You can take the girl out of Disney, BUT……… About This Page:

[jenseib]

Before long we were getting close to Sanford and we stopped and filled the car up with gas.

And before we knew it, it was time to turn in.







Skip dropped us off and then went to return the car. Looks like someone isn’t too happy about going home. I wasn’t either.



The line to check in was super long. It always is at Sanford. They usually are checking in 3 flights and only 2- 3 people working the desk, so it takes a while. We kept our eyes open for my friend Jenny who had flown down the same day as us. She was supposed to be returning today too. She never showed up while we were in line. We did listen to a couple behind us with what I assume was the guys Mom. I am not sure if all 3 were flying or if the Mom was seeing them off, but the guy was super impatient, but the ladies didn’t seem to care and talked away. I listened…..how could I not?…and it sounded like the guy had a super nasty ex-wife and she was doing things to threaten the new girlfriend. Oh the things you hear while waiting in line.

We finally got checked in and up through security, which was another long line. I usually take care of Claire for the most part, and hand Skip an extra item to take through. Next thing we know, he is being pulled off to the side. He set something off. LOL! He had forgotten to tell them about his hip replacement, so they took him off to a small cubicle and did a pat down and wand. Claire had big eyes….after all I told her if you did the wrong thing, you might get strip searched. Luckily he left with all his clothes still on and got the OK.
In the mean time I am trying to be sure the line behind us isn’t held up so I am trying to grab all our stuff plus what he was in charge of. The whole shoes and belt off thing is a pain in the rear.

We headed to our gate, found a spot to sit and Claire and I went to the bathroom and I got some mini Cinnabons. MMM! Can’t go past those. Skip went and got us some drinks and soon we saw Jenny and crew come in. They were actually smart and arrived later and had no line at all for check in. But I am too much of a worry wart and would fear we would miss the plane.

Here is the last shot of the trip…not too exciting!



We sat and talked with Jenny and Ray about our week. She had gone to Universal the day we went to MK. She had thought she was going to be there the same day, but when she read her printed ticket, she found it was for Thurs. instead of Wed.

After talking of all the fun we did, and they did some really neat things too, it was time to board. We had assigned seats so we boarded early on. They didn’t and had to wait till all the assigned seat people boarded. We did see Jenny and her son board, but no Ray. She said he was being a slow poke and she wasn’t waiting, so she left him. LOL. We did see him board later though.

Time to go! Or so we thought. We waited and waited and waited, and the plane was getting stuffy. It looked like they were talking to people near the front rows. We thought maybe someone was sick. Lots of whispers between other passengers about what was going on, but no one knew for sure.
I stood up a few times to look. I was starting to get an anxiety attack. I don’t get them often anymore, but I used to get them a lot. Then I was having anxiety about the anxiety attack. I was thinking about how I could sit trapped on this plane for a couple more hours yet. I breathed through it and I did eventually push it away.
The pilot finally came on and said he had to finish paperwork before they could take off. It would just be a few more minutes. I don’t think that was true. It did look like the people in front were now OK and the flight attendants were making rounds to be sure everything was in place.
The lady in front of us had a dog and it barked a couple of times. The flight attendant got nasty with her and told her to shut the dog up. People jumped all over her then as we were waiting with no explanation of when we would leave and the dog was just voicing what we all thought. She said we would be leaving soon and turned away…and we did eventually back out, which was met with cheers.

The flight home was uneventful. I had planned to write up notes, but with my new Kindle, it wasn’t meant to be. I played games on it the whole time. I am addicted to it. I mostly played Mahjong. I am slightly obsessed with that game. Claire played with her iPod and Nintendo DSXLi. I think Skip browsed some magazines and we also snacked on some goodies I had brought along.

I think I must’ve called Mom on the plane before we took off to let her know we were going to be late, because she had just pulled into the airport as we got off the plane. We met her in baggage claim and waited for what felt like forever for the bags to start coming through.

And it was cold. Oh how I hate Ohio winters. We all wore shorts home and it definitely was not shorts weather in Ohio. No snow, but not warm either.

We got the car loaded up and made a fast food stop on the way home. I wasn’t even going to think about cooking, and Claire would have to eat something for sure before she went to bed that night.

When we got home I started to unpack a bit, mostly to find Claire’s goodies and started the laundry. Oh the joys of coming home.
Skip disappeared as soon as the bags were in the house. He can’t be away from his cows for too long, and I am sure his brother was a basket case without him there.

And that’s the end of our Universal trip.

I really enjoyed the trip a lot. I learned and experienced so many new things and now have a more open mind about going back. I really think Skip liked it better than Disney, which I was surprised. We found some new favorite rides, and it was fun to compare things to Disney. In some ways, Universal can blow Disney away, but in other areas, Disney is much better. The main thing for me is the feeling of Disney. I didn’t get that same feeling at Universal. No magic for me. But yes, I would jump at the chance to go back in a heartbeat!

