Overdue and Overpacked: POR 9/23-10/1 THE EPILOGUE IS NOW UP ON PAGE 25

[kpk89]

LaLa, your reports started out well, and keep on getting better! Enjoying. Mama like.

 

[dwmlaf]

I just found your trip report today. I have enjoyed every minute of it. From one southern to another "Why do we pick POR?" to stay.

I live in Cajun Country and wanted to stay in the Mansion last September (we were there during Hurricane Rita and after Katrina). What happens? A convention and we have to stay in Alligator Bayou.

 

[Somefunmum]

Such a fantastic report! Keep 'em coming.
I am still STILL laughing over the Yoda comment.
Bravo!

 

[LaLa]

Hey Everybody-

Just want to thank yall again for taking the time to read about our little adventure. Your awesome posts have me smiling and laughing as well.

mickeyluv: Thanks so much for the awesome comments. Glad to be the first to entice you to read all the way through!

alice28: where did yall stay? POR? Ahhh, the lightsabers....DS's birthday is coming up and just take a guess what's gonna be on the cake. 3PO, Chewbacca, Obi Wan and Darth Vader...oh, and Luke on a speeder. He is about to lose his mind over that darn cake. I found some bubble batons at Wal Mart for a buck each that I'm giving out instead of treat bags. They look exactly like a lightsaber, they're just filled with bubble solution and have a giant wand inside. He went nuts over them.

SoNotaPrincess: LaLaLand.....Now that's what I'm talkin' bout! Very cool. Thanks!

lucky978: yep, you're right. The River Roost. Thanks!

disgram: It was $20 for a full color caricature per person. He also did black and white and I think those were maybe $10 or $15. He really did an amazing job. I have it framed and hanging in the play room with all our ride photos. Very nice.

kpk89: Thanks. Glad to know you're still hangin' in there!

dwmlaf: Yeah, I don't know but we just love POR. The one mod we haven't stayed at is POFQ. We thought about going there this past time, and I'm sure it's wonderful, but we used to go to NO alot, especially during Saints season, and just felt like we would be going all the way to Orlando just to be in NO again.

And thanks to everybody else who posted anything at all. Yall Rock!

God Bless

 

[Credit Man]

Great report. Can't wait for more.

 

[LaLa]

Okay, remember me telling you about the nasty blister DD suffered at Typhoon Lagoon as a result of the water shoes? Well, Tuesday morning it reared its ugly head.

We wake up and are getting everybody going when I notice a huge red nasty place on DD’s foot where the blister used to be.

I stop dead in my tracks.

Let me preface this by saying that a couple of years ago, we went through a MRSA outbreak at our house.

For those that don’t know, Methicillin resistant staphalococous aureous is nothing to play around with. Some forms can be fatal. What we had was the skin infection variety.

When I say we, this time I mean the kids.

It took forever to get them cleared up. There is only one antibiotic that will work on MRSA and it is oh so nasty. Tastes like gasoline. It was a horrible ordeal trying to get DD2 at the time to take it. There was daily screaming, crying, and gnashing of teeth. And that was just DH’s reaction to having to watch me struggle to get the medicine down her throat.

DS underwent surgery on several places on his legs and abdomen to remove the damaged tissue. The surgeon was sure it was a brown recluse spider that caused the tissue decay, but the tests came back positive for MRSA, as our pediatrician had predicted.

Pretty bad times.

But thanks be to God, we finally got it under control. I pray that we never have to deal with that again. Oh yeah, almost forgot, the outbreak followed a trip to DW.

As we are looking at sweet DD’s foot, DH and I exchange glances and he knows what I know. The past comes flooding back to us. I am staring at what looks exactly like MRSA.

I freak.

