Guilting my sister back to the World

[tarak]

It’s been ages since I had any sort of trip report. But I’ve been inspired by my friend Dee (natebenma), so I figured I’d give it a shot.

This August, I’ll be taking my ninth trip to WDW. Every two years or so, we go as a whole family. My husband can only take it every two years, so I fill in the gaps by taking my mom and kids. We did that last summer, staying at YC on a BB offer. My middle two children vowed never again in August because of the heat. My oldest is the biggest Disney fan of the four (well, I suppose the toddler doesn’t really count, since she wasn't quite two the last time she was there), and she thought the heat was just fine. I managed to guilt my sister into coming out with us (she lives in California). “C’mon, how many chances will you have to see your baby niece hug Mickey Mouse?” She told me that was a low blow and promptly booked her flight to Orlando. Biggest bonus - she’s bringing her stepdaughter (my niece), who is the most amazing young woman. I don’t get to see her nearly as often as I’d like, so I’m really excited.

These are the folks from my side of the family coming. I apologize in advance if the photos are too big. I resized them on photobucket, but I'm still figuring out the whole re-sizing thing on the new Dis.



This is my oldest kid. Amara, a/k/a Thing #1. I call her my mini-me, but she’s the better version, I think. She is way too smart for her own good, a black belt in karate, and insufferably bossy to her younger siblings. She has a good amount of heroine worship for my niece, so we’re keeping her addition to the group as a surprise. Or trying. I told Amara if she happens to snoop on MDE and sees a party of five, it’s because we thought there was a slim chance my niece might come, and it’s easier to remove someone than to add her at a late date. But don’t get your hopes up. Keeping anything a secret from this kid is well nigh impossible, though, so we'll have to see how that pans out.



This is Aria. Bionic Baby a/k/a Thing #4. She was born with a congenital heart defect and has a pacemaker, which needs replacing every few years. There have been a few other complications but, being supercharged, you’d never know there was a thing wrong with her. Still, I tend to get pretty emotional at all her firsts, since we had no guarantee she’d ever have them. Amara is enough of a parental figure that if daddy and I say no to something, she asks Amara. Amara has been instructed to say no, too.



Me. This was a selfie taken after our meal at the Flying Fish last August. We had the chef’s table. My mom declined the wine pairings, not realizing they’d still fill her glass for each course. Mom, who has that classic German stoicism thing going on, was a wee bit tipsy. As Thing #2 said, “I’ve never seen her smile so much!” The look on my face pretty much sums up how I feel at WDW after a few days. I must love it, though, since I keep going back.

Next up - where we're staying, which is subject to change at my whim.

 

[NJlauren]

Following along! Looking forward to hearing all your plans and learning a little more about doing WDW in the summer!

Your girls are to cute and so happy to hear 'thing 4' is doing well, sending her love (and everyone else too).

 

[tarak]

Following along! Looking forward to hearing all your plans and learning a little more about doing WDW in the summer!

Your girls are to cute and so happy to hear 'thing 4' is doing well, sending her love (and everyone else too).

Hi Lauren - I'm enjoying reading about your plans, too! Thing #4 is doing well. She had her last post-op appointment this past Tuesday and things look great.
Thank you for sending love - it is very much appreciated!

 

[disney-inspired]

I'm in!

 

[tarak]

Our last trip to WDW as a family of six was in January, 2014. The average temperature was around sixty and this was how we dressed.


I had this theory that leaving Pennsylvania when it was 20 degrees would make 60 feel like heaven. It did - for about two days. Then we adjusted (and I swear 60 degrees in Orlando is colder than 60 degrees in Central PA). Since I'd booked a BB for August, I knew a nice pool was key, so I booked YC.

Compare that to August. It was early, so I don't think there are any visible sweat stains.


Oh, and here's a photo of me not looking like a lunatic. This was taken at Toyko Dining, which we loved. Great sushi and a wonderful view of the lagoon at Epcot.


