April 2019: A Disney Fantasy Vacation: Day 10: The End

Day 10: Sunday: April 28, 2019

I actually slept until after 7, for the first time the entire trip. Apparently my body even knew this vacation was over.

Eventually I realized I had procrastinated enough, and got up and got ready for the day and started packing. This was a little more complicated than normal. Coming down we had checked all 3 suitcases, since we were flying with Southwest. But to get home we were flying JetBlue. My credit card gets us one free checked bag each with JetBlue, and I didn’t want to pay for another one. Plus the 3rd suitcase was carry on sized. But I did have to make sure the contents of it were fine for a carry on.

Nick woke up eventually and I paused my packing for breakfast. We reached the food court shortly after 9. I’m usually in the hotel food court around 7. At that hour, the food court is pleasant. At this hour, it was pure chaos.

All Star Movies has a build your own yogurt parfait bar that is new since I was here in August. I was VERY excited to see it. That’s what I had for breakfast. Nick had some sort of breakfast platter. I found a seat in the back corner of the food court and he found me when he finally made it through the line. Even he commented that while he doesn’t love getting up early, he prefers the food court at our more typical park-going hour.

Once we had eaten enough and couldn’t tolerate the food court chaos anymore, we walked back to our room where we got serious about finishing the packing. It was as I was doing the final check around the room that I noticed the chair cushions. Disney is generally amazing to matching the theming of furniture in the rooms to the hotel you’re staying in. So these cushions confused me a bit. After all, we were staying at All Star MOVIES...not Sports.

We were scheduled for an 11:15 bus pick up. In light of the masses of humanity and the fact that this was a Sunday, I figured we would encounter long lines at the airline check in desk, so we left the room about 10:30.

When we got to the check in desk, we found NO line. We were checked in within minutes. When Nick found out it was another half hour before we had to actually be at the bus stop, he bee-lined it to the arcade. I found a good spot to park it for awhile.

When it got very close to 11, I went into the arcade and let Nick know it was time to go. He wasn’t too excited.

Our bus to the airport actually showed up just a couple minutes after we did. I must say, the Disney Cruise Line buses are a lot more fun when they display the name of the ship, instead of airport…

Ours was actually the last stop, so it was nonstop to the airport for us. We were there about half an hour later, thinking we were WAY too early. Oh how wrong we were…

Nick and I both have TSA pre-check and it had printed on both of our boarding passes. Arriving before noon for a flight at 2:15 made me think we would be hanging in the ghetto terminal of the airport for awhile. And then we saw the TSA lines…

It ended up taking half an hour, with pre-check to clear security. Then when we got to the gateside area, it was close to half an hour to get a couple slices of pizza. This place was NUTS. I’ve never waited that long with pre-check on the Southwest side. Food options are much better on the Southwest side too.

We got to our gate just 15 minutes or so before boarding was scheduled to start. Just enough time for me to return my mom’s phone call. And for us to take advantage of the announcement they made. They were offering couples complimentary upgrades to exit row seats, which came with earlier boarding, because there were so many kids on the flight and they needed those seats filled. So, we agreed to it. More legroom for Nick.

Our upgrade put us in the first boarding group, which seemed to have a LOT of people in it. I will admit, we were a little disappointed when we got to our seats: no windows, and it appeared as though we also had no entertainment system. We had ample leg room though. So much leg room I had to unbuckle whenever I wanted something from my backpack. We also discovered that we DID have an entertainment system. It was on an arm that could be pulled up from between the seats. Phew.

The flight was fully boarded by 2. Then we sat, for quite awhile. Turns out they were waiting for late paperwork. About 2:20, 5 minutes after our scheduled departure, they announced that the paperwork had been completed, but a strap had broken on the jetbridge, and so now the jetbridge wouldn’t retract. Maintenance had been called. You seriously can’t make these things up.

Thankfully, we pushed back from the gate about 2:40. The flight was uneventful, despite the fact that we were traveling with 120 students and chaperones of the band and chorus from the high school Nick went to. No wonder they needed adults to fill the exit rows. We landed in Boston about 5:30, where we found rain and temperatures in the 50s.

Deplaning was quick, but luggage collection was not. The baggage carousel kept jamming. But eventually we had our bags in hand, and we set out to wait about 20 more minutes for our bus to NH.

The bus ride back to NH was about as quick as it could have been, and we arrived at the bus terminal near Nick’s parents’ house just before 8 pm. They met us there with both my car and theirs. They helped us load our luggage into my car, and then they took us out to dinner at the Brewery restaurant down the road. Dinner was delicious, and we got back to our house sometime after 10, where we turned the furnace back on, and tried to get a bit of sleep before work the next day.

Final thoughts:

How do these Disney Cruises just keep getting better? Seriously, we are addicted because each one has been such an amazing vacation.

