larry's girl
Dead last finish is better than did not finish, wh
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2003
- Messages
- 675
Cast:
Susan - Trip report writer, lover of all things Disney - 39
Larry - Converted by Susan into extreme Disney fanatic - 46
Tara - Ready to go to Disney any time for any reason (or no reason) - 16
Day 3 - Friday, October 22, 2004 - "The Agony of Tara's Blistered Feet!" -- OR -- "See Susan Collapse Over the Back of a Wheelchair!"
This morning we have a breakfast PS at Crystal Palace, so we are up early to begin our day. Unfortunately, it soon became apparent that Tara was not going anywhere quickly. She had raw, angry-looking blisters on both feet and was in lots of pain whenever she tried to walk. I put Neosporin and band-aids on the painful areas, but she still couldn't wear her shoes. We bought some flip-flops at the gift shop because she really wanted to go to the breakfast and we thought she would be in less pain in open shoes. She made it to the breakfast, but was having great difficulty walking and was near tears. Her dad and I were both upset for her, and therefore became rather short and ill-tempered with each other. We decided to go ahead with breakfast and then we would figure out what to do. I got Tara's breakfast for her when I got my own, so that she wouldn't have to walk through the buffet line. The two kinds of breakfast potatoes were good here, but other than that, I was unimpressed with the food. The Tigger waffle I tried to eat was so hard I could not cut it up - it kind of crumbled into dust. The breakfast lasagna that I had read so much about was not so great in my opinion. I think it would be better if it was served cold instead of warm and had more cream in it, although I know many people love it as it is. The characters made up for the food, and Tara had a good time interacting with Pooh and Eeyore.
When we left the Crystal Palace, we went over to First Aid which was right next door to see if they could offer us any help with Tara's feet. The nurse was sympathetic, but said there really wasn't anything she could do that we hadn't already done. So Larry walked back to the front of the park to rent a wheelchair for Tara so that she could at least spend some time in Magic Kingdom. By the time he got back with it, his feet were killing him, his back was hurting, and he just generally was not in a good frame of mind for any park time. So he went back to the room to read the paper, watch TV and chill out. This left me to push Tara around MK in a wheelchair. Now, let me give you some background here so you can get an accurate mental picture of this process. I am a short, round person - I look kind of like a Weeble. Tara is taller and broader than I am (she also has a much better figure than me, but I digress). It takes a lot of effort for me to get myself around, particularly since I have a chronic illness that causes me to have lots of muscle pain and fatigue. One of the reasons I love Disney is because it makes me forget about my physical problems for a while, and I usually take much more pain medicine while at Disney than I do at home so that I can enjoy myself there. Of course, this particular morning, I was so consumed with Tara's foot problems, I forgot to take any pain medication at all and was just now realizing that I didn't have any with me. Tara and I talked about this and she let me know that it was okay with her if we just bagged the whole thing and went back to the Lodge - she would completely understand my inability to push her around in the wheelchair. But I was determined that she and I were going to enjoy at least a small part of MK, so we started off in the direction of Frontierland. BTMRR is her favorite ride in this park, so we went in the wheelchair entrance and waited to board the ride. We got to ride in the back, which is her favorite place, so she was a happy camper. Then we walked over to Splash Mountain, which is one of my favorite rides. She doesn't like this one, so she waited for me while I rode it. By the time I finished all that walking and pushing her up and down the hills that you never notice when you are NOT pushing a wheelchair, it was becoming obvious to me that I wasn't going to be able to do this too much longer. We got some water and while I rested, we talked about what to do next. I told her that I thought I had one land left in me, and offered her the choice of which one it would be. She chose Fantasyland, so we walked over there. Well, it was wall to wall people. Maneuvering a wheelchair through that crowd with no previous experience in doing so was hairy - I almost knocked over a few people who stopped short in front of us. All the rides that we were interested in had long waits except for the Tea Cups. We got in line for that, and then I realized that we would not be able to go through that line because it had the turnstile that you have to go through at the end. I tried to get a CM's attention for a good 5 minutes to ask where we could go to gain entrance to the ride with the wheelchair, but it was noisy and crowded there and he could not hear or see me. Finally, Tara decided it was not worth the hassle and we got out of the line. I was again needing a rest, so we sat down at the Enchanted Grove ice cream stand and got a strawberry swirl. From a distance, we saw the White Rabbit, Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dee, Alice and the Mad Hatter while we sat there. I began to tell her how bad I felt about how this day was turning out, and she stopped me and said that she was glad she had experienced being in a wheelchair. It was a first for her and she said she would now have lots more empathy for people who have to use them full time. We began to talk about what a picture we must make with me struggling to push her up and down hills and her struggling to keep anything weighty from bumping into her feet - and it began to seem funny to us. We were soon laughing hysterically at how different this trip was turning out to be from our "usual" visits, and I was glad that it didn't become a huge obstacle to us having a good time - only a small stumbling block.
