It’s Always Sunny in California!..Eh?...L’il Bit! - Page 34 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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We had a few minutes to wait for our FP time to open, so we hung out and we spotted some strangely dressed people and I took a quick shot.
That was a guy…and see, the person walking by even did a double take. LOL
We finally were allowed in and made our way to the loading area.
And the ride was great once again…and once again, Cass looks cool…and I look like I might throwup. Which I don’t know why, because I loved the ride.
We did some shopping after the ride. I know Cass was looking for some Star Wars things, but I am not sure if she ended up buying anything or not…My memory is now going from that long ago.
I think we then headed back to the Storybook Canal boats (or at least to check something in Fantasyland) to see if they were opened and I took some more pictures along the way.
Well isn’t he cute?
See!!!! The Castle isn’t THAT small like everyone says.
Wait~!!!! How have I never seen this before now? Cass said she tried to take me through a different route each day so I would see different things. Now I know I have seen pictures of this before, but had totally forgotten it even existed. How cool! I love it!
I believe this was a store window display.
I think we bought something in here. I think we each bought our girls some Frozen figurines. The Frozen merchandise was really lacking in the parks. They told us they just couldn’t keep it in stock.
We now were getting tired. The week was catching up with us and we were wet. The day was dreary and we had wanted to watch the parade, Fantasmic and the fireworks later, but if the weather kept on as it was, there was a good chance all would be canceled. Cass was also having issues with her feet and ankles swelling. We decided to head out of the park. Cass said she was done for the day and I felt done, but I was going to wait and see if we heard if the parade or Fantasmic was canceled and come back later if they were still on. So we headed to the front of the park.
But then we heard a marching band coming and I told Cass to go ahead as I wanted to get some pictures.
I took a few pictures of the area and just lingered.
So…after putzing around watching the band go by and taking a few pictures I turn around and start to head to the front and I see Cass off to the side waiting for me. That was so nice of her since I knew she was in pain. We then made our way down Main Street to exit.
Again I snapped a few more shots on the way.
Bye Bye Disneyland!
Cass wanted to go to a few Downtown Disney stores on the way back to the Grand, which was fine with me.
We went in and out a few stores and Cass was looking for something for her husband. I am not sure if she ended up finding anything or not…again my memory is fading.
We headed back towards the room again. I think I may have stopped off at the fire pit as I often did each day and I am sure I called home one last time. Cass said she was going to the hot tub to soak her ankles and I told her I would meet her there soon. When I got back to the room, she was already gone and I put my swim suit on and decided I was going to wear one of the robes down to the pool as my cover up. I had seen so many people doing this throughout the week and I thought it sounded like fun…..because I am a geek that way. I go to get a robe and notice there is only 1 left. I had to laugh to myself, because I knew there had been 2 in there, so Cass must’ve done the same thing. I headed down to the pool and I think it took me a few minutes to find Cass. It was dark, I didn’t have glasses on and my eyes were tired, but she finally spotted me and we went in the hot tub and just relaxed. I asked her if she wore a robe too and she had. We both thought it was so funny that we both decided to do it on the same day. We spent a good amount of time in there just talking. It was really hot, so at times we would just sit on the edge and dangle our feet in while we cooled off a bit. Neither of us wanted to go home. We missed our families, but if dreams could come true, we would want our families to fly out the next day and meet us, rather than us go home to them. It was such a nice week…with not having to cook for anyone, make sure everyone was up and ready for the day. To only have to dress ourselves and to not do laundry or cleaning. It was such a wonderful week and we were both sad that it was coming to an end. And really…we hit it off so well with each other. We had laughed so much and it was so refreshing to do that. After our hot tub time was over….I think we stayed till it closed….because everything in DL closes early in Feb….we got changed and needed a bite to eat. I think I debated on Earl of Sandwich, but just didn’t have the desire to walk all that way….not that it was far, but I just was really running on low steam now. Cass already knew what she was getting…..the Chicken Nachos from Whitewater Snacks. I decided I would go down with her and get them too. But tonight I mixed it up and got wild….I went with the beef ones.
Yes, they were good too. I thoroughly enjoyed them, but I could not eat all of them. It’s such a big portion.
Sadly, it was time to pack. I had to leave very early in the morning, so I gathered my things and arranged my suitcases. Now normally I am pretty organized, but when I go to a hotel…I start losing things left and right. It’s because I put things in a “safe spot” and then forget where that is…like my passport. But I did eventually find it in it’s safe spot. I took a shower as well so all I had to do in the morning was throw on clothes. We just were too tired to go and see if Fantasmic or the fireworks were still on, but we did hear later that they were all canceled, so we didn’t miss anything. However, World of Color was still on that night and we went out on the balcony and watched it begin, but our view wasn’t the best and we watched a few minutes and headed back in.
