A Cancer-Free Christmas!! Dec 2016 PTR (Update 7/5: MIL forced me to cancel the trip)

[MollieW]

Hello everyone! Holy moly, I don't know where to START. First of all, I'm so glad I found the Disboards, and that I finally decided to sign up! My name is Mollie and my whole family is brand new to Disney and we are diving in head first!

BACKSTORY:

It was my husband's decision to go on this trip. In 2011, right before Christmas, my husband Robert was diagnosed with lung cancer. His only treatment options were radiation therapy and chemotherapy, which meant that he had to spend the next couple years unable to get out of bed. The Christmas season was especially difficult because the month of December holds our anniversary, Robert's birthday, and of course, Christmas. All of those occasions were very, very hard to go through while Robert was in chemo. My two children were still so young and had a hard time grasping what was going on. Christmas 2013 was spent in the hospital and it was just the. worst. thing. EVER. He finished his treatment in May 2014, and in February 2016 he was officially cancer free. After the fight of a lifetime our family is starting to finally come back to normalcy. We feel incredibly blessed, because the odds with lung cancer are just not good. We are choosing to go to Disney World to celebrate!!

We are so excited! It almost makes me cry to think of a holiday season without living in a constant state of fear and stress. I am so thankful for that. I'm so excited to really jump into Disney World planning!!

​

 

[MollieW]

PRE-PLNNING #1 - PLANNING WISHLIST:

So, I can't really book anything right now because it's too early. But I can still get a list in order so that when booking time comes around, I can get it together easily. I had the kids look through Disney's website and make me a list of what they want to do. I've heard that this is a bad idea, but they have been asking to "help" the planning process. I couldn't tell them no! So here's what we got going on so far.
​

• Stay at Grand Floridian or Animal Kingdom Lodge
• Two full days at Magic Kingdom
• Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom
• At least one full day at all the other parks
• Family dinner at California grill
• Special grown up dinner at Victoria and Albert's
• Mini golf
• At least two full days at the Universal park

This is all we have so far. It's looking like a 10 day trip! The next step, I think, will be to get the daily plan down. I'm trying to do this on a spreadsheet, but I don't know how I'm liking it yet. Once that is done, I can get reservations for the hotel, food, and the rides.
​

 

[amberg93]

First of all, from one cancer survivor (lymphoma) to another, congrats to your husband! Bieng cancer free is a huge milestone and a Disney trip is the perfect way to celebrate! I went after finishing chemo and had a blast, so I'm sure your family will too

Secondly, your wish list looks great. AKL or the GF would be amazing hotels and a special dinner at Victoria and Albert's is very awesome.

Can't wait to see what else you have planned.

 

[jerseygal]

MollyW, CONGRATS to your husband and your family on his successful battle! May he continue with GOOD HEALTH and GOOD LUCK AND MUCH FUN planning a great reason to celebrate!

 

[MollieW]

First of all, from one cancer survivor (lymphoma) to another, congrats to your husband! Bieng cancer free is a huge milestone and a Disney trip is the perfect way to celebrate! I went after finishing chemo and had a blast, so I'm sure your family will too

Secondly, your wish list looks great. AKL or the GF would be amazing hotels and a special dinner at Victoria and Albert's is very awesome.

Can't wait to see what else you have planned.

He says thank you!! And congrats to you too! It really makes you think about life in a whole new way. Disney is something that we would have likely scoffed at before, but now it seems so perfect! He blames it on all the Disney movies the kids watched with him while he was sick in bed.

 

[MollieW]

MollyW, CONGRATS to your husband and your family on his successful battle! May he continue with GOOD HEALTH and GOOD LUCK AND MUCH FUN planning a great reason to celebrate!

Thank you so much for your kind words!! It is almost surreal to see the words "good health" to describe my husband.

 

[MollieW]

PRE-PLANNING #2 - DISNEY PLANNER?

