Disney~aholics Anonymous About This Page:

[jenseib]

As I headed back to my room for one last time, I did take a few last pictures.







I went to the room and packed everything up.




I did a final scan and found anything that was missed and anything of Brooks that was missed, I set near her bags. I hate to say it, but my luggage was HEAVY. Spirit has a lower weight maximum limit than other airlines and I was a bit worried. My carryon was so packed and full and heavy, so I couldn’t even add to that if I wanted to.
I grabbed my bags and started rolling them down the hall. Remember we were in the furthest room away possible from the lobby and this was not an easy chore. I heard Brooks voice down the hall, so I stopped and rested and waited for her to come by and then said a final goodbye. It was so wonderful to meet her and she was a prefect roommate.

I kept on then and got to the lobby. I went out to luggage services and weighed my bags. Just as I had feared…. I was about 71/2 pounds too heavy, if I remember right. There was no way to make it lighter, so I checked the bags in and let them know that I would be buying another suitcase and bringing it back.
Off to the gift shop I go and look at the suitcases. Those little buggers were all $100.00!!!!! Well I pulled the one down that wasn’t a hard cover and that one was $50. What a bargain….. So that was my new suitcase…another gift for Claire.
I rolled it out and handed it to luggage services. I would tackle putting stuff in it when I came back and grabbed all my bags.

I texted Patty that I was on my way and set off for Epcot.





We met near Test Track.



The park was MUCH busier today than it had been Monday. The FP line and the single rider line were both kind of long.
We got in line with our FP’s and Patty kind of worried that we wouldn’t get through in time for her to leave.






While in line, Patty offered the couple in front of us the left over FP’s that she hadn’t used. I dug around and had a few too, so I gave them mine as well, but kept my Soarin’ one. I still planned to try and get on it before I left.

We finally got on the ride and had a good time!




When we got off, we said our goodbyes and Patty took off at a fast pace back to the YC to catch ME.

Time seemed to be really speeding up this day. I made my way over to Soarin’ and stopped for a photopass on the way…again, ….I look like crud.















I did stop in Mousegears and did some of that last minute shopping that I really didn’t need to do. I was debating on a t-shirt I had seen all over the parks, but it was like $30, and I just couldn’t bring myself to spend that much on a T…but I walked out with a bag of other things.

[jenseib]

I like this shot!







I got in line for Soarin’ and prayed that the FP line would move fast…and it did for the most part.
I got to my seat and it had a puddle on it. I told the CM that it was wet and could they clean it and they had the nerve to tell me to just sit on it as it was just water. It would dry fast….Um no, I told them I was heading to the airport after this ride and they didn’t seem to care. One gal wiped it with a towel, but it wasn’t dried completely so she went looking for a towel, and after several minutes she came back and said she couldn’t find one.
I just sat there and wasn’t too happy. I would’ve reported them, but I was now limited on time myself.

The ride was nice, but my rear was slightly wet.
I left and made my way back to the Yacht Club, taking pictures along the way. I had hoped to have enough time to get a bit to eat, and perhaps walk along the boardwalk side, but time was ticking, so I just went straight back to the YC so I could get my luggage situation taken care of.




























Did I mention it was hot? Oh my!!!! It was another scorcher! That wet rear was long forgotten, as I was dripping in sweat all over now.



I finally made it to the back entrance/exit.





I pretty much was in zombie mode at this point. I was really kicking myself for not staying another night. I would’ve enjoyed going back over to Mk and seeing the fantasyland expansion “walls” in day light. I barely even noticed them at all in the 2 short trips I had made over there.
I took a quick rest near Storm Along Bay before I headed in to retrieve my bags.

Look what I spot…Do you see the “hidden Henry”?





I believe it was about 2:20ish now. I think my ME was scheduled for 3:15.

I retrieved the bags and just plopped them on the sidewalk in a secluded spot and transferred some of the “bulk” into my new bag. I was very classy. LOL!
It looked like the weight was now distributed better and I zipped everything up and noticed that the lady at the gift shop never took off the security tag thing….UGH! So I had to roll my 3 bags (which I got creative with) and a back pack on my back, back over to the gift shop and asked them to remove it. It was quick and painless, but I worked up a sweat doing that. I was getting very hungry now, but I knew it wouldn’t work for me to drag all these bags over to the food court at the Beach Club and get something, and time was ticking very fast. I had a package of grapes in my back pack, so I figured when I got on the bus, I would pull those out and snack.

