Five Adults and A Princess - Watch out Disney World

[PrincessRora]

I really had no idea what to call this thing. But anyway, I’ve spent the last few days reading a bunch of trip reports and decided it was finally time to start our own. Usually it’s my mom who does all the message boarding before our vacations, but since I’m the big Disney fanatic (or at least the one that isn’t a young single mom), I figured I’d do some of the talking before we left.

I suppose I should start off with the trips back ground and cast which includes:

DF (54) – Santos
DM (49) – Debbie
DB (18) – Jason
DS (21-22) – Melissa
DGD or DN (15-17 months) – Julianna
Me (21-22) – Nicole

The history of this trip is pretty far back. It originally started out in the planning stages in the spring of 2006 when a few friends and I started talking about doing a trip to Disney world after we graduated from College. Unfortunately, different things happened, and the group of us, for complicated reasons was unable to go. One dropped out of school, but ended up doing the Disney College Program and loved it (she’s going back next summer after she graduates from another university to work there) and a second is too reluctant to leave her mother and father (they’re very reluctant to have their daughter away from them). Anyway, that sort of left me in the spring of 2007 still really wanting to go to Disney World.

That’s when the ball really started rolling. I took every chance I could to mention to DM how much I really wanted to go back to Disney. Well, one day she surprised me with the suggestion that we make the trip a mother-daughter thing. That meant more to me than anything. DM and I have always been close, but never really got to do many mother-daughter things after my DB was born. Don’t get me wrong; I love the boy to pieces, but DM knew that a mother-daughter trip would be the ultimate gift. Especially to Disney. I may be twenty one, but Disney is still and will probably always be my dream vacation.

So DM and I started planning, looking into vacation deals and packages. We knew we wouldn’t do the trip before May of 2008 because we wanted to go to celebrate my Bachelors Degree in Biology. It’s a big deal for my family because I will be the first one to get a college degree (and now I’m actually going on to my masters). The months went by slowly, but we kept looking and planning.

Plans started to change that fall though. My best friend Melissa, who is almost literally my sister (we’re only missing the blood and who shall now be known as DS) was having a lot of trouble. Our DMs were friends and pregnant at the same time with us, so we are three weeks apart EXACTLY in birth (May 26-June 16). Even when my family moved from NY to NC, we talked at least once a week.

Anyway, DS made some mistakes in her life. Her family was never tightly knit as many are and both her mother and her father had their problems (they are now separated). When she was sixteen, she attempted suicide and was diagnosis as clinically depressed and started on medication. She’s done so much better. Unfortunately, she also has very low self esteem. She ended up dating a guy who was by no means good for her and only helped fuel her idea that in order for her to get unconditional love in her life, she needed to have a baby. Mind you, he was already the father of a little boy and behind on child support he owed to the boys mother. Anyway, long story short, my DS did get pregnant, she did carry to term, and she did want to keep the baby.

(( Please understand that my family does not excuse her mistakes. She knows she made them, and she knows she should not have gotten pregnant so young. I would really appreciate it if any negative feelings you have toward teen mothers were kept to yourselves. You don’t know all the facts and you can’t assume you do. I’m not saying these things to be mean or because I feel she didn’t do anything wrong. I just say them because I had a particular nasty experience when one of my co-workers heard my family’s story and said that my DS and DGD should be on the street because if she could spread her legs, she could take care of herself. So please, I’ll just ask as nicely as I can, that you don’t make any remarks about that )).

Anyway, DS stayed with the baby’s father until Nov of 2007. They constantly argued and weren’t living together. Problems ensued. But, the point was, they ended their relationship (although the baby’s father is still giving us problems – but that’s an entirely different story). DS was living with her DF in a tiny one bedroom home out on Long Island in NY and was not working. My DM and DF went to visit in January of 2008 and the conditions my DS and now 1 year old DGD Julianna were living in, were horrible. DM and DF asked DS to come live with us even thought they were excited about finally having their two kids out of the house (DB just started college in August of 2007).

So, Feb 2008, DS and DGD moved in with my parents while DB and I are off at the same University (me a senior, him a freshman). DM and I put our plans on hold for a bit. However, we couldn’t completely let Disney go. With a bit more planning and some secrete keeping for DF (who is very stern about finances) we found a way for all six members of our family to go to Disney. Unfortunately, before we’d ironed out all the details, DF found out.

