Better than expected!

It was our last day and we had a breakfast reservation, but when the alarm rang we were still far too tired to get up. So we added half an hour of sleep. When we finally got up we had to hurry.

We took showers and Tom brewed the last of our coffee and we had a quick doughnut breakfast. Then we hauled our luggage down to the car and checked our villa one more time for forgotten items and soon it was time to leave and get on our way. One more stop at luggage services to drop off our Owner’s Locker Box and to drop off our luggage until the afternoon and we were on the way to The Wave for a traditional farewell breakfast. And we arrived there seriously late, but they did not seem to mind and blew off my question if we would be fined with just a smile. We waited for about two minutes until we were taken to our table. Our server was very sweet and talkative, handed us a menu and explained that we could either order from the menu or head to the buffet. And while we do not like buffets, this is one we both really like. Their offerings are really nice and there is plenty to choose from and it is still warm when it gets to your table, so we didn’t even think about it twice and went for the buffet. And while our server was going to get us some drinks we headed for the buffet. Tom picked some cold items to start out with, while I already filled my plate with some yummy hot items. Needless to say, that once we had finished plate 1 we had to go back and pick up a few other goodies. This time Tom went for a plate full of hot breakfast items, while I picked some sweets. Both plates were as wonderful as the first plates and it didn’t take us long to clear our plates.

Bellies full, we paid for our breakfast and headed up to the the 4^th floor to have a look around the shops as the weather outside was pretty bad. It was grey, overcast and raining, so we decided to browse the shops for a while hoping it would clear up soon. And as soon as it had stopped raining we were on our way over to the Magic Kingdom. I had been lucky enough to have picked up FP+ for our last morning and we were not going to miss our rides. When we arrived a boat had just arrived and it took a little time to go through bag check. But going through the turnstiles was a breeze and we were back to our happy place. We strolled through the shops and picked up a thing or two before heading to our first FP+ ride, Peter Pan.

When we got to the entrance we were pretty shocked to see that the standby line was over an hour long, but we just scanned our Magic bands and were in. Luck was on our side, as we just walked through the line and were to join the regular line immediately. I think we had not even spent two minutes in line and it was our turn to get into our ship and fly over London and on to Neverland. It was a fun ride as always and soon enough we found ourselves getting off and heading towards “It’s a Small World”. But no chance of riding it today as there was a 20 minute wait and we were not that desperate to ride it.

So we headed towards the new restrooms and were very impressed at how nicely they were done. On the way over to Liberty Square we walked by the Rapunzel Tower and the apples that were laid out for Maximus. There were even horseshoe prints on the walkway. Once we had passed Columbia Harbour House, we headed over to the Haunted Mansion, as we had picked up another FP+ for it. And it was good we did, as there was a 30 minute wait. We scanned our Magic bands again and soon found ourselves in the Stretching room. Our doombuggies were already waiting for us and off we went. The ride stopped a few times, but none the less it was a lot of fun.

Once we were off we paid a visit to the Christmas Store, before heading further on towards Splash Mountain. But we did not go all the way down, but cut through to Adventureland and over to the Jungle Cruise.  We were not sure if we should ride or not as there was another 30 minute wait, but the line seemed to move fast, so we hopped in. What we had not expected was, that the line went all the way back to an area we had not been to before.

But about 30 minutes later we boarded our cruise through the jungle and had one of the funniest skippers ever. All of us were in stitches at the jokes he cracked in between the regular spiel. It was amazing. So, another big score for us.

And once we got off the ride we headed right over to the next one, hoping the line would not be too long. And it was not, only 15 minutes wait time for Pirates of the Caribbean. Needless to say that we got in line right away. We were directed to the left line and about 10 minutes later got into a boat and off we went. The ride was great even though we were stuck towards the end and time was ticking for our lunch reservation. So, as soon as we got off we hot footed it over to Be Our Guest. Now, at that time they were only doing FP+ reservations for lunch by invitation and we had not gotten one. But someone had posted a link and I am guilty of following it and getting a reservation.

