Always Let Your (Preschooler) Be Your Guide. My First Trip Report! COMPLETE

[LilAnn]

Aww, poor little thing, getting sick on the last day. And she looked so pretty too. You did an awesome job on the princess hair. I hope she starts feeling better. You probably could have taken her to the nearest first aid and they would have been able to give you tylenol or motrin, I'm sure. We've had to visit the Epcot First Aid and they had Motrin on hand that night.

I think that Toy Story FPs are some of the best ones to give to another family. We did that once too, but I felt bad because I think we only had 2/3 to give and gave them to a family of 4. They looked a bit surprised too, but hey, why let them go to waste if you can't use them?

 

[katt789]

Oh no!! Not sickness! I feel like it hits everyone that heads over to Disney by the end of the trip. With our group of friends, Amy said that it was most likely that our bodies were not accustomed to going in & out of air conditioning so much, or the humidity. I always feel great, but I'm used to working 12 hours days, and take far too many vitamins. I hope Maddie started to feel better!!

 

[PirateKate]

It's horrible being sick at Disney and it's even worse when your kid is sick at Disney. I hope Maddie felt better soon!

 

[shan23877]

Aww, poor little thing, getting sick on the last day. And she looked so pretty too. You did an awesome job on the princess hair. I hope she starts feeling better. You probably could have taken her to the nearest first aid and they would have been able to give you tylenol or motrin, I'm sure. We've had to visit the Epcot First Aid and they had Motrin on hand that night.

I think that Toy Story FPs are some of the best ones to give to another family. We did that once too, but I felt bad because I think we only had 2/3 to give and gave them to a family of 4. They looked a bit surprised too, but hey, why let them go to waste if you can't use them?

Thanks for the info! I had total tunnel vision that morning-didn't even think to go to first aid. All I could think was 'get meds, get out'.

Thanks for the compliment on the re-makeover Maddie's a pretty tough critic, so I figured if she liked it, I was good.

I was really happy to give those FP away to such appreciative people. I was a nice spot for me.

Oh no!! Not sickness! I feel like it hits everyone that heads over to Disney by the end of the trip. With our group of friends, Amy said that it was most likely that our bodies were not accustomed to going in & out of air conditioning so much, or the humidity. I always feel great, but I'm used to working 12 hours days, and take far too many vitamins. I hope Maddie started to feel better!!

We finally got to the bottom of the fever--stay tuned to find out what it was...

It's horrible being sick at Disney and it's even worse when your kid is sick at Disney. I hope Maddie felt better soon!

I've never gotten sick at WDW, but I would rather get sick than have a sick baby any day. We had an up and down day, but it wasn't all bad. Stay tuned!

 

[Queenofallthings]

Poor baby girl...one thing to be sick but it's a totally different story when you're sick at Disney! How sweet of the bus driver to help you and play the princess annoucement!

 

[shan23877]

I got Maddie off the bus with more help from the world’s nicest bus driver and wheeled her back to the room. Once there I closed the curtains and turned on Stacey hoping that she’d lull DD to sleep. It was not happening. Maddie wanted to play with her new toys, was thirsty, was hungry, was feeling better etc. I lay with her listening to her babble for about 30 minutes before I gave in. I told her we could go to the gift shop and get her a Sprite and maybe a snack. Maddie had decided that morning that her Day 5 stuffed animals would be the “kissing frogs” so I was planning to get those in the gift shop as well in case we didn’t make it back to a park that day. Maddie had other plans. Apparently, her kissing frogs could only be purchased in the Magic Kingdom. We got her Sprite and a marshmallow lollipop and went back to the room.

About that time DH called and said that he’d be back in half an hour or so, so I let Maddie play and eat her lollipop. While she was playing she made the off-hand remark that her ears were feeling much better. Huh? Her ears? Well, at least I had some info.

By the time DH returned Maddie was bouncing off the walls and was begging to go to the Magic Kingdom. She really wanted to get her frogs, meet Arial again, and visit the fairies again. DH and I discussed it and decided that she seems to feel pretty good, so we’d go for it. We figured that we’d take the Advil with us, and we could always come back if we needed to. It was her last day at Disney; we would do anything to help her enjoy it.

We got to MK and stopped for some Photo Pass before heading inside.

DH and I were starving so we stopped at Casey’s to grab some lunch. By then it was bout 12:30 so it was a mob scene. DH and DD grabbed a table outside while I stood in line. Once we got the food, Bryan and I tried to encourage Maddie to eat pretty quickly because we weren’t sure how long she’d be feeling good.

