I hope you write a PTR or TR so I can follow along with how it all goes! I'll be thinking of you. 
is your puppy a German Sheperd? What is a rover sitter?PRE-TRIP (8/28): And we're already off to a bad start
Just to preface, this post will mostly be about the prep leading up to our trip so feel free to skip if you're just here for the Dis stuff! Jake and I both worked the day before we left. Our original plan was to come home, drop the puppy off with the Rover sitter before Jake's fantasy football draft started (huge priority in his book, definitely not in mine), and finish packing before turning in early since our flight was leaving at 8 am the next morning.
The Rover sitter we chose was about a 5 minute drive from where we live. We loaded up our puppy (Bennett) and everything he would need for the week away from us. We travel pretty frequently so, at 10 months old, Bennett is pretty used to being away with us. He has already stayed with a different Rover sitter, our dog trainer, and at his old daycare on different occasions. However, this was our first time leaving him for a week and we were pretty sad. Cue car photo shoots (and because I want to show off my cute pup!).
We had met our sitter and had a doggy play date a couple weeks before to make sure the dogs would get along. They did well and she reiterated multiple times that her dog loves small dogs. Great, sounds good. Yeah, it definitely wasn't... Immediately upon opening her door, her dog had peed in the entry which she said wasn't normal for him and he also started barking so loud that my dog actually ran down her hallway to get away from him. We brought Bennett and his things inside and just kind of hung out to make sure they were going to adapt to one another. Unfortunately, her dog kept barking at Bennett to the point where he was laying down to show submission and running away from her dog. At one point, her 90 lb Husky had gotten his jaw around Bennett's throat and we knew that it wouldn't work for Bennett to stay there.
So, we made our awkward goodbyes and headed home wondering what the heck we were going to do. At this point, it was about 12 hours before our flight was scheduled to take off. We started texting and calling our old daycare provider (yes, we are those dog parents) as well as our dog trainer. However, we were extremely worried about him being in a household with other dogs for a week after what had just happened. It finally occurred to me that we could ask my best friend's little sister (who also happens to be my little sister Stitch's best friend) to come stay at our apartment for a week and hang out with Bennett. Luckily, she was ecstatic to have a place to herself for a week and make a little extra money while doing it. After sorting that out, running to the store to make sure she had groceries for the week, and having her come over to show her Bennett's routine, it was about 11 pm and we still had to finish packingI don't even know how many hours of sleep we got before we were running around trying to get things all packed and Bennett squared away. I snapped this picture from our rooftop at about 5:45 am while I was waiting for Bennett to do his business.
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We loaded up our car and started driving with the intention of parking it at my work for a week. I work about 10 minutes from the airport and we have a secured parking lot so it didn't seem like an issue. The only problem was going to be that I'd have to drop Jake off somewhere because I wasn't sure the rules on bringing visitors through the gate to my work. Less than a couple miles from my work, Jake changed his mind and decided that he just wanted to pay to park. We literally pulled off the side of the road so we could figure out which parking place to go to. Jake found a Groupon online that was $90 for 7 days so we scooted over there, jumped on their shuttle bus, and made it to the airport about an hour or so before our flight. This was the first of many times on this trip that my pre-planning got thrown to the wayside. We're lucky to be pre-checked so we made it through security with more than enough to grab some coffee and mimosas from the lounge before boarding our flight.
Stay tuned for our arrival day and the beginnings of the trip that felt like it would never end
As a Rover sitter, they should have known that how a dog reacts to other dogs on neutral territory vs their territory can be two different things. And a studio apartment is not enough room to be able to give more than one dog their own area... anywho...can't wait t read more, and hope it gets a tiny bit better!
It will go by fast! We planned this for about 18 months but started talking about it about 2.5 years before. But yes, I think the more time the better. It gives you time to talk to them and set expectations (especially if they've never been to WDW) as well as figure out what everyone is interested in.
Man, his mom sounds a LOT like my future MIL. She's a realtor and just helped us sell our house...she was a handful to work with. She wants to either go to DLR or WDW with us someday and I'm terrified at the thought
I will definitely be writing a PTR and TR for this experience! I traveled to WDW with my parents and sister every other year as a kid, but it's been about 15ish years since they have been. They are pretty chill, go with the flow, so I'm not worried about them! BIL is also pretty laid back for the most part, but his mom is soooooo opinionated. Hopefully, she decides not to go
If you end up going with your future MIL, I hope it's smooth sailing! Fingers crossed that she isn't too much of a handful during the wedding planning process!!
Glad Bennett got squared away. He was probably much more comfortable in his own home. I always have so much anxiety when leaving my girls for an extended period of time. Luckily, my Dad usually takes them for me, and they love going to Grandpa's house. No rules. Lots of table scraps.
One guy sitting in the row behind Jasmine and Aladdin was obsessed with tracking Hurricane Dorian and loudly updating everyone about it. I forgot to mention that the night before our flight was when we started to hear the rumblings about Dorian. We seriously questioned whether we should even go on the trip with how things were looking. However, at that point, it was so far out that no one could make any real predictions so we all decided there was no reason to abandon the trip. Jake and Kocoum liked to joke that FL wasn't ready for Hurricane Stitch because my sister is kind of a wild child and was turning 21 on this trip. 
Oh my gosh, getting out the door to dinner sounds like herding cats
