Skamarakas Family - April 2006

Cast of Characters - Jim (dad, age 29 - well, at least that's all he'll admit to); Anna (mom, age 41); Brighid (DD age 14); Eilis (DD age 5); Granuaile (DD who turns 1 on our trip!)

Day 8

This is our bonus day, and I'm spending it at the Magic Kingdom! We have been here all this time, and I've avoided going due to the crowds, but this is our last day, and I'm going to enjoy every second I get.

I advise the family that we will be there bright and early, so we can leave while the kids are still pleasant. We go through the turnstile just before 9 AM, but the park opened at 8, so we're already behind a bit. That's okay - there's Fast Pass here!!

Eilis has wanted to ride big roller coasters and stuff all week. She meets the height requirements, but I don't do thrill rides, Jim is cautious about them since his eye surgeries, and with the recent passing of a woman on Mission Space, I think we're just overly cautious here. We do agree to take her on Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain, but when we get there, Splash is down. They ride BTMR, and Grace and I head back to POTC to wait for them.

THERE IS PLENTY OF SHADE HERE :-) A big change from our trip to Universal yesterday. Grace has a bottle and we enjoy the breeze and the shade while we are waiting. Then we take the girls on POTC. Grace is afraid of this, as she has been with a lot of things this trip, but Eilis has a grand time. You can't notice any changes yet, but they do have quite a few new wardrobe items that are great. I manage to get by them, though, credit card still cool in my pocket ;-) I'll be back!

My in-laws are now calling, wanting to know when we are going to get together with them again. As this is our last day, we suggest dinner, they suggest lunch, and, as usual, my MIL wins. We are leaving early to go have lunch with them.

We head over to get FP for Buzz Lightyear. While we wait for our time to be up, we do the Carousel of Progress, which Eilis adores. She calls it the "Beautiful Tomorrow" Ride, and she will sing the song incessantly, like some people sing "It's A Small World". Annoying.

We do Buzz, which the baby really likes YIPPEEE, and then we ride the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. We hit the carousel - the regular one, not the carousel of progress, and we catch a little of the Cinderella show in front of the castle, and now we head to lunch with the in-laws.

It's not an awful lunch - Jim and I sit with Grace at one table, and next to us, the in-laws sit with the other two kids. They bring a nice birthday gift for Grace, and we enjoy our lunch at Jungle Jim's. Because we are planning to leave EARLY EARLY, we head out, fill up with gas, and then go back to pack. It's Friday night, and Jim asks Brighid if he'll watch the other two girls and order room service while he and I go to the seafood buffet. She agrees, so the girls head to the pool, I bathe and change Grace, and then I hop in the shower. By the time Brighid and Eilis are back, Jim is getting in the shower and we head down for a FABULOUS dinner. It's our favorite seafood buffet BY FAR.

I am now coming down with the cold that Jim and Grace have, so Jim offers to let me sleep in instead of leaving really early. I agree, and he puts in an order for room service. Since we don't have to be up at the crack of dawn, we watch the fireworks for the last time off of our balcony.

Breakfast arrives at 7 in the morning, and we plan to be on the road by 8:30 at the latest.

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