Just Returned - NO Stroller & Wheelchair Complaints - Humidity and More

[mavanilly]

This will be the first return visit to DW since my boys were young. That was about ten years ago so I know things have really changed since then. Did you go to any of the parades? If so, which were your favorites and can you recommend any good spots to view them from and how early to claim that spot in order to see (I'm not very tall and would never try to elbow my way ahead.) Thank you!

 

[bytheblood]

This will be the first return visit to DW since my boys were young. That was about ten years ago so I know things have really changed since then. Did you go to any of the parades? If so, which were your favorites and can you recommend any good spots to view them from and how early to claim that spot in order to see (I'm not very tall and would never try to elbow my way ahead.) Thank you!

We did see the parades.

Spectromagic - Frontierland in front of the shooting Gallery.
Fantasmic - Get in line real early or do the dinner package - it was worth it.
Stars & Motos Cars - Get there early. I like to get across from the waterfall with the dino in it or line up by the shops.
Jammin Jungle Parade - This parade goes through once and comes back through the same spot a second time. We get somewhere outside of the Kilimanjaro entrance and watch it once, but when those people move away, we get their spot and see it as it comes through the second time.
Share a Dream Come True - I like to watch this parade in front of the castle so that I get the castle in my pictures. I also like to watch from on top of the railroad station at the entrance.
MK Fireworks show - we found the best place to watch was around the Dumdo and Snow White rides

 

[bytheblood]

Nonono, she took MY MIL....oh no, wait...if she'd taken my MIL she would have stayed in the room all day and pouted because it was hot and people weren't paying 100% attention to her. I will never again travel with my MIL, never, not even if she pays for it! LOL!

My mil just thinks that mothers should be treated as queens by everybody and that all people should dote over them. My husband thinks his mother is a loon.

My mil would never pay for a trip for anybody because she is the epitome of cheap. She has money to spend, but she is the type that will Christmas shop for you at the dollar store, but give you her Christmas list which has items on it from Foley's and Dillards.

Then she will buy you something really cheap and put it in a Macy's or Lord & Taylor box and act like she spent all of her hard earned money on it.

It is okay to be frugal, but call it what it is.

 

[Sammie]

Anyone who even considers taking her MIL along on any kind of trip qualifies for sainthood in my book.

Not everyone's MIL are the demons that some on these forums seem to describe. Interesting fact though when someone has this "evil" MIL, she did raise your husband, so what does that say about her or him.

That alone would be enough for me to be respectful.

 

[missypie]

Not everyone's MIL are the demons that some on these forums seem to describe. Interesting fact though when someone has this "evil" MIL, she did raise your husband, so what does that say about her or him.

That alone would be enough for me to be respectful.

Respectful, fine. Willing to share my WDW world vacation with her...no.

 

[yoopermom]

Be forewarned if you're there with misbehavin' kids at the same time as us (July 18-30), our "magical" gathering consists of eight adults, seven of whom are current or retired teachers! We have NO qualms about smiling sweetly and saying "something" through gritted teeth at kids who try to poke US in the butt!

Sounds like you had a great trip, good for you!
Terri

 

[loriandmatt]

ok - i am enjoying this thread to no end. i want to hang with bytheblood - you are a riot!!!!

Count me in on the MIL vow - never again! Bossy, wet blanket, cheap (we paid her entire way and she still had the nerve to dictate and gripe the entire trip.) We didn't even invite her, she guilted us into taking her along.

Count me in on the "tackfully tell folks when their kids are being disruptive towards you" group - kids will be kids, fine. Can i get an "Amen sister - Preach it!!!!!!" on the following quote:

Kid's don't bother me. Ill-mannered unsupervised children bother me. I have a 7-year-old and she did not put her fingers in anybody's butt nor did she stick a light saber in anybody's eye. It is not the children's fault anyhow, it is the parents.

My 10 year old has known better for some time now and i am in the process of teaching my 11 month old the same thing.

And - also Count me in on the "watching other people'd kids get treated magically or show pure wonder at the magic of Disney is just as good as or better than experiencing it on my own." group - i will never forget Olivia or the little girl two years ago at Chef Mickeys. I get all squishy just thinking of them.

- lori

 

[adisneymama]

Not everyone's MIL are the demons that some on these forums seem to describe. Interesting fact though when someone has this "evil" MIL, she did raise your husband, so what does that say about her or him.

That alone would be enough for me to be respectful.

Actually, thats not entirely true. Respect is a two way street. Yes, my MIL gave birth to my DH, yes she "raised" him. However, so did his nanny and his grandmother. I thank God every day that my dh had those too lovely women in his life. His sister did not and is just like her mother. My dh is nothing like his mother or father and that is a very good thing. I tried and tried to get along with my MIL, but she is a snob and thinks that since my DH didn't marry into money then he has wasted his life. Funny, She seems to forget that my DD also is part me and that my dh didn't create her all alone. Don't get me wrong, I don't go out of my way to be mean to her (though she does to me and my dh) but I'm not putting up with her crap either.

