Just Go With It, a May 2014 Trip Report - UPDATED 6/26 FINAL PART

[prettylittlelady]

I know it's already been said by other DISers, but I still have to chime in that coordinating your reenlistment in Disney World is one of the coolest things ever. Such a unique idea. I was looking at some of the guests' faces in the background of your pictures, and while I know you were right next to the characters, I think a lot of them were watching your ceremony. It had to be so fascinating for someone who has no military affliation whatsoever to see such a thing.



Glad you were able to switch your Tusker House dinner to a breakfast. AK is great, but I agree, it's really only a half day park. Maybe once they finish Avatarland and add that nighttime show it'll be worth staying at longer.


Good to know about the IllumiNations FP viewing location. That picture of the globe does look incredibly close.



Ugh, Disney dryers are the worst. Nothing ever gets dry in them.

There were definitely some people watching. What Josh didn't mention was that there were people standing off to the one side that were only watching his ceremony and were snapping pictures and taking video of it.


The Disney dryers reminded me of the ones that were at the hotel we stayed at when we first moved to Hawaii...

 

[staley98]

Wonderful report and thank you for your service. Your pics are great! Did you use the Memory Maker? We leave in a few weeks and I'm trying to decide if it'd be worth the expense. TIA!
Anne

 

[amazingact21]

Love your DW's Minnie Dress, and it's cool she got to meet the leading lady herself while wearing it.


It was cool that you and Alex got to have a DISdad meet. Not something that happens every trip, and I'm sure Alex appreciated meeting someone he talked to versus all the strangers I make him say hello to.


Ugh, that day was so hot! And, naturally, the parade occurs right when the sun is high in the sky and there's no shade along the sidewalks. It's cool that you had such a great experience with the parade, though. I'm sure your DD was thrilled that Elsa pointed to her, specifically.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Joining!

First of all, thank you for your service! I agree that it is great Disney has programs/offers for military and their family - my father-in-law is retired Navy so we have utilized the Disney Armed Forces Salute tickets in the past

Also, I love your shirt you have in your intro photo with Walt and Mickey on Main St. I actually used to have it - but then it got to small. Yeah, that's it, the shirt got too small, not that I got too big

Glad things worked out for the best with getting the room for the extra day - and very nice that your wife had an arrival day massage!

That is super cool that you were able to get your re-enlistment ceremony in the Magic Kingdom!

Looks like a fun day at EPCOT. We have done the reverse from you in that we have done meals at Akershus our previous trips but are going to try CRT our next trip.

That's great that you were able to switch your ADR at Tusker House to breakfast and they waved the fee, etc. - those types of actions are always appreciated by CMs and don't

Well, being a rebel spy is certainly something that is worthy of being discussed for quite some time

It seems like you were having pretty good luck with adjusting FP+ and adding the 4th in another park, etc. ... sounds like it all worked pretty good for you this trip

how cool that the kids (and Becky) got interaction from the characters in the parade!

 

[compshu]

That's a lovely Minnie dress. Looks great on your DW. See? Disnames NEVER lie.


Nice picture of you and USAFDad. Love when DisMeets happen. Shame that you couldn't get on the ride together.

That's a great spot for the FP+ parade.

Thanks. I'm sure we will be able to coordinate better next time. The FP+ spot was great, there was nobody in front of us. I definitely recommend it.

Wonderful report and thank you for your service. Your pics are great! Did you use the Memory Maker? We leave in a few weeks and I'm trying to decide if it'd be worth the expense. TIA!
Anne

Thanks. We did use Memory Maker, and used Photopass last time as well as out at Aulani. It is very much worth it. This time alone we had 350+ photos and didn't really go out of our way to get photos done. I would recommend pre-ordering MM so that you can save yourself $50. Make sure it gets linked to your My Disney Experience then all you need to do is have the photographer scan your band after the photos are snapped. You also get ride photos for the rides that have them. After you ride, find your pic and remember the number. Then tell the CM at the photo counter your number and that you want to add it, and you tap your band and carry on. Takes less than a minute. Have a great trip!

Love your DW's Minnie Dress, and it's cool she got to meet the leading lady herself while wearing it.


It was cool that you and Alex got to have a DISdad meet. Not something that happens every trip, and I'm sure Alex appreciated meeting someone he talked to versus all the strangers I make him say hello to.


