhere that it could be the cost of an entire day and with that in mind, we were just trying to gas up and go. While it did work out exactly like that - we filled up the car and went, I just kept my eye on the time . Lenny kept assuring me we’d get there on time, I didn’t think we would. My directions said from AS Sports it was something like 35 minutes to the airport and when we were done at the gas station, it was 10:34 (I looked at the receipt to find this out).

I resigned myself to the fact that we might have to pay something and I told Lenny just to drive normally instead of like a MA$$hole and he finally settled down a little bit. The drive, fortunately, was completely uneventful and we didn’t hit much traffic at all. We were officially on Airport grounds at something like 11:01 (by the clock in the car) and it only took us a few minutes to get to the Terminal A rental car return. As soon as we were there and out of the car, someone came around to check it out for damage and do the return paperwork. There was also a luggage porter with a huge cart standing right there almost as if he’d been waiting for us. Before we could even get all of our luggage out and on the cart, an Alamo employee was handing me a piece of paper and telling me we were all set. I just happen to look at it and if rental car companies do indeed work it where you have to return the car by the same time you took the car at, the paperwork in my hand said we had returned it with 3 minutes to spare. My start date and time was 7/20 at 11:12 and my return date and time was 7/27 at 11:09. Talk about cutting it REAL close.

As I was standing there looking at it, I failed to notice the luggage porter had left. I turned to Lenny and asked him what was going on. The porter had left to find us a wheelchair for Lenny. He was gone for so long I was wondering if he was ever going to find one . He eventually came back with one and since all our bags were loaded up on the cart, my hands were free to push Lenny. We followed the porter (I believe Eric was his name) into the airport which was a good thing as I had no idea of where to even go . He eventually took us outside to curbside check in but there was a huge line so he told us to continue following him. It turns out that SWA has at least 2 curbside check in areas and he took us to the one with only one family at it. He said he didn’t want to see us standing needlessly in a line, that’s why he took us where he did. He also told us that people in wheelchairs typically have to check in inside. I didn’t (and still don’t) understand the reasoning for that. What difference does it make whether you’re in a wheelchair or not for curbside check in? Anyway, he took us to the area he did so we didn’t have to wait in line and while he was there with us, 2 of the skycaps spent more time talking to each other than paying attention to us and the porter was none too happy about it. He kept trying to get their attention all the while telling us what a disservice it is to customers to talk amongst themselves and then was not the time to be talking, etc. I know some people might not appreciate someone like that but I actually found it comical. I’m not sure why but I did.

The two skycaps finally finished talking and the porter moved our luggage off the cart for us and I thanked him before he left. I gave the skycap our ID’s and boarding passes and he got busy printing off our tags for the luggage. After he was done, we headed inside the airport. I had no clue where I was going. Neither the skycap nor the porter told us which way to head so we went in and I kind of headed to where everyone else seemed to be going. This by the way does have a name - it’s called Herd Instinct. Where one person goes, more tend to follow. So I followed the "herd" and got to the main part of the airport where the Sea World and Disney stores were. We did a quick once through of the Sea World store but nothing caught our eye . We also did a once through of the Disney store and then found some seats to sit down in. Mom had wanted me to call her when we got to the airport and this was the first chance I had so after I sat, I called home . Mom wasn’t there but a minute later she called me from her cell phone . We talked for a bit and she told me she’d be at TF Green at 5 waiting for us. Our plane wasn’t scheduled to land until 5:20 but she figured if we got to Disney early, we might get home early. That was good thinking IMO . After we said goodbye, none of us knew what we wanted to do so I took Abby to get some last minute Disney photos since there were a couple of opportunities over by the Disney store.

