Today’s my girls had an lazy morning and afternoon while I was working the last day on the Siemens booth at Distributech. After starting to dismantle the booth I could go “home” to join my own two princesses.

I got home late in the afternoon and after changing to vacation clothes I still needed to bring my rental car back to the National Rental car facility at Walt Disney World. And that’s really close to Epcot…

And as every night they run the most amazing fireworks I’ve ever seen…Illuminations! We wanted to try at least once to watch this show during these four weeks and tonight seemed to be a perfect evening to do so.

We were able to park the car at Journey 8 (very close to the entrance) and the park wasn’t even crowded although the crowd forecast told us otherwise. We started with getting 3 FastPasses:

• Spaceship Earth
• A journey into imagination with Figment (didn’t use it)
• Illuminations (watched it from another area)

But while we got these we also saw that there was a really short waiting line for a photo with Baymax! And only 15 minutes later we already walked towards The Seas with Nemo and friends. This took a bit longer as expected because little Emily was so excited that she lost one of her socks while we walked through the line. In the attraction she didn’t know where to look at so many colorful and moving things…

After this ride we used the FastPass for Spaceship Earth. And the lights at the end were really interesting for the little princess. After this ride we got ourselves a nice warm coffee. We went to Mouse Gear where mama got a new vest because it was getting a bit colder in the evening, Emily got her own Mickey Mouse blanket to stay warm.

And because the clock told us it was time for the last bottle of the day for Emily we went to the Baby Care Center before we went towards World Showcase. Behind her Snooze Shade Emily slept as soon as we reached Italy at 7:30. We had a Funnel Cake to share and after some more shopping we went to our favorite spot to watch Illuminations!

And for our returning readers yes you are right we went to Germany where we enjoyed a Pretzel, Danielle a König Ludwig Hefe-Weizen and I had an Altenmünster Oktoberfest.

After our beers it was soon 9:00pm and the show sponsored by Siemens started. It was an amazing show Emily slept through it although she moved a bit during the really loud parts.

Soon we were at our car where Emily woke up while we were putting her in the car seat but it’s for her own safety. Mama drove back and as soon as we were “home” we put Emily in bed and about 20 minutes later she was sleeping like a baby…

The weather forecast for today was good again and we had many things to do in mind. We started with getting up early and at about 10:30 we left the hotel towards Animal Kingdom. We still had FastPasses left over from our first visit during this vacation, we wanted to have some additional PhotoPass pictures and we wanted to ride the Kali River Rapids…

After parking the car at Dinosaur 37 we walked towards the park entrance. In the park we first got our picture taken with Dug and Russell from the Disney Movie UP and Winnie the Pooh and Tigger before we went for the rides. We started with a FastPass for Dinosaur and from there we walked towards the Expedition Everest to utilize our FastPass.

From there we walked towards the Kali River Rapids, the ride where you might get wet but will get soaked! Danielle wasn’t sure about going on but I insisted that might not turn out good for me since Danielle is usually the lucky one and comes out of the ride without a dry spot, but I took the gamble. The wait time listed was 40 minutes but in the end it was a walk-on so no time for a second thought and we went on. I guess the pictures do speak for itself and I can tell you it wasn’t pretty for me…

After exiting the ride we went tot Dinosaur and then it was time to leave Animal Kingdom for the very last time during this vacation, on our way to the exit we got some additional PhotoPass pictures. From there we drove back to the hotel because Danielle wanted to change her clothes, I wonder why…

After a quick-lunch at the Chick-fil-a we went to the Premium Outlets at the Vineland Avenue to look for a new suitcase. After checking out all the shops we ended found a lightweight suitcase at The Luggage Factory. We didn’t buy a new suitcase to take an extra one back home but because one of our suitcases is over its lifetime and might not survive the flight back home in one piece and that is a risk we didn’t want to take.

Finally done with shopping for this trip we went back to Walt Disney World to see the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at the Disney’s Hollywood Studio’s. But that wasn’t the best idea since the park closed at the time we arrived. At the moment we found out I changed the directions and we went to Epcot to see Illuminations for the last time during this vacation.

But before it was 9:00 we went to Duffy in Christmas outfit since the pictures we took yesterday with our own camera where not focussed due to wrong camera settings. Afterwards it already got fresh so Danielle walked all the way back to the car, parked at Create 42 at the end of the lane to get our vests, in the meantime I took a flight to Mars with Mission:Space and at the time I arrived back on earth Danielle entered Epcot again.

Danielle got a Salted Caramel Mocha at the Fountain View (Starbucks), I got a Funnel Cake at the American Adventure, we went on the Maelstrom in Norway, we took the Gran Fiesta Tour in Mexico and then we went to our favorite spot to watch Illumination in Germany. And while waiting Danielle got herself a Glühwein to stay warm, I got a glass of beer and we shared a Pretzel.

Soon it was time for the most beautiful firework shows we have ever seen and I got some nice shots again. After the show we left the park, probably for the last time during this vacation, without saying anything. This is such a great park with an amazing atmosphere we can’t go back.

Back in our hotel we needed to start preparing our suitcases for the flight back since we can check inn tomorrow and we’d like to fly back with 2 suitcases only to save 75$. After about 1,5 hour we were done with 2 somewhat heavy carry-on suitcases and 2 suitcases which are exactly 23 kilo, the allowed weight.