I worried about the sea days, and if there would be enough to keep me occupied. I didn’t have enough time to do all I wanted to do, even with 3 sea days. I really enjoyed them. My concerns were completely unfounded.

I’m glad that we booked our excursions through Disney. I know we could do things more cheaply on our own, and I also expect that sometime in the future we will book excursions independently, but it sure was nice to have Disney in charge of everything. Both of our excursions were well organized, and went off without a hitch.

Nick was worried that using Disney transfers would be a cattle call experience. It totally wasn’t. We both were really impressed with how organized the transfers were, and we both really enjoyed them.

I think I might prefer the cruises to the parks at this point. Nick definitely does.

It was really nice to not have to go straight to the airport when we got off the cruise ship. Going to Disney for the day definitely helped with easing back into reality.

I’ve always bought the trip insurance because it sounded like the logical thing to do. Now I truly understand why it’s important to buy the trip insurance. Also, I really understand the importance of flying in before the cruise.

Some people have really big opinions on their favorite ship. Nick definitely seems to have preferred the Magic. But honestly, I’ve liked all 3 that we have sailed.

Final final thought? I can’t wait for our next Disney Cruise!

April 2019: A Disney Fantasy Vacation: Day 9

Day 9 April 27, 2019

No surprise, I was awake quite early. I didn’t watch the entire process of sailing in to Port Canaveral, but I definitely knew when the pilot boat was approaching the Fantasy, and when it was safe to use my phone again.

Eventually we docked, and I sat on the veranda, watching the chaos on the dock. 

Once 7 rolled around, I went to pick up my photo drive from Shutters, which was actually in the atrium, next to the door that would eventually open. It was about 7:15 when I went down, and I was amazed by how many people were lined up for express walk-off, and how many of them looked really stressed standing there. If there is one thing that my first 2 cruises’ debarkations taught me, it is to never book a flight I would have to rush to under the best of circumstances.

Anyway...I picked up our photo drive, and headed back to the room, walking by Animator’s Palate on the way. Ronaldo was in the entrance, and he chatted with me for a few minutes, before I continued on my way. I got back to the room where Nick was now up and getting ready for the day. We went up to Cabanas for breakfast, which was a hopping place. We made sure to have one more glass of POG juice, since it would be awhile until we could have that goodness again.

Once we were done eating breakfast, we went for a quick walk up on deck. This ended up being more interesting than I had anticipated. They were running rehearsals for the new Mickey’s Surprise Party deck party that is debuting soon. We were allowed to watch, but not take pictures. I have to say that, even as Disney shows go, this was the cheesiest I’ve seen, from what we saw, and I’m no longer bummed that this debuts so soon after our cruise. While we couldn’t take pictures of the rehearsal, we did take a few pictures of the view from the ship while on deck. 

Then we went back to our room, where we hung out until a little after 8, continuing to watch the chaos on the ground. 

Then we rounded up our backpacks, and headed for the atrium. Unlike our previous debarkations, there was virtually no line to get off the ship. We were off the ship in minutes, and just a few minutes later, we were down in the luggage and customs area.

We easily found the tan Pluto area, and even more easily found our luggage. Miami’s luggage hold is well organized, but this was extremely well organized. We both were impressed. We then joined the customs line, which moved very quickly, thanks to a woman who is at serious risk of vocal nodules with the way she barks directions. We got a look of relief and a “thank you” when she saw that our passports were out and open. We also marveled at the stacks of luggage on some of the porters’ carts.

Customs was a breeze, and within minutes we were outside and being directed to our bus to Disney. It was only about 8:30. We had been advised to be off the ship by 8:15 for a 9 o’clock departure. I decided it might be best to not tell Nick we wouldn’t be leaving for another half an hour.

The time passed, and our bus pulled out promptly at 9. Our driver had a great sense of humor, so even our last glances at the Fantasy were good for a chuckle, with him telling us to “say goodbye to Dumbo’s butt”.

My personal favorite, though, was his timing of asking us if anyone had a terrible cruise. It should come as no surprise that the bus remained quiet. This occurred right as the Carnival ship was visible to our right. The driver’s response to our silence? “Good, because thanks to that cruise line to our right, I’m fresh out of complaint cards”. That got a good laugh out of everyone.

The bus ride was enjoyable, with video clips, cartoons, and more Disney trivia. Time passed quickly enough, and we were driving onto property just an hour after leaving the port.

We made stops at Sports and Music, before arriving at Movies. We collected our suitcases, and headed inside, where we found a good spot to reorganize the luggage a bit. Then we stored our luggage with luggage services, and headed for the bus stop, where we discovered the Love Bugs had made an early appearance this year..

