A word of caution I have never written a trip report before. Started many but have never written one start to finish. I'm going to try this time. Really, I am. I even have notes this time. And I have pictures. But the pictures aren't loaded from the camera yet. But I will get it done. Please understand that I'm a newbie and certainly will not be among the "greats".
Trip Report: Pre-trip planning and up to day before arrival day (Wednesday May 24)
Cast of Characters:
Me AKA Boo: Lover of all things Eeyore, huge rollercoaster fanatic, and object of desire of DS2 and DD4 ("Mommeeeeeee")
DH AKA Yogi: Lover of all things Donald Duck, does not care about rides at all, adores DS2 and DD4
DS2 AKA Nicki: Lover of all things Buzz Lightyear, Dash Incredible, Polar Express and trains, despises all swings and rides with motion.
DD4 AKA Nat: Lover all things Princess-related, huge carousel fanatic and so wants to ride "the big rollercoaster" this year
Trip experience:
Last visit to Walt Disney World was December 2004 to celebrate Nicki's 1st birthday; we had stayed at the Contemporary Resort, Tower Room with a beautiful view of the Magic Kingdom. We tried to book the same room but the new room category with the guaranteed Magic Kingdom view was all sold out, so this time we booked a Magic Kingdom View room at the Polynesian, with a request for a Third Floor non-smoking room at the Polynesian. Yogi and I had stayed at the Boardwalk Inn in November 1997 while celebrating my parents' 50th wedding anniversary and we just loved staying on-site. All our prior Disney visits had been off-site at hotels in Kississimmee.
We had booked our Disney trip in August 2005 through AAA so we could "lock" our Disney admission prices prior to the January 2006 rate increase. We also decided to get the Disney Dining Plan and though it would work out to be a pretty good deal as Nicki would be "free" at character breakfast buffets and would be able to share at other table service dining. (Plus he would not require ticket admission at the parks.) In September, we started a huge paper countdown chain, which we hang from our hallway wall, and every morning, Nat and Nicki would tear down one link to countdown the number of days left before we would go to Walt Disney World.
We opted not to buy trip insurance as we could change our airline tickets (United/TED) for $100 change fees and could get everything but our deposit back from AAA if we had cancelled five days out. Of course that tempted fate. In April 2006, the "chief" at Yogi's office (the person that DH was "#2" to) left to take another job and on May 4, Yogi learned that he would not have a job after mid-June thanks to an associated "reshuffling"
in his office. Yes, just 21 days before we were to head to Walt Disney World, we learned that we would be down to one income in the household. Logic would argue that we cancel our trip to Disney.
But as DH said, he could not have faced our kids with their teeny paper chain and tell them the trip was cancelled/postponed. So we went forward with our plans.
I had done lots of planning and the focus of this trip was All Princesses All the Time. We are not the sort to go to Disney once a year, and had pretty much figured that our next trip would not be until just before Nicki started Kindergarten. Since Nat would be starting school this Fall, our next trip would likely be in April 2009. She will likely be all over the "princess phase" by then, so our (my!) intent was to get as much out of the princess stuff that we could this trip. That means lots of Princess events
, including the unbelievably expensive Perfectly Princess Tea Party, etc. I booked pretty much everything at the 180+10 day mark, with some minor shuffling around thanks to some tips I learned from Tour Guide Mike. I also placed a "let's have breakfast stuff in the room" order with GardenGrocer.com in advance (May 22) of our departure.
On Friday, May 19, just two weeks after getting the "no job" news, I started packing. We started out with three 26" suitcases and three 20" suitcases, but I added in one large duffel bag just to give us some room for other stuff, especially since I was concerned about the 50 pound weight limit on bags. These are just the checked bags. (!) For carry-ons we would bring two tote bags, a diaper bag, and the kids each had their own rolling "turtle" suitcase. Plus a gate-checked double stroller (Maclaren Twin Traveler).
Nicki had a doctor's appointment on Friday, May 19, which was an ear check appointment. He has a history of fluid in his ears, so our pediatrician is keeping an eye on him to see if he needs to be referred to an ENT. I booked the appointment on this date so if he needed a round of Zithromax for an ear infection, it would have the necessary 5 days to kick in to gear before us boarding a flight to Orlando. He just started with a slight sneeze that morning, and the doctor took a peek at his ears and said that yes, he has fluid in there, but it is not a raging ear infection, is not red, etc., so he's fine to go on a plane at least right then but that we need to make an appointment for another ear check in July.
Throughout the weekend Nicki was fine, but Sunday night he was up and down a couple of times during the night. I gave him Tylenol around 10 PM and by the morning he seemed fine and his normal "goofy" self, so I took him and his sister to daycare and they were dressed in their gymnastics shirts for class that day. I picked them up at the end of the day and his teacher said he seemed a little grumpy, which I chalked up to his tough night's sleep at home. But Monday night was a little tougher on him, so I called the pediatrician's office first thing Tuesday morning, and got in to see one of the doctors at 9 am. She took a look at his ears and said they had fluid but there was no raging ear infection. I explained about my concern about the airplane flight and she recommended giving him some Dimetapp for the flight as that might sedate him a little and help him feel better, and to make sure he drank water on descent in the plane. So I brought him to daycare and headed to my office. At 3:30 pm I got a call from daycare that Nicki had a 100 degree fever, so I wrapped up everything at work and headed to pick him and Nat up. I had to get Nicki better for our flight and now had an unexpected day to finish up packing and final preparations.
Wednesday was spent nursing Nicki back to "good" health, which included a run to the local CVS (have you ever tried buying Dimetapp nowadays? "ID, please. Please sign this form. And please certify this sheet."
Sheesh!) and a quick run to the local dollar store. And packing, of course. I managed to get everything pretty much done except last-minute items that would have to be added in Thursday morning.
