Hickstory Potpourri for 100 Alex...the '03 trip ends on a low note, mistakes mean more reasons to come back, and a haiku.
[Sorry, got kind of long!]
So there we were, leisurely enjoying our first family trip to WDW, enjoying the splendor that is Ft. Wilderness Cabins.
Had I known what awaited, I probably wouldn't have wasted so many precious minutes "soaking up the atmosphere."
What I should have done is get out handy Mr. Bullhorn and say "This is a 'working vacation' people. MOVE IT, MOVE IT, MOVE IT!!!"
The biggest mistake I made was to save Magic Kingdom for last.
This wouldn’t have been a big problem, if:
1) we had not used our first MK day as a “sleep late, do laundry day,”
2) we had not only done ½ of the park, since we were going to be back 2 days later,
[That would be Adventureland, some of Frontierland, and a couple of Fantasyland attractions. And the hat store. That's it.]
and, drumroll please...
3) our oldest had not gotten stomach flu for our last day there, making it impossible for us to visit the other ½ of the park.
I left a wad of bedding on the picnic table that resembled a beached whale, and smelled as bad.
We thought we had her fixed up, put back together, but AFTER using our last day ticket at MK, we found out she was no where near well.
I spent awhile at the nurse's station with her, then there was the quality time in Cosmic Ray's bathroom, then there was the time spent laying on the pavement near the spinning tea cup rides, all while John tried to take the three boys on some rides.
That whole time they managed to ride Buzz Lightyear. That's it.
We finally gave up and went to our offsite hotel.
I cried most of the way home. It was really hard to get over it.
So my advice to anyone is: if there is something you want to see at WDW, DO NOT put it off till last.
Do it, and don’t worry about trying to arrange things so that they are “more magical.”
If WDW is not magic enough without you having to tweak it, your family is too jaded for WDW and you might as well stay home.
[Oh come on Sarah, tell us how you REALLY feel. LOL]
I felt fairly disatisfied, to say the least.
In the back of my mind, I was hoping to go back within two to three years, to try to improve on the experience, and so our youngers kids would get the opportunity also.
Then our world came to a stop.
On a windy Memorial day, '04, our youngest son was hit by a tree branch, and suffered a brain injury.
I am sure I some of you have read about it before, but suffice it to say we spent over two months in the hospital with him that summer.
I was pregnant with dd Bitsy at the time, and she was born 11 days after he got out of the hospital.
It really was the lowest point of our lives.
When we were sure ds was going to survive, John and I looked at each other and said “We need to go back to WDW.”
It gave us something positive to focus on, to plan for.
We got into a routine of therapy and dealing with all that goes with it, and we tried to plan a return trip to WDW.
[DS is doing very well, still in therapy, but starting to catch up to his age level. Still struggles with coordination and speech issues, but is a very intelligent guy.]
We booked for that following January, but John’s job got iffy and we had to cancel.
Then fall free dining was announced, and, well, I’ve already told you the rest of that story.
So now we are the nutty family that goes to WDW with seven children (as I mentioned, baby#7 arrived around 9 months after our last WDW trip.
)
Nobody in our immediate families understands.
Our good friends that have gone several times get it, but even they aren’t as nutty as I am about the planning.
(I mean, they didn’t even make all of their
DDP TS ADRs for their GG. Sheesh. LOL)
I realize it is a sacrifice to spend money on vacation.
We don’t put as much money into our house as some people would.
We don’t have all the latest technological advances.
We don’t eat a lot of steak (can you see why we love the free DDP so much?)
But we have decided we want to do fun things with our children now, rather than waiting til they are grown and wishing we had.
[Again with the soapbox–does she never stop?]
Soooo, if you have any questions about our family’s saga, I am happy to answer.
And I’ll see if I can come up with some other Disney related info to keep us entertained until we leave.
59 days from now. Whoo hoo!
And because you have all been so patient and read all of the way through so far, a bonus haiku, for you [written before our last trip]:
Disney Remorse, a haiku by Sarah (2005)
Last trip cut short by
vomit virus, Mickey WHY?
Maybe free food heals...
Next up:
Hicks on Hold, Part 2...
...which is fairly ironic, considering that part of the pre-trip has been on
hold for a few weeks, as I throw in meaningless and trivial details of my family life in a pathetic attempt to
hold onto the readership I have, while faced with the fact that my trip is not actually occuring for 1 month, 4 weeks and 1 day.
It's shameful, really....
.
