The If We Ever Needed Magic Now Would Be The Time Pre-Trip Report
Trip Dates:
October 17, 2006 October 22, 2006
Cast of Characters:
Me (43) emagirl, Avid WDW Vacationer, Ultimate Planner and Woman who has experienced unmeasurable sadness this year. (AKA Shortcake see DHs nickname and it will make more sense)
DH (41 Almost 42 so I married a younger man what of it?) Married 17+years and is a total enabler of my WDW infatuation. Loves WDW himself though would never be able to plan a trip. Shall from now on be referred to as Strawberry (Dont even ask cause I WONT TELL in fact, it has been so long, I cant even remember why!)
DD (15) HS Sophomore who I love with my heart and soul. The reason for me to go on especially this year. (AKA Daisy just because I love it) Sometimes she is referred to as Daisy-I-Never-Met-A-Souvenir-I-Didnt-Like-Smith (not our real last name but you get the picture)
Together we will be referred to as THE TRIO
Also in the cast but as supporting players:
BFFEllen (My friend for 35+ years and mutual WDW vacation addict total planner for her family which includes her DH, DS1(17), DS2(14) and DD(8).
I have silently read and been in total amazement of other trip reports posted by some of the BEST writers I have ever read (and you KNOW who you are) some of whom are even from my home state of Maine. I dont profess to be as good at this as some other but I do hope I get a couple of responses and I dont end up killing my own thread!!
Background information:
We have made many trips to WDW over the past 7 years (sometimes even 2 per year). Our last trip in April 2005 was with my Husbands family of 11 and BFFEllen (just as much of a Disney addict as me and been to WDW more) and her family of 5 + in-laws. This as I explained to my daughter at the time was the vacation of Compromise. We are used to traveling as a trio so to have to consider the needs of 20 other people was to be a very different vacation for our little family but we were up for it and considered it to be an opportunity to show them a good time.
Fast forward to January 2006. BFFEllen told me she and her family were planning a trip for October 2006, were we in? PLEASE!!! Cant you see my packed suitcases sitting beside me ready to go at a moments notice? You dont have to ask me twice (and most of the time, I dont even have to be asked once!) So BFFEllen and I begin the planning .
First off When to go?
BFFEllen dislikes any trips around holidays or school vacations due to the crowds (she learned her lesson last April while stuck in a massive crowd on a Saturday Night at MK) I on the other hand am not opposed to it but for her I went with their choice of October 16th October 22nd. This would mean talking the kids out of school (No Flames I have been on both sides of this argument and it will become apparent later on in this report that I dont care what anyone says we are going in October)
Second - Where to stay?
BFFEllen and her family are DVC @ the BCV so their decision was already made for them. My Trio loves the Epcot resort area so that part was easy. I can get AAA or Govt rates at the Swan & Dolphin so not being able to pass that up I made ressies for the Dolphin ( We have stayed at the Swan several times and loved it but I thought for the sake of shaking things up I know, Im such a risk taker we would try the Dolphin.) This plan would change as most of my ressies do, as time goes by
Third Air Transportation
Now we live in Southern Maine so we have a lot of choices Portland, Manchester, Boston or the option we chose (and have lived to regret) Portsmouth. Now we had all flown out of Portsmouth on Pan Am several times a few years ago and into Sanford, FL. We liked the fact that both airports were small and easy to get in and out of and that Pan Am offered a direct flight to FL, something Portland doesnt. So Allegiant Air moved in to Portsmouth and offered $59 one way fares to Sanford we all jumped on them. We were scheduled to fly out Monday evening (10/16) and back Sunday Afternoon (10/22). Perfect WRONG.
As a sidebar, I must mention that in April 05 we flew Independence Air with the whole family and Loved this airline. Portland to Dulles to Orlando. Not too bad and the prices were pretty great considering it was during our April Vacation. We were supposed to take a non-WDW (YIKES) trip to FL to visit a good friend of mine during February 06 and had booked with Independence again. (this story is simply to outline my luck with airlines) January 06 Independence announces bankruptcy no February trip for us . We do get our $$ back but since it is February vacation in the northeast airline tickets are few and far between by January and what you can find is so overpriced we decided to skip the trip all together.
