21 people, 2 ECV's, 3 strollers - My Dream Trip Update 8/16 Day 5, 6 & 7 The end

tazdev3225

<font color=darkorchid>I sucked my thumb up with t
Joined
Apr 2, 2008
This trip was planned 28 years ago! Yes, you read that right, 28 years ago!!! Pull up a chair, grab a drink, some coffee, some popcorn, but please join in this should be fun.

Once upon a time - all Disney stories should start that way, in a Galaxy far, far away a princess was born. Not your typical princess, but we will get to that. Disneyland was in its infancy when the princess was born. The princess lived on the East coast so really far away in another galaxy. There was very little chance that the princess would ever get to the mother ship. For her first Christmas the princesses parents, or Santa Claus if you prefer, gave her a set of vinyl Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs dolls


Little did they know they planted a seed that Christmas. They nurtured the seed by letting the princess watch the Mickey Mouse Club (with Annette), the Wonderful World of Disney, Mary Poppins, you get the idea. The seed took root and the princess loved all things Disney. Then a miracle happened. One day when the princess was 8 her mother won 2 tickets to the New York City Worlds Fair. The princess got to ride prototypes for It's A Small World and Carousel of Progress. She was in Disney heaven. In case you haven't guessed I am that princess.

The princess grew older and one day she met a frog - an UGLY, WARTY frog. Seriously when I
met my husband he was a horrid, acne covered teenage boy. He came to the youth group at my church and annoyed me to no end. I didn't remember him at first but he remembered me and thought I was cute.

A few years later I was in the lunchroom at school and an ex-boyfriend threatened me, we had a bad break-up. There was a boy at the end of the table who came to my defense. Yep that ugly frog. When I turned my eventual date down for my senior prom, he asked a second time and I said yes, the frog was there to tease him as he walked away. Fast forward a couple more years and the ugly frog was turning into a prince


We still didn't formally know each other. That changed a few years later. Our high school football team was playing in the city championship game. My younger brother was going with a group of friends and asked me to go along. Turns out the frog was the driver and he was no longer a frog. We really hit it off and talked the whole game. We started running into each other everywhere around the neighborhood and about a year later started dating. We were engaged rather quickly after that although to be fair I still don't remember him proposing. I had a temperature of 103 and had been really sick for close to a month. He swears he asked before I got sick.


My dad made us wait 3 years to get married. He wanted us to be sure we knew what we were doing and a 4 month courtship wasn't long enough in his opinion. We did get married


I hated my dress and I don't know what I was thinking with that tux. To be fair it was the early 80's. Within a year we had our first child - our son was actually born on our 11 month anniversary, a month late and he hasn't been on time for anything his whole life but I digress. Within 5 years we added 2 princesses and our family was complete. I dreamed of the day we could take them to the new mothership in Florida, it was much closer.

Then one day I got a phone call from my mother. She was going to Disney World with my little brother's school (my brother is 4 years older than my son) and wanted to know if we would be interested in going too. I didn't even ask my husband. I said yes and danced with glee. Thankfully he was ok with the trip. It was to good to pass up. The package was 7 days/6 nights at the Ramada Main Gate, included a rental car, the hotel, tickets to Disneyworld and Sea World, breakfast at the Ramada, vouchers for food at Disney and the Luau at Sea World AND airfare. The total cost you ask - about $1500 for all 5 of us, who could say no???

That trip was awesome, ok a few snags, but I was hooked. I started dreaming of the day I could return. We did take several trips over the years and I am not ashamed to admit I cried at the end of each trip. I also dreamed of the day when my kids would be all grown with families of their own and we would take a huge family trip together. Fast forward 23 years and the kids were grown, they had families of their own but no money. There were no trips to be soon any time soon or even further along the horizon.

I watched my daughters children while she was at work. One day I decided to try and get healthier and walk to pick the 2 oldest up from school. HUGE MISTAKE!!! I fell. I heard my ankle go POP! Never a good thing and then the pain swept through me. Good Grandmom that I am I used the 3 year old to hold me up and hobbled to the school for the grandkids. Thankfully the vice principal got someone to drive us to my daughters house. After a visit to the hospital I was told no break but a mild sprain. It was a severe sprain. After 3 months I had tests done and found out I tore ligaments, cartilage, might have had a break in there too. I got a second and third opinion and they all said the same thing - SURGERY! I said thanks but no thanks and called a lawyer. I felt bad about it but the property was in disrepair. I didn't feel as bad when the owner said she knew her sidewalk needed to be fixed for at least 15 years and ignored it. I was in shock when my lawyer called with the settlement offer. After walking around in disbelief I yelled, "DISNEY HERE WE COME!!!"

I called my 3 daughters (this will be explained). They were jumping for joy. I called my son and his response, "I'll let you know." He called back and said NO! Family drama and his wife refused the trip since my daughter was going. Their loss but I did feel bad my grandson would miss the trip, although he is autistic and wouldn't really enjoy it anyway. I called my oldest grandson and offered him Disney with the family or a trip anywhere he wanted. There was a possibility he would be in college when we went. He chose Disney with his cousins. My heart swelled, I raised the youngling well.

