The "I need a cool title" trip report, new Day 3, pt 1 (pg 2)

[meghan74]

Hello and welcome to my very first trip report!

According to trip report tradition, one must begin by introducing the cast…

Me: over-planner and general Dis freak.

DH: never been to WDW, has never wanted to go to WDW, and would probably be happiest if WDW disappeared so that we would stop arguing about, I mean discussing, future trips to WDW. In short, NOT a Dis fan. Also, he is a police officer who has strictly forbidden me from posting any pics of the family here. Sorry…

DD#1: turning 6 on New Year’s Day and has been to WDW more times than I care to admit.

DD#2: 4 months old at the time of our trip

Pre-trip planning

Or

“How I FINALLY convinced my anti-Dis DH to book a trip to WDW”

DH and I have been married for 8 years and every 6 months or so I try to talk him into making a magical journey to the world. He never falls for it. So, I have made numerous trips without him before, and after, the birth of DD#1. I am often asked why I married a man so strongly opposed to anything Dis related and my only defense is that I didn’t know him very well when we got married and was not aware that this would become the only major issue in our relationship.

Yep, we got engaged on our 2nd date and married 4 months later.

Nope, I wasn’t pregnant. DD#1 didn’t join our happy family until 2 year later. (Admit it, that was your first thought.)

Anyway, I just figured that I would be able to afford to go more frequently if he didn’t join us and I didn’t see the point in dragging him there just to have him spoil our trip with his pouting. I did keep asking him to go, but my heart wasn’t really in it, and frankly, we were both happy with this quasi-compromise.

Then I got pregnant again. I didn’t think I could travel with two kids by myself and I had visions of many, many Disney-less years in my future. Fortunately, DD#2 is pretty darn cute so I didn’t have to hold this against her.

Cute as she is, I was pretty bummed out in late October when I realized that my parents were making their annual early-Dec trip to WDW and my sister and her family were making a trip to WDW in mid-Dec.

Me: “Sigh, I wish I could go to WDW like the rest of my family.”

DH: “Here we go again…”

Me: “No, I know that I can’t bring DD#1 (cause that’s what we call her) and DD#2 by myself and I can’t just invite us to join my parents or sister.”

DH: “Uh huh”

Me: “Say, did you see these really great pictures from my C-section? Look, my scar from the HUGE incision is healing pretty nicely. Of course, it will probably be years before I am really back to normal.”

DH: “Just book the trip already. I don’t have the strength to argue.”

So I booked airline tickets and a hotel room at Pop for Dec 16-20th before he had a chance to change his mind. I decided to try the dining plan because my DH is a big eater and I hoped to keep him happy by keeping his stomach full.

Thank goodness I was still on maternity leave or I never would have been able to plan this on such short notice!

Next: The plans become more complicated…

 

[Hollymom1229]

I'm intrigued, and wondering if there's a convert in your future. Can't wait to read the next installment.

 

[OhMari]

I bet your husband starts to like WDW and seeing how his kids enjoy it.

 

[Dizneyholic]

I'm sorry to hear about your DH's lack of love for all things Disney. It was required that anyone I even dated at least liked some Disney.
Anyhow, I'm hoping this story has a happy ending and he can't wait to go back!!!

 

[meghan74]

In order for this next part to make sense, you need to know that my father has never been to WDW in Dec despite planning several trips for that time of the year. Last year, my youngest sister, who attends college in AZ (we live in the Midwest), had her tonsils removed during Thanksgiving break. She ended up with many complications and Dad had to skip our trip to WDW in Dec in order to travel to AZ to nurse her back to health. This type of thing has happened several times. So, my Mom was very upset when she found out that this sister needed to have knee surgery this Dec. Long story short, my parents were desperate to find someone who could travel to AZ and help my sister with the whole surgery thing so that my parents wouldn’t have to cancel yet another WDW vacation.

Did I mention that I am on maternity leave and, thus, I am the only family member who can travel without taking time off from work?

The conversation went something like this…

Mom: “When are you going to WDW?”

Me: “We leave on the 16th.”