I put my hand over my mouth and begin the crazy rantings of a worried mother. “OMG…why did I let her walk around barefoot with an open wound even for a second with all the germs out there in that waterpark? I know better than that. It’s staph. I just know it. OMG. It’s staph. She’s got it again and we’re stuck here in Orlando. What are we gonna do, where can we take her….I can’t believe she’s got it again…OMG…”

DH and I don’t profess to have a perfect marriage. In my opinion, that just doesn’t exist. You have to work hard to make it really good. But one of the really good things that we have always had between us is a great system of checks and balances When he loses it, I can usually manage to stay calm and look at things from a different perspective than him and can usually be a calming influence on him. Or at least I try. When I freak, he is my rock. He knows exactly what to do and what to say. I don’t know how he does it, but I have grown accustomed to it and I love him dearly for it.

“Allright, calm down, and just breathe. It’s okay, it’s not what you’re thinking” he reassures. I know it looks bad but she’s fine. We can handle this. It’s not that big of a deal.”

We contemplate calling the OnCall medical place and having them come to the hotel to look at her. Then we come to our senses as we remember where we are. We both know good and well that once we are on Disney property, the value of our hard earned dollar decreases 100 fold.

Our collective minds boggle as we try to imagine how much they would charge for a doctor to make a house call to our resort on Disney property.

Next.

We don’t want to take her down to the medical clinic onsite and have to wait all day to be seen with every supergerm in the world congregated in one place either, so DH devises a plan.

We had planned on going to Animal Kingdom that day. We will go ahead to the park as planned and take her to the first aid station and have them look at it there. If they concur that it is something serious, we will then take her to the ER. I doctor her foot up the best that I can and then put a little pair of sandals on her feet so the wound can breathe.

Our friends do nothing to allay our fears as they agree that it does indeed look very bad.
I can see the worried mother look reflected in my friend’s eyes as well.

Okay, let’s move it people.

We make it to the First Aid station at AK in record time. We are the first ones there and a very nice RN and paramedic attend to Miss Sweet Feet. They say that it is definitely infected but that it is not Staph. Thank God.

They clean the wound and wrap it up securely. The sandals are a big no-no, the nurse explains. The foot must be covered at all times in the parks so she doesn’t pick up any more germs. The possibilities for infection are endless here. Only at night in the hotel room as she is getting into bed can I uncover the wound.

Come again?

Okay, let me stop right here and admit something straight up.

I am a Germaphobe.

Not like Howie Mandel-crazy-germaphobe, but still, I don’t like germs and I take great pleasure in killing them.

I haven’t always been this way, just since having kids and having them pick up every little bug known to man and bring it home. Call us crazy but we just do not enjoy having the stomach bug invade our home and making us all throw up and poop all at the same time at 3 a.m.in the morning.

So I sanitize everything, especially in hotel rooms.

Right after we check in, it starts. I bring Lysol and Clorox Disinfecting wipes with me and no one in my family is allowed to pee until I have wiped that toilet seat down and sufficiently decimated any possible germs that could or could not be floating around. I wipe down phones, coat the remote with Lysol, yada yada yada.

Helllooooo, have ya seen the 20/20 special, people? How scary was that?

Besides, overpacking isn’t the only thing I inherited from good ole Mom. She’s a germ killin’ freak too.

We went to visit my brother and his new wife out in Texas a few years ago and got in close to midnight. DH and I were in the extra bedroom with the second bathroom. We were in bed about to conk out and my Mom was still in the bathroom getting ready for bed.

My DSIL had one of those rubber bath mats with a gazillion little suction cups on the bottom in her bathtub. You know the ones I’m talking about, right?

Well, apparently my Mom felt the bathtub was a little scary because DH and I were both awakened to the very LOUD unmistakable sound of tiny suction cups being violently ripped from their home in the bottom of the bathtub. It was this really loud barrage of a million suction cup pops followed by two or three stragglers there at the end. DH and I will still do the little sound effect and laugh about it till our sides hurt to this day.

But the thing is, I know my Mom and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that woman had just crossed the line from sanitizing hotel rooms to sanitizing her new DIL’s home.

Do whatcha gotta do, but just keep it on the down low, Woman.