We went back to Exposition Hall near the entrance of MK for Tara to look at pins. I should mention here that she is a big pin trading enthusiast, and she brought pins from home specifically to trade. She enjoyed trading with the CM's very much, and got three lanyard pins and some mystery pins on this trip. She also bought a good number of pins, both here and later that evening at Downtown Disney. This is a hobby she enjoys tremendously, and I was glad to see her having such a good time with it.
We decided to leave the park before I completely collapsed and had to be carried out by stretcher, so we turned in the wheelchair and caught the boat back to Wilderness Lodge. Larry was now feeling a bit better, so he went to the food court to get us some lunch. We ate in the Iron Spike room while he and Tara played a game of checkers (which she won, I believe). I took a large dose of pain medicine and rested up while they played. Then we decided to rent a pontoon boat and take a ride out on Bay Lake, which we all very much enjoyed.
Our original plan for this evening was to go to Downtown Disney, grab a light dinner, do some shopping and take in a show at the Comedy Warehouse and Adventurer's Club. I was concerned that Tara would not be able to do so much walking in view of the blister situation, but she really wanted to do some shopping in the pin store and World of Disney store. Since those stores are not too far from the bus stop, we decided to give it a try and see how we felt after hitting just those stores. On our way out, Larry bought me a Mickey wristwatch in the gift shop, which I absolutely love! He is so generous to Tara and me all the time, but particularly when we are at Disney. We caught a bus and then grabbed a sandwich for dinner from Earl of Sandwich. This was an excellent value and the food was wonderful! We will definitely eat here again. We hobbled over to the pin store and Tara bought several pins and a pin album book to store her pins. Then we went to the World of Disney store, but it was so crowded and hot in the store that we didn't stay long. I bought a keychain and Tara bought a few small things, but we didn't spend as much time here as we wanted because it was too difficult to maneuver through the store with it being so crowded. We thought about grabbing an ice cream dessert at Ghirardelli's, but it was mobbed and we decided we didn't want to wait in such a long line, so we skipped it. None of us felt like dealing with the large crowd of people any longer, so we hopped a bus back to the Lodge and watched TV for a while. We decided we wanted a late night snack (hey, we're on vacation, right?) so we ordered a Chicago style deep dish pizza from Giordano's. They deliver to the Disney resorts - Larry just had to go down to the front desk to pay for the pizza and take it from the delivery driver. It was delicious - easily one of the best pizzas I have ever had. I was really sore and tired by this point, so I decided to call it a night. I think the rest of my family turned in soon after I did.
Susan - Trip report writer, lover of all things Disney - 39
Larry - Converted by Susan into extreme Disney fanatic - 46
Tara - Ready to go to Disney any time for any reason (or no reason) - 16
Day 3 - Friday, October 22, 2004 - "The Agony of Tara's Blistered Feet!" -- OR -- "See Susan Collapse Over the Back of a Wheelchair!"
This morning we have a breakfast PS at Crystal Palace, so we are up early to begin our day. Unfortunately, it soon became apparent that Tara was not going anywhere quickly. She had raw, angry-looking blisters on both feet and was in lots of pain whenever she tried to walk. I put Neosporin and band-aids on the painful areas, but she still couldn't wear her shoes. We bought some flip-flops at the gift shop because she really wanted to go to the breakfast and we thought she would be in less pain in open shoes. She made it to the breakfast, but was having great difficulty walking and was near tears. Her dad and I were both upset for her, and therefore became rather short and ill-tempered with each other. We decided to go ahead with breakfast and then we would figure out what to do. I got Tara's breakfast for her when I got my own, so that she wouldn't have to walk through the buffet line. The two kinds of breakfast potatoes were good here, but other than that, I was unimpressed with the food. The Tigger waffle I tried to eat was so hard I could not cut it up - it kind of crumbled into dust. The breakfast lasagna that I had read so much about was not so great in my opinion. I think it would be better if it was served cold instead of warm and had more cream in it, although I know many people love it as it is. The characters made up for the food, and Tara had a good time interacting with Pooh and Eeyore.
