Day Eighteen: In Which We Take A Short Trip to EPCOT, and Then Fly Home, No Thanks to Thrifty.

Departure day--it seems remarkable that it's here already.  At the beginning of the trip, it seemed an impossibly long way away, but here we are at last. 

We say goodbye to Roger Rabbit from the elevator vestibule, and manage to trudge all our luggage down to the Bell Desk for storage until it's time to catch the Magical Express.  Then, it's off to EPCOT.

No, you don't have cataracts.  My camera always fogs up when I walk out of the room because it's so hot outside.

Once at EPCOT we make a beeline for Soarin' for fastpasses, and then, as tradition would have it, we ride Living With the Land and manage to not sing "Listen to the Land" out loud.

 

Afterwards, hunger demands attention, so we have a relatively forgettable lunch at Sunshine Seasons, inside the pavilion.  Apparently it's so forgettable I didn't take any photos of it, and then promptly forgot it.  Anyway, by the time we're finished, it's time for our fastpass, so we ride Soarin' which is always fun, although I think they could clean the film up a little, as the dust specks are becoming evident.

Our flight is at 6:40pm, so our Magical Express is at 3:30pm.  We figure we'll leave around 1pm to have ample time to gas up and return the car, and then get back to the Pop.  With that in mind, we take our last ride for the trip on Spaceship Earth.

The Judi Dench narration is grating and condescending, but we still like the little animations at the end that tell you of your future in a charmingly retro-fashion.

We take our leave of EPCOT and gas up the car with no problems.  Our Nuvi directs us competently to the car rental place, and we check in, again with no problems.  We still have 45 minutes to get back, so everything seems going swimmingly.  The Thrifty lady calls for the shuttle and we sit down to wait...

And wait...

And wait...

After several hysterical proddings from us, she finally calls for a different driver who ultimately shows up.  By now, however, about 40 minutes have passed, and there is pretty much no chance of our making it there on time.  This is compounded by the fact that the driver appears to not know how to get to the Pop, as evidenced by the fact that she drives right past the turn-off. After we give her some direction (during which she continues to insist that she knows where it is, "it's just these roads!...") we finally get there--in time to see the bus pulling out, as we drive in.

After some more hysteria, the Bellguys assure us another bus is coming in 20 minutes, and say we can probably get on that one, which we do.  They don't play the departure video on the monitors, which only serves to point up the non-magicalness of the Express when you're going home.

We say goodbye to the Pop, and breathe a sigh of relief as we pull out towards the airport, still over 2 hours before our flight.

Unfortunately, the calm lasts only until we get to the airport, where we have to face up to carting all 8 pieces of check-in and carry-on luggage up to the check-in desks, and then having to rearrange Mom's suitcase which proves to be 2 pounds over the limit.  Frankly, I think their scales are off, as the removal of only a few magazines drops it 2 pounds under the limit, but in the end they take it, without extorting any more money from us, and we are grateful.

After making our way through security and riding the monorail to the next terminal, we reach our gate with even enough time to go to the restroom before lining up in the odd signposts Southwest uses to manage the boarding crush.  We manage to get seats in the exit row, and enjoy an uneventful flight home...at least we think it's uneventful, as we pass out for the rest of the way, rousing only for the connection in Dallas, where we reflect on the eventful last 18 days, filled with buffets, and horseback riding, ziplining and jetboats, Broadway shows, and chocolate-covered strawberries.

Thus endeth the Panama Canal narrative. 

Day Seventeen: In Which We Enjoy the Magic Kingdom and I Take A Lot of Photos of the Castle.

I don't care if it's been nine years since we went on this trip.  I'm going to finish this blog anyway.

After our usual late start (how anti-touring plan!) we make our way to the Polynesian, where we split a bowl of overpriced, yet tasty, chicken chow mein and vegetable chips.  Ah, to have to pay for our own food again!  How the mighty have fallen.  Finishing up, we toddle off to the Magic Kingdom for some quality ride time.

 

It's a nice day, and the crowds are not too oppressive.  Also it doesn't rain on us, which is always a plus.  We manage to finish off all the Fantasyland rides in short order, and, breaking with our usual counter-clockwise tradition, we decide to be rebels and go to Tomorrowland next.

 

Our favorite ride there, that's not at Disneyland, remains the Peoplemover, which is, of course, not called the Peoplemover there.  But, for those of us who kick it old school, it will always be the Peoplemover.  As usual, we have a moment of silence as we pass by the model of the City of the Future, which was Walt's final dream, which was summarily dismissed as soon as he died.  And that's why we don't have flying cars today.

After I beat Mom at Buzz Lightyear again and we once again decide to skip Stitch's Great Escape, we cross the hub and finally catch a showing of the (relatively) new forecourt show, "Dream Along With Mickey."