Instead of saying “no” he decides we can do it, but just a bit cheaper. One, we can’t stay on property. Ok, I can deal with that. Two: DB, DS, and I each have to pay for our own park tickets – 3 day park hoppers ~ $250 each. Got that covered. We all work, so it wasn’t too big a deal. And Three: we drive with a 17 month old in the car. We fought that one a bit because Julie does not sit well in cars for more than thirty minutes. However, we eventually caved and DF found an off site resort for us to stay out. We just had to pick the dates.

So the family (minus DB who said we could do the planning and he’d just go along for the ride) sat down to decide when to go. After May 10, because mom still wanted to celebrate my graduation. But then DS suggested June 13-17… her reasoning, was that the 16th was my birthday and we should take the chance to spend my birthday in Disney (a dream I’ve had since I was six). We also wanted to make the trip about DS and DGD and how they’re getting a new start: my DS finally working and earning money for herself and DGD; and DGD making wonderful adjustments to her new home. So that settled it, we’d be going June 13-17. DF immediately booked our resort while DM called DB to tell him not to make plans for those days.

We could believe it. We’re really going to Disney World.

 

[PrincessRora]

Chapter 1: The planning thus far

A week after booking the trip back at the beginning of April, DS and I hopped on the Disney website and planned out an itinerary. Or at least the parks we would do and what rides we really want to do. We know we can’t guarantee anything as June is a very crowded month, but there are certain things we want to experience and we want Julie to go on.

We also decided to book 1 ADR. We only have three days at the park and want as much time as we can going from ride to ride. Julianna is exceptionally good at stroller napping, so we won’t need to return to the hotel (which is good since it’s not on property) and there are rides DF won’t do, so he’s agreed to watch her while she sleeps. However, DF didn’t want to book anything in advanced. Thankfully, the rest of us knew better. So we searched and picked the one we really wanted and YAY! We got it.

So basically we’ve got:
Friday: Leaving 10 am, arriving around 4ish. Relaxing at hotel, possibly going to DTD.
Saturday: ADR at CP 8:20 am; MK all morning, Epcot for lunch and afternoon, MK for parade and Wishes
Sunday: DHS morning/afternoon; MK evening/night
Monday: AK morning/afternoon (must do EE for big kids); MK evening/night
Tuesday: DTD for a bit in the morning; heading back home early afternoon and arriving home in the evening.

Sounds pretty good, if we can stick to it.

DS and I started planning what would be needed for Julianna. It’s a bit difficult since I’m away at school and she’s home. So most of our planning has been over the phone except on the rare weekends when I’m home. One weekend in particular we picked up 2 disney themed outfits on clearance for Julie at Walmart. One has princess Aurora on it and the other is mini mouse. We found a third with bambi at a garage sale, so at least someone will be all decked out in Disney gear. We’re bringing along a second change of clothes for her for each day, just in case.

While we knew we were bringing her stroller with us, we knew we needed to get a baby harness for Julie. Even at 15 months, she hates being confined to a stroller if she can walk, and there was no way we’re taking her to Disney in June without extra insurance that she won’t wiggle her little hand out of one of ours and make a mad dash towards something. We still need to pick that up.

We were all set to bring the regular reclining stroller we have for my niece until a few weeks ago. DM and DS happened to be at garage sale and found a very easy to maneuver jogging stroller (not sure of the brand) that fully reclines for $20. Definitely just what we needed to steer our way through the crowds.

We hit one snag in the road to our Disney planning. DS’s DM and DF. She loves them both, just as any child should, but at the current moment that are separated and as a family, they haven’t been to WDW in seven years. Her DM won’t care that we’re taking her granddaughter to Disney world, but would want to come with. That’s not a good idea. Her DM is very controlling and much to DS’s dislike, calls Julianna “her baby”. So, we have not informed DS’s mother of our plans, and won’t until we return from Disney. However, her DF is a different story. We would have loved for him to come, but he is unable to afford it. We knew he wanted to be the first one to take Julie to Disney, and so it has been hard to figure out how to tell him.

