How I Survived 11 Days at WDW with a Disney-Resistant Husband **2/20 THE END **

[Twingle]

Oh my. The trip gets worse? Maybe we need to plan a girls weekend do-over trip for you?

 

[swwake]

Your 1BR at BCV looks awesome! So big! I loved Stormalong Bay and I'm glad your family got to use the slide for at least two days. Love the Photo Pass picture!

Too bad that you had to leave the BBQ early But glad you finished the night off with Illuminations. It's amazing how much can be packed into a day at Disney World!

I love the pics of Chris and Katie. I love her little dress!

 

[dismagiclover]

A photopass picture at SAB! I'm so jealous! We spent so much time there last summer and I don't have any pictures because I didn't bring the camera to the pool. I'm with Chris on the awesomeness of the Beach Club! It is just such a great place to be. Though that is a bummer that you didn't get to fully appreciate the Backyard BBQ.

 

[Tinker_Tam]

I have been following along. Please don't feel offended when I say this but I give you a world of credit. I think your DH is being a stinker this vacation but you always seem to just go with the flow...his flow. I don't know that I would be able to do that. I probably would be steamed. Hope things get better but from what I hear they get worse...not sure how so I will be reading along.

 

[karebear23]

Tha stinks you all left the BBQ. It looked like fun! I've always wanted to try it. Oh well...I can't imagine anything being worse!

 

[kcandbella]

Your PP pics turned out so cute! I love the one with the balloons.

That is so frustrating about Mickey's BBQ!! I would have been upset. I probably would have told him to go on back and take the kids and I would have stayed! Especially since it is a 2 TS meal.

Sorry to hear about your loss.

 

[SoonerGirl]

Oh my, Trish - I must say that you have handled these disappointments much better than I ever would have. I'm afraid the redhead in me would have come out in full force, and let me tell you, that is not a pretty sight! I'm very impressed with how you just tried to roll with it

You did get to end the night on a wonderful note though with watching Illuminations from your balcony - how awesome is that?!

Also, I love the dress Katie is wearing, so cute!

 

[chepic]

Photopass Pictures

So it finally


Too bad it was soooo bright out, and we were all squinting with the sun in our eyes.

Given the limitations the photographer was under, I think he did a pretty good job. I would love to see what he could do in a dedicated 1/2 hour session with willing and eager subjects who actually planned out their wardrobe in advance!

I certainly would not hestitate to book this guy in future for an official Photopass Portrait Session!

We did the session last year at Beach Club for some family pictures, and they did come out good, the photographer was great, the price was decent, however the sun was bright and every shot of us on the beach was with the 4 of us squinting. The best shot was when we were near the beautiful flower beds and we all had on sunglasses.

che

 

[CoolMom2112]

You are a much better person than I. I would have been FLOORED if my DH (who is also not a Disney fanatic) made us leave after only 20 minutes of a 2 TS meal!!! I know it wouldn't have changed anything, but wow.

I'm so sorry for your sudden loss.

Thank you for this trip report. I'm planning our return in Sept. and am trolling the boards for tidbits. I stumbled on your TR and am loving it. You're teaching me to be a better wife!!

Amanda in TN

 

[eandesmom]

So odd, I thought I'd replied and then...apparently not!

I was a little behind!

I'm happy it turned out that Declan was able to meet the Yeti but how wonderful that he took it in stride.

How frustrating that everyone was done in so early in the day at AK. Heat will do that to you and kids definitely pick up on the other adults moods. What a bummer.

I'm thrilled to hear about the BC photopass photographer. I don't know if he is a regular but I've been debating about whether to schedule a session or just take my chances on catching the on-site ones at WL and BC/YC. I adore your pool PP picture, I have never seen one before and it's so cool with the baloons!

How frustrating about the backyard BBQ. The staging pre-show (or lack of down the line) sounds pretty awful in the heat and would have put my DH in a bad mood but...leaving 20 minutes in? I am amazed and impressed at your composure.

Love the fireworks views, how exciting to see that from your room! I can't believe how big the room looks, yours are some of the better pictures I've seen, looking at them I really wish we were in a villa for at least part of our trip but I was overruled all around.

 

[cdotla]

BCV is beautiful!
I'm so sorry you had to leave the BBQ early. But you got a great view of Illuminations without the crowds

BCV really was fantastic. And that perk of being able to watch Illuminations from our balcony was really nice!

Love your report! Sorry I haven't read all of the other people's responses.. but I was wondering-- did you make that Bday cake? I love your decorations.. if you don't mind me asking-- where did you get the cute paper decor etc.. LOVE IT!

