Started off with a BANG- Magical Wish family vacation 2/13-2/23 (UPDATED 2 years later!)
- Thread starter pacsunmama
- Start date
PrincessBrideJo
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2006
Can't wait to hear the rest
pacsunmama
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2017
Hi... so it's 2 years later, and I realized just now that I never did come back and update with the rest of the trip update. I don't have the details now, but just for the sake of finishing it out, here's the jist of the rest of our trip. (How funny... I took notes in my phone to update, and just wasn't able to get back to it.) I'm back on Disboards to read about and arrange details of the big Disney bonanza we have coming up in March: 6 nights at WDW (Art of Animation this time!) followed by a 7-night western Caribbean cruise. I'll try to go back through and put up pics too.
Let me premise this by letting you guys know, my husband continued to battle his colon cancer for about another 18 months after this trip. He medically retired from the Army and we moved to Colorado. 5 days after buying our first home, and on our 11th anniversary, he ended up in the hospital due to a septic abs-resistant infection. He was placed in hospice care, and I cared for him 24/7 for the next 9 weeks, when he passed peacefully at home in August. In the end, he was able to say his goodbyes and I-love-you's to everyone he wanted and needed to, and he said he had no regrets. It's going to feel silly even telling you guys about the less than magical things about this trip, because in the end, what I think of are the memories made and the time spent together. It truly was magic, overused as that may be, and was balm to our souls. My kids will always, always remember Disneyworld with their daddy, and since they weren't part of any of the snafus we encountered, they look back and all they see is the fun and incredible time we had together.
Okay so to recap:
Day 1: Polynesian- just enjoyed the resort, took the boat around the water and back, played in the GF pool, and enjoyed the club level room!
Day 2: Poly morning- Breakfast at Ohana! We LOVED this! The kids absolutely went bananas for it! Dean even drew a picture of "Stech" and gave it to him, and Stitch kept coming back to our table to pat him on the head and play games with him, even photobombing the boys' picture with Lilo!
Transferred to Port Orleans Riverside and had issue after issue with our room. Did have a chance to do a whole lot because we were waiting for luggage, waiting for room, waiting for another room, etc. They moved us from the room with the pee spots on the floor, with sleeping for 5, to a "mansion" room that only had sleeping for 4. At this point, it was 7 or 8, and we were exhausted. We figured, we'd just make it work.
Day 3: We started the day off really groggy and unhappy. My 6yo spent the night in my inlaws' room, and at some point she woke him up to go to the bathroom, and he peed all over her while she was carrying him. Whoops! We still loaded up to go to Magic Kingdom! I was able to get on the first bus with the kids, and my husband was supposed to be on the next bus. However, the passengers yelled at him and at the bus driver for giving him "preferential treatment" since he was on a scooter and would be loaded first, and sometimes that takes a few minutes. His bus didn't arrive until about 40 minutes after ours did. Everyone made their way to the Crystal Palace for our character breakfast, and of course some of my family were late. So we waited probably over an hour for him to arrive, as they couldn't seat us until the entire party was present. I did take some photos in front of the castle, but I wish we had gone over to a Disney photographer!
Crystal Palace was nice, but it was also really slow. However, it was super nice to have everyone in the same place, at the same time. We all had our "We Believe in Miracles" shirts on that I had designed and made. We then went over for our first fast pass and ride, Space Mountain! It was super fun! This was my 6yo's first "big" ride and he was scared but he LOVED it. I'll upload his photo from it, his expression is hysterical. Right before the ride, we found that our fast passes were not working, but they let us on anyway. I was tasked to deal with it, while the rest of my family skipped off with the kids to ride the rides. Mitch waited patiently while I called the customer service line to handle it.
(I literally just now realized that the photo from PhotoPass says 2014! How crazy is that. Nope we definitely went in 2017!)
We made our way to the first place I really wanted to go to, which was Gaston's Tavern! We enjoyed a butter beer and cinnamon roll together and were able to get a shorter line so we could ride Seven Dwarves Mine Train together. That was super fun! We also skipped the line at Haunted Mansion and they had him drive his scooter right through the line to the exit area, and we hopped right on. (Fast passes still were not working but they said it would take a little time) Soon after that, I received a call from the manager that the 3 rooms they were moving us to were now ready. These all had sleeping arrangements for 5, but we had to go pack up and move our things because the resort was at 100% capacity, and our rooms we were currently in were needed immediately. Once we were moved and settled in, my husband was beyond exhausted. I left him in the room to nap, and explored our resort a little bit. I think I had a drink, too, by the pool, while we waited for everyone to come back from the parks.
Let me premise this by letting you guys know, my husband continued to battle his colon cancer for about another 18 months after this trip. He medically retired from the Army and we moved to Colorado. 5 days after buying our first home, and on our 11th anniversary, he ended up in the hospital due to a septic abs-resistant infection. He was placed in hospice care, and I cared for him 24/7 for the next 9 weeks, when he passed peacefully at home in August. In the end, he was able to say his goodbyes and I-love-you's to everyone he wanted and needed to, and he said he had no regrets. It's going to feel silly even telling you guys about the less than magical things about this trip, because in the end, what I think of are the memories made and the time spent together. It truly was magic, overused as that may be, and was balm to our souls. My kids will always, always remember Disneyworld with their daddy, and since they weren't part of any of the snafus we encountered, they look back and all they see is the fun and incredible time we had together.
Okay so to recap:
Day 1: Polynesian- just enjoyed the resort, took the boat around the water and back, played in the GF pool, and enjoyed the club level room!
Day 2: Poly morning- Breakfast at Ohana! We LOVED this! The kids absolutely went bananas for it! Dean even drew a picture of "Stech" and gave it to him, and Stitch kept coming back to our table to pat him on the head and play games with him, even photobombing the boys' picture with Lilo!
Transferred to Port Orleans Riverside and had issue after issue with our room. Did have a chance to do a whole lot because we were waiting for luggage, waiting for room, waiting for another room, etc. They moved us from the room with the pee spots on the floor, with sleeping for 5, to a "mansion" room that only had sleeping for 4. At this point, it was 7 or 8, and we were exhausted. We figured, we'd just make it work.
Day 3: We started the day off really groggy and unhappy. My 6yo spent the night in my inlaws' room, and at some point she woke him up to go to the bathroom, and he peed all over her while she was carrying him. Whoops! We still loaded up to go to Magic Kingdom! I was able to get on the first bus with the kids, and my husband was supposed to be on the next bus. However, the passengers yelled at him and at the bus driver for giving him "preferential treatment" since he was on a scooter and would be loaded first, and sometimes that takes a few minutes. His bus didn't arrive until about 40 minutes after ours did. Everyone made their way to the Crystal Palace for our character breakfast, and of course some of my family were late. So we waited probably over an hour for him to arrive, as they couldn't seat us until the entire party was present. I did take some photos in front of the castle, but I wish we had gone over to a Disney photographer!
Crystal Palace was nice, but it was also really slow. However, it was super nice to have everyone in the same place, at the same time. We all had our "We Believe in Miracles" shirts on that I had designed and made. We then went over for our first fast pass and ride, Space Mountain! It was super fun! This was my 6yo's first "big" ride and he was scared but he LOVED it. I'll upload his photo from it, his expression is hysterical. Right before the ride, we found that our fast passes were not working, but they let us on anyway. I was tasked to deal with it, while the rest of my family skipped off with the kids to ride the rides. Mitch waited patiently while I called the customer service line to handle it.