Mom: “Oh. (Sigh) Well, I guess you can’t help us out because your sister’s surgery is scheduled for the 15th. We’ll just have to cancel our trip. (Pause) Again. (Pause)”

This went on for awhile and somehow, by the end of the conversation, it was agreed that DD#2 and I would fly to AZ on the 14th, deal with the surgery stuff on the 15th, and catch an early flight back to Chicago on the 16th, where we would meet DH and DD#1 for our flight to Orlando. Yeah, DH thought I was nuts, too.

Day -2 (Thursday)

As usual my day begins with DD#2 screaming for her early breakfast. As I gaze upon my lovely DH sleeping soundly in our warm bed, I complete my morning ritual of reminding myself why I chose breastfeeding over formula. I’m sure when DD#2 turns out to be the healthy, thin, genius that the breastfeeding literature promises, it will all be worthwhile. Just kidding, I really don’t mind. Except at 5:00 a.m.

After feeding DD#2, I have enough time to consult my three packing lists (1 for AZ, 1 for my and DD#2’s WDW suitcase, and 1 for DH and DD#1’s WDW suitcase) and my list of stuff that has to be transferred from my AZ suitcase to my WDW suitcase before waking DD#1 and getting her off to school. I pack a few last minute items, leave DH with two pages of instructions, including directions to Chicago Midway (we live several hours away from the airport and my DH is directionally challenged), and DD#2 and I head to Chicago.

We get to AZ and spent the next day at the hospital with my sister. Her surgery went well, and my Dad arrived very late that night to relieve me of my nursing duties.

Day 1 (Saturday, Dec 16th)

Finally, our real trip begins. EARLY (like 4:00 a.m. WDW time) Saturday morning, DD#2 and I leave AZ and fly back to Chicago where we get to spend almost 5 hours hanging out at Midway. I am a huge fan of those sling carriers and I popped DD#2 into it upon boarding (yes, I am one of those parents who doesn’t buy an airplane seat for my kids until I absolutely have to) and she slept through the entire flight. Fortunately, my Mom met us at the airport and was able to get a special pass to get through security in order to meet us at the gate. We get off of the plane, find my mother, and begin the process of cleaning up DD#2. She has severe infant reflux and only keeps down about ½ of what she eats. It is getting better, but until she outgrows it we average 3-4 outfits and countless bibs per day. At home, this is a minor inconvenience, but something of a challenge when traveling. At least she managed to contain the spit-up to her own clothes so I won’t have to smell like baby spit-up for the remainder of the day.

With DD#2 in fresh clothes, we head to the food court thing so that I can finish my X-mas cards and grab a bite to eat. You have to love how airport food courts make you look forward to the counter service meals at WDW. We run into my sister (not the one who just had surgery, the other one), her DH, and their 2 ½ year-old son. They are also going to WDW, but not on our flight and we are not going to make any attempt to hang out with them at the request of her DH. That sounds terrible, but he really is a nice guy. They are expecting their 2nd child in April and he wanted one last trip where they could both concentrate on their son without any distractions. Plus, we have very different touring styles (I like to park hop and plan every detail of our day in advance and they don’t. at all.) and giving each family their own space at WDW will help to ensure peace and harmony at upcoming holiday celebrations. Anyway, we all eat something and they go to catch their flight while I head to the car to switch suitcases.

Next: MCO here we come!

 

[Temair]

Sounds like ant interesting trip so far. Looking forward to hearing more

 

[DisneyJo]

My DH was not keen on going to WDW last year for the first time, I went 4 times as a kid whereas his family never left the UK. But he is now converted, he still thinks I'm odd for constantly being on the DIS site but other than that he is more than happy to go to Disney again. He even asked me the other day if I will still want to go to WDW when the kids have left. Guess what I said!

Great start to your TR by the way, I can't believe how much flying you've already done. My eldest DD was constantly sick as a baby, mainly projectile, so I don't think we'd have been popular on a plane!

 

[MomofCKJ]

Signing on!

I too have a very anti Disney DH and we were there the same week as you (Dec 15-22). I am curious to see how it turned out for your DH. Mine has said he would go back but not for a few years and most certainly didn't become a DIS convert. Yet. Babysteps.

Allyson

 

[JEYREB]

I am so glad to know that I am not the only person in the world with a anti-WDW DH. That makes me feel so much better. But, I am determined to take my DS-8, DS-4, and DS-1 to WDW in the next year wether he goes with me or not. If all else fails, he can stay at home with the baby, and I am taking the bigger boys with me for a fun week of WDW. I can't wait to hear how that trip went!!!

