All vacations must come to an end.
The last day was here.
Boo.
We had a bit of time before we had to head to the airport, so we decided to make a last visit to the Magic Kingdom.
We utilized the Resort Airline check-in service, Huzbend checked our bags at bell services and off we went.
As we left our room every morning during the week, the kids would run full tilt to get out of the longhouse before us.
And then, upon exiting, there would be two new tiki statues guarding the walkway.
Smile/Yawn on the monorail.
"Please stand clear of the doors. Por favor, mantenganse allejado de las puertas."
It was an early wake up for us this day and we were in the park right after rope drop.
Yay us!
Our first stop of the morning, Swiss Family Treehouse.
Some nice views from up here.
Kids said they preferred Tazan's Treehouse in Disneyland.
Next up, a totally unnecessary FP for Pirates of the Caribbean.
There was no line.
Oooooo, spooky dark.
Did you know dead men tell no tales?
Huzbend likes to remind us all every time we get on this ride.
EVERY time.
One attraction left in Adventureland.....can you guess?
Oh! Nice one!
Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room (Sponsored By Dole) would be correct.
Hello Jose, Fritz, Pierre and (to Mikey's delight) Michael!
The flowers crooning.
THE best part of the show.
Singing tikis.
Honestly.
You cannot, and I mean simply CANNOT, experience the Enchanted Tiki Room without then having a Dole Whip.
It is a must and so we did.
After enjoying our morning Dole Whip, we trekked through the breezeway into Frontierland and did some shootin' at the appropriately named, Shootin' Arcade.
We forgot to explain to the kids what to do.
So, Mikey blew through his rounds in about 2 seconds.
Huzbend took his time and was able to activate some things for the kids to see.
Why, hello Madame Leota!
Although we had rode the Haunted Mansion a few days before, the kids wanted to ride again so I kept our FP.
"Your cadaverous pallor betrays an aura of foreboding, almost as though you sense a disquieting metamorphosis."
"Is this haunted room actually stretching? Or is it your imagination, hmm?"
"And consider this dismaying observation: This chamber has no windows and no doors, which offers you this chilling challenge: to find a way out!"
"And now, a carriage approaches to carry you into the boundless realm of the supernatural. Take your loved ones by the hand, please, and kindly watch your step. Oh yes, and no flash pictures, please! We spirits are frightfully sensitive to bright lights."
"Hurrrrry baaaaaaack. Hurrrrry baaaaack. ....."
We said goodbye to the 999 happy haunts and jaunted on over to Tom Sawyer's Island for little runnin', jumpin', and explorin'.
Mikey loved the dark, creepy and echoey caves.
(Although, they used to be much creepier and darker in days past. Sigh.)
The barrel bridge was a favorite.
I didn't get any pictures of Katie because she didn't want to go into the caves and went off with Huzbend to visit Fort Langhorn, home of the only mosquitos I've ever seen on Disney property.
One more Mikey/Tom Sawyer Island picture.
He was very at home here.
Energy was waning after our island tour and we stopped for a quick snack and bathroom break before heading to Big Thunder Mountain for our last FP of the day.
We had a rip-roaring good time on the ride. Literally.
This is one not-so-hilly but oh-so-jarring coaster.
It was time for lunch.
We headed over to Cosmic Ray's Starlight Café.
Everyone had burgers and fries. Not the most nutritious of meals but, it hit the spot.
As we were seated in the Starlight Lounge, we had the added bonus of "the bossa supernova and eclipso musical stylings of Sonny Eclipse on the astro-organ" straight from Yew Nork City.
As always, he was accompanied by his invisible Space Angels.
We took a post-lunch It's a Small World ride.
It had been a while since Mikey had ridden this.
Not since he was, like, two years old.
Huzbend told him that it was going to be a super-fast boat ride with a drop like Splash Mountain at the end.
Mikey called him out on it.
Sooo much to look at.
Bright colors, movement, high pitched singing voices.
Time for a brownie break.
We decided that our last ride of the trip would be Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin.
It was a serious competition.
Look at the concentration!
But, I lost. Again.
Here is Huzbend's score.
He demolished me.
Before we left the Magic Kingdom, I wanted to get a souvenir.
It was something that I had really wanted to have done when we went to Disneyland in August.
Since this was our do-over trip, this was my chance.
I wanted silhouettes of the kids.
My Huzbend's parents had silhouettes of him and his brother on their wall from their childhood trip to Disney World and I always liked them.
The silhouette artists are amazing.
Here's a video from Disneyland of an artist doing her work.
It was fascinating to watch our artist work.
It only took him a few minutes to cut the silhouettes out.
We got two copies of each and I chose to have one set framed.
The kids wanted one more Mickey Premium Ice Cream Bar before they left.
So, Huzbend went and rounded some up.
The silhouette artist's cart was located in a Main Street U.S.A. alleyway.
The 3 O'clock parade was going to begin in about 30 minutes and so the Photopass photographers were out in force.
As I was waiting for the silhouettes to be framed, they enjoyed their icy treats on the curb of the alley.
Silhouette souvenir - CHECK!
Mickey Premium Ice Cream Bars - CHECK!
One last stop in gift shop for a t-shirt - CHECK!
It was time to go.
I had to turn around to take one last glimpse of Main Street Station......
......before heading to the monorail.
I was okay until Mikey turned around and told me he didn't want to leave and asked when we would come back again.
Then I got all misty eyed.
Especially riding the monorail back to the resort.
The misty eyes didn't last long.
This was a fantastic trip. Our best family vacation ever, I would have to say.
Nothing to be sad about here.
We were able to snap a few pictures at the main entrance to the resort while waiting for the bus back to the airport.
Happy but really, very tired kids.
Alas, the "Tragical Depress" bus arrived to take us back to real life.
"Hey, uh, do you have my wallet? I can't seem to find it."
Sigh. That joke never gets old.
For him.
One final, "BYYYYYYYYYYYE!"
The kids were all smiles at the airport even with the looming 6 hour flight ahead of them.
Maybe they would sleep?
Okay. So, the kids didn't sleep, but I guess I did.
We had a weekend to recover from our trip before heading back to school and work which helped ease the transition a bit.
The thing the kids were most excited for coming home....
...Seeing Ralph again!
Katie's Favorite Parts of the Last Day:
- the Starlight Café with the super-yummy food
- getting her silhouette done
Mikey's Favorite Parts of the Last Day:
- riding Pirates of the Caribbean
- the Enchanted Tiki Room, getting the song stuck in his head and singing it the rest of the day
