My 3 kids, husband, parents and sister and I went on the usual, "once in a lifetime" trip to Disney last December and I still haven't gotten over it. Friends who just got back from Florida were telling us how wonderful their trip was, and it was all I could do to not cry (as I am now). I haven't been reading any of the Disney linked emails that still get sent to me - it is just too depressing! My girls (and I) got sick and every day we got a late start in hopes that they'd feel better and be able to do more, but every day they got sicker and sicker. We had some kind of bronchitis/sinusitis/flu bug that was horrible. My 3 year old usually has respiratory problems when she gets sick but even my 5 year old, who has never wheezed, needed to use my youngest's medicine and nebulizer, which thank goodness we brought.
We have good memories mixed with the bad, of course. Mickey's Christmas party was pretty cool - good thing they let us change our ticket date since the kids were sick - I really loved the parade and fireworks. And thank goodness my husband was able to take my 7 year old son around on some of the rides - it was really the only chance he got to really enjoy it full throttle. It was really too bad that my 5 year old daughter was so sick that she slept in a stroller through the entire parade and fireworks (no kidding - I kept shaking her to try to wake her up in hopes that she could enjoy it, and to make sure she was all right!). The kids got lots of autographs and really treasure their autograph books.
We ate well, thanks to the dining plan (though we missed out on the Christmas Carol show we paid for, after the elder daughter threw up in the ladies room at Alfredo's - that was a bad night. It helped that we were able to borrow a wheelchair to help us get home - my son did something to his ankle and we couldn't carry all 3 kids at the same time!). I could tell that our last dinner at the flying fish cafe was very good - too bad my tastebuds chose that night to completely shut down (everyone else got extra from me!). We liked Spoodles and the Flying Fish, especially. By the way, you can get a reservation a little easier by calling the restaurant directly - that's how we got in, when the general reservations line said it was booked.
Our rooms really helped us survive the trip - the grandparents paid for a 2 br suite at the Boardwalk Villas, which was really nice and I'd highly recommend. We spent a lot of time there, so it was good to have comfortable rooms with a kitchen. IT was also great to be so close to so many restaurants - we had lots of options when we didn't want to go far but had to eat. I'd stay there again, if we could afford it.
Here's a tip on what NOT to do if you or your kids are sick: DON'T take a taxi to the hospital instead of an ambulance - it is not worth it. At midnight the last night there, my youngest did what she usually does when she gets really sick - gets pnemonia. We've gone through this before, and figured we could take a cab to the local hospital. What we didn't count on was that the cabbie didn't know where the local hospital was. For your information, there is a clinic nearby that is not open all night, as he thought, and the closest full hospital after that is not downtown Orlando, where he took us. It is actually about 10 minutes away, in Celebration. But he didn't know how to get there. So 25 minutes and $45 dollars later (each way) we got to the downtown hospital that checked her out. Unfortunately, after we got there they had to shut down the emergency room because there had been a shooting and the victim's friends were congregating in the waiting room. It was a dirty, city hospital, and I was happy to get back to the hotel at 7am the next morning - I had just enough time to pack and leave!
We used the visiting doctor's service, which helped - we were able to get prescriptions delivered to the hotel very quickly. Unfortunately, they made us pay up front - about $500 for all of us - and our insurance company is still working things out. We should get a lot of that back. I hope.
I guess the thing that upsets me the most is not the stuff that happened, but what didn't happen. We planned a special birthday party for my daughter, who turned 3 while we were there, at the Crystal Palace. She loved Pooh at the time and we ordered a cake and everything. You can guess what happened - we cancelled, rescheduled, cancelled again, and never got to see Pooh. She's not into him as much anymore - so much for that once in a lifetime opportunity. For some reason I never got her a birthday button. She never got any special treatment or Disney moments. We made it to a Princess lunch (a highlight for the girls) after pumping my youngest full of tylenol (she was on a downward spiral and I was not going to let her miss that event!) and after asking the fairy godmother for a special wish for them to feel better she gave them some Mickey glitter - they still have it. My 3 year old still talks a lot about the Pooh ride, too - one of 3 rides she went on. How ridiculous is that - a week at Disney and only 3 rides?!!! She liked it, by the way, but didn't like the thunder.
After hearing about the special birthday stuff my friends daughter had last week, the old painful memories came up and I decided to write. I don't know if we'll ever go back - money is too tight - and even if we do it won't be the same not having the Grandparents and my sister there. If I could go back, I'd love to do the same exact thing - same dates ( first week in December) same restaurants, same parks, same hotel - just no sick kids. Sorry to be a complainer, but I had to get it off my chest. And we still had a good time just being there, and being with family. We were very fortunate to be able to go and have such a nice trip. I just hope, if you have a trip that doesn't go as planned, that you can take a few of my tips and make it a little more manageable.
