We started by getting up super early to finish packing and take our checked bags to the airline counter at our resort. That's one of the great perks of staying at a Disney resort: they'll print your boarding pass, deliver it to your room, check your luggage, and take it to the airport for you! Makes for a much simpler last day. Anyways, I woke up really really nauseous. (At this point I was fairly certain Kyle thought that I'm always sick, but I swear I'm not!) My body was dying for the comfort of my bed, but my heart wanted to stay a few more days with my good friend. It was a pretty quiet morning.
After checking our bags, we took the bus to Magic Kingdom and went to the boat dock to wait for the boat to Wilderness Lodge, so we could go to breakfast at Whispering Canyon Cafe. We sat with our backs to the park, and when we turned around and looked as we boarded the boat, we saw this massive crowd (solid people):
We were kinda happy not to be going there!
Since no one really leaves the Magic Kingdom area in the morning, we had a private boat ride to the resort.
That gave us time to have a pleasant conversation about Deluxe Disney Resorts and to look at all the places along the way. I remember enjoying the cool breeze while we rode the boat. (Remember that comment later...)
Walking in to Wilderness Lodge I was floored to say the least! LaRae and Randy went there for their honeymoon, and they rave about the place. Honestly, from the pictures online, I wasn't super impressed, but it was astoundingly amazing in person. I couldn't find the words to express how lovely it was! I've always kinda thought that I'd wait to stay Deluxe until I got married, but sometimes I think waiting for my life to begin is completely moronic. I seized the moment and that feeling and got Kyle to make a deal with me: if we're still both unmarried and unattached in 4 years, we're going back to stay Deluxe! I don't even care which one; they're all amazing! (Besides, it will take 4 years to save up that kind of cash!)
Whispering Canyon Cafe was similar to 50's Prime Time Cafe in how the waiters and waitresses "played with" the diners. They mostly stuck to teasing the kids, but they still messed with us a little. If one asked for ketchup, they called for all the ketchup in the restaurant to be brought to that table! Our waitress asked us if we needed any, and when I laughed and said no, she said "don't be scared!" in a tone that worried me a little. ;-) By the way, I thought she sounded just like Roz from Monsters, Inc.
We got the All You Care to Eat Breakfast Skillet. Despite still not feeling great, I decided to power through and have a couple of Mickey waffles. Yum!!!
I also tried biscuits and gravy. I must be the worst Southern gal ever: I thought they were disgusting! Of course I also don't like sweet tea (or any tea for that matter) and didn't like grits until I was 26. So yeah, me being Southern has been called into question a few times.
After a leisurely breakfast (where Kyle was sung to and given a birthday cupcake one last time), we headed to the bus stop to take the bus over to Hollywood Studios. When we got to the bus stop, I heard someone call out, "Joanna?" It was a woman from work, so we visited with her and her family until their bus came. Was great to see her, and she snapped a pic of her and me to text to our principal. Haha! Our bus took about 45 minutes to come. Some people called about it, and one finally got there. Possibly the worst bus wait we had, but looking back, it didn't feel that awful to me.
Hollywood Studios was crazy crowded, so we rode Star Tours twice and shopped around looking for a Perry the Platypus shirt for Kyle (we never found one). On the last ride Kyle finally got a Star Tours ending that was NOT the Death Star, so I think he was pretty happy. He also steered me over to Phineas & Ferb, so I could get a photo of them for the kids.
He's also a pretty big fan, so I took his photo with Ducky MoMo. Was really glad that he explained he whole Ducky MoMo thing to me. It's actually pretty hilarious, and I'd like to see that episode now. Also, I think this is the *only* picture in the photos I took of an "actual" duck.
The entire time we were at DHS, the Camp Rock song was going strong when we passed the Hat, and I sang along (loudly) with it each time we heard it. I mean, come on, who can help but sing "We rock! We rock!" when they hear it?? I don't think we did anything besides sweat, ride Star Tours, sing along to Camp Rock, and shop at DHS. In fact, we decided after all that and after the crowds got insane, that we would hop over to Epcot for the rest of our last day. Anyone surprised we ended up in Epcot 3 times this trip? After all, it is our favorite park. *grin*
Notice that I said we sweated at Hollywood Studios? I think the heat was the worst it had been the whole trip on this day. There was no way to be girly with the suffocating heat. I mean, you try to be prissy when you feel like you're dripping sweat! Not gonna happen. The only saving grace I had was the fan I bought in China in Epcot the day before. Best $11 I spent! By the end of the trip I was quite adept at quickly popping the fan open and closed. I usually tried to get us both in the fan's breeze when we were sitting on boats or standing in queues.
We took a boat from DHS to the International Gateway in the World Showcase of Epcot. As I say in the video below, it was my first time coming through that entrance, and it was excellently vacant!
We spent the afternoon wandering through World Showcase. Kyle got a Kaki Gori (a shaved ice treat) in Japan, and I got Italian Ice in Italy (did I really need to say where?). We stopped in the shade in Germany and ate our treats. At one point I stepped out of the shelter and realized it was raining. Our conversation still makes me laugh (keeping in mind I was the girl who wanted to wear a poncho on water rides):
Kyle: Is it raining?
Me: (standing in it) Yep.
Kyle: (perplexed look) Are you standing in the rain?
Me: Yep. (smiles happily)
Kyle: Do you have your poncho in your purse?