I still had a bit of time to kill, and I wasn’t about to wait outside, so I stacked my bags against the wall, near an outlet, fished out my phone charger, and plugged my phone in for a little more charging before leaving. (I am so glad I now have a portable charger…..my phone tends to run out of juice fairly fast when I use it a lot, so now I can just plug it into that and not worry about outlets so much).

When the bus arrived it was a sad, but happy moment. If I couldn’t spend any more time at Disney, I was ready to get this journey home on its way.

[jenseib]

I boarded the bus and there were only like 1 family and one other guest on it. We had a fun bus driver who goofed around the whole time.
Sadly, we had to make SEVERAL stops to pick up others. I started to get a little worried….again the time was ticking away. I did take a few last pictures on the journey to the airport.











I caught this guy red handed!!!!






Good bye Disney….boo hooooo!!!!!!



I pulled out my grapes and started eating them….sadly they weren’t very good. I had them in our mini fridge for 2 days and they lost their firmness. I could only eat about half of them. And that didn’t fill me up at all. I also had another pounding headache, and the ibuprofen was packed away.

Our driver made the trip fun. He joked about the music playing. It’s on a loop and he said how he used to like the songs, but now they drive him nuts. He did little dances with his shoulders and bobbing up and down for some songs. I was on the bus long enough for the loop to come full circle.

We made it to the airport and I headed off to pay for my extra bag and check them in. Luckily this was a fairly easy process and I had a great gal from Spirit who helped me along quickly. I then made my way to security……Nightmare would be the best way to describe it. The line was unbelievably long. I have NEVER seen a line this long at an airport in my life! It was now only an hour before my flight and I was really getting worried. I needed to get some food and use the restroom before I boarded.

We slowly went through and they made us take EVERYTHING off. I think they would’ve been happy if we stripped naked.
I have never been asked to take my belt off before, though I know many people do. They even asked me to empty tissues out of my pocket, which I did. I still got flagged. UGH!
She told me to feel through my pockets to see if I had a stray tissue, but I didn’t find anything and she wanded me and gave me the go ahead. I quickly got my stuff and everything back on and hit the first food spot I saw. I got some sort of sandwich and drink and paid a ridiculous amount of money for it and headed to the fake monorail and then to a bathroom.
I made it to the gate!!!!! I started digging in my backpack to see if by chance the ibuprofen was in there, but it wasn’t. I started talking to an older couple, and they said the flight was delayed, due to storms in PA…….wait…I’m not going to PA. I look at the gate number and I was across the way from my real gate. Thanks goodness they said something. I got up and headed over to my gate and they started loading.
As I waited, I reached in my pocket, without really thinking and pulled out a tissue…..the tissue that had me flagged. There was one there after all….ooops!
We slowly loaded and a family of several “foreign” people started arguing about the size of the one ladies personal item. Spirit is very strict with this policy. If it is too big, you have to pay for the carry on. This lady was really arguing about it. Not a smart thing to do, given that she looked to be middle Eastern. (I am not prejudice, but I know enough that even though they aren't supposed to do racial profiling...it is done at times) Most of the family boarded, but they made her stay behind and talked to her.

I got to my “middle” seat and rested. A father and son came and said they were in my row on either side of me, and asked if I would mind moving to the end so they could sit next to each other! YES!!!!!! This was a blessing!

I stood up to move out into the row to let them in and I stood on the ball of my foot…the foot with a huge blister. I felt it pop and a wet ooze went all in my sock….YUCK. Nothing I could do about that though now.

I started talking to the guy in the row across the aisle and to a couple next to him. They were all very nice. We complained a bit about Spirits prices on everything. I think we all swore we wouldn’t be flying with them again with the nickel and diming and the smaller seat space.
The guy then said to me “you must’ve been born and raised in Michigan your whole life?” I sad, well no, I live in Ohio, but right at the border….why? His reply…”You have that Michigan accent.” LOL! I must really talk plain, because people tell me this all the time randomly. I don’t think I talk any differently than any of my family members, but I always seem to be the one who is asked about it.

