I decided to wrap up the last few days of our trip into one post, because I don't have many pictures left and quite honestly, I was so sick I can only remember a few highlights of what we actually did.
On Friday, September 21, we spent some time in Future World at Epcot. DH liked Ellen's Energy Adventure ("Hey - more Bill Nye!") and I went on Test Track again for the first time in almost 10 years. I had just turned 14 when it first opened, and we waited 2 full hours in line, and I remember thinking, "Dad drives faster than this on the highway." And I just assumed, in later years, that I would say, "
I drive faster than this on the highway!" Which is entirely true. But DH had to see EVERYTHING. I think I liked it more this time. I'm not sure why. Maybe I was just so depressed from being sick on my honeymoon that anything appeased me.
We wanted to ride Soarin' again before it was time for our dinner reservations at Narcoossee's, but when we checked the Fast Pass return time, we knew we wouldn't be able to get Fast Passes in time to ride it and then head over to the Grand Floridian.
"Aw, that sucks," DH said.
"Yeah, we'll never make it in time."
And then out of nowhere, an older lady in a CM costume approached us and said, "Excuse me, do you need to get on Soarin'?"
"Yes," we said. "But we have dinner reservations soon and we won't make it in time if we wait in line or get a Fast Pass."
She smiled that lovely Disney smile, and I knew we were about to get another Dream.
"Come with me," she said, "I'll get you on right now if you'd like!"
And that is how Disney Dreams come true. Start with a quandry, a problem ("Can you arrange for my daughter's boyfriend to come down and propose?") and say it out loud. When You Wish Upon a Disney Cast Member, Your Dreams Come True.
We were happy to ride Soarin' for the last time, but there is something incredibly depressing about not being able to smell the Orange Grove smell because you can't breathe through your nose. That is just morally wrong.
We had the first dinner reservations at Narcoossee's, and we actually got there a little early, so the restaurant wasn't open yet. We wandered around the Grand Floridian, my favorite resort, and I took some pictures.
The restaurant opened, and we checked in.
"I'm sorry, I don't have a reservation listed for you."
WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!??!!?!?
Being the Disney Nazi Planner that I am, I whipped out the reservation number I had printed on our schedule. I read it off to him (in a nice way, albeit a nasally-stuffed-up voice) and said we made the reservation months ago.
"I'm sorry, it's just not on here."
"What can we do?" I asked, my voice quivering. "This was our special honeymoon dinner."
"Let me see what I can do," he said.
And sure enough, we were seated, and even with a nice view of Cinderella's Castle.
I relaxed a little.
The waitress we had, though, was nice enough...she brought us glasses of champagne, but ID'd us first, and when she saw that DH was only 21, she said, "Wow. Young."
And walked away!
I dunno, I just thought that was kind of rude. We are fully aware we are young, but we are also fully aware of what constitutes rudeness, especially from a person who is serving us. Far be it from us to retaliate, but the rest of the experience was marred by a waitress who was rather inattentive and acted like she didn't care. I was shocked. I mean, we saved 2 Table Service meals to be treated like this?
She did bring us an interesting little dessert - cheesecake, I think it was - with a panoramic picture of Cinderella dancing with the prince, standing up by itself on the plate. We discovered it was actually icing.
"It seems a pity to eat something so pretty," I said. "But oh well."
I would also like to note that sadly, I never ordered my Glow-tini. I was waiting to do this when we wait at Narcoossee's, even foregoing the opportunity at Le Cellier for this special dinner, but what was the point? I was SICK! I couldn't even taste it anyway, and the vodka would only serve to irritate my throat.
It's all so very tragic. I got hot tea instead, which again seemed morally wrong.
Sigh. I wanted to go home so bad and pretend this trip never happeened.
The next day, Saturday, September 22, we spent relaxing in the morning and then DH wanted to go back to DisneyQuest. I remember finding a place to sit in amongst the insanity and LOUDNESS of the building while DH played some games, and I thought how utterly UNFAIR it was. What could I possibly have done to deserve this? Is it because I'm such a Disney Freak that I needed some humbling? Did I need a new perspective on what it feels like to be a person who doesn't like Disney and just wants to go home? Whatever it was, I began to hate it. Because this wasn't ME. I imagine in a parallel universe, the parallel-universe-me was skipping about in Fantasyland, kissing her Prince Charming, and having a terrific time. I started to hate the parallel-universe-me, too.
I don't remember what happened the rest of that night. Except that I wanted to go home, and was excited, for the first time EVER in history, that I was leaving Disney World and going HOME the next day.
Sunday, September 23, we spent our last few moments at the Magic Kingdom. It was cloudy, and threatening to rain. I bought a caramel apple on our way out, even though I couldn't really taste it. It was still YUM. And I took this last shot of the castle:
And then I never looked back.
We went back to AKL to get on the Magical Express bus. I sat there, waiting to leave, with tears in my eyes. How could I feel this way about my favorite place on earth? How could I be so SAD?!
When we got to the airport, we found out our flight was delayed a couple hours. DH looked defeated. He had to go to work the next morning, and I felt bad. We ate at an Outback in the airport. I had beer. It never tasted so good.
We flew back. Drove home. I crawled into bed, exhausted, and fell right to sleep.
It was over. Our honeymoon was over.
Back to reality.
Next up: THE VERY LAST INSTALLMENT. You won't want to miss this. Trust me.