(I literally just now realized that the photo from PhotoPass says 2014! How crazy is that. Nope we definitely went in 2017!)
We made our way to the first place I really wanted to go to, which was Gaston's Tavern! We enjoyed a butter beer and cinnamon roll together and were able to get a shorter line so we could ride Seven Dwarves Mine Train together. That was super fun! We also skipped the line at Haunted Mansion and they had him drive his scooter right through the line to the exit area, and we hopped right on. (Fast passes still were not working but they said it would take a little time) Soon after that, I received a call from the manager that the 3 rooms they were moving us to were now ready. These all had sleeping arrangements for 5, but we had to go pack up and move our things because the resort was at 100% capacity, and our rooms we were currently in were needed immediately. Once we were moved and settled in, my husband was beyond exhausted. I left him in the room to nap, and explored our resort a little bit. I think I had a drink, too, by the pool, while we waited for everyone to come back from the parks.
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pacsunmama
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2017
Day 4: Hollywood Studios!
My sister in law and brother took my older son Logan to do a rope drop. I think they went to magic kingdom for rope drop, then went over to Hollywood Studios. They loved it! They were able to zip around and ride so many rides! My inlaws took Dean, my younger son, to start out at Hollywood Studios. The previous day took a ton of energy out of Mitch, and so we lazed at the resort to let him sleep in a bit. Once he was awake, my dad, Mitch, and I took the boat down to Disney Springs. We had an incredible lunch at the Boathouse, kind of on a whim! It was my favorite dining experience, and actually, we went back there to eat again later in our trip. My dad was very funny about the dining pass and ordered WAY too much food, simply because he was astounded he could. Like, someone was going to take back the giant steak and oysters he had ordered. We went back to POR for naps for the hubby!
Later that evening, we left the kids with my inlaws, and the rest of us went to Disney Springs on the boat again. We ate at Bongos and had ourselves quite a few mojitos. We experienced another snafu when we waited around almost 90 minutes for them to clear our check, but the dining plan system wasn't working. So we had a bill for over $600 (plus tip) for our group, as they couldn't get the deluxe dining plan to ring through. They were literally turning off lights, and had put chairs on the tables, and we were still sitting there while they tried to figure it out. Eventually my husband just paid it with a credit card, so we could try to get it resolved the next morning at our resort. Rum and I are great friends, so we had a nice ride back to the resort and passed out!
Day 5: Started with me going back to the front desk, again. After waiting in line behind others who were checking out, and finally getting someone, it took about an hour for them to resolve the dining plan issue, charge the dining plan, and issue a refund to the card for everything but the tip. However, the day actually started much earlier, for Dean, Mitch, SIL, and my dad, who took a private fishing excursion in the wee hours of the morning! This was the highlight of the trip for my husband, and if we'd had time, he really wanted to do it again. The fishing guide was extremely knowledgeable and knew all the best places to fish. They were pulling enormous fish out of the water the whole morning, and watched the sun rise from the water by Disney Springs.
By the time they returned, I had the dining issue resolved finally, and we made our way to Epcot! This trip was during the International Festival of the Arts, so there was incredible food and artwork everywhere! We went to Soarin' first, which is what I was MOST looking forward to! I had only been on the one at CA Adventure (Ill-advised, as I was 8 months pregnant at the time. Turned out fine for me!), and it was my favorite Disney ride to date. It did not disappoint! We also went on the Nemo ride after that, and then spent some time checking out the aquarium!
The rest of our party (13 people!) made their way to Epcot eventually, and we all met up at some point. It was only about lunch time when I had gone to charge something to our room, and got an email notifying us that we had reached that $1000 limit and would be billed accordingly. Except... we hadn't spent even a quarter of that yet. I checked our Disney account, only to find the name "Barbara Johnson, DVC" had been ringing charges through to our room the whole time we'd been at POR! I lost it at that point, you guys. I feel like I had spent at least half of my trip dealing with one problem after another, at that point. I left my scooter with my brother, hobbled to the front of the park in tears, and took an Uber back to the resort. I was absolutely sobbing by this point, and my Uber driver was the sweetest guy on the planet. He refused to take any money from me and handed me some cash from his tips because I wouldn't cancel the ride and "take" his money/time he was spending. I was in the lobby talking with one manager and then another, and then yet another, for well over 2.5 hours. They were placating, but offered nothing in exchange for the time I had thus far spent resolving countless problems. I felt so upset that this trip, this one and only of its kind for us, was being wasted because of so many ridiculous issues. I felt like this wasn't a "deluxe" resort, sure, but it was still a Disney Resort, and expensive at that, and by this point... I mean it was just all unacceptable. One or two things happening, fine, but this was just way over the top. I was asking if they could move us to literally any other resort, any level of service, I didn't care. I just didn't want to be at that one anymore. They had no idea how the other lady's charges were put on our account, but it took them a long time to get it sorted. Meanwhile, my family rode the test track, went to the Frozen thing, saw a bunch of street shows, and had a great all time, while I was crying in the lobby of the POR.
Eventually they resolved to give us a small refund on the overall price of our room/package, which was like $400 or something. I felt that was a very, very sub sufficient apology, as I really had spent so much time trying to handle these problems that really shouldn't have been a problem, but I was tired of fighting and handling all this crap, so I said it was fine. The manager (the third one) came and sat with me because I needed to gather myself, and I had sat down over by the window for a minute of peace. He knew I was upset, knew their solution wasn't really enough, and said he wanted to give us some magic back in our trip. He asked me to trust him for our plans the next day, and said he would handle everything, and if I was okay with it, for us to just go along with the fast passes and plans he'd put together on our account. I told him that was okay, and we'd be spending the next day at Animal Kingdom. Mitch came back early from Epcot (my younger brother was still zipping around on my scooter in Epcot. He loved being the pack mule for the day!) and we both napped in our rooms for a bit.
That evening, my parents took the kids (I don't remember what they did, but I think they had come back early to hang at the resort with the kids!) and my brother, SIL, Mitch, and I got ourselves ready for our reservation at Be Our Guest! Beauty and the Beast is my all-time favorite fairy tale, and favorite Disney movies (the animated and live action, both!) We were so excited to make our way up the walk to Beast's castle. SIL was freaking beyond herself and adorable, and she & Lumiere led the way. Our table was in the big dining room, and the napkins were rolled into roses! Unfortunately, this was my least favorite food (and oh boy, had we dined like royalty this trip!) but my favorite ambiance! The gray stuff was not delicious, as I think it had sat out for a very long time, and was rubbery. The food was really salty and greasy. Like we cared.... we were in Beast's castle!! We were giddy and ridiculous as we met Beast himself, and hubby & I had ourselves a smooch in front of the beautiful stained glass artwork. As we exited the castle, we saw the tail-end of the fireworks over the big castle. I was a little sad to have missed it, since this was my #1 "must-see," but I figured we'd be back another night to see it. We split off there, and brother & SIL went in search of a specific Disney puzzle she was looking for.
Mitch and I made our way quickly onto several rides! First we went on Pirates, which was so awesome. I think we went on Haunted Mansion as well, and then to Jungle Cruise. He harassed the poor tour guide, with his creepy Elmo voice, and it went down as one of my all-time favorite memories. She was almost in tears she was laughing so much, as well as the other people on the boat were. It was very funny, and we enjoyed our little cruise, plus creepy Elmo. So the terrible day, ended with spending time with my lover, and honestly, that was one of the most fun nights I think we'd ever had together.
