We had always gotten morning flights and "ripped off the bandaid" by basically just getting up and going straight to the airport, and I always found it really depressing - it means there's absolutely nothing good about departure day. This last fall we ended up with an afternoon flight mostly because flights to my home airport are limited and beggars can't be choosers. We packed everything the night before, figured out exactly when we had to leave the park in order to be sure we'd be on time to pick the luggage up and leave for the airport, and spent the morning at DHS. It was surreal to get home and think "I was just on the Tower of Terror this morning," but I really, really preferred it. Being able to have that last bit of park time instead of rushing straight back to the real world made the transition easier for me.
So in future, yeah, I'm going to push to do a park morning on departure day. It's a time to do a couple favorites, eat a Mickey bar, and say a fond goodbye to a beloved place instead of running off first thing in the morning as if you were sneaking home after a one night stand.