WDW – Day 8 – Friday, 17 Dec 04

We started off our last morning slow and lackadaisically. We didn’t have to be out of there until 11 a.m. or so, having a 2 p.m. flight, so we didn’t push things any. I did a little blogging, Katherine watched TV, Margie puttered around a bit.

Off to a leisurely breakfast, then a bit of last-moment shopping at the lodge store …

Wander back to the room …

Start packing …

Suddenly realize it’s 11 …

Eek!

A huge frenzied flurry of clothes, Christmas gifts, and paper later, we had all of our stuff packed. Rather, Margie had all of our stuff packed. We were in two additional duffel bags (as planned), which brought us up to five bags being checked. Five … big … heavy bags.

We brought the car around to the nearby loop, parked it, loaded up, and were on the road by 11:30 a.m., feeling mildly rushed but satisfied.

As we started to turn onto the main drag out of the park — we realized …

Blue Bunny was missing!

Nobody had seen Kitten’s beloved Blue Bunny being packed, and we knew that Katherine (despite her new Stitch and Zebra stuffed animals) would be really peeved and upset if BB didn’t make the trip with us. I considered calling back and telling the lodge, to have it shipped to us, but Margie swung us around and demonstrated her driving and navigation skills as she unerringly wended her way through the various side roads of the resort.

We pulled up, I dashed into the room (the card key still worked, fortunately), sure that it was in her bedding …

… and saw the bedding had been stripped. Eep!

Fortunately, it was in big piles on the floor. Searched all the sheets. Negative. Hell. Did housekeeping take Blue Bunny up to the front desk already?

Ah! There, wrapped in the bed spread. Blue Bunny!

Okay, so we were on the road by 11:40. Could have been worse.

WDW Tip: Pack early. Segregate out stuff for packing (fragiles, gifts, stuff that can be packed first) early, too. Better to sit on your thumbs (or take a walk) after you’ve finished packing, than to be in a mad rush.

The posted route from WDW to Orlando Airport approaches the latter from the south. So, of course, the Thrifty off-site rental lot is on the main drag to the north of the airport. *Sigh*

And maneuvering all the luggage, clown-car-like, out of the car, and onto the shuttle bus was entertaining.

As was getting it off the shuttle bus (the driver earned a tip). Rather than grabbing pay carts, we grabbed one of the many porters hovering there, and he loaded us up.

He earned his more sizeable tip, too, by (a) maneuvering us to the right ticket counters, (b) pulling off each bag for weighing, (c) keeping track of which bags needed to be reduced in weight a scosh to fit under the 50 lbs. limit (which the airlines are getting very persnickety on), (d) loading the luggage back onto the cart, and (e) wheeling said cart over to the security check area. Whew.

With all that baggage weighing, I would have had to interact with the desk agent anyway, so the Curse of Dave Hill, International Man of Mystery didn’t perceptibly slow us down. The agent showed great patience, in fact, as we sat there, madly shuffling clothes and kits and boxes between bags (and into an additional duffel) to hit that 50 lbs. level.

Then into the Longest, Slowest Security Lines Ever, and off to the gate.

Whew. We were there about 45 minutes before departure. Not panic time, but closer than I prefer.

The rest of the trip was bumpy, but uneventful, and we arrived in California a scosh early, tired but ready for Phase II of the vacation.

But as regards our Walt Disney World adventure (2004), that is, in fact …

… The End

Except, of course, for the photos, to be posted anon.