My sister in law and brother took my older son Logan to do a rope drop. I think they went to magic kingdom for rope drop, then went over to Hollywood Studios. They loved it! They were able to zip around and ride so many rides! My inlaws took Dean, my younger son, to start out at Hollywood Studios. The previous day took a ton of energy out of Mitch, and so we lazed at the resort to let him sleep in a bit. Once he was awake, my dad, Mitch, and I took the boat down to Disney Springs. We had an incredible lunch at the Boathouse, kind of on a whim! It was my favorite dining experience, and actually, we went back there to eat again later in our trip. My dad was very funny about the dining pass and ordered WAY too much food, simply because he was astounded he could. Like, someone was going to take back the giant steak and oysters he had ordered. We went back to POR for naps for the hubby!
Later that evening, we left the kids with my inlaws, and the rest of us went to Disney Springs on the boat again. We ate at Bongos and had ourselves quite a few mojitos. We experienced another snafu when we waited around almost 90 minutes for them to clear our check, but the dining plan system wasn't working. So we had a bill for over $600 (plus tip) for our group, as they couldn't get the deluxe dining plan to ring through. They were literally turning off lights, and had put chairs on the tables, and we were still sitting there while they tried to figure it out. Eventually my husband just paid it with a credit card, so we could try to get it resolved the next morning at our resort. Rum and I are great friends, so we had a nice ride back to the resort and passed out!
Day 5: Started with me going back to the front desk, again. After waiting in line behind others who were checking out, and finally getting someone, it took about an hour for them to resolve the dining plan issue, charge the dining plan, and issue a refund to the card for everything but the tip. However, the day actually started much earlier, for Dean, Mitch, SIL, and my dad, who took a private fishing excursion in the wee hours of the morning! This was the highlight of the trip for my husband, and if we'd had time, he really wanted to do it again. The fishing guide was extremely knowledgeable and knew all the best places to fish. They were pulling enormous fish out of the water the whole morning, and watched the sun rise from the water by Disney Springs.
By the time they returned, I had the dining issue resolved finally, and we made our way to Epcot! This trip was during the International Festival of the Arts, so there was incredible food and artwork everywhere! We went to Soarin' first, which is what I was MOST looking forward to! I had only been on the one at CA Adventure (Ill-advised, as I was 8 months pregnant at the time. Turned out fine for me!), and it was my favorite Disney ride to date. It did not disappoint! We also went on the Nemo ride after that, and then spent some time checking out the aquarium!
The rest of our party (13 people!) made their way to Epcot eventually, and we all met up at some point. It was only about lunch time when I had gone to charge something to our room, and got an email notifying us that we had reached that $1000 limit and would be billed accordingly. Except... we hadn't spent even a quarter of that yet. I checked our Disney account, only to find the name "Barbara Johnson, DVC" had been ringing charges through to our room the whole time we'd been at POR! I lost it at that point, you guys. I feel like I had spent at least half of my trip dealing with one problem after another, at that point. I left my scooter with my brother, hobbled to the front of the park in tears, and took an Uber back to the resort. I was absolutely sobbing by this point, and my Uber driver was the sweetest guy on the planet. He refused to take any money from me and handed me some cash from his tips because I wouldn't cancel the ride and "take" his money/time he was spending. I was in the lobby talking with one manager and then another, and then yet another, for well over 2.5 hours. They were placating, but offered nothing in exchange for the time I had thus far spent resolving countless problems. I felt so upset that this trip, this one and only of its kind for us, was being wasted because of so many ridiculous issues. I felt like this wasn't a "deluxe" resort, sure, but it was still a Disney Resort, and expensive at that, and by this point... I mean it was just all unacceptable. One or two things happening, fine, but this was just way over the top. I was asking if they could move us to literally any other resort, any level of service, I didn't care. I just didn't want to be at that one anymore. They had no idea how the other lady's charges were put on our account, but it took them a long time to get it sorted. Meanwhile, my family rode the test track, went to the Frozen thing, saw a bunch of street shows, and had a great all time, while I was crying in the lobby of the POR.
Eventually they resolved to give us a small refund on the overall price of our room/package, which was like $400 or something. I felt that was a very, very sub sufficient apology, as I really had spent so much time trying to handle these problems that really shouldn't have been a problem, but I was tired of fighting and handling all this crap, so I said it was fine. The manager (the third one) came and sat with me because I needed to gather myself, and I had sat down over by the window for a minute of peace. He knew I was upset, knew their solution wasn't really enough, and said he wanted to give us some magic back in our trip. He asked me to trust him for our plans the next day, and said he would handle everything, and if I was okay with it, for us to just go along with the fast passes and plans he'd put together on our account. I told him that was okay, and we'd be spending the next day at Animal Kingdom. Mitch came back early from Epcot (my younger brother was still zipping around on my scooter in Epcot. He loved being the pack mule for the day!) and we both napped in our rooms for a bit.
That evening, my parents took the kids (I don't remember what they did, but I think they had come back early to hang at the resort with the kids!) and my brother, SIL, Mitch, and I got ourselves ready for our reservation at Be Our Guest! Beauty and the Beast is my all-time favorite fairy tale, and favorite Disney movies (the animated and live action, both!) We were so excited to make our way up the walk to Beast's castle. SIL was freaking beyond herself and adorable, and she & Lumiere led the way. Our table was in the big dining room, and the napkins were rolled into roses! Unfortunately, this was my least favorite food (and oh boy, had we dined like royalty this trip!) but my favorite ambiance! The gray stuff was not delicious, as I think it had sat out for a very long time, and was rubbery. The food was really salty and greasy. Like we cared.... we were in Beast's castle!! We were giddy and ridiculous as we met Beast himself, and hubby & I had ourselves a smooch in front of the beautiful stained glass artwork. As we exited the castle, we saw the tail-end of the fireworks over the big castle. I was a little sad to have missed it, since this was my #1 "must-see," but I figured we'd be back another night to see it. We split off there, and brother & SIL went in search of a specific Disney puzzle she was looking for.
Mitch and I made our way quickly onto several rides! First we went on Pirates, which was so awesome. I think we went on Haunted Mansion as well, and then to Jungle Cruise. He harassed the poor tour guide, with his creepy Elmo voice, and it went down as one of my all-time favorite memories. She was almost in tears she was laughing so much, as well as the other people on the boat were. It was very funny, and we enjoyed our little cruise, plus creepy Elmo. So the terrible day, ended with spending time with my lover, and honestly, that was one of the most fun nights I think we'd ever had together.
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pacsunmama
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2017
Day 6: Animal Kingdom!!
Our morning started off early, and we headed to AK for our dining reservations at Rainforest Cafe. We had the earliest possible ressies, and everyone was there on time, however it took about 45 minutes to get seated. Then we had the slowest service ever. It was so slow, that by the time we ordered, they tried to make us switch to the lunch menu, though they were still serving brunch as well. I think what happened is our server didn't realize he had us as a table, since they put us in a different section in order to let all 11 of us sit together. Anyway, we finally made it out and went to our first fast pass, that had been planned for us! We all rode on the Expedition Everest. This is about where the day stopped for my husband.