Ugh, that day was so hot! And, naturally, the parade occurs right when the sun is high in the sky and there's no shade along the sidewalks. It's cool that you had such a great experience with the parade, though. I'm sure your DD was thrilled that Elsa pointed to her, specifically.

We look forward to getting together again, whenever that may be. I think that they should put up something to add some shade for that FP+ spot. I understand that they can't have an awning there because it would block firework viewing, but they can bring in umbrellas just for the parade, then take them down after. Unfortunately, I was watching the parade while snapping photos without looking through the viewfinder. I was shooting from the hip, so I got a photo of Elsa pointing out Lili, but it cuts off Elsa's head. As soon as it happened, Lili turned to make sure we all saw what happened. She loved it.

Joining!

First of all, thank you for your service! I agree that it is great Disney has programs/offers for military and their family - my father-in-law is retired Navy so we have utilized the Disney Armed Forces Salute tickets in the past

Also, I love your shirt you have in your intro photo with Walt and Mickey on Main St. I actually used to have it - but then it got to small. Yeah, that's it, the shirt got too small, not that I got too big

Glad things worked out for the best with getting the room for the extra day - and very nice that your wife had an arrival day massage!

That is super cool that you were able to get your re-enlistment ceremony in the Magic Kingdom!

Looks like a fun day at EPCOT. We have done the reverse from you in that we have done meals at Akershus our previous trips but are going to try CRT our next trip.

That's great that you were able to switch your ADR at Tusker House to breakfast and they waved the fee, etc. - those types of actions are always appreciated by CMs and don't

Well, being a rebel spy is certainly something that is worthy of being discussed for quite some time

It seems like you were having pretty good luck with adjusting FP+ and adding the 4th in another park, etc. ... sounds like it all worked pretty good for you this trip

how cool that the kids (and Becky) got interaction from the characters in the parade!

Welcome aboard! Lili still goes on about how she was the rebel spy. We got her the shirt and she loves it.

 

[compshu]

We took the next morning a little slow, but still made it to Epcot shortly after rope drop. We rode Journey into Imagination with Figment, then used a FP+ for the Seas.




When we were finished with the ride, we went in for Turtle Talk with Crush. This time Lili was called on, so she was happy about that. As we were leaving the theater, we got word that our friends Jasen and Deb had arrived and was waiting for us in the gift shop. We grabbed some toy fish, and went to lunch.



We decided to check out Les Halles Boulangerie & Patisserie and we were able to find tables for all of us.



While we were eating, the skies opened up for the first time during our trip. There were bands of heavy rain and some thunder that would hit us off and on throughout the rest of the day. We had brought some of the cheap emergency ponchos, and got them out as we made our way over to Japan. We decided to pop into the store and check out the Pick a Pearl station. The girls each chose one oyster, and then they got to watch and participate as the oysters were opened and their pearls were discovered. They both got larger than average pearls, one was 7mm and the other was 7.5mm.



Once the pearls were washed and bagged, we waited outside in an alcove until the rain slowed down a little. Then, we walked down to Mexico to get some frozen margaritas.

By the time we got down to Mexico, it was starting to pour again, so we escaped into the pavilion and got some pictures with Caballero Donald.



The rain let up a bit, so we decided to go find Mulan to complete our meetings with every Disney Princess. When we got over to China, we found out that Mulan was meeting inside due to the rain. She had been moved to where the acrabats perform, and they had a performance coming up, so we were told that the meet and greet would again be moved, this time into where the Tomb Warriors are. By the time we got into the line, we were told that the line had been closed right before us, so we would have to come back again later. We had a FP+ for Test Track, so we went back to Future World. Lili said that she didn't want to ride TT this time, so Jasen borrowed Gabe's MagicBand and we took Alexa with us. We made it through the whole queue, made our cars, and got to the loading area, when we found out that the rain had picked up again. After waiting for about ten minutes, we were told the ride had been shut down due to the weather, and we were given paper FastPasses to return later. As we were leaving, I decided that we would probably need better ponchos, since the ones we had weren't very easy to put on, take off, fold, and repeat over and over like we needed. So we splurged on the Disney Parks ponchos.