This wasn't just any trip. I was paying for airfare, the resort, tickets and possibly dining. They would be responsible for luggage fees, tips and souvenirs. My son still said no. Seriously who turns down an almost all expenses paid trip??? My youngest daughter asked if 2 of her friends could come, they would pay their own way. I didn't care, the more the merrier. My dream may become a nightmare!

So who is coming on this dream trip you ask?

There is Me, the storyteller. I go by Mom, Grandmom, Grumpy, Sis, Lorrie, Mrs. K. My 1st trip to Disney World wasn't until I was in my 30's. I did see a lot of ads for it in the Orlando Greyhound Terminal in 1977. I was going from the Tampa area to Miami with my brother to visit relatives. I was a School Crossing Guard but am now retired which allows me to travel to Disney ALOT!
Favorite Character: Grumpy or Chewbacca although I do like Eeyore too
Favorite Park: All of them
Favorite Ride/Attraction: It's easier to list the least favorite - Soarin', I get really sick on it

I have been to Disney 21 times and on 1 Disney cruise.

DH: He goes by Jim, Dad, Poppy or Knot although my dad has been known to call him Knothead on occasion. Jim has been in Law Enforcement for 34+ years as a Corrections Officer and then a Deputy Sheriff. He isn't a huge fan of Disney but goes to humor me or to see the grandkids.
Favorite Character: Donald Duck and he does a decent impression
Favorite rides: Anything wild
He's been to Disney 11 times and on 1 Disney Cruise

Me with Chewbacca


Jim


The two of us on our cruise


DD1: Jennifer, Jen, Mom, Princess. She is our oldest daughter and the middle child. Her first trip was when she was 3 years old and all she wanted to do was see "Pooh".
Favorite Character: Winnie the Pooh
Favorite Ride: Coasters and Kali River Rapids
Total Trips: 5

DSIL 1: Mike, Dad and thankfully now son in law, for a long time he was whatever he is. He is NOT a fan of Disney. He doesn't really like many rides. We went in 2012 and he was miserable between back pain, work and needing a smoking break.
Total Trips: 2 He went as a child and doesn't have fond memories of it

Jen & Mike with Jim and Me on their wedding day


Their first date. They started dating when they were 16 and 17 and have been together for almost 17 years


DDS: Beth, Mom, Munchie (Jim has called her this since she was a baby). She was 18 months old on her first Disney trip. She has no favorite characters, loves ALL wild rides, thinks Test Track is boring and will tolerate one ride on It's A Small World. She told me not to overplan and thought I was kidding about FP+ at 60 days out and ADR's at 180 days. She just graduated from Nursing School.
Total Trips: 5

DSIL 2: Bill, Dad
Bill lived in Florida when he was little and went to Disney with his bio-dad a few times. He has no pleasant memories of those trips. He isn't a huge fan of rides, doesn't like that dropping sensation on wild rides, but he'll do anything for his boys. He's the tall, silent type and I seriously think in 12 years I have had 3 conversations with him. He loves my daughter and their boys, supported her through nursing school so what more could I want for a son in law.

Beth and Bill on their wedding day. They just went to City Hall and the only reason I was there is they needed a witness. Instead of wedding rings she got a vacuum cleaner. They are different


Beth as she graduated from nursing school


DDS: Crystal or DML (Dizzy Miss Lizzie, Jim's nickname for her)
She is Jennifer's BFF and my daughter from another mother. Jen and Crystal have been best friends since they were 7 years old and my granddaughter was named for her. I included her in the trip because she is family, a single mom and it's her best chance to go to Disney World. She has NEVER been to Disney World and can't wait. She has some really crazy ideas for things to do while we are there like skipping through the parks in light up skirts at night. Sort of explains the DML. She has a heart of gold and would do anything for me. She really is my daughter in every sense of the word.
Favorite Character: Beast

Crystal with my grandson Jay and her son


to be continued in the next post as this has gotten really long.
 
The Grandkids
DGS1: Jay, James, JJ - he answers to them all. Jay was our 1st grandchild and just graduated from high school. He's 19 and a really wonderful young man. He took a year off from school to earn some money for college to ease the burden on his mother. He's an excellent baseball player and hopes to pitch in college. He had a scholarship for baseball but it fell through on a technicality. His 1st trip to Disney was for his 5th birthday and he never wanted to come home again.
Favorite Rides: Anything wild
Favorite Restaurant: The Coral Reef
He HATES getting his picture taken. This will be his 5th trip (I spoiled him)

Jay and his brother


Me, Jay and his father (my son) on his graduation day


Jay and his girlfriend, my granddaughter wanted her to come with us


DGD1: Crystal and yes it gets confusing with the other Crystal. Jennifer's oldest daughter. She just turned 13 years old and is a typical teenager, moody, happy, looks at you like you are insane. She is an AMAZING ARTIST. These were drawn freehand. She's hoping to go to high school for art.




I'm hoping to surprise her with one of her pieces in the future Disney artist book at Art of Disney. She has no favorites but isn't fond of Haunted Mansion, we got stuck in the area with eyes and it freaked her out. She isn't crazy about getting her picture taken but she has a crazy, funny side and a great sense of humor. I told her that her father's family is "Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs" and she laughed and laughed.

