4.5 Newbies and a Whole Lotta Kleenex! Updated pg 10 8/21! finally!

[sara74]

Ok, so I am trying to overcome my trip report stagefright and just start typing already. I have even avoided the whole Disboards all week so I didn't read any great posts and chicken out again!

PreTrip Report: The Plan (or How Did I Ever Talk DH Into This?)

Talking DH into things is a way of life for us, always has been. At least I didn't have to talk him into marrying me 9 years ago! But talking DH into things is just how our marriage works. The first child, the house, the second child, this trip, the third child...you get the picture. It has been said (by me of course) that after a lifetime of twisting his arm into doing these things, when he's on his deathbed, he'll look back and thank me for talking him into a pretty decent life. At least he didn't disagree when I said that to him!

So to introduce ourselves.

Me - 31 years old, part time dentist, full time neurotic. I know worrying works, since most of the things I worry about never seem to happen! Aside from worrying, I am also horribly, terribly and sometimes delightfully overemotional. I cry at songs, commercials, you name it and I have been moved to tears by it. Add to that the fact that I am 6 months pregnant with baby #3 and let the waterworks begin!

DH - also 31 years old, Periodontist (gum surgery, dental implants, etc)

Now before you all stop reading here, let me make the plea that we are not as horribly boring as two dentists on vacation might be imagined to be. We're not quite Steve Martin in Little Shop of Horrors sadistic either. Yes, we let the kids eat dessert. Heck, we even went nuts and ate dessert ourselves! Just your average, fun loving orally fixated family!

DH is the Rock. Not the butt-kicking moving guy, just my personal rock. He is level, steady and unshakeable. Which is good when I get carried away with things - like everything. He is also frugal, and that's putting it lightly. A good friend jokes that copper wire was invented when DH and his father both found a penny at the same time. That's where the arm twisting comes in. DH was raised to scrimp and save and I was raised in a family where the motto was 'Enjoy Life'.

DD - just turned 4 - Mini me. Looks like me, has my temper too. Loves to dance, sing and loves her brother dearly. Anything I'd say about her would sound like I'm bragging - and I would be! She's a gift to us, wise beyond her years and a real firecracker. Carries a little of DH in her too - everything I buy at the grocery store she asks me "Is that on sale, Mommy?"

DS - 21 months - Mini DH. A big mush. He was a contented baby and remains that way as a toddler. Loves being tickled, goes with the flow. Worships his big sister as much as she does him.

So here we all are. 4 of us and wondering what to do for a family vacation. DH has never been to WDW, or Florida even. I haven't been since 1987. And we have the prospects of a good sized tax refund that's burning a hole in my pocket. Hey, I'm a big planner! I beg, plead, cajole and promise all sorts of things to DH if he agrees to this trip. You would think he'd have learned his lesson about this stuff and just agreed right off the bat, but I think sometimes he just wants to see how desperate I will get. So after I make all sorts of promises that are inappropriate to list on a family forum and would become largely impossible to keep in my current third trimester state - he agrees! It doesn't hurt that his parents have come to visit for the weekend. And while they spent DH's childhood denying their kids extravagant vacations and toys, etc., they have no problems encouraging us to lavish them on the kids ourselves. And they spoil the grandkids plenty themselves. So, I'm at the computer, thinking I have all the time in the world. Can't book ADR's until 90 days out, so no need to book a hotel yet, right? WRONG! Find a site that happens to mention that ADRs are now 180 days. Do the math about our projected trip time. Let's see, trying to get pregnant plus no need to go during school vacations, minus no desire for really hot weather, divided by peak season prices....that puts us in the last week of April. 176 days from that night! Eeeeeek! Gotta get that CRT ADR! Haven't even figured out mod vs deluxe! DMIL (and believe me, that is one D that has not always meant Dear!) nudges me and tells me to go for the more expensive place. Sure, why not? Not her money! DH and I took a trip to Colorado without the kids last year and did some hiking in Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park, so I am in a WL kind of mood. OK, WL it is. And I call and book. Rack rates, Dining plan. Don't even know what codes are or where to find them. Newbies... "And may we transfer you to dining reservations, Ma'am?"