We have good memories mixed with the bad, of course. Mickey's Christmas party was pretty cool - good thing they let us change our ticket date since the kids were sick - I really loved the parade and fireworks. And thank goodness my husband was able to take my 7 year old son around on some of the rides - it was really the only chance he got to really enjoy it full throttle. It was really too bad that my 5 year old daughter was so sick that she slept in a stroller through the entire parade and fireworks (no kidding - I kept shaking her to try to wake her up in hopes that she could enjoy it, and to make sure she was all right!). The kids got lots of autographs and really treasure their autograph books.
We ate well, thanks to the dining plan (though we missed out on the Christmas Carol show we paid for, after the elder daughter threw up in the ladies room at Alfredo's - that was a bad night. It helped that we were able to borrow a wheelchair to help us get home - my son did something to his ankle and we couldn't carry all 3 kids at the same time!). I could tell that our last dinner at the flying fish cafe was very good - too bad my tastebuds chose that night to completely shut down (everyone else got extra from me!). We liked Spoodles and the Flying Fish, especially. By the way, you can get a reservation a little easier by calling the restaurant directly - that's how we got in, when the general reservations line said it was booked.
Our rooms really helped us survive the trip - the grandparents paid for a 2 br suite at the Boardwalk Villas, which was really nice and I'd highly recommend. We spent a lot of time there, so it was good to have comfortable rooms with a kitchen. IT was also great to be so close to so many restaurants - we had lots of options when we didn't want to go far but had to eat. I'd stay there again, if we could afford it.
Here's a tip on what NOT to do if you or your kids are sick: DON'T take a taxi to the hospital instead of an ambulance - it is not worth it. At midnight the last night there, my youngest did what she usually does when she gets really sick - gets pnemonia. We've gone through this before, and figured we could take a cab to the local hospital. What we didn't count on was that the cabbie didn't know where the local hospital was. For your information, there is a clinic nearby that is not open all night, as he thought, and the closest full hospital after that is not downtown Orlando, where he took us. It is actually about 10 minutes away, in Celebration. But he didn't know how to get there. So 25 minutes and $45 dollars later (each way) we got to the downtown hospital that checked her out. Unfortunately, after we got there they had to shut down the emergency room because there had been a shooting and the victim's friends were congregating in the waiting room. It was a dirty, city hospital, and I was happy to get back to the hotel at 7am the next morning - I had just enough time to pack and leave!
We used the visiting doctor's service, which helped - we were able to get prescriptions delivered to the hotel very quickly. Unfortunately, they made us pay up front - about $500 for all of us - and our insurance company is still working things out. We should get a lot of that back. I hope.
I guess the thing that upsets me the most is not the stuff that happened, but what didn't happen. We planned a special birthday party for my daughter, who turned 3 while we were there, at the Crystal Palace. She loved Pooh at the time and we ordered a cake and everything. You can guess what happened - we cancelled, rescheduled, cancelled again, and never got to see Pooh. She's not into him as much anymore - so much for that once in a lifetime opportunity. For some reason I never got her a birthday button. She never got any special treatment or Disney moments. We made it to a Princess lunch (a highlight for the girls) after pumping my youngest full of tylenol (she was on a downward spiral and I was not going to let her miss that event!) and after asking the fairy godmother for a special wish for them to feel better she gave them some Mickey glitter - they still have it. My 3 year old still talks a lot about the Pooh ride, too - one of 3 rides she went on. How ridiculous is that - a week at Disney and only 3 rides?!!! She liked it, by the way, but didn't like the thunder.
After hearing about the special birthday stuff my friends daughter had last week, the old painful memories came up and I decided to write. I don't know if we'll ever go back - money is too tight - and even if we do it won't be the same not having the Grandparents and my sister there. If I could go back, I'd love to do the same exact thing - same dates ( first week in December) same restaurants, same parks, same hotel - just no sick kids. Sorry to be a complainer, but I had to get it off my chest. And we still had a good time just being there, and being with family. We were very fortunate to be able to go and have such a nice trip. I just hope, if you have a trip that doesn't go as planned, that you can take a few of my tips and make it a little more manageable.
That was a bad trip. I'm sorry it turned out that way. Perhaps you can plan another trip, a totally different trip. Instead of trying to recreate your other one--a different time of year, different resort. Leave the past in your behind, as Pumbaa would say. 
..i 've been thinking on how the best way to offer encouragment...
that the next trip is full of 