 

[kristinanderic]

I can't wait to hear the rest!

My son also threw up alot while he was an infant. He had a milk and soy protein allergy.

Kristin

 

[Cass]

This is a cool TR even without a cool title.

I have a DH too (DIsney Hater) but we work together so separate vacations is a good thing for us, I go to Disney or wherever with my DD and he goes golfing with his golf club. We are happy this way

looking forward to reading more, you really are a trooper

 

[meghan74]

Wow, people are actually reading this! I'll try to respond to your posts soon, but I only have time to copy and paste this next section before getting the kids in the bath.


I realize that I have become somewhat bogged down in the “getting to WDW” part of the trip report, and frankly, that part of our trip really wasn’t that interesting. So, I am going to try to quickly get us to Orlando for the benefit of any of you who happen to be reading this report.

Now, I love to travel. I love thinking about traveling, planning to travel, and the actual traveling itself. If I were stuck in an airport overnight due to a blizzard, I would view it as an adventure.

In addition to disliking anything Dis-related, DH hates to travel. He hates the lines, the confusion, sitting on an airplane, and those tiny airplane bathrooms. He hates to travel so much that upon arriving at Midway (after getting lost, naturally) and seeing the rather long check-in line at Southwest (did you know you can’t check in online when traveling with an infant?), he announced that he was seriously considering dumping DD#1 with me and heading back home. I managed to talk him into staying with promises of large quantities of food and the reminder that we couldn’t get a refund for his ticket. 90 minutes later (even I didn’t enjoy that) we were off to the security line.

We made it to our gate and into the pre-board line without incident. DH was happy because we got the bulkhead row on the plane. I had mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, more leg room is a big plus for my rather tall DH. On the other hand, traveling with a baby requires reaching into the diaper bag approximately 40 times per hour and that diaper bag would be trapped in the overhead bin for most of the flight. My DH reminded me that it isn’t fun to tell DD#1 to put her feet down every five minutes in order to prevent her from kicking the seat in front of her, so I grabbed what I could hold in my lap from the diaper bag, handed DD#2 (who was by now, quite sick of my lap) to DH and settled in for the relatively short flight to MCO.

DD#2 was screaming at the top of her lungs before we even left the gate. DD#1 was repeatedly asking DH to work on some sort of puzzle/coloring thing with her. I was feeling somewhat sick from the Cinnibon I mistakenly consumed in the Phoenix airport much, much earlier that day. Despite the fact that the good folks at Southwest got us to MCO 20 minutes early, it was the longest flight of my life. All I could think about the entire time was that DH was NEVER going to get on an airplane again.

At some point during the flight, I decided that we should grab dinner at MCO before boarding the sometimes-not-so-Magical Express. Our flight arrived at 7:00 p.m. and I knew that we would all be cranky and starving if we tried to get by with those airplane crackers until we arrived at Pop. DH agreed with me and we headed to the food court after leaving the plane. Strangely enough, DH loved the wanna-be monorail tram that takes you from the terminal to whatever the place with the food court is called. He laughed, he smiled, and he even said “this is kinda cool.” I smiled a little smile to myself and thought “you ain’t seen nothin’ yet, buddy.”

My DH waited until we were seated with yet another food court meal before asking how long it would take to get to our hotel. I hesitated, knowing that he was tired of traveling and justifiably anxious to get to a shower after holding a refluxing baby for 2 ½ hours (he didn’t fare as well as I did on the flight from AZ to IL). I finally told him it was only 30 minutes and that I was sure it would be just fine. He gave me the evil eye and probably knew I was stretching the truth somewhat there. Fortunately, he did not remember the ME incident of Dec 2005 (because, of course, he wasn't there) and was not feeling as anxious as I was about the whole thing.

The ME incident of Dec 2005 was pretty bad, and I won’t go into details here, but I will just say that it involved a late arrival, allegedly lost luggage that wasn’t really lost, Disney taking a suitcase that we wanted to claim and load on the bus ourselves, and a sleepless night. After much therapy all of those involved have recovered and were ready to give ME another chance.