I mentioned before that we had flown Pan Am on several occasions this airline betrayed us, too. Went out of business and left us with a substantial credit Do you see a pattern here?
So back to Allegiant. We are all booked and ready to go we thought. Allegiant begins to eliminate flights on certain days from Portsmouth. One of the days is Monday 10/16. We are offered to switch to 10/15 but that would mean missing another day of school which at the time I wasnt comfortable with so we opted to get a refund and we booked at a higher rate with Jet Blue out of Portland (Still not direct but whatcha gonna do?)
and trim our trip down from 7 days to 6 by leaving Tuesday morning instead of Monday night.
BFFEllen decided to cancel her leg down with Allegiant and book Southwest out of Manchester (direct flight) for Monday 10/16 and keep the Allegiant return flight (poor choice on her part as we will soon see)
Ok, no NOW everything is set .WRONG!
Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when Allegiant announces they will no longer be flying out of Worcester MA (So what, you say it has nothing to do with Portsmouth or you silly travelers but it DOES!) Now for once this doesnt affect the Trios travel plans but poor BFFEllen is frantic. She looks up her flights on the Allegiant website and they are no longer there. She contacts Allegiant (no toll free #) and after many minutes (into triple digits) in phone purgatory she is able to speak to a human life form who says they will rebook them all on Jet Blue out of Boston (Yea for her, still direct flights) at no extra cost (Double Yea!). They will be back in touch in a week. Now this is where it gets confusing (Like it hasnt been up to this point). BFFEllen has several flight reservations with Allegiant to accommodate her family of 5 + 2 friends of her sons. She KNOWS from the start that this will be a problem further down the line.
So far the Trios plans are going pretty smoothly until I decide that since BFFEllen is staying at the BCV, The Trio should stay at the BC, after all we have stayed at the YC before and LOVED it (especially the pool) and since we were only staying 5 nights now instead of 6, I could justify spending the extra $$. And BOY was it extra. I was able to get a AAA rate and only booked a standard room (though that stay in the YC Concierge really spoiled me) I had to show some sensibility in this trip and not go totally of base with the finances.
Now BFFEllen tells me that Allegiant in fact contacts her with new ressies but only for 5 of the 7 of them and one kid is on a plane by himself. Do I need to tell you how much she is freaking out at this point? I will have to leave this part of the story here because the end has yet to be played out but I will return to it once all is settled with the Air arrangements.
Back to June.
We decide to do a couple of ADRs this trip (as we usually do) and I call and make ADRs for
Ohana Character Breakfast (Daisys Favorite and a MUST on every trip she NEVER tires of this place)
Garden Grill Character Dinner (this is a combo with our Trio and BFFEllen, her DH and DD The boys are on their own that night)
Mama Melroses Fantasmic Dinner Pkg. (Now the Trio has done a FDP at the Brown Derby a few years ago but DH loves Italian which is why he married me and wanted to try this restaurant.)
OK ALL SET .
Uh Oh My Mom is sick.
At the end of June, My Mom, who has not been in great health for the past 6 months or so but wouldnt admit there was a problem or go to the Dr. was having a really hard time breathing and a pain in her back. (she is 71) 2 days later, we find out she had Non Operable Terminal Lung Cancer with the best case scenario of 6 months a year (in a perfect world) My head is still spinning. So much happened in such a short amount of time and I know there are many of you out there who have experienced this same sort of thing and some who are still experiencing it so Ill bet you will understand the next few paragraphs.
Mom was admitted immediately into the hospital. They wanted to do Chemo not to cure but to provide her with some relief in breathing and perhaps decrease the size of the tumor. The problem was her kidneys were failing and you have to have good kidneys to flush out the Chemo toxins. (Now for those of you who are from medical backgrounds, I am well aware I am not. I know what I know from this one experience and Im sure I will get things wrong so please be kind and gentle with me) So we get the Kidneys up and running and on July 1st she starts her first of what is to be (3) 3-day rounds of Chemo spaced 3 weeks apart. (very low doses as her body is just not strong enough to take much more)
My mother died on July 16th. Less than 3 weeks from her initial diagnosis. I am heartbroken. I could and have been write volumes on this experience but I understand this is a trip report for the Happiest Place on Earth and I dont want to be a downer so I will end this portion by simply stating that I no longer care if the school doesnt want me to take my daughter on a family vacation and miss 4 days of school. I no longer care if people disagree with my decisions about that or anything else - right now I am simply trying to survive this grief so my determination to go back to the place where I am the happiest is even stronger than it was when we began planning this trip. I would like it if people understood but I can live with it if they dont because someday, they will go through this kind of loss and then they will understand. I am fully aware that this trip will be over and I will have to return to my life and my grief but for those of you who are planners and live for trips like I do, Im sure you understand the distraction of trip planning can be a marvelous tool in moving forward.