As we were waiting to take off, some of the “foreign” family was seated directly in front of me. A flight attendant came back to talk to the guy. I really tried to listen in on the conversation, but I only got bits and pieces. But it sounded like they gave him the option to get off and take another flight. They told him his wife may not make it on the flight. I think they sent her back up front to pay for her personal item and her sister went with her. The guy didn’t seem concerned and said he was staying on with his kids. I kind of thought that was funny.

The lady did make it on just as we were about to taxi out. She was nasty and her sister was too. They were getting loud and obnoxious. Again, I thought they came close to getting kicked off. The husband did tell her to shut her mouth or they would be kicked off and a nephew was getting mouthy too.
Luckily they all calmed down and kept quiet for the remainder of the flight for the most part.
I worked on my notes, did a crossword puzzle and dozed a little. Again the flight seemed extra-long without my family with me.

I was very happy when we landed and made my way out with the herd. I stopped off for a bathroom break, pulled Eeyore out of my bag for Claire, and called my Mom. She, Claire, and my Dad were picking me up. Skip was at a tractor pull…the biggest one of the year, the Grand Nationals, which is only 30 minutes from our house, so I didn’t dare ask him to pick me up. LOL.

Soon my Dad pulled up (they were waiting in the cell phone parking lot) and my little girl came running out to greet me! It was very nice to see my little girl after 6 days. I did miss her a lot while I was gone.
We loaded up the car and took off. They were all hungry and I wasn’t going to refuse food at that point either (the sandwich was ok, but not enough to get me through the night), so we found a Big Boy and had a bite to eat before heading back home. Skip called me and told me something major had broken on his tractor and he was packing things up and heading home too. I knew it had to be something big if he was going to miss the rest of the weekend (he has since built a new motor).

Skip pulled in the driveway about 10 minutes after we got home. Again, I had missed him too, and it was nice to see him.
Of course, Claire wasn’t about to go to bed till I looked through my suitcases to fine her some more gifts. I pulled them out and she was very excited with everything.
We all hit the sack tired. I knew the next day would be a lot of unpacking and laundry…..what fun!

And that is the end of Day 6!

I’ll post all my “buys” next.

[chezp]

Great finish to a wonderful trip - thanks for sharing it with us!

[lauriep]

It was a great (and, I'm sure, tiring) trip! You've got a great photo file to work with now! Not a very pleasant time at the airport trying to get to your gate. Did you ever find the ibuprofen or something for your headache?

[Colexis Mom]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us!

[DisneyKYFan]

Great trip, thank you for sharing. Was that Big Boy right outside the airport? I have only been to MI once and I ate at that same one.

[patclairesmom]

I have really enjoyed reading your trip report and I'm sad to see it end. Can you go on a trip again soon??

[rhinohunter]

That was some finish. Sorry you had to endure so many problems. Know you were happy to get home.

[mushu22]

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by chezp

Great finish to a wonderful trip - thanks for sharing it with us!

Thanks

Originally Posted by lauriep

It was a great (and, I'm sure, tiring) trip! You've got a great photo file to work with now! Not a very pleasant time at the airport trying to get to your gate. Did you ever find the ibuprofen or something for your headache?

I don't think I did...I can't remember now.

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Thanks for sharing your trip with us!

Thanks for reading along.

Originally Posted by DisneyKYFan

Great trip, thank you for sharing. Was that Big Boy right outside the airport? I have only been to MI once and I ate at that same one.

I think it was a few miles down the road.

Originally Posted by patclairesmom

I have really enjoyed reading your trip report and I'm sad to see it end. Can you go on a trip again soon??

I hope too. LOL! I keep pestering y husband......and he keeps ignoring me. I will be going on one in Nov though.

Originally Posted by rhinohunter

That was some finish. Sorry you had to endure so many problems. Know you were happy to get home.

I was happy to get home. It was nice to sleep in my own bed, but I would've sacrificed it for another night at Disney.

Originally Posted by mushu22

[dutchdisneyfamily]

Great ending. Crazy about that the lady and the baggage. There are some nasty people out there. She obviously didn't have the Disney Msgic we all love.