In one hour I went from thinking about going to fully booked vacation with more ADRs than our dining plan will support. DH is rolling his eyes, but I see a hint of a grin...176 days, nope 175 cuz it's after midnight and I can't sleep! We're going to Disney World!

 

[brando5111]

Love it so far, keep on woman! No man or baby should stop you!!!!!!

 

[NJOYURLIFE]

More, more, more.....

 

[OhMari]

Thanks for sharing. We hiked in the Rocky Mountain National Park a couple years ago, all I can say is Vertigo.

 

[Disneyfriend]

No stage fright necessary! You're off to a great start!

I look forward to reading the rest . . .



Disneyfriend

 

[sara74]

So there we were in October 2005. The kids don't know, but they will soon. I can't keep a secret to save my life. I have no vault. Don't tell me a thing, I mean it! So while I have the idea to do the surprise thing that so many of you do, I just don't have the self control. I start trolling the Disney website and casually looking at the hotel (WL) with DD in the room. Start looking at pictures of rides with DD in the room. Brainwash DD into thinking that a trip to WDW is her idea. Poor child, she has no idea what she is up against. She doesn't even know where Florida is, but she has this sudden urge to go there! Could it be the subtle Disney music piped in from the computer every day? Could it be the trips to the Disney store? The fact that Dora videos have disappeared and I am suddenly encouraging full length Disney features? Or is it me whispering in her ear while she sleeps? Whatever, she's on board without even knowing why!

Right on schedule we are excited to find out that we are expecting our third child! When I say that I plan, I mean it! This puts me at 24 weeks when we go to WDW. Far enough along to not be nauseated and early enough to not be enormous. Guess there will be no Splash Mountain for me - another one of my evil plans! (Insert evil laugh here) I'm not trying to skip out on thrillers - not one bit! I haven't met a coaster I didn't like. But I will sacrifice the thrill rides this time for the master plan...a return trip! You read it right. DH has never been, I haven't seen the place since I was 12 years old and I am planning a second trip four months before our first one! (and already writing that trip report in my head too!) Not to make light of the baby making, we have been extremely fortunate to have the family that we have and the good fortune of easy conceptions and easy pregnancies. For those things we are eternally grateful. So I make my plan. I will sit out the big rides with DS thereby skipping the need for all that parent swap stuff. DS and I will people watch and DD and DH will ride all that we can't. DH will have a fabulous time and DD will too, of course. If his good time isn't enough for a return trip, I can always get her to nag him into one!

I start crying sometime in November. Disney commercials on TV. "I'm too excited to sleep!", the credit card commercial that shows the family taking their daughter to Disney. They don't even show Disney and I still cry! The website! Scrolling over the picture of the WL pool alone makes me cry! DH, still rolling eyes, has declared that he will be excited when we get there. I declare him to be a big poopy head. And immediately have to take it back as DD is the bad word police. Poopy head is out, as are Geez Louise! and For Pete's sake! Seriously.

Change of plans! DH has a conference in Miami in April! We are scheduled to arrive on Sunday April 23rd (the day after peak season ends) and spend 6 nights. DH's conference is the 21st and 22nd. Option 1: We all head to Miami together before WDW. The hotel in Miami is a swanky golf resort with 5 courses and a massive European spa. Sounds good to anyone, right? And I can picture the kids spilling milk in the restaurant and cannonballing in the pool - not exactly swanky golf club behavior. Option 2: I stay at home with the kids and fly down to meet DH in Orlando as originally scheduled. No way. I'll be 6 months PG with the Graco duoglider, all the luggage and both kids! And did I mention that we got excessively cheap when we booked the flights? We live 10 minutes from an airport that has direct SW flights to Orlando, but it was ~$300 cheaper total to fly out of JFK, a few hours away and near DH's parents. So we were planning an overnight at the DIL's the night before we left. And if DH thought I was going to go there alone with the kids and stay with the ILs...so we changed our flights. Now we leave on April 20th. Easter/school vacation week. Peak season. Frugal DH is nauseous when he sees the prices of WL those extra 3 nights. The logic in booking WL was proximity to MK and since I won't be taking the kids to the parks until DH joins us, we book a room only reservation for ASMo. I figure we'll spend the days in the pool, and the nights with the 3 of us crammed in one bed. New plan all set. Costs us all our flight savings to switch the 4 tickets. DH still rolling eyes. Haven't gotten taxes back yet and this is our trip budget, so we sit with crossed fingers. Well, DH does.