DS and DM finally told him the other day, and he is actually thrilled. Yes, he is sad he can’t be the first one to take his granddaughter to WDW, but he’s thrilled that she gets to go at such a young age. We promised we’d help him take her for the first trip she’ll actually remember. He’s even asked to give a little money to buy her certain things: her mouse ears. We’ll be asking him if he wants traditional ears, of he’d like us to get her the customizable ones.

So hurdle #1 crossed. And we’re still a month and a week away from Disney. Somehow, I doubt the rest of this will go smoothly.

Oh, and here’s some pictures of our little band:
DF and DM

DB

DS

Myself

And The Little Princess Julianna

 

[Think_Tink_Think]

Good pre-trip so far,

 

[Caboosey]

Awww, Julianna is a cutie!

 

[PrincessRora]

Chapter #2: The Trouble with Spoiled Children

I wasn’t going to post for a while, but Hurdle #2 reared its ugly head yesterday. Not a big hurdle, but it’s a loud one.

So, plans have been moving smoothly. Since this was a sort of last minute planned trip, and my parents are celebrating my mother’s birthday in November with a cruise in Hawaii and a short trip to Vegas, money was pretty tight. Everything for Disney was planned on a huge budget and there’s not a lot of time to DO EVERYTHING we want to do.

I’m cool with that, and obviously so is my sister. Just being able to take the little princess Julianna to Disney World is treat enough. My niece is my world and she’s not even old enough to talk yet. (Mom and my sister showed up at my apartment on campus today to pick up some boxes to move my DB home from school and they left my DN home with dad and DS’s father. I miss her so much.) Anyway, back to the point. DB is a bit spoiled. I love him to pieces, but he’s spoiled. He’s the baby of our family, and definitely Mom’s little boy. So when we told him there wasn’t going to be time for a lot of the bigger rides, he obviously wasn’t thrilled.

Well, he called me a little while later, since he knows I’m in charge of the planning, and practically begged to be able to just ride Test Track and Splash Mountain. Ok, no problem for Splash Mountain, because that’s something we all like to do, so a baby swap will be in order there and he’ll get to ride twice. Once with my parents, and once with my DS and I. However, Test Track wasn’t so easy. He’s the only one in our family who actually liked it. I wasn’t thrilled with waiting so long for it. I was bored out of my mind. DF felt sick, and DM, claims she has no opinion. DS has never been on it and said she really had no desire to go on it. Needless to say, I had to try and talk DB out of it or he’d have to go alone. Still, he’s not a happy camper.

So that night, DS just happens to see something on TV (no idea what) and she calls me. Now she wants to go on Test Track. Funny how these things solve themselves. And it works perfectly for me because DS doesn’t like Honey I Shrunk the Audience, but DF and I do and DM once again has no opinion. So, DF and I will take Julie to the Honey I Shrunk the Audience show while DB and DS go on Test Track. DM says she’s choose where she’ll go later.

Like I said, not at major hurdle, but it gave me enough of a headache. I want EVERYONE to enjoy this trip, even my hard to please younger sibling.

On a funny note, the little princess has started saying “Bye” whenever she hears someone say it on the phone, just before you hang up. However, if you ask her to say it, she stares at you like you’re nuts or ignores you. She could be paying attention to something else completely, but if you say “Bye” she will too. We also found out she LOVES Mary Poppins. My guess would have been an animated movie, but she absolutely loves this one. She’ll dance to the songs and just stare at the screen when it’s on in between playing. She cracks us up. I’m really hoping we can find Mary Poppins in Disney on such a tight schedule so she can meet her.

Anyway, time to do a bit more packing up of my apartment. I’ve got a week left until Graduation. YAY!

 

[PrincessRora]

Awww, Julianna is a cutie!

Isn't she? I love her to pieces.

 

[PrincessRora]

Chapter 3: Shopping, Shopping and oh, yeah, more shopping

That’s basically what our family has been up to for the last month or so. Getting odds and ends together for the trip, which is seeming more real each and every day. Our personalized maps arrived and we’ve spent hours looking over them and revamping our plans. We know which parks we’ll be doing on which days at what time of day. No real science to it for us, just kind of “we all want to do this ride, so we have to be here at some point.” The only thing that’s certain is that we’ll be at the Magic Kingdom everyday, and on the first day to start with because we have an ADR at the Crystal Palace on June 14 at 8:20 am. Not a problem getting the baby up and ready since she has a hard time sleeping past 6:00 am. Yeah, we’re not really thrilled about that. Beyond that, we want Juliana’s first ride to be Dumbo, so Fantasy Land it is.

