Most of you know from twitter and blogs and facebook that I surprised my two boys with a trip to Disneyworld for their birthdays. Now, first off, the trip was wonderful. There is no way Disney cannot be wonderful. But the first day we arrived was a bit of a challenge, and drove home the lesson I should never, ever forget as a mother.
Expect. The. Unexpected.
Our flight was early so we were up at 4:30am. Of course, no one went to bed at a reasonable hour because we were so excited, and the boys slept in my bed, which I allowed for this special occasion. With two boys and a dog, well, needless to say no sleep for me.
First the plane, then the bus, then on to the hotel. No one had eaten except for a bag of animal crackers on the plane. So, when we finally got to our hotel, and waited in line for almost an hour to check in, everyone was a bit cranky. Cranky and Disney don’t mix, but don’t blame us too much. I was not well prepared and forgot to pack the lone banana or snacks more organized moms pack. I just grabbed my Kindle, my suit, and took off with the kids.
Now, my husband is a bit of a drill sergeant when it comes to vacation. He doesn’t want to miss anything, so he times us on our events, and his plan for the first day was to hit SeaWorld. We clashed a bit when I told him we needed to sit and eat and go to our hotel room, because that would take up precious time at Sea World. Of course, when my son cried because I wouldn’t buy him the very first toy he saw in the very first aisle, he finally agreed. They were having breakdowns from overexcitement and no food.
We got our disney dining plan, sat at the restaurant and fed ourselves. Then walked
to the hotel, which was miles away from the lobby because I wanted to save $9.99 per night. Stupid, now I know that. Note to self for future. Of course, we did something terrible on the way.
We walked past the pool.
I have learned from family vacations that the pool surpasses everything else. Everything. Mickey Mouse, incredible rides, celebrities, food, toys, games and prizes. They just want the frikkin pool. Even if there’s nothing by it, just a simple round circle of water. They want it.
My husband urged them forward, barking orders that there will not be any pool until we properly see the amazing wonderful Sea World. I promised the kids when we got back they could go swimming, and we changed, then walked miles back to the lobby to take a half hour taxi ride to Sea World.
By then, we noticed it was hot. Too hot. We weren’t in shorts, and we waited in line forever for SeaWorld. By the time we got to the counter, my husband showed an ID to get in for a big discount, and they asked for my ID.
Well, I had my tiny walking purse with no id. The guy at the desk said without my ID, I would have to pay an extra $100.
This caused a problem. With my husband. As he yelled at me and waved his arms, my boys started begging about the pool, and we all had mini meltdowns at the gate. After about fifteen minutes of chaos, the man at the gate let me in because honestly, he couldn’t take our crap any longer. We had asked to talk to a manager, and I wanted him to log onto my facebook page so he could verify who I was. My suggestion to use social media seemed to disgust him further, and we were holding up the line, so he waved us in with a good riddance.
OK, onward to wonderful SeaWorld.
As we walked through the gate, my contact lens popped out. I have dailies, so when I searched my purse for my spare, I realized my little walking one did not have any. I was therefore half blind and could hardly see, but then my husband freaked out some more about me going back and being unprepared, so I decided to just go with it and divorce him later. I closed one eye and made my way around the park for the rest of the day looking like an idiot and not really focusing on anything.
We wanted to see a dolphin show, which my boys dragged their feet on, but we forced them. Then we fed the sea otters, which was my favorite experiment. Now, at this point, we made our way around the park but the boys kept chattering about going home to the pool, and they didn’t want to see the big whale show, and the rest of the day ended in a bad blur of time.
We walked for hours and didn’t see anything.
I know this sounds stupid, but if you ever went with your family to a big park, this sometimes happens. Bathroom breaks, water breaks, ice cream breaks, wrong turns, long lines, and after many hours, you realize you saw only two things.
We got out, took the cab back to the hotel, and collapsed by the pool.
Of course, by this time the temperature had dropped so we were all a bit cold and the only thing that saved me was the pool bar where I quickly spent a million dollars for two beers and anything that could deaden the pain.
As I said, it got better. We had a wonderful time, but on the final day, my four year old said the following words to me:
“Mommy, I’m so tired of fireworks and parades. When are we going home?”
Oh. My. God. He wanted to go home. Blase and tired at the age of four. What have we done?
My older son agree and they were happy to fly away from Disney on our final day.
My husband and I decided to look at it differently. Somehow, we must be doing our job right. They rather be in their own home, with their family, rather than Disneyworld. Does it get any better than that?
Nope. Not really. Home is a wonderful thing, and we officially tired them out from vacation.
But next time, I swear I’m spending the first day by the pool and skipping the whole mess.
Come share with me. Don’t leave me alone. Tell me about your family vacations. Disasters? Expectations not met? Click on the number at the top!
Jen, you know I had the same experience with the pool and Disney. That’s all my boys wanted to do too! Very frustrating. But I’m glad you guys had a good time in the end…
Hi Jen!