So, he had been able to ride the rides that have a lap bar, and he just held his arms for pressure between, since he had a colostomy and a urostomy at this point. It had worked fine for other rides, and it worked fine for this one. The ride came to a stop when it was supposed to, and we were at the offloading site. So, he let go, no problem right? Unfortunately, they decided that rather than have us offload right there, they moved us up a train's length to offload the next stop instead. And pop. His colostomy bag popped right there.
We let the ride attendant know, and they didn't really say a whole lot. But it didn't matter. He was on the move, and with how much time it took to travel from the park to POR... plus the walk to the front... yeah. He basically bolted. He made his way back to the resort, showed and changed his bags, and made his way back, but it took several hours and he missed half the day.
During that time, we went to the Lion King show, which our resort manager had reserved front row seating for us! Dean was able to participate in the show, when the kids run around the floats with some of the cast members. We were in the Warthog section, and the hostess had my dad go in front of the crowd to make snorting, warthog-like noises. She kept flirting with him too, and he turned a bright shade of purple'ish beet red! After the show, they ushered us to backstage, where we were able to take a quick photo with some of the cast! That was really cool and my kids loved it.
Next up was a fp to go on the Safari, which was amazing! It was actually extra amazing because our safari took about 35-40 minutes, instead of whatever the standard amount of time was. Apparently that week, they had a new baby giraffe in the main area, who was used to being in his pen, or whatever area he had lived in so far. So at some point, he decided he was done with peopling and he meandered his way back to the other area... in front of our safari truck! He was the cutest little thing, and of course the whole pack followed right along with him. Cast members escorted him back safely, but what could they do, but safely make sure he meandered in the right direction? Because of this, we took amazing photos and were able to really see so much of the savannah. Our tour guide had ample time to tell us lots of interesting information about the animals and their habitat, as well as training info & how they cared for them. That was really great!
After the safari and after walking through the nature area right outside of it, which we really enjoyed, we were hit with a sudden downpour of rain! We had brought along ponchos just for this reason, but it was very awkward trying to maneuver the scooter in a crowd of people who were hiding under things and gathering in big crowds to escape the downpour. It cleared up quickly enough, and by this time, Mitch had joined us again! We made our way to Nemo, where we saw the show and had very close/nearly front row seating again. The show was fantastic! The costumes and puppetry were incredible... I was blown away at the attention to detail! I would definitely see the show again, because it was so beautifully put together. Also, found my "unicorn" that I previously hadn't been able to, and picked up a Baby Dory plush just outside! I was very happy with that, because she's just about the cutest thing ever.
We made our way across the park to our character dinner... I can't remember the name of it now. The food wasn't great, and the characters seemed extremely busy, but we did get to see and spend time with Goofy! Goofy was always Mitch's favorite Disney character, and he had that "Gwarsh" down to perfection!
From dinner, we headed over to the River of Light show. The manager had arranged a fast pass for the show, which we were only able to get because of the dinner. Now that got us into the FP line, but didn't guarantee seating or anything. Somehow our magical day of amazing seating continued, and all 11 of us sat in the very front row together!! That was just coincidence, but it was fun and we loved it. I think that was the first weekend the show was open, so there was a HUGE crowd and it was standing room only by the time it began. I thought the music and lights were just phenomenal. I loved that they were able to create something so special that wouldn't disturb the animals in the savannah or scare them. We made our way out of the park and said our goodbyes to my family, since they were leaving the next morning.
Bonus pic of my older son, when he realized he looked like his Mickey pin we found!
Our morning started off early, and we headed to AK for our dining reservations at Rainforest Cafe. We had the earliest possible ressies, and everyone was there on time, however it took about 45 minutes to get seated. Then we had the slowest service ever. It was so slow, that by the time we ordered, they tried to make us switch to the lunch menu, though they were still serving brunch as well. I think what happened is our server didn't realize he had us as a table, since they put us in a different section in order to let all 11 of us sit together. Anyway, we finally made it out and went to our first fast pass, that had been planned for us! We all rode on the Expedition Everest. This is about where the day stopped for my husband.
So, he had been able to ride the rides that have a lap bar, and he just held his arms for pressure between, since he had a colostomy and a urostomy at this point. It had worked fine for other rides, and it worked fine for this one. The ride came to a stop when it was supposed to, and we were at the offloading site. So, he let go, no problem right? Unfortunately, they decided that rather than have us offload right there, they moved us up a train's length to offload the next stop instead. And pop. His colostomy bag popped right there.
We let the ride attendant know, and they didn't really say a whole lot. But it didn't matter. He was on the move, and with how much time it took to travel from the park to POR... plus the walk to the front... yeah. He basically bolted. He made his way back to the resort, showed and changed his bags, and made his way back, but it took several hours and he missed half the day.During that time, we went to the Lion King show, which our resort manager had reserved front row seating for us! Dean was able to participate in the show, when the kids run around the floats with some of the cast members. We were in the Warthog section, and the hostess had my dad go in front of the crowd to make snorting, warthog-like noises. She kept flirting with him too, and he turned a bright shade of purple'ish beet red! After the show, they ushered us to backstage, where we were able to take a quick photo with some of the cast! That was really cool and my kids loved it.
Next up was a fp to go on the Safari, which was amazing! It was actually extra amazing because our safari took about 35-40 minutes, instead of whatever the standard amount of time was. Apparently that week, they had a new baby giraffe in the main area, who was used to being in his pen, or whatever area he had lived in so far. So at some point, he decided he was done with peopling and he meandered his way back to the other area... in front of our safari truck! He was the cutest little thing, and of course the whole pack followed right along with him. Cast members escorted him back safely, but what could they do, but safely make sure he meandered in the right direction? Because of this, we took amazing photos and were able to really see so much of the savannah. Our tour guide had ample time to tell us lots of interesting information about the animals and their habitat, as well as training info & how they cared for them. That was really great!
After the safari and after walking through the nature area right outside of it, which we really enjoyed, we were hit with a sudden downpour of rain! We had brought along ponchos just for this reason, but it was very awkward trying to maneuver the scooter in a crowd of people who were hiding under things and gathering in big crowds to escape the downpour. It cleared up quickly enough, and by this time, Mitch had joined us again! We made our way to Nemo, where we saw the show and had very close/nearly front row seating again. The show was fantastic! The costumes and puppetry were incredible... I was blown away at the attention to detail! I would definitely see the show again, because it was so beautifully put together. Also, found my "unicorn" that I previously hadn't been able to, and picked up a Baby Dory plush just outside! I was very happy with that, because she's just about the cutest thing ever.
We made our way across the park to our character dinner... I can't remember the name of it now. The food wasn't great, and the characters seemed extremely busy, but we did get to see and spend time with Goofy! Goofy was always Mitch's favorite Disney character, and he had that "Gwarsh" down to perfection!
From dinner, we headed over to the River of Light show. The manager had arranged a fast pass for the show, which we were only able to get because of the dinner. Now that got us into the FP line, but didn't guarantee seating or anything. Somehow our magical day of amazing seating continued, and all 11 of us sat in the very front row together!! That was just coincidence, but it was fun and we loved it. I think that was the first weekend the show was open, so there was a HUGE crowd and it was standing room only by the time it began. I thought the music and lights were just phenomenal. I loved that they were able to create something so special that wouldn't disturb the animals in the savannah or scare them. We made our way out of the park and said our goodbyes to my family, since they were leaving the next morning.
Bonus pic of my older son, when he realized he looked like his Mickey pin we found!