When we left the Crystal Palace, we went over to First Aid which was right next door to see if they could offer us any help with Tara's feet. The nurse was sympathetic, but said there really wasn't anything she could do that we hadn't already done. So Larry walked back to the front of the park to rent a wheelchair for Tara so that she could at least spend some time in Magic Kingdom. By the time he got back with it, his feet were killing him, his back was hurting, and he just generally was not in a good frame of mind for any park time. So he went back to the room to read the paper, watch TV and chill out. This left me to push Tara around MK in a wheelchair. Now, let me give you some background here so you can get an accurate mental picture of this process. I am a short, round person - I look kind of like a Weeble. Tara is taller and broader than I am (she also has a much better figure than me, but I digress). It takes a lot of effort for me to get myself around, particularly since I have a chronic illness that causes me to have lots of muscle pain and fatigue. One of the reasons I love Disney is because it makes me forget about my physical problems for a while, and I usually take much more pain medicine while at Disney than I do at home so that I can enjoy myself there. Of course, this particular morning, I was so consumed with Tara's foot problems, I forgot to take any pain medication at all and was just now realizing that I didn't have any with me. Tara and I talked about this and she let me know that it was okay with her if we just bagged the whole thing and went back to the Lodge - she would completely understand my inability to push her around in the wheelchair. But I was determined that she and I were going to enjoy at least a small part of MK, so we started off in the direction of Frontierland. BTMRR is her favorite ride in this park, so we went in the wheelchair entrance and waited to board the ride. We got to ride in the back, which is her favorite place, so she was a happy camper. Then we walked over to Splash Mountain, which is one of my favorite rides. She doesn't like this one, so she waited for me while I rode it. By the time I finished all that walking and pushing her up and down the hills that you never notice when you are NOT pushing a wheelchair, it was becoming obvious to me that I wasn't going to be able to do this too much longer. We got some water and while I rested, we talked about what to do next. I told her that I thought I had one land left in me, and offered her the choice of which one it would be. She chose Fantasyland, so we walked over there. Well, it was wall to wall people. Maneuvering a wheelchair through that crowd with no previous experience in doing so was hairy - I almost knocked over a few people who stopped short in front of us. All the rides that we were interested in had long waits except for the Tea Cups. We got in line for that, and then I realized that we would not be able to go through that line because it had the turnstile that you have to go through at the end. I tried to get a CM's attention for a good 5 minutes to ask where we could go to gain entrance to the ride with the wheelchair, but it was noisy and crowded there and he could not hear or see me. Finally, Tara decided it was not worth the hassle and we got out of the line. I was again needing a rest, so we sat down at the Enchanted Grove ice cream stand and got a strawberry swirl. From a distance, we saw the White Rabbit, Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dee, Alice and the Mad Hatter while we sat there. I began to tell her how bad I felt about how this day was turning out, and she stopped me and said that she was glad she had experienced being in a wheelchair. It was a first for her and she said she would now have lots more empathy for people who have to use them full time. We began to talk about what a picture we must make with me struggling to push her up and down hills and her struggling to keep anything weighty from bumping into her feet - and it began to seem funny to us. We were soon laughing hysterically at how different this trip was turning out to be from our "usual" visits, and I was glad that it didn't become a huge obstacle to us having a good time - only a small stumbling block.
We went back to Exposition Hall near the entrance of MK for Tara to look at pins. I should mention here that she is a big pin trading enthusiast, and she brought pins from home specifically to trade. She enjoyed trading with the CM's very much, and got three lanyard pins and some mystery pins on this trip. She also bought a good number of pins, both here and later that evening at Downtown Disney. This is a hobby she enjoys tremendously, and I was glad to see her having such a good time with it.
We decided to leave the park before I completely collapsed and had to be carried out by stretcher, so we turned in the wheelchair and caught the boat back to Wilderness Lodge. Larry was now feeling a bit better, so he went to the food court to get us some lunch. We ate in the Iron Spike room while he and Tara played a game of checkers (which she won, I believe). I took a large dose of pain medicine and rested up while they played. Then we decided to rent a pontoon boat and take a ride out on Bay Lake, which we all very much enjoyed.
Our original plan for this evening was to go to Downtown Disney, grab a light dinner, do some shopping and take in a show at the Comedy Warehouse and Adventurer's Club. I was concerned that Tara would not be able to do so much walking in view of the blister situation, but she really wanted to do some shopping in the pin store and World of Disney store. Since those stores are not too far from the bus stop, we decided to give it a try and see how we felt after hitting just those stores. On our way out, Larry bought me a Mickey wristwatch in the gift shop, which I absolutely love! He is so generous to Tara and me all the time, but particularly when we are at Disney. We caught a bus and then grabbed a sandwich for dinner from Earl of Sandwich. This was an excellent value and the food was wonderful! We will definitely eat here again. We hobbled over to the pin store and Tara bought several pins and a pin album book to store her pins. Then we went to the World of Disney store, but it was so crowded and hot in the store that we didn't stay long. I bought a keychain and Tara bought a few small things, but we didn't spend as much time here as we wanted because it was too difficult to maneuver through the store with it being so crowded. We thought about grabbing an ice cream dessert at Ghirardelli's, but it was mobbed and we decided we didn't want to wait in such a long line, so we skipped it. None of us felt like dealing with the large crowd of people any longer, so we hopped a bus back to the Lodge and watched TV for a while. We decided we wanted a late night snack (hey, we're on vacation, right?) so we ordered a Chicago style deep dish pizza from Giordano's. They deliver to the Disney resorts - Larry just had to go down to the front desk to pay for the pizza and take it from the delivery driver. It was delicious - easily one of the best pizzas I have ever had. I was really sore and tired by this point, so I decided to call it a night. I think the rest of my family turned in soon after I did.