Crystal


DGS 2: Mikey of the "Wait Where's Mikey" fame in my signature. Jennifer's son. Mikey is 11 years old and on the Autism Spectrum. As I tell my mom it's not an excuse it's an explanation. He's a sweet boy and very lovable. He's never met a stranger, just friends he doesn't know. We still lose him but he's getting better. Loud noised and bugs overload him and send him into full scare panic mode. He loves Star Wars and has never seen a movie, Bad Grandmom.
Favorite Character: Darth Maull or Kylo Ren, he has a bit of the Dark side in him.
Favorite Ride: He loved Tower of Terror but was terrified of It's Tough To Be A Bug. He said he is brave enough to see it this time.

Mikey, with his medal for most dedicated swimmer. It was his BEST day ever


DGS 3: Anthony, NEVER Tony, but sometimes Ant. Beth's oldest son. He just turned 10 years old and went to Disney when he was just shy of 4. He remembers nothing. I can't ask him what he likes because this trip is a surprise and he is getting suspicious. He does hate rides that drop like Tower of Terror but he loves rides that spin.



DGD 2: Ella, Jennifer's youngest. This is her birthday trip as she turns 9 the day after we come home. She is funny, sassy, dramatic, smart and only quiet in school. She was almost 4 on her first trip and her only memory is that she does NOT like Woody. She had a Jesse doll that she took to the parks with us. Woody liked the doll and put it ion his boot. She was very upset with him and still hasn't forgiven him.
Favorite Character: Olaf
Favorite Ride: Haunted Mansion. To be fair she was to small for most of them last trip



DGS 4: Wyatt, he is Beth's middle son. Wyatt turns 4 in January and will be exactly the same age Anthony was on his first trip. Wyatt is stubborn and a total Mommy's boy. He was also just diagnosed on the spectrum but high functioning. It will present a few issues. His favorite character is Olaf and his stuffed Olaf will be on the trip with us. He doesn't like "real" characters

Ella and Wyatt




DGS 5: Benjamin, Ben or Benny. He is Beth's youngest son. Ben is 2 and in the terrible 2's. Everything is funny and a game to him. He is very lovable when he wants to be. Ben and Wyatt are only 14 months apart so it should be fun. His favorite character is Stitch.



Beth and Jay with the Anthony, Wyatt and Ben. Wyatt is usually trying to escape


DGS 6: Isai or "Z", he is 9 and Crystal's son. He has never been to Disney and the trip was supposed to be a surprise. Crystal told him for his birthday and he wasn't impressed til he found out his cousins were going and there are rides.



Rounding out the trip are
Yoko: She's been Beth's BFF since they were about 5 in kindergarten. She's been to Japan several times but never to Disney.

Akari: She's Yoko's niece and is 10 almost 11. Yoko spoils her. Yoko's brother was Akari's father but sadly he passed away right before she was born. She is a real Tomboy and not a princess type at all.

Fallon: Beth and Yoko's friend. She's actually Yoko's nest door neighbor. She has never been to Disney.

Zackary: Fallon's son. He is 2 and actually just a month younger than Benny.

Danielle: She's another of Beth's friends. All the girls including Jennifer were friends growing up and hung around my house quite a bit. She has been to Disney at least once.

Makiyla: Danielle's daughter. She turns 12 a couple of days after we come home.

I have known Yoko, Fallon and Danielle since they were all in kindergarten. I was the crossing guard at their school and crossed them everyday, I was also their Girl Scout leader.

Beth and Yoko


Beth and Fallon


Beth and Yoko


Danielle, Jennifer, Beth, Yoko and Fallon on the end


Makiyla


Akari


Jennifer and Crystal


Fallon, Yoko and Beth


Beth, Jen, Anthony, Crystal, Mikey and Ella the very first time they met Mickey Mouse


Crystal and Makiyla


I don't have any pictures of Zackary.

If you have followed along to here this adds up to 21 people: 10 children and 11 adults. The breakdown by age
2 year olds - 2
3 year old - 1
8 year old - 1 (almost 9)
9 year old - 1
10 year old - 2 (1 turns 11 a month later)
11 year old - 2 (1 turns 12 4 days after we come home)
13 year old - 1

Crazy grandmother - 1

So you have the start of the background and the cast of characters. More on the background and some bonus past trip reports to come.
 


Joining in! I cannot wait to hear how this works out with all of these people!
 
Joining in! I cannot wait to hear how this works out with all of these people!

:welcome: The trip is in 6 weeks or so but I am not sure I will survive getting there let alone the trip. Stay tuned there is more back ground to come.
 


Moving along. As I said this is my Dream Trip although it will be minus my son, grandson and daughter-in-law. It is probably better that way though. There is a lot of family drama and hurt feelings from my daughter-in-law.

This trip came courtesy of my trip and fall accident. I did not hire a lawyer lightly but I suffered a significant injury and will pay with chronic ankle problems. Surgery holds no guarantee to fix it so I opted out of that. When my lawyer called to tell me the insurance company was offering a settlement and the figure I choked on my coffee. I accepted it and was in total shock. It was a lot more than I expected. I knew that it gave me the opportunity to share this trip with my family.

