My aunt had surgery so I went to Disneyworld. Update 5/23 Final Thoughts

[tazdev3225]

That's right my aunt had surgery and I took advantage of it by heading to Disneyworld. It wasn't major surgery - just carpal tunnel and my mom was there to help her.

The cast of characters was me: Lorrie, tazdev3225, Mom, Grandmom, Memo, Coach, hey you. Pretty much will answer to anything.

Favorite character: Grumpy, hands down my favorite although I do like Eeyore and Mickey.

Favorite ride: It's a Small World for sentimental reasons.

Favorite park: All of them for different reasons

My mom and Aunt Anna will also play a part in this report but they didn't go to Disney. My aunt has lived in Florida for almost 40 years and has been there a couple of times. My mom doesn't like Disney at all. I am adopted, I have to be.

Here we are in May 2010, I'm in the middle. My mom's on the right and my aunt is obviously on the left

Reason for the trip as if we need one - to destress.

This trip started out in my mind back in November when I realized it would be December of 2013 til I went back again. I wanted to see the Flower and Garden Festival and possibly Star Wars weekend. I tried to find a travel partner. My DH was out, he hates the heat and anything above 50 degrees is heat to him. I tried to get my aunt to go. She was going to officially be out of a job at the end of May. She decided to redo her house. My husband said go alone. My mom said, "Absolutely not!" and got my dad in on it. I know, I have grandkids but I was raised to listen to your parents. It looked like I wouldn't get there this year.

Fast forward to January and my mom calls me. My aunt/godmother was rushed to the hospital. She was not doing well and as soon as she was stabilized she was being transferred to Philadelphia from Cape May, NJ. Her blood sugar was in the 500's and her BP was 200+ over 100+. Not good. After 3 days she was in Philly and mom and I were visiting as often as we could. My aunt has no other family. (She had no children, was an only child and my uncle passed away 16 years ago.) Turns out she was in worse shape than we thought. She had a series of mini strokes caused by a serious heart condition. It's inoperable so eventually she wil have a massive stroke or heart attack and die. The plan for now is to get her into rehab and hopefully back home. We live near some nationally ranked facilities so we said either of them. She wasn't capable of making decisions at the time.

Her cleaning lady said no! Seriously I get that you work for my aunt but shut up, you aren't family! Mom and I won. My aunt was in the hospital for 3 weeks then transferred to a subsidiary of Moss Rehab. Then she had another episode and was transferred back to the hospital. The cleaning lady came to visit one day, in my aunt's car using gas my aunt paid for, with a notary and a Power of Attorney and new will for my aunt to sign. Thankfully it raised red flags with the hospital staff and my mom was notified. She had my aunt sign over EVERYTHING she owns to the cleaning lady and the will left her what was left. My BP was starting to rise. We contacted lawyers, the Corporation for Aging, my DH talked with some ADA's (He's a sheriff, he has contacts). My dad and I went in to talk with my unt. She swore she signed nothing, my uncle signed everything. The staff psychiatrist declared her incompetant. In the midst of all this she went back to rehab where we hit a brick wall. The social worker could care less.

Then my aunt in Florida called my mom to see if she could come down there to help for a week or two after her surgery. My mom and my aunt hatched a plan. Mom called me and asked if I still wanted to go to Disney. Um YES!!!! I was welcome to come down and stay at my aunt's house. We got the situation with my aunt straightened out. She revoked the POA and the will revision. My stress lessened.

I planned my flights. I was leaving 2 days after my mom on April 4th and coming home on April 8th. Baseball season is starting and I coach. I scored a really early flight down and a late flight home.

Next was tickets. I am going again in December so my DH and I decided that I should get an AP. We don't want a dining plan when we go so that was solved. I went to the Disney Store and had my ticket in hand. Free Parking a major benefit.

Final piece of the puzzle I needed a rental car. I googled and researched, prices were high. I found a cheap car from a place I never heard of. That was vetoed by my husband. He wanted me in a known place in case I had trouble with the car. I needed to renew my AAA so I asked there. Score! I got a rental for $235. I was set.