So August was hot. Really hot. I figured it would be fine. PA isn't exactly fabulous in August. A lot of our schools don't have AC and they've had to shut down occasionally because 1) they stupidly start school before Labor Day, and 2) it's routinely in the 90s. Also, we take karate (the whole family). Unless it's in the 90s, the AC doesn't go on. So imagine spending an hour in an enclosed space with dozens of sweaty tweens with questionable hygiene. Pretty much my expectations for Disney in August. Then we had a record cool summer. So much for being prepared. On the other hand, I fully expected it to be horribly hot. I knew we'd get rained on and I knew we'd spend a lot of time in the pool. Weirdly, it didn't rain until the Friday after we got there (we flew in on a Sunday). So yes, it was hot. But I expected that. We got to the parks early, hung out for a few hours, went back to the resort to swim, and then headed back to parks for the night. It was fabulous. I did plan to do laundry half-way through the week. We packed clothes for a week. I expected we'd sweat through everything in the morning, and who wants to put that mess back on? So by mid-week, we were pretty well out of clothes. Fine. I got a nice beverage and toted it, along with my laundry bag and laptop, to the facility by the YC quiet pool. It was a nice break. My mom had the kids at the pool. All were happy.

ETA: I haven't a clue if the photos are uploading well or not. Photobucket is just ridiculously slow anymore, so I'm trying my hand at Flickr, with limited success.

 

[JoshAndEvsMom]

Hi! Joining in!

Oh man, I just went through the flickr mess! I was going crazy trying to figure it out because Photobucket was going to charge me for the extra bandwidth and shut down all my other links to my photos in my TR!!

The trick is to copy/paste the BBCode directly into the Post Reply box. Dont use the "insert image" button! That's what I was doing wrong and I was about to pull my hair out because I couldn't figure it out. Also, I change the size of my photos to Medium 531x800 in the dropdown.

Hope that helps!!

 

[tarak]

I'm in!

Welcome!

Hi! Joining in!

Oh man, I just went through the flickr mess! I was going crazy trying to figure it out because Photobucket was going to charge me for the extra bandwidth and shut down all my other links to my photos in my TR!!

The trick is to copy/paste the BBCode directly into the Post Reply box. Dont use the "insert image" button! That's what I was doing wrong and I was about to pull my hair out because I couldn't figure it out. Also, I change the size of my photos to Medium 531x800 in the dropdown.

Hope that helps!!

Welcome and thank you! I've always used photobucket, but it seems so slow compared to all the other sites I've tried. And for some reason it seems to lock up whenever I try to upload the pictures I have through disney's photo pass.

This will probably be as much a trip report from our last trip in August 2014 as it is a PTR for this August. Last summer, we spent six nights at YC, then moved to POR for the last night. This trip is also a split stay, but we're starting out at the Polynesian (thus far - we'll see how the construction mess comes along there), then moving to the BC. I'll most likely update more often on the weekends. The weekdays are just crazy with karate several nights a week, Girl Scouts, and homework.

 

[natebenma]

I'm so glad you are doing this. I'm definitely joining you on this Pre-trip report! Wish I could join you again on the August trip. You were my favorite stalker!



Great introductions and pictures.

I'm excited that your sister and niece will be joining you on the upcoming trip.

Can't wait to read about the August trip.

It really was HOT!!! I have been on summer trips to Florida for the past 7 years and this seemed to be the worst year. But as you said, it was dry (I only got rain while I was on the ME to Beach Club), so I think I will take that tradeoff.

:

 

[tarak]

I'm so glad you are doing this. I'm definitely joining you on this Pre-trip report! Wish I could join you again on the August trip. You were my favorite stalker!



Great introductions and pictures.

I'm excited that your sister and niece will be joining you on the upcoming trip.

Can't wait to read about the August trip.

It really was HOT!!! I have been on summer trips to Florida for the past 7 years and this seemed to be the worst year. But as you said, it was dry (I only got rain while I was on the ME to Beach Club), so I think I will take that tradeoff.

:

Hi Dee! It was such a wonderfully fun trip. I'll miss bumping into you at the MK this August!

So I wasn't kidding about how slowly I'll update this sucker. Of course, I'll have plenty of time, since we don't leave for another four months or so (although that seems so soon in some ways).