After I landed back on Earth I called Jim. He was happy for me but at work and in a courtroom so it was a short conversation. I called Jennifer, told her to call Crystal and talk about a date. I was watching Wyatt so I told Beth when she came home. She was shocked but happy. I told her talk with your sister and come up with a date. I texted Jay, he was in school, and offered him this trip, a week down the shore, anywhere he wanted to go. He texted back, "Grandmom I am going to Disney with my cousins!" I love that boy. When I offered the trip to Jamie he said he would get back to me. He called back with a ton of excuses but the answer was no.

The girls called me almost all at once and their choice, "NO SUMMER!!!" Our trips were always in August and it is hot. They wanted the chance of cooler weather. They also wanted to see Christmas at Disney. I told them it meant the kids missing school but they didn't care. No summer!!!

I went over the historical time frame for free dining and came up with a time frame I thought would work. I know that "free dining" isn't really free but with the amount of people it would offer a considerable savings. I gave them some dates to choose from. Then Beth asked if I would mind if some of her friends came also. They would pay their own way but really liked the sound of the trip. I was fine with it and told them they all had to agree on the dates, just let me know. Within a short time we had dates - Sunday November 26th to Saturday December 2nd. The only one not happy was Ella, we missed being on Disney ON her birthday. I told her stay home with great-grandmom, she changed her mind quite quickly.

Next we had to choose a resort. We considered renting points and staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge. I gave them the pluses and minuses. The minuses were: no changing of linens such as towels, and the kids would be on a pullout. Not having daily towel service did it. We debated the values. I took a trip for F&W and stayed at POP Century. I liked it but it is a little more money. I suggested All Star Sports. It have a few advantages, the biggest being it would be first pick-up so a better chance of getting on a bus. Plus I thought the boys would like the décor. So the resort was picked.

If you have followed all that we are staying at All Star Sports (or POP depending on offers) from November 26th to December 2nd.

We talked about things from time to time and Beth gave me one order every time: DO NOT OVERPLAN!!! Me?? OVERPLAN??? Okay to be fair I was OCD on some of our early trips. I once did a statistical analysis of all rides and attractions and we rode them in order of ranking. Yes we went from It's a Small World to Buzz Lightyears to Pirates to Haunted Mansion. An example but you get the picture. I promised her I don't do that anymore but Disney makes you plan some things in advance. She didn't believe.

Then life intervened and threw some monkey wrenches into our plans. In late November, or July, Jim hurt his foot/ankle. He is diabetic and has neuropathy so he doesn't really feel pain. He thought nothing of it but the foot doctor wanted X-Rays. My husband REFUSED! Two weeks later the doctor insisted or he got another doctor. Jim gave in, good thing because he had a broken foot/ankle. I told him No Brain No Pain. He laughed. He was off to an orthopod who wanted a CT scan. Two days before Christmas we found out it was way worse than we thought and he needed surgery. Merry Christmas, not the gift I wanted that's for sure.

We got through the holidays and he went for the pre-op tests. We called them all day 4 days later to be told they would call in late April to schedule surgery. I was angry. I told him to call the foot doctor and get a referral for someone else. Of course 4 PM on a Friday isn't the best time to find a new doctor. We got recommendations from family and friends and had a new doctor within a couple of days. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. His sugars were out of control, he had an ulcer from the boot, things were scary. No surgery til we got his health under control. This also meant no work. Thankfully he had a ton of sick days saved up so we had an income.

Disney got me through this. After we found out what was going on we talked about the trip. We had an income, we were optimistic that he would be back to work in no time. He said book the trip. I decided to go through AAA. My reasoning is that this is a HUGE trip. I was worried about all the what-ifs. We decided that this was the best way to go. So I was off to the AAA office, which is 5 minutes from my house. Turned out to be a really good move because AAA was running a special, up to $300 off each room booked. I will save about $300. I was happy. We went with a standard room but that means 4 people in each room. Jennifer has 5 and Beth has 5 total. We needed to split them up. The breakdown wound up being:
Room 1: Me, Jay, Jim and Anthony
Room 2: Beth, Bill, Wyatt and Ben
Room 3: Jennifer, Mike, Crystal and Ella
Room 4: Crystal, Isai and Mikey
Room 5: Yoko, Akari, Fallon and Zackary

Even better I applied for the AAA credit card. Travel is triple points so I will earn money back. We were now booked at All Star Sports, Standard room and Quick Service Dining Plan. A week later I tweaked the rooms. Since Ben is under 3 he is not considered a person so Anthony moved from my room to Beth's room. It works out better since we are not planning to be together so they will have the same code on the Magic Bands for the dining plan.

Jim was doing better medically. He saw a couple of doctors, his meds were tweaked and his sugars were way down. He insisted I go to Disney for a week to see the Flower & Garden Festival. Who am I to refuse. I stayed at All Star Sports and the and the kids will love it. I came back totally recharged and ready to handle what came at me.

Is anything ever that easy???

Jim was scheduled for surgery in late March. He was now a much better surgical candidate. On March 19th Jennifer called me in a pure state of panic. She was at work and something was wrong with Mike. She asked me to get him to the ER, Crystal was coming down for the kids. I raced up to their house and one look at him and I knew it was BAD!!! I calmed the kids down and told them their Super Grandmom had it under control. Dad would be fine but I was scared. My 32 year old son in law had a stroke. Thankfully after a week in the hospital and a bunch of tests he is fine. He does have what is called a Loop Recorder in his chest to monitor for A Fib and is on a bunch of meds now but his prognosis is great. It's been 7 months and you can't tell anything happened to him.