Mom left on Tuesday as planned. Then she called me from Florida. My aunt was no longer in the rehab center. WHAT???? I called the rehab. She was discharged to a new facility in Cape May. The cleaning lady was driving her there. OK my BP skyrocketed again. The cleaning lady knew that her POA was revoked and she slammed the phone on me when I told her the day before. We knew she would head up to see my aunt. But to let her take my medically unstable, still unable to walk aunt on a 2 1/2 hour plus car ride? Then they refused to tell me the name of the new facility. I spent all afternoon on the phone calling Cape MAy facilities, my mom and my dad. Finally located the new facility. An hour later I called back and my aunt had arrived safely. I told the nurse who answered some of the issues and that my mom would be incontact with them.

I also had my grandkids to deal with that day and laundry. Thankfully my SIL got home early so I was able to get home by 6PM. I made meals for my DH while I was away. At 9 PM I finally packed. I was asleep soon after with dreams of Disney and no stress for the next 5 days.


So there you have the background. This was a much needed trip. The only issue I won on was no ECV. I have a serious ankle injury but traveling alone I knew I could take my time and I was planning short days. The report will be picture filled. I took over 1400 pictures in 5 days.

Stop in, pull up a chair, say Hi. Hope you all enjoy it.

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Wow it does sound like you really needed a little vacation. I hope you got exactly what you needed in Disney.

 

[tazdev3225]

I really was stressed out to say the least. As soon as I get pics uploaded I will be starting the fun part of the TR.

 

[jecskc]

I'm here !! Wow !! Your aunt's cleaning lady is a real piece of work. I can't believe they let her take your aunt to a new facility. What ?? I hope she is doing well, but it sounds like that cleaning lady needs to be in jail !!

Can't wait to see all of your photos !!!

Susan

 

[tazdev3225]

Glad you stopped by. I wanted to arrest the cleaning lady as soon as I found out what she did but my parents don't want to do anything at the moment. She is on notice that we will proceed legally if we suspect anything out of the ordinary. My aunt really needs to go to an assisted living facility and I am hoping we can convince her of that soon. Then the cleaning lady is all mine and I can get her on federal charges if I found out she took the income tax return she was very specific about in the papers. Thankfully my aunt is more herself now and is alert to what she did. I can honestly say my fight is to protect my aunt as no one in the family is inheriting her house or any money.

Photos will be coming as soon as I figure out Flickr. Switched from Photobucket.

 

[tazdev3225]

Day 1 and my adventure begins.

I had an 8:30 flight on Southwest out of Philadelphia International. It is normally about a 20 minute drive when my DH drives. I had my alarm set for 5:30 so that I could shower real fast while Jim packed his lunch. We were ready to leave a little before 6 when Jim noticed the creep next door to us was leaving so we waited a few minutes. This kid moved in about 3 years ago and took an instant dislike to us since we don't keep our house to his liking. Anyway he left and we were gone after I said good bye to my very upset fur baby. She knows luggage means I'm leaving and she doesn't like it.

We were 3 blocks from the house when I realized I forgot my phone. Quick U-turn and finally we were on our way to the airport. We hot the road at


Unfortunately we hit rush hour traffic. That's a silly name for traffic that doesn't move


Finally about a half hour later the airport was in sight


We made fairly decent time for me but Jim had to make it back up I95 in that traffic to get to work. He got me and my suitcase out of the truck and he was off. In the rush I left my GPS on the front seat. That will be important later. A skycap came over to help me and get me checked in. He also had a wheelchailr for me in no time. I have been fighting an ankle injury since Septembber and I'm still in a lot of pain. Actually today I am now in a cast as it seems I have had a stress fracture for 7 months that has not healed. Anyway we were off to TSA.