Ok, rant over!

Glad you had a great time. I also almost didn't read the thread because of the title, but I am so glad I did!

 

[kimbac3]

My MIL planned her own vacation two weeks before our own. Now mind you we've been planning since last July - she just got the idea 2 months ago. She knew what dates we were going and still planned it for 2 weeks before. The Kicker is ...... she invited all of Dh's siblings to go with her. He has 4 sisters and 2 brothers. We are the only ones with children (her only grandkids) and she didn't even think to plan to go when we are there. Dh was a bit miffed but in the end we are glad. We have special things planned for our kids (mvmcp and FMT). Besides FIL is a cheap grouch and even if they paid our way (which they are doing for the others) we wouldn't go with them.

The worst part is DH has 2 sisters that are the same age as our oldest 2 .... so of course they get to go before them even though we've been planning longer. My kids said they don't want to hear about MIL's trip till after we come back from our own! MIL seems to be gifted at creating hard feelings.

Sorry.......Rant over!
Glad you had a good time! Thanks for sharing and thanks for the tips for the parades!
Kimba

 

[missypie]

Let's all repeat this out loud "I will never be like my MIL. I will never be like my MIL. I will never be like my MIL."

I wonder what I'll do when I'm a MIL that will drive my DIL crazy!

 

[disneymom2one]

Not everyone's MIL are the demons that some on these forums seem to describe. Interesting fact though when someone has this "evil" MIL, she did raise your husband, so what does that say about her or him.

That alone would be enough for me to be respectful.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Respectful? I suppose. But in my opinion, my mother-in-law made both my engagement and the early years of my marriage so much more stressful than they had to be. If she had just been welcoming it would have made all the difference. But she made her choice unfortunately.

In the end though, I believe that choice has hurt her immensely more than me. We live some 800 miles away and although there are many reasons, that is one of them. She sees her grandchild about twice a year and that's it. I still get stressed for weeks before we go visit. It is not fun. Those are her choices though. I really wish things could have been different, for all of us including my daughter.

 

[missypie]

I hear ya. My inlaws have a lake home in Minnesota, that is supposed to be the big draw to get the kids and grandkids to visit. But the stays are so unpleasant that we make it up there no more than once every other year and even then we only stay about 3 days.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

My mil passed away when my son was 1, 6 years ago. I am determined that when I am a mil, I will be just like her. She never interfered in our lives, offered unwanted advice, and was nothing but loving to me.

My own mother passed away 3 years ago, so my little fella is left without a Grandma.

Well, he was. My father remarried (without telling me in advance) in February. Last night my husband offered to take my father and his wife to Disney with us for two entire weeks. I'm not overly fond of this woman.

So, she's not my mil, but I feel the pain...I can't believe he offered me a fabulous trip under the condition that they both come as well?!

It's just not right!

 

[kimbac3]

Let's all repeat this out loud "I will never be like my MIL. I will never be like my MIL. I will never be like my MIL."

I wonder what I'll do when I'm a MIL that will drive my DIL crazy!

This is the main reason I'm so nice to my MIL. I have a son and I want him to see that his mom and his wife CAN (and should) get along with each other.
Also I have 2 daughters....I look at myself as an example (which sometimes stinks!) for them and their future MILs. Now if I could just figure out how to deal with my mom........that's a whole other thread.....
Kimba

PS- I'm always asking DH how he could have been raised by his Mom- they are so different. He usually says she wasn't like that when I was little...go figure!

 

[OhMari]

Glad you had a nice trip. We went 5 years ago, the first week in June and it was hot. We were glad for the afternoon rain. I just wish we weren't so dumb-we stood under an overhang in Frontierland instead of getting in line for a ride. After the rain, everyone sprinted to Pooh and Sno-white. Lesson-learned.

My MIL story. She went with her sister and husband way back in the late 80's to WDW. So for the next 10 years she kept telling us, "we really should go to WDW". It never happened, I finally took my own kids-glad we did, otherwise I would probably be telling just another MIL horror story. And yes, I never want to be like my MIL!

 

[bytheblood]

Not everyone's MIL are the demons that some on these forums seem to describe. Interesting fact though when someone has this "evil" MIL, she did raise your husband, so what does that say about her or him.

That alone would be enough for me to be respectful.

Luckily for me, my husband seems to come from the mold his dad was cut from and not his mom. I would not refer to her as "evil", but she is not a nice person.

You can choose your husband, but not your in-laws.

PS - My mil thinks that respect means kissing her butt and bending over backwards for her. So, if that is how respect is truly defined, I do not respect her.

 

[bytheblood]

Just to top off the whole mil thing.....