Thank you everyone for the lovely words! I'm getting so excited for the trip!!! If I thought I was excited before, I was clearly wrong. I am 20x more excited after getting such a lovely welcome to these boards. You guys are all SO NICE!
​

My next order of business before I really get into the planning is to buy a planner. I asked the question earlier on these boards (somewhere in the "Strategies" section) whether I should even consider buying a planner. Everyone basically said no and I took that advice at first. What I realized though, was that I was having really hard time getting all my ideas together in one place. The app only really works for you if you have tickets. I've been using a notebook so far, but I am not liking it. I also tried a spreadsheet and that was even worse. I am a paper and pencil person, clearly.

So I think I'm just going to go ahead and get some pre-made planning pages. I'm stuck between two that I found on Etsy. There's one that has a nifty checklist of all the rides in the park which would be wonderful when I plan and I don't happen to have a computer in front of me. The only problem is the rest of the planner is just "meh" in my opinion.

​

Design-wise, it's not very great, but information wise I think it would be very helpful. This one is $8.

The other one doesn't actually have a lot of information because you're expected to put in the info yourself.

​

It like this design a lot more. This is one is also $8.00. The lady who makes these apparently offers free planning help. It's very tempting but it could also be bad advice. There are A LOT of people out there who claim to be a Disney World guru!

I'm also hesitant to make my own because I'm scared I'll go overboard. Shannon from WDW Prep School has a REALLY intense Disney binder but it did seem like too much. 100+ pages!? That sounds crazy.

If anyone has any thoughts about this, I would love to hear them!!

 

[amberg93]

Thanks to your husband back And Disney movies are great for watching any time

We've never done planners but if you think that you're going to use it, it's a great idea. The rides list might be helpful if you are planning away from the computer, but the customization one does look better, in my opinion.

Here's what it comes down to though: you know your family better than anyone else is going to know your family. And you can get advice from tons of people about what worked for their families, but it'll be different every time. People take Disney vacations different ways. I'm a always on the move person, relaxing at the resort isn't something I'd plan time for but that's what me and my wife do. However, with your resort choices, obviously resort time would be a great idea.

The questions I'd ask first and foremost would be:

1) What type of vacation are you looking to have? Do you want to experience as many attractions/experiences as possible, or would you prefer to stop and smell the roses?

Right away that question is going to give you a general idea of when to plan your fastpasses - morning, afternoon, or evening. It's also going to help you figure out what shows you will be able to fit in where (if you're planning on taking afternoon breaks, you can't catch Festival of the Lion King at 1:00, for instance). And, given that it will be such a busy time if you aren't planning on getting there at park opening or staying until late park closing, it'll tell you that you need to prioritize which experiences you really want to see.

If you're planning on taking things at a leisurely pace, you might consider a non-park day or two, to rest at the resort, go see the decorations at other resorts (Contemporary, Beach Club, and Grand Floridian are musts at Christmas) and see Disney Springs.

2) What interests do you and your kids have?

If thrill rides are up their alley, make sure you spend your time wisely in Hollywood Studios, going straight to Rockin' Rollercoaster at park opening can keep your fastpass tier 1 option open for something else while still allowing your family to experience the thrills. Likewise, Tower of Terror can have shorter wait times at park opening too. If thrill rides aren't an interest, make sure you're picking something that is bound to still have a high wait time to 'make the most' of your fastpass. Have you looked at the Fastpass Tiers and Suggestions thread? It'll give good ideas of what is a good use of a fastpass.

3) Are you planning on eating at table service restaurants?

If so, remember to leave at least an hour to get to your reservation if it's in a park you aren't spending the day in. Also, leave at least an hour and a half after your reservation before making any plans, possibly even two hours to be on the safe side (though a 1 hour fastpass window can start within that time frame as long as you'd have time to get to it afterward).

4) How well does your family adapt to change?

I don't know your family, but I know my family was never too keen on being on a schedule last November and often split from our scheduled world to do things without a schedule. If you know your family is going to divert from your plans, don't get too stuck in them and instead make priorities of things and put suggestions down for times without priorities, that way there are always options if no one has to stop to look in a store or demands to ride something again, etc.

 

[verleniahall]

COngrats on everything - DH is is a 7 year survivor of Lymphoma Cancer.

