2 days ago8 min read

September 2024 Trip Report - Day 7 - Magic Kingdom and Departure

We woke very early to make it to the Magic Kingdom in time for early opening rope drop. There wasn't anything major we really wanted to drop, but we had limited time (about 2.5 hours) to accomplish what we needed to before we had to head back to our resort to check out.

So, what goes on the "can't miss" list of two people who've been going to Walt Disney World for 30 years? Well, this year, it was the Walt Disney World Railroad, Tomorrowland Transit Authority, a visit to Storybook Circus, and a last stop at Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe.

Yes, we were also surprised at this list. But it all had good justification, and a lot of it boiled down to we were just TOO successful with lightning lane multipass, in my opinion. Our time in the parks was always easily frittered away by the major attractions, leaving little time to enjoy the nostalgia we so love. So on this day, we did not buy Genie+. We didn't need it.

We arrived at the Tomorrowland rope by about 8:20. It was a pretty busy rope drop, being the day after Tron started offering a standby line. But that's ok because we weren't headed to Tron. At 8:30, they let us in, and we immediately rope dropped.... dun dun DUN.... Tomorrowland Transit Authority. I adore this ride, and usually like to ride it around dusk, but this trip just felt too short to work in somehow in, so that's what we did. There were a few others who did the same. Including one man who had the train behind us all to himself.

Looking out into Liberty Square from the Christmas Shoppe

After this, we headed over to Storybook Circus. Why? Because we hadn't seen it. Ever. The last time we were ever over in that corner of the park was when it was still Toontown, so we wanted to have a little look. We had a nice time looking around a nearly empty land, and trying to identify the various smell-o-phants.

Signs advertising the Smell-o-phants at Storybook circus.

Then, we boarded the Walt Disney World railroad (again, nearly empty). Now, the unfortunate thing with an ECV is that the ECV is parked at one railroad station, so the railroad can't be used as in-park transportation so much as a round trip for ECV users. This is, frankly, annoying since I saw that there is a ramp that can be deployed at the front car and spaces to park wheelchairs. Just not ECVs. What a shame. Anyway, we enjoyed a little round trip with some nice views of the park entrance and monorail running alongside us. In fact, it is from the train that you can really get perspective on how most of the Magic Kingdom is on the second story.

The Walt Disney World railroad

Upon arriving back at Storybook Circus, we bee-lined it through a mostly empty Fantasyland to Liberty Square and Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe. This was a very brief stop since I just needed to pick up one ornament I'd seen earlier. We accomplished that and had a little bit of time as we headed out the park, and were hungry. Mom wanted a churro and I wanted to try the cheeseburger spring rolls I hear so much about. Thankfully, while Cast Members made it seem like these two things could only be accomplished in vastly different parts of the park, the stands were almost within site of each other, with the churros being right on the hub between Liberty Square and Adventureland, and the spring rolls being pretty much right in front of the Adventureland Bridge.

As we sat at the hub, enjoying our final Magic Kingdom snacks, the gleeful notes of the Dapper Dans started ringing out, and sure enough, they were making their way around the hub in the trolley.

The Dapper Dans making their way around the hub on the Main Street Trolley

I have this weird little belief, but I'll share it here. Quite often, when I am leaving Walt Disney World, I am struck with a magical moment almost like the park is saying goodbye to me. The last two times, this has happened at Animal Kingdom and the first time, it was finding DeVine in the Oasis after looking for her all trip, and she even swung her long arms over me with a smile. The second time leaving Animal Kingdom, on my most recent trip, we were leaving after park closing, and walking through a nearly empty park was magic. And this time, at the Magic Kingdom, it was the Dapper Dans on the trolley, while enjoying a cheeseburger spring roll.

We left the Magic Kingdom just 2.5 hours after we arrived, catching the bus by around 10:00. Headed back to our room, consolidated our final bags, and called Bell Services to come get us. With my mother's newest injury to her knee, rolling the bags to the lobby was just not something I could do for both of us, so we asked Bell Services for help. What I expected was that they'd roll by in a golf cart and load our bags up on it while we made our way to the lobby. What we got was an air conditioned van for our luggage and ourselves to the lobby, which was just really nice.

We had about an hour before ECV pick-up time, so we went into Old Port Royale for a last meal. Once again, it was the arroz momposteao that we had on our first day, a key lime tart, and some cubed watermelon to share. I'm telling you, that arroz momposteao is so good!