A bus to Disney Springs came along soon enough, and we were on our way. Our first stop when we got there? Chicken Guy for lunch. I had been talking about the amazing parmesan garlic sauce since I got home from my Disney trip in August, so Nick wanted to try the place out, and since it is relatively inexpensive, and delicious, I was all for it! We both had chicken tenders. I had the parmesan garlic and sweet and sour sauces. Nick went bourbon bbq and honey mustard, but he sampled a fair amount of my parmesan garlic too!

After lunch, we poked around the various stores, and then went to Amorette’s for sweets. We got a pineapple eclair and some raspberry mousse cake. Compared to pineapple eclairs I had had from here previously, this one was a bit disappointing. That raspberry mousse cake, however, was top notch! The chocolate Easter eggs on display were neat to look at too. 

We ended up with quite a bit of time to kill. I had way overestimated the amount of time we would need today. So, once we decided to vacate our table at Amorette’s, and I had purchased the shirt I had eyed earlier in World of Disney, we shade hopped for a couple of hours, enjoying the incredibly pleasant weather.

At 2:45, we checked in for Nick’s birthday present: The Void. Nick loves Star Wars, and he loves video games, so a full body, VR Star Wars experience seemed like a natural gift for him.

This was a really cool experience. Basically, through VR, you become storm troopers. I will say, that there were moments, when walking on what appeared to be (in VR) a narrow walkway over lava, that I was wishing I didn’t have sea legs for this experience, but we both thoroughly enjoyed it. And in case anyone was wondering, you wear a helmet and a vest, and they have extender straps for people of size.

Once that was over, we headed for the bus stop. Nick was ready to get off his feet. On the way to our stop, we saw an Avengers Endgame bus, so I had to take a picture, in honor of Nick having seen that movie on the ship.

We only had to wait about 10 minutes for a bus to Music and Movies (thanks to the crowds related to a cheerleading competition, Sports had its own bus), which has to be some sort of Disney Springs record.

When we arrived at Movies, we headed for luggage services, where we were informed all of our luggage had been brought to our room. We were both presently surprised by that! So we headed to our room, 6813, on the 2nd floor of building 6, in the Love Bug section. This was a renovated room, and not a bad walk from the main building.

We both were stunned by the amount of pillows in this room. The renovated rooms here look a lot like the ones at Pop Century, just with different art work, so I didn’t really take pictures around the room.

Nick settled in to charge his phone, and I headed back to the main building, to see about a Magical Express letter. I had not been surprised to not find a letter when we got to our room, since we were only a one night stay. The front desk got one printed up for me, and then it was off to the gift shop for some bottled water and Powerade. Then back to the room for a short amount of time.

Pretty soon, it was back to the main building, where we requested an Uber. Our Uber driver arrived within 5 minutes. This was kind of an interesting trip, since she wasn’t so sure of her GPS, and spoke minimal English, but we made it to the Animal Kingdom Lodge safely, and with plenty of time before our dinner reservation. So, we watched the animals for a bit.

Animal watching complete, we went and checked in for dinner at Boma. We were given a buzzer, and maybe a minute after sitting on a bench to wait, our buzzer went off, and we were led to a table.

When our server arrived, she talked briefly about the drink menu, and included the “house juice” in her spiel. Wait we can get the POG juice for dinner?! Heck yes!

With that decision made, we were off to the buffet. Apparently 9 years has made a difference in my eating habits, because I was much more successful in finding food to fill my plate than I remember being the one and only other time I have had dinner here. Nick also had no problems filling his plate.

Dinner was delicious. Dessert wasn’t bad either. Nick was thrilled to have finally had the experience of eating here. And I finally understood why people like this place. Also, the glass of POG juice we each received was ridiculously large. It was amazing.

After dinner, Nick (who had not chosen the right shoes for the day) took an Uber back to our hotel. Meanwhile, I, with Nick’s encouragement, continued on with my original plans, and grabbed a bus to the Magic Kingdom, followed by the monorail to the Contemporary. It was time to see some Easter eggs!

Once I had checked out all of the eggs at this hotel, it was back to the monorail for a short ride over to the Grand Floridian, to see their Easter eggs.

By this point, it was closing in on 9, so I made my way back to the Magic Kingdom, and to the bus stop as quickly as I could. The fireworks show would be ending soon. And Disney knew it. They sent the giant bus, what I refer to as the pendaflex bus, to the Movies stop. But they were a bit early, as there were less than 20 of us waiting for a bus. Needless to say it was a quiet ride back to the resort. And I got to see a little bit of Illuminations from the bus!

I made my way back to the room, where Nick was happy to report that his Uber driver back to Movies had been much better, and “a cool guy”, and that he had gotten caught up on the Game of Thrones episode he had missed on the ship.

We crashed soon after I got back, knowing we could sleep in slightly in the morning.