The new articulated heads now add a greater element of verisimilitude to all the characters.  It also ensures that, just like with real people, you'll pretty much always get someone with their eyes closed in any photo.  The show involves that wacky madcap Donald, who apparently doesn't believe in the power of dreams--a Dream Atheist, as it were.  The others are shocked, and determine to show the power of dreams by sharing their dreams...which just happen to involve Princesses and Pirates!  Who would have thought?  You know, they ought to have some merchandise about those things.  I bet it would sell well.

What I find really amusing, is that they looked at the guy in the duck suit, and said, "you know, it's probably not hot enough, in Florida, in the 100 degree heat, for you to be dancing and gyrating around--let's add a hat and a longcoat on top of it!"  Anyway, Donald has a good time as a pirate, until Captain Hook shows up and shows off his new face, which appears to me to be sort of a segue from a full head costume to a complete face character.  Certainly his head is a good deal smaller than it used to be.

Eventually, it all becomes too silly for Malificent who shows up to take over everything...because if you lose your belief in your dreams, evil women will come down from Alaska and take over everything!  Wait, that was another story...

 

Ultimately, good triumphs, and Malificent slinks away, down but not eliminated, as she promises to be back the next time someone's faith in their dreams wavers, or the next election.  Whichever comes first.

After admiring some pavement-painters decorating the hub, we continue on our way to the left side of the park, and enjoy the Country Bears and manage to stay awake for a change.

After going to Tokyo Disneyland, I'm always hoping for a House Curry restaurant right outside Country Bears, but no.

Finally, the line for Jungle Cruise shrinks to the point where we feel like waiting in it.  The skipper is a little better than last time, probably because the heat isn't quite as crushing, but it still wants for some improvement.

When you think about it, that hyena and the zebras in back are pretty brave, considering the rhino's probably going to lose interest in the treed guys soon and look around for something else for lunch. 

After that ride, oddly enough, we began to get hungry ("them's good eatin'!") so we decided to try the (relatively) new sushi bar back at the Polynesian.  Since Mom hates the walk up the ramp to get to the monorail, we try the boats which are closer, but definitely not the speediest way of getting around.  In the daytime, it's ok, but I refuse to take the boats at night, generally, when they turn into what we lovingly refer to as "The Mosquito Express."

The sushi bar is only open at night, as it's a coffee bar in the daytime, and when we got there, we were the only ones.  The sushi menu is fairly limited, but the quality is good, and you can also order anything off the menu from the adjoining Kona Cafe.  Although there were a few things that looked good, some included the spicy tuna about which we're not crazy.  The sushi chef's name appeared to be Elwood from his tag, which we thought was a little odd for a sushi chef, but we don't discriminate.

We sampled the crab cake roll, and the sashimi platter, with the duck potstickers from Kona.  Everything was very tasty, and in particular the rice was cooked well, which was a relief from the sub-standard rice we had on the cruise.  It wasn't all that cheap, but at least the portion size was reasonable, and not like 1 piece/$5.

After that, it was Extra Magic Hours back at the Magic Kingdom, so we monorailed back again and finished up Pirates of the Caribbean and a few things we hadn't done yet, and wandered around looking in the stores and things.

Eventually we were forced to call it a night and wandered back outside to the monorail station...where a huge line had built up.  Apparently there was some sort of malfunction with one of the monorails, and we had to wait until they carted it off and brought up another one, which took about 1/2 hour.  So it was some time before we made it back, which only forestalled the packing we had to do, in preparation for the flight home the next day.  Which is why I was wheeling some of our luggage over to the bell station at about 3am, for them to hold onto until we were ready for our Magical Express.

Tomorrow:  Journey's End.

Day Sixteen: In Which They Force Us Off The Boat and We Retreat To Disneyworld.

Disembarkation is always a pain. You have to get up at the crack of dawn, stuff all your belongings from the night before into your carry-on, and face the unenviable prospect of going back to paying for food again. In general, the air is one of misery, as the children who you heard every morning laughing and giggling down the corridors for the whole cruise are now carted off sobbing and wailing. Breakfast is at the same location that you ate at the night before, so we head off to Artist's Palette again.

On our way there, we find the lobby completely jammed full of people waiting to get off, and the overhead announcements seem to indicate that the ship's clearance to let people out has been delayed. Consequently, all the folk trying desperately to get to the airport to meet their flights are a little peeved. We make our way cautiously around them.

Breakfast is corned beef hash, and hash browns. So, sort of a hash-heavy meal. While we dawdle around, they finally let people off the boat, and the hordes of people depart. We say a last goodbye to Sailor Mickey, and head out through customs with our enormous amounts of luggage with only minimal problems/hernias. After dragging everything onto the shuttle bus, we pick up our car at Thrifty and are off to our room at the Pop. Actually, it's not really that uncomplicated, as I have a huge logistical problem getting our many large bags stuffed inside the compact car (which is the crappiest car in CrappyTown. Manual locks and windows? Thanks Thrifty!) and it is sometime and several gallons of sweat later that we get it sorted and are away.