I've read a number of posts about the travel agency with the magical labor day specials. When we stayed at YC, I had a BB offer that couldn't be matched when I added in the military tickets my mom (an Air Force vet) could buy. But as soon as I got an email mentioning the Labor Day special, I emailed and asked about staying three nights at Poly and four at BC. The price came in at about 47% off rack rate. I was hesitant, to put it mildly, about staying at the Poly with all the construction going on, and I've been stalking Tikiman's feed on Facebook. I've also driven my oldest daughter bonkers with all the texts asking if we should move to a different resort (probably WL). For now, we're staying put. We have a CL GV room booked. While some of the GV rooms are on the lake side of the Hawaiii building, I'm not going to assume we'll get one of the those (although I plan to request one). The quiet pool is supposed to be in the process of being renovated at that point. While Thing #4 can sleep through just about anything at this point, I can't. And I really don't want to hearing construction vehicles backing up at the crack of dawn and I have very little confidence that the resort will send out reliable and timely updates on the state of construction. So if things look awful when we get there, I'll just ask what they can do about moving us elsewhere at the resort or to another one with easy access to the MK. My sister and niece don't arrive until Monday, so I can easily text them and tell them to head for the WL instead of the Poly (or wherever they can plant us). I'm hoping the rumor that the refurb of the quiet pool won't be as extensive as originally planned. If not, well, there should be someplace they can put us if it seems completely unworkable. And it's three nights. While the BC rooms are being renovated, that construction isn't anything like what's going on at the Poly.

Why even stay there? Sentiment, I suppose.The first trip I took to WDW as a full-fledged adult we stayed at the Poly. We had two kids then, and I was pregnant with Thing #3. We had a really fabulous time - in great part because we decided to let the kids lead the way. This was back in the early days of the dining plan, when it was still a decent deal (appetizer and tip included in the price). The only downside to the Poly was the beds were soft. I like a soft bed, but these were crazy soft. We also discovered that Thing #1 snores. Loudly. The first night, it was funny. The second night, it finally clicked that we'd be listening to that racket for the rest of the week. We tried everything. Moving her to the side, to her belly, to a different bed (the day bed wasn't as squishy). Nothing helped. So sleep wasn't great. But we still had fun. I knew I wanted to stay where we had easy access to MK for the first few days. GF and CR just don't have that relaxed vibe to me. WL is nice, but we'd need a deluxe room or two connecting. I've had personal experience with Disney promising connecting rooms and being separated by a long hallway. CL at the Poly was cheaper than a deluxe room at WL by about $400 for the three nights. So I decided to go with the Poly for the first few nights, then we'd move to BC for the rest of the week.

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday if they celebrate, or a lovely Sunday if they don't!

 

[tarak]

My 180 days for booking ADRs opened on February 17. I had plans to attempt an ADR at BOG (we've had dinner there twice and really enjoyed it each time). That was the only hard-to-get ADR I had on the list. It turned out my youngest had surgery that day. I made a half-hearted attempt at BOG a few times throughout the night, since I wasn't sleeping anyway. But I honestly didn't care. We weren't going to starve. Still, I had to make some sort of plans if we wanted to eat at any table service restaurants.

Thing #4 loves Stitch. She has a Stitch romper that she'll wear for days on end if we let her. Staying at the Poly made a breakfast at 'Ohana a no-brainer.



I don't plan to bring this particular outfit in August because if I bring it she'll wear it. As cute as it might be to dress as Stitch to meet Stitch, she will burst into flames from the heat.

As for the rest of the meals, that's a bit harder to plan. Thing #1 is a food snob. She is also really adventurous when it comes to trying new things. It's great, but holy cow is it a pain at times. She complains that whenever I'm gone, she has to live on what my husband buys - which is going out to eat or take out. Most kids would like this. Not my kid. Last trip I took without her, she lasted half a day before the desperate texts started to roll in.



