Note: Min's trip report is in Coral and Bill's comments are in Blue. In the Gallery links, pictures without a border link to the specific picture and those with a border link to a gallery of related pictures.

Click to Read:  Intro & Prelude  - Part One  - Part Two  - Part Three

May 16, 2004 - Sunday

We were up and ready to go by 8:30 as planned. We took our stuff to the car and then Bill walked around the resort taking some pictures. 

Last day of our trip, have to go home today...  :(

We then went to the moms' room and got their stuff. After getting their suitcases secured, we drove over to Epcot. Bill got a picture of the Port Orleans French Quarter sign and driveway on our way out. Nancy followed us as we would both be heading for home after our tour of the World Showcase.

Oh well... you caught me... most of the pictures from our stay at Port Orleans French Quarter were taken on the last day of our stay even though we posted them in Part One of the trip report...

We arrived at Epcot a little before 9:00. The characters on their tour bus came out by Spaceship Earth just before the rope drop to open the park. We got some pictures with some characters that we had never gotten our pictures with before, Like Mushu and Max.

I think we need to make a list and see who we have pictures with... maybe post a character picture gallery...  :)

Since we had saw the pavilions on the west side last night, this morning we headed east. We visited the door gardens and Bill took some more pictures.

Our moms liked the one with the white picket fence the best...  :)

Next, we went over to Universe of Energy and watched the show. Afterwards, we showed our moms the Water Garden Wonders by Mission: Space and the Wildlife Garden between Test Track and Mouse Gear. We walked the bridge path by the Odyssey Center and headed back towards the central walkway behind the fountain.

She forgot to say that I was taking pictures the whole way... I especially like the one with the ladybug...  check out the International Flower and Garden Festival 2004, Gallery 2... it is number 49...

We walked toward Showcase Plaza with Bill taking pictures and our moms marveling at all the flowers while we waited for the World Showcase to open. We headed into the rose garden, Bill wanted to show the moms some of the roses and the DogGone Maze. Unfortunately, I didn't make it very far. The scent from the flowers was overwhelming and I started having problems breathing. So, we went back to the lagoon and I found a seat, then Bill and the moms went back into the rose garden.

Min usually does not have a problem with flowers, but every now and then... bam, it hits her... but once she gets away from the flowers, everything is okay...

My head and nose started clearing up once I was out of the rose garden.

I showed my mom and Linda some of the roses and we each picked out our favorites... mine is number 79 and Linda's is number 80 in the International Flower and Garden Festival 2004, Gallery 2... the photo of my mom's favorite rose did not make the cut... it was too blurry, but I did not notice that in the camera view screen, only when we got home and viewed it on the computer... then we headed over to the DogGone Maze except for Linda, she passed on the maze and went back to the lagoon to check on Min... my mom loved the Stitch topiary in the DogGone Maze and had me take a picture of her with it... after our trek through the maze, we joined Linda and Min back by the lagoon...

Since we had skipped breakfast this morning, we were all starting to get a little hungry. After some discussion, we decided what was for lunch and I made a PS for Rose & Crown. We had about an hour before Rose & Crown opened, so we walked through the Canada pavilion. Nancy loved the Canadian geese topiaries. We walked through the stores and then headed for the United Kingdom pavilion. We visited the stores and then walked through the gardens. Bill took some more pictures.

Check out picture number 100 in the International Flower and Garden Festival 2004, Gallery 2...

We sat down for a few minutes outside of Rose & Crown. When it opened, we were seated right away. The starters were great. We got a fruit and cheese plate, the mushroom medley and the smoked salmon. Nancy got the Chicken Pasty, which she loved. My mom, Bill and I got the fish and chips, it wasn't that great. The batter that they dip the fish in wasn't done.

I don't know if it wasn't done but it was kind of pasty and soggy on the bottom... not that great but not bad enough to make a fuss over...

After lunch, we headed for France. Bill got a picture of the moms and me with Belle and Beast. I believe that Belle slipped out of character or made a mistake when she told Alex to turn around, isn't the Beast named Vincent. Bill thinks that she slipped out of character and that the cast member playing the Beast was named Alex. Who knows???

Maybe the mighty Paragon???

We walked through the stores, except for the perfume shop. I did not want to have another breathing episode. We also stuck our heads in the door of the Boulangerie Patisserie but lunch had left us too full to partake of any of the wonderful treats. After France, we visited the Home Depot Ultimate Backyard Garden area between France and Morocco. It has ideas for what to do with your backyard like kids' play sets, greenhouses, gardening stuff, decks, etc.

It really inspired me... they had a deck setup up with a built in gas grill, wet bar, mini-fridge, patio furniture... the works... when we get a house, if I ever have about $20,000 to blow on a deck setup, I know just what I am going to get...  :)

Then on to Morocco and more pictures.

Well, the ladies didn't want to stop for much else... so I took some pictures of the herbs and spices then we moved on...

