End of Trip Traditions?

[GrumpyDudeByChoice]

My wife always has to cry when she sees the castle for the last time.

 

[mindeola]

I have to end in MK with Wishes. Now I will do it with Happily Ever After!

Next trip we are doing 4 Parks/1 Day and ending in MK.

 

[NY Pirate Princess]

We always end with MK, and usually wishes, but this next trip ends on a Christmas party night, so I am pondering how we should end. We used to start every trip with a photo with a statue on Main Street. Last April I had to take a picture on the curb since the statue was removed, and learned that as in life, everything at Disney changes too. Looking forward to starting a new kiss goodbye to our favorite place this year. The people mover movie gave me some fantastic inspiration!!!!

 

[Delirium]

We drive, so we have no worries about catching a flight. We stop at an offsite hotel about an hour up the road after we leave Disney. We used to shut MK down and be one of the last, if not the last, family to leave the park. Now, however, we normally go during party season, so it's hard to get that last, late night, visit to MK in.

So, instead we do the same thing at Epcot. Last October, we got a late reservation at Teppan Edo, and by the time we got out, it was almost an hour after park close. There is just something about that 20 minute walk from the back of Epcot to the front gate, only seeing 5-6 other people along the way that is almost as special as leaving MK.

 

[Little E]

DIS friends, it's so fun to see what everyone does to end their trips. You've given me some great ideas of things to try during our trip this year...I'm so grateful!

 

[carlymcqueen]

We always go to the store in our hotel and buy too many rice krispie treats. Then we cry and eat them.

 

[defendthehill]

Our family tradition has become to pay it forward. We love to buy a couple of Mickey balloons at the beginning of the trip to decorate our room. On our last day or evening depending on our flights home, we go and hang out in the hotel lobby and look for the right family with small children to give our Mickey balloons to. It is always fun and a great memory for my family. My kids love picking the right family. We really like to find a family with small children that are just arriving! Nothing like starting their trip with a little Pixie Dust

 

[Tk0021]

This is only our second trip but I see some patterns forming. The last day of our trip will be spent at MK and we will have dinner at BoG. Then watch the fireworks and stay as late as we can. Maybe this is our tradition?

 

[lilly6]

My wife and I travel to WDW every year, the last 5 trips have been without kids or grandkids. We have started a new tradition of ending our trip. As usual we get up and have breakfast at the Intermission Food Court of the ASMusic where we always stay. I always have the Bounty Breakfast so I always announce that I won't have this breakfast until the next year. We always arrange to leave for the airport late in the evening, giving us another full day and I make arrangements to have a late checkout so we have the room until the ME bus come to take us to the airport. We then go to the Magic Kingdom after we have finished breakfast. No rides and we never leave Main Street. We usually go throught the shops one more time and then sit in one of the rocking chairs to watch the people. Around 1 PM we get up, walk to the middle of Main Street and say goodbye to the Magic Kingdom and we thank Walt for his dream. We are both usually in tears at this point, thank goodness a big strong retired firefighter like me is wearing shades. We take the bus back to the resort, get into our bathing suits, grab a lunch and dine and laze at the pool until it is time to leave, usually around 4 PM. Get on what we call "The Bad Bus" to get on a plane and head back to Michigan and start planning our next trip.

"We thank Walt for his dream." That made me cry. So well put!

How funny that so many of us choose MK as our last park. We drive and always leave on a Saturday. We pack up the car and then have breakfast at the CP and each of the four of us picks an attraction to revisit, and then usually buy some things we've had our eye on all week. We leave in the late afternoon and I cry for about an hour once we drive under the Disney World sign.

 

[OhStuffandFluff]

Last day is always at MK, ending with a photo of the family making a wish at the Wishing Well by the Castle.

Of course the wish is always to come back soon.

Love this idea!!
We always end our trip with a breakfast at Chef Mickey's and then head over to MK for some fun. Generally we try to get a Dole Whip too before we head out for the airport

 

[OhStuffandFluff]

Our family tradition has become to pay it forward. We love to buy a couple of Mickey balloons at the beginning of the trip to decorate our room. On our last day or evening depending on our flights home, we go and hang out in the hotel lobby and look for the right family with small children to give our Mickey balloons to. It is always fun and a great memory for my family. My kids love picking the right family. We really like to find a family with small children that are just arriving! Nothing like starting their trip with a little Pixie Dust

OMG! You made me tear up reading this! What an amazing and thoughtful thing for your family to do!

 

[fifthdimensiondweller]

We drive, so we always stop by Disney springs and get earl of sandwhich to take and eat at some point in the way home. I don't know how it even became our tradition, but it is!

 

[LISAMWDW]

Interesting to read everyone's last day faves.

We usually had a lazy day at the resort and Disney Springs. We also do a favorite meal that day, it gives us something to look forward to on the last day.​

 

[Oneanne]

Lovely thread!

I'm not consistent about which park I visit the last day, it really depends on what I didn't get enough of during the trip. I'm usually on an evening flight and back at the resort about an hour before my Tragical Express pick up time. I like to spend the time just sitting and people watching, soaking up the sun etc. I love many of the rituals that have been shared and think I may adopt a few of them.

 

[Little E]

Many thanks to everyone for sharing your end of trip traditions! I've enjoyed reading each post, and it has been a great way to get fired up for our trip in June. While we plan on doing our traditional People Mover movie for our last ride on our last night at MK, you have given me lots of ideas of things to do in WDW! Thank you so very much!