Throw into this mix that our DDog was diagnosed with Cushings disease this year and she has lost patches of hair (she is a Sheltie now tell me THAT isnt just about the saddest thing youve read in a while?) I was diagnosed with a ruptured disk in my neck 3 days before my Mom went into the hospital. And my DFather is coping with the loss of my Mom my ripping up every piece of carpeting in their home and painting and stripping wallpaper like a madman! (now do you understand why I chose the title I did for this report.
So here I am, 1/3 of the Trio and counting down the days to our trip. BFFEllen and her family is still going (though some of them dont know yet how they will get there ) and BFFEllens DSis and her family are thinking of going, too which would be great as they have a DD (15) who Daisy is friends with and would provide companionship and a much needed break from the parental units.
Other items We will be trying Magical Express for the first time (We did Mears the 1st year then town cars and limos after that).
We dont ever rent a car we have always been happy to use WDW transportation and have on occasion used Taxis which has worked out fine for us.
And since we are less than 40 days away from our trip, I of course am planning another trip for June 07. This will be a Sweet 16 trip for Daisy where she will be able to bring a friend.
So, thats about it for the pre-trip report. I guess now is the time people either comment or kill this thread. I suppose its ok either way, I have enjoyed writing this up and I am looking forward to writing a trip report when we return (I may even try to attach some pictures this time!)
9/11/06 UPDATE
Thank you so very much to those of you who have responded to my report. I can't tell you how your words have encouraged and inspired me.
Minnie
Yours was my first reply and I am reminded of last year when I took my Mom Christmas Shopping and she was in a wheelchair. A woman I didn't know came up to me and out of the blue told me how lucky I was to have my Mother as hers passed away a couple of years before. I replyed "I know" and I have thought about that moment a lot lately. I won't tell you your lucky because you obviously know that, I know however, how that other woman felt now.
sallyjane
I can't begin to comprehend the pain you have been through. I can only thank you for your kind words and let you know I take comfort knowing I am not alone in grief.
em'smom
My heart goes out to you and pray for you to have strength you never knew you had during your journey.
To everyone else, thank you for the prayers, pixie dust and hugs...they have definately NOT gone unnoticed!
NOW THE TRIP UPDATE>>>>>>>
BFFEllen and her family's travel arrangements are now all set. We are BOTH very happy. She was able to get the flights she wished for and we are now back on the planning track. I do want to relay the information that although Allegiant took a while getting this arranged, they were very kind and professional and their Customer Service was no problem - when it could have been. So now, all is well and we are just over 1 month to go and we are all offically excited.
I noticed a lot of you are going in the next 3 weeks or so. Will anyone be going sometime during 10/17-10/22??? Just wondering. We will also be doing MNSSHP on 10/19 in case anyone is planning on attending that evening.
Just a little story here...
Last night, Strawberry & I were at our local Chinese take out place and I brought up the subject of "what would you like to see/do this trip?" Though we have been many times, as you veterans know, there STILL is never enough time to fit everything in. So Strawberry proceeds to say "like what?". I respond with "well, there's Expedition Everest - which we haven't done before, Soarin' which we LOVE, Illuminations - a must for every trip" He says "Oh..." and then proceeds to name off several eating establishments. Apparently this is an Eating around the world trip for him. When I pointed out to him all he had mentioned was eating activities - he laughed and I think was kind of surprised that was immediately where his mind went. I'll chalk it up to being hungry and the smell of our take out being cooked 3 feet away!