After checking in, we succumb to the need for a nap, after the early rising and the subsequent game of Luggage Tetris. When we finally, groggily awake, we go to MGM as they're having Extra Magic Hours that evening.

We wander around hoping that Toy Story's line will drop below 90 minutes, and drop into Muppetvision 3-D and Voyage of the Little Mermaid.

Finally, the line gets to 70 minutes right before closing, so we go for it. It is a long line, however the gameplay is great fun, and even Mom enjoys it. She particularly likes how it's easier to aim than the guns in Buzz Lightyear. I beat her handily.

Tomorrow: A Day in the Magic Kingdom.

Day Fifteen: In Which All Good Things Must End.

Our last full day on the ship began with our docking at Castaway Cay.  While we heard it rained first thing in the morning, we slept through it, safely immured in our category 11 inside cabin.  By the time we got outside, it was actually fairly lovely weather, with the Flying Dutchman out to greet us, as always.

We took a tram out to the main drag with the family beaches and shops and things, and wandered around there for awhile.  Then, after spectating a little at the stingray experience, we (I) decided to walk down to the adult beach.  The heat and the length of the walk caused some of us (Mom) to decompensate a little, but we eventually made it there and found some beach chairs to sit in, while looking at the sea.

It's really a beautiful place, with the water incredibly clear and blue.  And yes, there was an interdimensional rift that made half the island a different hue when I took the photo.  I'm here to document these things for you.

After a certain amount of lolling about (with me keeping a careful eye out for bugs, because I got bit to the point of anemia last time here,) lunchtime arrived.  We grabbed some sodas and ice cream to ward off the heat that was becoming a tad oppressive, and then trammed back to the ship for a nice lunch at Parrot Cay.  They like to tell you that the food is the same on the island as it is on the ship--not so much.  There was a lot more variety onboard, beyond the usual barbeque and mahi mahi they serve seaside.  While we ate, we were seated at the next table over from where all the entertainers were sitting.  This was amusing, as Magical Danny seemed totally amazed that with all the food onboard, people still eat hunks off the gingerbread house they display on the Christmas cruises.  Welcome to America, Magical Danny.

More walking around the decks ensued after lunch, until people rebelled and retired back to the cabin for an afternoon nap.  We then found our next-to-last blanket animal for the cruise:

I'm going to go with "squid" for this one, but honestly, it's a little bit of a reach.

After napping and showering were accomplished, I went out on deck to see the stunt-bike demonstration put on by Kevin Robinson, who is an X-Games gold medalist.  They constructed a little ramp alongside the ship where he did a number of jumps and totally wiped out once, making a good case for the wearing of helmets in such activities.

We attended our last origami session with Ponz, the multifaceted CM, and then went off to our last show, "Remember The Magic" which was partially a variety show, involving all the entertainers we've seen in the last few days, and the continuation of a sketch started in the first day's show.  The family that was shown all happy and excited at the beginning of the cruise is totally depressed and dejected that it's all over and they have to go home, until Peter Pan and Anne-Marie come back from yesterday's show, and assure them that the magic will always continue, with "faith, trust...and a little bit of pixie dust!!"  I'm thinking a wad of cash doesn't hurt either.

We get our gratuity envelopes ready, and head out for the last night's dinner, entitled "'Till We Meet Again."  This had one of the best appetizers of the cruise, seared ahi, and I fall for the soup again which is a sort of watery chowder.  At least it was consistent to the end.

My entree was a seafood pasta which was billed as having lobster, but which looked a little more langoustine-like.  Nevertheless, it was pretty good, although the noodles were a little al dente...but maybe my taste has gotten corrupted since everyone else here likes their pasta mushy.

After the entree, they had the traditional parade of the baked Alaska, along with a parade of the servers, carrying their home flags.  Baked Alaska in general is not the most outstanding dessert, being just ice cream and meringue, but I always feel obliged to have it, given that they've gone to the effort of setting it on fire.  Ox was not as sensitive, and went with the sugar-free cappuccino mousse.

   

We race back to the room to get our luggage out by the 11pm deadline, and manage to make it, although not before Felindro asks if we're ready.  No, Felindro.  We'll be ready at 11pm.  He does make us one last towel animal however, and we admire it before going off to see the crew perform in their late-night goodbye cabaret.  As is traditional, it's a tad on the raunchy side, but I'm sure nothing like what it would be on another cruise line.

After making sure we have everything we're supposed to for the next day, we finally retire for the last time in our tiny cabin.  Not, however, before we close the circle on this cruise as it was always meant to be.

Thanks, Mickey.

Tomorrow:  Disembarkation...