I wasn't too concerned as I have never had any issues with them. That changed. I had on an ankle brace and I needed to get that off. I left my money in my pocket and limped into the machine. Well I did not know that money needs to be out of your pocket. It was bills not coins. The woman agent was extremely rude about it. I took the money out and it was obvious what happened. She had to search me and do a gunshot residue test, seriously. The whole time she was saying something along the lines that if some people would follow the rules and pay attention she wouldn't have such a hard job. In the meantime I'm struggling to stand. Neverhad an issue before. Oh well I passed all of her inspections and was whisked away to my gate.

I was at my gate by 7:15 AM even with the rude TSA agent. I started to read a book while I waited. I have several authors I like and opted for Iris Johanson this trip. I was the first to preboard and I got an aisle seat and settled in. Only had one seatmate and she took the aisle. I was very happy as she wasn't real chatty. Take off was on time and soon we were over


Not really sure where it was but we had nice clear skies.

The white streaks are boats heading into the entrance for the Delaware Bay.



This is the entrance to the Atlantic Ocean from the Delaware BAy. I have taken cruises along here and know the topography.


Cape May NJ and I looked really hard for the lighthouse but couldn't find it. Ten minutes and we were over the shore and it takes me over two hours to drive there.


Breakfast. No peanuts as there was an allergy on board. I also had coke for the caffeine


After that I put the camera away for the most part. We had thick clouds under us most of the way down. I did see this


Seeing another plane that clearly and that close was a little scary although it was probably not nearly as close as it appeared. The ride was really bumpy most of the way down and I thought of Scott. He doesn't like bumpy plane rides.

A couple of hours later and the Florida coast peeked through the clouds


Landing was a breeze and I had to wait for people to clear the aisles. I skipped the wheelchair here as I wanted to move slowly and check out a few shops. I still made it to baggage claim just before the luggage did. My suitcase was one of the first off.

Next I needed to hobble over to Hertz and get my car. There was a little bit of a communication problem at first - I don't hear well and English wasn't the agents primary language. Eventually I opted for the let Hertz fill the tank option and headed over to the parking garage.

Found my way to the cars - it is a BIG garage with quite a few of the car rental places represented in there. Found my car, a 2013 red Toyota Corolla with a little over 8,000 miles. And I was on my way


Not bad time. Disney here I come.

 

[jecskc]

LOL about your comment about rush hour.

I remember you telling me about the rude TSA agent.

Loved your "Up in the air" photos. Good stuff !!

 

[scottny]

You know how I feel about the helper and that whole situation.
Don’t get me started on your neighbor either. LOL
Glad the ankle might be healing now.
Gad you remembered the phone but bummer on the gps.
I HATE bumpy flights and the plane that close I would have freaked out.
Sounds like you got a nice car.

 

[tazdev3225]

LOL about your comment about rush hour.

I remember you telling me about the rude TSA agent.

Loved your "Up in the air" photos. Good stuff !!

Seriously we sat more than moved for at least 10 minutes.

She was rude. I get you have a job to do but there are a lot of people who don't fly on a regular basis. get a coffee and a new attitude.

Thanks I was really happy about the flight pics as I was using my little throw away camera. It takes decent pics unless my granddaughter is using it. She needs to learn not to move that camera.

 

[tazdev3225]

You know how I feel about the helper and that whole situation.
Don’t get me started on your neighbor either. LOL
Glad the ankle might be healing now.
Gad you remembered the phone but bummer on the gps.
I HATE bumpy flights and the plane that close I would have freaked out.
Sounds like you got a nice car.

I am not happy at all as it seems she is staying around. Makes going down to Cape MAy to see my aunt hard.

I ignore the neighbor as much as I can. Not worth the energy.

I needed the phone it had my mom's cell number programmed in it. Thankfully I did have useless maps.

I know you hate the bumpy flights. As soon as we hit the turbulence I thought of you. The plane that close was a little scary.

The car was very nice. A little small as I drive a nice big van that handles well on speedy curves. At least I think so, not sure about you.

 

[scottny]

Mini vans can roll very easily.

 

[kde175]

Hi,

I followed Scott over from his reports. Looking forward to reading about your very well deserved trip.

 

[Lesprivate]

I didn't know you started your TR, you can thank Scott for pointing me to it thumbsup2

I am a notary and I definitely would not notarized something like that You sure are in need of a nice Disney trip after that. Sorry about your foot but now you can heal right in a cast.