Make sure to get "Celebrations" buttons at the resort and put it on all of your dining and resort reservations that you are celebrating

 

[MollieW]

Thanks to your husband back And Disney movies are great for watching any time

We've never done planners but if you think that you're going to use it, it's a great idea. The rides list might be helpful if you are planning away from the computer, but the customization one does look better, in my opinion.

Here's what it comes down to though: you know your family better than anyone else is going to know your family. And you can get advice from tons of people about what worked for their families, but it'll be different every time. People take Disney vacations different ways. I'm a always on the move person, relaxing at the resort isn't something I'd plan time for but that's what me and my wife do. However, with your resort choices, obviously resort time would be a great idea.

The questions I'd ask first and foremost would be:

1) What type of vacation are you looking to have? Do you want to experience as many attractions/experiences as possible, or would you prefer to stop and smell the roses?

Right away that question is going to give you a general idea of when to plan your fastpasses - morning, afternoon, or evening. It's also going to help you figure out what shows you will be able to fit in where (if you're planning on taking afternoon breaks, you can't catch Festival of the Lion King at 1:00, for instance). And, given that it will be such a busy time if you aren't planning on getting there at park opening or staying until late park closing, it'll tell you that you need to prioritize which experiences you really want to see.

If you're planning on taking things at a leisurely pace, you might consider a non-park day or two, to rest at the resort, go see the decorations at other resorts (Contemporary, Beach Club, and Grand Floridian are musts at Christmas) and see Disney Springs.

2) What interests do you and your kids have?

If thrill rides are up their alley, make sure you spend your time wisely in Hollywood Studios, going straight to Rockin' Rollercoaster at park opening can keep your fastpass tier 1 option open for something else while still allowing your family to experience the thrills. Likewise, Tower of Terror can have shorter wait times at park opening too. If thrill rides aren't an interest, make sure you're picking something that is bound to still have a high wait time to 'make the most' of your fastpass. Have you looked at the Fastpass Tiers and Suggestions thread? It'll give good ideas of what is a good use of a fastpass.

3) Are you planning on eating at table service restaurants?

If so, remember to leave at least an hour to get to your reservation if it's in a park you aren't spending the day in. Also, leave at least an hour and a half after your reservation before making any plans, possibly even two hours to be on the safe side (though a 1 hour fastpass window can start within that time frame as long as you'd have time to get to it afterward).

4) How well does your family adapt to change?

I don't know your family, but I know my family was never too keen on being on a schedule last November and often split from our scheduled world to do things without a schedule. If you know your family is going to divert from your plans, don't get too stuck in them and instead make priorities of things and put suggestions down for times without priorities, that way there are always options if no one has to stop to look in a store or demands to ride something again, etc.

I had read this post when you posted it, but I forgot to tell you that I used all of your input! Thank you! I'll be posting an update right now.

 

[MollieW]

Hello everyone, sorry about the lack of updates. There have been tons of changes to the original plan. First up, we added my husband's mother to the mix. She wants to come along with us and have us visit some family down there. So we've had to move the entire trip up a couple of weeks so that we could accommodate everyone. So basically we won't be going there for actual Christmas, we'll be going there from the 5th to the 13th. We'll be seeing family on the 5th. Yes, my MIL kinda put herself into the plans. I love her but . She's been promising all of these things to the kids that just aren't going to happen. She keeps telling them the water park is IN Magic Kingdom and that she can pay special passes to skip all of the lines. And so the "one up" behavior begins.

Because of this, I ran into my first big issue which was I missed the 180 day mark!! Argh!! It just slipped my mind. I'm glad now that I didn't mention Be Our Guest to my kids, because if they find out about it and that we probably won't go there, they will be upset. But I was also kind of personally looking forward to eat there. If I'm missing any secret trick on how to get Be Our Guest please let me know!! I don't want to feel like I'm already being a bummer, but I wanted this trip to be perfect. On the bright side, I did manage to grab Le Cellier for a special dinner for me and my husband, which is great! This will be a special dinner to celebrate our anniversary, and our kids are going to enjoy Epcot.