I wanted to tell you-- I have an 8 year old horse crazy girl too! We are doing the horseback riding at WDW this year when she is nine. If you go back before your DD is 9, they do have pony rides at Ft. Wilderness too-- but wanted to warn you.. they have a weird height restriction.. I think it is 48 inches and under.. we didn't know this on our 08 trip and my DD was 7 at the time and SUPER tall and she couldn't ride.. thus blowing her *special* pick for our trip. Not cool. She took it in stride though...

Thanks for a great TR!
jen

Thanks! So glad you are reading along!

As for the eiffel tower cake, no I certainly did not make that! I have a very talent baker who makes all of my cakes for me. She also made Declan's pirate cake, and made a Jungle cake last year for him, and a tea party cake last year for Katie. Her cakes are amazing to look at AND they taste delicious. I am not a big fondant lover, but there is buttercream icing underneath and the flavours of both the icing and cake are terrific. Katie's eiffel tower cake was almond flavoured and the pirate cake was coconut flavoured.

As for the paper accents for the eiffel tower party, they are printable files that I obtained from TomKat Studios. Here is the link: http://www.etsy.com/shop/tomkatstudio?ref=seller_info

As for the horseback riding at WDW - we were aware of the pony rides, but I did not know about the 48 inch height limitation. My daughter is just over that and also would not have been able to ride. But she had already ruled it out. She has been on a pony many times and was not keen to do it again. She is so far beyond riding on a pony with someone leading it by a rope...she wants to hit the big-time on a "real" horse.

We are counting the days until she is old enough to do the trail ride.

Sorry your daughter was disappointed about her inability to ride. Hopefully she too can do the trail ride in the near future!

Just started reading your TR & loving it so far! It's too bad you didn't get to stay for all of Mickey's Backyard BBQ. That's something I've gone back and forth on doing countless times. The chaos described in the reviews I've seen has always held me back. It's nice to know that it really does settle down a little.

LOVE your daughter's dress in that last update!

Looking forward to reading more!

Thank you for posting and Welcome!

As long as you are prepared for some chaos (particularly as people initial enter the venue and grab seats and food, and then again at the start of the character dancing), I think you will be fine. If you weren't expecting it (which we were as well), I think it would be a little shocking.

Thanks for the comments on Katie's dress. I am disappointed that I did not get that many shots of it. I was more busy with the camcorder at the BBQ. However, here are some better pictures of it from the trip Katie and I took last year:

just started reading this and just picked yours out on a whim... as i was reading, i noticed that my family and i were at epcot and animal kingdom on the same days you were! lol. just thought i'd mention it. oh, and you are absolutely right, the heat was sweltering!

loving the tr so far!

Thank you so much for posting and Welcome!

That is so funny that we were at Epcot and AK on the same two days! And yes, you are right. It was hot, wasn't it?!

Great report, Trish! Such a shame about missing the entertainment....and I note that you mentioned it get WORSE???

Yes, it was definitely a bummer that we missed most of the show.

But sadly, this was not the most disappointing night. Not even by a long shot.

 

[Mommy2BnB]

Very sorry for the loss of your aunt.

Sorry to hear that Mickey's BBQ didn't go as you had planned. I wish husbands and kids too for that matter could understand how hard we work planning 'fun' activities/outings for their benefit. I'm really hoping that things get better, even though you have said it gets worse!!!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Hurrah for ending the evening on a happy note with a lovely view of Illuminations! So sorry the Hoop de Doo did not turn out as planned.

Katie's dress is gorgeous!!!

 

[cdotla]

Too bad your husband didn't want to stay at the BBQ but it does seem he enjoyed himself at the resort.

Thanks for the update.

Yes - I didn't have any trouble getting Chris to spend time at the Beach Club!

I'm so sorry for your loss. What an amazing woman!!!

Loving the pics of BCV! It's getting me SO excited for my trip! The BBQ sounds like something we would enjoy but I can't get my DH to go to "out of the way" places at Disney. He doesn't like to rent a car and the hassle of the Disney transport would probably be a deal-breaker. He's an 80% convert to Disney, as long as I make all the plans.

Amanda

I am so excited for you, Amanda, with this fantastic trip approaching!

Once again -it sounds like you have a perfect arrangement with your husband...you make the plans, and he shows up for the good times!

Fantastic trip report so far. It's such a shame your Husbands not a Disney fan.

The beach club villas look great and what a fantastic view.

Also a long way back in the report but how amazing was your little girls party. Everything looked so beautiful and girly.

Looking forward to reading more.
Clayre

So glad you are reading and Welcome!

Thanks for the comments about the Party. Glad you are on board for the report!

So much to comment on!! Your villa is beautiful-- that kitchen is adorable!! The two bathrooms must have been so great while you guys were trying to get ready in the morning. Also, glad your whole family was able to enjoy Stormalong Bay, but that stinks it closed for refurb!
I love Katie's twirl dress that she wore to the BBQ-- sooo cute! So sorry your family wanted to leave after only a short while, but again, you are clearly a woman who puts her family before herself constantly! To do that without complaint really says something!!