 

[wiigirl]

In for your TR!

 

[tazdev3225]

Hi,

I followed Scott over from his reports. Looking forward to reading about your very well deserved trip.

Thanks for joining in.

Mini vans can roll very easily.

Scott you know I had the van in control the whole time.

I didn't know you started your TR, you can thank Scott for pointing me to it thumbsup2

I am a notary and I definitely would not notarized something like that You sure are in need of a nice Disney trip after that. Sorry about your foot but now you can heal right in a cast.

Thanks for joining in Leslie. I really wish we could do something to the notary. There is a good chance he printed the papers out too. As long as we can keep them from getting my aunt to sign anything else I'll be happy for now. The trip was really needed to destress for a bit. I am hoping the cast will let it heal so I can avoid surgery.

In for your TR!

Thanks for joining in. I hope you'll like it.


Stay tuned I'll finish Day 1 later today.

 

[scottny]

 

[tazdev3225]

LOL Scott. Sorry all I really planned to update yesterday but I had a ball game to coach and then a major panic attack over the cast. I am now cast free and in a boot for six weeks.

On to finish Day 1.

I was in the car and on my way. I hoped. I had actually driven to Disney from the airport on google a couple of days earlier. You can take a street level ride. Unfortunately I kept missing the turns and wound up in a swamp or something once. It wasn't that bad a drive. I had 2 tolls totaling $2.25 and I didn't need exact change.

Not long, about 21 minutes later and I wasn't speeding, and I saw the happiest sight


Not a great picture but I was driving. The clouds did not look good. And where was I headed you ask?


OK not a great picture again but I was more concerned about arriving in one piece. Yes that is EPCOT in the distance. I had called my mom from the airport so they knew I arrived safely. She also told me they would have dinner for me when I got to my aunt's house. I had wanted to eat there but free food, who turns that down.

I parked my car and noticed where I was and then caught a novelty - the parking lot tram. I haven't been on that in 15 years. It brought back memories. I had no bags with me so I skipped that and headed right to the ticket window to exchange my AP voucher for an actual AP. Then I was in my happy place. I could feel the tension of the past months slowly leave me.

I went to guest services and got a GAC. I did not want to rent an ECV if I could avoid it. I especially did not want one that day. $50 for a few hours was just to much money. I had skipped the entrance pics because there was just too many people there. Spaceship Earth called to me. Standby was at least 30 minutes but I had the GAC so I went to the side entrance. That was just as long. No SE right now.

I headed back and found these guys


I actually am very familiar with Phineas and Ferb and Perry. My grandkids LOVE that show. I did get at least a shot of SE


Those clouds really did not look nice. There was a large storm system in the area so I was pretty sure I would see rain. I decided to check the line in Innoventions for my free picture courtesy of Disney Visa. Nope line was too long. I went the long way out and saw this



Not sure what it was all about but something to explore one day. I exited the building and where to go? I could head to the Land or I could head to World Showcase. I decided to head to the WS. I did get my first monorail pic of the trip


As I headed to the showcase I found the Butterfly Garden. I love butterflies. I can spend hours in front of my house taking pictures fo them.

Vidia


There were a lot of kids in there holding the butterflies. I asked before I took any pictures so as not to upset parents




Silvermist I think



A cute fairy house


Terrance


Another fairy house


Rosetta


Iridessa


And yet another fairy house


Fawn


And that was it for the day. It was really crowded in there. I was really planning on taking a lot of pics in EPCOT so sometimes I may just post one with no comment such as this one


As I wandered on I found the Lion King topiaries. Some birds were enjoying them too


There's a black bird on Simba's head


And a little one here too


I left the Lion King and found a few monsters




To be continued

 

[tazdev3225]

continued as I was over my picture limit

Finally I was at my destination. My plan was to eat at a few of the booths and I was really getting hungry. And my first stop was Pinapple Promenade foe a Dole Whip with Siesta Key Spiced Rum, cost $6.25.


