Has anyone gone to a theme park after the passing of a family member?

[DisneyKentucky]

My family went about 2 months after my Uncle passed away in a house fire. He was the baby of the family and my Mother helped raise him. She and my Father took his passing very hard. My DH and I had already made plans to go before my Uncle passed away. A month before we left my Mom and Dad asked if they could go with us because they wanted to get away. Of course we said yes. This would be our first trip to WDW for all of us.

Still to this day my parents talk about what a great time they had and how much it helped. They loved watching their grandsons enjoy the magic and wonder of Disney.

I just have to share one of our favorite memories from out trip. When I was little my parents took me to DL and my Dad remembers the Country Bears and wanted to watch it with his grandsons. For some reason this show cracked my DH up and he could not stop laughing. Next thing I know both my Mom and DH are laughing so hard they were crying and leaning on one another so they would not fall in the floor. It was a sight to see.

There are so many memories we have and yes it did help going to WDW.

I hope you and your family have a great time and I am sorry for your loss.

That's a great story. It's sort of what I was hoping for when I started the thread. There is something beautiful hearing how people bonded after the events that I need reassuring would happen.

 

[DWJoshua]

I did the College Program in the winter/spring of 2006. About two months before I was set to leave for my program, my aunt, who I was very close with, died from a long fight with cancer. She had been the one who got our whole family hooked on Disney, so it was very strange for me to be back in the place that she loved so much without her. For me, it almost felt like my CP was a tribute to her love of Disney. I thought about her a lot over those few months and I think the experience really helped me come to terms with her death.

 

[Iggipolka]

We did this about 5 years ago. We live in California and my wife's family lived in Florida. Her father had a stroke and was in hospice for a week before he died. It was a very long, agonizingly sad week of watching him suffer, pass on and then the funeral was two days after his death.

The day before his funeral, my wife said that she wanted to go to Disney World and we were able to book a stay starting two days later. It was probably the best thing we could have done for ourselves and gave us a chance to connect as a couple and give my wife the space to grieve without the hassles of every day life and responsibilities. It was a relaxing, slow trip with lots of down time (this was pre-children) and we had several sad moments of remembering her father and several funny moments "Dad's dead....Let's Go to DisneyWorld", is a phrase that still makes us giggle in a morbidly funny sort of way.