I need a Do- Over!!! **Completed 6/13**

[Crazy Kanga]

Well, we bit the bullet and took my MIL to WDW over Thanksgiving week, and needless to say we need a do-over. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's like when you're ten years old and playing a game of HORSE or something with your friends and you mess up and you need another shot. Well, I need another shot, at Disney and maybe of some Tequilla too. See, my MIL is a little hard to deal with. Not just a little, I'm exaggeratin'... a lot! Like, everyone I meet who knows her says "oh, I'm so sorry" when I tell them she's my MIL. She's the kind of person who thinks the whole world is her oyster... literally. Like when we saw a character in Toon Town she goes gangbusters toward them yelling ooh, ooh, ooh, like he's just there for her enjoyment, nevermind that line of 100 preschoolers there waiting patiently for their turn...oh no not her. I know you think I jest, but sadly...NO. It's true and oh so much more are you in store for.

 

[kpk89]

Then a do-over you should have. Go ahead! Do it! Send her a postcard.

I'm sorry that it didn't go well. It was nice (and brave!) of you to take her anyway, knowing how she is.

 

[MomofCKJ]

Oh boy, sounds like this could be interesting! I could be a gazillionaire if I could clone my MIL. She is a gem, a jewel, a wonderful woman! I am really spoiled having her as a MIL. Looking forward to hearing your trippie!

Allyson

 

[Cass]

I used to have a smother-in-law like yours, but then the divorce came through.

 

[I'mNoPrince]

I used to have a smother-in-law like yours, but then the divorce came through.

Smother-in -all is more like it.


I'm lucky as DW and DM get along better then DM & I . And My MIL has passed some time ago at an early age.

I do feel for you though as DFiL thinks I'm the Devil.

 

[Cass]

I do feel for you though as DFiL thinks I'm the Devil.

He would be refered to as the bother-in-law

 

[Crazy Kanga]

Oh, where to begin. About 7 months ago I began planning this trip after she tried to hijack our summer trip with my BIL and SIL. I knew if we added one more person to that trip it would be a disaster, as we already had 9 in tow. So I stalled her by telling her she didn’t need to go when it was so hot, and put her off with the promise of a Holiday trip to see the Christmas decorations over Thanksgiving week. She has always wanted to stay at the GF, but that wasn’t in the budget so with many weeks of negotiating on the DVC rent and trade boards, I was able to get BWV and we were cookin’. We later added 1 more night at the AKL for good measure. What was I thinking? I knew how hard this was gonna be, but it was months off in the distance, and with my good Pollyanna, rose-colored glasses firmly planted on my face, I was bound and determined to be a good DIL and offer my MIL a trip of a lifetime.

 

[Puppy_Pals123]

This is one of the interesting reports! Finally!

If you want a do-over, I would start planning your trip fright now!

 

[KarlaG4Kids]

WOW...that is exactly what I need (and am going to get in just 2 weeks). My problem was a grandson (age 3-3/4) with a lousy attitude about everything and a grandson (age almost 6 at the time) who thought it was fun to egg his younger cousin on until he whined more and more! So now DH and I are headed back (just the two of us). I hope you get your do-over really soon! I'm sure looking forward to reading your TR.

 

[perculata]

Yea, being in DW with the wrong ppl can definitley mess up the trip. I've definitely been guilty of ditching some drama before and going for a few hours by myself to try and relieve some stress. unfortunately, it seems like you went during a really crowded time as well, which only makes matters worse. I went during spring break one year, big mistake. never thought it was possible to have a bumper to bumper stroller traffic before.

 

[meloneyb21]

Uh-oh....I think I'm gonna enjoy this one .

 

[Crazy Kanga]

A little more pre trip: Two days before we were scheduled to leave I woke up at 11:30pm with the overwhelming feeling that I hate more than any other...nausea. I knew it was coming because the dreaded Stomach bug was on the rampage at my school. There was no denying it, I was sick... as a DOG!. I was up all night and needless to say I was quite sure that our trip was in jeopardy. I have never been so sick and 18 hours later, I was feeling like death still. So I became hysterical. I feared that we would have to cancel, and that meant a few hundred dollars down the drain, since I had rented points, which meant no chance of a refund. Worse yet, I feared that we would all end up with it in the car on a 11 hour car trip or all together down there in 1 room with 1 bathroom. That would be H-E- double hockey sticks on earth. I have also failed to mention that my MIL has multiple health issues of her own. Needless to say, there was a lot of praying and crying going on at my house. Not the way you want to start a Disney trip.

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[saschab]

Yikes, I can't imagine the dread of getting the flu right before leaving......

 

[Minniespal]

Can't wait to read more

 

[BurleyGirl]

My brother and SIL, their DS5 and DD12, and his BIL, SIL, and DS5 just got back from their Thanksgiving week trip (first time to WDW for the two littlest ones), and yep, they got the stomach bug on the way there (13 hour trip), and so missed the first two days of their trip, and had a really (not!) enjoyable ride there. So, I can just imagine the fear and trepidation you were facing when that stomach bug hit you that close to your departure time! Looking forward to the rest of the story...

