Our Fall Fantasia - Day 8, Departure and final thoughts

[Noah's Helper]

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7


DAY 8 – Saturday, October 22

Our departure day . We had an ADR for breakfast at Boma. However, Tina was not feeling well, so she decided to stay in the room while I took the kids. We caught the first available bus to any park other than Magic Kingdom, which turned out to be for Disney’s Hollywood Studios. At the Studios we waited at the Animal Kingdom Lodge bus stop; a cast member came over and asked where we were heading. She said they normally do not send buses to AKL until after 10 am, and she would have to call a special bus for us. Her attitude seemed to imply we should have known better than try to make a transfer there. I thought surely buses coming from AKL would be returning there, but maybe they have special routes that avoid this.

Anyway, a bus arrived soon, just for us. I knew from our dinner trip to Boma a week ago that the first stop was Kidani Village. After Kidani, the driver played the announcement that the next stop was Jambo House – then proceeded past the turn. I walked to the front to question the driver; he apologized, and said he would turn around. We had to go all the way to the Animal Kingdom parking lot to turn around. When we got to the Jambo House stop, we hopped off while several people boarded. The driver stepped off the bus to stop us and apologized again. Apparently his mind had just been wandering when he passed the turn.

We were about 10 minutes late for our ADR, but the restaurant was less than half full and we were seated right away. Our breakfast was wonderful, which was no surprise. I was sorry Tina had to miss it, but I enjoyed the time with the kids.

We took a bus to Animal Kingdom, not knowing whether we would have problems getting from there to Caribbean Beach. Before long, though, two buses showed up, one packed and one almost empty. We got on the second one, instead of waiting for the first to unload, and the driver seemed happy to take us back to the resort.

We finished our packing and called Bell Services to pick up our bags. They sent a van to pick up our bags and take us to the Customs House as well. At the Customs House we checked the weight of our bags (both were just a few pounds under the limit), and then waited for Magical Express to take us to the airport. We had plenty of time at the airport to go through security, have lunch, and find our gate. We were on the back row of the plane again, but were happy to have a direct flight back home.

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Overall, this was a great trip. The weather was the mildest we’ve experienced, and crowds were not bad for the most part. I think it helped that we followed some touring plan recommendations. Disney Visa Reward points were a great help in paying for this trip.

This is likely to be our last family trip to Disney – we have too many other places we’d like to visit, and with our oldest in high school it’s starting to feel like bucket list time. Also, high school band obligations make it more difficult for us to travel in the fall, so we’ll be looking for more comfortable summer destinations, like Portland or Yellowstone. On the other hand, Julianna already has a band trip to Universal lined up for next spring, and Noah is asking to go back in a few years (one of his motivations is to be able to shop for adult-sized clothing, as he was unable to find the things he liked in his size this trip). So we’ll see…

[Jennifer_and_Chris]

It was a wonderful week to be at Disney wasn't it? Great weather and minimal crowds for the most part.

Glad you had a great time and, who knows, you may find yourself at WDW sooner than you think!

I enjoyed reading all of your reports. Thank you for taking the time to type them all out. I wished I would have known who you were as I'm sure we passed each other many times during the week!

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Thanks for the report...this upcoming trip will likely be our last family trip too as my son is graduating in May

[emerzmom]

It sounds like a wonderful family trip and I really enjoyed reading your reports. The pictures were fun too!
Thanks!

Julie

[faline]

Nice trip! Thanks for your reports especially for your photos!

[MstngDrvnDsnyLvr]

Thanks for the trip reports. Sounds like you all had a good time.

Know all to well about band obligations. We have 3½ more years of obligations left with our 4th and youngest son now in his Freshman year.

[RedSoxFan]

Enjoyed reading your trip reports. Sounds like you had a great time.

[c&d]

Glad you had fun, as for your bucket list. I can not recommend enough going to Yellowstone. It is the most amazing place. Give yourself at least a week, we spent 9 days there and didn't get to see everything. The summer is great there, most of the animals are down in the Hayden valley, so you can see alot of the animals.

[Noah's Helper]

Glad you had fun, as for your bucket list. I can not recommend enough going to Yellowstone. It is the most amazing place. Give yourself at least a week, we spent 9 days there and didn't get to see everything. The summer is great there, most of the animals are down in the Hayden valley, so you can see alot of the animals.

Thanks! We're hoping to do Yellowstone in 2013, since it looks like we need to have reservations a year in advance. And we'll allow as much time in the area as we can.

[Disneywarrior]

I enjoyed reading your reports! I couldn't help but relate your family to mine as my daughter is 14 and my son is 9.

[pdrlkr]

Thanks for the Report!