Taking A Break from Life with a Trip to My Happy Place - Page 20 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Thanks everyone for the wonderful "welcome home". I haven't forgotten about this, I really haven't, but do you ever think to yourself, "This was the worst week to come back from a vacation"? Well, that's what I've been saying to myself ever since we walked in the door.
It's been a few days since I've even been able to get on this site, and when I finally do, I have to sign back in, and then noticed things have changed a bit around here. I hate being so behind! My first plan of attack is to catch up on everyone's TR because I am way behind on all of them. After that I'm going to get the first update in...before the end of the week...I swear!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I'll be back soon.
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Don't worry - we're here when you're ready and if it's any consolation, the changes to the boards only occurred Saturday afternoon and I'm still trying to get used to them.
I know I promised everyone I'd start the TR last week, but I failed miserably. To say I'm overwhelmed right now is an understatement. I think it was a bad idea to come home from Disney right before Thanksgiving in the midst of a renovation, all while trying to begin a photography class that involves handing in weekly assignments (that I’m also falling behind on), as well as trying to get my Christmas shopping and decorating done, plus deal with my father’s back surgery, and trying to help my mom out in the process. To make up for how bad I feel about starting this two weeks after we’ve been home, I did a full day’s update. So here you go…
Day One – Tuesday, November 13th
A Room With a View
Once again we had an early flight out, so once again we had to wake up super early to get to the airport. I set the alarm for 3am since my parents would be at our house around 4:15am. I had originally wanted to leave around 4:30am, but mother thought that would be cutting it too close, so we bumped it up…even though we would have been fine, but whatever…I was right, that’s all I’m saying. I didn’t have to get up as early as I normally do because a few days before the trip I chopped my hair off. Yup. I couldn’t take it anymore, and in an act of frustration I chopped it. After I did it I wanted to crawl in a hole and die. Just ask poor Linny. She was there with me in spirit, and when it was all over, she got to deal with the full impact of it. All of the crying and complaining, but she was great, and even with all of that support, she has yet to see a picture of me sporting my new style. It took a while to get used to, but I finally did, and now I’m wondering why it took me so long to make the change, especially in situations that let me sleep in a bit longer.
So after sleeping in, I began getting ready, then Chad woke up a bit later so he could deal with getting Hope moving. By the time my parents showed up we were almost ready to go, and would have been completely ready if they hadn’t gotten there 5 minutes early. There was absolutely no traffic on the road, and we were at the airport within 30 minutes of leaving the house. Saying good-bye is always the hardest when you’re leaving someone behind, and I always feel bad about leaving Chad when we go on our girl’s trips, but he had lots to keep him busy at home while I was away, and yes, I’ve heard him tell people that it’s a vacation for him just as much as it is for me. So we gave our hugs and waved our good-byes, and then we were on our own…just the three of us.
No one was in the airport, or at least it seemed that way. The Southwest area was pretty dead, so checking in was not a problem. What was the problem was the fact that my suitcase, the suitcase I had planned on trying to stuff everything into but couldn’t, was over the weight limit by 3 pounds. Why did I even think I could get away with only taking one suitcase? Thankfully I was able to load my mom’s suitcase with my makeup bag and toiletry case, and wouldn’t you know it, my suitcase dropped by 8 pounds. So now all of you know that it takes 8 pounds of makeup for me to look this beautiful. Secrets out. Off to security, which was a breeze, and then it was time to grab a coffee and a bite to eat. It was nice being able to do all of this at a relaxed pace, and we were even able to sit at the gate for a bit before it was time to board.
We were boarding the plane by 6:25am for our 6:45am flight, and because it was a rainy, and pretty windy day, I was even more nervous than I usually am when flying. I don’t mind flying so much, it’s just that I’d rather be on the ground, and the worst part for me is take off, because anything could happen when trying to get that heavy pile of metal off the ground. Add a little bit of rain and some wind, and I’m white knuckling it the whole time we’re climbing into the clouds.
Once we got up there though, things were smooth, and the flight was pretty quiet. All except for the witchy flight attendant that yelled at me for holding Hope in my lap while she tried to get to sleep.
