Final Day at Disney World

The last day of our Disney vacation was Thanksgiving Day. We got an early start, checked out of the hotel, and headed back to Hollywood Studios to catch the one ride everyone wanted to do, but we hadn't been willing to wait for, Toy Story Mania. This is the newest and most popular ride at Hollywood Studios and the lines were always long and the limited number of Fastpasses always went fast. We got to the park a little before it opened. They let you into the front part of the park, but have the streets leading to the rides roped off. We joined the throngs of people waiting at the rope across the street leading to Toy Story Mania. When the rope dropped we rushed with the crowd to the ride. I went straight for the Fastpass machine with all seven of our tickets in hand, while everyone else got in line for the ride. They were pretty close to the front, so by the time I got the Fastpasses, I wasn't able to join them. But it worked out great anyway. The only other ride we had wanted to do was the Rockin' Rollercoaster. I had resigned myself to the fact that we would just miss it. I figured by the time we rode Toy Story, the line would be long for the rollercoaster and the Fastpasses they would be handing out would be for later in the day, when we would be on our way home. This is turning into another long explanation - but there is a point. There was an attendant at the Toy Story Fastpass machine (trying to keep the line moving, as so many people were trying to get Fastpasses), when I put my first ticket in, he saw the stack in my hand and asked how many I needed. I told him 7, and he handed them to me. I thought, how nice, that got me through a little quicker; then I realized that meant our tickets hadn't gone through the machine, so I was free to go get Fastpasses for the rollercoaster (remember, you can only hold one Fastpass at a time.) So, I raced across the park and got our Fastpasses for Rockin' Rollercoaster and made it back to Toy Story Mania just a couple of minutes before everyone else came off the ride. I was so excited - it was like getting a great deal at a day after Thanksgiving sale; the thrill of the crowd and things working out so that I was getting just what I wanted - isn't God great?!

So, we caught the Voyage of the Little Mermaid show and then got back in the short Fastpass line for Toy Story Mania. This really is a great ride. As you move through the ride you stop in front of various screens with Midway style shooting games. The images are 3D, so you have plates, or balls, or whatever coming at you as you try to shoot them. We all loved this ride!


Here are Papa and the boys outside of the ride. Just the scenery with all the huge toys and games is fascinating:

After that thrill, Nana took the boys to stand in line to meet BuzzLightyear and Woody, while the rest of us went to ride the Rockin' Rollercoaster. I'm so glad we didn't miss it - it was great!

At this point, Nana and Papa headed back to the hotel for a nice Thanksgiving meal. I have to admit that sounded really good, but we hadn't seen most of the countries at Epcot, and Robert and I really wanted to at least see them, so we caught the ferry over to Epcot and did a record-breaking tour around the world. We took a quick break in the America section for a turkey leg and some pretzels. So, we got our Thanksgiving turkey after all:

If you look close you can see the kids at the bottom of this picture in Japan:

Here we are in Germany:

We headed back to the hotel and arrived about 30 minutes before our shuttle was scheduled to leave for the airport. We retrieved our carryon luggage from the desk and hung out by the pool:

The kids even got to participate in a hula hoop contest - one last thrill before heading home.

The trip home was uneventful and we made it back a little before 9:00.

I guess this concludes my marathon blogging about our trip. I know I've included way more details than any of my readers cared to know, but I want to remember as much of this trip as I can, and I know I'll forget so much if it's not recorded.

When I think back over the trip three things stand out to me:

1. God has blessed man with amazing creativity! We usually take more nature/outdoor type vacations that always leave me in awe of God's creation. This trip was so different, but left me with a different kind of awe - God has gifted this world with some really creative people!

2. God was so good to us. From the great weather, to health and safety, to all those times things just fell into place so we could do all that we wanted to, God blessed us abundantly.

3. God has given me a wonderful family. We actually enjoyed spending an entire week together and I will treasure the memories we made!