[CinderAbby]

When we were done, we did a once through of the store again but this time I found a couple of things I wanted to buy . I had left my purse out with Lenny so I went to get it and had Abby sit down. When I told Lenny what I wanted to get, he wanted to go in the store and look real quick. I didn’t feel like dragging all our luggage around so I told Abby to sit down with our luggage and not move anywhere and not let anyone touch anything (she knows that I meant what I said). She sat down and Lenny and I headed into the store this time. We weren’t in there too long (I made sure of it) and when I went to check out - with my Disney Visa Credit Card - the cashier was really funny because she kept asking me if I was getting something starting with a "d". Yeah, I’m getting Disney stuff. And she was like "I know that but you can get something else too." I had no clue what the woman was talking about and she finally came out with "you can get a discount with your card." "Oh cool, I didn’t know that. Thank you." The cashier told me that they are not allowed to tell people they can get a discount but if they can get the customer to say the word or if the customer knows and says ahead of time they get one, then that’s a different story. I told her that I didn’t know about it as it was our first time in MCO and then thanked her for letting me know .

With my bags in hand - and wondering where I was going to put everything, Lenny and I headed out of the store and this is how we found Abby.

I just had to laugh. When I told her not to move, she decided to make herself comfortable - and I can’t blame her. After I got everything put away, we decided why wait around anymore, lets go through security. Not knowing any better, I just picked the shortest line and after a minute or so, an employee came running up to us to tell us to go through the wheelchair line. "Okay, but where is it? Nobody told us about it." She pointed us in the right direction and we finally found it - and nobody was in the line. That was good for us because that meant I could take my time without holding anyone up behind us . I got all our documents out and showed them to the TSO and then it was time for screening. This time, with nobody behind us, I took my time making sure that everything was put in bins (or not). At TF Green when I put stuff in the bins, a TSO started shoving the bins through the scanner but here, the TSO told me to start pushing things through and I was like "oh, okay." I stood there and pushed things through as Lenny went off somewhere again and when I put the last thing on the conveyor belt, since Abby was still with me, we turned around to take our turns going through. I sent Abby first, then I went through and then it was time to gather all our stuff up again. Because there was someone coming up behind us at that point in time, I started grabbing things to throw them all in one bin and the bags I threw onto the floor. Since there was nothing we were going to need right away and in an effort to save time, I decided to just grab all the stuff in the bin and shove it on the top of whatever bag I grabbed first instead of trying to organize it.

When we had our shoes back on and all of our bags, we headed to the monorail to head to our gate. There was one just arriving and we got right on and it wasn't long before we were at the building with the gates for Southwest. As soon as we got off the monorail, we saw the news stand there that had Disney t-shirts. I liked one of them but sadly it didn’t come in my size so I did the next best thing - I bought it for Abby . I also bought a Disney bag and another shirt that Abby liked. Luckily I had the bag I had shoved our hats into because that had plenty of room for my latest purchases. I’m glad the store didn’t have anything else we liked because I was REALLY starting to run out of places to put all these last minute souvenirs . Although I will mention right here for those who might not know it but Orlando International is a gum free airport. I know this only because as I was being rung out, another customer asked the cashier where all the gum was and that’s what the cashier answered. "Orlando is a gum free airport. We don’t sell gum." That must really stink for those who need it on a flight.

So anyway, after I put all purchases in my hat bag, we decided to take the time and have some lunch since the restaurants were right there. I got Abby her McDonalds - which I knew even before we left the house she’d want once she knew it was in the airport. Lenny and I on the other hand opted to get pizza from Sbarro . I should have stuck with one piece because the things were huge and I had trouble finishing them. When were done eating, we made our way to our gate and I went and stood in line at the counter. Since MCO is a much busier airport, I figured my chances of needing and getting a blue pre-boarding sleeve were greater. I was able to get it for Lenny with no questions asked. We had probably about an hour before our plane was to take off and I had no idea where I should have parked Lenny so we went and found some seats. Abby didn’t even bother to sit in hers. She took out her Nintendo DS and proceeded to go over near the window and lay down on the floor to play it. She wasn’t in anyone’s way and she was happy so I just let her be. A few minutes later, they announced that our plane would be arriving and that anyone needing preboarding should line up wherever it was they told us. I took Lenny over to the spot and what I found really odd was 2 other people got in line ahead of us and neither one had a blue pre-boarding sleeve . I was thinking to myself if you don’t need the blue sleeve, what was stopping people from grabbing any wheelchair they could find just to sit in it and get on early?