Now before I continue, I’m not going to get into the debate over lap vs. seat children while flying because I believe it’s a parent’s choice, however, I would never do anything that I thought would endanger my child. With that being said, I’ve done this before on previous flights with her after she was of the age to be a seat only child, and have never had any issues with the flight attendants. We had already reached altitude, and just as they began walking around to take our drink orders, the pilot turned off the seat belt sign…which was my cue to put Hope in my lap for a bit. Sometimes cuddling just helps you to fall asleep faster. The flight attendant asked me if Hope was a lap baby or if she was supposed to have a seat. Well, look at her lady. She weighs 39 pounds and is a little over 40 inches tall…what do you think? So of course I told her she’s a lap baby. Just kidding… wanted to make sure you were all awake. No, I told her the truth, and she then proceeds to tell me that she must remain in her seat with her seat belt on for her safety. Having done this before, I was going to put her back in her seat after I got her to sleep, but the flight attendant was preventing her from even shutting her eyes, so that obviously wasn’t going to happen. So when I told her what I was trying to do, she was adamant about me following the rules, and tells me that’s why they make car seats, and that’s when I wanted to respond with, “Well, I would never even think about doing this in a moving vehicle, but if you’re going by the car seat rule, then why isn’t it a policy that all children under a certain weight limit must have a seat on a plane, no matter what the age”? Oh, we’re not in a car you say? That’s right, we’re on a plane, so don’t use analogies that really don’t work. Plus, the seat belt sign was off!
I put her in her seat and had her lay down with her head in my lap. Soon enough she passed out, and I shortly followed. Later, when I woke up, mom told me that the witchy flight attendant came back around while we were sleeping, and sort of strained her neck over the seats to see if Hope was buckled in or not. My mom almost looked up at her and said, “She’s got her seat belt on. Do you need anything else”? But she didn’t. Looking back on this I found it funny that I had two other flight attendants come over while I was trying to get Hope to sleep while holding her, and all they said to me was how precious she was. Nothing else about her not being in her seat, and that could have been because the seat belt sign had been turned off.
Hope woke up a little before landing, and when she did she had to make sure her stuffed bunny was following the rules too.
Soon enough we were landing, and landing early at that. By the time we waited for my stroller to get off the plane, took bathroom breaks and made our way to the luggage carousel (we don’t use ME), everyone was gone and our luggage was sitting all by itself by the baggage claim office. Guess we took a little too long. We then made our way back over to ME to hop on our bus, which came fairly quickly, and before we knew it we were off to our resort. We had to make three stops before we got to AKL…CBR, POP and AoA, and a little before 11am we were being dropped off at “home”.
We had done online check-in, and I had requested the room to be close to the bus stops and possibly on the Arusha savannah, but for the first time after doing online check-in, our room wasn’t ready yet, so I didn’t know if our requests had come through. We decided to change into our bathing suits and check our luggage with bell services until we were told we had a room. As we made our way down to the pool, we had only one thing on our minds before we even attempted to get in the water…food. So we stopped in The Mara to grab lunch and figure out this whole dining plan. This was the first time in a long time that I was confused and lost at Disney. I didn’t like it. I’m so used to knowing everything about this place, and the dining plan was messing it all up. After spending what felt like an eternity trying to figure out what we could and couldn’t get, we ordered our lunch and took it outside to eat.
Before I continue, I want to confess that once again I didn’t take a lot of food pictures. I would remember after I had eaten half of my meal, and by then I just said “forget about it”. Mom got the African stew and cheesecake for dessert. She really enjoyed this, and it was a nice change from your typical CS choices. I got the chicken flatbread, that was also very good, and carrot cake for dessert…which I ate in the room later. Hope got chicken nuggets, which brings me to another vent, the food choices for children at all CS restaurants. They honestly need to have more to choose from other than chicken nuggets, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, grilled cheese sandwiches, hot dogs and hamburgers. If it wasn’t for the dining plan, and me having no choice but to order something off of that menu, I would have ordered a bigger meal for myself and had her eat off of my plate, just to give her some variety.
As we were enjoying the sunshine and our yummy lunch, I got a text saying our room was ready. Yay! So once we had filled our bellies, we decided to grab our luggage, and get settled in before we did anything else. For me, I just feel like I can relax more when I’m unpacked and everything’s in its place, and of course, my mom’s the same way, and I’m sure Hope will be that way when she’s older too.
I have to say, we were once again given a pretty great room. So far, every time I’ve requested to be close to the transportation, it’s come through, and this time I also got my request to be on the Arusha savannah. This was my first time staying on the actual savannah, and we had an unbelievable view.
