After our nap it was time to meet back up with the group for our farewell dinner
So sad! Yet also so exciting!
We met at the door at the end of Hollywood Boulevard wed been told to meet at. All 21 of us were there right on time. Most of us were a teensy bit more dressed up than usual (I had on my Club 33 polo shirt). We waited. And we waited. OK, we maybe waited 10 minutes, but during that time I said, dumbly perhaps, that the door wed been told to meet at looked like a façade. And then I got a different angle on it and realized it
WAS a façade! OK, so where are we going to eat dinner?!?!
A few minutes later Michael and Dean fairly danced out of nowhere to meet us and led us to a warehouse around the corner from the façade
Its not someplace youd ever notice as a typical guest, as its behind some barriers and really tucked out of the way, but they had transformed this warehousy-room into a private dinner for us!!
There were 4-5 round tables sent up with place settings and movie themed centerpieces.
A buffet was one side, just about to be filled with food. A TV showing the ABD Logo was at the front of the room.
I cant remember much about our meal but it was tasty and good! Beer or wine was included, as well as tiny desserts.
The big surprise: Joe Yakovetic, a long time Disney animator, was on hand to draw our favorite character!
He announced he could not do any Winnie-the-Pooh, Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland and maybe some other characters, probably due to licensing issues (he never specifically said why not), but most everything else was fair game.
My favorite character??
I love Disney. I love the characters. But I dont really have a favorite. I mean, Mickey is classic
.but he can also be a bit overdone. Wayne asked me my favorite Pixar movie, which is Up by a mile, but I cant say I need or want a drawing of any of the characters. Oh, I hemmed. I hawed. I asked almost everyone else in the room who they were getting. I googled Disney characters on my iPhone to help inspire me. I thought about getting one of my friends favorite characters (I have dear friends who love Sorcerer Mickey and Donald Duck), but decided I really wanted this to be for me (Selfish? Maybe).
And then I decided.
I chose Lady, from Lady and the Tramp. Not so much because that is a favorite movie or character, but because she looks a lot like my dog Ruby, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
Here is Joe drawing Lady:
And here is Ruby:
While Joe was drawing all our characters Michael and Dean were talking to the group, and then Pete was talking to us. We watched a movie that Michael and Dean had put together from the photos they had taken during the adventure, and it was absolutely wonderful seeing our trip played back for us. It was a bit surreal the early part of the trip seemed so far away, and yet the trip itself had gone by in an instant. I attribute that to the relationship building that took place during the week.
Michael asked if anyone would like to stand up and talk about what this trip had meant for them to go ahead and speak. Jeff, who was sitting at my table, stood up first. He said so many things I would have said. How he has been listening to the DIS Unplugged Podcast for 4 years and feels like he knows Pete and Walter (who were on the trip), that he loves them, that he and his wife had no second thoughts about signing up when the trip was announced. I cant even remember everything he said, but I was in tears when he was finished. I was next to speak and just said I couldnt say it any better than Jeff did and waved them off.
And then every single other person in the room spoke!
Boy, did I feel small. And lame.
So this is something like what I would have said:
Ive been an avid DIS Unplugged listener for 4-5 years now. The entire podcast team feels like friends to me, even though Ive been a little intimidated to approach them at the events Ive attended before now (Podcast Cruise 1.0 and DISapalooza). I mourned with them when Bob passed, although I never was fortunate enough to meet him.
I wanted to attend the April trip when it was announced last May, but couldnt figure out how to swing it, logistically and financially. So it tells you how committed I was when I somehow found a way to swing this trip, with less than 2 months notice!
Pete and Walter youre my friends now. I will never hesitate to approach you again. The intimate nature of this tour is perfectly suited for me. I have made so many new friends and have had so many fantastic adventures with you all. I got to experience things as a Disney fan I never dreamed I would get to do.
Michael and Dean you epitomize everything we all love about Disney. I think I speak for us all when I say I adore you.
Thank you all for sharing this fantastic adventure with me.
Or something like that.