My intentions once we left DL were to go to bed early that night. When we got back to the resort, I was just so tired, so I figured I could easily go to bed by 9 or so. Yeah, that didn’t happen. I think by the time I had packed and showered and just fumbled around, it was getting late. And of course we talked a bit too. It was probably 11 before I went to sleep.
Oh what a wonderful, but also sad ending to your stay - I can really feel every word when you described how much you wanted to stay there and have your families join you. That's the mark of a truly great vacation.
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Oh what a wonderful, but also sad ending to your stay - I can really feel every word when you described how much you wanted to stay there and have your families join you. That's the mark of a truly great vacation.
It was such a great trip. We both hated going back to reality. I really hate going home most times, but this one seemed even harder to leave. I guess you are right, it really shows what a great trip it was.
I had the alarm set for pretty darn early! I want to say it was set for 4:30 AM. Yep, not much sleep for me that night!
I got up and got ready and Cass got up as well to send me off, which was really nice of her since her flight was later and she could sleep a few more hours. I had Bell services come up to get my bags and we headed downstairs. The guy was friendly and had family and friends that lived in my area. What a coincidence.
He told me he would come get me when the super shuttle arrived and I could wait in the lobby, so I did…after all it was still raining.
A few last pictures.
After a few more minutes he came in to ask me if I was waiting for the super shuttle or the DL express. I told him super shuttle as I was told the DL express didn’t start running till around 6ish and I wanted to be picked up around 5:15-5:30 to allow enough time. He told me I was right, but for some reason the DL express had a van out there and was loading a family. He said it was really odd and the driver was not parked in the right spot either, so he assumed something had happened and Disney was giving this family special treatment to make up for something.
I didn’t wait too long and my Super shuttle arrived and I got in and my bags were loaded. I have to say my driver was kind of weird. It was early and dark and he kind of whistled as he drove and played with the radio and something kept beeping and that drove me nuts. LOL. It was kind of creepy. We made several stops at offsite hotels and picked up others before heading the airport. It was by now getting light out and I was actually kind of nervous that I might be running late now. I got out and the guy just threw my bags along the road and not even on the curb. So I had 3 bags including my carryon and a back pack and I am sure I looked pretty comical trying to get them up on the curb and then over to the SW line……which by the way was extremely long, but at least it wasn’t raining anymore. Luckily the line moved fast, but it was very awkward moving along with my bags. I was super happy to get those checked in and not having to worry about them for several hours.
I went through security and found my gate area, which was packed. I bought some McDonalds for breakfast and found a chair to sit and eat. I had hoped to charge my phone some more, but there were very limited plug in areas and they were all in use. I have 2 portable chargers, but I was hoping to get one last charging in before I left. I messaged back and forth between some friends, one being Keri who I had met up with on my first night at CA during WoC. I also talked to Skip and he once again told me that a storm was coming in. Oh dear…I really did not want to be stuck in Nashville. At one point several people left to board a flight at a gate nearby, so I snagged a seat next to a plug and charged up. After a bit I saw my plane arrive and I headed off to the bathrooms and it wasn’t too long after that we were called to board. Now typically I buy the early bird check in with Southwest, but since I was by myself and I knew I could check in at 24 hours…which I did on my phone…I didn’t. Even doing it at exactly 24 hours the best I could get was a B1 boarding. I was really hoping to luck out and get one of the front seats again, but luck was not on my side and they were full when I got on. Actually this worked out better for me in the long run. I found an open aisle seat and once we took off I got out my laptop and edited pictures I had taken on the trip. I was smart enough to load some on it the night before and it really made the flight go so much faster.
When I arrived in Nashville, I knew I had a few hours layover, so I went in search of food and found a place where I could sit and eat and they had plugs nearby, so I charged my phone and laptop. While I was sitting there I heard a lady at a table near me talking on her phone. She had said something about the Detroit flight being delayed at least an hour and that almost all SW flights leaving Nashville had some sort of delay. Oh good grief. I looked up on my phone, and sure enough there was a delay. Well I made the best of the situation and just stayed right there and edited more pictures. I called Skip and let him know and also called my parents to let them know as well. They were picking up Claire to come get me and if my flight had been on time, they would be leaving soon. I think in the end, it was delayed a couple of times. At this point I just wanted to get home. Sitting in an airport is not my idea of fun! Had I known early on I was going to be delayed this long plus the long layover, I would’ve gone outside and got some fresh air and walked around more.
As the time got closer to when the flight was now supposed to be taking off I headed to the gate and sat and waited. I think I bought a snack and ate that too.
Finally our plane arrived and I took a picture of the people getting off.
