Psycho no more! Trying again at a family vacation

[debdebdebby13]

We are headed to WDW April 17-24, 2021, sort of a last minute trip. We were planning on going last November, but we all know the chaos that has ensued in the last year. It just didn't work out!

It is me, Debby, age 38, and the primary Disney planner, my husband Cory, also 38, just happy to ride along and do what he's told, Molly, 14, a 9th grader and all of the drama that that entails, and Henry, 7, a breath of fresh air, happy-go-lucky and totally jazzed to be headed back to Disney.

This brings us to the title of the thread, Psycho no more, trying again. You see, the last time we went, in Jan/Feb 2018, Henry was 4. He was...difficult then. He was born crazy. In addition to being 4 and crazy, he had also JUST gotten over the flu, he'd been fever free for about a week before we left. So that trip is a haze of tantrums, screaming, not eating, not sleeping (in bed, at the hotel) and sleeping through every table service meal. We'd been 3 times prior to that trip with just us and our older kiddo before Henry was born and those trips were all awesome. Molly was a great traveler, chill (not anymore!) and generally great on vacation. We started with her at 2 and had very few issues. Henry was born passionate, he knows what he wants, or doesn't want, and he's not afraid to let everyone know. He was a very emotional toddler, prone to tantrums. He was the complete opposite of our older child. We thought by waiting until age 4 we might be past all of that but we were wrong. That trip wasn't magical and honestly was pretty miserable for my husband and I. Henry has great memories of it though He remembers quite a bit and has been asking when we can go back for the last 3 years. He hit 5 years old and it was like a switch flipped and he totally chilled out. He's mostly a sweetheart now. Never throws fits and is, as I described above, a breath of fresh air.

So we are going back! The teenager will be angsty at times and that's okay! We can totally handle that. So now we are super excited!

We are staying at Pop and we are looking forward to all of the things that have been added since we last were there. We haven't seen Toy Story Land or Galaxy's Edge and we are all super excited, especially DH about Galaxy's Edge.

We have planned a few table service meals, and need to add a couple more. We really like to sit down once a day. We are going to Via Napoli for the first time, Biergarten for the second time, 50s Prime Time for the 5th time, it's a favorite for us and Homecomin' for the first time.

In my next post I'm going to add some photos!

 

[debdebdebby13]

Molly on our first trip in March 2009



Henry and Molly



Henry asleep at Skipper Canteen our first day



Molly at 11, showing some of that teen attitude incoming. I don't know how to flip the pic!



Cuties



Henry asleep at O'hana. I tried to put 2 chairs together and let him lay down, but he wasn't having any part of it. He slept in this precarious position the whole time.



Henry and DH



Why is this upside down??? Molly and I on Dumbo



Henry asleep in Yak and Yeti



Henry asleep on dad, he really slept poorly at the hotel. He wasn't used to sharing a bed and he just tossed and turned all night. He was definitely over flu symptoms, but he moaned and groaned all night, it was awful. I didn't get any sleep either. This time a) we've traveled a few more times and he's a better sleeper and b) I'm bringing 1mg melatonin to help him fall asleep if he needs it.


If there is a way to flip these pics let me know! I'm just uploading them from my phone and they are twisting and turning every which way!

 

[debdebdebby13]

Here are a few more recent pictures of everyone but me. I look the same. Pictures of Molly are limited because she no longer enjoys being photographed

Molly and our doggo, Daisy



Henry wrapped up on a cold day, doing virtual school. Our school is doing school in person, but we live in Oklahoma and we've had some insane, unseasonably cold weather lately so we had to go back to virtual for a few days.



DH, he obviously loves DP. Isn't he handsome ❤



Henry being silly, this just really shows his personality now. He's funny and goofy and precious!



My kiddos being the bookends in this picture with their cousins at the Pioneer Woman Lodge.

 

[Bama Mom]

Following along. Maybe Henry will be able to stay awake during meals on this trip

 

[DLo]

Following along. Looking forward to reading more.

 

[debdebdebby13]

Following along. Maybe Henry will be able to stay awake during meals on this trip

Right?? I'm sure hoping so! He doesn't often fall asleep in the car anymore so I think we will be okay. Especially if I give him a drop of melatonin at bedtime so he's guaranteed to sleep well!

Following along. Looking forward to reading more.

Thanks for following! I'll try to be interesting




Does anyone know if I can attach videos here? I must be getting old, I feel so computer illiterate. I think it's more because I'm normally operating from my phone, but I'm trying to do this from my Chromebook. Is Photobucket still a thing??

 

[debdebdebby13]

Alrighty I’m going to share pics from our other Disney trips. Kind of a walk down memory lane and even some nostalgia for things that used to be at Disney but are now gone *tear*

First, pictures from our first trip in March of 2009. DH had been to Disney once as a teen in the 90s and I had never been before. Molly was not quite 3 yet so she was free! This was by far the cheapest Disney trip we’ve taken. We had some kind of significant discount on the room or dining and we also got something like $250 on a gift card as well. I feel like it was around maybe $1800 for a week. We had a blast and it definitely created the love for Disney.