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pacsunmama
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2017
Day 7: Disney Springs & relaxing day!
At this point our initial group of 12 dwindled to being a group of 6. Since Saturday had been such a full day, we decided to take our time on Sunday! We took the boat down to Disney Springs and spent the day walking (and scootering) around the shops! The kids enjoyed playing with their grandpa in the Harley Davidson store, we browsed the giant Disney store, and built & raced Lego cars at the Lego store!
Grandma and Grandpa stayed with the boys for a bit so we could explore. We were just zipping around when we saw Na Hoku jewelry store. Now let me pause a sec.
In 2015, when Mitch was first diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer, he had lost a lot of weight, very quickly. He was already at a very good weight and in great health & condition. But he lost about 40 pounds in approx. 2 months. He started chemo on my birthday in October, and so we planned a day out at a family pumpkin patch for the Sunday beforehand. We had a great day, rode all the little rides, picked our pumpkins, and played on their giant jumping pillow things. He challenged us to a game of tether ball, and as he wound up to hit the ball, his wedding ring flew off of his hand. We looked everywhere for it, and many people stopped to help us, but it's a pumpkin patch... with hay and vines and farm grass everywhere, we just couldn't find it. We were already devastated but this took it to a whole new level.
Taking you back even further... when we went wedding ring shopping for his ring, we finally found one he loved at NaHoku, in California. He picked his perfect ring and we left, giddy fools in love. We didn't get 10 steps out of the store when he turned and pouted at me. He said "It's not really fair. You get to wear a ring for the next 7 months, and I have to wait." (Cue ridiculous pouting.) So I took his ring, got down on one knee, and proposed right back to him! It was dorky and adorable, but so special. He wore that wedding band nearly every day since, barring any Army field training where he'd risk losing it or worse.
Okay back to present day (or rather, 2 years ago!) We saw the same store/chain we had purchased his ring at, and they still had the same design!! Remember that refund that POR had offered to us a few days back? Well we decided to use that toward purchasing him a new wedding ring! It was more than that, of course, but we were so, so completely excited! He flashed his new ring to anyone who would breathe in his direction. "I'm a married man again!" and people were like.... "Uhhhh... okay buddy." He was very proud though. Another top memory, for sure.
We left the kids with his parents and went exploring again, our last date night of the trip since his parents were leaving the following morning. We first went back to the Polynesian, so we could enjoy a Dole Whip! It was everything I had hoped it would be, and more.
Then we made our way to the Wilderness Lodge, for our dining reservation at Artist Point. The dinner was exquisite (second only to Boathouse!) and we had such a nice time together. I remember laughing and being silly the entire time. He was the one with the flight of wine, but I was the one giggling like a tipsy girl in love the whole time.
We finished our dinner with just enough time to go back to Epcot and ride Soarin'. He made that happen. I almost insisted it was fine... but he was like, NO! We have to go! We zoomed his scooter and me hobbling, and made it through the gates with minutes to spare, and were last in line to ride Soarin! It was a total dream night and we had such a great time!
At this point our initial group of 12 dwindled to being a group of 6. Since Saturday had been such a full day, we decided to take our time on Sunday! We took the boat down to Disney Springs and spent the day walking (and scootering) around the shops! The kids enjoyed playing with their grandpa in the Harley Davidson store, we browsed the giant Disney store, and built & raced Lego cars at the Lego store!
Grandma and Grandpa stayed with the boys for a bit so we could explore. We were just zipping around when we saw Na Hoku jewelry store. Now let me pause a sec.
In 2015, when Mitch was first diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer, he had lost a lot of weight, very quickly. He was already at a very good weight and in great health & condition. But he lost about 40 pounds in approx. 2 months. He started chemo on my birthday in October, and so we planned a day out at a family pumpkin patch for the Sunday beforehand. We had a great day, rode all the little rides, picked our pumpkins, and played on their giant jumping pillow things. He challenged us to a game of tether ball, and as he wound up to hit the ball, his wedding ring flew off of his hand. We looked everywhere for it, and many people stopped to help us, but it's a pumpkin patch... with hay and vines and farm grass everywhere, we just couldn't find it. We were already devastated but this took it to a whole new level.
Taking you back even further... when we went wedding ring shopping for his ring, we finally found one he loved at NaHoku, in California. He picked his perfect ring and we left, giddy fools in love. We didn't get 10 steps out of the store when he turned and pouted at me. He said "It's not really fair. You get to wear a ring for the next 7 months, and I have to wait." (Cue ridiculous pouting.) So I took his ring, got down on one knee, and proposed right back to him! It was dorky and adorable, but so special. He wore that wedding band nearly every day since, barring any Army field training where he'd risk losing it or worse.
Okay back to present day (or rather, 2 years ago!) We saw the same store/chain we had purchased his ring at, and they still had the same design!! Remember that refund that POR had offered to us a few days back? Well we decided to use that toward purchasing him a new wedding ring! It was more than that, of course, but we were so, so completely excited! He flashed his new ring to anyone who would breathe in his direction. "I'm a married man again!" and people were like.... "Uhhhh... okay buddy." He was very proud though. Another top memory, for sure.
We left the kids with his parents and went exploring again, our last date night of the trip since his parents were leaving the following morning. We first went back to the Polynesian, so we could enjoy a Dole Whip! It was everything I had hoped it would be, and more.
Then we made our way to the Wilderness Lodge, for our dining reservation at Artist Point. The dinner was exquisite (second only to Boathouse!) and we had such a nice time together. I remember laughing and being silly the entire time. He was the one with the flight of wine, but I was the one giggling like a tipsy girl in love the whole time.
We finished our dinner with just enough time to go back to Epcot and ride Soarin'. He made that happen. I almost insisted it was fine... but he was like, NO! We have to go! We zoomed his scooter and me hobbling, and made it through the gates with minutes to spare, and were last in line to ride Soarin! It was a total dream night and we had such a great time!
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pacsunmama
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2017
Day 8:
Whoops, I was wrong! Reading my notes, it seems we had at least the morning with my inlaws!
We spent the day at Hollywood Studios!
My inlaws met up with us, as they were packing up their luggage and checking it in through the resort. While we waited, the boys and I met Olaf!! He's absolutely my favorite Disney character, and he was all warm hugs and coconut sunscreen. The boys and I rode Star Tours as well, and enjoyed the Storm Trooper march/demo.
Once the inlaws arrived, we ate at the Sci-Fi Diner. We didn't have reservations but were the first in line and early, so we were able to sit at a car table!
Afterward, we rode Toy Story Mania and met with Woody and Buzz!
We also stopped by to watch the Little Mermaid live show... I would skip that one next time. It was a very long wait and not all that entertaining, though the actress for Ariel did have a nice voice! Logan loved looking for hidden Mickey's in the parks and they were so happy to find one that he hadn't read about in the little book.
(Do you see it?? Look at the bubbles!)
Because of how much of a hassle it was to load up 2 scooters each time we took transportation, I had been leaving it in our room and hobbling around the parks a lot. By early afternoon, we both had to call it a day. He was having loads of issues with his ostomy care, and my knee was super swollen! We decided to go back to our resort day to ice my knee. And by that, I mean, go in the pool. It was absolutely freezing! We still managed to play in the water for a bit, before having a quick bite and heading to our room to sleep.
Day 9:
Pirate day!!