Me: Nope.
Kyle: Want to go get one?
Me: Nope. (pauses) Wanna join me?
Kyle: (waits a beat) Yep.
We then walked in the wonderfully cooling rain until it became giant drops that would knock a full grown fairy out of the sky and went into the Mexico Pavilion to take cover. The Mariachi band was playing close to the Three Caballeros entrance, so the queue was practically non-existent, and we decided to ride it one last time. Even though a family was coming through the queue right behind us, the CM's loaded us in the front seat of the boat and closed the gates and sent us on a private boat ride. Again, it was nice. We joyfully sang along with Donald, Joe Carioca, and Panchito one last time.
After that we headed toward the front of the park to ride Spaceship Earth as our final ride of the trip. I find it interesting that we started and ended our trip on perpetually moving, calm rides that most children would say are boring instead of the trill rides. I liked that. Seemed fitting for us and our relaxing trip.
You can tell on the video (again, below) I was starting to have a hard time with the whole "end of the trip" thing. By the time we finished Spaceship Earth, I was holding back tears. I promise I don't typically cry when I leave Walt Disney World. I know I'll be back, but the thought of leaving Kyle was really bugging me. You have to understand, we've known each other for over a year. It took over a year for us to bridge the gap between Texas and Connecticut to finally meet. We meshed so well and had so much fun that the thought of leaving someone I now consider to be a best friend and not knowing when I'd see him again was on the point of painful for me.
My bus to the airport was leaving 30 minutes before Kyle's, but he went back to the resort to wait with me. While he headed off to grab lunch, I found a table, turned my back to where he was, and finally let the tears flow. Once he sat down I tried to smile, but he knew something was up and asked if I was ok, and I burst into tears again. A couple minutes later I was able to speak again *sigh* and chatted with him through lunch. We promised we'd see each other again some day, and I plan to hold him to that.
We waited to go to the bus stop until the last minute, so the bus pulled up fast. When we were saying our goodbyes, Kyle pulled out his iPhone and "said one last picture?" 8 photos later we finally had one with both of us in it. ;-) The trying to get it to work right explains the looks on our faces.
He also snapped one last pic of the trip as I boarded the bus:
I took one from the bus of him waiting on the bench, but it's really hard to see the Kyle-shaped blur (on the right on the white blurry bench):
I waited until the end to post this video because it really does sum up our trip nicely in the last minute or so. Also, while on the trip (and in the days following it), I received MULTIPLE private messages on Twitter, in my email, and on Facebook asking about Kyle's and my "status". We answer that burning question in the end of the video. (By the way, wouldn't have killed some of y'all to message Kyle instead of me. Just sayin'!)
I love Kyle's "oh I'm being filmed" smile at 1:50. Keep in mind I wasn't feeling great, so makeup had become minimalistic, so excuse that, and towards the end I'd been crying.
So there you have it! Kyle and I had a successful trip to Walt Disney World. We proved that two people can meet online, share a digital connection for a year, and get along amazingly well with minimal awkwardness when they meet for the first time in real life and spend 6 days together. To everyone who said that they admired my bravery and that they were a little jealous of my adventure, you can do this too. :) Be brave; have no regrets! It's really the only way to go about life!
Hope you all enjoyed sharing our adventure with us! We had a blast sharing it with you via Twitter while we were in the parks, and I have had fun reliving it on my blog. Who knows, in 4 years you might be reading about Kyle & I going to a Deluxe resort at WDW (although I plan to go back before that)!
Next Post: I'll write one last time about the trip in my next post about things that surprised me about this trip, and hopefully we'll have a guest blogger join us in the next week or two, but we'll see on that last one.
Great trip report! Really looks like you guys had blast! I must have missed the picture of the matching "We met On DisDates" shirts that I am sure you wore at some point..... :) Just sayin.......
ReplyDeleteWhen is the next trip?
Tell me to mind my own business if you want but why is four years the magic number? It looks like y'all had such a blast- I think you ought to go in two? That would be not next summer but the one after? Have you ever been at Christmas time? The one and only time I went was between Christmas and new years- the parks were still decorated for Christmas through new years eve- when we went to magic kingdom on Jan. 1, they were all back to "normal" I was very impressed how quickly they could get it all down. I dont know how expensive it is to stay at wilderness lodge but four years just seems like forever just saying. I'll be looking for the last post tomorrow and then I'll stop stalking you ;) although I do hope you have a guest blogger like you said you might
ReplyDeleteA. Denman
John - We did have a blast! :D Sorry, I didn't get time to make shirts this trip. ;-) However, that might have given off the wrong idea about our relationship. :) Not sure when the next trip is, but I've been bugging him to go see Hanson with me at the end of October. He keeps mumbling something about being responsible and getting a place of his own. Hehe.
ReplyDeleteAmy - 4 seemed logical off the top of my head. He's saving to move out from living with roommates. I'm hoping to buy a house in a year or two, so saving money is going towards that kind of stuff for now. I've been at Thanksgiving when all the Christmas decorations are up, and it was gorgeous. Next I want to see Halloween decorations. :) Feel free to keep "stalking" me. Next post will be in a few days most likely. If I didn't want people to read it, I wouldn't post it.
I've been playing around with the idea for a few guest bloggers. The first one has been sent an invite. We'll see if anything pans out. :)