After buying the better ponchos, the rain seemed to let up for most of the rest of the night, go figure. Anyway, we got in contact with Becky to find out what everyone else was up to. Turns out they managed to meet with Mulan, and were on the way to Germany for our dinner reservation at Biergarten, so we met up there.



Jasen and Deb had managed to make reservations for about ten minutes before our reservation time, so we were able to merge the parties together. I'm just going to lay this right out there, Biergarten was probably my favorite restaurant out of all of the ones we went to on this trip. I grew up in south eastern Pennsylvania. For those of you who don't know, that is commonly known as "Dutch Country", with a ton of German immigrants and influence. So this smorgasbord was wunderbar to me. I ordered the full liter of pilsner, and by the time I got back to the table after taking the girls up for a run on the buffet, it was there waiting for me. Becky said that when the server dropped it off, she was told that I could get a to-go cup if I couldn't finish it by the end of the meal. Yeah, right!



During the meal, there was a polka band that started playing. Towards the end of their set, they invited guests to come down to the dance floor to celebrate. Of course, nobody went down, so I took the girls down to pave the way. We danced and had a great time.



When the music was over, we grabbed some dessert. When the meal was over, I looked at my empty stein, and considered a refill so that I could get it in a to-go cup. We decided to go check out the gift shop, where I bought a mug of my own, and Lili found her pair of ears for this trip.



Once we got our stuff, I grabbed a bier at the stand, and off we went. We stopped by the Smokehouse BBQ outdoor kitchen so that I could grab a Piggylicious Bacon Cupcake. Then we decided to stop by Japan again and pick another pearl, this one for Becky. Turns out, she chose a great oyster, because it had a rare blue pearl in it. She decided to get it set in a necklace, so we tootled around Morocco while we waited. After about twenty minutes, the necklace was ready. We picked it up, then continued onto France, where we grabbed a La Vie en Rose for Becky.
Alexa and I stopped on the bridge to recreate our photo from the last trip.



By the time we got around to Canada, it was time for another beer, so I got a Moosehead.

When we made it back to Future World, we decided to check out Spaceship Earth. It was practically a walk-on because it the park was close to closing time.



When we got off, we said goodbye to Jasen and Deb, and I decided to check MouseGears for a set of ears for Alexa. She decided that she wanted the Maleficent horns, so we got her those and went back to the resort to close out yet another great day. The next day was planned to be pretty packed, with a scheduled breakfast and a FP+ for lunch at Be Our Guest. For us, this was an early night, and we went right to bed.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Another full day!


Pity about the rain but it looks like you and the family and friends found plenty to do. I'm so glad that you got the full suite of princesses in.

I love the picture of you dancing with your girls.


And what time is it?

Beer o'clock, of course.

 

[compshu]

I meant to include this in the last post. This is Becky's rare blue pearl.

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[amazingact21]

Busy day at Epcot!


That's the biggest downside to Test Track, if it rains too much, they have to close the attraction.



Glad everyone got to pick a pearl. Your wife's necklace turned out very nice. Love the blue colored pearl.


While I've never ate at Biergarten before, I've heard mixed reviews about it. It's good to know it's not as subpar as some people make it out to be. And I bet your daughters had a blast dancing in the front with their dad. Talk about a Disney memory.

 

[PrincessInOz]

That's a beautiful pearl and a lovely setting for it.

 

[compshu]

One of Alexa's bottom teeth was very loose by the time we left for our trip, and this was the day that it wound up coming out. Thankfully, it came out first thing in the morning, so we were able to put it aside for safe keeping until she could put it under her pillow for Tinker Bell to come pick it up that night. More on that later. We had breakfast reservations at 'Ohana, and caught the first bus to the Magic Kingdom. When we got to the park, we took the monorail over to the Polynesian. We made it to the resort about half an hour early for our reservations, but they were able to take us after waiting for about five minutes. We wound up finishing our meal only about ten minutes after our original reservation time.




When we were done with breakfast, we took the monorail back over to the Magic Kingdom. When we arrived, we found out that Mary Poppins would be meeting right by the Town Square Theater, so we got in line to meet with her. When that was done, we went to Frontierland, and Alexa and I got in line for Splash Mountain. When that was over, we adjusted our FP+ for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad to just include me and Alexa, and made a FP+ for the others at the same time for Mickey's Philharmagic. When Alexa and I were done, she wanted to ride Pirates of the Caribbean. When that was over, we caught part of the Pirate Tutorial, but that had to be cut short because the rain had started up again.