We signed the boys up for the pirate excursion out of POR. They spent 2 hours with cast members, on and off the boat, searching for treasure! My older son was reluctant, but I could tell he was enjoying it at least a little bit at the end when we picked them up. We intended to go back to the parks for the day, but decided we needed some time with just the 4 of us. A whole week with family was a LOT going on all the time. Also we'd finally had no more issues with the resort or our room or fast passes, or dining plans! Our favorite day thus far had been our first, when we were just kicking back by the pool. So we cruised down to French Quarter and spent the day at their pool! What a fun day that was, too! It was extra awesome, because the crew members for their pirate adventure ended up being the poolside counselors at FQ! The boys made Mickey tie-dye shirts (which they are still proudly wearing 2 years later!), while Mitch napped under an umbrella on a lounge chair, and I savored beignets and read a book on my Kindle.
On our way back to our resort later, we made smores with the counselors by a fire. We got dressed and went to Animal Kingdom lodge for a dinner at Jiko. The food was interesting and the flavors were definitely unique. Everything was prepared beautifully, but it was hit or miss with the kids. Once we swapped plates around, everyone was happy with their dinner and dug in! They had such a fun gift shop in their resort too, I wish we could have spent more time there!
Whoops, I was wrong! Reading my notes, it seems we had at least the morning with my inlaws!
We spent the day at Hollywood Studios!
My inlaws met up with us, as they were packing up their luggage and checking it in through the resort. While we waited, the boys and I met Olaf!! He's absolutely my favorite Disney character, and he was all warm hugs and coconut sunscreen. The boys and I rode Star Tours as well, and enjoyed the Storm Trooper march/demo.
Once the inlaws arrived, we ate at the Sci-Fi Diner. We didn't have reservations but were the first in line and early, so we were able to sit at a car table!
Afterward, we rode Toy Story Mania and met with Woody and Buzz!
We also stopped by to watch the Little Mermaid live show... I would skip that one next time. It was a very long wait and not all that entertaining, though the actress for Ariel did have a nice voice! Logan loved looking for hidden Mickey's in the parks and they were so happy to find one that he hadn't read about in the little book.
(Do you see it?? Look at the bubbles!)
Because of how much of a hassle it was to load up 2 scooters each time we took transportation, I had been leaving it in our room and hobbling around the parks a lot. By early afternoon, we both had to call it a day. He was having loads of issues with his ostomy care, and my knee was super swollen! We decided to go back to our resort day to ice my knee. And by that, I mean, go in the pool. It was absolutely freezing! We still managed to play in the water for a bit, before having a quick bite and heading to our room to sleep.
Day 9:
Pirate day!!
We signed the boys up for the pirate excursion out of POR. They spent 2 hours with cast members, on and off the boat, searching for treasure! My older son was reluctant, but I could tell he was enjoying it at least a little bit at the end when we picked them up. We intended to go back to the parks for the day, but decided we needed some time with just the 4 of us. A whole week with family was a LOT going on all the time. Also we'd finally had no more issues with the resort or our room or fast passes, or dining plans! Our favorite day thus far had been our first, when we were just kicking back by the pool. So we cruised down to French Quarter and spent the day at their pool! What a fun day that was, too! It was extra awesome, because the crew members for their pirate adventure ended up being the poolside counselors at FQ! The boys made Mickey tie-dye shirts (which they are still proudly wearing 2 years later!), while Mitch napped under an umbrella on a lounge chair, and I savored beignets and read a book on my Kindle.
On our way back to our resort later, we made smores with the counselors by a fire. We got dressed and went to Animal Kingdom lodge for a dinner at Jiko. The food was interesting and the flavors were definitely unique. Everything was prepared beautifully, but it was hit or miss with the kids. Once we swapped plates around, everyone was happy with their dinner and dug in! They had such a fun gift shop in their resort too, I wish we could have spent more time there!
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pacsunmama
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2017
Day 10 was the day I was most looking forward to!
First we went to Epcot (and rode Soarin' AGAIN!) We had brunch reservations at Garden Grill, and this was by far and above the BEST character dining experience! The restaurant actually rotates, so you don't really have many neighboring tables, and we were early, so it was not crowded. Chip & Dale run around, all over the place, playing little pranks on each other and being silly with the guests. They came to our table multiple times and we were laughing the whole time. Mickey and Pluto also visited several times. I loved how interactive the characters were with each other, it was like they were putting on a show the whole time! Plus the food was fantastic. It was served in a skillet, with all you care to eat if you ran out of anything....which we didn't. We were stuffed!
(Out of all the outfits I've seen Mickey in, this is by far my favorite!)
After brunch, we split up! Mitch and Dean headed to Hollywood Studios for their 7-hour backstage Star Wars tour, and Logan and I went to the front of the park to meet for the Aquarium tour & snorkel. Since we were backstage, we couldn't take any photos, and we only got one "okay" photo of the snorkel, but the experience was second to none. I really mean it- it was amazing. Since then, my now 10yo still wants to be a marine biologist or somehow care for aquatic animals. There were only 2 other people on our tour, along with our cast member that gave the tour. We walked behind the scenes to see where and how they care for all of their aquatic animals, including the kitchen detailing exactly how every single animal is to be fed, what, and when. She showed us the system they have in place for when they need to care for sick animals or move them to a holding tank for any reason (as well as pointing out where those were.) She explained in detail the rehab program that they have there, along with how they don't govern it; their job is to care for the animals until a state department determines the animals' rehoming if and when necessary. I thought that really was neat, because they genuinely are rehabilitating sick and injured animals, and it's not really their call as to the animals' entertainment value or anything like that. Finally, it was time to don our scuba gear, have a safety brief, and hop into the tank! 8 years old, at least at the time, was the minimum age for doing this experience, and Logan was 8! He was nervous, but excited. It's strange to use the breathing apparatus they have; this isn't your traditional snorkel mask and tube. It's a full on oxygen tank, wetsuit, flippers, mask, and air breather thing (I'm sure it has a name, I just don't know what it's called.) So you have to really think about and force your breathing because it sure doesn't feel "normal." Anyway, my son thought it was amazing that from this angle, he could see the hidden mickey that the divers place along the floor of the tank using rocks. He was also in this tiny wetsuit, and a lot of kids were waving to him and pointing to him from the other side of the glass! We held hands and trolled around the top of the tank because he was pretty nervous to go out much further than that. Overall I think they gave us 45 minutes in the water, which was more than enough time. It was one of the coolest things I've ever done! I would absolutely do that tour again, and may after my younger son is a little older.
We were pretty hungry after, and we had a fabulous lunch at Teppan Edo, then spent some time in the awesome shops in "Japan."
We pretty much made our way out of the park at that point, because it started to rain really, really hard.
Meanwhile in Hollywood Studios...!
Mitch and Dean met with the tour group, and they were given headphones and either a radio or a walkman-type device for the tour. They met all the characters. Dean did the Jedi training and went up against Darth Vadar, which he thought was soooo cool.
He tried to hug Kylo Ren, who totally "noped" out of that hug. KR doesn't hug, y'all. But apparently Chewbacca is one of the best huggers in the park! Dean said he was like a giant teddy bear, and they had a lot of fun meeting him and taking photos!
They toured the Movie Ride, and I may be wrong on the details here, but they saw one of the park's smallest Hidden Mickeys. Mitch said it was on a poster on the wall of the Millennium Falcon prop they have. I'm not sure exactly where that was, but they thought it was so cool to see. He took a photo but not a very good one, unfortunately. Just after sunset, it began to absolutely pour. They opted out of the Star Wars fireworks and dessert because of the rain, and came back to the room shortly after we had arrived.
