Spectrum Moms Take on The World! Our Last Day...Multiple Posts!

[MRYPPNS]

The last day – Sunday.

I knew I wanted to take it easy this day because of my feet. Yes, feet! I hadn’t really let on to the other ladies how bad my feet were holding up on this trip but they were causing me some pain (maybe some had guessed it ). In my attempts to not get blisters I actually created more problems coupled with wearing a pair of sneakers that I now realize are not wide enough. It took a couple months after the trip for my feet to get better.

So anyhoo….I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep the pace with the morning MK crew so I decided to really have a relaxing morning packing and getting ready. Kathy and Tracy were doing the same.

I dodged a bullet when I went to check-in my luggage for my flight….seems that there were computer issues with Southwest that morning but since I had actually checked in for my flight the night before I was all set.

Next stop, the Grand Floridian for breakfast! I had my favorite steak and eggs again.

Waiting for a boat to the GF

Next I did something that I hadn’t done in 10 years! I rode the monorail from the TTC to Epcot.

I really can’t tell you want I actually did at Epcot other than riding SSE, shopping at MouseGears and getting nachos from the Cantina to take back to the resort. I wasn't at Epcot all that long but I'm sure I did more than those 3 things.

Once back at Kidani (I was room-less at this point) I headed to the pool, ate my nachos and read my book. Then I sat with my feet in the hot tub and read my book until it was time to get ready to get the ME bus.

Hornbills by the pool area.

Guess this guy had an itch

I don’t know how it happened but I got to travel with Kathy on the ME bus to the airport……..

To be continued

 

[DisMomAmy]

Great scavenger hunt pictures! I think the Incredibles count as street performers, they are in the parade, right? At least a couple of them! Close enough!

So glad you got to see Toon Town one last time!

Hi Brook!! The scavenger hunt was fun! And I agree about the Incredibles.

Visiting Mickey & Minnie in Toon Town was a great way to start the last day.

 

[DisMomAmy]

The last day – Sunday.

I knew I wanted to take it easy this day because of my feet. Yes, feet! I hadn’t really let on to the other ladies how bad my feet were holding up on this trip but they were causing me some pain (maybe some had guessed it ). In my attempts to not get blisters I actually created more problems coupled with wearing a pair of sneakers that I now realize are not wide enough. It took a couple months after the trip for my feet to get better.

I remember watching you "work" on your feet sometime mid-trip & knew they weren't doing so well. Considering how bad they were - you did a great job keeping up with the rest of us!

Guess this guy had an itch

Oh what you see when you stop to take things in!

 

[MEK]

OH NO - so Sad its your last day! I will check back later to see pictures! I think you guys had such a great trip with so many happy moments.

Are you planning a reunion? It's hard for me to believe that something is not in the works!

 

[mousescrapper]

My first day pretty much mirrors Amy’s as we spent the whole day together…which was awesome!



When she had texted us that she was “right behind us” as we were on the bus on the way to MK…I texted back “Are you running…I don’t see you?”

I loved seeing the morning MK show, it is always a treat…but brr it was cold that morning, I remember this family right near us w/ a little girl in shorts and a tank top…seriously?

Riding down Main Street in the horse drawn carriage was a first for me and just brilliant! I couldn’t believe how empty the park was and the solo shots in front of the castle are some of my new favorites.

Here are a few more on the carriage:

I had forgotten we got stuck on BTMRR…we sure rode that a lot this trip… As the afternoon continued the weather got warmer and turned out to be just a perfect day, walking, talking, and taking in some last fun rides.

But definitely seeing Mickey and Minnie at ToonTown was a highlight. It was nice to say good-bye to this special part of the Magic Kingdom…my kids were quite jealous of those pixs.

Bye Mickey see you real soon…

Oh and this is a funny one of the CM who took our bags and several layers of sweatshirts and jackets as we got our pictures w/ them:

The Hoedown was so cool and so glad we got to see that and even more fun I got picked! The CM who picked me was also from the Chicago Subs and noticed my Bears hat. It truly was a delight to feel like a kid and have some good ‘ol fashioned fun

Amy and I also took a spin on the tea cups:

And yes I enjoyed that lunch w/ Kathy. After lunch we attempted to see a special Disney couple, but instead met a special Disney family (that Kathy actually interviewed them for the column she writes for at the WDW Fan Zone site). We also stopped to listen to them for a few minutes…another treat of having a relaxing no plan morning and probably helpful I didn’t have 4 kids tugging at me…

As Amy and I headed over to Tomorrowland (Kathy ran back for something) we stopped to watch a bit of the castle forecourt show and I loved how we could just stop and watch and not be jammed into a crowd!