Yia yia is Greek for grandmother (my husband is Greek). Bill's is a local family restaurant we've eaten at since before this child was conceived. And Wendy's? Order a baked potato if you're so offended by the fried food. You're eleven, for Pete's sake. Oh, and the caption for the photo was "here's something creepy." Namely, a weird faun-thing we ran into at Fairyland. A cracktastic place in Oakland that supposedly inspired Walt Disney to build Disneyland. Not sure if that's true or not. This was the next text I received.



I sort-of-gently pointed out that when I was her age, that was the only cheese anyone had with pasta. Unless you lived in Italy, I suppose. I did, in fact, take her to the movie when I got home (because nothing comforts her like a depressing movie about kids and cancer), and we ate sushi at the Asian restaurant near the theater (which has crazy good Thai food, by the way).

So how to keep her happy at Disney? Well, she does love fruit (so does Thing #4). So at the very least, we can get that. She loved Flying Fish last August. So I plan to drop Thing #4 off at the kid's club at the BC before heading to FF with the rest of the crew. I've heard really, really great things about Raglan Road, so I made an ADR there for the evening I plan to go to DTD (assuming I don't bail on the plan because DTD makes me crazy). I was able to get an ADR for lunch at BOG. I prefer the dinner menu, but the nice thing about lunch is we can choose the room we eat in (assuming there's a table available). And it's cheaper, which is always a plus. I'd like my sister and niece to see the theme of the place, at least. The other ADR I made is for the character breakfast at Cape May. I'm still on the fence about this one, but it's scheduled for our last full day there. I can easily cancel if it seems like overkill.

 

[natebenma]

Your story about your foodie daughter cracks me up! Of course, texts from your kids are absolutely the best- the ones I get from Ben are hilarious, although Nate is more "K" or "here". I have one exotic eater (Ben, 13) and one picky eater (Nate, 16)- although he is more than happy to eat steak and lobster.

We finally weaned Nate off the Kraft processed cheese and onto real Parmesan, so there's some progress.

That picture of Thing #4 has got to be the most adorable thing on the internet!!!

Good plan for dining. I have not been to Ohana for breakfast but it truly looks like fun for all ages!

for lunch at BOG!!!

I haven't been to Flying Fish, but hear nothing but raves!

Have you done the Cape May breakfast? Food is good and the characters are so cute in their beach attire. Like you said better to have the reservation and cancel it if you decide it does not fit in to your plans.

 

[NJlauren]

My 180 days for booking ADRs opened on February 17. I had plans to attempt an ADR at BOG (we've had dinner there twice and really enjoyed it each time). That was the only hard-to-get ADR I had on the list. It turned out my youngest had surgery that day. I made a half-hearted attempt at BOG a few times throughout the night, since I wasn't sleeping anyway. But I honestly didn't care. We weren't going to starve. Still, I had to make some sort of plans if we wanted to eat at any table service restaurants.

Thing #4 loves Stitch. She has a Stitch romper that she'll wear for days on end if we let her. Staying at the Poly made a breakfast at 'Ohana a no-brainer.



I don't plan to bring this particular outfit in August because if I bring it she'll wear it. As cute as it might be to dress as Stitch to meet Stitch, she will burst into flames from the heat.

As for the rest of the meals, that's a bit harder to plan. Thing #1 is a food snob. She is also really adventurous when it comes to trying new things. It's great, but holy cow is it a pain at times. She complains that whenever I'm gone, she has to live on what my husband buys - which is going out to eat or take out. Most kids would like this. Not my kid. Last trip I took without her, she lasted half a day before the desperate texts started to roll in.



Yia yia is Greek for grandmother (my husband is Greek). Bill's is a local family restaurant we've eaten at since before this child was conceived. And Wendy's? Order a baked potato if you're so offended by the fried food. You're eleven, for Pete's sake. Oh, and the caption for the photo was "here's something creepy." Namely, a weird faun-thing we ran into at Fairyland. A cracktastic place in Oakland that supposedly inspired Walt Disney to build Disneyland. Not sure if that's true or not. This was the next text I received.