Continued in another update. Not too many pictures to break up the monotony now.
 
When I left off Mike had the stroke. Jim was scheduled for surgery 3 days later. We went from pre-op, to the ER to him being admitted to the cardiac unit. He swears someone told him to not take his BP meds for 2 days before surgery. When he was admitted to the pre-op his BP was 243/118. That is dangerously high. No surgery. He was in the hospital for 3 days while they got the BP down and tweaked those meds. My grandson had a ball game that day and Jim told me to go watch him play since there was nothing I could do for him anyway. I picked up my son and we drove to the game only to find out it had been rained out. It was an away game and a good 30 minute ride from his school so I was a little upset about wasting all that time. I dropped my son off at his house and as I was driving away I saw a man in the middle of the street up ahead. I thought he had on some strange looking clothes. I was wrong. He had on NO clothes at all. I called Jamie and told him to get outside and drive around with me. He has experience tackling naked men - he's a correctional officer. He just said, "Mom I HATE that part of my job and I'm not at work." The police were there in no time so I headed back up to the hospital. Jamie told us when he came to visit later that the guy was high on something and did some really strange things before they finally apprehended him. He actually wound up in the prison my son works at.

After a few days Jim was home but had to see our primary care physician. He refused to OK any surgery til Jim saw a cardiologist. After a bunch of tests, and finding out that Jim does indeed have a heart, surgery was approved with some more meds being added or tweaked. We got a new date for surgery. Right before the surgery I saw rumors that Free Dining was going to be offered and coincided with our dates. That research paid off. Hopped in the car and went to AAA to let the travel agent know. Of course she was going to be away the day the offer started and she knew nothing about it anyway. I told her she went to the wrong websites. I had reliable rumor sources. She did promise to have someone check and I said I would call anyway.

Jim was admitted to the hospital for surgery, not the original hospital. After they got him prepped I was allowed back to be with him. We made sure they knew during the pre-op appointment about the BP issue previously and he was considered a stroke risk. Turns out he was also a fall risk. He had the surgery and I anxiously paced for over 7 hours. Finally the dr. came out and the surgery went really well. Jim had a complication called Charcot and it caused the foot to become deformed from the breaks. His foot was straight and for the first time in his life it had an arch. He is as flat footed as Donald Duck. I went home in a great mood and went to the Designer Bag Bingo for my grandsons school. I wasn't permitted to see Jim that night anyway because he would be in Recovery most of the night being closely monitored. I didn't win at Bingo but we all had a great time.

Saturday morning I had to watch my grandkids for about 3 hours so I was later getting to the hospital than I would have liked. Finally got there around noon and Jim wasn't doing very well. He was complaining of a bad headache and was really agitated. He was hanging out of the bed and I complained but it fell on deaf ears. Around 5 I decided to go home because he didn't know I was there anyway. At 2 AM I got a call from the hospital to tell me that they found him on the floor, he had fallen out of bed and hit his head. They were doing a CT scan. At 3 AM I got another call to tell me they were doing more tests in the morning but he was OK.

After getting no sleep I called his room around 7 AM. No answer. I took a shower and tried again, still no answer. I started to get a really bad feeling about all of this and called the nurses station. He was in the ICU! I called Beth and told her what was going on and I was on my way to her house. She was in nursing school, she understood the medical lingo better than I did. We didn't get to much info but she told me to prepare myself because she thought Jim may have had a stroke. It was Mikey's birthday. All I kept thinking was I needed to get the cake I had planned for church and get the 3 kids there. I didn't want Mikey to have bad memories of his birthday. Jim's father died 5 minutes before his 7th birthday and it still bothers him to this day. I called my mom to make sure she would be there and get the kids home. I called my daughter in law and said I needed Jamie to call me ASAP. I called Jim's brother to let them know what was going on. Then I drove to the hospital shaking badly. The 35-40 minute ride took me 20 minutes. I walked into the hospital room, my daughters were already there, took one look at Jim and collapsed. My whole world imploded around me. My 58 year old fall risk, stroke risk husband fell out of bed, had a bad cut on his face and had a major stroke. He lost the vision in his left eye and had full left side weakness.

Disney helped get me through this. The following day Free Dining did indeed come out. I called AAA and let them know about it so they could upgrade our rooms. They called me back and said I was WRONG! No, I wasn't wrong. The agent said book it yourself then and we will fix it for you. OK then. I spent all day at the hospital and all night on the computer til I fell asleep. The free dining was being offered but I couldn't get any rooms. I was to tired to care. I dreamt of Disney. I was on the computer as soon as I woke up and my dates were there, my resort was there, I could get the offer. I was thrilled. It took me an hour but I booked 5 rooms with free dining, upgraded to the regular dining plan. I was happy. I got Jennifer to work and headed straight over to the hospital. Then my travel agent called with great news - she upgraded ALL FIVE rooms to the free dining plan. I laughed. Fo0r the first time in 3 days I laughed. I now had TEN rooms booked for Disney. I cancelled the 5 I booked the next day but I felt great. I took it as a sign that all would work out. I know that free dining means rack rate for the rooms but with the amount of people we had on this trip we saved over $2000 even with the upgrade.