And of course, as the day of the trip approaches, we’ve had to pick up a few “necessary” items. Walmart was of course running a clearance on many of its Disney themed clothing for toddlers. Juliana now has 6 outfits all with a Disney theme: A Pooh Sundress, a Pooh t-shirt and short set, a Bambi short-all set, a Princess Aurora t-shirt and short set, and a Minnie Mouse t-shirt and short set; three days, and two outfits per day if we happen to get one messy. So, clothing wise, Juliana’s all set. DM, DS, and I each have a few Disney t-shirts, but DM wants a new Pooh one, and DS and I want to pick up matching shirts. We used to dress alike when we were little, so since this is our first trip together, we felt it only right to wear matching outfits one day while we’re there.

In addition to this, we’ve bought a small package of diapers for the trip as well as a new package of “Little Swimmers”. Also, a new unopened bottle of baby sunscreen. We’ve decided to only bring one bottle for emergencies, since Juliana is now drinking almost exclusively from sippy cups. Hopefully, we can keep her on that and not need to use the bottle. She also doesn’t use a binkie, except at nap time and bed time, but with as much excitement as we’re going to have, that rule will probably be broken for the trip, so that she doesn’t disturb other people who are trying to enjoy an attraction, parade, etc.

Besides the necessary items for Juliana, DM, DS, and I have started accumulating some unnecessary items. We found a jogging stroller at a garage sale for $20. We had been planning to use her regular stroller for the trip, but for $20, the Jeep jogging stroller was worth it. Julie falls asleep in it easily, so it’s perfect. We also bought several of Julie’s “Tinkerbell gifts”: A pair of princess pjs from walmart for Friday night, an autograph book for Saturday morning, a Minnie mouse doll for Sunday morning, and a Pooh doll for Monday morning. We also bought her a Winnie the Pooh that can go in the water and a My Friends Tigger and Pooh ball for he to play with at our pool which just opened. She loves watching that show, and she taps her head and says “Tik Tik Tik” when Pooh, Tigger, and Darby sing “Think Think Think”. She loves to imitate Pooh and shows off infront of people. She also knows we’re going to Disney because we’ve been saying it so often and pointing out commercials and pictures. If you ask her if she’s going to “Mickey’s House” she nods and says “Nah” which is her version of “Yeah” or “Yes”.

We also picked up a little something for my DM and myself. Crocs. Or at least the flip flop type. Mom really wanted a pair, and I haven’t bought a new pair of shoes in 2 years, so we argued it was worth spending the money. I needed a new pair of flip flops badly, and during the summer, unless I’m indoors, I hate having my toes enclosed, so the flip flop kind are wonderful. I’ve worn them a bit and I love them.

But we have done more than shopping over the past month. We celebrated my graduation from Wingate University back on May 10th. Juliana proved she can at least attempt at escaping even under the watchful eyes of many adults during our celebration party. It really feels great to have graduated. Now I just have to keep my fingers crossed for funding for graduate school.

On May 11th, we celebrated Mother’s day. It’s DS’s first mother’s day without Julie’s father. She wasn’t expecting it when Julie carried a gift bag over to her after DM opened all her cards and gifts from DB, DS, Juliana and I. DS cried as she read the card and pulled out two picture frames. One with a poem and Juliana’s hand prints at the bottom, and the second of her first ever finger painting. She brought it to breakfast with the rest of the family to show it off.

On May 14th we went out to eat at a nice restaurant to celebrate my cousin’s 13th birthday and Juliana learned to drink from a straw. On May 16-18th, we celebrated my now 13 year old cousin Matthew’s Bar Mitzvah with a huge party. I’m talking giant cardboard cut outs of my cousin, a DJ with a big screen and a dance floor, and even an ice sculpture. My aunt and uncle went all out. It was amazing though, and Matthew deserved it. He read so beautifully from the Torah. I don’t think I’ve ever been prouder of him. And 4 years from now, we’ll be doing it again for his younger brother Noah. Juliana stayed up late and partied with everyone until she fell asleep in her stroller. Loud noise definitely doesn’t bother her.