I sort-of-gently pointed out that when I was her age, that was the only cheese anyone had with pasta. Unless you lived in Italy, I suppose. I did, in fact, take her to the movie when I got home (because nothing comforts her like a depressing movie about kids and cancer), and we ate sushi at the Asian restaurant near the theater (which has crazy good Thai food, by the way).

So how to keep her happy at Disney? Well, she does love fruit (so does Thing #4). So at the very least, we can get that. She loved Flying Fish last August. So I plan to drop Thing #4 off at the kid's club at the BC before heading to FF with the rest of the crew. I've heard really, really great things about Raglan Road, so I made an ADR there for the evening I plan to go to DTD (assuming I don't bail on the plan because DTD makes me crazy). I was able to get an ADR for lunch at BOG. I prefer the dinner menu, but the nice thing about lunch is we can choose the room we eat in (assuming there's a table available). And it's cheaper, which is always a plus. I'd like my sister and niece to see the theme of the place, at least. The other ADR I made is for the character breakfast at Cape May. I'm still on the fence about this one, but it's scheduled for our last full day there. I can easily cancel if it seems like overkill.

.

First that stitch outfit is to much I LOVE it, to stinking cute, but I agree August in that thing

As for your older daughter what did you do to make her a food snob? I need tips this is my dream for my daughter, I don't want her to be picky! It's a huge fear of mine, I know kids will do it at there own pace but I eat everything and my husband has become more open to eating new things so I'm really hoping my daughter is an adventurous eater too!

 

[tarak]

Your story about your foodie daughter cracks me up! Of course, texts from your kids are absolutely the best- the ones I get from Ben are hilarious, although Nate is more "K" or "here". I have one exotic eater (Ben, 13) and one picky eater (Nate, 16)- although he is more than happy to eat steak and lobster.

We finally weaned Nate off the Kraft processed cheese and onto real Parmesan, so there's some progress.

That picture of Thing #4 has got to be the most adorable thing on the internet!!!

Good plan for dining. I have not been to Ohana for breakfast but it truly looks like fun for all ages!

for lunch at BOG!!!

I haven't been to Flying Fish, but hear nothing but raves!

Have you done the Cape May breakfast? Food is good and the characters are so cute in their beach attire. Like you said better to have the reservation and cancel it if you decide it does not fit in to your plans.

We've never been there for breakfast. I've only read good things about it, so we'll probably keep the ADR. It will just be me and the two girls by that point. I thought I'd make it a resort day, but maybe go ahead and have some FPs scheduled in case we want to go to HS. Maybe get one last round of Toy Story Mania in before we fly home.

The only cheese Teagan (a/k/a Thing #2) will eat is the Kraft Parmesan, or whatever passes for cheese in Kraft Mac and cheese. Oh, and she'll eat a grilled cheese if it has white American cheese. If it's yellow American cheese, she will gag. Total weirdo.

.

First that stitch outfit is to much I LOVE it, to stinking cute, but I agree August in that thing

As for your older daughter what did you do to make her a food snob? I need tips this is my dream for my daughter, I don't want her to be picky! It's a huge fear of mine, I know kids will do it at there own pace but I eat everything and my husband has become more open to eating new things so I'm really hoping my daughter is an adventurous eater too!

Hm. Well, I'm not sure what did it for her. I'd say it's genetics. My parents were pretty adventurous. I was raised in Southern California, so ate all sorts of different ethnic foods as a kid. But my husband is just as willing to try new foods and his parents think Chinese food is completely exotic. My FIL is 83 and ate the first burrito of his life about six months ago. So DH wasn't raised exactly eating anything particularly out of the ordinary.

My kids are a mixed bag when it comes to food. They all love fruit, which is good. And they like unusual things for kids. Like squid. I'm not talking fried calamari. I'm talking squid from the seafood department at Wegmans that I slow cook in tomato sauce. They fight over the tentacles. I don't even like the tentacles.

I know what you mean about not wanting a picky eater. My son will eat chicken nuggets and fries at every meal if we let him. We don't. I make curry pretty frequently and make them at least taste it. If they really dislike something, I don't force the issue. But they have to at least try it. As much as people complain about BOG and it not being kid-friendly, not one of my kids has had a problem finding something they wanted there.