Yes - the BCV was really top notch!

Fortunately, just the slide closed for rehab while we were there. We still had full access to the rest of SAB for the remaining 6 days we were there, so it really wasn't that bad!

As for leaving the BBQ early...to be completely honest, I can't say that I didn't complain about leaving so early. I did suggest that we stay, but within about 5 seconds I knew there would be no convincing. While I was upset about it, and very disappointed to miss the show, there really was not much I could do.

Hi, loving your trip report.

I stumbled across your mom and daughter one looking for a perfectly princess tea review. Love all your daughter's custom outfits too.

I'm so sorry your husband wanted to leave the bbq. I'm waiting with baited breath to see how it got worse!

For our first trip onsite last year I was so worried my DH would be the same..people at work were taking bets as to how long he 'last'.

He suprised me though and says he enjoys it because he can see it makes me and DD happy. The food on the DDP helped. HE was the one pushing for onsite with DDP this year!

What worked for us was some time apart. I took DD to MVMCP alone and to CRT for lunch. I have lovely mother and daughter memories and he got a bit of time to chill out. We are doing the same this trip with the perfectly princess tea.

DH is also into gadgets so taking photos using different settings, using the camcorder occupies him...he also carries an electonic book reader.

So glad you joined!

That sounds like a very smart way to do a trip with someone who isn't head-over-heels Disney crazy like all of us on the Disboards!

I just wish my husband had some sort of interest in the camera or camcorder. WDW is such an interesting place to shoot photos and video...that in and of itself can cause someone to get interested in the parks. Unfortunately, my husband isn't particularly interested in either photography or videography. So instead, juggling both the camera and camcorder is yet another thing I have to take care of or we would end up with no photos or video of the trip!

Oh my. The trip gets worse? Maybe we need to plan a girls weekend do-over trip for you?

I could definitely be talked into a re-do weekend trip!

 

[cdotla]

Your 1BR at BCV looks awesome! So big! I loved Stormalong Bay and I'm glad your family got to use the slide for at least two days. Love the Photo Pass picture!

Too bad that you had to leave the BBQ early But glad you finished the night off with Illuminations. It's amazing how much can be packed into a day at Disney World!

I love the pics of Chris and Katie. I love her little dress!

We were so lucky to get that Photopass pool picture! While I did take some photos of the kids in the pool, and one or two of DH poolside, of course I didn't end up in any photos. That is the main benefit for me of photopass - it proves I was along for the trip!

And Illuminations on the balcony was definitely a good way to ease the disappointment of leaving the BBQ early!

A photopass picture at SAB! I'm so jealous! We spent so much time there last summer and I don't have any pictures because I didn't bring the camera to the pool. I'm with Chris on the awesomeness of the Beach Club! It is just such a great place to be. Though that is a bummer that you didn't get to fully appreciate the Backyard BBQ.

You will have to keep on the lookout for the photopass photographer next time you are there! I expect that when they don't have a scheduled photo session, they likely stroll around the resort and take candids of guests. So I expect it is clearly just the luck of the draw as to whether you will meet up with anyone.

I have been following along. Please don't feel offended when I say this but I give you a world of credit. I think your DH is being a stinker this vacation but you always seem to just go with the flow...his flow. I don't know that I would be able to do that. I probably would be steamed. Hope things get better but from what I hear they get worse...not sure how so I will be reading along.

So glad you have posted, and thanks for following!

And I am most certainly not offended in the slightest by your comments. In fact, I appreciate them because it helps me to realize that my disappointment, hurt and frustration over the trip was not unreasonable.

I really did try to remain positive. And to be honest, there was a lot of self-interest in that. When you are trying to get someone to do something that they are not interested in doing, you want to create goodwill, not give them an excuse to stop participating altogether.

However, at some point in the trip, you will see that the positivity was pretty much gone.

Tha stinks you all left the BBQ. It looked like fun! I've always wanted to try it. Oh well...I can't imagine anything being worse!

Oh trust me....there is a reason this TR is entitled "the good, bad, and the ugly". We have not reached ugly yet.

Your PP pics turned out so cute! I love the one with the balloons.

That is so frustrating about Mickey's BBQ!! I would have been upset. I probably would have told him to go on back and take the kids and I would have stayed! Especially since it is a 2 TS meal.

Sorry to hear about your loss.

I really like our pool picture too and was so happy to see it when we got back home. It brings back a lot of happy memories!

In retrospect I maybe should have stayed at the BBQ. However, it was grad nite at the MK, so I wasn't sure of how well the boats were running, and it would have been a huge pain taking (1) an internal WL bus to the depot, (2) then a bus to one of the parks or DTD, (3) then a 3rd bus back to the BC.

Plus, I also wanted to spend the nite with my family. Just wished they would have agreed to stay a bit longer at the BBQ.

