The Mellado's Disney Adventure Report

Dates: 6/26-7/5, 1999 (ten day trip)

Adventurers:

  • MaryJo (author): 39 year old, total Disney enthusiast, vacation planner, and first trip to WDW (from Los Angeles, CA)
  • Nick, MaryJo's son, age 11, first trip to WDW (from Los Angeles CA)
  • Kelly, Mary Jo's daughter, age 10, first trip to WDW (from Los Angeles CA)
  • Dad, Mary Jo's father, in his 60's, first trip to WDW (from El Paso, TX)
  • Lucila, father's wife, in her 60's, first trip to WDW (from El Paso, TX)
  • BJ, Lucila's grandson, age 11, first trip to WDW (from El Paso, TX)
Updated 11/21/03

Copyright 1999-2006
PassPorter Travel Press, an imprint of MediaMarx, Inc.

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  Day 10: Monday, July 5, 1999

Brrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnngggggggggggg telephone

It was 5:am, and Mickey was calling me to get up out of bed. That phone was loud, but the kids were oblivious to the sound. I got up and after getting ready, started packing. We had kept the room pretty tidy during the week, so it didn't take much to pack everything. The cooler worked out well to put breakables, and papers I didn't want bent (like our family photo at the Magic Kingdom). Everyone else got up, and we decided to have breakfast at the foodcourt. It was about 8:am by now, and a lot of people there. Dad, Lucila, and Nick had already breakfasted, so it was just Kelly, BJ and me. We all walked around the stores one last time, and around the island one last time. Kelly fed the fishies, turtles, & ducks, and said bye to the parrots. (Next time we'll bring some wild feed for the animals) Back at the room, we found a nice picture of Mickey & Minnie telling us goodbye. Another nice touch from our housekeeper. Kelly had packed her beanies, so they didn't have the opportunity to cause any mischief while we were gone! We relaxed and leisurely finished packing. Soon it was 11:am, and time to leave our home for a week, rooms 5107 & 5108. As we walked to the minivan, Kelly spied Ann Marie, our housekeeper, and ran over to give her a hug goodbye. We smiled and waved bye to each other. She really did add that special touch to our stay with her creativity. We had to go to check-out, and there was a long line there. Finally, we took care of business, and we were off. We weren't due to arrive at the airports until 1:30, so we still had an hour & a half to kill. We drove around the world one last time. Next time, though, I think we'll finish up earlier in the room, then ride the monorails around the deluxe resorts.
We filled up the minivan, and headed away from WDW, waving goodbye, and reminiscing about all the fun things we had done. Soon we were at the airport. Since Dad, Lucila, & BJ were on the A side, and Nick, Kelly, & I were on the B side, we dropped off the luggage first, then turned in the minivan. Then we all walked together to the middle, where we parted ways. We'll be seeing them again at Christmastime.

We took the monorail to our terminal. There we had to stop at the little Disney store that they have there. We first got our boarding passes, then went to the Disney Store. Nick got a Y2K WDW ball, that would have cost less at World of Disney w/our discount, but he wanted it, and we were leaving, so he got it. Kelly soon got into a conversation with the lady running the store, and regaled her with news of WDW. Both kids excitedly told her about RocknRollercoaster. We all got a soda, relaxed, and people-watched, as we waited for our plane. All of a sudden, I realized that the plane had already landed, and we had a short time to reach the gate. We ran through the terminal, and did get there in time. Our plane was a 757, so we were able to get a window seat and sit next to each other. I prefer the L1011 - much bigger, cleaner, better viewing, etc., but this one was okay. Our lunch was quite good. We had beef or chicken to choose from. The movie, EdTV, was okay, too. The flight home seemed longer than the flight out, and Kelly asked me -several times- if "we were close to home, yet." The kids did see the Mississippi River and the Grand Canyon as we flew over. Finally, we reached California. We flew over the San Bernardino Mountains, and the city, city, city, more city, and the freeway landmarks that showed we were approaching LAX. I could tell we were having our Santa Ana winds, since we could actually see the San Gabriel Mountains to the north. We landed, got a cart, and soon our luggage was coming on the rack. We loaded it up, and went outside where we could hear all the traffic noise. We had no problems getting a taxi - he was efficient, and drove quickly.

Home at last.

Part 11 coming up - Final Thoughts, Favorites, & Lessons Learned... and a link to some pictures

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