Throughout the week we saw a ton of animals, and at night, there were times we had giraffe, antelope and a few other animals eating right underneath our balcony. Since it’s so quiet out there, you could literally hear them breathing and chewing…incredible!
After we settled in, we went back down to the pool so Hope could swim for a bit. It was a little too cold for my liking, but thanks to the zero entry, I was able to stick my feet in while she waded in the water. They also had a bunch of pool games going on for the kids, so we decided to join in the trivia game involving numbers. Basically they’d ask a question like, “How tall is Cinderella’s castle in feet”? And you’d have to write down your answer with it being as close to the actual answer as possible. Of course you couldn’t use any electronic devices, only brain power, and when I say those questions were hard, trust me, they were HARD!
Once the game was over we headed back up to the room to get ready to go to DTD. We were back out of the room by 5pm, and soon on the bus. I guess the day caught up with Hope because she fell asleep on my lap on the way to DTD, and when we woke her up, she was pretty much out of it for the rest of the night. We went to EoS to eat dinner, and were happy to see they were serving their holiday sandwich. Hope ate a little bit, but then she wanted to get back in her stroller so she could lay down while we finished eating.
I could tell she was beat, and I honestly thought she was going to fall asleep while mom and I walked around looking in the stores, but she eventually woke up enough to play with the Mr. Potato Head parts.
And to also get her picture taken with Donald and Daisy.
She also was awake enough to smell each and every bar of soap in Basin while my mom did some shopping, as well as wash her hands with the sugar scrub they have to sample. Yes, she is very much a girly girl.
I wanted to make our way over to the West End and look around a bit, but by the time we got over there, Hope started getting sleepy again, and grumpy. We were almost all the way through Pleasure Island (where the old Adventure’s Club is) and they had a woman pretending to be a statue, well seeing her was all it took for Hope to want to go back to the room. All she kept talking about was the statue and how she didn’t like her, so once again we skipped the West End and made our way back to the bus.
Not before I tried to get a picture of the balloon…which looks like a newer on to me.
Mom and I were now starting to feel the weight of the day too, and by the time we were off the bus and walking back to our room, we were dragging our bodies along. I immediately put Hope to bed, and then after mom and I both showered and got into our pjs, we were finally in bed by 9:30pm. I think I fell asleep by 9:31pm.
Great start to your report! I love the photos both from the plane and on the plane of Hope - her face is a picture! And what a great view from your room too.
I was tired just reading about your day, so I can imagine how you felt by the end of it. I was hoping for a pic of the new haircut, guess I'll have to wait for the next update.
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After that I'm going to get the first update in...before the end of the week...I swear! 
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Disney Magic - Oct 2015
Holly: 
To say I'm overwhelmed right now is an understatement. I think it was a bad idea to come home from Disney right before Thanksgiving in the midst of a renovation, all while trying to begin a photography class that involves handing in weekly assignments (that I’m also falling behind on), as well as trying to get my Christmas shopping and decorating done, plus deal with my father’s back surgery, and trying to help my mom out in the process. 
To make up for how bad I feel about starting this two weeks after we’ve been home, I did a full day’s update. So here you go…
I set the alarm for 3am since my parents would be at our house around 4:15am. I had originally wanted to leave around 4:30am, but mother thought that would be cutting it too close, so we bumped it up…even though we would have been fine, but whatever…I was right, that’s all I’m saying. 
I chopped it. After I did it I wanted to crawl in a hole and die. Just ask poor Linny. She was there with me in spirit, and when it was all over, she got to deal with the full impact of it. All of the crying and complaining, 
but she was great, and even with all of that support, she has yet to see a picture of me sporting my new style. 
It took a while to get used to, but I finally did, and now I’m wondering why it took me so long to make the change, 
especially in situations that let me sleep in a bit longer. 
Saying good-bye is always the hardest when you’re leaving someone behind, and I always feel bad about leaving Chad when we go on our girl’s trips, 
but he had lots to keep him busy at home while I was away, and yes, I’ve heard him tell people that it’s a vacation for him just as much as it is for me. 
So we gave our hugs and waved our good-byes, 
Why did I even think I could get away with only taking one suitcase? Thankfully I was able to load my mom’s suitcase with my makeup bag and toiletry case, and wouldn’t you know it, my suitcase dropped by 8 pounds. 
So now all of you know that it takes 8 pounds of makeup for me to look this beautiful. 
