August Day Five: Magic Kingdom Extra Extra Magic Hours and Departure (conclusion)
We timed our park exit just right. We had just enough time to collect our bags and use the bathrooms before ME came to pick us up. As we were pulling away, I realized I had once again forgotten to use my gift card to pay off our room charges. After a little searching on my phone, I figured out the actual number to call the Contemporary front desk and explained my situation. The CM was able to pull up our room and charge the gift card over the phone with minimal hassle. She said it was a good thing I had called that day because, if they had charged our credit card overnight, a reversal would have a much more involved ordeal.
When we got to the airport, we had to split up to go through security. Only Hubby has precheck but, so far, that had been enough so that the rest of us booked together had lucked into it was well. This flight, however, was not booked on the same reservation. Earlier in the summer, Hubby had been on a work trip with an overbooked return flight. He opted to get bumped in exchange for a voucher which was enough to fly three of us home. Vouchers can’t be booked on the same reservation as cash with American, so he had A and B on his confirm number with precheck while C and I were on our own.
I arrived at the regular security line at 5:44 and it wasn’t crowded at all. However, that didn’t make this trip through security any less stressful! Taking out all of the electronics, food, and liquids meant I needed three bins, plus we had two personal items, one bag, and a stroller to send through the x-ray machine. Then, on the other side, I was trying to put everything back in the correct spots while C “helped” in that way that only young children can- by making it even worse. I also have a strong dislike of getting in the way or forcing other people to wait for me. The security line wasn’t long and no one was giving me grief for how much time it took me to resituate, but
I felt like I was holding everyone up. I might need to suck it up and get my own precheck when we start traveling again.
We met back up, took the shuttle out to our concourse, and quickly realized most of the food options were back in the main terminal. The couple of places that were open were pretty busy, but we managed to find a table at quick service place with surprisingly good sandwiches. Our flight was running on time, boarding with uneventful, and we were soon on our way back to PHL.
The last time we flew into Philly, two thirds of children vomited in the air, so we were doing things a little differently. They could listen to music but no screens were allowed; the attendant on the earlier flight said videos during flights trigger motion sickness sometimes. After a long couple of days, and with minimal distractions, they eventually fell asleep.
By the time the flight landed, all three girls were asleep and no air sickness bags had been needed. Hubby and I made eye contact across the row for a mini-celebration, but we hadn’t crossed the finish line yet. When the plane was stopped, the lights came on, and everyone started standing up, A and B woke up and started throwing up on and around Hubby. I couldn’t get across the aisle to help him because everyone was standing, but I needn’t have worried about being left out. C was a couple minutes behind her sisters, but also stirred and joined in on the digestive fireworks.
While all of this was going on, the aisles were full of people getting their bags from the overheads, so the attendant couldn’t get to us to help. I started calling out, asking if anyone nearby had plastic bags or wipes they could give us, and fellow passengers were kind enough to pass them to our row. Actually, the bags got there in time that I had one in hand when C started vomiting, so hers at least stayed contained (in a Disney parks bag, no less!). Hubby and I started wiping up kids with someone’s kindly offered Pampers wipes. Eventually, people disembarked and the attendants got to us with real trash bags to collect our messes.
We loaded the half-awake kids into strollers and made a beeline for the bathroom. Hubby had gotten hit pretty hard, so he wanted to wipe up. Meanwhile, I took the girls to rinse and spit a few times and we all washed our hands. By the time we were done in the bathroom, the bag was waiting for us at baggage claim, so we quickly got a shuttle to our car and headed home.
While the flight ended on a sour note, our extra special day in Magic Kingdom was more than we ever could have imagined. As you all know, news spread quickly in the Disney community that EEMH at MK and AK were offering crazy low waits for those lucky enough to partake. However, with it being the first day, we genuinely didn’t know what to expect and were blown away by how few people we encountered until well into the late morning. We felt the same giddiness that we had at the end of our date night when they kept TSL running after park closing. However, this time we didn’t have to suffer through hours of disappointment and a power outage to get there
plus we were able to share it with the kids. It was the kind of amazing Disney day you can’t plan for or replicate.