After lunch we made our way over to Ariel and Eric. We were VERY lucky to be the last people let into the line before they had to take their parade break. Bryan and I were obviously questioning how wise our decision to let Maddie go back to a park was, but his interaction made us so glad that we’d let her. Maddie was beyond excited to meet them, especially Eric. While we were in line she’d been wondering who was keeping Max (the dog) company. She and Eric had a long chat about that, and the joys of dogs in general. Ariel complimented her shoes, and said that she was very excited that she and Maddie were wearing matching dresses. After several minutes and several photos we were getting ready to say goodbye when Eric asked Maddie to come back. He asked if she would mind getting her picture taken with just him since she was wearing her Ariel dress. Maddie pretty much floated back to him. This Ariel made up for all the other ‘bratty’ Ariels we’d seen on the trip, and when we got home Maddie asked for the picture of the 3 of them to be framed for her bedroom.

"Look how cool my wand is!! Wanna see it light up?"

"Now you're a real Princess"

"Daddy, Max is in the castle. He doesn't hafta get in a cage like Lucy"

​

This is the one she wanted for her room

After we left them, we checked the wait time for the fairies, but it was pretty long. The CM at the door told us to come back around 8 pm; he said that the lines are non-existent after that. We decided that we’d take his advice and walked over to Frontierland.



Maddie wasn’t about to to Splash again, but she did want to ride BTMRR. Standby time was 15 minutes so we got in line. While in line Maddie started to fade again. We rode, but afterward she didn’t want to do anything. Crap. We were having the DHS conversation all over again. We were only about 15 minutes away from being able to give her more meds, so we hatched a plan. Since she’d rebounded so quickly after her first dose, we’d give her some meds and find a cool place for her to rest while the Advil kicked in. We were hoping that she’d rally as quickly as she had that morning, and we’d be able to get some more of her stuff taken care of.

Since we needed a cool place for her to rest, we decided to take in DH’s favorite attraction (well, maybe it’s not his favorite, but he really, really likes it. His BA is in History with a minor in Poly Sci, so it’s no wonder.) Hall of Presidents!! I told DH that it would be a good place for me to get a nap in too. I shouldn’t have teased him. We hadn’t done HoP for about 9 years, so we hadn’t seen this show. I thought it was actually very good; I even teared up a couple of times. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s a Must Do, but I’d rather cool off there than at the Country Bears or the Tiki Room.

Unfortunately, Maddie seemed to have gotten worse during the last 45 minutes, so we decided to leave. We figured that she would want to keep our ADR at Chef Mickey’s, so we were going to put her in bed for the afternoon. We stopped in the Emporium on our way out to get her kissing frogs, and got my stuff to. I'd had my eye on a 40th anniversary T-shirt, but we found out that the one I'd been eyeing was a children's shirt. I can wear kids sizes sometimes, but they didn't have an XL. I ended up getting some PJs instead which turned out to be a very good choice. They're super comfy! We also grabbed 2 picture frames, and satisfied that we'd gotten all of the souvies we were needed we headed to the bus stop. While we were at the bus stop, I finally remembered to tell DH about her comment about her ears feeling better. We knew that it couldn’t be an ear infection, or she’d have been miserable in the pool for the last 2 nights. Bryan suggested that maybe it was something with her ear piercing. I told him that was ridiculous, her ears weren’t even red, but agreed to humor him and check them. Well, I hate to admit it, but he was right. One of her beloved rainbow earrings had broken off of its post, and the post had been stabbing her in the ear. The piercing was all ***** and bloody (sorry if anyone’s squeamish).

Back at POFQ we bought some peroxide to clean her ear. By then the drugs had kicked in, and DD was convinced that she was “all better”. She had overheard us discussing the pool, and wanted to swim. We figured that a dip in the pool would give us proof that there was no inner ear infection and the chemicals would only help clean out the piercing, so that’s just what we did.

Incidentally, it had been DH who insisted that a 5 day vacation was plenty long. Our little afternoon swim was so nice that he said our next vacation should be longer so we could have more time to relax. Silver Lining!

 

[CandleontheWater]

I'm glad that Maddie ended up feeling a little better and you made it to the MK. I think you made a good decision, if she says she is feeling better, and is acting fine, better to be out and about than trapped in the hotel room, where you will both be miserable.

The pics of her with Eric and Ariel were so cute. She is so funny thinking about all the little details. I'm glad Max was safe in the castle!

