After getting me settled at the airport, Brian got his rental car and drove to Jacksonville, which was about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Orlando. He had some extra time, so he stopped off at the beach (I was very jealous when he sent those pics) and he also went to the Kennedy Space Center. This was right up his alley and I'm so glad he had time to do it.
He spent Monday evening & Tuesday morning speaking at the Florida Baptist Student Minsters Retreat...so thankful for opportunities like this that come along, that provide extra income & the chance to do fun things like a Disney date weekend for us! God is good!
So after going non-stop for the second day in a row, when we left Animal Kingdom after the nighttime show, we had to go back to All Star Music to get our stuff and take the Magical Express back to the airport. To save money, we stayed in a different hotel that we had credit card points to pay for, on Sunday night. Looking back, it would have been worth the extra $ just to stay All Star Music, but oh well. After waiting on the bus & then waiting again for the hotel shuttle to pick us up from the airport, it was close to 1:00 AM before we got to bed. We. Were. Tired. And we had to get up very early the next morning again, to get back to the airport for my flight home. As with any Disney vacation, this was not a relaxing trip in any sense...but it was fun & we loved our time together! Brian was picking up a rental car from the airport & driving to Jacksonville to speak that evening and Tuesday morning, before flying home Tuesday night. I was sad that we were having to fly home separately, but I guess I'm getting pretty good at flying solo by now. So thankful that we had this fun weekend together! I was ready to get home to my babies & to rest and recover for a few days. Another great Disney adventure in the books!
#myhappyplace #alwayssadtoleave #happilyeverafter
Full QUIK video:
We rode on this cruise line Magical Express bus back to the airport...oh how I was wishing it was taking us to get on a cruise ship for a week! That is a big dream of mine, to do a Disney cruise, one of these days...when we win the lottery!
This video was playing as we pulled into the airport. This little "Why? Because we like you!" slogan is what they said in the parade back in '95 the first time I went to Disney when I was 13! It's funny that I remember that!
This is pretty much what I get to eat anytime I'm in an airport about to board a plane! #breakfastofchampions
I didn't wear Disney shirts in the parks this time, but I wore them on the travel days.
After Animal Kingdom, it was time to go to EPCOT, to finish out our time at Disney. This is where we had the only hiccup in our travel from park to park, and it was my fault. When we went out to catch the bus to EPCOT at AK, there wasn't one there, but there was a Magic Kingdom bus. So I decided...let's just take this bus to Magic Kingdom and then take the monorail to EPCOT. But what I was forgetting was that to do that, you have to go through the Magic Kingdom security line...ugh!! It took forever & ever, and the person searching bags was ridiculous about it. It was a total waste of time, which was really frustrating. But...we finally made it to EPCOT...after loading and unloading on two different monorail trains...again, total fail on my part! It almost ruined my attitude for the rest of the day, but I didn't let it...once I got a Mickey ice cream bar, things improved greatly!
Now, about EPCOT...well, we usually love EPCOT...but this time, it wasn't so great. There were construction walls everywhere and it was really just a mess. It was very hot & there were a lot of people. We mostly just wandered around the World Showcase while we were there. We watched The American Adventure show, went to the caramel store in Germany & bought caramel apples and caramel popcorn (YUM), and ended our time at EPCOT, eating the queso fundido that we have dreamed about since we had it a few trips ago, at La Hacienda de San Angel. We made a last-minute decision to hop back on a bus and go back to Animal Kingdom for the nighttime Rivers of Light show. I would have loved to go back to Magic Kingdom, but this was a Halloween party night, and it closed to the general public at 7:00, so we couldn't do that. It was fun to have the flexibility that comes with a Park Hopper ticket, for sure, especially since it was just the two of us and we could get around pretty quickly.
I really wanted to buy these, but because we were sticking with our "no souvenirs" rule, I just took a picture instead! It's amazing how much cheaper Disney is when you don't have kids with you!
'
We did buy a couple of these though!
Brian decided he would be funny and take all of these goofy pictures of me...
I mean really?
Bahahahaha!
We were still so full from our big brunch at Tusker & snacking in the afternoon, that we just shared the queso fundido at La Hacienda. It was very good, but not quite as amazing as we remembered it from before.
And here we are back at Animal Kingdom for the nighttime show. So pretty & a fun way to end our time at Disney!
Not quite as many steps as the day before, but close...
