Cremate Me in the Fire Pit... Our October 2016 PTR

[thepicklebee]

Greetings and Salutations!


I am very excited to be bringing you my Pre-Trip Report for our upcoming trip in October 2016!


The Basics:


Who is going?: Me, DH, DD (9)


When?: October 10-15, 2016 (We will be at “the park who must not be named” Oct 8-10)


Staying?: Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge


Tickets? : Military Salute 4 Day Park Hoppers



Part 1 - Introductions -or- Who the Heck are You?
Part 2 - How the Trip Came to Be - or - You Can't Take it With You

 

[thepicklebee]

A little about us…

I’m Erin. I am a Disney lover, and have been going to Disney fairly regularly since my first trip at 5 years old. My grandparents are snowbirds, and we would often take a few days at Disney while we were visiting them, so I went almost every year when I was growing up. This is my 16th trip!

I am the manager of a bookstore (think, Fox Books not The Shop Around the Corner) and I love, love, love books! I don’t love retail… but the job market for analysis of 19th century British literature is a bit dry.


I am a proud Fightin’ Texas Aggie and a die hard college football fan. My DH was a Sooner so we have a healthy rivalry at home.


When I’m not reading on my porch swing or planning vacations, I’m probably cooking - that is my real passion. You can follow my food adventures on Instagram: thepicklebee.

The DH is Joe. He is recently retired from the Air Force and having served for 20 years, he’s adjusting to post-military life. We have been together for 6 years and he took his first trip to Disney in 2015. Before that trip, he was okay with going… but he was NOT looking forward to it. While he is never going to be a crazy planner like me, he admits that Disney is a great place to visit.

Our DD is Pickle - no, that’s not her real name- who is turning 10 this year, just after we get back from our trip. Our 2 day Universal stay at the beginning of this trip is her birthday present. She’s mine by birth, and Joe’s by choice. She is a daredevil and has never met a roller coaster she didn’t like. She’s smart and feisty… sass for days, y’all.

We have a four legged family member named Gus. He’s an Olde English Bulldog and a giant pain in the rear, but we still love him. Bless his heart, he’s allergic to darn near everything. He won’t be coming with us (obviously) and is happy to spend the week at his dog retreat.

Up next...
How the trip came to be - or- You Can't Take It With You...

 

[thepicklebee]

In the past, I’ve always been the “super planner” type - booking my trips over 180 days out so that I could be on top of ADR’s etc etc. This time, would be different. First, you need some back story.


Picture it… Maryland.. 2015…



Joe and I have been together for 6 years, and obviously had lives before we met each other. We both came to our relationship with kids - although mine was 4 and Joe’s were grown or almost grown. Joe’s youngest son followed him into the Air Force and was very much his mini-me. They shared a lot of hobbies, and a love of sports.


After Joe retired, we made a decision to live in Maryland - about an hour south of his last duty station. Surprisingly, his son got assigned there as his first duty station. This was perfect for Joe, as he loved being able to spend time with him - and his oldest son had already moved to that area as well.


Now… this next part is not a good part of the story, but is necessary if I’m telling you the full version of how this trip came to be…


On October 1 of last year, we were told that my youngest stepson had killed himself. The next few weeks were a flurry of planning as we had to deal with the Air Force and Joe’s ex for funeral details, and of painful inaction - as we all had questions that we would never have the answers to. To top this off, my birthday is October 12, and Pickle’s is October 18th - and it felt really inappropriate to put a lot of thought and celebration into those in light of what had just happened.


Obviously, the last year has been extraordinarily difficult.


I wrote this post on Facebook after I read about another airman suicide, and I think it does a fairly good job of summarizing some of my feelings about it:


"As many of you know, my stepson - an active duty Airman- killed himself in October. There are some people who feel this should be a secret, that speaking the truth somehow diminishes who he was, however, I feel the opposite. I share this because I hope that it could possibly lead one person away from making a terrible mistake.

Suicide destroys the people left behind. It leaves a storm of unanswered questions, a flood of guilt, and an ache that will never go away. It pulls families apart, it is a constant presence in the lives of those who loved them.

You question if you should have seen something, if you could have said something at some point to make them know that they could always talk to you.

You worry if grief will overtake others to the point that they, too, decide to kill themselves.

You cringe every time a reference to suicide appears in a tv episode or when someone makes a joke about it.

Your life never returns to what it was because no matter how much you wish it wasn't the case- you can't turn back time.

