Today was our last day at Walt Disney World.

It was a lovely day.

A loving day.

A simple day.

A travel day, too.

We gifted ourselves five hours of sleep going into today. We got ready, got ourselves packed, and let the kids sleep in a little longer with hopes they’d make it through the long day of fun and travel back home.

Five suitcases were packed. Five carry ons, too.

Five of us lugged the luggage down the elevator, past the gigantic Crush from Finding Nemo, down the long sidewalk, and around the corner to baggage drop off. We kept a camera and one backpack for the day ahead. That’s it. That’s all we really needed.

It was time for breakfast. Nemo waffles for the little one. Breakfast platter for two. Breakfast sandwich for another. And french toast for the last. It was the first time we’d eaten a full breakfast all week. We were novices in our own Disney Resort, novices as to how this quick service thing worked at the breakfast table. (We’ve always chosen to use our dining plans for lunch, dinner and snacks, and creatively piece together breakfast each morning.)

After breakfast, I invited one to stroll and take a few photos around the resort. The other three stayed to finish their meals.

We met by the shuttle that would take us to Hollywood Studios one last time, one last time before who knows when we’ll be back – no sooner than two years from now, no later than five years from now. Six years from now, we’ll have one child in college.

The shuttle was loaded. Full. We were the last to fit on. All five of us stood near the front.

Thankfully, the drive to Hollywood Studios was quick, close to our Disney Resort.

The day was unique. I can’t quite put my finger on it. Sure, we were at Hollywood Studios. But the pressure was off to have a blast, to make use of every hour, every minute, every moment. We knew it was our last day. We knew this was it. We knew we had less than six hours to enjoy this one last time, at this one last Disney Park, before the plane flew us back home. Yet, we didn’t rush around the park like wild people trying to fit in every last ride and attraction we could. 

We let the kids play at the “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” playground for a while.

We visited the Walt Disney sculpture.

We went to a Disney Junior stage show and saw a performance with Sofia the First, Doc McStuffins, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse characters. Our youngest daughter was enthralled. She sat quietly, sang the songs, and loved the bubbles, snow, and gold coins that fell from the ceiling at highlight points throughout the show.

I went on a Muppets 3D attraction with our youngest. The other three went on the Star Wars ride.

Three of us ate chicken and burgers. Two of us ate pizza and salad. We all had Halloween-themed carrot cupcakes for dessert.

My husband and son went on the “Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster,” their favorite ride of all Disney World. And we watched a kooky live performance on one of Hollywood Studio’s main streets.

That was it. Six hours passed in a flash. It was almost time to go back to our hotel to pick up our luggage, grab the last snacks from our dining plan, and catch the shuttle to the airport.

So we returned the stroller one last time, and took a few photos by an old-fashioned truck near the stroller station.

It was time to go.

Tears were shed by three.

My husband huddled everyone together in a tight circle and spoke a word of encouragement. The vacation hadn’t been trouble-free, but we had an amazing time, didn’t we? We have a lot of great memories. We’ll be back.

We had some hugs.

Then it was time to disperse.

Time to make our way to the shuttle back to the Disney resort.

More tears were shed on the shuttle. Then a few more when we sat down for our final snack, and a few more when we sat on the bench to wait for the airport shuttle.

We had more hugs.

Our seventh Disney vacation in 17 1/2 years of marriage went down in the record books today. It wasn’t perfect, but it was fabulous!

Signing off vacation mode for now, friends. Thanks for joining us on our Disney adventure! Be sure to catch the next 13 days of posts for a TON of Disney tips, tricks and favorites.

 

 

 

This post is part of a month-long series titled 31 Days of Disney! If you’d like to read more posts from the series, click here and you’ll be directed back to the 31 Days of Disney landing page. ALL posts from the series are linked within the body of that post. Find a title or topic that intrigues you, click on it, and the post will pop up for your Disney reading adventure!

I also placed the series graphic on the right sidebar of my blog’s home page, so click it anytime and it’ll bring you back to the 31 Days of Disney landing page where all 31 posts are listed and linked.

You can follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/AmyBPederson where I’ll tweet links to all 31 posts using hashtag #write31days, and I’d LOVE to connect on Facebook at facebook.com/AmyBPederson. You can also find me on Instagram at instagram.com/AmyBPederson, and I might even do a few scopes live from Disney World, so follow me on Periscope at @AmyBPederson to see if I get brave!

So glad you stopped by! Make yourself comfortable. Take a peek around the place, and know you’re welcome back anytime.