We find our way to the ME counter and I send DH off to entertain the kids while I check-in. This process took roughly 45 minutes last year and I was prepared to wait. I had water, snacks, comfortable shoes, and no kids hanging off any part of my body. I took out my voucher, 2 forms of ID, every confirmation number related to this trip, and pictures of my checked bags (just kidding about the pictures, although I had thought about it). I approach the counter, ready for battle. Strangely, there is no line. A little disconcerted, I walk directly to the counter where four smiling CM wait to assist me. I cautiously approach the closest CM. and then I see it. She is “earning her ears.” Nooooooo! I scream in my head. I figure that it would be poor manners for me to run screaming from her station, so I reluctantly hand her our ME voucher thingy. She confirms that there are three of us traveling. I nod and add “with an infant.” She says that she has no record of an infant. I start to shake and try to find my happy place just like the therapist recommended. She smiles and calmly tells me she will just add the infant. “Ok” I say, knowing that our infant could be ready for college by the time she figures out how to add her to the computer. I start to consider sitting down on the floor as I have now been traveling for 15 hours and I’m a bit tired. Before I turn around, she stamps our original voucher, hands me a little slip of paper with DD#2’s name on it, and tells me to have a magical evening. I am stunned and I begin to allow myself to believe all of the people who claim that Disney has resolved the problems with ME.

I gather up the rest of the family and we head over to the ME line for Pop. It is at this moment that I start to feel a little jealous of the people heading towards the Moderate and Deluxe resort lines. I not only have Deluxefreude; I have Moderatefreude. However, I remind myself that unpaid maternity leave + the addition of another child = no vacation for most people and I am immediately grateful to be headed to Pop. At least it is the first stop!

We walk through the really long (and empty) queue and are told that we can immediately board our bus. Again, I stare in amazement and we calmly board the mostly empty bus and wait for less than 2 minutes before we depart. It is at this point that my DH starts to relax and he actually enjoys the infomercial to the point that he starts to point out attractions he would like to see. After a quiet ride that somehow seems shorter than last year, we arrive at Pop.

There is no line at check-in (I find this odd as it is only 9:30 p.m.) and I take care of the necessary paperwork. I am handed 3,000 brochures and pieces of paper, find out that our room is located in building 5 (as I requested), and I turn around to find my DH checking out all of the memorabilia on the wall. You know, all the stuff from the different time periods that nobody actually looks at unless they are waiting for someone who is checking in or dealing with some sort of problem. He wants to look at all the stuff. I am tired, smell like baby spit-up (she got me good on the bus), and desperately want to get to our room. I drag him away and we head to our room.

Now, I think Pop is great for a value resort. The theme is fun and I think the layout is okay if you aren’t trapped in the 80s. But, seriously, The Grand Floridian it isn’t. Try telling that to my DH who cannot shut up about how nice the hotel is and how I picked a great place for us to stay, etc. etc. I really think that he needs to get out more. Anyway, we get to our room, get the kids clean and in bed, and fall into bed ourselves.

Our luggage arrived at 11:00 p.m. – exactly 3 hours after we landed. I swear I heard angels singing when I saw all of our bags arrive intact and on time. I am at Disney with my ENTIRE family (and all of our luggage) for the first time and all is right with the world.

Next: Let the brainwashing begin!

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

I can't wait to read more! Sounds like maybe DH is warming to this Disney thing???

 

[JEYREB]

I am so glad that you made it smoothly to WDW. I am so loving this story and can't wait to hear how the adventure went once your first time DH stepped foot in the MK!!! This is giving me hope that my anti-WDW DH might go with me one day to the most magical place on earth.

 

[kristinanderic]

Don't stop now!

 

[Backstage_Gal]

Great report so far, can't wait to hear what happens.

 

[meghan74]

Dizneyholic: I have to admit that I wasn’t really into Disney myself until a few years after we were married, so I can’t really hold his anti-Dis attitude against him.

DisneyJo: What was your secret for converting your DH? I bet it was more challenging when you have to travel so far to get there! DD#1 also had the reflux thing so we have learned a few tricks for keeping even the most projectile spit-up fairly well contained. (Of course, as soon as I typed that DD#2 lost her entire dinner mere inches from the keyboard and I had to put the computer away until she was in bed!) It is a real pain, but I try to remember that it could be so much worse.