 

[natebenma]

My kids are a mixed bag when it comes to food. They all love fruit, which is good. And they like unusual things for kids. Like squid. I'm not talking fried calamari. I'm talking squid from the seafood department at Wegmans that I slow cook in tomato sauce. They fight over the tentacles. I don't even like the tentacles.

That's funny and eerily similar to my family.

The boys love fruit. I used to joke that I was the only mother in America who had to say "Stop eating so much fruit!" Vegetables are starting to come- Nate will eat broccoli and Ben likes asparagus, especially when I sautee it in sesame oil and soy sauce.

Ben is super adventurous. When he was 4 and we were at dinner on a family reunion cruise, he asked the waiter for squid and mussels. Fortunately, there was a seafood pasta on the menu that night, so he was happy.

 

[tarak]

That's funny and eerily similar to my family.

The boys love fruit. I used to joke that I was the only mother in America who had to say "Stop eating so much fruit!" Vegetables are starting to come- Nate will eat broccoli and Ben likes asparagus, especially when I sautee it in sesame oil and soy sauce.

Ben is super adventurous. When he was 4 and we were at dinner on a family reunion cruise, he asked the waiter for squid and mussels. Fortunately, there was a seafood pasta on the menu that night, so he was happy.

Too funny. The first time we looked at the menu for BOG, Amara saw the mussels appetizer and said that's what she wanted. She'd never even had them. She really wants to get sushi at the Poly when we're there.

Speaking of which, I officially switched our Poly reservation to the WL. I've stayed at the Poly twice and if it were just my kids and me, I think I'd be fine with the uncertainty of construction and what sort of view we'd have. I've stayed at AKL when there was construction and I didn't even blink at it. But the Poly is just too much for me to deal with when I have relatives coming who've never been there. I think what did it for me was looking at a video of the lava pool before it opened. There was lovely music piped in but the plastic sheeting and dump trucks pretty much undid any good vibes from the music. Even if we're not spending a lot of time on the patio/balcony, I don't want to look at an open pit. And, based on what I've seen over the last several months, I have no confidence the powers that be at the Poly are all that concerned about the guest experience.

So we have a WL deluxe room booked for the first three nights. I'm pretty excited because I know they have the new kids splash pad at the pool and we can take the boat to the MK. We really planned to spend a lot of time at the resort and I don't think that will change. And there's no reason we can't go over to the Poly to get some sushi from Kona Cafe and check out Trader Sam's, right? I think a stay at the Poly will just have to wait until after the massive construction is done. With luck, there will still be Magical Deals to be had!

 

[tarak]

After much debate, I decided to bail on the Polynesian part of our stay. Looking at the photos posted on Tikiman's Facebook page was just stressing me out. Initially, I thought I'd just move if the view was horrible. But seeing what the view from the GV CL rooms looked like when the pool construction hasn't even begun pretty much clinched it. I don't want to worry about what's available when I get there. So we now have a deluxe room booked at the WL. I've wanted to go back there for a while now, and this is our chance. I'd love to go back to the Poly. But it will have to be when the construction is done. I've stayed at resorts where there was construction and it didn't bother me. But that was a wall up here or there. I wasn't looking at a construction site. And the reports of construction starting far earlier and ending far later than promised weren't exactly warming me to the idea of staying there.

Nothing much else to add about the August trip. I can't make my FP reservations for another two months, so I have time to worry about that. If I can book BOG for breakfast before park open, I might try to do that. He menu really appeals to me and, even if we don't have any rides we're dying to get in, I love walking down Main Street when there aren't hordes of people blocking the view!

 

[tarak]

For this post, I'm going to talk about the kids coming with me. Warning - this post will be sappy. Partly because this week has been a hard one.