And now we have another problem, I have NO idea how to fit Universal into the trip now that we are taking a day to see family. We might just have to pick one of the Universal parks instead of attempting both of them if we can even fit it in because we wouldn't have a full day.

So lots to think about, my plans are going kinda crazy and I can already sort of see myself losing my mind.

For anyone curious about the Disney planner, I went ahead and bought one from etsy and totally gave up on trying to do a fancy spreadsheet. I'm a pen and paper girl and I just have to stick with that. So far it's working OK. It's mostly just working to calm me down, because the pages are so cute. And my MIL doesn't know about it It comes with 20 pages, but I'm not there with the planning so I just printed a few pages that I needed out on cardstock and put it on a ring.

I'll print out the rest of the pages when everything gets finalized and put it on a binder.

 

[ArielSRL]

I read your other post and came over from there. I know you bought the planner pages but can I suggest Passporter? It's actually a guidebook with a lot of worksheets in it. It also has these pockets at the end where you can write down what you experienced and save receipts from the day and if you get the binder version you can take out the pockets and take them with you into the parks.

Anyway, just a suggestion. I didn't use it as much this trip because I used touringplans.com but it was great for my first several trips as an adult and planner.

 

[MollieW]

COngrats on everything - DH is is a 7 year survivor of Lymphoma Cancer.

Make sure to get "Celebrations" buttons at the resort and put it on all of your dining and resort reservations that you are celebrating

Congrats to your husband as well!!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Hi!! Congratulations to your husband and your family!

So sorry about your MIL. It's going to be hard to keep your kids' expectations in check if she keeps doing that! Geez!

As for BOG, keep checking!! All the time! Things open up sometimes. I snagged one for our Sept trip around the 100 day mark. It was lunch and not exactly at the best time, but still good! And keep checking right up until the day. You just never know!!

I think touringplans.com will do ADR checks for you, I think. You have to subscribe to the website, but it isn't that much ($12?) and also allows you to look at their crowd calendars, touring plans, planning tips, etc.

 

[kclark9830]

I'm so happy for your husband and family. And your trip is looking to be amazing so far! Going with family is a challenge, but you should still have a blast.

 

[MollieW]

Hello again everyone! I hope everyone had a great 4th of July. ​

I don't even know where to start! So much has happened since my last post and it has been SO crazy. I talked about some of it here on the Dis already, but I'd figure I'd rewrite everything that happened in greater detail for the PTR.

I had mentioned in my last post that my MIL was being a little overbearing about the whole trip, but it ended up getting worse. Like WAY worse. Like hacking into my MDE account worse.

It all started when my son accidentally spilled the beans to her that we were going to Disney during a family dinner. I had been trying to keep in a secret from her until later on but once the damage was done everything just took a turn for the crazy. By the end of the dinner, she had convinced my husband that it would be a great idea if she came with us.

Obviously I couldn't say anything at that moment, mostly because my husband and kids seemed super excited about it. I'm the only one that has any sort of problem with her. She likes to do that thing that I'm sure many people have experienced in their life where everything someone does is wrong. She critiques my cooking, my home decorating, the way my kids are raised, and things started getting really tense when she started critiquing my caregiving when my husband was sick.

So anyway, I said nothing, and continued along my way and kept planning. She started doing things like texting me about what we should do and where we should go. It was fine at first and I totally went with it, but she kind of started telling me that MY plans weren't good enough. All of my plans were based on what I knew my family would like, so that really pissed me off. I was planning to stay at the Grand Floridian, she wanted to stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge. I wanted to have most of our meals in the park, and she kept telling me that all the meals should be at the hotel. There was this one moment where she looked through my Disney World planner and just told me that everything was not a good plan. Then she decided to make plans to see extended family that lives in Florida and convinced my husband that it would be a good idea to do that the day before we actually go to Disney World. This blew my mind because she knew I really wanted to squeeze in a day for Universal and she totally just didn't care about that. I didn't want to be the one that said, "No, I don't want my kids to see their uncle and cousins and my husband to see his brother and sister and law." So I just let it go and kind of let it stew in my mind for a bit.