The plane finally arrived and we stood there - well I stood, while Lenny and Abby sat - watching all the people get off. It was wave after wave of people. When one wave stopped we didn’t think any more people could possibly be getting off but then it would start again. We really thought it would never end and we were thinking "where the heck is everyone coming from. There couldn’t have been that many people on the plane." They did eventually stop and it was time to board. I took Lenny halfway down to the plane while the SWA employee was helping someone else then he came back and took Lenny the rest of the way. Instead of sitting in the very front row this time, Lenny took the third row back (the two people in front of him each took a seat in the second row, one on each side of the plane) because he felt with nothing under the seat in front of him, he’d be okay with the legroom. Plus too, we figured we could lean on each other to take our naps and maybe sleep a little bit better . Abby had the window seat because we figured she’d watch out the window again - which she did.

I’m not entirely sure of what time we left. I don’t even remember if the pilot came on the PA system at all. Truthfully, I don’t remember much of the flight home at all . I remember when we were told it was okay to turn electronics back on, Abby wanted her DS but she didn’t actually play with it at all so it got put away a few minutes later. I also remember about the time the flight attendant was coming through and asking what we wanted to drink, I was trying to get Abby to close her eyes because she looked so tired . She was awake when the flight attendant came by our seats and she asked for coke but literally 30 seconds later she was gone . And she slept for a good hour too, I know that. Both Lenny and I dozed on and off after we got our drinks and snacks and other than some minor turbulence - most of which I slept through - I don’t remember anything else about the flight. Long after we had gotten home, Lenny was telling me about the turbulence and trying to describe it to me (because he couldn’t believe I slept through most of it). I kind of had to laugh because I told him what we hit was absolutely nothing compared to one other time I flew. We had hit some turbulence and the plane dropped down I don’t know how far (and we came out of our seats). This year’s turbulence only shook the plane some, it didn’t feel like it dropped any, so IMO, it was nothing.

As we approached TF Green, the turbulence finally stopped and we landed about 10 after 5. Again, I don’t know how I know this. Maybe my phone was still on, maybe I turned it on as soon as we landed. Unlike in Orlando, we decided to wait until most of the other passengers were off before we even attempted to get off the plane and it did make it easier to get our stuff. And just like at MCO, when we got off the plane, there was a wheelchair waiting for Lenny. A porter came and pushed Lenny up the ramp leading into the airport and once at the top, he wheeled not only Lenny but another person too all the way to baggage claim . And all the while, I couldn’t even keep up with the guy. We made it to the baggage claim area and before Abby could even get in the elevator with everyone, someone was calling her name. It was my mother from downstairs at the baggage claim at the bottom of the escalator . At TF Green, the baggage claim area is completely open over by the escalators and elevator so you can look up (or down) and see people coming and going - that’s how come my mother saw Abby and called her. Instead of getting in the elevator, I told Abby to go down the escalator and I followed her so I could get ahead of the porter pushing Lenny. Once at the bottom we gave hugs to mom, I thanked and tipped the porter and we went over to wait for the luggage. It wasn’t long before the luggage came out but the funny part about that was the entire time our luggage was coming out, it had a different flight number posted . Only after everyone collected their bags and the belts were off did our flight number finally get posted over the belts .

While I hit the bathroom, mom and Abby took some of the luggage out to her car. When I came out, Lenny and I took the rest and started heading to the parking lot where mom had been. We got over there and I called her to find out where she was and wouldn’t you know it, mom had left the lot and she was back at the curb looking for us . Lenny had used the wheelchair to move some of the luggage so he was able to easily turn around and head to the car but I had two of the bigger suitcases on wheels and one was fighting me. I finally got it going correctly and a gentleman dressed in a suit came along and offered his help. I thanked him and said I was okay, I just had to get back across the street to where my mother was but he insisted on helping me so he took one of the cases and asked where I was going. I pointed out moms car (because now I could see where she was) and once there, I thanked him again . He went on his way into the airport and we proceeded to finish loading up mom’s SUV. On the way home, we talked about Disney and the weather and whatever other topics that came up and once we got closer to the MA line, mom asked if we wanted to go to the Cracker Barrel for dinner. She knows this is one of the places I like to go to dinner at but since mom isn’t one to go out, I wasn’t going to suggest it. I just figured we’d get home and order some take out but since she asked, I wasn’t about to refuse. It was kind of on the way home anyway and eating before hand would make it easier once we got home to unpack the car and put things away .