So I do my mother proud by overpacking cleaning supplies on vacation. Part of it comes from her and part of it comes from MRSA outbreaks and 3 a.m. Puke-n-Poop sessions and trips to Disneyworld where the nurse confirms that yes ma’am, it is just as bad as you imagined. It IS the germ breeding capitol for the world’s population.

After affirming my compulsive need to disinfect, the nurse also gave us some medical supplies to wrap DD’s foot with and some pretty potent antibiotic ointment.

I highly recommend the first aid stations they have there at all of the parks. If something unforeseen comes up, don’t hesitate to hightail it over to one of these places.

Inside, it looked just like a regular doctor’s office. Very white and very clean. I assume the reason for the paramedic is if they need to transfer a guest quickly, they have someone on site. Nice to know. As we are leaving, a couple of older people came in with what looked like heat stroke. The nurse and paramedic jumped right on them. I have to say I was very impressed.

And the best part was that it was all included in the price of admission.

So with Sweet Feet properly wrapped and coddled, and her parents’ wild imaginations laid to rest, we head off for some much needed fun.

Did I mention the Georgia couple lied to us? Okay, they had a slow week, fair enough. But as we make our way to Kilamanjaro Safari, we notice just how crowded it is getting to be.

For some reason, it always seems really crowded and really hot at Animal Kingdom. I read somewhere that the reason it seems more crowded here than at any other park is because they made the walkways more narrow than at any other park.

Great. Way to go, Imagineers. Oh, I know, it’s all about keepin’ it real, right? I bet yall pump in some heat too. Because, of course the place just wouldn’t be givin’ off that Africa vibe if it wasn’t hot and crowded, now would it?

We make it to Kilamanjaro and it’s already packed. We decide to grab Fastpasses and go on the Pangani Forest walking trail while we wait.

I have to stop right here and say that this attraction ain’t that high on my list, if ya know what I mean. Walk, walk, walk….oh look, it’s a bat. Walk, walk, walk, yep, it’s a buncha birds. Walk some more, bump into all of humanity, sweat, and there’s a gorilla. Maybe. Waaaaaaay over in those bushes.

Well, actually, the gorilla part is pretty cool but only when you get up to where the Silverbacks are. You know, on that ledge way up high by the deep gorge. If you’re lucky, right on the other side of the gorge, you can see Mr. King of His Domain just chillin’.

This guy just mesmerizes us.

DH and I would sit and watch him all day if we could. His mannerisms just crack us up. He got so close to the side of the gorge last year that we could see his facial expressions.

Trust me, he was pretty ticked off about something. Not ticked off like the guy sitting directly behind you on the Backlot Tour won’t stop screaming into his cell phone in Arabic ticked off, but still, pretty ticked.

Maybe it was his lot in life that had him silently brooding. Maybe it was the fact that all those petty, frail humans kept flashing their insignificant little cameras in his eyes. We studied him as he turned his steely gaze to the ever mounting group of pesky humans standing on the ledge. We all watched in amazement as this huge Silverback went from person to person, deliberately making and holding eye contact with each one of us. A hush fell over the group as we stared back at him, amazed that this awesome specimen of strength and power was trying to tell us something with his eyes.

What was he was trying to tell us?

His message did not waver from one person to the next. He simply wanted to let us know that nothing would please him more than to rip us all limb from limb and eat us for dinner if only he could figure out a way to get over that darn gorge.

Then he sat back on his haunches and flipped us all off.

Point made. Movin' on....

We make our way through Pangani and head on over to Kilamanjaro Safari.

We park our strollers a mile away and fly by all the other suckers waitin’ in the stand by line. They give us that look as we shoot past. We all throw ‘em the L sign and shout “Loser” as we leave ‘em in a cloud of dust.

Pleased with ourselves, we make our way to our own little personal safari vehicle, sittin’ on ready and waitin’ on go.

Gotta love that Fastpass.

We hop on and enjoy our little ride. We really luck up and get some pretty good views of the animals. They are out in full force and I have the photos to prove it.

Here’s one of my favorites.