Next it was on to Japan, where we looked at the collection of Bonsai trees. We also walked through the Tin Toy exhibit.

and the department store... we had to take some time for some shopping... maybe if I had mentioned the bazaar back at Morocco, we would have spent some more time there...  :)

At the American Adventure pavilion, Bill showed our moms the Heirloom Kitchen Garden and we got some pictures with the Minnie and Mickey topiaries. We were going to see the show but since we had missed the Voices of Liberty, we decided to keep going.

This was about the time that the sense of let's get this over with, set in... I don't know if it was sadness because the trip was almost over or exhaustion from our whirlwind schedule or just a desire to hurry and get on the road, but everything from here until we left the park felt rushed...

We saw the Pinocchio topiary and walked through some of the stores in Italy. Then, we continued on to Germany. We walked through the train village and then showed ours moms the Snow White and Dopey topiary. My mom wanted to see the Christmas store and Nancy spent some time looking at the Hummel figurines.

I took my favorite picture of this trip, while the ladies were shopping... I wanted a photo of the Snow White topiary with no one in front of it... but as I had found earlier on this trip, I had no one to "hold a place" in front of the topiary so everyone kept stepping up to take picture or walking through the frame as I was trying to take a picture... I stepped off to the side under the edge of a building to get out of the sun and waited for a chance to take my picture... when I looked up at the topiary from there, I found it... the picture I wanted... number 128 in the International Flower and Garden Festival 2004, Gallery 2... 

We walked through the WaterFULL World between Germany and the Outpost and then got some drinks at the Outpost. In China, we showed our moms the dragon and the pandas. Nancy really liked the dragon. Then it was on to Norway. I got a picture of Bill with the troll but the wait for Maelstrom was too long, so we headed onward to Mexico.

Yep, we were definitely rushing by this point...

We saw the pretty orchids in Mexico then rode "it's a small burrito."

What is "it's a small burrito," you ask... a nickname, first used by RADPer Larry Wilmot in one his trip reports, to describe El Rio del Tiempo... it fits so well that we have stol... adopted it, for use in this trip report...  :)

Then it was back into the heat as we headed for the front of the park.

Our rac... um, tour... through the World Showcase had come to an end...  :)

We stopped by Mouse Gears for a final chance at Disney shopping on this trip. Nancy bought a Stitch plush.

To match up with her Figment plush, she got yesterday...  :)

Bill and I bought a couple of things that we wanted. My mom found some treats for my dad and grandmother.

A bribe to get back into their good graces since she had left them behind...  :)

Then we headed for the cars.

I got a couple of goodbye photos... and a couple was all I could get... for the first time since getting our digital camera, I had used up all available space on our three memory chips... 336 pictures total...  :)

Bill and Nancy discussed directions for exiting the park and getting back to US 27 North for the drive home.

Then I remembered her driving adventure in getting here... so I told her to follow us to 192 and then we would point her in the right direction...  :)

Nancy followed us to the exit for 192 and we motioned for her to go west then waved goodbye, then headed east to get on I-4. As we headed home, we talked a little bit about the trip. There was no traffic and we were back at the apartment in Jacksonville in about two hours.

Afterthoughts

It was a nice trip even if I was sick for part of it. It was fun having our moms with us and since they have seasonal passes, we hope to take another trip with them in the Fall.

All in all a pretty good trip... we had a few issues along the way but I don't think they affected our enjoyment for more than a few minutes, tops...

Here is an email we received a couple of days after our trip from my mom with her thoughts on the trip...

Dear Mindy and Bill,

Just wanted you to know how much I enjoyed the trip!!!!!!!

I'm still not sure what my favorite park or part of the trip was since I really saw so much more than I had ever seen in the few trips that I had been there! Yes, you have heard me mention the fireworks at Magic Kingdom once or twice so I guess that did make an impression. I really feel that I am still a little behind in the Disney films so I may have to rent some of the ones that I am not familiar with. Thanks for sharing your favorite restaurants also. The food was excellent! Staying on property at Port Orleans was very nice and very convenient as you did not have to get in and out of a hot car all the time! Learned much for future trips and understand why you enjoy the whole Disney adventure as much as you do.

Thank-you so much for including me in the trip.

Linda

and what did my mom have to say about the trip???  It was great, when are we going again... not her exact words, but pretty close...  :)

I am glad that my mom and Bill's mom enjoyed the trip as much as we did...

I look forward to our next trip with our moms... I just need to learn how to slow my mom down some...  :)  she is too commando at times... she even said once when we were discussing taking a break and going back to the room, that she does not get to WDW as much as we do and that is why she wanted to keep going... well maybe we can remedy her commando attitude with a few more trips to WDW... I am all for this type of therapy... and I am sure my mom would be, too...  :)

Click to Read:  Intro & Prelude  - Part One  - Part Two  - Part Three