After a week in the hospital Jim was moved to a rehab facility in our city and state and close to our house. He was now 5 minutes away and I was so happy to have him out of that horrible hospital. His care there was horrendous. While he got stronger I planned for how to get to Orlando and kept an eye on airfare.

To be continued
 
We move on to airfare. I knew what American Airlines was charging. They hadn't varied at all since the fares were released and my family chose the WORST day of the year to fly - the Sunday after Thanksgiving. We were waiting on Southwest to release their dates. I had a few questions so I had already called group sales. I waited patiently and finally the fares were released. I was on the computer at 7 AM, nothing. I tried refreshing every 5 minutes or so and nothing. Finally at 8 AM I gave up since I had to get Jennifer to work. I was home within 30 minutes, the fares were released and I choked on my coffee. All but 2 Wanna Get Away flights were sold out. What was left had at least 1 connecting flight. The prices were even worse - over $700 per person round trip. I called group sales and had no luck. I called American group sales. The price they quoted was higher than the internet, they charged a $25 per person fee that was non-refundable and didn't apply to the airfare. I said no thanks and hung up. I went to AAA. They only charged $105 per 6 people but again it was a booking fee. Looked like I was going to be on the computer all day again. I had to book 6 people at a time. That became confusing and left me 1 person on their own reservation. Took me a couple of hours but I got all 19 reservations for $456 per person round trip. I told them they were on their own for the luggage fees. It's $25 per piece of luggage up to 2 pieces per person. I said consolidate and use carry-on if you have to do it that way. The good thing about using American is we have assigned seats whereas Southwest we ran a risk of the kids being separated. The bad thing is that Ben has a peanut allergy and American doesn't have a great allergy policy.

I had the seating assignments all done and then Beth calls and asks if Bill can get a priority seat. He is 6 foot 5 inches and the seats are tight for him. I decided to do the same thing for Jim since he could stretch out his bad foot that way. Then I ran into a problem. Going down was a piece of cake. Coming back they had a couple of seats in the exit row. They will NOT allow you to sit there if you are traveling with children. I could understand that if we had unsupervised kids but we had at least 1 other adult on each reservation. Bill had a seat but Jim is stuck with us.

I was happy to at least have the air reservations done. We had non-stop flights with the earliest flight down and the latest flight home. I kept up my insane schedule of taking care of my house, watching the grandkids, visiting Jim everyday, going to all of Jay's baseball games. I was running on fumes. Finally one month after his stroke Jim was strong enough to come home. It was easier with him home but I was terrified he would fall down the steps. He stayed in our bedroom since we only have one bathroom on the second floor and our bedroom is at the top of the stairs to the left. He was managing on the walker so I tried to relax. Things were starting to look up, or were they???

Nothing can be that easy. I was sleeping on the couch because I was having nightmares and I was afraid I would hurt Jim's surgically repaired foot. Then 2 days after he came home I thought I was dreaming, hearing him call my name. I wish I had been dreaming. He was screaming in a panic. He had a second stroke. I had fire rescue at the house at 4 AM. Ironically this stroke was on Mike's birthday. After we got to the hospital I called my son to let him know what had happened. I knew he would be getting up for work. Thankfully he actually was on his days off and he came right over to the hospital. I called the girls later in the morning because they had to get the kids to school. This stroke was in the same spot as the first stroke and thankfully was caused by a blood clot again. He spent another week in the hospital but this time they did so many tests I thought he would glow in the dark. The first hospital did nothing. They finally decided to put a Loop recorder in his chest. Turns out he has A Fib that the recorder picked up. He spent a week in rehab, but an intense rehab facility. He was MAD at me. In his mind he was fine. The doctors left it up to me and I said I would not bring him home. He went to rehab. He got released in time to see Jay play in his High School All Star game. It was the first time he ever saw Jay play ball.

The strokes have had a long term effect on him. He has poor vision in the left eye but thankfully he did regain some of it. He has tingling and numbness in his left side. We also found out that he has retinopathy so his vision is bad enough that he will probably not be allowed to drive again. The foot is healing, slowly but the doctor said it would be close to a year before his foot was fully healed. He is coming to terms with the fact that he will have to retire 2 years sooner than planned. He also has mood swings that are caused by the strokes. That's harder on me because he is unpredictable at times - happy or crying at the drop of a hat. It's been an experience.

The next big step for the trip and what was helping to keep me sane was booking our ADR's. Our booking date was while Jim was in rehab. Just before the date was on us Beth called with a monkey wrench. Her friend Danielle's boyfriend wanted to surprise her and have her join us on the trip. OK not a huge issue but I warned Beth free dining was doubtful. He didn't care what the cost was. I was off to AAA again. There was a room available but I was right about the dining offer. Danielle and Makiyla were booked. I then had to get airfare. Thankfully there was no issue getting her on our flights and for the same price we paid. I even managed to get the seats on the plane with our group.