Okay, yeah. No wait. That was just some animal’s butt. Well, here’s a better one.

Yeah, that's all I got.

For some reason, they all look like this. Everytime the CM would say “Ohhhh, there’s a really great shot of blah blah blah”, I’d get excited and push the shutter button just as the vehicle hit a bump or I’d take the shot at the very second the darn thing decided to moon all of us.

According to our very excited CM tour guide, our vehicle hit the Powerball of Awesome Wildlife Photo Ops that day but me, all I walked away with were butt shots.

So we help save the baby elephant from the Poachers…again….yay…and head out to retrieve our strollers.

We meander up the trail to the Kilamanjaro stroller parking lot and whaddaya know….the CMs have tidied up the place by moving all the strollers around.

It was like they shuffled a deck of cards. Seriously, why do they do that? Anyway, we looked high. We looked low.

It was worse than henpecking around the granite garden armed with nothing but a 17 digit combination.

Everywhere we looked, there were parents with confused looks on their faces. We finally spot our bright yellow polka dotted heaven.

One down, one to go.

The other one takes just a little longer. In fact, it’s been almost six months and we’re still lookin' for it.

We saw four or five other strollers just like it but nope, not it.

DHFW is starting to lose it. I can tell. I know when she is nearing her breaking point. Then all of a sudden she remembers that she left their backpack IN the stroller.

Now it’s her turn to freak.



Up Next: The Case of the Missing Backpack

 

[krismom]

Your poor daughter. And poor YOU! I'm so glad it was ok in the end. Now, about that cliffhanger!

 

[melk]

Oh my, I'm so sorry for all you went through with that MRSA (I've actually never heard of that exactly, I'm taking it as a resistant staph infection?) I can understand why you were so nervous about your dd. Thank goodness it turned out all right for her. How did your kids get it last time? (I guess your experience is giving me something else as a mother to worry about!!).

But anyway, I am really enjoying your report, you have a real talent for writing!

 

[ElleBelle]

Totally subbing! I'm loving this report so far... it's keeping me occupied tonight as I'm counting down the days- 3 MORE!!!! Until we leave for WDW. Thanks for keeping my mind busy!!!

 

[mickeyluv]

Thanks LaLa for another terrific installment!! Very glad to hear that your DD's foot was okay and wasn't MRSA! I know what you mean about picture taking on Kilamanjaro Safari. Last year, I couldn't get a decent shot off either. Like you said everytime the CM would say something like, "oh and look over here", I would turn to look and about the time I was to take the dang picture, the animal would turn the other way or something. Maybe I'll have better luck this year!! Can't wait to find out how the "Missing Backpack" turns out. Hopefully good!

 

[lucky978]

Nice job! I can't wait to hear more about the stroller! I hope Miss Sweet Feet is feeling better soon, too!

 

[DJR]

So I sanitize everything, especially in hotel rooms.

Right after we check in, it starts. I bring Lysol and Clorox Disinfecting wipes with me and no one in my family is allowed to pee until I have wiped that toilet seat down and sufficiently decimated any possible germs that could or could not be floating around. I wipe down phones, coat the remote with Lysol, yada yada yada.

Helllooooo, have ya seen the 20/20 special, people? How scary was that?

Hope your DD's foot cleared up with no problems. I can appreciate your concern about MRSA; it's nothing to fool around with, but as a Public Health Official, it seems to me that people who are professed germophobes are the ones who seem to fall ill more frequently.

Your immune system neeeds to be challenged to keep it active and help fight off disease. One of the problems we have these days is the overuse of disinfectants and antibiotics that result in resistant bacteria and viruses and people with inefficient immune systems.