On May 26th, we celebrated DS’s 22nd birthday by going to an amusement park here in NC called Carowinds. We treated it as a mini-test run for WDW since it was Julie’s first trip to such a place. She was very good waiting in line most of the time. So long as we allowed her to go from adult to adult, she was content. We did buy a baby harness purposely before we went to test it. We weren’t 100% sure if we’d want one or not at WDW. We got the kind that looks like a Puppy dog backpack. Julie loved it. She got to walk around on her own, and even stand on line for things without us worrying. She hates holding hands and will drop to her knees and cry when she’s tired of holding onto someone. She also doesn’t like to always be confined in her stroller. So the toddler harness is a go. We know there are mixed opinions on it, but for Julie, it works, she’s happy, and so are we. So we’re taking it. While at Carowinds, we also met some characters. Julie did well. She’s not as familiar with Nickelodeon characters as she is with Disney ones, but she let us wheel her up to Jimmy Neutron and she gave him a high five. She didn’t want to get out or hug him, but she didn’t scream or cry. Just waved and said “Bye” when she had had enough. So we’ve really hoping she’ll be the same or better when she meets Mickey and the gang.

Just one more birthday to celebrate before we leave. On June 9th we’ll be going out to dinner once more to celebrate my cousin Noah’s 9th birthday. And then we’ll officially start the WDW trip Count Down. We can hardly wait.

Only a week and a bit to go left, so we’re getting all the last minute things together. DM’s friend came over to get the keys and have DM explain how to care for our zoo. On top of 6 people living in the house, we have 5 indoor pets: 3 cats, and 2 dogs (both who are 50+ lbs – they’re giant lap dogs). Our house is definitely quite full. I’ve still got to write out a list of how to care for each of them. It’s not complicated, but one of our cats has cancer, so the vet’s number is a definite must; and one of our dogs has seizures, hypothyroidism, and limps on occasion, so there’s a set of medications he needs to receive twice a day.

Along with all this, we’ve got to make lists for packing for everyone, figure out how we’ll fit 3 or 4 suitcases in the trunk of the minivan along with Juliana’s stroller, figure out which car seat we’ll be taking (the baby seat which sits her higher but has less room or the toddler seat which gives her much more room, but sits her lower than the window. She can fall asleep easily in both), and attempt to transfer our old Disney Sing along Song VHSs onto DVD so that we’ll be able to entertain the little princess without going crazy ourselves.

 

[PrincessRora]

Chapter 4: Last minute things and we hit the road

We finished up our shopping for the trip on Monday and we got a light chaser! That had been one very elusive item, but we got a princess one with Belle and Aurora. It’s perfect for Julie (cause those are mommy and auntie’s favorite princesses). We picked a few extra items for everyone, including VHS tapes for the video camera.

So, after charging camera batteries and getting all the odds and ends squared away, we’re just about ready to go. The suitcases were packed this weekend, and the last bits were put into them tonight. And they’ve been loaded into the car. Julie’s car seat was decided upon and situated in its proper spot in the minivan. Our poor puppies have been giving us sad faces all night. They’ve finally figured out we’re leaving, and they are not happy. The cats seem to be laughing at them – they’ve known all week. They figure it out the moment the suitcases make their appearance in bedrooms.

Unfortunately, Julie contracted a cold at day care and she’s congested and has a bad cough that’s been keeping her up at night. We finally decided she was getting cough medicine. Her pediatrician wouldn’t give her anything for it, even after a visit, but the poor thing is miserable. We took children’s cough medicine as babies, and we’re healthy. No way were we making Julie suffer. So we picked up the cough medicine tonight. We want happy Julie at WDW, not coughing up a lung miserable Julie. She’s not a fun person.

So beyond that, everything’s gone smoothly. We’re heading out at 6:00 am tomorrow morning, so this is the final pre trip report. Hopefully our trip will be full of wonderful memories to report back on.

Remember, Wishes really do come true.