I set out to get us all cute clothes for our vacation. Everyone except me. I know I call DH cheap, but I have tons of maternity clothes from DS who was July and this baby is due in August just 2 years later. So I channel my efforts into DH and the kids. I hit Gymboree. New line, full price, no worries! We're going to Disney World! I buy half the store. Earn Gymbucks up the Wazoo...and return it all (almost) when I come back from orbit. He may be cheap, but I'm pretty close too. No way, can't justify it. DH has learned from years past. He didn't even bother to roll his eyes. He knows enough to wait me out on this one. I end up getting clothes there anyway, but on sale and clearance and pat myself on the back for being so thrifty.

I get busy planning. A friend at work who knows way more WDW than me gets me the Passporter - thanks Kara! She joins TGM for her January trip. I join TGM. I read the articles. I take notes. I recopy the notes to make them neater. I am a Disney geek. My patients know every detail of my trip and I am surprised to learn how many of them are Disney geeks too! There's a whole underground network out there! I take every word on the Dis as gospel. I love my stroller but consider ditching it for a Maclaren just because people who have been to WDW have them. I agonize over pool hopping and refillable mugs. And I am overplanning enough to be buying carefully planned Tink gifts for the kids designed to combat line-waiting boredom. I wrap them in special paper. I number them according to the day of our stay. Of course there is the one patient that has sworn off Disney because she went one time and waited 2 hours for the submarine ride and it was awful. But that won't happen to me, right? I am eating, living, breathing the Dis and TGM. I am sure to avoid the lines, right? I panic when I read TGM's best parks page. I already have all my ADRs! What if they are all bad? No worries, I must have channeled Mike when I made them. It is all good. All the park days I planned were greenlighted by Mike and I didn't even know it. I am geek - hear me roar!

Stay tuned...we actually DO leave for WDW in this trip report, I promise!

 

[sara74]

Thanks for the encouragement! As you can see, I have my ramble on now! Stick with me!

OhMari - RMNP was a whole lot of altitude sickness for me! Partway up to the highest point I was sick all over the trail! (Sorry other hikers!) I crawled to the top to have my picture taken with DH, by a couple in their 70s who make the trip there every year! But boy do those views beat CT hills!

Lisa - Love the NJOYURLIFE. My dad's license plates were all some variation of this. NJOY, NJOYLF, ENJOY. Like I said, it was the family motto!

 

[Minniespal]

Can't wait to read more

 

[sara74]

At last we are ready to leave! Our flights are 7 am on Thursday, and did either of us take Wednesday off? Of course not! In fact I was scheduled to work until 8 pm but rethink it and leave at 3. Home at 4. DH already dropped the dog at the vets and loaded the car. We grab the kids and leave for NY, the ILs house, with plans to put the kids right to bed in their travel clothes and catch some winks ourselves. Get there, DS already asleep, DD cooperates when I remind her we are leaving for Disney in the morning. We awaken to 2 alarm clocks at 4:00. Get dressed. MIL is ready to go at 4:30 so we swoop the kids into the car and we're on our way! I am crying already. They are all laughing at me - except DD who is still sleeping

DS isn't sleeping but really has no clue what is going on...