NEXT UP: ARRIVAL DAY
Trip Report: Pre-trip planning and up to day before arrival day (Wednesday May 24)
Cast of Characters:
Me AKA Boo: Lover of all things Eeyore, huge rollercoaster fanatic, and object of desire of DS2 and DD4 ("Mommeeeeeee")
DH AKA Yogi: Lover of all things Donald Duck, does not care about rides at all, adores DS2 and DD4
DS2 AKA Nicki: Lover of all things Buzz Lightyear, Dash Incredible, Polar Express and trains, despises all swings and rides with motion.
DD4 AKA Nat: Lover all things Princess-related, huge carousel fanatic and so wants to ride "the big rollercoaster" this year
Trip experience:
Last visit to Walt Disney World was December 2004 to celebrate Nicki's 1st birthday; we had stayed at the Contemporary Resort, Tower Room with a beautiful view of the Magic Kingdom. We tried to book the same room but the new room category with the guaranteed Magic Kingdom view was all sold out, so this time we booked a Magic Kingdom View room at the Polynesian, with a request for a Third Floor non-smoking room at the Polynesian. Yogi and I had stayed at the Boardwalk Inn in November 1997 while celebrating my parents' 50th wedding anniversary and we just loved staying on-site. All our prior Disney visits had been off-site at hotels in Kississimmee.
We had booked our Disney trip in August 2005 through AAA so we could "lock" our Disney admission prices prior to the January 2006 rate increase. We also decided to get the Disney Dining Plan and though it would work out to be a pretty good deal as Nicki would be "free" at character breakfast buffets and would be able to share at other table service dining. (Plus he would not require ticket admission at the parks.) In September, we started a huge paper countdown chain, which we hang from our hallway wall, and every morning, Nat and Nicki would tear down one link to countdown the number of days left before we would go to Walt Disney World.
We opted not to buy trip insurance as we could change our airline tickets (United/TED) for $100 change fees and could get everything but our deposit back from AAA if we had cancelled five days out. Of course that tempted fate. In April 2006, the "chief" at Yogi's office (the person that DH was "#2" to) left to take another job and on May 4, Yogi learned that he would not have a job after mid-June thanks to an associated "reshuffling"
in his office. Yes, just 21 days before we were to head to Walt Disney World, we learned that we would be down to one income in the household. Logic would argue that we cancel our trip to Disney.But as DH said, he could not have faced our kids with their teeny paper chain and tell them the trip was cancelled/postponed. So we went forward with our plans.
I had done lots of planning and the focus of this trip was All Princesses All the Time. We are not the sort to go to Disney once a year, and had pretty much figured that our next trip would not be until just before Nicki started Kindergarten. Since Nat would be starting school this Fall, our next trip would likely be in April 2009. She will likely be all over the "princess phase" by then, so our (my!) intent was to get as much out of the princess stuff that we could this trip. That means lots of Princess events
, including the unbelievably expensive Perfectly Princess Tea Party, etc. I booked pretty much everything at the 180+10 day mark, with some minor shuffling around thanks to some tips I learned from Tour Guide Mike. I also placed a "let's have breakfast stuff in the room" order with GardenGrocer.com in advance (May 22) of our departure.On Friday, May 19, just two weeks after getting the "no job" news, I started packing. We started out with three 26" suitcases and three 20" suitcases, but I added in one large duffel bag just to give us some room for other stuff, especially since I was concerned about the 50 pound weight limit on bags. These are just the checked bags. (!) For carry-ons we would bring two tote bags, a diaper bag, and the kids each had their own rolling "turtle" suitcase. Plus a gate-checked double stroller (Maclaren Twin Traveler).
Nicki had a doctor's appointment on Friday, May 19, which was an ear check appointment. He has a history of fluid in his ears, so our pediatrician is keeping an eye on him to see if he needs to be referred to an ENT. I booked the appointment on this date so if he needed a round of Zithromax for an ear infection, it would have the necessary 5 days to kick in to gear before us boarding a flight to Orlando. He just started with a slight sneeze that morning, and the doctor took a peek at his ears and said that yes, he has fluid in there, but it is not a raging ear infection, is not red, etc., so he's fine to go on a plane at least right then but that we need to make an appointment for another ear check in July.
Throughout the weekend Nicki was fine, but Sunday night he was up and down a couple of times during the night. I gave him Tylenol around 10 PM and by the morning he seemed fine and his normal "goofy" self, so I took him and his sister to daycare and they were dressed in their gymnastics shirts for class that day. I picked them up at the end of the day and his teacher said he seemed a little grumpy, which I chalked up to his tough night's sleep at home. But Monday night was a little tougher on him, so I called the pediatrician's office first thing Tuesday morning, and got in to see one of the doctors at 9 am. She took a look at his ears and said they had fluid but there was no raging ear infection. I explained about my concern about the airplane flight and she recommended giving him some Dimetapp for the flight as that might sedate him a little and help him feel better, and to make sure he drank water on descent in the plane. So I brought him to daycare and headed to my office. At 3:30 pm I got a call from daycare that Nicki had a 100 degree fever, so I wrapped up everything at work and headed to pick him and Nat up. I had to get Nicki better for our flight and now had an unexpected day to finish up packing and final preparations.
Wednesday was spent nursing Nicki back to "good" health, which included a run to the local CVS (have you ever tried buying Dimetapp nowadays? "ID, please. Please sign this form. And please certify this sheet."
Sheesh!) and a quick run to the local dollar store. And packing, of course. I managed to get everything pretty much done except last-minute items that would have to be added in Thursday morning. NEXT UP: ARRIVAL DAY
Even with the "harsh reality" of being back home, he doesn't regret our decision to go to Disney for a second. 
Just something to think about if you are going to stay during a "high pool use season".