We checked in at the “kiosk” outside and were sent straight in. There we were asked if we had pre-selected our meal and yes we had, so we were sent straight on. Once we hit the ordering area, where you pay we hit a little stumbling block in the way. The system would not recognize who of us had gotten the invitation, but thanks to Disney’s wonderful system, this seemed to happen a lot and we were not questioned about it any further. We just had to repeat our order, pay for it and off we went, little rose buzzer in hand. The ballroom was pretty full and we did not fancy the dark room to the left so decided to take our lunch in the gallery room to the right. Tom went to get some drinks, while I took some photos

Then we waited for our lunch to arrive. A few minutes later a server with a trolley came our way and brought out our lunch. We had decided to share and had ordered the French Onion Soup, which was delicious, rich, full of onions and a nice big cheesy crouton on the top. There was more than enough for the two of us to share. For our main course we had ordered the Braised Pork, slow-cooked pork with vegetables and bacon served with mashed potatoes and green beens jardiničre. We had enjoyed it once before and knew it was more than enough for the two of us and it really was. Needless to say it was as good as we had remembered it to be. Tom checked the internet while I was enjoying dessert, The Master's Cupcake,  chocolate sponge cake topped with Lumiere's special grey stuff and just out of the blue I asked him to check on our last FP+.

I was pretty sure about what time it was, but I had played around with it quite a bit, so why not make sure. And we were both horrified to notice that our window had already opened. There was still enough time to head there, but we could not linger on at Be Our Guest much longer. So I quickly finished my cupcake before heading outside and power walking it over to Big Thunder Railroad. And after scanning our wristbands we were on our way to ride the wildest ride in the Wilderness. There was quite the line at both FP and regular line, but FP moved pretty quickly and we were soon walking down to the trains. Tom asked if we could sit in the last row and our wish was gladly fulfilled, but we would have to wait for another train. No problem.

Soon we were getting into our row and enjoying a fun ride in our runaway train. Once we had gotten off, we peeked at how long the regular line was, but it was just too long so we headed towards the bridge and while we passed Splash Mountain we thought why not trying to get on the train. We quickly headed over to the station and were so lucky as a train just pulled in and there were not too many people in line. But not too many people got off, so our hopes sank a bit. There were CMs trying to get as many people on as possible and low and behold they found a nice spot for us as well. A few minutes we were on our way. We had not planned to go right back to Main Street, so we got off at Toontown.

It was fun to take in all the new areas again and when we reached it, we had a good look at the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train rails.

We then walked over to Tomorrowland for the last ride of this trip, a leisurely journey on board the Peoplemover.

With a heavy heart we got off and slowly strolled down Main Street, turned around for that last photo of the castle and proceeded towards the exit. We knew it would be at least 13 months until we could return, so saying goodbye was not easy, but we had to. Soon we were back at our car and headed out of the Magic Kingdom area. We still had one last stop to make, a stop at Downtown Disney. For years we had had the tradition of having one more meal at Wolfgang Puck’s Express before heading to the airport. Well, this time we had had lunch at Be Our Guest and we did not feel like eating again right away, so we stopped at Wolfgang’s and picked up a sandwich to go.

About half an hour later we returned our rental car and rolled our luggage over to check in. There was no one in line, so we did not have any wait at all and we quickly got rid of our bags and then strolled through the airport. We stopped at the food court area and sat in the large chairs opposite it and rearranged our carry ons, before we headed towards the security check. But wait, there is another Disney Store, so we headed in there and picked up a few more goodies before finally joining the lines for security. The lines were backed up a bit and it took about 10 minutes until we had reached an officer who checked our passports and tickets. We were then pointed toward a line for security screening and right when we were going through they opened up a new line and we were second in line, so the security screening was a breeze.

And once that was behind us, we walked over to the fake monorail and walked towards our gate. We stopped at some of the shops and bought some sweets for the trip and some cold drinks before we made a stop at some benches to the side of the shopping area, where it was relatively quiet and unpacked our Wolfgang Puck grub. We had decided not to buy two portions, but to share one. So we opened the container and tucked into our Chicken Aioli Sandwich, Provolone, Romaine, Tomatoes, Red Onions, Cilantro Aioli, served with Herb Seasoned French Fries. And even though the fries were cold it was still a yummy dinner. Once we had finished we made a short restroom stop and then headed towards our gate.

We only had about a 20 minute wait before we were able to board. Our seats were at the very back of the plane, just one more row behind us. The plane pushed back right on time and another fabulous vacation was coming to an end. It did not take long and we were served drinks and snacks, Soletti Pretzels and crackers, and since we were tired and full we took some sleeping aid, put on our noise reduction ear buds and closed our eyes. We must have gone to sleep in a very short time, as we completely missed dinner and while we woke up now and then, we both were able to drift off to sleep again and didn’t notice much of the flight.