MomofCKJ: Wasn’t that a great time to be there? We didn’t think the crowds were bad at all until our last the (the 20th). At least your DH isn’t refusing to go again at all. BTW, I’m really enjoying your trip report!

JEYREB: I say go by yourself if he won’t go! Unless he can go and have a good attitude, it isn’t worth it. Think of all the money you will save if he stays home,

Cass: Separate vacations worked very well for us until DD#2 was born. I always figured that I could go twice as often since we only had to pay for one adult. I just can’t handle both girls by myself until DD#2 is old enough to sit in the WDW double strollers.

Eyeheartgoofy: Yes, at this point he was warming up to the whole experience. The question is, will it last?

Thanks everyone for reading! I am working on the next installment and should have it posted tonight.

 

[swankybeth]

Your report is great so far! Can't wait to see how it all turns out. My guess is DH will be converted by the end of the trip.

 

[DisneyJo]

I must be really lucky as my DH just wants to keep me happy!!!!! Also yes it is a long way, DLP is only about 2 hours (which we have never been to and never will) but it is so worth it. My dad got hooked when I was younger, he drove my mum to despair. We built our own house but had to save for new carpets. This took a while as Mum wanted axminster, but as soon as it had been saved Dad surprised us by booking the GF followed by Greenleaf golf resort, lets just say Mum was not amused but my DS and I just wore slippers!

Regarding the baby sick my DD#1 used to give us a show most nights, we used to wind her loads put her in her moses basket and a few minutes later we had a fountain, loads of fun.

 

[meghan74]

Day 2

Thanks to DD#2, I am awake long before Mickey/Stitch calls our room. BTW, enough with trying to force Stitch down our throats. Love the movie(s), love the TV show, love the Elvis impersonations. But, I will never ever love Alien Encounter turned Stitch’s Great Escape. Let it go already!

I finished feeding DD#2 and lay her back down for her usual 30 minutes of post-eating sleep. I head for the shower and start feeling pretty nervous about the day. My DH isn’t only anti-Dis, he is also anti-planning, anti-hurrying, anti-waiting in line, anti-crowds, anti-getting up early, and most especially, anti-spending any amount of money. After he agreed to make this little journey with me, I tried to prepare him for the fact that it would be crowded and we couldn’t just wake up whenever we wanted to and spend hours getting out the door. But, I just knew that he had not absorbed any of this information when he actually asked me why I was requesting a wake-up call the night before. I was convinced that this was going to be very, very bad. So, I quickly came up with a plan while I was in the shower. I got out, quickly got dressed, and woke up DD#1 and DH. I took breakfast orders, reminded my DH that I would be paying with our rewards card (and not any of his precious cash) and headed for the food court. This meant that I got to avoid my DH for the first 10 minutes that he was awake and I didn’t have to drag him through a crowded food court while he complained about the cost of every food item.

Just a little aside here, my sister later told me that her DH wondered if they would run into us in the food court that morning and how excited their son would be if he saw us. My sister, who knows me and DH oh so well, said that there was no way I was going to expose DH to that food court first thing in the morning and she was willing to bet $100 that I brought food back to the room.

Anyway, I return to the room, food in hand, receipt in the garbage, and jump on the beds until DD#1 (who takes after her father) and DH FINALLY drag themselves out of bed. After what seems like forever, we are all dressed and fed and out the door. DH still doesn’t understand why I am rushing him and keeps telling me that vacations are supposed to be about relaxing and taking it easy. I am trying to prepare him for what we are about to experience without scaring him away. I finally give up and decide to shut up and stop worrying. He is either going to like it or hate it and nothing that I do at this point is going to make a difference. I decide to just ignore him if he gets cranky and go about enjoying my vacation no matter what. Feeling much better, I lead our crew to the bus.

Despite the fact that every trip planning resource advised against going to MK that day, I decided that we would start the day there and then escape right after an early lunch to head over to MGM. I knew that DD#1 would not be happy unless she got to see the castle and ride some of “her” rides and, besides, MK is just a great place to start a Disney vacation. I was also hoping that many people would not arrive at MK first thing in the morning because it was going to be open late that night. My thinking must have been somewhat correct because we did not have to wait long for a bus and I think we even got to sit down. We did wait long enough for this conversation to occur:

DH: “Do we have to pay to ride the busses?”
Me: “Uh, no. Why would we have to do that?”
DH: “What if we want to go somewhere else?”
Me: “Like where? You can only take Disney busses to Disney places.”
DH: “So, we can take the busses to other hotels and stuff?”
Me: “As long as they are Disney hotels.”

