Disney Day 7

Friday 26 January 2007

Going-home day had arrived, and a bit to my surprise, I found myself wanting to stay longer. I guess that this is a sign of a good trip. We did not need to catch the Magic Bus back to airport until noon, so we had a somewhat leisurely morning. We packed our stuff and ate most of the food in the cabin for breakfast. What we could not finish (including much of the previous night’s pizza) we golf-carted over to the RV (refrigerated vehicle). We said farewell to Oma and Opa, and left to continue on their Florida Adventure.

Our next stop was the (previous site of the) Fort Wilderness petting zoo. All that was there were some lonely goats that were too shy to let us pet them. Behind the empty pens was the horse barn where some of the horses that work in the various parks live. We said hi to the horses, then headed for the playground and beach. Here I left the other three to play while I carted the suitcases to be checked-in for the flight home.

When I returned, it was time to gather the family and return our trusty steed, O’ 444 back to the Bike Barn. While there we rented 2 rustic fishing poles (long sticks fishing line and hooks) and went to catch some fish. Maybe it was our lack of fishing skills, our lack of bait, or the absence of any fish, but we had no luck finding Nemo or anyone else to impale themselves on our hooks. If nothing else though, we were able to check one last thing off our list.

The rest of the trip involved a bus, a train, a plane, a shuttle, and a drive that got us all safely back home. We were all a bit sad that the trip was over, and were already talking about when we would go back (Ella has it in her mind that we will go back when she is 7 so she will be tall enough to ride Soarin’. Alex thinks we are going back for his birthday in May.)

Looking back, I am pleased with what we were able to do, and what we chose to miss. I’m glad we did not try to take the kids when they were any younger than they now are. It might have been a bit better if Ella were a little older, but she was a champ. The nice thing about taking the kids at this age is that the magic is very real to them, and since they are not yet worried about being cool, they were able to let themselves be completely captivated and immersed. It was definitely wonderful for Shelley and me to see everything through their eyes.