Wednesday, February 27th - Last Day

I had packed up a few things the night before and mainly had to place everything in my suitcase.  I was feeling rested and much better so once I had everything ready to go, I put the Do Not Disturb keycard in my door slot and went down to breakfast.  This morning was our wrap up session and we had a big square of tables set up in a private room.  We had been running a few contests during the training and the various winners were announced and great prizes awarded!  Then Amy, who is in charge of our training, handed out our specialist certificates and some cute take-home gifts with a Universal theme.  Then she announced that we were again, for the 3rd year in a row, the Universal Agency of the Year!  After breakfast, we took some pictures with our award and our gifts.  Most of us said our goodbyes here and everyone was going their various ways, some home, some on to Disney.

Shannon had arranged some transportation for those of us going on to Disney. We had a couple of us getting off at Pop Century and a couple of us getting off at Wilderness Lodge.  Once I got let off at Pop Century, I took my luggage over to the airline check in and had it sent on to the airport for my flight which wasn't until 7:10.  Then I had to have my Magical Express dates changed from Feb 24th to Feb 27th; they just had to verify that I never used my return on the 24th and I was all set!

It was a nice and warm day, not too hot so I thought I would just sit near the pool, get a glass of ice water and enjoy the atmosphere and weather.  NOTE TO SELF: even though there is a breeze and you do not LOOK red, you are burning!  I sat out there for about an hour and a half, listening to the trivia pool games and actually learned quite alot with some of their questions! It seems like everyone was having fun.

my view from my chair

I went inside to get a little bit of lunch; got a burger and pasta salad with a lemonade.  The food court was very empty of people so I had to wait for a fresh burger. Afterwards, I walked in to the gift shop to spend some gift cards but really did not see anything in there I wanted; I will save them where I have a better selection.  Before too long, I went outside near the Magical Express pick up area and waited the last half hour. One bus came but it was the one before me.  Then I saw a family who had missed their scheduled bus get put on a bus which, in turn, bumped a whole family on to the next bus.  They took it surprisingly well.  While they waited, their kids decided it was cute to make paper airplanes out of park maps and were throwing and flying them all over the waiting area, landing in the bus lanes, up in the fans, annoying everyone around them with the parents saying nothing.  One of their kids even started climbing on the back of the bench I was sitting. I turned around and gave her a  REALLY? look and the dad said to stop doing that. I just kept praying they were not on my flight! From the sounds of their  New Yawk accent, they were not.

At the airport, everything went very smooth. Security was about 15 minutes with no issues.  I was shocked to see in the bathroom, when I looked in the mirror, all I could see was the whites of my eyes!  I broke my number one vacation rule and did not have on enough sunscreen! I am always so careful but I should have reapplied something when near the pool. The worse part is, I look about 10 years OLDER!  I have even stayed in all day today applying moisturizers and aloe vera gel. When Joe picked me up he was calling me Pocohantas!  My eyes are even puffy. I only have myself to blame but I was tired and the warmth felt so good and I wanted to soak it up while I had the chance. STUPID DONNA, lol

Saw a cute poodle service dog while waiting to board.  The plane was empty towards the back so I had a whole row to myself!  I got some ice water and then dozed off. When I got off the people mover in Pittsburgh, there was Joe and Jake waiting for me with Jake reminding me that we leave for Disney exactly one month from this day.

So another trip has come to an end and it was a great one for so many reasons!  Everything went so well, every one of my fellow agents are so nice and helpful.  It is great to share what works for us and to learn what works for others.  I absolutely love Universal Studios Florida!  I can't wait to go back there again! You learn so much more actually experiencing things for yourself. I am so thankful for the opportunity!

As I sat on the Magical Express bus, I looked out my window and saw this message.