We arrived there and were seated right away but as is our luck at restaurants outside of Disney, it seemed to take forever to get our food . As always is the case, the food was much better than the service . We finished our meal and despite the fact Abby wanted dessert, we told her we could stop at the store on the way home to buy something instead of getting it there. We wanted to get home and didn’t want to wait anymore for anything . Besides, we already had our receipt to pay - it had come in the middle of dinner . I told Abby and Lenny to go wait in the car - because I figured that was where mom was already (she had left before us to go have a cigarette) - while I paid. They didn’t quite make it to the car, they had to stop and play a game of checkers first but as soon as Abby won, we were on our way once again.

It wasn’t too much later that we were home and with everyone helping, it didn’t take long to unpack mom’s car (unlike when we drive and take the van - that takes forever to unpack). As we were unpacking the car, Lenny noticed that part of my zipper pull on my suitcase was broken off. I didn’t think much of it and wasn’t too worried about it and just continued to take it upstairs to our extra bedroom. I was getting really tired and didn’t want to think about broken zipper pulls or unpacking so the only things I unpacked that night were our souvenirs that had come home with us. When I did that, I noticed a piece of paper in my suitcase - again. I have no idea what I packed in my suitcase but mom and Lenny both said it couldn’t be a coincidence that the same suitcase was checked both coming and going on vacation . I wasn’t about to lose sleep over it because what happened happened, not once but twice. And when I finally got to unpacking the rest of the suitcases the next day, I learned one of our other suitcases was searched as well .

I showed mom all the souvenirs I could and told her about the ones that I had mailed (it would take over 2 weeks to get them). Not too much later we all called it a night. The vacation I had hoped for really didn’t happen and as I got into bed that night, it was strange in a way because it almost felt like I never even went on vacation. I can’t exactly explain it. Maybe taking the plane had something to do with it. Taking the train and driving, we have 2 ½ days to come out of our Disney bubble and return to the real world. Taking the plane, we only had 2 ½ hours before it "popped". Maybe I was even let down in a way. I had hoped for a good vacation but it seemed like almost every day there was something that left a sour taste in my mouth. For some I know that’s reason to head back and change the memories but at that time, planning another vacation was the absolute last thing on my mind. When I finally turned off the light, , I didn’t want to think about the vacation we had come home from, I was in absolutely no rush to even think about returning to Disney and 2013 seemed a little too soon to even be heading back.

[CinderAbby]

So there you have it - our TR. I do have 2 more installments - on overview of going without the dining plan for us and then a finally summary type/things we'd do the next time type installment. I'll post those tomorrow and then my TR will actually be completed in a timely manner for once - instead of how I had been doing it the past few years. My summary ended up turning into a precursor for a next trip because I waited so long to post it.

For those that have stayed with me this long and don't care about the summaries, thanks so much for joining me on my trip. I really hope everyone enjoyed it and I hope some of it was informative and will help maybe answer questions people had about certain attractions or dining or whatever. For those who want to stay, as I said, I'll finish up tomorrow at some point in time. Considering it's Saturday (read: grocery and errand day ) it probably won't be until late.

Thanks everyone

[B.M.]

Glad you got the rental returned on time!

[B.M.]

Glad everything went smoothly getting home!

I had a similar bag check situation this past May at the airport.... My ds's back pack had to get an extra check after going through security.... I didn't think much of it.... but then the exact same thing happened to the exact same bag on the return flight.... I don't know what it was about that bag, but it must have been something that flagged it.....

[CinderAbby]

Originally Posted by B.M.

Glad you got the rental returned on time!

Me too. I didn't want to know the consequences if we didn't - unless of course Alamo has a grace period, then it would have been okay (but I'm not about to test it to find out )

Originally Posted by B.M.