We didn't even eat dinner that night because our room was so far away from the resort's dining hall, and it was dumping buckets of water outside. Which was fine, because Garden Grill and Teppan Edo (and their Star Wars dinner) filled us up completely. We packed up and got our luggage ready for the next day, which would be our travel day home.
Day 11: After we checked out of the resort, and dropped off our luggage to go to the airport, we took the boat again to Disney Springs. We used up the rest of our snack options to buy candy and treats to bring home for friends. We had one last lunch at the Boathouse, and even the boys enjoyed it very much! We didn't have time for much else, so we boated back to POR and hopped on the Magical Express to the airport.
Fortunately our ride home was much smoother! We went the next day to buy a new car. That ended up being a nightmare... insurance didn't cover a single thing and we still had to pay off the last year we owed on the vehicle.
First we went to Epcot (and rode Soarin' AGAIN!) We had brunch reservations at Garden Grill, and this was by far and above the BEST character dining experience! The restaurant actually rotates, so you don't really have many neighboring tables, and we were early, so it was not crowded. Chip & Dale run around, all over the place, playing little pranks on each other and being silly with the guests. They came to our table multiple times and we were laughing the whole time. Mickey and Pluto also visited several times. I loved how interactive the characters were with each other, it was like they were putting on a show the whole time! Plus the food was fantastic. It was served in a skillet, with all you care to eat if you ran out of anything....which we didn't. We were stuffed!
(Out of all the outfits I've seen Mickey in, this is by far my favorite!)
After brunch, we split up! Mitch and Dean headed to Hollywood Studios for their 7-hour backstage Star Wars tour, and Logan and I went to the front of the park to meet for the Aquarium tour & snorkel. Since we were backstage, we couldn't take any photos, and we only got one "okay" photo of the snorkel, but the experience was second to none. I really mean it- it was amazing. Since then, my now 10yo still wants to be a marine biologist or somehow care for aquatic animals. There were only 2 other people on our tour, along with our cast member that gave the tour. We walked behind the scenes to see where and how they care for all of their aquatic animals, including the kitchen detailing exactly how every single animal is to be fed, what, and when. She showed us the system they have in place for when they need to care for sick animals or move them to a holding tank for any reason (as well as pointing out where those were.) She explained in detail the rehab program that they have there, along with how they don't govern it; their job is to care for the animals until a state department determines the animals' rehoming if and when necessary. I thought that really was neat, because they genuinely are rehabilitating sick and injured animals, and it's not really their call as to the animals' entertainment value or anything like that. Finally, it was time to don our scuba gear, have a safety brief, and hop into the tank! 8 years old, at least at the time, was the minimum age for doing this experience, and Logan was 8! He was nervous, but excited. It's strange to use the breathing apparatus they have; this isn't your traditional snorkel mask and tube. It's a full on oxygen tank, wetsuit, flippers, mask, and air breather thing (I'm sure it has a name, I just don't know what it's called.) So you have to really think about and force your breathing because it sure doesn't feel "normal." Anyway, my son thought it was amazing that from this angle, he could see the hidden mickey that the divers place along the floor of the tank using rocks. He was also in this tiny wetsuit, and a lot of kids were waving to him and pointing to him from the other side of the glass! We held hands and trolled around the top of the tank because he was pretty nervous to go out much further than that. Overall I think they gave us 45 minutes in the water, which was more than enough time. It was one of the coolest things I've ever done! I would absolutely do that tour again, and may after my younger son is a little older.
We were pretty hungry after, and we had a fabulous lunch at Teppan Edo, then spent some time in the awesome shops in "Japan."
We pretty much made our way out of the park at that point, because it started to rain really, really hard.
Meanwhile in Hollywood Studios...!
Mitch and Dean met with the tour group, and they were given headphones and either a radio or a walkman-type device for the tour. They met all the characters. Dean did the Jedi training and went up against Darth Vadar, which he thought was soooo cool.
He tried to hug Kylo Ren, who totally "noped" out of that hug. KR doesn't hug, y'all. But apparently Chewbacca is one of the best huggers in the park! Dean said he was like a giant teddy bear, and they had a lot of fun meeting him and taking photos!
They toured the Movie Ride, and I may be wrong on the details here, but they saw one of the park's smallest Hidden Mickeys. Mitch said it was on a poster on the wall of the Millennium Falcon prop they have. I'm not sure exactly where that was, but they thought it was so cool to see. He took a photo but not a very good one, unfortunately. Just after sunset, it began to absolutely pour. They opted out of the Star Wars fireworks and dessert because of the rain, and came back to the room shortly after we had arrived.
We didn't even eat dinner that night because our room was so far away from the resort's dining hall, and it was dumping buckets of water outside. Which was fine, because Garden Grill and Teppan Edo (and their Star Wars dinner) filled us up completely. We packed up and got our luggage ready for the next day, which would be our travel day home.
Day 11: After we checked out of the resort, and dropped off our luggage to go to the airport, we took the boat again to Disney Springs. We used up the rest of our snack options to buy candy and treats to bring home for friends. We had one last lunch at the Boathouse, and even the boys enjoyed it very much! We didn't have time for much else, so we boated back to POR and hopped on the Magical Express to the airport.
Fortunately our ride home was much smoother! We went the next day to buy a new car. That ended up being a nightmare... insurance didn't cover a single thing and we still had to pay off the last year we owed on the vehicle.
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pacsunmama
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2017
After:
So now it's been 2 years. In that time, we have had a lot happen, but the most life changing of all was my husband's passing in August. I want to include this because I want to tell you guys how much this trip meant to us. Before his failed surgery, the one that catalyzed this trip into being, he thought he was invincible. He really believed he would be one of those people who manages to live with this type and severity of cancer for 10, 20, 25+ years. That's just the kind of person he was, and I hope I've shared him with you a little bit. After this surgery, our world was rocked. It was a couple of dark days where we finally felt the gravity of his diagnosis, something we hadn't really acknowledge the previous 18 months. But after this trip, we came home renewed. All was not better, everything was not perfect. He would have many more struggles, surprises, a lot more pain, and a lot more of his body totally betraying him. But he faced it, and every day he did it with a smile. He read books to the kids until his very last. days, when he really couldn't hold up the book anymore and he could barely talk.
During the summer, he and I talked about what I should do for Christmas, as it would be likely very difficult to have our first big holiday without him. We knew, in June and July, he didn't have long enough to make it to Christmas. Even to hope for that amount of time meant he would be suffering intensely for longer. We decided together that it would be amazing to take the boys on a Disney Cruise, to continue the magic that Disney had given us all this time. When he was sedated, like during the actual time they were setting it up and starting the meds, the boys were watching Little Mermaid on dvd, and "Part of Your World" was playing. I don't think I'll ever forget that. He passed at home, peacefully, at sunrise. It was just he and I, and eventually the boys came in too. We spread his ashes in Kauai, at his request, somewhere he'd never had the chance to go but always wanted to.
(This is his Pu'olu, which is a biodegradable urn, with a flower lei on top. When we put it into the water, the bottom part sank down, and the lei floated up to the surface of the water. It was beautiful. I didn't throw our rings in, I just wanted a photo of it all together.)