Stacy, Jeffs wife, went last, because she had been getting her character drawn when the rest of the group was talking. She said many lovely things, and then got all choked up saying The best things in my life came from Disney as she leaned in to hug Jeff, who she met when they were both working at The
Disney Store! (Paul and Lisa met on the Monorail during a Mousefest weekend!) As you can see, thats where the title of this trip report came from. Now you know
the rest of the story. Paul Harvey good day! (sorry, got a little carried away there)
We each got an envelope with a handful of photos taken during the trip (a full CD of them is supposedly on its way many folks have received theirs but not me yet!). Also, Dean was pinned as a now experienced ABD Tour Guide we were his very first ABD Tour!
After dinner Mickey and Minnie came in for a private photo session!
After dinner we were set out on our own again. Many of us headed straight for Tower of Terror which we elected to wait for, despite the line. It wasnt too bad, as I recall, but I actually do NOT recall!
At 8:55 pm we snuck into a spot on the bridge with our World of Color Fast Passes and watched it again. It was just as good, maybe even a tad better, the second time.
I was exhausted, but it was my last night in the parks there are still so many things to be done!
According to my notes we only did two rides after this we did the Matterhorn (finally!) and then the Nemo sub ride. I had last ridden this when it was 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which I thought was cheesy even as a 10 year old. But I thought this was fairly well done. The wait was very long though, even though the line was not just the nature of the ride itself, I think. We all decided to call it a night after this it would be good to go to bed on the same day we got up.
In the morning we all met at the Storytellers Café right in the Grand Californian for a buffet breakfast and to say goodbye. People had return flights at all different times (and days), so we said goodbye to many folks for the last time
.at least for awhile.
Many of us who were staying decided to hit Rope Drop to ride Toy Story Midway Mania, which had so far eluded us (no fast pass for this either????). We entered the park and then had to wait at the second rope leading to Paradise Pier. We were right at the front, but had a good 20 minutes to wait.
When they dropped the rope we ran
or at least I did! I first grabbed a FP for California Screamin (which I never used its in the scrapbook now) and then got in line for Toy Story. We rode quickly the ride is a little different here than WDW some different games, although please dont press me for details as I cant remember!
Wayne and I then rode California Screamin via the single rider line we had to take elevators up and down to get there, but it was faster than waiting in line (he didnt have a FP). Then he, Nichole and I wanted to do some shopping before noon to use some 20% coupons we had from our food purchases earlier in the week. At Off the Page at DCA I bought a print done by Joe Yakovetic, our artist from last night (and already want another).
And we each spent a small fortune at World of Disney, the Emporium, Disney Vault and Marcelines. Oh, and the gift shop at the Grand Californian, where we each had gone in to buy one item with the GC logo on it, and I came out much, much poorer. I would also need a trip to the Business Center to ship some things.
These are Mickey apples from Marcelines in DTD I didnt buy any but thought they were adorable!
Wayne, Nichole and I had lunch at Tortilla Jos in DTD I have to say my shrimp enchilada with plenty of guacamole was delicious!
Then it was rest time, and I had to pack, as my ride to the airport was coming at 6:25 pm.
I went outside about 5 minutes early. I sat on the benches where buses, taxis and town cars were dropping off and picking up people. I waited. I waited some more. And some more. I was afraid to check the time as I was afraid of stressing out even more than I was.
Finally a car started to pull up I saw the
Adventures by Disney placard on the dash, so I knew it was my ride. I tried to make eye contact. The driver backed up. He tucked himself in, to wait, apparently. I walked over on the sidewalk. He didnt see me. I came all the way around the car and had to knock on his window to get his attention.
I think youre here for me, I said.
Have you been here the whole time? he asked.
I told him Id been out since about 6:20. He said hed come by earlier but no one was there, and hed gone inside to ask where to find me. All of which I find incredibly difficult to believe. Oh well.
I zoned out on the way to the airport. I was tired, and a little sad that the trip was ending. And my airport experiences were not great very, very slow moving line at Jet Blue, surly TSA agent, horrible food (I know, I know). I also did not sleep a single wink on my red eye flight had a 2 hour layover at JFK starting at 5:30 in the morning where they BLAST the rock music. And I left behind my Joe Yakovetic print in the waiting area, which I didnt realized till my plane landed at home. Happy ending I have it hanging on my wall now.
So thats my trip! I have some final thoughts coming up.