Trip Dates:
October 17, 2006 October 22, 2006
Cast of Characters:
Me (43) emagirl, Avid WDW Vacationer, Ultimate Planner and Woman who has experienced unmeasurable sadness this year. (AKA Shortcake see DHs nickname and it will make more sense)
DH (41 Almost 42 so I married a younger man what of it?) Married 17+years and is a total enabler of my WDW infatuation. Loves WDW himself though would never be able to plan a trip. Shall from now on be referred to as Strawberry (Dont even ask cause I WONT TELL in fact, it has been so long, I cant even remember why!)
DD (15) HS Sophomore who I love with my heart and soul. The reason for me to go on especially this year. (AKA Daisy just because I love it) Sometimes she is referred to as Daisy-I-Never-Met-A-Souvenir-I-Didnt-Like-Smith (not our real last name but you get the picture)
Together we will be referred to as THE TRIO
Also in the cast but as supporting players:
BFFEllen (My friend for 35+ years and mutual WDW vacation addict total planner for her family which includes her DH, DS1(17), DS2(14) and DD(8).
I have silently read and been in total amazement of other trip reports posted by some of the BEST writers I have ever read (and you KNOW who you are) some of whom are even from my home state of Maine. I dont profess to be as good at this as some other but I do hope I get a couple of responses and I dont end up killing my own thread!!
Background information:
We have made many trips to WDW over the past 7 years (sometimes even 2 per year). Our last trip in April 2005 was with my Husbands family of 11 and BFFEllen (just as much of a Disney addict as me and been to WDW more) and her family of 5 + in-laws. This as I explained to my daughter at the time was the vacation of Compromise. We are used to traveling as a trio so to have to consider the needs of 20 other people was to be a very different vacation for our little family but we were up for it and considered it to be an opportunity to show them a good time.
Fast forward to January 2006. BFFEllen told me she and her family were planning a trip for October 2006, were we in? PLEASE!!! Cant you see my packed suitcases sitting beside me ready to go at a moments notice? You dont have to ask me twice (and most of the time, I dont even have to be asked once!) So BFFEllen and I begin the planning .
First off When to go?
BFFEllen dislikes any trips around holidays or school vacations due to the crowds (she learned her lesson last April while stuck in a massive crowd on a Saturday Night at MK) I on the other hand am not opposed to it but for her I went with their choice of October 16th October 22nd. This would mean talking the kids out of school (No Flames I have been on both sides of this argument and it will become apparent later on in this report that I dont care what anyone says we are going in October)
Second - Where to stay?
BFFEllen and her family are DVC @ the BCV so their decision was already made for them. My Trio loves the Epcot resort area so that part was easy. I can get AAA or Govt rates at the Swan & Dolphin so not being able to pass that up I made ressies for the Dolphin ( We have stayed at the Swan several times and loved it but I thought for the sake of shaking things up I know, Im such a risk taker we would try the Dolphin.) This plan would change as most of my ressies do, as time goes by
Third Air Transportation
Now we live in Southern Maine so we have a lot of choices Portland, Manchester, Boston or the option we chose (and have lived to regret) Portsmouth. Now we had all flown out of Portsmouth on Pan Am several times a few years ago and into Sanford, FL. We liked the fact that both airports were small and easy to get in and out of and that Pan Am offered a direct flight to FL, something Portland doesnt. So Allegiant Air moved in to Portsmouth and offered $59 one way fares to Sanford we all jumped on them. We were scheduled to fly out Monday evening (10/16) and back Sunday Afternoon (10/22). Perfect WRONG.
As a sidebar, I must mention that in April 05 we flew Independence Air with the whole family and Loved this airline. Portland to Dulles to Orlando. Not too bad and the prices were pretty great considering it was during our April Vacation. We were supposed to take a non-WDW (YIKES) trip to FL to visit a good friend of mine during February 06 and had booked with Independence again. (this story is simply to outline my luck with airlines) January 06 Independence announces bankruptcy no February trip for us . We do get our $$ back but since it is February vacation in the northeast airline tickets are few and far between by January and what you can find is so overpriced we decided to skip the trip all together.
I mentioned before that we had flown Pan Am on several occasions this airline betrayed us, too. Went out of business and left us with a substantial credit Do you see a pattern here?