I had a list of restaurants they wanted:
Teppan Edo
Crystal Palace - breakfast and early
O'hana - breakfast
Coral Reef
T-Rex
Chef Mickey's.

I had to try and get ADR's for 21 people, that is not an easy task. We talked about O'hana and were a little concerned about Ben's allergy. It is supposed to be severe and if he ingests peanuts can be life threatening. Beth looked at all of the menus and decided against it. Actually Bill put his foot down and said NO!!! Like I said he is a good father. He said he was not taking any risks there are plenty of other restaurants we could try. I spent 2 days on the phone and the internet.

Finally ended up with:
November 26 - Teppan Edo. We are split into 2 parties of 10 and 11 people and 10 minutes apart. It's actually a late lunch time but since it's a travel day that works out well.

November 27 - T-Rex. This one was not fun at all. I was told that I had to contact the restaurant directly for group reservations. The restaurant does not do group reservations for the dining plan. I couldn't book anything on line because I had to split the group up. I finally got a late lunch ADR for 3 groups of 7 all within 10 minutes of each other. They did say to come together and they will seat us as close together as possible.

November 28th proved to be the hardest day of all. I could not get any combination of 21 for the Coral Reef. They were holding tables in reserve for the Candlelight Processional. I did manage 2 tables of 6 - one at 11:35 AM and one at 8:20 Pm. That left 9 of us. I talked with Jennifer and we decided on Via Napoli after looking at the menus. That was split into a table of 4 and a table of 5. Jay will be eating with Beth at Coral Reef.

November 29 - This was the easiest. 8:15 AM for all 21 of us.

November 30 - Again another easy ADR. Chef Mickey's for all 21 of us at 6:30 PM. I'm a little disappointed that it won't be in the actual restaurant but I am not changing it. Ella has decided this is her birthday dinner.

December 1 - This was the hardest of all. I couldn't get anything that worked. I finally got Crystal Palace for a late lunch for all 21 of us.

Over the summer we checked the website periodically. We managed to get better times for the Coral Reef. I also had a chance to get tables for the rest of us but they decided they wanted to stay with Via Napoli. We also decided to change the Friday Crystal Palace to Rainforest Café. I managed 3 at Disney Springs for lunch but I really did not want to travel there again. I called the one in Animal Kingdom and got one ADR for all 21 of us at 8 PM. This works out perfectly because we can see Rivers of Light first. It's also a great way to end the trip.

To be continued.
 
I know the last couple of posts were nothing but background and words so how about a visit to the ghosts of trips past.

As I said way back when I never got a chance to visit Disney til I was in my 30's and had kids. When I was growing up we didn't do vacations. My parents thought they were a waste of money so we did an occasional day trip, either to the Jersey shore or a museum. When my mom called with the chance to go to Disney World with my brothers school I jumped on it. The school sponsored the trip but we were on our own once in Florida. The down side was I had to do everything my parents wanted to do, this meant a lot of time in the Living Seas Pavilion because that was what my brother wanted to do. We did spend one afternoon at the resort so the kids could swim while I had Beth down for a nap. She didn't nap often but when she was tired and over stimulated she was no fun to be around. I also fell in love with Sunshine Seasons on this trip. So much variety it was easy to get enough to eat with my picky daughter.

When we went it was June 1988. My son had just turned 6, Jennifer was 2 1/2 and Beth was 16 month old. There was Jim and me of course and my parents along with my baby brother Jason who was almost 10. Yes, he is just 3 1/2 years older than my son.

Forgive the quality of the pics they are old and a little scratched.
This is me with Beth on my lap (yes she was a lap child they allowed it back then), Jamie and Jennifer on their very first airplane ride.


My brother Jason. It was also his first plane ride


The kids loved the Ramada we stayed at because they got to feed the fish. It wasn't until many years of looking at these pictures that I realized the man behind Jamie and Jennifer was picking his nose - EWW!!!


One of the highlights of the trip is that we had a free day and rental cars. My aunt had moved to West Palm Beach about 10 years earlier and we were able to head down to visit her. This is my aunt with her grandkids


The little boy is my cousin's stepson. When he grew up he became a Baptist minister. While in school he went on a mission to the Middle East to convert the Muslims. My mom was asked to pick him up at JFK airport when he came home and I went with her. She told me to look out for him. This trip was the last time I had seen him. When he came back from Pakistan he was darker and had a full beard. I didn't recognize him.

My dad, aunt, cousin and my aunt's husband.


Jennifer swimming


Beth sleeping. She rarely took naps by this age but she was tired


Jason and Jamie. The Jupiter lighthouse was in the background.


Finally we are in EPCOT - my dad and Jason


Jim and the girls in China - I wonder if they would recreate the picture for me???


Beth in the rental stroller. They were not very good for naps


Jamie and Jennifer playing in the rain


Space Mountain used to look like this. I got in line with my mom, Jason and Jim to ride it. I got to the loading area and freaked put. I ran to the chicken exit. My dad and I waited with the kids for at least 30 minutes. The ride broke down just as they got to the front and they had to wait for it to get up and running. I was thrilled I chickened out when I heard that.