We made our way over to Fantasyland to meet back up with everyone else, and I decided to stop by the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique to inquire about the Tinker Bell/Tooth Fairy thing. SPOILER ALERT if you are reading with your kids, and want to preserve the magic, just skip ahead to the next section. Otherwise, you have been warned. I was expecting to get a small bag of pixie dust from the Fairy Godmothers in Training. Well, two FGiTs came out with two identical white boxes. They asked where my daughter was, and I told them that she was around the corner sitting with the rest of the family. So they showed me that one of the boxes was covered with pixie dust, and inside there was a bit more pixie dust inside of the box. I put that one inside my bag. Then, they went over to Alexa and showed her the plain, empty box. They told her to put her tooth in the box, put the box under her pillow, and Tinker Bell would come and get her tooth. She was very excited for that. I thought it was awesome, because I asked hoping for just a little glitter to sprinkle on her pillow, and they had this whole plan that was so simple to switch out the boxes and it made the whole thing that much more believable. END SPOILERS.

Okay, so whether or not you skipped that last section, we'll continue on. We tried to get in line for the Fairy Godmother, but she had to leave because the rain was coming yet again. This time, it started coming down pretty hard, so we went to Mickey's Philharmagic. By the time the show was over, the sun was back out, and it was about time for our lunch time FP+ at Be Our Guest. When we went to go check in for lunch, I noticed a Cast Member standing next to the podium with a list of cancellations for that day. Well, I checked with her, and she had a cancellation for 4:00. That was a little earlier than what we are used to for dinner, but we took the spot anyway because it was our opportunity to have dinner there. We got our reservation, then went up to the Beast's castle for lunch. We had done the pre order FP+, and all we had to do was to scan our bands and confirm our meal choices and dining plan, then go find a seat.



After lunch, we strolled around for a bit and rode some rides. Before we knew it, it was time to check in for our dinner. We had a good dinner, and then got to meet with the Beast.



When that was done, we went back out into the monsoon and went to Princess Fairytale Hall for our FP+ with Rapunzel and Cinderella. For those of you who read my last trip report, you'll know that Gabe has a little crush on Rapunzel, and that she planted a huge kiss on his cheek. Well, it happened again. Our little Don Juan not only got a kiss from Rapunzel but Cinderella also gave him a kiss on the cheek.



Once we were done visiting the princesses ,we went back to Belle's village, and the girls played around the fountain for a little bit. Then, we made our way over to Tomorrowland and got a FP+ for Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. When that was over, we spent some time at the #IncrediblesSuperDanceParty, then decided to check out the Carousel of Progress. When the show was over, the park was fairly empty due to all of the rain. We felt like we owned the place.

We spent what we figured would be our last night in the Magic Kingdom hitting all of our favorite attractions. We also stopped by to see Tinker Bell, so that Alexa could let her know that she would be putting her tooth in the box under her pillow. We were happy to see that Rosetta was visiting Tinker Bell, instead of Terrance (again, sorry Terrance, we’re just not that into you). After trying to color Rosetta with a green crayon, we grabbed a Dole Whip and some cotton candy and found a spot for Wishes.




Then, we stopped by the Main St Emporium, and went back to the resort to get some sleep. The next morning was sure to be busy, it being the only day where a very exciting special event and our trip overlap. We made sure that Alexa put her tooth in the box and then the box under her pillow. Then everyone went to sleep, and we heard the faintest little bell ringing…

 

[PrincessInOz]

Lunch AND dinner at BOG? That's real fairy dust.


That's a great service that the FGiT do with the tooth. Might be worth losing one......

 

[compshu]

I didn't think that we'd get the dinner at BoG, but we were lucky.

 

[prettylittlelady]

I don't think Gabe liked that Rapunzel as much as the one he met on our last trip..He didn't try to kiss that one on the lips

 

[minniemumma]

Wow what a great report so far, I must admit that I had tears reading about your reenlistment. For us Aussies we dont have marines but armed services are just as important here. Being able to have that ceremony in the world must have been even more special.
Cant wait to read some more!

 

[PrincessInOz]

I don't think Gabe liked that Rapunzel as much as the one he met on our last trip..He didn't try to kiss that one on the lips

I'd be keeping an eye on your Gabe. He's showing all the signs of being a ladies' man.