Secrets out. Off to security, which was a breeze, and then it was time to grab a coffee and a bite to eat. It was nice being able to do all of this at a relaxed pace, and we were even able to sit at the gate for a bit before it was time to board.
and pretty windy day, 
I was even more nervous than I usually am when flying. I don’t mind flying so much, it’s just that I’d rather be on the ground, and the worst part for me is take off, because anything could happen when trying to get that heavy pile of metal off the ground. Add a little bit of rain and some wind, and I’m white knuckling it the whole time we’re climbing into the clouds. 
because I believe it’s a parent’s choice, however, I would never do anything that I thought would endanger my child. With that being said, I’ve done this before on previous flights with her after she was of the age to be a seat only child, and have never had any issues with the flight attendants. We had already reached altitude, and just as they began walking around to take our drink orders, the pilot turned off the seat belt sign…which was my cue to put Hope in my lap for a bit. Sometimes cuddling just helps you to fall asleep faster. 
The flight attendant asked me if Hope was a lap baby or if she was supposed to have a seat. Well, look at her lady. She weighs 39 pounds and is a little over 40 inches tall…what do you think? 
wanted to make sure you were all awake. No, I told her the truth, and she then proceeds to tell me that she must remain in her seat with her seat belt on for her safety. 
Having done this before, I was going to put her back in her seat after I got her to sleep, but the flight attendant was preventing her from even shutting her eyes, so that obviously wasn’t going to happen. So when I told her what I was trying to do, she was adamant about me following the rules, 
and tells me that’s why they make car seats, and that’s when I wanted to respond with, “Well, I would never even think about doing this in a moving vehicle, but if you’re going by the car seat rule, then why isn’t it a policy that all children under a certain weight limit must have a seat on a plane, no matter what the age”? Oh, we’re not in a car you say? 
That’s right, we’re on a plane, so don’t use analogies that really don’t work. Plus, the seat belt sign was off! 
and I shortly followed. Later, when I woke up, mom told me that the witchy flight attendant came back around while we were sleeping, and sort of strained her neck over the seats to see if Hope was buckled in or not. 
My mom almost looked up at her and said, “She’s got her seat belt on. Do you need anything else”? But she didn’t. Looking back on this I found it funny that I had two other flight attendants come over while I was trying to get Hope to sleep while holding her, and all they said to me was how precious she was. Nothing else about her not being in her seat, and that could have been because the seat belt sign had been turned off. 
We then made our way back over to ME to hop on our bus, which came fairly quickly, and before we knew it we were off to our resort. We had to make three stops before we got to AKL…CBR, POP and AoA, and a little before 11am we were being dropped off at “home”. 
So we stopped in The Mara to grab lunch and figure out this whole dining plan. This was the first time in a long time that I was confused and lost at Disney. 
I didn’t like it. 
I’m so used to knowing everything about this place, and the dining plan was messing it all up. After spending what felt like an eternity trying to figure out what we could and couldn’t get, we ordered our lunch and took it outside to eat. 
They honestly need to have more to choose from other than chicken nuggets, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, grilled cheese sandwiches, hot dogs and hamburgers. If it wasn’t for the dining plan, and me having no choice but to order something off of that menu, I would have ordered a bigger meal for myself and had her eat off of my plate, just to give her some variety. 
So once we had filled our bellies, we decided to grab our luggage, and get settled in before we did anything else. For me, I just feel like I can relax more when I’m unpacked and everything’s in its place, and of course, my mom’s the same way, and I’m sure Hope will be that way when she’s older too. 
It was a little too cold for my liking, but thanks to the zero entry, I was able to stick my feet in while she waded in the water. They also had a bunch of pool games going on for the kids, so we decided to join in the trivia game involving numbers. Basically they’d ask a question like, “How tall is Cinderella’s castle in feet”? And you’d have to write down your answer with it being as close to the actual answer as possible. Of course you couldn’t use any electronic devices, only brain power, and when I say those questions were hard, trust me, they were HARD! 
We went to EoS to eat dinner, and were happy to see they were serving their holiday sandwich. Hope ate a little bit, but then she wanted to get back in her stroller so she could lay down while we finished eating. 
All she kept talking about was the statue and how she didn’t like her, so once again we skipped the West End and made our way back to the bus. 
and by the time we were off the bus and walking back to our room, we were dragging our bodies along. I immediately put Hope to bed, and then after mom and I both showered and got into our pjs, we were finally in bed by 9:30pm. I think I fell asleep by 9:31pm. 
And what a great view from your room too.
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