While all this was going on, my daughter was going through competition season, my son got sick and then I got sick. Then I totally missed my 180 day reservation mark!! I was so, so angry, I couldn't grab the reservations I wanted for my family. But of course my MIL was upset that I didn't get the ones that she had requested and we had a little fight over it where she actually cried and sort of apologized afterwards for being so overbearing. I don't remember exactly how I worded it but I accepted the apology and then said something along the lines of, "Your ideas are always appreciated."

So I feel better about the family visit, and I go ahead and book the hotel, food, and start getting really excited again. I bought a full size Disney planner with a Christmas decorated section (it's the little things) and my MIL had pretty much stopped texting me and I finally felt like I was planning my family's trip.

Literally the next day, I checked my email and I had about half a dozen from MDE that were all saying, "Your reservation has been made, blah blah blah." Except I hadn't made any new reservations that day....I frantically check my MDE account and yep, there they were. All brand new reservations, all of my old reservations were GONE. I called Disney World totally PISSED because I'm thinking that they messed up my reservations. The lady on the phone told me that it was no glitch, someone had actually gone in to change the reservations. I had one of those crazy realization moments and I called my MIL and asked her point blank if she had changed my reservations. She said, "Oh yeah, I figured out your password and made the changes we talked about."

OH MY GOD, I can't even tell you guys how livid I was. I was in complete SHOCK. First of all, these were the changes SHE talked about, I never agreed to them. EVER. I'm so amazed that I didn't start cursing at her. I tried to tell her how angry I was at her, and she just kept shrugging it off, like it was no big deal!

That's when I came here to vent and got the advice to just cancel the trip and try to start over. I double checked with my husband (who was also really upset) and he talked to his mom. Then we kinda all had a talk and tried to come to a reasonable way to fix everything. She was so mad that we were all mad, which makes no sense, but that's how she is, I guess.

So here is the new plan: ​

• The dates are now Dec 17 to Dec 23. We added some extra time to accommodate for Universal.
• We're staying at the Wilderness Lodge because the other hotels got too pricey around that time. The Wilderness Lodge is already pushing it, though, to be honest with you guys.
• We're still going to see relatives on our first day there, because it isn't just my MIL that wants this, it's also the extended family. After a day of visiting, my MIL will stay there with the family, and my husband, my kids, and I will head to Disney World!
• I got the three reservations I wanted for food: Le Cellier, Be Our Guest (this was just PURE luck! ), and California Grill. The only issues is that all of these reservations are at really awkward times, but beggars can't be choosers
• Now I just have to figure out what parks to go on what days. I feel like I'm doing this all backwards, but at least I'm doing it by myself!!

 

[Raeven]

Hello again everyone! I hope everyone had a great 4th of July. ​

I don't even know where to start! So much has happened since my last post and it has been SO crazy. I talked about some of it here on the Dis already, but I'd figure I'd rewrite everything that happened in greater detail for the PTR.

I had mentioned in my last post that my MIL was being a little overbearing about the whole trip, but it ended up getting worse. Like WAY worse. Like hacking into my MDE account worse.

It all started when my son accidentally spilled the beans to her that we were going to Disney during a family dinner. I had been trying to keep in a secret from her until later on but once the damage was done everything just took a turn for the crazy. By the end of the dinner, she had convinced my husband that it would be a great idea if she came with us.

Obviously I couldn't say anything at that moment, mostly because my husband and kids seemed super excited about it. I'm the only one that has any sort of problem with her. She likes to do that thing that I'm sure many people have experienced in their life where everything someone does is wrong. She critiques my cooking, my home decorating, the way my kids are raised, and things started getting really tense when she started critiquing my caregiving when my husband was sick.