 

[declansdad]

Just joining in. Your re-enlistment ceremony was awesome. Thanks for sharing.

 

[amazingact21]

Very cool idea with the tooth and Tinkerbell. I never would've thought to ask for some "fairy dust".


In Gabe's defense, Rapunzel is a pretty cool princess, so at least he has good taste.

 

[compshu]

Wow what a great report so far, I must admit that I had tears reading about your reenlistment. For us Aussies we dont have marines but armed services are just as important here. Being able to have that ceremony in the world must have been even more special.
Cant wait to read some more!

Glad you are enjoying the report. I've got 2 or 3 more parts left to go, with the next update in a day or two.

I'd be keeping an eye on your Gabe. He's showing all the signs of being a ladies' man.

He does love his princesses. It all started with this from our last trip:

Just joining in. Your re-enlistment ceremony was awesome. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks. Welcome aboard.

Very cool idea with the tooth and Tinkerbell. I never would've thought to ask for some "fairy dust".

In Gabe's defense, Rapunzel is a pretty cool princess, so at least he has good taste.

I had heard about the Tinker Bell thing before we left, but I wasn't sure if that was just something that the parents did themselves. I'm glad I thought to ask at the BBB though.

 

[compshu]

When we woke up the next morning, Alexa found that she had been visited by Tinker Bell. She was very happy.




After putting her special, pixie dust covered box away, we got ready for the day. Our last park day was Friday the 16th. This was also the first day of Star Wars Weekends. When Becky and I went back in 2006, we had just missed SWW by about a week or two. We are all pretty big Star Wars fans and we were looking forward to this day for all of the special events going on. Alexa saw a photo of Becky and I meeting with Darth Vader from 2006, even though we missed the event, I guess he hung around for a little while afterward. Well, she loves Vader, and we knew that would have to be a priority for us. We got a late start that morning, after having been out pretty late the night before. Also, since we had gotten our “eviction notice” i.e. Disney’s Magical Express Transportation Packet, we noticed a little problem. Magical Express had some trouble confirming our flight information. Remember the issue we had with the flights at the Honolulu airport? Turns out that the same issue hit us here, only this time we could not even find our reservation. I had to call United Airlines because our confirmation number came back with no ticket. After spending some time on hold while standing on a very crowded bus on the way to Hollywood Studios, I finally got ahold of someone. How she could hear and understand me over all of that background noise, I will never know. We got the issue resolved (just needed to “confirm” the schedule changes that we had confirmed so many times already) and away we went. When we got off the bus, I called Magical Express, and provided the updated flight number, and we were scheduled for a 9:30 am pickup.

By the time we got into the park, we had missed the opening show, which we had seen on YouTube. We were a little bummed about that, because it looked so funny. We also missed out on the celeb autograph FP and the Jedi Training Academy. Lili said that she needs to do the training next time we go. Anyway, we decided to just head straight for Darth Vader, since I had read that the wait times for the Star Wars characters can exceed an hour.

We only wound up waiting about thirty minutes for Vader, which was pretty good. Alexa was very happy to finally meet her father, er, I mean her idol. Another reason that I am glad the wait wasn’t very long was because it was pretty chilly that morning, and most of the queue was shaded. The girls’ lips were turning purple by the time we got through the line.



After meeting Darth Vader, we made our way over to Hollywood & Vine for our lunch reservation. We enjoyed our lunch there so much last time, we had to do it again on this trip. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as fun this time. I’m not sure if it was just because of our timing, or because the park was extra busy due to the special event, but it just didn’t have the same spark. We were seated in a corner next to the side exit door. That may have played a part in it too, as last time we were closer to where the dance party happens and the girls were able to just get up, dance, and then sit down and eat some more. Once again, Lili plowed through two bowls of pasta. If every restaurant on property offered a pasta dish that she could get without any sauce or anything on it, we would never have to worry about the menu again.

After lunch, we decided to call it. As much as we were looking forward to the event, we realized that in order to fully enjoy Star Wars Weekends, we would need to dedicate the day to only experiencing those events, and we just couldn’t do that with all of us there. If we make it down again during this event, it might be better for us to split up and be more focused on the events. We grabbed some popcorn, served in Darth Vader’s head, and I stopped by Starring Roles Café to get a Darth Vader cupcake, and then we left for Epcot. On the way out, I didn’t see a sign for the walkway, so I asked a Cast Member how to get to the walking path to Epcot. He asked why on Earth we would want to walk there instead of take the bus or boat, but directed us anyway. It was pretty funny.