At that point the MK bus pulled up and I tried to make DH understand that the people behind us would appreciate it if we got DD#2 out of the stroller and had the stroller folded up before the bus stopped so that we didn’t hold up the rest of the line. DH rolled his eyes at me, handed me DD#2, and told me that he would take care of the stroller. So, I board the bus with DD#1 and #2. We sit down and I notice that DH has not boarded the bus. We wait. And wait. Finally, DH gets on the bus with an intact stroller. He can’t figure out how to collapse the stroller. Now it is my turn to roll my eyes and I rescue him before the people behind him start a riot.

We make it to MK and I am a little sad because DH did not get all excited when we saw the Welcome to the Magic Kingdom sign as he was too busy looking for alligators by the side of the road. Whatever. We get off of the bus and I spend a few valuable minutes of our time teaching Stroller Collapsing 101 to my DH before walking over to “security.” As mentioned earlier, DH is a cop and he got a real kick out of “security” at WDW.

We (I) had planned to rent a single stroller for DD#1 (yes, we are the type of people who not only take their almost 6 year old out of school for a WDW trip, we also rent a stroller for her) while pushing DD#2 in our own stroller because she isn’t big enough to sit in the WDW strollers yet. I realized that this wouldn’t be necessary at MK because it would just be easier to keep DD#2 in the sling instead of getting her in and out of the stroller every 5 minutes and DD#1 could ride in the vacant stroller if needed. That decided, we made our way to Tomorrowland.

DH was very underwhelmed at the sight of the castle and Main Street U.S.A. He was, however, thrilled to see ducks and flowers. Go figure. I thought that I better start DH out slowly, so I planned to avoid Fantasyland until later in the week (no reason to start our trip with the Dumbo dash, after all) and I had already prepared DD#1 by explaining that our plans did not include a date with a flying elephant this morning. We rode Buzz with no wait at all. DH thought it was cute, but wasn’t thrilled. I guess when you carry an actual gun everyday to fight real bad guys (and gals), Buzz just isn’t as exciting. All of us hate roller coasters, so we skipped Space Mountain and went over to Pirates.

I spent much of the walk over to Pirates trying to get DH to pick up the pace. He was just sort of lollygagging around and it was making me crazy! I am all for enjoying the small details at WDW and all that, but we were on a mission here. I knew that the line for Pirates was going to become exponentially longer as the morning went on and I was determined to ride it today because I thought it would really win over DH.

We finally make it over to Pirates with DH grumbling the entire way about my “commando” mode and making sure that I understood that he did not enjoy running (we were only walking semi-quickly) from ride to ride. I just ignored him and got into a happily short line for Pirates.

I spent most of Pirates nursing DD#2 who had decided that she needed a snack right then and wasn’t going to be happy without it. I had mixed feelings about the new version. It was neat to see some updates, but it felt a little like Disney had sold out to a movie that might not stand the test of time. It just felt wrong to change an attraction based on a movie that was based on the attraction in the first place. Again, DH thought Pirates was okay, but didn’t see what all the fuss was about. After that, I figured I was doomed. I mean, who doesn’t love Pirates?!

Somewhat dejected, we (I) decided to head over to Jungle Cruise since our stroller was parked there anyway. (When did stroller parking for Pirates move so far away from the entrance to Pirates, anyway?) Again, we practically walk right on. We have a great guide and, although DH doesn’t appear to laugh at any of the jokes, he later tells me that he thought it was very funny and one of his favorites. Of course, he didn’t tell me this until we were on our way home (our real home, not our temporary Dis home) so I was still feeling a little bummed because I thought he hadn’t enjoyed any part of our morning so far.

When we got off of the Jungle Cruise it was about 10:30 and we had an hour to kill before our ADR at Liberty Tree. MK was starting to get pretty crowded, so we hit the Haunted Mansion (DH thought it was ok) and Philharmagic (again, DH thought it was ok). Feeling pretty down, I led the way to lunch.

Next: Will our day get any better? Will I ever see the castle again? Will I strangle DH?