Expect the unexpected!!! With regard to our trip to Disney a few years back we say it was a wonderful trip sandwiched between 2 nightmares. On our first day my daughter fell at the pool and required emergency surgery on female parts. Ouch! So on top of not sleeping at all the night before we left (I’m a terrible flyer) I was at the hospital until well after 3 in the morning while my two other children (12 and 14 at the time) were at the hotel alone. My dtr had to do Disney in a wheelchair because she couldn’t walk long distances or climb stairs. But if you have to be incapacitated, Disney is the place to do it!
Then, on the way home there was a storm in Washington and our plane left hours late. At our stopover they cancelled our connecting flight. Then they could get us on a flight to Newark but our car was at Stewart in Newburgh!!! The trip home took 24 hours from the time we left the hotel until we pulled into our driveway! Luckily we were on the meal plan, too. And I refused to leave Disney without spending every single penny. Though my husband complained about lugging all those sandwhiches, snacks and drinks into the Orlando airport, we were damn glad we’d had them later on!!!
Expect the unexpected!
Oh, God. I feel your pain, Jen! We lived near Orlando when our kids were little, so we had year round park passes to Disney. I have many disaster stories swirling around my head right now -including a trip to Disney where we lost my then 7 year old daughter, the one who hadn’t been with us long enough to speak English yet!
Suffice it to say, long ago my husband dubbed any trip to a theme park (or fun kid event) as four hours of hell for fifteen minutes of fun
Oops!! Okay, Jen, you are not losing your mind. The above comment is from me, not you. But you probably already knew that, LOL.
Aimee
Oh, boy, I feel so much better guys! Wendy, Aimee, your stories beat mine big time. In fact, the award goes to Wendy who’s daughter needed the hospital. Not very Disneylike. See, that is why I love sharing at 4badmommies – you never feel alone!
The fact that you wanted to use social media in place of your ID…. OMG!! Priceless!! LOL!
We haven’t taken our son to Disney yet, but we figured when we do take him we won’t even tell him where we are until the 2nd or 3rd day. I guess we better go before he starts reading the big words like Welcome to Disney. 8-D
Glad you all survived!
Too funny. When my kids were very little, we spent a fortune on Disney and all they wanted to do was swim. It became a running joke. We’d get into the park and they’d say, “Can we go back to the pool?” The next year we saved our money and instead of going to Disney, we put in an in-ground pool.
Somehow, Jen using social media as her ID just seems so apropos. Thanks for stopping by, Optimistic Mom!
LOL, Alison. I bet your kids are enjoying that pool!!! Thanks for stopping by!
Ah yes, they always want the pool. We went last year and had the same issue – “I’m tired can we got back to the hotel?” As soon as we got there, second wind came on strong – for the pool! Good thing about that though was the bar. The swam, we drank! lol
And kids who haven’t eaten – your DH should know better! lol
Our big incident was at our first character breakfast at the Polynesian. Little guy was so excited when Mickey came over, that he jumped out of his chair. Except his foot got caught and he smacked his face HARD on the corner of the table. Mickey (rather, the kid inside the suit) was trying to show his horrow and worry, but with that grinning head on, it didn’t work too well! It was actually rather comical. So amid tears and the like, DH went and got some ice, wrapped it in a napkin, and put it on his face, with assurances from Mickey that he’d be back when everything calmed down. It did, little guy was feeling better and decided to eat some of the ice. And proceeded to choke on one, so we had to do the Heimlich. Yeah, fun.
Thankfully, that was the worst, and it was over and done with on our first full day. Of course, I got lots of strange looks over the boy’s black eye for the first couple days.
I definitely had a better time on my honeymoon – no drama, no worries, no crying, etc. But the looks on their faces when they see something for the first time is still worth all the aggravation! We’re planning another trip for this fall – but I can’t deal with surprising them. Too damn hard. I give you lots of credit for doing that!
i was a youngster when disneyland opened in calif. so, i had longed to see that theme park my whole life. then in 1971-1972, disneyworld opened in orlando…in the meantime many other large amusement parks opened in the east, including busch gardens in williamsburg, va…my boys had been to kings dominion as well as busch gardens, and seen many rides on tv…in 1985, we took them to orlando…i was thrilled beyond words that my disney fantasy was finally coming true!!!!! jon and joe were blaise’ about being there—-and i was so disappointed in their reactions. we had a good time—but not a great one. many years later, we took our almost eleven year old daughter there. she loved to ride the scary, tall roller coasters, and my hubby and i didn’t..we had to persuade a business friend in florida to let his girl go with jenny if we paid all of her expenses. the deal was struck, and jenNY and donna loved every minute of the thrill rides…next morning jenny was feeling kinda of “rough and ragged”..not from the day before, but she was having her first ever period…what a place to start at!!!!as the mother, i had to have an ACOMPANING HEADACHE AND FATIGUE FROM ALL THE FUN OF 4 DAYS IN THE PARK…NEEDLESS TO SAY, OUR LAST DAY THERE WAS NOT A STELLAR EXPERIENCE FOR THE LADIES IN THE FAMILY.