 

[Crazy Kanga]

By Friday morning, the day of our departure, I was feeling a bit better, but I was still very weak. But I was determined that we must press on. So I mustered all of the strength I could and managed to finish packing(which thankfully I was 90 percent done with before I got sick) and by Friday afternoon we were off. We drove to Valdosta and stopped for the night at the Best(or should I say Worst) Western which was a mere 50 yards from Interstate 75, which I'm sure you know can't be good. Being only a few yards from the interstate is nice when it's very late,you are tired and need rest, but makes for a lot of road noise from all of the trucks wooshing by. And then there was the joy of waking to some sort of mutant roach bug type thing flying into my face at what I thought was 5:15 am since that is what the flippin' hotel clock says. So I am wide awake after bolting upright in the bed at the revalation that there is a roach on my face and since "I think" it is 5:15 a.m. I go on and get up to take a shower and wash the bug residue off of my face and proceed to wake everyone else up too. Then I realize almost an hour later while watching the weather channel that it is really 4:55 or whatever time it was, and so now I have had exactly 3 hours of sleep been attacked by a roach, while recovering from the stomach bug(ironic)and I can't even get excited about being only a few hours away from my "Happy Place". So I'm kind bummed at this point, but then again there is no where to go but up, because in addition to all the other crap goin on at the "Worst Western" of Valdosta they also have a 1955 elevator that almost took my arm off, and a dangling light fixture that was definitely in violation of some sort of ordinance or another, but we laughed about it all since we were headed for the AKL and all of it's splendor. And luckily no one else has started puking so that's something to be thankful for. OK, so I am starting to look on the bright side and we are on the road again(sing it Willie) and in a few hours we are in Orlando, and even though we have been there 6 times in the last 4 years, we manage to get lost as a goose as we try to find a gas station somewhere off the turn pike and end up somewhere in the twilight zone (do do, do do ) for about 45 minutes until we finally ask an evil tollbooth operator who rolls his eyes and mumbles some extremely vague directions and the phrase about 25 miles. I knew this was a bad omen, even though I don't really believe in that kinda stuff, but it was just all too surreal at this point so I just took a deep breath and closed my eyes and clicked my heels together and said "there's no place like home" 3 times and wa la we were driving under the magical Disney arches within 30 minutes. Finally we were starting to feel the Disney Magic.
Tune in next time when we here Grandma say..."I think this floor is just a high grade vinyl"

 

[Crazy Kanga]

We finally arrive at the AKL around 11:15, which by the way is looking like the Taj mahal after the Worst Western of Valdosta. We are just checking in at the time many are checking out. They were not able to get us a room right away, so we took advantage of the great views and activities the AKL has to offer, and the kids got to "track" Timon in the bushes around Arusha Rock and all that for a while. Then to the food court for our first of our many "adventures with Grandma" of the trip. We were trying to decide what we wanted to eat when a cute little family, who by the way didn't speak English, entered the food court with a screaming 2 year old. Good Ole Grandma, who fancies herself "parent to the World" proceeds to get in the little tykes face and shake her finger and say in a rather loud obnoxious tone with a ogre like scowel on her face, "stop it, stop it, you can't cry at Disney World!" Now she in her usual oblivion, has not figured out that these poor people are not from our country, and most likely have no idea what she is saying. Therefore, we have a hysterical child growing ever more so by the second, and totally bewildered, and most likely horrofied visitors from another country getting a good dose of American hospitality on their vacaction. "Thanks Grandma, just how we love to start a vacation... pssing off the fellow travelers at the Happiest Place on Earth." She's so much fun to have around... if you're hammered that is. But it was only around noon and I still had to entertain, feed, and lead my clan to our lovely savanna view digs, so I thought I'd hold off on the boozin' a little longer. After our lunch at Mara where we have managed to get through the meal without accosting anyone else, I call and discover our room is now ready. On the way up in the elevator, Design on a Dime Grandma observes the lovely "faux stone floors". She proclaims them as such, because she has leaned over and dug her thumbnail into them and being the officianado of decor that she is(NOT) she is sure they are not real marble or stone, but some high grade form of vinyl. I say "sure they are, Disney can't afford fine materials in there Deluxe resorts . My dh then begins the first of many arguments on this subject, which will become the theme of our trip. She then proceeds to ask our fellow passengers what they think. You can imagine the looks on their faces as, you know they really don't give a rats *** and therefore have no opinion on the subject, but manage a half hearted response of agreement with her, I am sure just to shut her up. Of course she is thrilled to have somone agree with her, while I silently stare daggers at these fools for humoring her.
So there ya go. Half of day 1 at WDW. And we're just gettin' started.

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

Whoo hoo... this trippie sounds highly entertaining.
I'm so sorry to find humor and entertainment in your misery! Really, really, I am!
I do feel your pain, though. I just came off a WDW trip with both my 70ish parents. Talk about H-E-double hockey sticks!

 

[Leslieann1024]

Oh wow - this is going to be a good one, huh ? Definitely subscribing, and sending a very strong fortifying drink your way, Kanga ![COLOR]FONT]