Oh my, Trish - I must say that you have handled these disappointments much better than I ever would have. I'm afraid the redhead in me would have come out in full force, and let me tell you, that is not a pretty sight! I'm very impressed with how you just tried to roll with it

You did get to end the night on a wonderful note though with watching Illuminations from your balcony - how awesome is that?!

Also, I love the dress Katie is wearing, so cute!

Honestly Michelle - there was a lot of self-interest in the supression of any frustration. I knew if I caused a fuss about it, DH would be that much less willing to participate in the next activity coming up on the agenda.

 

[cdotla]

We did the session last year at Beach Club for some family pictures, and they did come out good, the photographer was great, the price was decent, however the sun was bright and every shot of us on the beach was with the 4 of us squinting. The best shot was when we were near the beautiful flower beds and we all had on sunglasses.

che

Good tip then about the BC photo sessions...if I were to book these, I would definitely try for a time when you wouldn't be in direct sunlight. If there is such a time!

You are a much better person than I. I would have been FLOORED if my DH (who is also not a Disney fanatic) made us leave after only 20 minutes of a 2 TS meal!!! I know it wouldn't have changed anything, but wow.

I'm so sorry for your sudden loss.

Thank you for this trip report. I'm planning our return in Sept. and am trolling the boards for tidbits. I stumbled on your TR and am loving it. You're teaching me to be a better wife!!

Amanda in TN

Thanks so much for posting, and Welcome!

Once again, it was purely self-interest in not reacting to the decision to leave the BBQ. If that was our last event on WDW property, and we were getting in our car to head to the airport, I guarantee you my response would have been a lot different!

So odd, I thought I'd replied and then...apparently not!

I was a little behind!

I'm happy it turned out that Declan was able to meet the Yeti but how wonderful that he took it in stride.

How frustrating that everyone was done in so early in the day at AK. Heat will do that to you and kids definitely pick up on the other adults moods. What a bummer.

I'm thrilled to hear about the BC photopass photographer. I don't know if he is a regular but I've been debating about whether to schedule a session or just take my chances on catching the on-site ones at WL and BC/YC. I adore your pool PP picture, I have never seen one before and it's so cool with the baloons!

How frustrating about the backyard BBQ. The staging pre-show (or lack of down the line) sounds pretty awful in the heat and would have put my DH in a bad mood but...leaving 20 minutes in? I am amazed and impressed at your composure.

Love the fireworks views, how exciting to see that from your room! I can't believe how big the room looks, yours are some of the better pictures I've seen, looking at them I really wish we were in a villa for at least part of our trip but I was overruled all around.

Cynthia - you are so right about the kiddos picking up on the adults' moods on the trip. With my daughter in particular, this trip was like travelling with a completely different person! On our past 2 solo trips, she was a ready-for-anything, Disney-loving kid. This trip - at times - not so much.

As for the BBQ - they really should come up with a different set-up for the waiting beforehand. They encourage you to arrive early, but there is a poor reception when you arrive. Might it have been a different experience if we didn't first have such a long, boring wait in the hot sun? Perhaps.

I am glad you found my pictures of our room at BCV helpful. In actual fact, I should have taken many more. The unit was MUCH nicer than what is shown in the photos.

 

[cdotla]

Very sorry for the loss of your aunt.

Sorry to hear that Mickey's BBQ didn't go as you had planned. I wish husbands and kids too for that matter could understand how hard we work planning 'fun' activities/outings for their benefit. I'm really hoping that things get better, even though you have said it gets worse!!!

Thank you!

Actually, I don't think any of my family would buy for a moment that I was planning activities for "their" benefit. My Disney-loving ways are too well known! Just kidding - I know exactly what you mean, and I agree completely. I really wish that we could have experienced the trip the way that I had intended.

Hurrah for ending the evening on a happy note with a lovely view of Illuminations! So sorry the Hoop de Doo did not turn out as planned.

Katie's dress is gorgeous!!!

Thanks Christine! Illuminations was definitely a nice consolation prize!

 

[Queenofallthings]

Oops silly me, I meant to say the BBQ, but out came Hoop Dee Do....it's an age thing

 

[cdotla]

Oops silly me, I meant to say the BBQ, but out came Hoop Dee Do....it's an age thing

 

[DisneyDoc5]

LOVING the report!!! I have a pit in my stomach about you leaving the BBQ early, I totally understand why you did though - we have to pick our battles!

On a lighter note, if I may be so bold to ask if you would share where you got Katie's dress (if you got it online - sorry if you already told us and I missed it), I have been looking on ETSY.com for some ideas for our fall trip and there are so many, I don't know where to start! It's so pretty!!! Please don't tell me you sewed it, I will stop reading!

Thanks again for the report - can't wait for more - I am bummed for you that things got worse