I hope Maddie was feeling better for Chef Mickeys!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Love the photos and interaction with Ariel and Prince Eric!

 

[foodrocksluver]

I have been reading you TR since you started and I really have been enjoying it.

I wanted to comment on the Eric that you and Maddie had the pleasure of meeting. Ariel and Prince Eric are my absolute favorite Disney characters and always have been. So on my last trip in October I stood in line to meet them (and being 24 I was the oldest person in line). When I got up to them they asked me my name and I blurted out, "My name is Kate and ohmygosh! You guys are my FAVORITES!!" To which Eric replied, "Ohmygosh! Kate! You are OUR favorite!" Best Moment EVER!

Tell Maddie she looked beautiful in her Ariel dress. There is no better princess then the Princess of the Sea.

 

[Queenofallthings]

Those are such cute pictures! The one she choose to have framed in her room is my favorite too! How sweet of Eric to get a picture of just the two of them

Hope Maddie is feeling better before Chef Mickey's!

 

[TanzUnited99]

Yay at Maddie feeling better and being able to return to MK!

Great PP pics once again.

Aaw I love the interaction with Ariel and Eric as well as all the attention Maddie got. Yay on her being Eric's princess for a short while

 

[shan23877]

Poor baby girl...one thing to be sick but it's a totally different story when you're sick at Disney! How sweet of the bus driver to help you and play the princess annoucement!

That was the nicest bus driver ever! He was so kind to help me. Poor kid wanted so badly to be feeling better.

I'm glad that Maddie ended up feeling a little better and you made it to the MK. I think you made a good decision, if she says she is feeling better, and is acting fine, better to be out and about than trapped in the hotel room, where you will both be miserable.

The pics of her with Eric and Ariel were so cute. She is so funny thinking about all the little details. I'm glad Max was safe in the castle!

I hope Maddie was feeling better for Chef Mickeys!

We were so glad that she was feeling up to it. We really didn't want her to miss her last day. I probably could have toughed it out in the room, I had 3 new books on my Kindle!

Arial and Eric were awesome. It was just the interaction she'd been waiting for. She was quite worried about Max and who was keeping him company

Love the photos and interaction with Ariel and Prince Eric!

They were great! One of our fave character meets (and there were a lot of them )

I have been reading you TR since you started and I really have been enjoying it.

I wanted to comment on the Eric that you and Maddie had the pleasure of meeting. Ariel and Prince Eric are my absolute favorite Disney characters and always have been. So on my last trip in October I stood in line to meet them (and being 24 I was the oldest person in line). When I got up to them they asked me my name and I blurted out, "My name is Kate and ohmygosh! You guys are my FAVORITES!!" To which Eric replied, "Ohmygosh! Kate! You are OUR favorite!" Best Moment EVER!

Tell Maddie she looked beautiful in her Ariel dress. There is no better princess then the Princess of the Sea.

Thanks for commenting, and thanks for reading along!!!

That's so great that you had a fun meet with them too! I've always been partial to Arial myself. I love how they responded to you. Sounds fantastic!

I will pass along the compliment to the little miss. She'll be very pleased.


We're almost done here, but feel free to chime in again sometimes!

Those are such cute pictures! The one she choose to have framed in her room is my favorite too! How sweet of Eric to get a picture of just the two of them

Hope Maddie is feeling better before Chef Mickey's!

Thank you! Eric had Maddie on cloud 9. She kept telling us all day "prince Eric wanted a picture with me because I'm a princess too" It was really cool.

Yay at Maddie feeling better and being able to return to MK!

Great PP pics once again.

Aaw I love the interaction with Ariel and Eric as well as all the attention Maddie got. Yay on her being Eric's princess for a short while

We were so glad that she felt up to hitting a park. It would have been a shame for her to be stuck in the room on her last day.

Thanks on the PP pics. I am so happy that I bought that CD!

Eric was amazing with Maddie. She was in heaven with him!

 

[BerrysGirl]

Awww I'm glad Maddie was feeling better!

Her interaction with Ariel and Eric was too cute. I bet Eric was super excited to have a little princess fall so in love with him -- I've heard so many stories about little girls being afraid of the princes!

Hope the rest of your night is wonderful :

 

[katt789]

Ahhhh!!!! You were sure right about me loooovvvving the Ariel & Eric story! Gah! Sometimes I wish I was 6 so hugs with certain characters were more acceptable You guys definitely got some amazing shots with that interactin. Definitely the best characters Ive seen in a while!!