 

[java]

I am so enjoying this report. I laughed out loud at the picture of your DH with the horns- It was the look in his eyes- and then the way you described the gorilla I kept thinking I wonder if the DH was using his big horn look?hmm
Oh and I am happy to report that Disney EMS is also free(at least when we used it)
Years ago when my first was just a baby we were in the room. I ran into the bathroom leaving new baby with DH for a minute. I wash my hands come out to see my dh freaking out. In his hand is the little baby comb- missing about 5 of the pointy comb thingies. Oh yes the baby had eaten them in the minute he was with dh. ok ok.....calm down what could happen- um he could puncture a lung.. oh and I forgot to mention we were flying back home that day. So a quick call to the front desk and what seemed like a minute later.these guys were fast..2 ems guys appear to check out my baby. They do a quick push on his tummy- ds laughs at them they reply"He's fine" and off they go. So for a belly push cost $0.

 

[LaLa]

Oh my, I'm so sorry for all you went through with that MRSA

How did your kids get it last time?

I want to thank you and everyone else who posted about DD's foot. I really appreciate your concern.


She is perfectly healthy and we have not had any more scares since.




As for how it started, we noticed what looked like an ant bite on the back of DS's upper leg one day.

I wiped it with alcohol a couple of times and really didn't think much more about it after that. A couple of days later we noticed it had quadrupled in size and developed a big puss pocket (gross, I know) almost overnight. The tissue was dark purple in the middle surrounded by a huge red circle. When I say huge, I mean like almost the diameter of a tennis ball. It was very swollen and hot to the touch. It looked like there was a little hole in the tissue in the middle.

It was also at this point that we noticed a couple more places on the back of his legs that looked like an ant bite.

We took him straight to our pediatrician, who took one look and said it was MRSA.

He put him on an anitbiotic and referred us to a surgeon to have the tissue cut out. The surgeon disagreed with our ped and said it was most likely a brown recluse. I have to admit we were kinda skeptical of our ped during this time just because the surgeon was so sure of himself.

But after the surgery, the test came back positive for MRSA. DD started getting them after that, but we were on top of it by this point and hers never progressed to the point that she needed surgery.

On one of the kids' recheck appointments, I was talking to our ped about MRSA in general. Because of where DS's started, he seemed to think DS most likely picked it up initially from a public toilet seat. Could have been from school or could have been from dum da dum....you guessed it.

We had just come back from DW when DS's sore first appeared. The whole time on that trip, DH took DS to the bathroom and DH is NOT a toilet seat cover kind of guy if you know what I mean. Well, at least he wasn't THEN. Now he is. Now anytime we go to a public restroom, the kids get at least 3 or 4 layers before they hop up.

We will probably never know where DS picked it up. But the fact remains that he did indeed pick it up somewhere.

So you all will just have to forgive me, but for that reason, I sanitize the toilet seat in my hotel room.

 

[AllNamesTaken]

I am LOVING your trip report!! I was lucky enough to just come across it and read parts 1-9 all at once. I hate waiting for anything, which brings me to my question!! You described how crowded the food court was at POR one morning. We'll be there this year from 11/9 to 11/16. I was planning on doing breakfast in the food court each morning. (We're flying in so we can't bring as much food with us) I'm wondering how early in the morning it was that crowded? And if you tried it any other mornings? How much time do you think we should plan on to get our food and sit and eat? (We're two families also - like you) Thanks ahead for any info.

 

[DJR]

So you all will just have to forgive me, but for that reason, I sanitize the toilet seat in my hotel room

After what you've been through, I can appreciate your concern. When we checked into our room at OKW a couple of weeks ago, the smell of chlorine was so strong in the room, it almoset knocked me out. Smelled like a Clorox factory exploded. I had to open the patio door for a while before it went away. Not sure where Mousekeeping used it, but I'm pretty sure nothing was alive in there!

 

[LaLa]

Hope your DD's foot cleared up with no problems. I can appreciate your concern about MRSA; it's nothing to fool around with, but as a Public Health Official, it seems to me that people who are professed germophobes are the ones who seem to fall ill more frequently.

Your immune system neeeds to be challenged to keep it active and help fight off disease. One of the problems we have these days is the overuse of disinfectants and antibiotics that result in resistant bacteria and viruses and people with inefficient immune systems.

DJR- Thanks so much for your post and for your concern about DD's foot.