Glad everything went smoothly getting home!

I had a similar bag check situation this past May at the airport.... My ds's back pack had to get an extra check after going through security.... I didn't think much of it.... but then the exact same thing happened to the exact same bag on the return flight.... I don't know what it was about that bag, but it must have been something that flagged it.....

I'm glad it went smoothly coming home as well. And now that I know I can actually get on an airplane and not have my head explode, it opens up possibilites for further travel (maybe even to Disneyland, but unless I can be lucky like DawnK who just won on a scratch ticket, I don't think that's ever going to happen). I don't know about the suitcase - but like I told mom and Lenny, I'm not too worried about it either. I don't have anything to hide so if they want to search it, just as long as everything I packed is still in there when I get to my desination, I'm fine with it

[WeRDisneyFanatics]

Phew, glad you got the car back in the nick of time!!! I didn't know that MCO was gum-free - thanks for the info. Looking forward to your summaries, especially about going without the DDP.

[lauriep]

Glad the flight home went smoothly for you (and you slept again!) I love the photo of Abby waiting with the bags. I hate being rushed (or feeling rushed) going through security, too. I always feel a bit frazzled getting everything into the bins, shoes off, etc. It's nice that you had no line and could have a bit more control over the process.

[Shawnam1868]

Boo, I hate that your trip is over. I've only ever flown, so I don't know the feeling of having extra time to come out of the bubble. I have to ask though, where is this Cracker Barrel you speak of that is close to MA? The only one I've ever known to be close is at like exit 6 in RI, and I only know that because I've passed it a million times on my way to the casinos.

[CinderAbby]

Originally Posted by WeRDisneyFanatics

Phew, glad you got the car back in the nick of time!!! I didn't know that MCO was gum-free - thanks for the info. Looking forward to your summaries, especially about going without the DDP.

We're glad we got it back in time too. But it's good to know for the future - keep our eyes on the time a little bit better than we did this time . I didn't know MCO was gum free either until that point in time. I saw all the candy at the counter (and the ridiculous prices they came with) but not once did it dawn on me there wasn't a single pack of gum. You'll have to come back tomorrow for the rest, I won't be posting it today, so just a little bit longer.

Originally Posted by lauriep

Glad the flight home went smoothly for you (and you slept again!) I love the photo of Abby waiting with the bags. I hate being rushed (or feeling rushed) going through security, too. I always feel a bit frazzled getting everything into the bins, shoes off, etc. It's nice that you had no line and could have a bit more control over the process.

Thanks Laurie, That picture of Abby is priceless and I've been debating whether to put it in the photo archive as a photocontest entry. And at security, that is exactly what it is, if I'm rushed, I don't feel I have control over anything that happens. I don't need total control but I'd like to have at least something.

Originally Posted by Shawnam1868

Boo, I hate that your trip is over. I've only ever flown, so I don't know the feeling of having extra time to come out of the bubble. I have to ask though, where is this Cracker Barrel you speak of that is close to MA? The only one I've ever known to be close is at like exit 6 in RI, and I only know that because I've passed it a million times on my way to the casinos.

Hey, no need to Boo me (just kidding) - I feel bad enough as it is (not kidding). My trip has ended not once but twice now . Having extra time to come out of the bubble is nice, but I do have to admit it's also tiring to have it - the long hours of the train and driving does get to us. As for the Cracker Barrel, it's at the Wrentham Premium Outlets Shawna. Do you ever go there for anything? It's right off of 495 (I forget the exit though because we don't need to get on the highway to get there - we take the back roads (normally 1A).

[HollyH]

I was away and missed most of your TR, so I've been catching up in the past 2 days since I've been home.

Glad the flights went well. Nice visit to Sea World! Great that you got so many pennies! Love all the photos of Abby with the characters. Glad you got plenty of rides on IASW this time. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on OOP vs. DDP.

Whew! I'm sure I've forgotten some of the comments I meant to make, but that's a quick run down.

Oh, one more thing.....You mentioned locking your luggage. That could be one of the reasons it was flagged for a search.