First Trip to Disneyland... kinda like another "first?"

[avalon451]

I was thinking about our first trip to Disneyland March 24th-28th. It's kind of like the first time you, um... ok, this is a family board, but you know. You've thought about it for a long time, anticipated it, hopefully it's with someone you love You're expecting it to be wonderful.

It happens, and it's not quite like what you imagined. You'd built up such a romantic idea of what it would be like that the reality is not exactly up to your dreams. It's... eh, ok. But afterward you think, hey, that was pretty fun... then in retrospect you want to try it again and the next time you sort of know what to expect and you have an idea what to do to make it great.

Our oldest DD12 got quite sick on our very first visit to DL. That was a big downer. Also, the parks looked different than I thought they would, dunno why, I'd seen tons of pictures. It even SMELLED different. Not bad, just... different. DD12 spent lots of time in the hotel room sleeping, and missed lots of stuff. By the way, thank you so much for the MANY of you who wrote back, when I wrote about it, to offer comfort, get well wishes, and encouragement for us to plan another trip.

So, we've decided that DD12 and I will do a "Do Over!" trip next October. We'll do just mom and daughter, 3 days, lots of fun, and ride all the rides and see all the shows that she and I missed.

Hopefully this time, we'll both stay healthy.

And this time, I won't be a DL virgin.

 

[nancy drew]

my first trips as a parent were at WDW but i think the same principle applies. i first went with dd (just me and dd), who was 15mo (and i was 19w pregnant with ds) and we scraped by. the following year i had 2 kids and a "husband" who was supposedly trying to make our marriage work. i had learned a lot from my first solo trip, and was glad dd had been so young that i could make mistakes without causing major damage .

last year i went to WDW with both kids, 18mo and newly 3yo, and i had finally learned how to make the most of our trip. i had my mom (am divorced now, thank goodness!!!!!) to help, but i spent much time alone with my kids as mom isnt much "help" as it turns out.

this year i am taking both kids to DLR alone. no help, no pseudo help . i feel like i have learned enough from previous trips that i know how to make this work. but im sure i will learn. the difference between WDW and DLR is comparable to the difference between speaking French and Spanish. they share a common origin, but branch out into two totally different directions.