We stayed at All Star Movies


She was pretty unsure of the evil step sisters and step mother.


I can’t remember what it was called, but it was a Winnie the Pooh play area for littles near Fantasyland. Molly had a total blast playing here and it was gone by our next trip.


Mickey and Minnie’s houses, another thing that was gone pretty soon after this trip.


My pics got all out of order for some reason. Does anyone know if there is still a limit of ten pictures per post? I’m gonna act like there is.

 

[debdebdebby13]

The last pictures

 

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Our next trip was a little over 2 years later. It was at the end of May/beginning of June 2011. It was for Molly’s 5th birthday. My in laws came for a few days which Molly absolutely loved.

The small carousel that was in Downtown Disney, when it was still called that.


She was a Daddy's girl through and through back then.


Old Dumbo


The only time we've done an autograph book. I think Henry would like it, but alas, this is not the trip for that!


Molly trying to steal chips from her Papa, also in DTD


This girl LOVED her princesses. Absolute obsession for a good few years.


She asked for a straw for her milkshake at 50s Prime Time and the waiter brought her 6!


Playing with lincoln logs while waiting to be seated at Whispering Canyon

 

[debdebdebby13]

She got pampered at BBB. I don’t know that she’d ever felt so fancy!

Yes, I promise she was 4, turning 5, but look at those LONG legs! DH is 6'3 (I'm only 5'4) so she got it from him.


She was wearing those Skechers Twinkle Toe light up shoes, they were flip flops actually, and Genie was fascinated.


Another show that is no more. DH really enjoyed this one and was sad to see it go.

 

[debdebdebby13]

We went again in Oct/Nov of 2012. I have NO Disney pics of this on my phone or FB. I think all of these pictures are on my laptop from way back then that won’t get on the internet so I have no way to get them. The only thing I do have pictures of is our time we spent in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Molly was, and still is, a very precocious kid. She started reading when she was 3 all by herself. During this trip she was almost 6.5 and she had been reading Harry Potter independently for over a year (she was reading at a college level by 4th grade so this wasn’t too shocking). She was SO into it. We let her read the first 3 books, but then we stopped her until she turned 7 and then added one book a year until she 10 and allowed to read the last one.

Pumpkin juice!

She was not a fan of butterbeer, crazy kid! I thought it was delicious and I've been trying to make it at home ever since!

 

[debdebdebby13]

Then our Disney trips paused because Henry joined our lives in Sept of 2013! Molly was 7 and was excited but unsure about the addition of a baby to our family. We never intended for our kids to be so far apart, but infertility doesn’t care what your plans are. Henry was born with an attitude. He’s been opinionated and loud since day 1. He feels everything at an 11. If he’s happy, he’s deliriously happy, if he’s mad, he’s straight ticked and if he’s sad, he’s sobbing in my arms. He just FEELS his feeling so hard. This lead to him being a bit crazy, a little psycho as a toddler...or a lot psycho.

For us this was a huge change. Molly was born chill. She never threw tantrums and while she could definitely be mischievous, she accepted correct and just went with it. She could sleep wherever, wasn’t a picky eater. She was born to travel!


As you can see here, he is feeling his feelings from his head to his toes. Screaming, tiny fists, stiff legs and ticked the heck off!


A year later, he wasn't feeling any better about Santa. At this point he is 2 and Molly is 9.

 

[debdebdebby13]

We still did some fun stuff during that time, even though we weren’t doing Disney.

We visited the science museum and the children's museum.


Molly got a kitten for her 9th birthday. He is legit her best friend. She's almost 15 now and he just turned 6, but they are 2 peas in a pod.


We went to a few concerts, Def Leppard, Kiss and Justin Beiber.


At this point DH's parents lived in Denver so we visited there often. Casa Bonita was a favorite destination.

 

[debdebdebby13]

We also visited LA on vacation for the first time in Spring 2015. Henry was kind of an 18 month old terror on that trip too. He wasn’t getting to nap on his normal schedule and he wasn’t having it.

We visited DTD and Molly got to do the BBB again.


We also saw some pretty significant stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.


And we saw the real theater.


And we saw some beautiful beach sunsets.

 

[debdebdebby13]

I wanted to share all of that just to help you get to know us since we aren't prolific Disney visitors that are well known here. We love our kiddos and we love to go and do fun things. Well...I love to go and do. The travel bug bit me LONG ago. Henry is almost always ready to party and Molly enjoys travel but otherwise is a bit of a homebody. DH is a homebody, period. He enjoys vacationing but left to his own devices he'd feel like taking a trip every 10-12 years. I would explode if I had to wait that LONG! If we had unlimited time and funds I'd be happy to vacation a couple of times a year! I don't know if I'd want to be a yearly Disney visitor though. I kind of feel like putting a trip every 2-3 years keeps everything fresh and new feeling. We don't feel like we JUST went. Since we can't afford to go every year I guess I'll never know if I'd get tired of it, lol!


So, onto actual Disney trip plans! We are loyal users of Touring Plans so we will use them once again to plan which park on which day for the lowest crowds.

