Hi, folks, we got back two weeks ago. It was an amazing trip. I thought I'd summarize the rest of our time vis-a-vis this thread's topic, in case it helps anyone in the future looking for the same kind of info.
I mentioned above that my partner was uncomfortable on MMRR. What we learned from that is that drops aren't her only motion sensitivity. We didn't know this before the trip, but she actually doesn't like
any kind of rapid motion that she can't anticipate. It's more of an anxiety trigger than it is a physical problem. For instance, she was fine in Daisy's dancing room because the dance movements were predictable. She didn't like the frenetic parts of the ride that made her feel a loss of control.
However, once she was aware of this about herself, she started getting better at mentally managing it.
At Epcot, I did Test Track and Frozen without her and skipped Mission Space. We did most of the other rides together, which made me happy because she'd skipped so much at DHS. The only one that gave her any trouble was actually Remy, and that was my fault. When we sat down, I pulled the lap bar down for us... and ended up squishing her uncomfortably because she's bigger than I am. It made her feel confined — that sense of loss of control again. But she found a way to mentally reframe it, imagining that instead of being locked into the ride vehicle, the source of the pressure on her tummy was a small child on her lap. Once she had settled on this reframing, she was able to enjoy the ride (probably more than I did, because I spent it wracked with guilt and embarrassment for the lap bar mishap).
The one at Epcot she was most concerned about was Soarin'. She was mostly okay until we got through the line to where the big liability sign is posted. It warns of movement, drops, not good for expectant mothers, etc., and she started to lose her cool. She asked a CM if the drop was big, and he said, "Nah, the sign makes it sound way worse than it is." And that was true, but it didn't alleviate her anxiety. She came
this close to bailing, but we took our seats. There was a solo rider sitting next to us, overhearing our conversation about it, and she leaned over and said, "My mom was worried about it before she rode it, too, and now it's her favorite ride." It was sooooo sweet of her, and it was enough to calm my partner's nerves. She took a deep breath, and the ride took off. Skipping to the end... she
LOVED it. She did close her eyes a couple of times, but overall, she thought it was amazing. And some of her enjoyment was, of course, pride in having conquered her nerves to ride it. She thanked the young woman who'd been sitting next to us again.
We were eligible for extended evening hours, and she wanted some time to rest, so on Wednesday evening, I went to Magic Kingdom alone. I got there at 9, it closed to the general public at 11, and I stayed until 1am. During those four hours, I rode everything I thought my partner wouldn't want to do, starting with the drop rides — Pirates, Big Thunder, Splash, Space, Mine Train, and Barnstormer (cute little thing, but geez, blink and you'll miss it). I still had plenty of time, so I also did the spin rides: Teacups, Dumbo, Astro Orbiter, and Aladdin.
Tangent on extended evening hours: If you are eligible for extended evening hours and you don't have some
very good reason not to use them,
use them.
Uuuuuuuuuse them. Lines drop dramatically. Everything I did after 11 was a walk-on, except for Mine Train, which I think I waited 20 minutes for, and the CMs at Teacups and Dumbo offered to let us stay on as long as we wanted because there was no line at all. Note that Splash Mountain closed at park closing time; it didn't remain open for the extra hours (fortunately, I'd already done that one). We had meant to do Epcot's EEHs on Monday, as well. We had an ADR at Rose & Crown for dinner and then planned to hang out and ride stuff all night, but that ended up being the night that the EP/DHS area got 4.5" of rain in a six-hour period. We spent an hour and a half holed up in a store in the UK until it closed at regular park closing. Instead of heading to other parts of the park, we waded back to Beach Club. We had brought raincoats, but those didn't help, as we were soaked to our ankles within minutes. And then we got to the International Gateway, and in that poorly drained valley of a walkway, the water was practically up to our knees. It was an adventure. When we got to one of BC's side entrances, there was a CM standing just inside. She immediately started laughing at how wet we looked (in a friendly way, of course) and offered to take our picture. I'm not sure it fully conveys how soaked we were. Our skirts were sopping. It took days for our shoes to dry (don't worry, we brought others).
End extended evening hours tangent
Next, we had time at Magic Kingdom together on Thursday and Friday, and it was lovely. Since I'd already done everything she wouldn't have wanted to do, she didn't have to wait for me on anything. There weren't really any surprises. Her favorites were Haunted Mansion, PeopleMover, and PhilharMagic.
Saturday was Animal Kingdom. We had purchased Wild Africa Trek for the morning, and it was fantastic! Despite all her discomforts, she actually isn't afraid of heights, so the rope bridge was not an issue. If you like animals and you can fit it into your budget, we highly recommend!
Even though she'd loved Soarin', she chickened out on Flight of Passage. She knew that she wasn't in the right mind for it. It was the end of the week and she was exhausted, and the day was chilly and damp (though not, of course, as sopping wet as Epcot had been on Monday night). She was sleep-deprived because we'd been at MK late the night before, and although the Trek had been fun, it was also a bit draining. So she knew she was going to be more emotionally sensitive than normal. And while she'd been able to mentally reframe uncomfortable rides on MMRR and Remy earlier in the week so that she could enjoy them, she wasn't so sure she'd be able to do the same on FOP if she had any trouble. So I rode that alone.
And of course I assessed it along the way with her discomforts and triggers in mind. It certainly is more intense than Soarin', and even I was closing my eyes at times. But closing your eyes works a charm, and the rest of the ride was beautiful and exciting. I left confident that if my partner wanted to try it on a future trip, she'd be fine... with the simulated motion, anyway. What I wasn't so sure about was how she'd feel about the confining ride seat. Of course it doesn't squish you to the point that I'd squished her on Remy, but if it's enough to make her feel like she's not in control, she wouldn't enjoy the ride. We decided that on our next trip, we'd schedule DAK at the beginning of the week and not the end, and she'd give it a try, or at least test out the sample seat at the front of the line (I tried to encourage her to do that this time, but she'd already made up her mind).
So thanks again to everyone who offered feedback for us. It helped us make the best decisions we could. It let her decide when she wanted to take a better-safe-than-sorry approach and when she wanted to push herself past her comfort zone. She's not at all embarrassed about not going on TOT or roller coasters, but she does want to be able to do smaller rides that give her trouble, and this info gives her a pathway toward getting used to them.
