Yes, you read that right. How bout it, a collective sigh of relief all around?
Thank you everyone for your joy on us having to buy more birthday presents now, we really appreciate your interest in our good fortune.
On friday, our last day I can never get that "The end is near" feeling out of my head. Yes, I'm sorry to say I get kinda depressed, and just feel like I'm going through the motions. For some reason we usually end a trip with Epcot, and this time was no different.
But depressed?
Not even a little this time.
It's simple, I know we're coming back in Sept.
And that knowledge in hand makes all the difference in the world.
Two weeks before we left home to drive down here I nailed the free dining on the first day it was released, so leaving tomorrow morning is just an intermission if you will.
And besides, I've used up all the steps in my foot for this trip.
We started out up front and center at rope drop, met by Minnie and Goofy, then led the charge to Soarin. A last trip on Livin with the Land, and we planned on waiting outside of Imaginations for Hista to almost start.
But again, they make everyone line up outside till it's full, then close it off before you can go inside and watch the darn preshow.
We passed.
we did have some fun in Innoventions, and went back to the resort for a final swim. The day's highlight was still coming up, and we made it back in time for the BJ Thomas concert. This is the second time we saw him also, like Davy Jones, and he was right on key.
Originally we were going to eat at Rose and Crown, but once again that plan fell through. We've planned on eating here now for about the last three trips, but it just doesn't happen. I think it's just a lookin at restaurant, not a place you go to really eat. It's just there to walk past, and take away some Illuminations viewing spots.
Time is in hyper mode now, but we still have to eat somewhere, so we settled on the Cantina in Mexico. You see I still have a 25 dollar gift or food voucher in my pocket from the AAA package.
And I'm really nasty when it comes to using these kind of coupons.
Good for 25 of food, in any of the parks.
Our bill?
24. 78.
Damn! I'm good.
I did like the entertainment there though. These long necked geese and swans kept sticking there necks through the railing and pecking at our forks if they got too close. They would eat anything.
Including, and yes, I'm mean, I had to know, torilla chips with hot salsa on them. For some reason though, the taco's there come with chicken and not beef. This just doesn't taste right to me.
We still hasn't yet decided if we're staying for Illuminations, but that decision was helped right along in a few moments.
Big ugly clouds started moving in, and since we'll be back in sept., and we still have a lot of packing to do so we can get an early start in the morning, we hit Test Track one more time on the way out, and caught a bus just before it pulled away.
During the bus ride on the way back, the sky's water broke.
And it gave birth to quite a few bouncing baby hailstones.
Cowering under the far end of the bus shelter, I'm not really in the mood for the mad dash back to the room.
But I'm not in the mood for a good soaking either.
Ok, I'm up for one mad dash, to the first building. Once under the walkway, we worked our way from building to building till we got to our room. Just a little wet, no big deal.
The nexy morning we were under way by six, with a stop in Shepherdsville, Kentucky for the night. It's just south of Louis ville. At noon the next day, sunday, we pulled into our driveway with having my favorite kind of road trip behind us.
An uneventful one.
Boy, if I had done the whole trip report like this last chapter, this sucker would have been over in June.
ANd it would have been really boring, too.
I just thought enough was enough, and besides, Diane won't let me quit this anyway. So I'm a bit anxious to get into the december trip, and start a new, if albeit shorter, trip report.
In review here, this may trip was one of the best ever, if not the longest.
Hightlights: driving on the beach in St. Auggie, getting a room next to the pool at Coronado, seeing BJ Thomas, watching a jerk get his but kicked at Pat O'brian's, and eating at Boma's. Oh, and the night of karaoke.
Lowlights: getting a room next to the pool at Coronado, yes, you read that right, it was good and bad, it was a great room with a great location, but with our car parked right around the corner, it felt too much like staying at a Motel 6.
,,, eating at Big River Grill, and the internal laughs that followed, the six hour wait for a room at CBR, the new HISTA rules, and trying to destroy myself in a bathroom.
I guess that's pretty much it for this trip.
I definately want to mention and say thanks to the people that made writing this report so much fun:
The guy at Shutters that thought I was god when I talked through the window, and the dueling iceberg lettuce guy at Boma's.
AH ha ha ha, I got you again!
Oh, and the waitress that didn't know the word, "butter".
By the way, Boma's and Coral Reef were the best of the sit down meals, Big River and Shutters were the worst. Best counter service is still Flame Tree, with a table by the river.
With this, we arrive at the present. Tomorrow is the first day of the year, and hopefully nothing starts out a year better than a fresh trip report from Disney. So I think I'll start fresh here, I hope you'll still be interested, and I believe you can count on me for some laughs, and stupid adventures.
I've got the pictures all loaded into Photobuck, and am raring to go, so if you're like we were, and never been to Disney during the Holidays, some of these pictures will blow you away.
Of coarse, this isn't just me, for me, or even Diane. It's been all of you that have been the stars, I'm just one of the gang here. My posts just happen to be a tad longer than most of yours.
Well, except maybe Maraena. (I'm just kiddin, love ya babe).
So thank you one and all, hope you come with on the next ride, how else am I going to find the seat?
Ok, that's a wrap, extra credit to the first person that can find the new report, since even I haven't made up a title yet. Maybe this isn't the right thing to do, but it's always fun to start over, isn't it?