I have tried to no end to have a good relationship with my mil, but she has chosen for herself not to have that. In addition to refusing to develop a good relationship with me, she likes to rub it in my face how much she loves her sil.

She has two kids, my huband and his sister who is 8 years younger than him. His sister married in March and we married the following month in April. When his sister got married, she was happy, she cried, she dressed nice and had her hair done and had her make-up done. They paid some 30K for her wedding, bought pictures, had some 8x10s framed and hung them on the wall in her house....blah, blah, blah.

When my husband I got married, she pretended like it was not happening. Came to our wedding in some summer dress that looked like she was going to a company picnic. Sat there through our entire wedding with her arms folded over her chest and a look on her face so stiff that if you popped her with a ruler, the ruler would have snapped in two. She purchased four 4x6 pictures from our wedding and not one of them had me in them. When my husband and I mentioned that later, she said $10 was too much to spend on a photo...yet they spent 30K on her daughter's wedding.

When Christmas and birthdays come around, she shows her favoritism by what she buys the person. She will give her sil cash for his b-day and buy him a gift and gives him all of these mushy cards. When my b-day comes around, she gives me a $15 gift card to somewhere and puts it in a very non-personal generic b-day card.

My fil, for the most part, treats me like he does his son, daughter and sil.

So, my point in spilling all this laundry on the mil is to say to those who think like Sammie...that because the woman raised your/my husband you do not owe her some high level of respect. Respect is a two way street and relationships cannot continue if they are 10%-90% or even 0%-100%.

And one more small note, my husband knows how his mother is and says that my feelings are justified 100%. He thinks his mother is judging, unfair, two-faced and wants everybody to think she is a wonderful mother, mother-in-law and wife, but truly, she is a human with problems like anybody else.

 

[lbgraves]

I agree that noone automatically deserves to get your respect. They have to earn it. That said, my MIL has medical issues and we have worked around some of the early uneasiness that was there. My issues were with my birthparents. They have been out of our lives for the past 4 years now & I finally have a "normal" life without all the BS. Most of your discriptions of your MILs would apply to them. In answer to someone's question about how your DH turned out so well with an "evil" MIL. I would have to say that my DH is a wonderful person IN SPITE OF how he was raised...and the same for me.

 

[missypie]

I HOPE I become a mom/MIL who can cut the apron stings and encourage my kids to do the same.

I tried hard with my inlaws until two years ago. My DH has an evil twin (really) who bought some single family residential real estate, wanting to develop it into condos, but couldn't get the zoning changed. So he was stuck making payments on $450,000 worth of property that generated only $700 rent per month.

The evil twin and the inlaws decided that all four siblings should "invest" in the property together. I'm a real estate lawyer and KNEW the deal was bad news. DH was able to tell his twin "no" but then his mom talked him into it - knowing how opposed I was to it - under threat of disinheritance.

She talked my DH into an investment that she KNEW would cause a serious strain on our marriage. (Aside: DH is a SAHD, so it's MY income that we're paying for the bad real estate.) Our marriage has never been the same because there was that crucial moment where DH had to choose between his mom and me, and after 14 years of marriage, he choose his mom.

 

[bytheblood]

Our marriage has never been the same because there was that crucial moment where DH had to choose between his mom and me, and after 14 years of marriage, he choose his mom.

Sweetheart, I am so sorry. I can say that I have never been put into a situation where I had to ask my husband to choose, but his mother has put him into places where he felt that way and he chose me. If she had her way, we would not have married.
She "told" him that he did not love me. After we were married, she told me that part of her "problem with me" is that her son loves me more than he loves her. Kinda sick really. Anyway.....I am sorry that you have to deal with that. Makes my heart ache for you.



***On another note, I changed the title of my post since it does make people think I am complaining about those in wheelchairs and the stroller pushers.


Another one of funny things we heard on our vacation....

We were in line for Test Track. There was a family behind us. The dad obviously the very good-ol-boy-country-type. The mother was homely, but sweet-looking. There were 3 young boys who all looked like a younger version of dad and a young girl I believe. They were all homely looking, but had sweet faces and seemed like a close loving family. I wanted to hug them all and be their friends. They just seemed real close and loving.

The boys had loud voices as they spoke in the line the entire time, so we could not help but to listen to all of their conversations, even when having our own. They had very very southern accents. I am from Texas, mind you, and I rarely hear people talk like this.

Boy 1 - approx age 8: Hey, when we git to go an' git on the car ride, we are gunna haf' to let daddy drive the car.

Boy 2 - approx age 9: It don't work like 'at. They ain't gunna let us drive these cars, this ain't NASCAR bubba.


They were so sweet and cute....it was hilarious. My husband and I were laughing so hard, but did not want them to see us. It was really precious to hear these two brothers so excited about this car ride, which obviously was what they looked most forward to by their conversations.