Disneyhayes
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2011
Growing up, Disney was not a large part of my life. I loved Disney movies and had almost all of them on VHS (that’s how we watched movies before DVD’s for you young folk). We took one trip to WDW when I was about 9 and the only thing I really remember is we stayed at the Fort Wilderness Cabins, went to River Country and my sister stopped sucking her thumb during the trip.
I had always been a “Daddy’s Girl” but the dynamic quickly changed when I was 11 and my parents divorced. I was becoming a teenager and I wasn’t with him all the time.
I remember my dad talking about our first trip with him being a single dad. I don’t remember being too excited. I was actually kind of annoyed. He kept rambling about some guy named Pete and other Disney Dads. There was something about plastic corn and the color lime green. He began collecting things like 2 way radios (that’s how we communicated before everyone had a cell phone for you young folk), the best fanny pack (ab satchel for the DIS Universal crew), shiny pennies and everything else everyone had thought of. We packed it all in the Marlboro suitcases he had and off to Disney we went. For the next 3 summers we would go and stay at Dixie Landings (currently Port Orleans Riverside). We stayed in building 14 in the Alligator Bayou. We met YeeHaw Bob, rode surrey bikes, water mice and anything else he could think of. This was when Disney found its way into my heart.
After our last trip my dad had his first double bypass for a vascular disease that was causing blockage to the arteries in his legs. We wouldn’t go back to Disney after that. We wouldn’t really do much at all. Our relationship went back to being sporadic. I spent more time with friends and saw him less. His health continued to decline but I wasn’t paying any attention.
I got married in 2008, had kids, saw some commercials for Disney World and decided to plan a trip. What was that dumb website my dad used? My dad told me to go to the DIS. He explained a few things that he remembered; some tricks, things to bring, etc. I got on the DIS to get some information and there it was. The obsession.
We went on our first trip in September of 2011 and I started planning 8 months prior to that trip. We have been back twice since and will go again this year. Talk of Disney opened the dialog between my dad and I past the standard “how are you and how are the kids”. Our relationship continued to improve and I was back to being a Daddy’s Girl. This was all just in time for my dad to get sick again. It started with an aneurism in his femoral artery. This began 2 years of back to back medical issues that lead to his leg being amputated and 2 heart attacks while in the hospital April of 2014. During this time we continued to talk about the changes at Disney amongst other things to avoid discussing his declining health. I am now talking to my dad weekly where before I could go weeks without talking to him. I have told him that I would like for him to come on our next trip. I know a monorail resort is going to be the easiest for him in a wheelchair. The words that came out of his mouth next broke my heart. Going back to Disney again was on his bucket list. There it was; my dad had a bucket list and he felt he needed to start checking things off.
I am determined to take my dad to Disney with us later this year. I want to experience it with him again and to create those memories with my children. I want to give to him what he tried to give to me so many years before. Disney set the ground work for our relationship we have now. The DIS has solidified that structure and never leaves a moment of silence between myself and my daddy.
Thanks for reading and now I am off to the DISabilities board to get some tips on traveling with someone who has one leg and a wheelchair. My dad calls himself a pirate so I wonder if he’s too old for the Pirate’s League ;-)
Comment below with your stories of how Disney or the DIS changed something in your life!
I had always been a “Daddy’s Girl” but the dynamic quickly changed when I was 11 and my parents divorced. I was becoming a teenager and I wasn’t with him all the time.
I remember my dad talking about our first trip with him being a single dad. I don’t remember being too excited. I was actually kind of annoyed. He kept rambling about some guy named Pete and other Disney Dads. There was something about plastic corn and the color lime green. He began collecting things like 2 way radios (that’s how we communicated before everyone had a cell phone for you young folk), the best fanny pack (ab satchel for the DIS Universal crew), shiny pennies and everything else everyone had thought of. We packed it all in the Marlboro suitcases he had and off to Disney we went. For the next 3 summers we would go and stay at Dixie Landings (currently Port Orleans Riverside). We stayed in building 14 in the Alligator Bayou. We met YeeHaw Bob, rode surrey bikes, water mice and anything else he could think of. This was when Disney found its way into my heart.
After our last trip my dad had his first double bypass for a vascular disease that was causing blockage to the arteries in his legs. We wouldn’t go back to Disney after that. We wouldn’t really do much at all. Our relationship went back to being sporadic. I spent more time with friends and saw him less. His health continued to decline but I wasn’t paying any attention.
I got married in 2008, had kids, saw some commercials for Disney World and decided to plan a trip. What was that dumb website my dad used? My dad told me to go to the DIS. He explained a few things that he remembered; some tricks, things to bring, etc. I got on the DIS to get some information and there it was. The obsession.
We went on our first trip in September of 2011 and I started planning 8 months prior to that trip. We have been back twice since and will go again this year. Talk of Disney opened the dialog between my dad and I past the standard “how are you and how are the kids”. Our relationship continued to improve and I was back to being a Daddy’s Girl. This was all just in time for my dad to get sick again. It started with an aneurism in his femoral artery. This began 2 years of back to back medical issues that lead to his leg being amputated and 2 heart attacks while in the hospital April of 2014. During this time we continued to talk about the changes at Disney amongst other things to avoid discussing his declining health. I am now talking to my dad weekly where before I could go weeks without talking to him. I have told him that I would like for him to come on our next trip. I know a monorail resort is going to be the easiest for him in a wheelchair. The words that came out of his mouth next broke my heart. Going back to Disney again was on his bucket list. There it was; my dad had a bucket list and he felt he needed to start checking things off.
I am determined to take my dad to Disney with us later this year. I want to experience it with him again and to create those memories with my children. I want to give to him what he tried to give to me so many years before. Disney set the ground work for our relationship we have now. The DIS has solidified that structure and never leaves a moment of silence between myself and my daddy.
Thanks for reading and now I am off to the DISabilities board to get some tips on traveling with someone who has one leg and a wheelchair. My dad calls himself a pirate so I wonder if he’s too old for the Pirate’s League ;-)
Comment below with your stories of how Disney or the DIS changed something in your life!
) but my dad is definitely the anal planning influence in my life. He has long live a very unhealthy lifestyle and 3 1/2 years ago he finally had ain infection that went to his heart and hopsitalized him for 6 weeks. In that time, he was actually diagnosed and started getting treated for problems he'd probably had for years. He made an overnight change to all his life habits and worked extremely hard to lose a ton of weight and get active.
ENJOY EVERY MOMENT with your dear father!