I think Jim was a little confused - he was coming from the ladies room


So was my dad


In 1988 they had characters out and about but no formal lines. You just did the best that you could to see them. Jamie and Jennifer with Goofy


The only thing Jennifer wanted the entire trip was to see "Pooh". She loved him, still is her favorite character. We looked everyday but never could find him until the day we were going home. As we headed up the walkway to the monorail Jen yelled, "POOH!" I looked back and there he was with a mob of people surrounding him. I tried to take her back down to get close enough for her to see him. My parents said, "NO!!!" Now I was a grown woman with kids and they would not let me take my sobbing daughter back down for 5 minutes. We had to get to the airport and return the cars. Our flight was over 3 hours away, the airport even then was 30 minutes tops and there was no TSA to get through. I argued with them to no avail. This was as close as Jennifer got to seeing Pooh


We had over 2 hours to kill at the airport and Jennifer sobbed the whole time, "I see Pooh please!!!" She hasn't forgotten it.

We did go to Sea World for a day. Their strollers were very cute but definitely not nap friendly. Jamie was only allowed in the stroller for the picture, after that he walked.




And my mom actually was there. This is the only picture of her I can find. She is dead center between Jamie and Jason holding a camera


Hope you enjoyed that first trip because we certainly did. Jim and I decided the next trip would just be us and the kids so we could do what we wanted to do each day. But was that to be? Stay tuned as we will revisit the ghosts of trips past again.
 
Enjoying your report. You are so sweet to share Disney with so many loved ones.

:welcome: Thank you glad you're enjoying it. There is much more to come before we even get to Disney. I'm just glad I had the opportunity to share it with them.
 
Looking forward to hearing about the rest of the trip.

Sorry for all the health issues beforehand
 
Looking forward to hearing about the rest of the trip.

Sorry for all the health issues beforehand

:welcome: I will be updating again over the weekend. Have an eye exam today and I hate those drops. It was a rough few months. Thankfully Jim seems to be getting a little better every day and I took over monitoring his diabetes so that will help.
 
Back to this trip. We had 2 major things left to plan - FP+ and how to get to the airport and home again. I didn't know if I would have to plan for all 21 people or not. My daughter was also getting ready to graduate from nursing school over the summer so talking to her was not always pleasant. I had made everyone a booklet of rides, attractions and characters. I included my recommendations for where they should focus on planning a FP. Beth of course left hers at the restaurant they were at when she gave them to everyone. Jennifer called me repeatedly with questions about characters. Finally I had some answers, right before it was time to make the selections, nothing like waiting to the last minute for me. I will be planning for Me, Jim, Jay, Jennifer & her family and Crystal & "Z". We will be traveling together. Beth is planning for her family, Yoko will work with Fallon and Danielle will plan hers. I have no clue how much time they all plan to spend together and I don't really care at this point.

So bright and early, and an hour later than I planned to be on the computer, I was on planning our FP's. I did not go in order by day but rather figured what rides/attractions were most important and planned around that. I also had to take into consideration what Jim and Mike would be able to do. Jim has been given orders by the doctors that he is allowed NO roller coasters, and if the ride has a heart or high blood pressure warning they are generally out. He is healing but we need to be careful of his hurting the ankle. Since he has neuropathy he could bang it and not know it. The other issue is he is on blood thinners so any bad bang could cause internal bleeding or the risk of a clot. Our new reality but we will make it work.

So our Fastpass list looks like this:
November 26 - EPCOT
Journey Into the Imagination 12:15-1:15 PM
Meet Disney Pals at the Character Spot 1:20-2:20 PM
Frozen Ever After 6:10-7:10 PM

November 27 - Hollywood Studios and Disney Springs
Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 9:50-10:50 AM
Toy Story Mania 12-1 PM
Star Tours 1:20-2:20 PM
Late lunch at T-Rex and then explore Disney Springs before heading back to Hollywood Studios

November 28 - EPCOT
Test Track 10:15-11:15 AM
Living with the Land 11:20-12:20 PM

Need to add one more and am leaning towards Finding Nemo

November 29 - Magic Kingdom
Peter Pan's Flight 9:35-10:35 AM
Haunted Mansion 11:05-12:05 PM
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train 2:05-3:05 PM

November 30 - Magic Kingdom, Chef Mickey's for dinner and then explore the monorail resorts
Jungle Cruise 9:45-10:45 AM
Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh 10:50-11:50 AM
Buzz Lightyear's Ranger Spin 12:10-1:10 PM

December 1 - Animal Kingdom
Na'vi River Journey 9:35-10:35 AM
Kilimanjaro Safari 11:15-12:15 PM
Rivers of Light 5:50-6:15 PM

December 2nd - Sadly a very short day as we go home. Animal Kingdom because it's the closest park to the All Star Resorts
Expedition Everest 10:20-11:20 PM
Dinosaur 11:55-12:55 PM
Kilimanjaro Safari 2:05-3:05 PM

These plans aren't set in stone. We have Park Hoppers so we may change things up a little. The one thing I was told is DO NOT OVERPLAN!!! My kids have excused me of being an over planning psycho mom who sucks the joy out of things. They had good reason to feel this way. I was so intent on creating perfect trips that I forgot to have fun. Our second trip to Disney World was a perfect example. So my next post will be another "Ghost of Disney Past Trips".
 

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