Pixie dust sprinkles down on us from the start! They moved the seats that we chose on cheaptickets and no longer have the four of us clustered as we have planned, so DH talks to the gate agent. He gets us a whole row to ourselves! It was so nice not to worry about annoying some poor unsuspecting soul who got stuck with us! The kids love the flight, no problems at all. And we all have coughs and congestion but I forgot any sort of medicine, so I was sweating the takeoff and landing a little. We depart on time, and arrive 30 minutes early! Here is a photo of DH and the kids in front of the actual plane they took their first flight on!

Now DH is going to see us to the ME bus and then pick up his rental car and drive to Miami. I planned and planned, but I have no idea where the ME desk is. At the bottom of the escalator we see 30 minutes later. Well, with the kids in the stroller, we didn't take the escalator! No problem, we just missed the bus to ASMo, no problem. We get on a bus, DH kisses us goodbye and we are on our way!

ME was ok. The driver couldn't get the video to work at first. Then he spent a bit of time reminding us that he accepted tips. Then some high school kids responded that they were going to one of the other All Stars, but they were just kidding so we drove there and no one got off the bus. And I'm thinking, good thing DH isn't here - not that he is easily annoyed, but any little thing could be a strike against a return trip. Have to make this trip a smooth one. Finally get to ASMo and get in a very short line to check in. We are in the process when DD reminds me that I forgot an important parental duty. I did not locate all available potties upon entering the building. We excuse ourselves and dash across the lobby - I am carrying both kids. They weigh over 70 pounds together, I am 6 months along and stand 5' 1". I bet we look great. When we return to the desk the CM has bad news. No room for us. Good news - free upgrade to CBR! Did I mention I am prone to crying? Tears are running down my face, not just welling in the eyes. Not that I didn't want to stay at ASMo, but just an unexpected pleasant surprise! Before you can say Zip a dee doo dah we are loaded in a prepaid cab by the manager and on our way! Doubly glad now that I packed bathing suits and sunscreen in the carry on!

We check in to a first floor room in Aruba, very clean, cute decor. I am actually grateful for the lack of 'Disney' to it. I was afraid that DD would have a hard time being surrounded by the theming of ASMo and not going to the parks. We are here for 3 days and it feels like a comfy beach resort. Like we could stay here for a long weekend and do nothing else! Of course we ran to the pool!

And my little hams stopped to pose for me along the way...

Grabbed a meal in the food court. I will admit to being totally thrown by the change of venue. I had done no reading on CBR, had no idea where it was even! So I was trying to negotiate the food court with the bumpy floor with a tray balanced on top of the stroller and both kids are screaming. She's in front and he's pulling her hair. She's hitting him in return. He pulls hair, she hits, he cries and pulls again. She cries. I am maintaining Zen like calm as I ask for a refillable mug and juggle several cartons of milk (DS has a dairy addiction and I am his dealer) I keep pretending that I don't notice the kids as I have no extra hands to grab them with. And suddenly they are quiet. And hugging. I give DD a funny look and she explains that she told her brother that he could pull her hair as long as he said sorry. So now it goes Pull. OW! Sowwy, Kahti. Hug. Repeat. And they are quiet and we take dinner back to the room and fall asleep. Disney magic? I'll let you be the judge!

 

[burly]

Lovin your TR, your kids are precious.

 

[Backstage_Gal]

Great report, thanks, can't wait for the next update

 

[MagicMe]

Really enjoying your trip report! Can't wait to hear more.

 

[iluvmickeytown]

Great report. With all the crying reminds me when I was prego.

 

[tribus121]

Great report keep up the great work

 

[suezpqt]

GREAT report - I don't know who you are trying to kid - there is no need to feel stage fright!! Please keep it coming - want to hear all of the details!!!

 

[savs]

I'm enjoying your trip so far, can't wait to hear the rest

 

[remfam5]

YEA! KEEP GOING!

 

[Disneygal4life]

More, more! Great trip report so far.

 

[mkjmom]

Congratulations on the upgrade to CBR! Great trip report, can't wait to read more.

 

[PaulDavid's mom]

More please! I'm so impatient and the story is sooo good!