As we have done the past two trips to Disney, we spent a full day in each park the first four days. Unlike the past two trips, we only have two days left (instead of three).

And our last moments are spent in the two parks that we like the most: Magic Kingdom and Epcot.

As you read this, we are in Epcot. But yesterday was a slow walk through Magic Kingdom.

I treat each trip as if it might be our last. Each walk through the parks, each character encounter, each ride are special. And while we take our plans for the day with us, it’s the deviations that create the best memories.

One thing Disney does that makes your trip special is the photo pass. Depending on if you sign-up in advance or not, for $99 (in advance) or $149 (after your trip), you can purchase all the pictures that a Disney photographer takes of you and your family while at the parks.

These guys are everywhere. The castle, the ball, the hat, the tree, with characters… everywhere. They are very patient. And they will take your picture with your camera. This essentially eliminates the need to ask strangers to take a family picture.

Once they take your picture, they give you a card and load the images on it. Already have a card, but forgot it? They’ll give you another. Each has a code you enter online and you can consolidate them all to view, save, print and share.

Second days are always more relaxing. We spent most of the morning collecting fast passes while we got character autographs. We had 12 passes (8 for Space Mountain and 4 for Splash Mountain) by 11:00 a.m. And I walked around taking my own pictures of the park.

It’s difficult to walk out of Magic Kingdom for the last time. No matter how hard you try to slow time down and enjoy the moments, the moments pass. But the memories remain.

From this day, I’ll remember the 180 Layten did on Splash Mountain.

It had become her favorite ride. She had been on it three times already. She was a hand-raising fan of getting wet. Until her fifth ride.

Ride number two was a slow experience. Multiple log-jams made it claustrophobicly frustrating. I was looking for escape routes. And so was Layten.

Ride number five on Splash Mountain was no different. And in tears, Layten declared this was no longer her favorite ride.

Gracen and I created our own memory by riding Space Mountain six times. Add the other days and we rode it nine times. And that next to last ride… we got stuck at the top just before things got started. And for two long minutes, we were left to wonder if we would ride or if we would be rescued. Things resolved, we rode and rode again.

Some memories are posed for, some just happen. They happen because you don’t take this time with family for granted. The trick is living that way all the time.

We ate dinner this night with Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet at Crystal Palace. Our last visit in 2006 ended with Layten terrified of Piglet. But in 2012, she was very pleased to see him (or her… this was a debate at our table).

We are at Epcot as you read this. They say there’s a boat behind France that will take you to Hollywood Studios. We might sneak over there to ride Rock-N-Roller Coaster once (or twice) more.

Oh yeah… I picked a heck of a time to watch the movie “Contagion”. I watched it as I did laundry Wednesday night and all I could think of Thursday was what I was touching, who touched it before me, what they came in contact with before that and that we’d be dead in a few days (and Contagion II would be based on our lives). Neediness to say, we germ-x’ed a lot.

Free food count: this day, we received $220 in free meals and snacks. That brings our grand total for the week (so far) to $950. Somehow we’ve saved some snacks and going into our last day we have 8 snacks, 4 counter service meals and 4 table service meals.

Here’s some pics from today…