I’m not sure much of what we did after that but we got some great ending Photopass pictures in front of the castle. I love these pictures! It was so nice to spend those last few moments w/ Kathy our host…

We rode Buzz one more time as there are pictures of our scores…I am sure Amy beat me…

One last look down Main Street:

But now it was time to head back to AKV and pick up our bags and try and get our last minute good-byes in before heading on the DME bus. Everything seemed a bit crazy at that point and I don’t really think I got any proper good-byes in. I didn’t have that huge sense of Disney last Day blue’s like usual knowing I’d be back later in the year (which BTW is under 60 days) but it was sad to say good-bye to these ladies…most of which I won’t see again for a long time.

We had an uneventful ride back to MCO and Anne-Marie & I bid our farewells to Amy and Heidi and grabbed some grub and found some seats to wait near our gate…I remember a flight before ours was hugely delayed and hoped it didn’t mess up our flight home too much. Plus watching the Bears lose the game to the Packers to get in the Super Bowl…

Our flight home was too quick and we were greeted w/ the Chicago cold and my Dad picking us up…the next Day I gave my kids some small souvies I brought home for them, plus pj gifts from Tracy and Amy. The Snow White nightgown Naomi-Ruth wears all the time and used to belong to Tracy’s daughter, the Mickey jammies, Amy had sent to her as a “whoops” gift from the Disney Store.

Once all the ladies have chimed in w/ their last day activities…I’ll be back w/ my favorite moments from the trip…

Julie

 

[tzeitel]

Hi! I just found this thread and while I have not read all of it I did notice the awesome autism puzzle scarves! Where did you all get them? Sorry if it is mentioned somewhere in the report, like I said I have not read it all yet

DD is in the spectrum and she does amazing things when we go to WDW. So far it is the one place where we have noticed that she really focuses on where we are and what we are doing. She is nonverbal but at WDW she is so outgoing and actually says the characters names and even attractions! I am really enjoying your TR

 

[MRYPPNS]

Hi! I just found this thread and while I have not read all of it I did notice the awesome autism puzzle scarves! Where did you all get them? Sorry if it is mentioned somewhere in the report, like I said I have not read it all yet

DD is in the spectrum and she does amazing things when we go to WDW. So far it is the one place where we have noticed that she really focuses on where we are and what we are doing. She is nonverbal but at WDW she is so outgoing and actually says the characters names and even attractions! I am really enjoying your TR

Thanks for joining us. Julie's SIL actually made the scarves.

 

[mousescrapper]

Thanks for joining us. Julie's SIL actually made the scarves.

you should be able to find the puzzle peice fleece at the craft/fabric store...she got ours at Hobby Lobby...and I know you can buy already made ones online I think at the awarenessdepot

they are pretty cool...thanks and welcome along...we are finishing up this TR...but several of us have other PTR/TR's on the boards they tell more about travlking w/ our kids too

 

[JPFamilyMom]

I have been very MIA, I apologize, and my memories of the last day are beyond fuzzy. Luckily I spent most of my free time with Amy, Anne-Marie, and Julie so they have already caught you up on what we did.

I left the bunch when they stopped for lunch. Sorry girls but the smell in there did not appeal to me at all. I also had an ADR at Rainforest Cafe which I was still deciding if I wanted to keep or not. While deciding I just wondered around. I made my way past the front of the castle where the show was going on, so I stopped to watch that for awhile,

also made my way into Tomorrowland for one more good-bye to my pal Stitch, I entered into a store looking for a last small gift for my kids and ended up with some fun stickers for them...which brought me to probably the most emotional part of the trip for me. When I went to check out, the woman behind the check out asked me about my Autism Speaks hat, and so I proceeded to tell her about my son Jack and the spectrum-moms and our trip. Then she gave me that great Disney smile and told me that her and her brother are on the autism spectrum and not to worry because a lot of challenges can be overcome and she was very happy and proud of what she had accomplished and gave me some hope that the same will be true for my son.

After that interaction I stopped at a bench in front of the castle to write out my last post card to my children and that is when the tears just started running down my face. Having met that cast member was a real highlight of the trip, but it also made me more home sick for my children and at that point I knew I was ready to get home to them and couldn't wait to get to the aiport.

