Trip Report 2004 (Final Report)
[u]Thursday, 13th May 2004 (Day 22)</u> I woke up for the last time (for this trip) in Orlando with a strange sense of unrealism. It was as though the hectic three weeks had never happened and we were only beginning to start the holiday. It was only when I almost stumbled over my wife's shopping bags that the truth hit me. We were leaving for home today.
By and by, the rest of the brood woke up and went about their tasks. We did not say much to each other since there was a lot of packing and tidying up to do. My personal packing was simple since I had not done a great deal of shopping myself and I was finished by 11am. I then took the van and went out to the souvenir shop on US192 with the big Santa face on the front. (This is the one on the right side of US192 as one heads east just opposite the turnoff into Sherberth Road.) The guy there had promised to make an offer for any unused tickets; we had 5 Gatorland tickets and one for Sea World (my wife had used her DC pass to enter Sea World) and he made a flat offer of $50 for the lot. Frankly, it was better than I expected and so I parted with the tickets, took the money and returned to the villa. By then, the others had amost completed their packing and what appeared to be the personal effects of a small army filled the lounge. It took my brother-in-law and I almost an hour to load the lot into the van, but somehow we squeezed it all in and left room for the people as well.
We had an early lunch with our Danville relatives who were catching an earlier flight to Indianapolis. Afterwards, we set about tidying-up the villa. The caretaker had told us not to bother with hoovering etc, but we felt that we ought to leave it at least as tidy as it was when we arrived. I had delegated tasks to everyone including myself and after a couple of hours of teamwork, we were finished. I was pleased to note that everything, including the swimming pool area, looked as good as new. By previous arrangement, we left all unopened non-perishable food and wine for the caretakers, with a note of thanks. Finally, I went around the house and outside, taking photographs for memories of our stay in Amethyst Villa.
It was still just after 2:30pm and we still had some time time before we were due to leave for the airport. We sat around the living room to get a bit of rest and I chose this moment to ask the others about some of their impressions of the visit. I asked each of them to write down his or her most memorable moment or event of the trip; also, I asked them to rate every park they visited on a scale from 1 to 10. I did the same myself and afterwards, I tabulated the answers and found some surprising results.
First, the most memorable event:
My 82 year old father-in-law said that for him the most memorable moment was when he arrived at Kennedy Space Center, something that he had dreamed about for years.
My 75 year old mother-in-law felt that the Fantasmic! show was tops for her.
For my wife, understandably, her Dolphin Swim at Discovery Cove was the most unforgettable moment.
Her sister, ie my sister-in-law triumphantly mentioned her $50 bet winning jump on the Sky Coaster.
Her husband liked the 'Wishes' fireworks at Magic Kingdom better than anything else. He had found himself an excellent vantage point to watch the display.
My niece went with her grandmother in quoting that Fantasmic was the best attraction of the visit.
For yours truly? I went on the Sky Coaster myself and topped it with The Slingshot; I had been on the Water Sports Adventure; seen Fantasmic twice; been through the memorable Astronaut Training Experience; but to be honest, for sheer enjoyment none of these topped my glee as while watching Beetlejuice's Graveyard Revue. You guys may think that I am crazy, but at least I am being honest.
The results for the Parks were more expected. Since not everyone went to all the parks, I simply noted the total score for each park and calculated the 'marks' as a percentage, depending on the the number of people that visited. I left out my ATX and the wif