It was a little pricy but very good. Of course something with alcohol on an empty stomach wasn't the best idea but there was so little rum in it that it was OK. Just as I got the Dole Whip it started to drizzle aa bit. I walked on and stopped in Canada. I thought I would get a poncho but they had no adult sizes. I stayed inside the shop entrance til I finished eating and headed on to the United Kingdom.

Look up! It's a bird! It's a plane! NO! It's Peter Pan.


Captain Hook


and Tick Tock Croc



Then it really started to rain. I did get a poncho here but it was raining a pretty steady rain and getting heavier so I put the camera under the poncho and left it there. I had my DSLR with me and I did not want that getting wet.

Now I decided to wander around the WS the long way heading towards Mexico. I really don't know why. Maybe hoping the rain would stop? I stopped in Mexico and went on the Gran Fiesta Tour and did not take ONE picture. Anybody who knows me knows that is a shock.

I decided to just head to my aunt's house so I found the car, got out the map and my GPS. Wait! Where's the GPS? I called my DH. My GPS was in Philadelphia on the front seat of his truck. OK back up plan there's navigation on my new phone. I clicked on it and waited. No satellite. I headed out I had a general idea of where I wanted to go. I couldn't find it. Navigation wouldn't work. I'm lost. I found I-4 and headed west. Toll road. Nope I'm not paying especially since I don't know if it's the right road.

I went to the next exit and looked for a gas station. No gas station. I saw a McDonalds with WiFi. Still can't connect to navigation. Then I saw a Walgreens. Maybe they'll have maps or know where to find a gas station. A really nice woman overheard my dilemma and gave me directions. I was a little confused but heard the key directions. She was a little chatty.

I found the roads I needed. The AAA trip tik was a little more helpful. The 35 mile trip was more like 50 miles. Instead of about 40 minutes it took me 90 minutes but I made it. I arrived in time for dinner. Just a frozen lasagna but it was really good. Then I got to watch part of the Downton Abbey marathon. My aunt has all the seasons on DVD and she and my mom were watching it all day. Of course I was totally lost as I had never seen it at all. It does look like a good series though and I love Maggie Smith.

I made some notes and by 10 PM I was in bed. My mom and aunt get up at 5 AM. I was tired as it had beem a long day. And with that my first day came to an end.

 

[jecskc]

Yay for finally arriving at Disney

Yes, having a GAC doesn’t really mean there is a shorter wait, what it means is there is a place to sit down if you can’t stand or a quiet place for someone to wait if they have sensory issues.

My kids love the Piggy Bank Adventure. Try it with your grandkids next time you are there with them

I love that you knew all of the fairies names in the butterfly garden.
Grandkids, I presume. I love the fairy movies.

Loved all of your topiary photos !!!

I hope that I helped you that day with your GPS problem. Did that work ?? Turning your location on ?? I know it was a brand new phone for you. So much to learn sometimes.

Yay for free food.

Looking forward to more !!

 

[tazdev3225]

Yay for finally arriving at Disney

Yes, having a GAC doesn’t really mean there is a shorter wait, what it means is there is a place to sit down if you can’t stand or a quiet place for someone to wait if they have sensory issues.

My kids love the Piggy Bank Adventure. Try it with your grandkids next time you are there with them

I love that you knew all of the fairies names in the butterfly garden.
Grandkids, I presume. I love the fairy movies.

Loved all of your topiary photos !!!

I hope that I helped you that day with your GPS problem. Did that work ?? Turning your location on ?? I know it was a brand new phone for you. So much to learn sometimes.

Yay for free food.

Looking forward to more !!

I knew that a GAC just means you can sit or avoid stairs. I just didn'y want to wait anywhere that day since the rain was coming.

I will have to check the Piggy Bank Adventures with the grandkids. they are already bugging to go back. They are so my grandkids.

Yep 2 granddaughters so I know the fairies.

I never did get the GPS to work on the phone. I need to get that checked out.

Free food is always good.

More will e coming but not tonight. Need to get baseball stats done.