Departure day. Sad, sad, sad.

I actually never wrote notes for this last day, but the gist is this: Up early. Pack like crazy. Haul our luggage to the Great Ceremonial House for airline check-in. Boarding passes in hand, we head to the 2nd floor of GCH for our 7:45 a.m. Kona breakfast. We had the same thing as we did the day before, and it was as good on the 2nd day: fast, tasty, efficient.

Now, CP and I have had mixed feelings about visiting a park on the last day of a trip before heading to the airport; sometimes it just feels too depressing. On this morning, however, we decided we had just enough time to visit the Magic Kingdom and trade our last few pins. We were on time to be there just after rope drop, and with some good luck in catching the monorail, we were there in no time.  We were headed to the pin store in Frontierland to see if the mannequin we traded with at MVMCP was out (it wasn’t, which is when we learned it was a party prop), so we browsed and traded on our walk down Main Street, through the hub, and to Frontierland. We also had time for a quick trip on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad; we were seated in the very first row so it wasn’t exciting, but we both love the ride and it was nice to get one last spin.  Then it was off to the Haunted Mansion, whose line was a bit longer than anticipated. After that, we did a little picture taking, stopped in the Confectionery for our customary last-day crisped rice treat (note: they’re better made fresh at Goofy’s Candy Company), and then headed back to the Poly to repack our carry-ons and head out. A few photos from our last-minute MK excursion:

The tamest ride in the Imagineered wilderness!

Au revoir, Snow White.

Some holiday sweets.

This picture sums up the trip for me. Love it.

Goodbye, club level.

The rest of the day was pretty unexciting – check-out was painless (our receipt was even e-mailed to us, a nice touch), dropping off the rental car was painless, and even security wasn’t too bad. We had plenty of time to wait at our gate, and our flight was on time and pretty smooth.  All this waiting and planning – now it was done.  When would we take our next trip? For the first time in a long time, we had no countdown. That was a sad, sad thought.

Fin.