After the ECV was picked up, we summoned our Lyft and were on our way to the airport in minutes. If you've been following along, you'll remember that when mom first fell, I requested wheelchair gate service for her through our airline. We had never done this before and were pretty nervous about how it would sort out. Below are my thoughts, and if this doesn't interest you, just skip on to the next section.

Goodbye, Caribbean Beach Resort! View of the Old Port Royale area outside the main lobby building.

A Note About Wheelchair Gate Service at Airports

Overall, this was a positive experience, and I was very, VERY glad I booked it. Quite frankly, there's no way mom would have made it gate to gate without it.

At MCO, it was slightly rough going to begin, because despite this service, we still had to get through the ticket gate and then back to special services under her own power before actually getting into the wheelchair. Thankfully, she could, but she was in a quite a lot of pain after doing so. I would say she probably walked more at the airports on this day than she had at Disney the last two days, where she'd only had to leave her ECV for security or short transfers to rides. This bit of a trek was a bummer. But once we did make it to the special services area at American Airlines at MCO, the experience got quite nice.

The wheelchairs have space under them large enough for a typical carry-on, so that saved me having to lug two bags. Our helper was super nice and knew exactly where to go and the quickest way. When it came to security, wheelchairs go through a different line, which I guess can be quite long, typically, and that's what we allowed time for, but on this particular day, there was no line there while the usual line was quite long, so we got lucky and whisked through security and to our gate. Once at the gate, our assistant asked if there was anything else we needed before heading off (we had not requested a wheelchair on the jetway or in the jet). But because mom was moving slow, we were able to board with passengers needing extra time or special assistance.

At our next stop, which was Washington Reagan airport, there was a small hiccup. I had been told someone would meet us with a wheelchair on the jetway, but no one was there. We walked up the jetway to find no one was at the gate either, which was a problem since our connection took us literally from one far corner of the airport to the other far corner. I spoke to a gate agent who wasn't very polite at first, but then made it right by calling someone to come help. In a few minutes, a person did show up, who, again, was very polite and offered to make restroom or food stops as needed on our way from gate to gate.

At our final stop, Dane County regional airport in Madison, there was also initially not someone waiting with a wheelchair, but someone working at the gate saw us and asked what we needed, and once again, someone came quickly.

I don't know if the delays in getting wheelchairs at our connection and destination were because of how I put in the request somewhat close to our flights, or if I put it in wrong (maybe I was supposed to put it for all connections?) but either way, it was sorted, and it was fine.

The last big hurdle was after baggage claim since mom couldn't walk all the way to where I parked my car with me, so I ended up taking our luggage - I had devised a system but it was not easy - to the car, exiting the parking structure and airport, and then swinging back in to arrivals to pick her up at the door. Because the Dane County Regional airport is a small and sedate airport under normal circumstances, this was not a problem. I would imagine this may be much more difficult at a larger airport, so something to keep in mind.

Overall, our flights home were good and on time, unlike our flights arriving, and I even got to see a lovely view of the United States Capitol building and mall while taking off from Washington Reagan.

And this concludes this trip report. Surprisingly, 8 days/ 7 nights didn't feel like enough, even though last time I'd gone, I was only at Walt Disney World 4 days. I think part of this was because it was so hot and rainy. If we weren't escaping the midday heat at our resort, we were dodging raindrops all evening, leaving prime touring time in the mornings and only for a window of about 2-3 hours before heat was really rough. I don't regret the long breaks at all. But I do think if touring at this time of year, you may not accomplish as much.

Sign above exit at Magic Kingdom says "See ya real soon!" I hope so, Magic Kingdom. I hope so.

My thoughts on the new lightning lane system are overwhelmingly positive. I got pretty much everything I wanted from it. In fact, the only downside was, again, not having the foresight to schedule in the smaller diversions and time to soak in the atmosphere that I normally end up doing when I'm out of lightning lanes for the day under the prior system.

Disney still does better than anyone else I've experienced in terms of accommodating ECVs. That said, the use of one does slow our touring. It's simply harder to maneuver through crowds, shops, and quick service restaurants, and parking it, when necessary, takes extra time. Transportation and security, also, seem to take much longer. There are some benefits, aside from the obvious need of it to get around, and I'll probably make a future blog post breaking down the attractions where you get a positive experience versus those where the experience feels less because of the ECV.

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