As it stands now it looks like this:

April 17, Saturday- we live near Oklahoma City, OK. The airport is only about 25 minutes from us, BUT since OKC is a small market flights from OKC to Orlando are always expensive. Even though we do have non-stop flights they are rarely less than $175 round trip, sometimes up over $250 round trip. I don't like the idea of paying $1000 to get there if I don't have to! It takes us about 3-3.5 hours to get to DFW airport and flights were SOOOO cheap! So I got tickets from DFW to MCO for $52 each round trip! $208 all together for us to get to Disney World and back, woooooo!! We will have to pay to park our car at the airport for a week...unless I ask my family if we can park our car at their house, hmmmm.

Our flight is at 1:40pm so I think we'll probably roll out of OKC around 8am, after packing up the car the night before. That should put us at the airport by noon. We are set to arrive in Orlando about 5:25pm so we won't have time to hit the parks. We are playing with visiting Disney Springs for dinner or maybe just eating at POP and having some pool time before bed.


April 18, Sunday- Originally TP had Hollywood Studios as the best park, but they switched it a couple of days ago to Magic Kingdom being the slowest park. For now I have it as a HS day with an ADR at 50s Prime Time at 2:40pm.

April 19, Monday- Magic Kingdom is the plan currently, but I'm guessing I will flip flop Sunday and Monday. No ADR for today at this point.

April 20, Tuesday- Animal Kingdom day. We are planning lunch at Satu'li Canteen because Molly asked to eat here. No ADR at this point.

April 21, Wednesday- Epcot today. I made 2 ADRs for today because Epcot has all the best food! Currently my reservations are for Via Napoli (have never been here) and Biergarten (have been once). I'm not sure if I'll keep the Biergarten. We really like it long ago, but there are just SO many options at Epcot! Via Napoli I think will be more of a counter service price since I think we'll just get a large pizza for $40-45. I don't plan on trying to fill up since there are so many good snacks around world showcase. I'm salivating just thinking about it!

April 22, Thursday- Currently the plan is to go back to HS. If we manage to get ROTR on our first HS day, then we may not go back unless we really want to. Regardless we'll put the park reservation down for HS that day and if we don't want to go back then we'll see if we can go somewhere else. No ADR yet. O'hana is a restaurant we always visit but I don't think it's going to happen on this trip since it's not currently open.

April 23, Friday- We have no idea what park we want to revisit on our last park day. I'm hoping there will be reservations for everything but HS left on the day and we can decide when we get up. I've tentatively made an ADR for Homecomin' in DS at 6:40pm.

April 24, Saturday-travel day. Our flight leaves at 12:40pm so we won't really have time to do anything but pack up and head out. Didn't want to make this flight late because I wanted time to drive home before it got too late.

 

[debdebdebby13]

Made a duplicate post, whoops

 

[DeeBee3]

He remembers quite a bit and has been asking when we can go back for the last 3 years. He hit 5 years old and it was like a switch flipped and he totally chilled out. He's mostly a sweetheart now. Never throws fits and is, as I described above, a breath of fresh air.

So you are telling my my 3-year-old "terrible 2 since forever" has a chance???

 

[debdebdebby13]

So you are telling my my 3-year-old "terrible 2 since forever" has a chance???

Yes, keep the faith! I thought Henry would NEVER chill as we were approaching 5 years old. It really was like he woke up a new kid one day and never looked back, it was that fast. He still feels his feelings hard, he just doesn't flip out and throw fits. We can talk about it without tantrums. It's takes a lot more to make him mad now too. Back then it took nothing.

 

[DeeBee3]

Yes, keep the faith! I thought Henry would NEVER chill as we were approaching 5 years old. It really was like he woke up a new kid one day and never looked back, it was that fast. He still feels his feelings hard, he just doesn't flip out and throw fits. We can talk about it without tantrums. It's takes a lot more to make him mad now too. Back then it took nothing.

Thanks for reassuring me! It is pure madness over here for the last 1.5 years and I am crossing fingers it ends soon. No matter what strategy we try, nothing works. It's just flipping out, screaming and throwing things. Complete opposite of my older child. This isolation has not helped as she hasn't been to preschool yet and normally we would have started her this past year.

Don't get me going on potty training!!!!!!!

 

[debdebdebby13]

Thanks for reassuring me! It is pure madness over here for the last 1.5 years and I am crossing fingers it ends soon. No matter what strategy we try, nothing works. It's just flipping out, screaming and throwing things. Complete opposite of my older child. This isolation has not helped as she hasn't been to preschool yet and normally we would have started her this past year.

Don't get me going on potty training!!!!!!!

I was starting to wonder if there was something wrong with Henry, though I had been assured by friends that there wasn't. We finally figured out that he was the normal kid and Molly had been the weird one. Those super well behaved first kids give us a major false sense of security, and maybe a touch of overconfidence! He can still be really sassy, but all in all he's a sweet boy. He is so pumped up to go. It's hilarious how much he remembers of our first trip with him and how much fun he had when all DH and I remember is him flipping out every 5 minutes, being hangry and sleeping in the worst places.