We decided to take a break and sit down when we got to the Boardwalk. The girls accidentally spilled some of their popcorn, and we started to pick it up, but John, a Cast Member, walked up and said not to worry about it and he swept up the popcorn. Then he proceeded to give us all a little trivia quiz. He asked each of us a question, with easy ones for the kids and harder ones for us. It was really nice because this guy could’ve just complained about the mess, clean it up while giving us dirty looks, and then move on with his work. Instead, he took about ten minutes out of his day, cleaned up the mess while telling the girls not to worry (they were apologizing for spilling), and then interact with us for a while. For anyone that says the Cast Members have lost the magic, I say take the time to look around. The magic is still there.

We made our way over to Epcot and through the International Gateway. We found a bench near the Showcase Plaza to enjoy the Vader cupcake. Well, the heat had picked up a bit, and Vader was a little melted (no pun intended, if you know your Star Wars). It was still delicious, regardless. When we were done, we had one last ride on several favorites such as Journey Into Imagination with Figment, Spaceship Earth, Test Track, and Mission: Space. I think Lili impressed the pair of older women in the capsule with us, because she was so excited during our briefing and knew exactly how to “pilot” the spacecraft. Alexa made a crazy car at Test Track.





When we were done at Epcot, we rode the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom. It was a little busier than we had expected, but it still wasn’t too bad. We had dinner at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café, and made some FP+ selections. I thought that we would only be able to add one FP+ because we had scheduled three at Hollywood Studios. Well, since we never used those three and they had expired, the CM at the kiosk was able to cancel them out and we were able to make three new FP+ selections for the Magic Kingdom. We chose Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, Journey of the Little Mermaid, and Peter Pan’s Flight as our final three FP+ of the trip. After Buzz, we rode Dumbo, and then Alexa wanted to ride the Barnstormer. Lili had no interest in it, and Gabe rode it last time and didn’t really like it, so it was just Alexa and I. I think all of the rain that we had the past two days had caused all of the mosquitos to come out, because we got eaten up the whole time we were in line.

After riding the Barnstormer, we all went to the Little Mermaid, then decided to make our way to the front of the castle to get a good last viewing of Celebrate the Magic and Wishes. I wanted to pick up some Glow With the Show ears, and found out that there was a cart right in the Hub that sells them and has the iPad MagicBand readers. We started to make our way over there when we got stuck in Liberty Square due to the Main St Electrical Parade. I’m not a big fan of that parade, I loved SpectroMagic and feel that, had WDW not decided to borrow the MSEP from Disneyland, Spectro might still be around today. Anyway, we made it to the Hub with enough time for me to grab some ears and find a decent place to camp out. The kids loved how my ears light up and danced with the show, and now I wish I would’ve gotten them earlier in our trip. By the way, when I got them, the CM told me that they are also synced up with the Symphony in the Stars fireworks show during Star Wars Weekends, in case anyone will be there for that and wants to grab some of those ears.

After the night shows, we used our FP+ on Peter Pan, and then split up. Lili and Gabe wanted to ride it’s a small world, while Alexa wanted to ride the Haunted Mansion. I took Alexa, while Becky took the other two. When Alexa and I were done, she wanted to go on it’s a small world, so I took her on that. Becky had taken the other two over to Princess Fairy Tale Hall to meet with Snow White and Aurora after their ride. The posted wait time for iasw was 20 minutes, but when I looked in, there was, quite literally, nobody in line. We walked right onto a waiting boat, and enjoyed the ride to ourselves.

After our solo ride, we caught up with everyone else at the carousel. Becky told me about how Gabe turned into little Don Juan again, and got kisses from both princesses.




We then rode the carousel as our final goodbye ride, and made our way out of the park and to the bus. We got back to the room and put the kids in bed, then got a head start on packing before turning in for the night. Thankfully, our return flight wasn’t scheduled to leave until the afternoon, so unlike our last trip where we had to be on the shuttle by 5:30 am, we had some time to pack and get ready to leave in the morning.