 

[shan23877]

Awww I'm glad Maddie was feeling better!

Her interaction with Ariel and Eric was too cute. I bet Eric was super excited to have a little princess fall so in love with him -- I've heard so many stories about little girls being afraid of the princes!

Hope the rest of your night is wonderful :

I was so happy for her to be able to enjoy a little of her last day.

The Ariel and Eric meet was awesome. It was one of my favorites for sure (and we did a ton of them ). She wasn't scared of any of the men. If they hadn't known their stories so well, she may have been.

She was most certainly in love. I hope the CMs get some joy from the obvious happiness that they bring to others. Could be a really rewarding job in that regard.

Ahhhh!!!! You were sure right about me loooovvvving the Ariel & Eric story! Gah! Sometimes I wish I was 6 so hugs with certain characters were more acceptable You guys definitely got some amazing shots with that interactin. Definitely the best characters Ive seen in a while!!

I thought you'd like it! They were really, really great. DD was over the moon when Eric singled her out. It really made her feel like a "real" princess.

If we were 4 again, we'd get all the hugs and get to be pushed around in strollers all day. Sounds like the life!

 

[Nermel9]

Glad Maddie was feeling good enough to get back to MK for a little while! The meet and greet with Ariel and Eric was so sweet!

I can't believe it was her earring that was causing her so much pain, poor Maddie! At least you guys figured it out, though! And yay for getting to go longer than 5 days on your next trip!

 

[RGirl]

Wow! This is a great TR! I wish I would have found it earlier. We did a lot of the same things - probably because my DD is also 4 years old and VERY into princesses and characters.

So sorry that Maddie got sick for the last day. I hope she rallies for Chef Mickey's!

 

[rock*mom]

Great trip report - really enjoying it

 

[msmith1026]

We didn't have the same Eric, but we had close to the same experience when Zoey met Ariel and Eric. By far the best character interaction of the whole trip. He and Zoey stood like Flamingos in our picture and when she walked away after saying goodbye, he called her back and gave her a kiss. She was floating on air for days after!

Sorry Maddie got sick on her last day, at least she rebounded fast after the Advil!

 

[kmedina]

You really did do a good job with Maddie's hair. That is a bummer that she was not feeling better, but I am glad you got the advil to help her out. Those pictures with Eric and Ariel are precious. I am also happy that she got her kissing frogs. Hopefully, she made it to Chef Mickey's.

I understand wanting to keep photos private. I've watched a lot of Law and Order SVU and it's made me very skeptical about the goodness of people especially when it comes to children. I was on the fence about doing a TR for that reason, but I decided to take the leap of faith (my DH thinks I'm ridiculous, so no one was telling me not to do it though). I'd read you TR even without photos if it helps!

I agree about reviews. I'd heard lukewarm things about Cape May, but we loved it! I've also read mixed things about Via Napoli, but it's one of the ADRs we really want to get for the next trip. I think DH and I are avoiding the BBQ because we really want to try the Luau and we know we enjoy the Hoop Dee Doo. So, we'd do one of those first. For 2 credits, we'd like it to be something we'd all get into.

Maddie ended up using almost every outfit I packed, so I think DH learned to back off Last year we were on the east coast for vaca, and Maddie fell asleep in the car between Cooperstown NY and NYC. She wet her pants and we had to stop at Kohls in NJ to buy a new outfit because we didn't have another one. I think my DH's packing grumbling is usually pretty good natured though, he's just cheap and wants to check the fewest amount of bags.


Maybe you should let DH and DS go do boy things for an hour while you get to do girly things. We make DH do ALL girly things. There's got to be a compromise!

I will do a trip report then. It's settled. DH says he may allow me to post some pictures (that he approves of). I've already been posting some on Facebook. I just need to learn how to do one now with the links and pictures. On a side note, I love SVU.

The food at the luau looks more appealing to me than MBYBBQ, so I cannot wait to try it.

I've also had to stop and buy things (clothes, blankets, sweatshirts, etc) before on trips. I always feel like I've done my job (packing well) when we do not have to buy anything for use on the current trip. I prefer to wash clothes before we wear them, so that is another excuse for over packing.

I probably will do some girly things this trip. This will be our first trip with two kids. My baby will only be 5 months old. During his naps and while Daddy takes BB on the rides with height limits, I may have to find things for me to do rather than just sitting and waiting. That is, when he is not breast feeding of course.