My oldest and youngest have a pretty spectacular bond. When I first found out I was pregnant with Aria, my oldest was mad. Really mad. When we found out we were having a girl, she said she didn't care because she didn't want a baby brother or a baby sister. She was nine at the time. I've discovered that nine is just about the age where the tween mood swings start. Or, at least, they did with Amara. Gradually, she got over that. She was the only one of our kids who knew Aria had a heart defect (overheard my husband and me talking). A few weeks before Aria was born, I found a journal Amara had been keeping, titled "Our baby girl." It was filled with lists. Lists of things we needed to buy for the baby. Lists of names (Amara picked out Aria's middle name - Abigail with the Irish spelling of Abiageal, which my husband still complains about because he has to google the spelling every time). When I found that journal, I had to hide in the closet to cry because I didn't want her to think something else was wrong.

Flash forward a few years. This year has been rough for our heart kid, having had two surgeries for her heart defect. The last was this past Monday and it was more of an emergency sort of thing. Surgery went well and we're home now. But this is Amara with her sister, a few hours after surgery. Aria was still pretty miserable, but she felt better with her big sister nestled up tight. Amara is nine years older than Aria and a black belt in karate. I can only imagine the scrutiny anyone will face who wants to date her baby sister.



Here's a happier photo, leaving the hospital yesterday. She won a Woody doll playing hospital bingo. I think everyone wins at hospital bingo, but she really, really wanted that Woody doll.



We're still a bit over a month from being able to schedule our FP. During this last hospital stay, Aria binged on Disney movies. We watched Tangled at least five times, Frozen three or four (she's not quite as Elsa and Anna crazy as some), the Lion King three times in a row (I was glad this was an option - our DVD was lost years ago and you can't get it without paying stupid prices). We did see the Lego movie twice and Guardians of the Galaxy. It took everything I had to not stream the latest episode of Game of Thrones while she was glued to an episode of Superwhy. As much as I'd love to spoil my heart kid with princess meet after princess meet, I just can't do that. So I'm going to figure out exactly which M&Gs I'm willing to spend a FP on and which won't have any line whatsoever. If only WDW had Ironman. She has more in common with him than any other Disney-owned character...

 

[NJlauren]

For this post, I'm going to talk about the kids coming with me. Warning - this post will be sappy. Partly because this week has been a hard one.

My oldest and youngest have a pretty spectacular bond. When I first found out I was pregnant with Aria, my oldest was mad. Really mad. When we found out we were having a girl, she said she didn't care because she didn't want a baby brother or a baby sister. She was nine at the time. I've discovered that nine is just about the age where the tween mood swings start. Or, at least, they did with Amara. Gradually, she got over that. She was the only one of our kids who knew Aria had a heart defect (overheard my husband and me talking). A few weeks before Aria was born, I found a journal Amara had been keeping, titled "Our baby girl." It was filled with lists. Lists of things we needed to buy for the baby. Lists of names (Amara picked out Aria's middle name - Abigail with the Irish spelling of Abiageal, which my husband still complains about because he has to google the spelling every time). When I found that journal, I had to hide in the closet to cry because I didn't want her to think something else was wrong.

Flash forward a few years. This year has been rough for our heart kid, having had two surgeries for her heart defect. The last was this past Monday and it was more of an emergency sort of thing. Surgery went well and we're home now. But this is Amara with her sister, a few hours after surgery. Aria was still pretty miserable, but she felt better with her big sister nestled up tight. Amara is nine years older than Aria and a black belt in karate. I can only imagine the scrutiny anyone will face who wants to date her baby sister.



Here's a happier photo, leaving the hospital yesterday. She won a Woody doll playing hospital bingo. I think everyone wins at hospital bingo, but she really, really wanted that Woody doll.



We're still a bit over a month from being able to schedule our FP. During this last hospital stay, Aria binged on Disney movies. We watched Tangled at least five times, Frozen three or four (she's not quite as Elsa and Anna crazy as some), the Lion King three times in a row (I was glad this was an option - our DVD was lost years ago and you can't get it without paying stupid prices). We did see the Lego movie twice and Guardians of the Galaxy. It took everything I had to not stream the latest episode of Game of Thrones while she was glued to an episode of Superwhy. As much as I'd love to spoil my heart kid with princess meet after princess meet, I just can't do that. So I'm going to figure out exactly which M&Gs I'm willing to spend a FP on and which won't have any line whatsoever. If only WDW had Ironman. She has more in common with him than any other Disney-owned character...