Thanks for following along!

[dutchdisneyfamily]

Sorry to see your trip come to an end. It's been a great journey. I know what you mean about the feeling of Disney. Thanks for sharing!

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by dutchdisneyfamily

Sorry to see your trip come to an end. It's been a great journey. I know what you mean about the feeling of Disney. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for reading. It was such fun and i enjoyed reliving it again!

[chezp]

Sorry to see this come to an end. I've really enjoyed following it along.

[DisneyDana]

Originally Posted by jenseib

I have a long trip. I arrive on Nov. 2nd and am doing MNSHP party that night. On the 3rd I am meeting up with my family and we are staying one night at Residence Inn near the port and on the 4th we board the Dream for 4 night. On the 8th we head back to WDW and Claire and I will be staying there till the 14th. (staying at 2 different resorts during that time as well.)
!

that is a perfect time to go! We will be down after Thanksgiving!

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by chezp

Sorry to see this come to an end. I've really enjoyed following it along.

Thanks! it was really a fun trip. I am so glad we walked over to the dark side for a bit!

Originally Posted by DisneyDana

that is a perfect time to go! We will be down after Thanksgiving!

I am so excited for this trip. I just wish all the things that come before it didn't...like school shopping, school, and all the other stuff related to starting school. I wish I had the patience to homeschool Claire. I really like having her home, but I know I don't have the attention span to really work at schooling her.

[sheldoal]

Thanks for sharing your trip. Your pictures brought back memories of our trip. You had some nice pictures of CityWalk that I didn't think to photograph. I'm waiting till the next Harry Potter expansion before going back to Universal. Glad you and your family enjoyed yourselves.

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by sheldoal

Thanks for sharing your trip. Your pictures brought back memories of our trip. You had some nice pictures of CityWalk that I didn't think to photograph. I'm waiting till the next Harry Potter expansion before going back to Universal. Glad you and your family enjoyed yourselves.

Thanks for reading along. I would like to go back for that expansion too. It sounds like it wil lbe great from the rumors I have heard.

[DisneyDana]

Originally Posted by jenseib

Thanks! it was really a fun trip. I am so glad we walked over to the dark side for a bit!



I am so excited for this trip. I just wish all the things that come before it didn't...like school shopping, school, and all the other stuff related to starting school. I wish I had the patience to homeschool Claire. I really like having her home, but I know I don't have the attention span to really work at schooling her.

Yeah, and you want to still like her by the end of the year and all.

[mommapants]

great TR thanks for taking us along with you. I know what you mean about that Disney feeling. As far as I'm concerned nothing can hold a candle to Disney - they are the best of the best always will be. Universal may have come a long way but nothing beats Disney. - Glad you had fun.

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by DisneyDana

Yeah, and you want to still like her by the end of the year and all.

So true!

Originally Posted by mommapants

great TR thanks for taking us along with you. I know what you mean about that Disney feeling. As far as I'm concerned nothing can hold a candle to Disney - they are the best of the best always will be. Universal may have come a long way but nothing beats Disney. - Glad you had fun.

Thanks for reading a long!! Disney is just so special it's hard to describe to those who don't "get it"...Thats why I love message boards like this.

[rhinohunter]

Great rip report. I really enjoyed the "walk on the dark side". I plan on going there for one day in September. I need to get a dose of Harry Potter and roller coasters. It has been a long time since I have been on one. Your comments only added fuel to the fire. We have some leftover tickets from previous trips. Hope that they will still work. (tickets have entries for one adult and two kids) There will be two adults going in this time. Perhaps they will do some exchanges for me.

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by rhinohunter

Great rip report. I really enjoyed the "walk on the dark side". I plan on going there for one day in September. I need to get a dose of Harry Potter and roller coasters. It has been a long time since I have been on one. Your comments only added fuel to the fire. We have some leftover tickets from previous trips. Hope that they will still work. (tickets have entries for one adult and two kids) There will be two adults going in this time. Perhaps they will do some exchanges for me.

Yay! You'll have fun. I do think the old tickets might work that way. But I am not 100% sure since I didn't have any old ones and didn't research that factor.

[HiddenMickey]

Thanks for your trip report and all the great photos! Sounds like a good time. I wish I had time to do Universal on one of my upcoming trips, but the trips are so short that there is no way we'll be able to leave Disney. It will have to wait.

[jenseib]

Originally Posted by HiddenMickey

Thanks for your trip report and all the great photos! Sounds like a good time. I wish I had time to do Universal on one of my upcoming trips, but the trips are so short that there is no way we'll be able to leave Disney. It will have to wait.

Thanks for reading! It was fun and i am glad we did it the way we did, with the trip planned mainly for Universal. We got some tastes of Disney, but still did have enough time at universal to get a good taste of that too.
Claire wishes we could go back in Nov for a day. I just can't work it in though.