Despite being awake until 10 last night the girls still woke up before 7, which I’m hoping will help with getting them back into UK time. They watched a bit of TV while we started packing. I asked Steve to get all the cases out and open for what should have been a relatively easy job as I’d written which case we took everything out of. However, in a last minute panic the girls decided that their toys might get lost in the hold (no concern for the million and one outfits I sweated blood to make being in there!) so we switched them into hand luggage and stuffed everything else anywhere it would fit. Except it wouldn’t fit, no matter how much I tried! Even my expert Tetris style packing skills couldn’t make it work. I was starting to sweat and thinking the emergency hold-all would have to make an appearance when Steve casually wandered in and pointed out he hadn’t actually got all the cases out and had left one under the bed! As you can imagine, I wasn’t best pleased and the girls were giggling in the bathroom as I expressed my annoyance to him!!
Anyway, we now had oodles of room so finished packing and decided what to do with the rest of the morning. We had a Hollywood Studios park reservation, but the girls really wanted to cheer on the marathon runners instead (Polly said that after all the work they’d put in the least we could do is support them) so I switched it to Epcot and we decided to head there. As it turned out, we didn’t need to enter the park as there was a great area to cheer just after the bridge to the Boardwalk, so with makeshift shakers (resort cups half filled with ice) we stood and cheered the runners on until our hands and voices hurt!
We still had a few hours before we needed to leave for the airport so decided to spend it by the pool, and have some food there. It was a lovely day (the sunniest, warmest I think we’ve had although the weather has been lovely pretty much the whole trip) and the girls had a great time in the water. I think they’re finally at a good age to really enjoy Stormalong Bay. When they were tiny the shallow area was great, but for the past few years they’ve been too big for that but too little to feel comfortable exploring without constant supervision. This time though, they loved it, and I genuinely think the lifeguards and activity staff have been the best we’ve encountered at any Disney resort.
We were about to leave when a parks quiz started, so they obviously wanted to do that which delayed us slightly, but even with that and the last minute ice cream sandwich/ Mickey bar run since we’d forgotten we’d promised them one, we were still in the Uber and at the airport 4 hours before the flight. Check in was easy but the queue for security was crazy. It was at 90 minutes and they were only allowing people who were flying within the next 2 hours into it. We were so grateful for our TSA pre-check that comes with Global Entry (that and the fact that you don’t have to remove anything from your bag are a godsend). Even that queue was big, but moved quickly and we were at the gate with lots of time to spare.
And that’s where I’m sat writing this now. I’m always sad to be leaving, but even more so this time. I think it’s a combination of having the most perfect trip after being poorly in the lead up to Christmas, going back to the cold, dark days (although I do like the coziness of them) and knowing I’ll only see the girls for a few hours each weekday because of their long school days. But I’m so lucky to have had this time with my loves making so many amazing memories, and I’m so grateful for that. In a time where so many are living with uncertainty, I know how privileged we are to have the life we do, and I will never take that for granted.
So for now, it’s goodbye. Thank you so much for following along. I only ever wrote these blogs as a memory for the girls and us, but knowing that you enjoy them too makes me feel so happy.
Edit: just wanted to share the little gift the cabin crew gave the girls because they thought they were so lovely and polite. It may have been the bumpiest flight I’ve ever been on (I think they were trying to give us one last Disney ride!) but it was the best cabin crew by a mile.
Doodle & Peg Do Disney 