So back to Allegiant. We are all booked and ready to go we thought. Allegiant begins to eliminate flights on certain days from Portsmouth. One of the days is Monday 10/16. We are offered to switch to 10/15 but that would mean missing another day of school which at the time I wasnt comfortable with so we opted to get a refund and we booked at a higher rate with Jet Blue out of Portland (Still not direct but whatcha gonna do?)
and trim our trip down from 7 days to 6 by leaving Tuesday morning instead of Monday night.
BFFEllen decided to cancel her leg down with Allegiant and book Southwest out of Manchester (direct flight) for Monday 10/16 and keep the Allegiant return flight (poor choice on her part as we will soon see)
Ok, no NOW everything is set .WRONG!
Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when Allegiant announces they will no longer be flying out of Worcester MA (So what, you say it has nothing to do with Portsmouth or you silly travelers but it DOES!) Now for once this doesnt affect the Trios travel plans but poor BFFEllen is frantic. She looks up her flights on the Allegiant website and they are no longer there. She contacts Allegiant (no toll free #) and after many minutes (into triple digits) in phone purgatory she is able to speak to a human life form who says they will rebook them all on Jet Blue out of Boston (Yea for her, still direct flights) at no extra cost (Double Yea!). They will be back in touch in a week. Now this is where it gets confusing (Like it hasnt been up to this point). BFFEllen has several flight reservations with Allegiant to accommodate her family of 5 + 2 friends of her sons. She KNOWS from the start that this will be a problem further down the line.
So far the Trios plans are going pretty smoothly until I decide that since BFFEllen is staying at the BCV, The Trio should stay at the BC, after all we have stayed at the YC before and LOVED it (especially the pool) and since we were only staying 5 nights now instead of 6, I could justify spending the extra $$. And BOY was it extra. I was able to get a AAA rate and only booked a standard room (though that stay in the YC Concierge really spoiled me) I had to show some sensibility in this trip and not go totally of base with the finances.
Now BFFEllen tells me that Allegiant in fact contacts her with new ressies but only for 5 of the 7 of them and one kid is on a plane by himself. Do I need to tell you how much she is freaking out at this point? I will have to leave this part of the story here because the end has yet to be played out but I will return to it once all is settled with the Air arrangements.
Back to June.
We decide to do a couple of ADRs this trip (as we usually do) and I call and make ADRs for
Ohana Character Breakfast (Daisys Favorite and a MUST on every trip she NEVER tires of this place)
Garden Grill Character Dinner (this is a combo with our Trio and BFFEllen, her DH and DD The boys are on their own that night)
Mama Melroses Fantasmic Dinner Pkg. (Now the Trio has done a FDP at the Brown Derby a few years ago but DH loves Italian which is why he married me and wanted to try this restaurant.)
OK ALL SET .
Uh Oh My Mom is sick.
At the end of June, My Mom, who has not been in great health for the past 6 months or so but wouldnt admit there was a problem or go to the Dr. was having a really hard time breathing and a pain in her back. (she is 71) 2 days later, we find out she had Non Operable Terminal Lung Cancer with the best case scenario of 6 months a year (in a perfect world) My head is still spinning. So much happened in such a short amount of time and I know there are many of you out there who have experienced this same sort of thing and some who are still experiencing it so Ill bet you will understand the next few paragraphs.
Mom was admitted immediately into the hospital. They wanted to do Chemo not to cure but to provide her with some relief in breathing and perhaps decrease the size of the tumor. The problem was her kidneys were failing and you have to have good kidneys to flush out the Chemo toxins. (Now for those of you who are from medical backgrounds, I am well aware I am not. I know what I know from this one experience and Im sure I will get things wrong so please be kind and gentle with me) So we get the Kidneys up and running and on July 1st she starts her first of what is to be (3) 3-day rounds of Chemo spaced 3 weeks apart. (very low doses as her body is just not strong enough to take much more)
My mother died on July 16th. Less than 3 weeks from her initial diagnosis. I am heartbroken. I could and have been write volumes on this experience but I understand this is a trip report for the Happiest Place on Earth and I dont want to be a downer so I will end this portion by simply stating that I no longer care if the school doesnt want me to take my daughter on a family vacation and miss 4 days of school. I no longer care if people disagree with my decisions about that or anything else - right now I am simply trying to survive this grief so my determination to go back to the place where I am the happiest is even stronger than it was when we began planning this trip. I would like it if people understood but I can live with it if they dont because someday, they will go through this kind of loss and then they will understand. I am fully aware that this trip will be over and I will have to return to my life and my grief but for those of you who are planners and live for trips like I do, Im sure you understand the distraction of trip planning can be a marvelous tool in moving forward.