So I decided to make my way back down mainstreet

and head to my Rainforest Cafe meal, I have never eaten alone before, but I survived and it was a nice end to the trip, gave me time to jot down some thoughts and take in all the wonderful memories and experiences I had that weekend with my new life long friends. After my meal I hurriedly went back to the resort to gather my bags and catch the ME to the airport. And as I exited Disney property I didn't say good bye, but I'll see you real soon (and I couldn't wait to bring my kids back in March for their first visit to the mouse). I would like to say my flight home was uneventful but it was not, my flight was canceled and I ended up on another flight leaving at the same time, but choose a seat at the back of the plane where I had a hard time and nearly passed out from the heat (this was before we even took off), well after that I was fine and made it home with no other drama. Until a couple days into work where my back went out on me and my doctor blamed it on too much fun on the rides

This trip was one I will forever have in my heart and hope to be able to do another one in the future.

 

[DisMomAmy]

The rest of my day was similar to Julie's since we were still together!

After lunch, Julie, Kathy & I headed to Haunted Mansion then for a visit with Tiana. On our way to Tiana we saw these guys & stopped for a few minutes to watch:

The bad news is we got some bum information as to when to expect Tiana to be back out so we waited for quite a while (and eventually left). The good news is that we got to meet a great family who Kathy ended up interviewing for one of her online articles, “Faces in the Queue”.

I may have things a bit out of order, but Julie or Kathy can correct me if I’m wrong... When we gave up on Tiana, we headed toward Tomorrowland but first stopped at the castle to watch the show:

In Tomorrowland, we grabbed FPs for Space Mountain then took a ride with Buzz. And no Julie... you kicked my butt!

Our Space Mountain fastpasses weren’t ready yet so we took a spin on the teacups (another Disney first for me)! This was so much fun!! Julie & I rode, while Kathy took pictures:

Finally time for Space Mountain, we headed back to Tomorrowland for our last Disney ride of the trip (aside from the buses). After our ride through Space, we made our way back down Main Street.

We also stopped for some PP pictures:

Good-bye castle!

We headed back to Kidani to claim our carry ons & get ready for the ME bus. I didn't see Heidi around (I guess she was there by the pool) so I took an earlier ME bus with Julie & AM. Heidi took the next bus 30 minutes later & beat us there! We had spent a lot of time waiting at POP! At the airport Heidi & I had dinner before catching our flight home!

Departure day was kind of crazy & I feel like I didn't get to say a proper good-bye to many of the ladies!

I'll be back with final thoughts from this amazing trip!!

 

[tzeitel]

Thanks for joining us. Julie's SIL actually made the scarves.

you should be able to find the puzzle peice fleece at the craft/fabric store...she got ours at Hobby Lobby...and I know you can buy already made ones online I think at the awarenessdepot

they are pretty cool...thanks and welcome along...we are finishing up this TR...but several of us have other PTR/TR's on the boards they tell more about travlking w/ our kids too

Thanks for the info! I am the least crafty person on the planet so I will look for one already made

 

[brookelizabeth]

That's hilarious!!!

Ooooh, these pics brought tears to my eyes! What a neat way to say good-bye to the Magic Kingdom.

 

[MEK]

Thanks for bumping this TR Brooke. I realized that I never went back and looked at all the wonderful pictures! I know it was cold, but wow it is such a crystal clear day and the MK pictures are just gorgeous!

But, of course, my favorite picture is the Zebra scratching his "****" on the rock! That was hysterical. I guess you gotta do what you gotta do!

Thanks again for the fun TR ladies. I really enjoyed it!

 

[KathyRN137]

Oh my goodness Heidi... those Zebra pictures were the perfect "end" to our Kidani-stay report!!

I'll be back soon with my own last-day reflections. Thanks again to my six-pack of travel mates for such wonderful memories!


Kathy

 

[KathyRN137]

Shamelessly "bumping" until I have time to post my last day notes!!


Kathy

 

[MRYPPNS]

Oh my goodness Heidi... those Zebra pictures were the perfect "end" to our Kidani-stay report!!


Kathy

We all agree that Zebra MUST be a male!

 

[brookelizabeth]

We all agree that Zebra MUST be a male!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

I've loved following along on this trip! You ladies are inspiring!

 

[mrsksomeday]

This report was amazing, I love the different stories, the new things you tried, the wonderful and sometimes hilarious pictures. I am sad it is almost over . I can't wait to read more about how you felt about the trip.