In December, the boys and I, and my younger sister, took a Disney Very Merrytime Cruise on the Wonder out of Galveston. I am not really a cryer... I don't cry at a lot. Or at least, I thought I wasn't, and didn't, but apparently everything on that cruise reminded me of him. Happy tears, I promise. Every sunset was next-level beautiful. There were some desserts I thought he would have just gone bananas for. Watching the sun rise over Nassau as we pulled into the dock. Meeting Goofy for the first time- I was sobbing. They probably thought I was crazy, but I think as we were leaving after, my sister told the attendant what was up. They were all so gracious. Mary Poppins Returns was prem-eared at sea, and I didn't know it featured a grieving widower, his children, and their struggle back to the childlike happiness they thrived upon. So I was like, UGLY crying during that. Then I watched it twice more on our cruise and again at home on Christmas Day.
Impulsively, I decided to book another Disney Cruise over spring break, which led into me also booking another 6 nights at WDW. We'll stay at Art of Animation this time. My knee is totally healed, so I'll be able to bounce around and stand and walk like normal, which is great. Bittersweet, but I won't have him to care for. My whole trip was spent caring for him, feeding him, making sure he had all the medical supplies he needed at all times, and also making sure he was able to see what he could, and rest when he needed. This time... well... I guess we just get to focus on doing all the fun things we can fit into 7 days together. I really can't wait to see the parade at Magic Kingdom; that's something I have been looking forward to pretty much all my life, as well as watching the fireworks show over the castle. I'll probably cry then, too. My sister (another one than the one who went on the cruise) will be joining us, and it will be her first trip to WDW too. She's my backup for the kids, and totally is onboard with making sure those two things happen. Plus now we're 2 and 2 for all the rides!
I hope I've shared what I can remember from my trip, as well as a big piece of my heart with you all. This was more than a trip for us. It truly is a memory that we will carry through the years, and I'm so grateful to have had the experience.
So now it's been 2 years. In that time, we have had a lot happen, but the most life changing of all was my husband's passing in August. I want to include this because I want to tell you guys how much this trip meant to us. Before his failed surgery, the one that catalyzed this trip into being, he thought he was invincible. He really believed he would be one of those people who manages to live with this type and severity of cancer for 10, 20, 25+ years. That's just the kind of person he was, and I hope I've shared him with you a little bit. After this surgery, our world was rocked. It was a couple of dark days where we finally felt the gravity of his diagnosis, something we hadn't really acknowledge the previous 18 months. But after this trip, we came home renewed. All was not better, everything was not perfect. He would have many more struggles, surprises, a lot more pain, and a lot more of his body totally betraying him. But he faced it, and every day he did it with a smile. He read books to the kids until his very last. days, when he really couldn't hold up the book anymore and he could barely talk.
During the summer, he and I talked about what I should do for Christmas, as it would be likely very difficult to have our first big holiday without him. We knew, in June and July, he didn't have long enough to make it to Christmas. Even to hope for that amount of time meant he would be suffering intensely for longer. We decided together that it would be amazing to take the boys on a Disney Cruise, to continue the magic that Disney had given us all this time. When he was sedated, like during the actual time they were setting it up and starting the meds, the boys were watching Little Mermaid on dvd, and "Part of Your World" was playing. I don't think I'll ever forget that. He passed at home, peacefully, at sunrise. It was just he and I, and eventually the boys came in too. We spread his ashes in Kauai, at his request, somewhere he'd never had the chance to go but always wanted to.
(This is his Pu'olu, which is a biodegradable urn, with a flower lei on top. When we put it into the water, the bottom part sank down, and the lei floated up to the surface of the water. It was beautiful. I didn't throw our rings in, I just wanted a photo of it all together.)
In December, the boys and I, and my younger sister, took a Disney Very Merrytime Cruise on the Wonder out of Galveston. I am not really a cryer... I don't cry at a lot. Or at least, I thought I wasn't, and didn't, but apparently everything on that cruise reminded me of him. Happy tears, I promise. Every sunset was next-level beautiful. There were some desserts I thought he would have just gone bananas for. Watching the sun rise over Nassau as we pulled into the dock. Meeting Goofy for the first time- I was sobbing. They probably thought I was crazy, but I think as we were leaving after, my sister told the attendant what was up. They were all so gracious. Mary Poppins Returns was prem-eared at sea, and I didn't know it featured a grieving widower, his children, and their struggle back to the childlike happiness they thrived upon. So I was like, UGLY crying during that. Then I watched it twice more on our cruise and again at home on Christmas Day.
Impulsively, I decided to book another Disney Cruise over spring break, which led into me also booking another 6 nights at WDW. We'll stay at Art of Animation this time. My knee is totally healed, so I'll be able to bounce around and stand and walk like normal, which is great. Bittersweet, but I won't have him to care for. My whole trip was spent caring for him, feeding him, making sure he had all the medical supplies he needed at all times, and also making sure he was able to see what he could, and rest when he needed. This time... well... I guess we just get to focus on doing all the fun things we can fit into 7 days together. I really can't wait to see the parade at Magic Kingdom; that's something I have been looking forward to pretty much all my life, as well as watching the fireworks show over the castle. I'll probably cry then, too. My sister (another one than the one who went on the cruise) will be joining us, and it will be her first trip to WDW too. She's my backup for the kids, and totally is onboard with making sure those two things happen. Plus now we're 2 and 2 for all the rides!
I hope I've shared what I can remember from my trip, as well as a big piece of my heart with you all. This was more than a trip for us. It truly is a memory that we will carry through the years, and I'm so grateful to have had the experience.
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jscunningham699
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2013
I'm sitting here ugly crying on a Saturday morning reading your posts. Thank you for sharing a piece of you with us. I can't imagine what you have gone through. I'm glad you were able to make unforgettable memories on your trip and continue to make memories with your children following your husband's passing. May our heavenly father continue to hold you and give you peace.
I have booked a trip for my family in September and can't wait. Thanks again for sharimg.
I have booked a trip for my family in September and can't wait. Thanks again for sharimg.
SweetSerenity
Thank you evenin' star!
- Joined
- May 8, 2009
I am sorry for your loss. There are no words that can bring you the comfort you need, but you are courageous for sharing your precious story. I am glad your kids were able to have the memories of that trip with their dad. I am praying for strength and peace for your family and many more beautiful moments in your journey ahead. Memories keep us going, and you have found ways to cherish and honor your husband. Wishing your family all the best.
Thank you for the trip report and the beautiful story of love and family. May you always find comfort in the "magic" Disney gives you and feel your amazing husbands presence in every ride, show, dinner, and every new thing your boys and yourself experience for him.....God Bless you
mamamelody2
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2016
I am very very sorry for your loss!
Thank you for sharing your story.
Thank you for sharing your story.
Minniemoo15
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2016
Thank you for sharing your beautiful story. I remember reading 2 years ago of your experience at POR and wishing it would be a smoother trip for you from then on out. Your husbands vibrancy and spirit rings throughout your posts. The memories we make at WDW are what keeps us coming back for more, too.
FLVacationGirl
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2007
Thank you for sharing your story with us. Sending big hugs!!
disgeek009
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2012
This was so touching. Thanks so much for writing this up, which I'm sure was bittersweet. Your husband sounds like a amazing person, and so are you! I can't imagine what you've been through. I hope you all have a great time on your next trip. Spring break is right around the corner!
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