Does anyone do a special thing to close out a Disney Vacation ?
I have friends that do the same ride to end their trip 
Also heard of Wishes as a closing
For Me and Lyn we bring a little bottle of rum and share a few drinks out on the balcony. 
We start planning our next trip to the world.
We go over our trip doing a top 3 Main course , Dessert, Appetizers. 
I'm not sure if I have one last day tradition anymore. It used to always bee shopping at DTD, but on recent trips I just haven't had the time to get there. I do always hit the resort gift shop and eat someplace wonderful, but it hasn't been the same place for many years.
We don't have any kind of "closing ceremony," other than taking one last look at whatever we're closest to last (for example, a backward look at the entrance sign).
I really don't have a closing ceremony but I think it is an amazing idea. I think this next trip I am going to come up with one and start a new tradition. Thanks RobNLyn2 for the great idea.
Our last night we always end with wishes, MK on our last full day. Like Kristen, our last day used to be DTD but we haven't bothered with it for a few years. We usually go to the airport with plenty of time and have a meal at outback, that's a tradition 
Our Very Merry 24 nighter Nov/Dec 15
Watson's go West May 15
The one with all the birthdays Oct 14 4 Big Birthdays and a Vow Renewal thrown in
The OMG trip June 14 30th Birthday present from the hubs
Girly trip March 14 A last min cheapy week
September 13 our first all DVC stay
TR May 2013 the last min bargain trip offsite
Oct 2012 TR with a cruise!big family trip featuring the beach club, AKL, the dream and a villa offsite
TR on a budget May - June 2011offsite condo
TR Sept - Oct 2010 big family trip in an offsite villa
get a pop corn from the hub and take a slow walk down main street, trying not to look back, get to the square at the end give in, turn around, take one last look at the castle, say "thank you" and walk out of the park.
in contrasted my first day tradition is get to magic kingdom, see the castle and say "I'm home" under my breath go to main street confectionary trap an un healthy snack and skip all the way to fantasy land
Well the past three trips I overdose on MCB in the morning..Last minute shopping at DTD...And a tearful farewell to MK ... 
(
My ritual is: check out, look at my bill, pass out and wake up on DME and quietly sob all the way to the airport.
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DVC owner since 2002 BCV/BWV/BLT/VGC
we don't do anything special, usually just ride as many rides as we can before park closing then hide somewhere until they find us and drag us kicking and screaming out of the park (
"You're dead if you aim only for kids. Adults are only kids grown up, anyway."
--Walt Disney--
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Not so much as a closing ritual but when we're leaving the Magic Kingdom for the last time of the vacation we turn to face the castle and promise to "see you soon".
" I DO DISNEY!"
If we're in MK on first and last day, we do Peter Pan's Flight first and last to bookend our trip, but that won't be the case for this weekend or for Star Wars Weekend because of how we had to configure the schedule to get everything in.
Be good at something. It makes you valuable. Have something to bring to the table because that will make you more welcome. --Randy Pausch
Trip Reports:
December 2013: 10th Anniversary, 1st DVC Stay | April 2014: Birthday on the Boardwalk | May 2014: Star Wars Weekend, Navigating WDW with a wheelchair | August 2014: Villains Unleashed | September/October 2014: MNSSHP, F&W, Tower of Terror 10-miler | March/April 2015: Disneyland and California Coastal Cruise | November 2015: Wine & Dine Half, Food & Wine, 1st Disney Cruise | February 2016: Presidential Classic Gymnastics Meet | March 2016: "Work" Trip, Tours, F&G Festival | April 2016: Conference at Disneyland | Fall 2016: Festive Fall Fun | January 2017: Festival of the Arts | May 2017: AbD Backstage Magic | July 2017: AbD San Francisco | Sorry I had to give up doing trip reports. Too many time commitments right now.
My ritual is: check out, look at my bill, pass out and wake up on DME and quietly sob all the way to the airport.
so true
My ritual is: check out, look at my bill, pass out and wake up on DME and quietly sob all the way to the airport.
get a pop corn from the hub and take a slow walk down main street, trying not to look back, get to the square at the end give in, turn around, take one last look at the castle, say "thank you" and walk out of the park.
Not so much as a closing ritual but when we're leaving the Magic Kingdom for the last time of the vacation we turn to face the castle and promise to "see you soon".
