Nuclear Family Trip-Let's Hope I Don't Explode!! - Page 2 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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It sounds like you have a plan in place, and a back-up in case that plan doesn't work out and I think that's all you can do. Just try to enjoy yourself and being in the 'happiest place on earth' with those you love the most!
If all else fails, fall back on the wine!
Gonna be interesting but I think you can do it. Maybe think about a baby sitter for a few hours? I know we loved Kid's Nite Out when we went with friends and their 5 year old.
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Dreams, Wishes, Hopes... these are the parts of childhood we should never lose.
Sorry about your mom, but glad to hear she is on the road to recovery.
Your trip will certainly be different, but it sounds like you have some good plans in place.
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Gonna be interesting but I think you can do it. Maybe think about a baby sitter for a few hours? I know we loved Kid's Nite Out when we went with friends and their 5 year old.
I've thought about it, but we've decided to go that route when he's a bit older. He just turned four and is still gets very upset when we leave him with a sitter he knows well, I can only imagine the meltdown if we left him with someone we just met! That said, he loves to stay with his grandparents and asks to spend the night there regularly, so it's not like I don't get a night out at home. In fact, I have one tonight, with one of his preschool aides doing the sitting.
The funny thing is that left to his own decision making, he'd go with the first friendly face, but ONLY if it's his decision/choice. For example, last weekend we went to an adventure camp open house and he immediately wanted to climb on the ropes course. We went over and I directed him to the start (the course starts at 1 and then you find 2 and so on, also, not at all made for four year olds) but he didn't care for that idea and instead went and took the hand of the high school girl monitoring one of the nearby ropes sections and said "come with me and show me this." So if he thinks you have something he wants, be it information or candy, Mom might as well not exist. Unless you are the babysitter. Then Mom is the only thing he wants.
As a baby we worked so hard on swimming, taking him every week from the time he was 6 months old to about 2 years, then I started working more and we just stopped for a bit. At 2 years old he would jump in the water, go under, run through the fountains, and ask to be thrown higher and higher. He couldn't swim but he wasn't afraid. Then take 3 or so months off and wham. Deathly afraid. We made progress over that year, but then last summer he was standing on a low step in our YMCA pool, I was right next to him, and he slipped and went under and couldn't get his feet. I pulled him up (again, I was right there) but that second or two of not finding his footing was the end. He refused to swim, at all.
We still tried for awhile, once a week or so, but he mostly stood at the edge, or maybe clung to your neck with his little nails leaving marks. I let it go again for a bit and then we tried private swim lessons with Mr. Tim. Poor poor Mr. Tim. He was so young and confident, with dozens of swimming preschooler success stories. He tried everything, games, trickery, bribery, even getting me to go in too despite the point of the private lesson being to remove parental influence/sheltering. No dice with the stubborn mule I gave birth to. Wailing, screaming, snot and tears. It was awful. We went three times and I said 'F' that and we decided to never ever again mention swimming until Adam mentioned it himself.
See, potty training went that way too. Mule. That kid is a mule. Never, not once, agreed to try the potty. I bought two different potty chairs, a seat, two stools, stickers, and candy. Nothing. He told me he was still a baby and when he was big he'd use the potty. One day, at 3 years and 3 months old, he was out with my father, at a park. He said he had to go potty and that he wanted to use the big one. At the park. The gross public park toilet. My father took him and that was that. He's been 100% day and night potty trained since that day. I assumed swimming would go the same way.
As Disney approached we talked about it, the parks, the rides, the hotel. He remembered the pool and the slide with the 'traffic light' at the top. Said he wanted to go down that slide again. I just nodded. It kept coming up and he said he'd swim in the Disney pool, but not at the YMCA with Mr. Tim. (Jeez, poor Mr. Tim, I swear, he's amazing with kids, I see his swim lessons weekly when I'm doing my swim workouts). Okay.
Monday. I tell Adam we need to see if his swimsuit still fits for the pool slide at Disney. It doesn't. So, off to Target, where he is reminded repeatedly and firmly that there will be no toys purchased on this trip. None. He can look at the Rescue Bots but we are there to buy a swim suit and nothing else. He picks a Batman suit and shirt despite being 100% afraid of Batman in every other context. We look at Rescue Bots (because, duh, he's 4---these things and the marketing geniuses/assholes at Hasbro...they are taking over my house).
And then he says it.
I KNOW HOW TO SWIM, MAMA. I want to go right now.
After being stunned into silence, I regain my composure and tell him the pool is closed right now (BTW, when does that stop working as a reason not go somewhere?) but that we will go tomorrow for sure. He spends the rest of the night confidently telling me he can swim and wants to swim, but not with Mr. Tim. So we went. Of course he can't really swim, but he did put his arms over a pool noodle and kick around. He also stuck his face in the water spray fountain and jumped in to me. Then he said we should come back the next day too. So we did.
What?
Anyway, I guess we're going to have to factor in more swimming next week.
Kids are so funny! I have one that is stubborn too - and it's so frustrating, but there's nothing you can do. We just have to wait until he's ready. Kid is 4.5 and still wants nothing to do with the pool.
Wow...I don't even have anything wise except I think my 27 month old is going to be like Adam - stubborn mule. Congrats on the potty accomplishment & the swimming - guess all when THEY are ready & not a moment sooner.
I am so sorry about your mom but it sounds like she is making great progress. On a totally must prepare for everything - did you add trip insurance just in case mom relapses or that you are needed at home? Just a thought.
While this trip will be considerably different from all others that doesn't make it bad just different & leave it at that. Try to include them all that you can via text, pics, Skype whatever works for your parents. Call and tell them how much they are missed but that you are making the best of it. You deserve your trip & I hope you enjoy every minute of it.
I'm on my phone, 95% packed and ready to go tomorrow. We visited Mimi today and while she's sad she also knows that her PT/OT and dialysis with familiar techs is best right now. BUT she's exercising and walked with Adam today!
We've got two big suit cases, one carry on sized case and my travel pro overnighter (the little rolling kind that can go under the seat, I use it for work travel but the under the seat feature is great for Legos, headphones, videos, snacks, wipes etc required by small people.
Adam is soooo excited--frankly the emotional highs and lows of a 4 year old are pretty f'in annoying. He's exuberant and angry, snuggly and impatient, giggling and crying all day.
T minus 12 hours til we go to the airport. I've got to run six miles in the morning, pack our toiletries and Adam's twilight turtle and white noise machine, empty the dishwasher, oil the butcher block counter (we do that when we leave for a few days), and drag the garbage out to the curb and we're off!!
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
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Disney Magic - Oct 2015
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Dreams, Wishes, Hopes... these are the parts of childhood we should never lose.
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