[Cam22]

Great pictures all around Epcot! I feel like I've been on tour of it now!

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by dutchdisneyfamily

Great ending. Crazy about that the lady and the baggage. There are some nasty people out there. She obviously didn't have the Disney Msgic we all love.

There are some nasty people. And I guess she thought she was special.

Originally Posted by Cam22

Great pictures all around Epcot! I feel like I've been on tour of it now!

[jenseib]

I did forget to add that besides the crazies on the flight home, a storm was coming and the Captian had gotten on and told us that we may be delayed from taking off because it was really bad. Luckily they gave us the go ahead and off we went, but it was a little bumpy for a while. I had heard from others that it really poured hard that evening.

As promised, here is all the loot I brought home.
The next day I tried to take pictures of everything. Claire was all too glad to help. The potato head parts were a huge hit with her and she played with them for days. Now she brings them out every so often, but I think next time I might get her some more, because she does have a good time when she gets them out.
I have posted some of these during the report, but I’ll post everything again.

I think this rice crispy was from one of the vendors on the last day. I ate it, and enjoyed it!



That last trip to Mousegears gave me enough purchases to add on a watch for a “cheaper” price. I do love this watch as well.





These were all given out by vendors. I have the graduation Mickey on my car antenna. Claire was amazed by this when I put it on. She was so worried it would fall off. It’s still there though. I actually got 2, so I do have a spare one. I love the post its too. I use them quite a bit.




We each got a “graduation” pencil. And this is my lanyard. It has all the pins I earned from the College of Knowledge, the ones given to us during the course of classes (we got one each day) the one I bought at MK and the one that Karin had given me from Disneyland Paris. Also there is a Mickey paper clip. We received those when we would answer questions. (I think Brook ended up with several)
The Adventures by Disney thing there is to put on a luggage/bag strap to make it more comfy on your shoulder. Those were from the Adventures Vendor.



My unused rain poncho!



I had bought a child sized one for Claire last spring, plus the one I bought at Poly, so now we have a matching set for the whole family.

The new suitcase I bought to bring home the extra weight!



A bag from one of the vendors.



Tissue holder from Tom and Karin.



Pot holder, cookie mix and tissue pack holder from Tom and Karin.



Candy and picture CD from Tom and Karin.



Claire modeling her new dress and a few potato heads all dressed up. As you can see the dress is a bit large, but I wanted to be sure it would last for at least a year. I can hike up the straps for her if they are too big when she needs to wear it.







More potato head parts.



And a few more parts and the other side of the pot holder. The silly bands were from a vendor.



Claire’s parasol from China.





The giraffe watch.



Another bag from one of the vendors. It is HUGE!. I haven’t used it yet, but I think I will store some seasonal clothes in it.





The cup from La Nouba and a CD case we got at graduation as well.





The 2011 sweatshirt.





The “Mine, Mine” tanks. The purple one is drastically smaller than the white, even though they are labeled the same size.





The tote bag we received during classes.



Some helpful books we got.



Each day we had a pad of paper waiting at our seat and a pen. I collected these pens over the course of the trip. The skittles (as well as a pack of M&M’s that Claire already ate) came from a vendor.



Baby Dumbo and Eeyore.




This was a map of the world on a handkerchief. It was cute. Rita said you could wear it around your neck and if anyone asked where something was, you could just whip it out and show someone……of course, in the real world none of us would wear it. But it was cute.



Claire’s glass slipper.





The tank and shorts.



I also got Claire some princess tattoos, but I guess I didn’t take a picture of those.

I might’ve missed posting a few other pictures, but I am too lazy to go looking for them now.

I thought I took a picture of the caramel apple that Patty made us, but I can’t seem to find it. Let me just tell you this was pure heaven…I think about it often. I ate it over the course of a few days, as it was huge. I had to keep hiding it, as I kept finding Skip taking slices off of it too. I would re-hide it and he kept finding it!...That bugger.

I also shared the black and white cookie Brook had brought us with Claire, and we both enjoyed that quite a bit too.


I want to thank everyone for following along with me. It was fun reliving this trip.
My next planned trip is in Nov. but I do hope to do a little something before then. When I start my next report, I’ll be sure to post the link here too.