Amen! This year, because of the days we are there and F&W we end up on our last day at Epcot ( I couldn't make it work any other way) so I have to sob missing my "castle fix" on the last day.
"At some point in life you have to decide if you're the Tigger or the Eeyore."...Randy Pausch
"George Banks and all he stands for will be saved. Maybe not in life, but in imagination. Because that's what we storytellers do. We restore order with imagination. We instill hope again and again and again." Walt Disney
Actually I always find it hard to accept that it's over. I usually try to milk just a little more out of the trip, whether it be a walk around the Boardwalk or 10 minutes in the gift shop while waiting for DME.I'm consoled by the fact that I usually have my next trip planned or booked already, thanks to DVC.
See my Disney Photography at...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rt_images/
DVC owner since 2002 BCV/BWV/BLT/VGC
We usually hit DTD before heading out. There is usually a tear or 2 and a promise to be back!
ps I love seeing so many people share the same passion!!!!
"I do not like the cone of shame."
"I want adventure in the great wide somewhere. I want it more than I can tell."
"It seems to me that we have a lot of story yet to tell."
we don't do anything special, usually just ride as many rides as we can before park closing then hide somewhere until they find us and drag us kicking and screaming out of the park
Not so much as a closing ritual but when we're leaving the Magic Kingdom for the last time of the vacation we turn to face the castle and promise to "see you soon".
I often take one last spin around the WS. Leaving day is always hard, no matter how often I go. And yes, I always turn back to the castle and thank Walt one more time. 
We always end in MK, riding the best attractions. That's how we traveled growing up visited WDW and it's something we've never changed. Our opening ceremony is traditionally, check in, unpack, dinner, DTD. If we fly, then it is a little different because we arrive earlier in the day.
I tend to do AK or HS on the last full day. My argument is that if I spend my last day in Epcot or the MK, I'll be even more down about having to leave!
"All my life I wonder how it feels to pass a day, not above them but part of them.
And out there living in the sun, give me one day out there, all I ask is one to hold forever. Out there where they all live unaware, what I'd give, what I'd dare, just to live one day out there."
Well I've only been once, but on our last day in the Parks we ended up closing out the night at Magic Kingdom (by accident!), then spent the next morning/early afternoon wandering Downtown Disney and eating at Earl of Sandwich before we drove back home.
This is exactly how I'm planning it on my next trip, too. I definitely want to end at MK park-wise (with Wishes as there are no EEMH that day), and then do DTD the next day so I can get my EoS fix for lunch and maybe get one to go for the ride home.
Not really. It's not something I've ever thought to do. I have a few must do trip traditions but nothing for the end of the trip. 
On our recently concluded trip, I did indeed look over my shoulder on the ME for one last look at the entrance sign as we passed going out.
But I think I have a new opening ceremony. Twice in the weeks leading up to our trip this month, I had dreams (admit it, you've had them too) of being at WDW. Both times, I reached out a hand, touched the nearest wall, and said, "We're really here." And in the dream I really believed it. So on arrival night, as we were walking through the meandering entrance queue of POTC, I remembered the dreams, touch a wall, and said, "We're really here." And I think I'll do that every visit if I can remember to do it.
On our recently concluded trip, I did indeed look over my shoulder on the ME for one last look at the entrance sign as we passed going out.But I think I have a new opening ceremony. Twice in the weeks leading up to our trip this month, I had dreams (admit it, you've had them too) of being at WDW. Both times, I reached out a hand, touched the nearest wall, and said, "We're really here." And in the dream I really believed it. So on arrival night, as we were walking through the meandering entrance queue of POTC, I remembered the dreams, touch a wall, and said, "We're really here." And I think I'll do that every visit if I can remember to do it.
On our recently concluded trip, I did indeed look over my shoulder on the ME for one last look at the entrance sign as we passed going out.But I think I have a new opening ceremony. Twice in the weeks leading up to our trip this month, I had dreams (admit it, you've had them too) of being at WDW. Both times, I reached out a hand, touched the nearest wall, and said, "We're really here." And in the dream I really believed it. So on arrival night, as we were walking through the meandering entrance queue of POTC, I remembered the dreams, touch a wall, and said, "We're really here." And I think I'll do that every visit if I can remember to do it.