I watch a father mourn his son on a daily basis. A son that he was so proud of - who followed him in to the Air Force, who shared the same hobbies, who loved the same sports teams. He has a burden I can never fully share, and one I wouldn't want to. I see a man who doesn't laugh as fully as he once did.

I don't just mourn the loss of L. I mourn the loss of weekend dinners with our family. I grieve for the normalcy of what our life was. I grieve the loss of my husband's once happy eyes that now cloud with sadness at a moments notice.”

So, yeah. Rough.

I am fortunate that in my position at work, I can earn a bonus based on performance. As the date approached where I would find out how much it was going to be, I started to get a little nagging voice in the back of my head….

“Diiiiiiiiiisney.”

Hmm. Disney.

We love Disney. We all had a fabulous time at Disney. We need some fun in our life. We should go to Disney.

I knew October was going to be incredibly hard for Joe. Hard for all of us, of course, but especially for him. And we needed to reclaim some of the month for joy - and especially for Pickle.

I broached the subject of Disney delicately.

“So… I was thinking…. “

“That never ends well.”

“Whatever. So anyway… I’ll get my bonus soon. And while there is a part of me that wants to be responsible and throw it into savings…”

“You don’t want to be responsible?”

“Nope. I want to go to Disney.”

“You’re always talking about how you want to save more money….”

“I KNOW! But… We only get one life. And I want to LIVE it! We have savings, this would just be more money going into it. And it’s not like it’s a TON of money. I mean…you can’t take it with you, right?”

“Nope. You can’t. Heck, you can cremate me in the fire pit in the backyard when I die for all I care and spend the funeral money on another trip to Disney.”

Umm…

That sounded an awful like he was on board!

AND HE WAS! We are going back to Disney!

 

[thepicklebee]

Once we had made the decision to go, we knew we wanted to go in October - as a birthday present to both Pickle and me, and to help get through the rough stuff.


Pickle is a HUGE Harry Potter fan (like her Mama) and has read all the books, seen all the movies, has the memorabilia - so of course we had to go to Universal for a few days while we were going to be in Orlando. We contemplating staying at Disney the entire time, and just driving over to Universal for a day or two - but we got a great rate at the Royal Pacific Hawaiian that includes the Universal Express option, so it made sense to start our vacation there.


We will be leaving home after Pickle gets out of school on Friday, October 7th, and driving to SC. The next day we will drive the rest of the way and check in at Universal.


We would be looking to check in to a Disney resort on Monday night, October 10th - checking out on Saturday, October 15th.


The question that was up in the air was where we would be staying.


We feel incredibly fortunate that Disney allows retired military to participate in their Military salute pricing, but I also knew that booking in July for October was going to be tricky - and that we may not have any military pricing options.


No worries, I thought to myself… I can stay at Pop and be happy! It’s still Disney!


I knew that I could probably have no trouble getting a Value room during the time we wanted to go- I could book that at the rack rate online and there was availability. I also knew that Shades of Green was an option - but I do prefer to stay at a Disney resort.


I called to find out what my options were…


There was only one.


Animal Kingdom Lodge was the only resort with military rate availability when we wanted to go.


If I’m being honest… I really wanted Beach Club. I love Beach Club. It’s my very favorite. I love everything about it. But I knew this would be a long shot. Not only is it “last minute” by Disney standards, it is during Food & Wine - so Epcot area resorts fill fast.

(Pickle enjoying her meal at the Cape May Cafe at Beach Club)


However, we stayed at AKL on our last trip, and we did really like it - in spite of having what is likely the worst room at the resort. We were in Ostrich trail on the third floor. From there, you have a beautiful view of the ceiling of the bus area. Not the roof… the ceiling. Looking out the sliding glass door and the balcony provides you with a view of… brown. No natural light. No cell phone signal. Nothing. On the upside - it takes 3 minutes to get to the bus, is a quick walk to the lobby, the Mara, and the pool.

Last Trip... gosh, she looks so young.


The being said - we knew exactly what we would be getting, and we did enjoy AKL - so I booked!


However, I won’t give up on my Beach Club dreams. I’m going to keep calling to check to see if anything opens up.

 

[Dinohood]

can't wait to read more, your trip will be here before you know it i just have to wait 2 months for mine.

 

[thepicklebee]

can't wait to read more, your trip will be here before you know it i just have to wait 2 months for mine.

It's so exciting! I'm incredibly spoiled this year because I'll be going down in September for a few days solo- courtesy of a work conference in Orlando. I'm calling it my scouting mission before the real trip.

 

[Dinohood]

dude sweet i bet you were bum about that work meeting the conference is in Orlando.