Thank you also for bringing up a very valid point concerning the overuse of antibiotics creating stronger strains of germs.

Overuse of antibiotics is one of our pediatrician's pet peeves. He is a wonderful doctor and we trust him fully. He makes sure that all of his patients are well informed concerning this and he will not prescribe antibiotics unless they are absolutely necessary.

In regards to the disinfectant, I can only hope that Mousekeeping or any other hotel housekeeping staff would sanitize the room in between guests. Since I have never seen a 'Sanitized for your Protection' cover on the toilet seat and since I am not there to witness the actual cleaning, I do it myself upon checkin and I do not clean the room any different than I would expect them to.

When an undercover news agency finds fecal matter on remote controls in several random hotel rooms across the country, you can believe Mama will be sanitizin'.

You are also correct in saying that the immune system needs to be challenged from time to time. Nothing like the public school system to challenge those little immune systems, right?

And in keeping with the Immune System Challenging Theme, DH has vowed to not bathe for a month in your honor.

Hey wait. That's nothing new.

Ah, you know I'm kiddin'.

But seriously, thanks again for posting and asking about DD. Her foot cleared up really fast after we started the antibiotic ointment given to us at the First Aid Station and we have had absolutely no more problems since then.

Have a great night and thanks for taking the time to keep up with our adventures.

Off to write the next chapter......

God Bless

 

[LaLa]

After what you've been through, I can appreciate your concern. When we checked into our room at OKW a couple of weeks ago, the smell of chlorine was so strong in the room, it almoset knocked me out. Smelled like a Clorox factory exploded. I had to open the patio door for a while before it went away. Not sure where Mousekeeping used it, but I'm pretty sure nothing was alive in there!

Hey, posted the above before I saw this one. Well I guess you didn't need a Sanitized For Your Protection sign to know your hotel room was clean, did ya?

So that's why they charge more for a deluxe than a moderate. They use bleach!

Good to know.

Have a great night and thanks again for posting.

 

[LaLa]

I am LOVING your trip report!! I was lucky enough to just come across it and read parts 1-9 all at once. I hate waiting for anything, which brings me to my question!! You described how crowded the food court was at POR one morning. We'll be there this year from 11/9 to 11/16. I was planning on doing breakfast in the food court each morning. (We're flying in so we can't bring as much food with us) I'm wondering how early in the morning it was that crowded? And if you tried it any other mornings? How much time do you think we should plan on to get our food and sit and eat? (We're two families also - like you) Thanks ahead for any info.

First off, thanks for the post and for taking the time to read!

Maybe during the time period that you are going, it won't be quite as crowded as it was when we were there. I think our problem that week was it was the start of MNSSHP and F&W Fest. It was also during the Free Dining Plan promotion.

We went to the Food Court around 9:00 on that morning. Maybe if you went earlier, it wouldn't be so bad. It really wasn't that bad again until the day we checked out and Holy Cow it was bad then.

We would usually allot an hour for breakfast from start to finish.

Told ya I was a crazy planning girl. I used the word "allot".

Hope ya have a great time. Planning is half the fun.

 

[dixipixi]

Just wanted to let you know I am totally enjoying your report!!! It is so entertaining.

I thought what you said about supper was so cute. DH and I argue about that all the time. I call it dinner and he says its supper because dinner is at lunchtime!!!! He was born in Pascagoula, so we have differences in the way we say things. He claims Louisiana does everything backwards (so I'm always wrong ). Just a little rivalry between us.

I also completely agree with playing the CD in the car just to listen to the Soarin' music and imagine you are there. (I thought I was the only genius who did that).

Sorry to hear about your daughters nasty blister. Glad everything turned out fine for you all.

I know what you mean about wanting to get away from everything. I really wish we could have taken a trip anywhere in the last several months, but it just hasn't been possible. You can't very well go off and leave your house half finished. We're so looking forward to gettting away in June. I'm sick of cleaning up and making repairs.

Thanks for the entertaining reading!!!!!