Finally we were allowed to board…and the nice thing was, the flight was not full. While in line to board, I was behind a nice lady and we talked a bit. When I got on, she had picked a window seat and I decided to take the aisle seat in her row. We never had anyone sit in between us and it was so nice to have some extra space.
The flight attendants got us all seated and ready to go immediately. They were tired as well and they were not happy with the delay either. The captain told us he was going to fly extra fast to get us home. YAY!
I pulled out my laptop again and worked on a few more pictures, and I did chat with the lady next to me for a bit as well. This flight was really fast. I think we got back to Detroit in less than an hour! Yahoo!!!
Once I landed, I called my parents and told them I had arrived, but still had to get my bags. The calls kept getting dropped and I am not sure why. I guess Mom didn’t have a good signal on her phone. I went outside to wait, but it was snowing and freaking cold out! You could tell that it had just started snowing as there wasn’t a lot on the ground yet. I ended up going back in the doorway area between the 2 sets of doors to wait for them to arrive. Once they did I dragged my bags out to the car and Claire jumped out and tackled me. I guess she missed me!
We got the car loaded fast and we all jumped back in and took off. Dad started to complain about all the luggage I had. He would be picking us up from the airport when we came back from out WDW trip in just a few weeks’ time and he said that his car would not be able to handle all the luggage we would be bringing home, along with all the people. I told him not to worry about it but he just went on and on about it. Does he really think I am going to pack lighter for a longer trip and for 3 people???? LOL.
The ride home was a little slow going because the snow was really picking up. Dad said the roads were clear on the way up, but now they were covered and in the open areas it was practically a white out at times. We finally did make it back to Toledo. Claire was hungry and I could go for a bite as well, so we stopped off at McDonalds and picked up some food and used the restroom. Back on the road we went and headed home.
It really felt like Ohio. We had such a bad winter this year and of course I was coming home to a new batch of snow in my honor!
We did make it home and pulled the bags out and I dropped everything pretty much just inside and pulled out one prize for Claire, which made her happy and then hugged my husband and called it a night!
Coming from the west coast I had lost 3 hours of my day and I spent a lot of time in the air and in airports. I was exhausted and it felt like such a wasted day. I was happy to finally be home and to be able to sleep in my own bed again.
Of course the next day there was a lot of laundry to do…as when I am gone, no one else’s laundry gets done as well. And Paige, my oldest daughter, who was living with us at the time, brought down her laundry the next morning for me to do as well. Wasn’t that so nice of my 21 year old? I didn’t think so either and told her so.
The nice thing was, as I did my laundry I could pack it back in the suitcase because we were heading to Disney World in 3 weeks’ time! I was excited…and I really like these back to back trips. I had done that in 2012 with a cruise in late Sept, and then a WDW/Cruise in early Nov. It’s a nice pattern to get into if I do say so myself……and I will give you a little teaser…..it’s planned to happen yet again this year!
Thanks so much for reliving my fabulous trip with me. I had so much fun, learned so many new things, met some new and old friends and made some magical and hilarious memories. I was really happy with the amount of rides and attractions we had tackled this week. I am sure I didn’t post them all, but we rode all the important ones (that were open) to us. We even did some extras. I was also happy to come home and have Skip say more than once that he would like to go to California next year. Now whether we do or not is still in the air…..you know how he is…..he will decided to go and then expect me to plan the trip in 3 days.
Stay tuned for my WDW/DCL Cruise Trip Report…..coming soon!
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Great TR! Thanks so much for sharing! I guess it makes it easier coming home when you know your next trip is a few weeks away. I can't wait to read all about the next one!
Fantastic trip. Your last day and the trip home were very interesting. Glad you made it safely and got a terrific welcome.
It was interesting...but it wouldn't be me if it wasn't.
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Originally Posted by lfredsbo
What a long travel day
Thanks for sharing with us!
It sure was, but it was worth it.
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Originally Posted by Big Baloo
Wow, what a looong day, but glad you made it home safely despite the snow. Can't wait to hear about your next family trip!
I hope to start posting next week, I am going to take a little break in between and hopefully sometime this week I can find time to start writing it up so I am ahead of the game at least by a few posts!
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Originally Posted by melduckie
Thanks for sharing! Can't wait to hear about your next adventure!!
Thanks. I'll post a link here...hopefully next week.
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Originally Posted by pamcarey
Great TR! Thanks so much for sharing! I guess it makes it easier coming home when you know your next trip is a few weeks away. I can't wait to read all about the next one!
It is nice to come home knowing that something fun is right around the corner...but I had mega amounts of work to do in between those 2 vacations
Well I am FINALLY able to catch up on some TR. This ones sounds fabulous. Such a nice time you had. except for the returning home to snow. So glad the winter is over. I'll be heading over to check out your PTR.
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We'll have to head there the next time we go.
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