Throw into this mix that our DDog was diagnosed with Cushings disease this year and she has lost patches of hair (she is a Sheltie now tell me THAT isnt just about the saddest thing youve read in a while?) I was diagnosed with a ruptured disk in my neck 3 days before my Mom went into the hospital. And my DFather is coping with the loss of my Mom my ripping up every piece of carpeting in their home and painting and stripping wallpaper like a madman! (now do you understand why I chose the title I did for this report.
So here I am, 1/3 of the Trio and counting down the days to our trip. BFFEllen and her family is still going (though some of them dont know yet how they will get there ) and BFFEllens DSis and her family are thinking of going, too which would be great as they have a DD (15) who Daisy is friends with and would provide companionship and a much needed break from the parental units.
Other items We will be trying Magical Express for the first time (We did Mears the 1st year then town cars and limos after that).
We dont ever rent a car we have always been happy to use WDW transportation and have on occasion used Taxis which has worked out fine for us.
And since we are less than 40 days away from our trip, I of course am planning another trip for June 07. This will be a Sweet 16 trip for Daisy where she will be able to bring a friend.
So, thats about it for the pre-trip report. I guess now is the time people either comment or kill this thread. I suppose its ok either way, I have enjoyed writing this up and I am looking forward to writing a trip report when we return (I may even try to attach some pictures this time!)
9/11/06 UPDATE
Thank you so very much to those of you who have responded to my report. I can't tell you how your words have encouraged and inspired me.
Minnie
Yours was my first reply and I am reminded of last year when I took my Mom Christmas Shopping and she was in a wheelchair. A woman I didn't know came up to me and out of the blue told me how lucky I was to have my Mother as hers passed away a couple of years before. I replyed "I know" and I have thought about that moment a lot lately. I won't tell you your lucky because you obviously know that, I know however, how that other woman felt now.
sallyjane
I can't begin to comprehend the pain you have been through. I can only thank you for your kind words and let you know I take comfort knowing I am not alone in grief.
em'smom
My heart goes out to you and pray for you to have strength you never knew you had during your journey.
To everyone else, thank you for the prayers, pixie dust and hugs...they have definately NOT gone unnoticed!
NOW THE TRIP UPDATE>>>>>>>
BFFEllen and her family's travel arrangements are now all set. We are BOTH very happy. She was able to get the flights she wished for and we are now back on the planning track. I do want to relay the information that although Allegiant took a while getting this arranged, they were very kind and professional and their Customer Service was no problem - when it could have been. So now, all is well and we are just over 1 month to go and we are all offically excited.
I noticed a lot of you are going in the next 3 weeks or so. Will anyone be going sometime during 10/17-10/22??? Just wondering. We will also be doing MNSSHP on 10/19 in case anyone is planning on attending that evening.
Just a little story here...
Last night, Strawberry & I were at our local Chinese take out place and I brought up the subject of "what would you like to see/do this trip?" Though we have been many times, as you veterans know, there STILL is never enough time to fit everything in. So Strawberry proceeds to say "like what?". I respond with "well, there's Expedition Everest - which we haven't done before, Soarin' which we LOVE, Illuminations - a must for every trip" He says "Oh..." and then proceeds to name off several eating establishments. Apparently this is an Eating around the world trip for him. When I pointed out to him all he had mentioned was eating activities - he laughed and I think was kind of surprised that was immediately where his mind went. I'll chalk it up to being hungry and the smell of our take out being cooked 3 feet away!
..for a trip filled with all kinds of
...just like a mother,
...gave me a reflection
...even the city pool is gone
for the best trip ever! just wanted to add, me< 