I am so happy she is doing better today. I can only imagine how hard surgery must be on everyone. But she does seem happy she to go home!

I hope you are all doing well, and get some much needed rest! Love that you got to watch some great Disney movies, that's a way to make any hospital stay a little better.

 

[tarak]

I am so happy she is doing better today. I can only imagine how hard surgery must be on everyone. But she does seem happy she to go home!

I hope you are all doing well, and get some much needed rest! Love that you got to watch some great Disney movies, that's a way to make any hospital stay a little better.

Her surgeries have always been at Hershey Medical Center and we couldn't be happier with them. The new childrens hospital is really amazing and they do everything they can to make things easier for everyone. Aria is a total princess. It's an adjustment because my other daughters were never that into the princesses or dresses. When we arrived at the ER on Sunday, Aria walked in wearing her Cinderella skirt and shirt and said, "Hi guys - I'm here! I'm a princess and I have a pacemaker." I think they were a bit surprised and expected her to be much sicker. The night before surgery was much less fun - she didn't understand why she was there and why she couldn't eat or drink anything. And the day after surgery really stunk because she was just miserable. But she's back to her energetic self. Just hoping this pacemaker lasts more than a few months. In a way, we're lucky it happened when it did. She can't swim for six weeks and I can't even imagine taking her to Florida in August and not being able to use the pools.

 

[Glittercat]

It’s been ages since I had any sort of trip report. But I’ve been inspired by my friend Dee (natebenma), so I figured I’d give it a shot.

This August, I’ll be taking my ninth trip to WDW. Every two years or so, we go as a whole family. My husband can only take it every two years, so I fill in the gaps by taking my mom and kids. We did that last summer, staying at YC on a BB offer. My middle two children vowed never again in August because of the heat. My oldest is the biggest Disney fan of the four (well, I suppose the toddler doesn’t really count, since she wasn't quite two the last time she was there), and she thought the heat was just fine. I managed to guilt my sister into coming out with us (she lives in California). “C’mon, how many chances will you have to see your baby niece hug Mickey Mouse?” She told me that was a low blow and promptly booked her flight to Orlando. Biggest bonus - she’s bringing her stepdaughter (my niece), who is the most amazing young woman. I don’t get to see her nearly as often as I’d like, so I’m really excited.

These are the folks from my side of the family coming. I apologize in advance if the photos are too big. I resized them on photobucket, but I'm still figuring out the whole re-sizing thing on the new Dis.



This is my oldest kid. Amara, a/k/a Thing #1. I call her my mini-me, but she’s the better version, I think. She is way too smart for her own good, a black belt in karate, and insufferably bossy to her younger siblings. She has a good amount of heroine worship for my niece, so we’re keeping her addition to the group as a surprise. Or trying. I told Amara if she happens to snoop on MDE and sees a party of five, it’s because we thought there was a slim chance my niece might come, and it’s easier to remove someone than to add her at a late date. But don’t get your hopes up. Keeping anything a secret from this kid is well nigh impossible, though, so we'll have to see how that pans out.



This is Aria. Bionic Baby a/k/a Thing #4. She was born with a congenital heart defect and has a pacemaker, which needs replacing every few years. There have been a few other complications but, being supercharged, you’d never know there was a thing wrong with her. Still, I tend to get pretty emotional at all her firsts, since we had no guarantee she’d ever have them. Amara is enough of a parental figure that if daddy and I say no to something, she asks Amara. Amara has been instructed to say no, too.



Me. This was a selfie taken after our meal at the Flying Fish last August. We had the chef’s table. My mom declined the wine pairings, not realizing they’d still fill her glass for each course. Mom, who has that classic German stoicism thing going on, was a wee bit tipsy. As Thing #2 said, “I’ve never seen her smile so much!” The look on my face pretty much sums up how I feel at WDW after a few days. I must love it, though, since I keep going back.

Next up - where we're staying, which is subject to change at my whim.

What a special trip this will be! Okay back to reading...