I don't usually do trip reports, or pre-trip reports, or anything that involves coming up with witty things to say on a regular basis.
Be warned - I'm a contented planner. I like spreadsheets, and guide sheets, and I like having things just so! I have 47 days until WDW, so if I fiddle with my plans a little every day - they'll be all ready to disregard when we get there.
Setting: Disney's Pop Century Resort, second week of November. With the QSDP! We've stayed here before and liked it a lot. Fingers crossed that it will be just as great this time. Also, we're hoping for super-low crowds.
Cast of Characters!
Me! (I know, I'm so self-centered, starting with myself.) I'm 35, happily married to an anti-disney-fanatic, and currently ensconced 40 minutes from the Pacific Ocean in California. Special needs: I have some sensory integration and anxiety issues. Also lung damage from a bad case of whooping cough as an adult, and allergies to the state of Florida. Bad knees/ankles/hips, but they're getting better! I'm also gluten intolerant, oat intolerant and potato intolerant. And I have a GI condition that means I have to moderate my intake of hard/raw foods/specific types of fiber/specific types of sugars. It's kind of complicated and I'm trying to figure out how to explain it to chefs.
Minnie-me. Our lovely 8 year old daughter. Mickey and Minnie obsessed, fascinated by pluto. This is a big year for her. She gets to bicycle to and from school ON HER OWN! She wants to abandon her family at Disney world and go ride things ON HER OWN. Yesterday she asked me how she could demonstrate she was old enough to take the bus to MK ON HER OWN. I can see that independence is going to be a major feature of this trip. Special Needs: She got her mom's sensory integration issues, and while she doesn't have anxiety - it's a lot of -work- for her to be near many people, and Disney queues make most of her usual coping tactics ineffective. Also, gluten intolerant, oat intolerant, mostly vegetarian (it's a texture thing).
Grandma. She's the reason we're all there. The WDW trip is being tacked on to a conference she's attending. Grandma is up at dawn, Animal Kingdom Safari obsessed, and a stickler for getting a "good deal". Special needs: Grandma has blood sugar issues, which she mostly manages by not eating much with sugar/starch in it.
Grandpa. He's cheerfully along for the ride. He's up at dawn, and will walk ceaselessly without complaining. Small-children will be taken to the pool on demand. He'll stand in any line if that's what his grandchild wants. Special needs: Not that he'd admit it, but he's still in some pain from being hit by a car a few years ago. He limps a bit, and I'm concerned about him over-doing things out of sheer stubbornness. Also, he's a vegetarian who doesn't eat soy-meat/veggie burgers/tofu/etc.
Excuse: Well, there was this conference... This summer, Minnie-me spent a week with her other grandparents. Next Summer, she'll spend a week with her other grandparents and a week with these grandparents. But instead of hanging out at home with these grandparents, they're all going to Disney world! This trip is kind of a dry-run. Can they work things out, will she be comfortable flying as an unattended minor, etc? I'm going to spend all week biting my tongue and reminding myself that my parents are unlikely to accidentally kill their grandchild.
The ground rules:
1) There's no going back. I don't care what you left in the room. I don't care -who- you left in the room. Once we walk out the door, there's no going back. Otherwise we wake up at 6, don't leave the resort until 11, go to a park, eat lunch, then go right back to our hotel, because it's hot and we're tired.
2) Feeding the child is important. I will not whine, complain, berate, harangue or otherwise criticize someone who fed my child gluten free food, regardless of how many Mickey Bars she ate that day. I will offer constructive suggestions about gluten free food, but they were there and I wasn't.
3) Don't stay in the parks if you're not having fun anymore. It just gets worse.
Be warned - I'm a contented planner. I like spreadsheets, and guide sheets, and I like having things just so! I have 47 days until WDW, so if I fiddle with my plans a little every day - they'll be all ready to disregard when we get there.
Setting: Disney's Pop Century Resort, second week of November. With the QSDP! We've stayed here before and liked it a lot. Fingers crossed that it will be just as great this time. Also, we're hoping for super-low crowds.
Cast of Characters!
Me! (I know, I'm so self-centered, starting with myself.) I'm 35, happily married to an anti-disney-fanatic, and currently ensconced 40 minutes from the Pacific Ocean in California. Special needs: I have some sensory integration and anxiety issues. Also lung damage from a bad case of whooping cough as an adult, and allergies to the state of Florida. Bad knees/ankles/hips, but they're getting better! I'm also gluten intolerant, oat intolerant and potato intolerant. And I have a GI condition that means I have to moderate my intake of hard/raw foods/specific types of fiber/specific types of sugars. It's kind of complicated and I'm trying to figure out how to explain it to chefs.
Minnie-me. Our lovely 8 year old daughter. Mickey and Minnie obsessed, fascinated by pluto. This is a big year for her. She gets to bicycle to and from school ON HER OWN! She wants to abandon her family at Disney world and go ride things ON HER OWN. Yesterday she asked me how she could demonstrate she was old enough to take the bus to MK ON HER OWN. I can see that independence is going to be a major feature of this trip. Special Needs: She got her mom's sensory integration issues, and while she doesn't have anxiety - it's a lot of -work- for her to be near many people, and Disney queues make most of her usual coping tactics ineffective. Also, gluten intolerant, oat intolerant, mostly vegetarian (it's a texture thing).
Grandma. She's the reason we're all there. The WDW trip is being tacked on to a conference she's attending. Grandma is up at dawn, Animal Kingdom Safari obsessed, and a stickler for getting a "good deal". Special needs: Grandma has blood sugar issues, which she mostly manages by not eating much with sugar/starch in it.
Grandpa. He's cheerfully along for the ride. He's up at dawn, and will walk ceaselessly without complaining. Small-children will be taken to the pool on demand. He'll stand in any line if that's what his grandchild wants. Special needs: Not that he'd admit it, but he's still in some pain from being hit by a car a few years ago. He limps a bit, and I'm concerned about him over-doing things out of sheer stubbornness. Also, he's a vegetarian who doesn't eat soy-meat/veggie burgers/tofu/etc.
Excuse: Well, there was this conference... This summer, Minnie-me spent a week with her other grandparents. Next Summer, she'll spend a week with her other grandparents and a week with these grandparents. But instead of hanging out at home with these grandparents, they're all going to Disney world! This trip is kind of a dry-run. Can they work things out, will she be comfortable flying as an unattended minor, etc? I'm going to spend all week biting my tongue and reminding myself that my parents are unlikely to accidentally kill their grandchild.
The ground rules:
1) There's no going back. I don't care what you left in the room. I don't care -who- you left in the room. Once we walk out the door, there's no going back. Otherwise we wake up at 6, don't leave the resort until 11, go to a park, eat lunch, then go right back to our hotel, because it's hot and we're tired.
2) Feeding the child is important. I will not whine, complain, berate, harangue or otherwise criticize someone who fed my child gluten free food, regardless of how many Mickey Bars she ate that day. I will offer constructive suggestions about gluten free food, but they were there and I wasn't.
3) Don't stay in the parks if you're not having fun anymore. It just gets worse.
