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Jenna. Nov 27. Last day – Magic Kingdom.

November 27th, 2010

It has been said that the busiest time of the year at Walt Disney World is the week of Thanksgiving.  We can personally vouch for that statement.  Crowd levels on my iPhone app (touringplans.com) were 10 out of a possible 10, and it was strongly encouraged that we avoid Magic Kingdom on this day because all Saturdays at the Magic Kingdom are absolutely crazy.  However, it was our last day at Disney and dad & Alicia’s only full day to go to MK, so we bit the bullet.  It was very nice that I was in a scooter, because I got to bypass most of the lines and bring 8 people with me on the ride.  Otherwise we would have spent all day in lines.

I still love the lights on Cinderella’s castle.  It was worth all the lines to see that again.  Took this pic while waiting for the parades to start.  I also love the Main Street Electrical Parade.  An oldie but a goodie.  And, the fireworks show with Tinkerbell flying through the air down Main Street.

We managed to ride every ride we wanted to hit (we hit all the kids’ rides the first day), and we even got to take Colby on a few more roller coasters – Splash Mountain (twice!), Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Space Mountain, to name  a few.  He did great and it was a lot of fun to get to share that with him.  Kennedy, on the other hand, was ONE INCH too short to ride all the rides.  (The minimum is 40 inches and she rests at 39.)  However, other Disney pluses are their rider swap program and the availability of kiddie playgrounds close to the ride’s entrance.  It made things a lot less stressful.

Kevin also got to see one of his friends from high school who now lives in Orlando.  Ryan and Kristan were really nice and hung out with us, even though the crowds were crazy.  They tell us they live about 15 minutes away from Disney World, they have season passes and they visit about once a week.  I think I would too.  And, I think another trip is soon in order so we can stay with them the next time we visit – but NOT during Thanksgiving week.

The last ride we rode was Aladdin’s Magic Carpet ride (during the fireworks show, Adventureland & Frontierland is empty, so we took advantage).    Here’s Kevin & Kennedy waiting for our turn to ride.

While waiting, we also met a cast member [employee] who was from Texas A&M.  It really is a small world after all.

Here’s Colby, wearing the glow necklaces I brought from home.  Also a good idea I had – the kids liked wearing them and I could find them easily in the big crowds we experienced. (Sorry these are so dark – it was like 11:30 pm.)

The very last thing we did, before waving goodbye to Main Street and the train station at the Magic Kingdom, was to redeem all of our snack credits on our meal plan.  We chose a Disney Dining Plan so we could do some of the character experiences without having to pay an arm and a leg for each one.  We pre-paid for all our meals, park tickets, and our room, and we showed our room key to the wait staff and they’d take credits off our meal plan.  So, we paid for one sit-down type meal, one fast-food type meal, and one snack per day.  But we hadn’t used all the snacks every day – we just got a few as we needed them and then packed our own snacks.  And there’s no redemption back – you use them or you lose them.  So, we had to find room in our suitcases for about 9 bottles of water, 5 bags of chips, and 5 bottles of orange & apple juice.

We left the park close to midnight to catch a bus back to our resort.  Then-
12:30 am – back to resort
1:30 am – pack up everything for flight back home in the morning (er, a few hours…)
2 am – sleep
3:45 am – wake up!
4 am – have suitcases ready and “wake up the kids” (they actually slept on our shoulders until the airport)
4:15 am – bell services comes to take our luggage back to the main lobby
4:45 am – Disney’s Magical Express comes to take us to the Orlando airport
5:15 am – check in with skycap
6 am – go through security (in a wheelchair for the last time)
6:45 am – Airport McDonald’s breakfast
7:15 am – check in at the gate, Belle change Carlee’s diaper while we save them a seat on the plane
8 am – flight home!

We got to Houston at 10:30 am, even after a quick stop in Panama City, FL.   Even though the flight was super early, I was glad to be back home before the craziness of Thanskgiving weekend travel hit.  We didn’t have much traffic going back home from Houston, even after stopping for some Mexican food for lunch (well, Tex-Mex, but what else is there?).  I was also glad we checked in early with skycap, because everyone who checked in later didn’t get their luggage when we arrived in Houston.  There was an entire cart of luggage missing.

All in all, I can’t complain about our trip; I mean, we went to DISNEY WORLD!!!  The happiest place on earth!  :)  There are definitely things I would change, such as not being in a walking boot (although it had some definite advantages).  I had an incredible time.  I’m blessed that we were able to go with my parents and my sisters.  It was a great family experience that truly engaged every single one of us.  I don’t care if it is “mainstream”, Disney does it big and does it right.  I loved loved the trip and had a lot of fun planning it.  All that time was well worth the effort.  The kids also can’t stop talking about it and I can’t wait til we can do it again.

Entry Filed under: 365 Project, Carlee, Colby, Faith, Family, Food, Funny, Kennedy, Life, Photo Blog