So anyway, I said nothing, and continued along my way and kept planning. She started doing things like texting me about what we should do and where we should go. It was fine at first and I totally went with it, but she kind of started telling me that MY plans weren't good enough. All of my plans were based on what I knew my family would like, so that really pissed me off. I was planning to stay at the Grand Floridian, she wanted to stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge. I wanted to have most of our meals in the park, and she kept telling me that all the meals should be at the hotel. There was this one moment where she looked through my Disney World planner and just told me that everything was not a good plan. Then she decided to make plans to see extended family that lives in Florida and convinced my husband that it would be a good idea to do that the day before we actually go to Disney World. This blew my mind because she knew I really wanted to squeeze in a day for Universal and she totally just didn't care about that. I didn't want to be the one that said, "No, I don't want my kids to see their uncle and cousins and my husband to see his brother and sister and law." So I just let it go and kind of let it stew in my mind for a bit.

While all this was going on, my daughter was going through competition season, my son got sick and then I got sick. Then I totally missed my 180 day reservation mark!! I was so, so angry, I couldn't grab the reservations I wanted for my family. But of course my MIL was upset that I didn't get the ones that she had requested and we had a little fight over it where she actually cried and sort of apologized afterwards for being so overbearing. I don't remember exactly how I worded it but I accepted the apology and then said something along the lines of, "Your ideas are always appreciated."

So I feel better about the family visit, and I go ahead and book the hotel, food, and start getting really excited again. I bought a full size Disney planner with a Christmas decorated section (it's the little things) and my MIL had pretty much stopped texting me and I finally felt like I was planning my family's trip.

Literally the next day, I checked my email and I had about half a dozen from MDE that were all saying, "Your reservation has been made, blah blah blah." Except I hadn't made any new reservations that day....I frantically check my MDE account and yep, there they were. All brand new reservations, all of my old reservations were GONE. I called Disney World totally PISSED because I'm thinking that they messed up my reservations. The lady on the phone told me that it was no glitch, someone had actually gone in to change the reservations. I had one of those crazy realization moments and I called my MIL and asked her point blank if she had changed my reservations. She said, "Oh yeah, I figured out your password and made the changes we talked about."

OH MY GOD, I can't even tell you guys how livid I was. I was in complete SHOCK. First of all, these were the changes SHE talked about, I never agreed to them. EVER. I'm so amazed that I didn't start cursing at her. I tried to tell her how angry I was at her, and she just kept shrugging it off, like it was no big deal!

That's when I came here to vent and got the advice to just cancel the trip and try to start over. I double checked with my husband (who was also really upset) and he talked to his mom. Then we kinda all had a talk and tried to come to a reasonable way to fix everything. She was so mad that we were all mad, which makes no sense, but that's how she is, I guess.

So here is the new plan: ​

• The dates are now Dec 17 to Dec 23. We added some extra time to accommodate for Universal.
• We're staying at the Wilderness Lodge because the other hotels got too pricey around that time. The Wilderness Lodge is already pushing it, though, to be honest with you guys.
• We're still going to see relatives on our first day there, because it isn't just my MIL that wants this, it's also the extended family. After a day of visiting, my MIL will stay there with the family, and my husband, my kids, and I will head to Disney World!
• I got the three reservations I wanted for food: Le Cellier, Be Our Guest (this was just PURE luck! ), and California Grill. The only issues is that all of these reservations are at really awkward times, but beggars can't be choosers
• Now I just have to figure out what parks to go on what days. I feel like I'm doing this all backwards, but at least I'm doing it by myself!!

Oh no! She sounds very more than overbearing. I can't believe she'd hack your account and change your adrs My mother is like that, and I could see her doing something like that.

It's great you were able to re-plan the trip with extra time, and with your MIL staying with family while you go to Disney. And that you got your reservations! I bet some better times might open up closer to the dates.

 

[kclark9830]

Oh my! I'm so sorry you've had to deal with all of that. But I'm glad it seems it's been worked out. I hope you have nothing but a wonderful trip.

 

[VACamm]

Oh my goodness... giiiiirl...this sounds like my mother in law!! I can totally empathize with you. I'm so glad that you are still going, AND that you will be eating at BOG!!!

 

[ArielSRL]

I'm so glad you recovered your trip!! I hope better ADR times open up for you!