Sometime back in the spring, my mom and I booked a trip for
a weekend trip to WDW because she
had never been to Mickey's Not So Scary
Halloween Party. We were looking forward to it and then life happened and
she spent 19 nights in the hospital over the summer.
If you are interested in reading about that ordeal, here you
go:
I also resigned from my teaching position to take care of
her because there was so much uncertainly surrounding the timeline for her
recovery, so a lot of things changed in a very short amount of time!
C and I have been traveling when we can because we bought annual passes for WDW and Disneyland Resort right before my mom
got sick. And, if I'm being honest, it has been good for my own emotional and
mental health to get away and spend fun time with C whenever possible. I have
profound respect for anyone serving in a caregiver role because it has been
much more challenging than I initially anticipated. It has gotten easier with
time as my mom's health has improved and for that I am incredibly grateful
because it is so hard to watch someone you love struggle.
Despite things getting better, we weren't sure this trip would
happen. Even on the day before we were supposed to leave, we were questioning
whether we should go and if it would be too much for her! So us actually taking
this trip was a major victory! And we really did have a lot celebrate!
We drove to my brother's house on Friday night because we
flew out of BWI and he lives not too far from there and kindly got up at 3:45
in the morning on Saturday to drop us off for our 6:00 am flight! I wanted to
get to the airport early in case there were any delays at security because my
mom carries a personal oxygen concentrator due to her pulmonary fibrosis. For
some reason, I did not have TSA pre-check on my boarding pass, nor did my mom,
so we wanted to give ourselves as much time as possible. Turns out getting
there early was a smart move, but for a different reason…the line was insane.
Thankfully, to move things along, they decided to let everyone keep their
shoes/jackets on and all liquids and laptops in bags and used police K9s to
screen people prior to the xray machine and metal detector, and the line
actually moved fairly quickly, which was a nice surprise. This also meant we
didn't have to rush to get to the gate, which would have been difficult for my
mom to do.
We got two of the Big Front Seats on our Spirit flight, and
I am telling you, they are the BEST! Literally this is all I want when flying –
a spacious, comfortable seat! I don't need special attention or snacks or
service or any other "perk" that often comes with first class. I just
want a comfy seat. And these fit the bill! It is hard to go back to a regular
seat after being spoiled by these seats! I failed to take a picture of the
seats (this is a theme for the weekend – I took far fewer pictures than I
normally do on a trip because I was focused on taking care of my mom), but take
my word for it when I say these seats are amazing!
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I love numbers...look at the odometer!
This happened just as we were
arriving at my brother's house! |
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I do not know why the female character
only has one leg... |
We landed in Orlando around 8:00 am, and took the Magical Express to our resort. We
stayed in a club-level, savanna room at Animal
Kingdom Lodge and it was fabulous! I've stayed there before in a regular
room, but my mom has never stayed there, so it was wonderful. I also learned
that it's often spelled savanna without the H in America, but it's spelled
savannah in most other English-speaking nations (there's your useless piece of
trivia for the day...you're welcome!).
When we got off the Magical
Express bus, a cast member met us and escorted us up to the club level lounge
to get us checked in. He also brought us mimosas, so as you might imagine, it
was quite a step up from my recent stays at All-Star Movies and All-StarMusic! (Although I really don't mind the value resorts when I know C and I
will not be spending much time in the room!) I only took a few photos of the lounge because I didn't want to be that weirdo taking pictures of other people while they eat!
We ate breakfast and hung around the resort for a few hours
before deciding to go over to Disney
Springs. We knew we'd be taking things slowly because of my mom's health,
but we really enjoyed our afternoon! It's a nice place to explore at a
leisurely pace!
It happened to be the three-year anniversary of the death of my beloved Chelsea, and you may recall that she loved drinking coffee with me
during our almost 17 years together. I decided to go to the Joffrey's coffee
shop where they can put photos onto the foam of your drinks and get Chelsea's
picture on my cappuccino to honor her. My word, I miss that little dog!
We went back to Animal
Kingdom Lodge around 7:00 pm, and I am embarrassed to admit that I was
exhausted and fell asleep around 7:30 pm! My mom went up to the lounge to get
some snacks, but I missed out on all of that!
We didn't want too early of a start on Sunday because we
knew we'd have a late night, so we just hung out at the resort until about 3:00
pm. We loved sitting on our balcony and watching the animals – so peaceful and
relaxing!
We decided to splurge on a Minnie Van to get over to Magic Kingdom, but the Lyft app was not
able to find one for us, so that was a little disappointing. Then Lyft couldn't
even find a regular car that would take less than 35 minutes to get to our pick
up spot. What?!? It was the first time I've used Lyft (I'm pretty loyal to
Uber) and I only tried it because that's the only service with the Minnie Vans,
and I've got to say I was not impressed with them! I instead ordered an Uber,
which was five minutes away, and foolishly thought we were all set. However, I
watched the car on the map, and he was driving in the wrong direction and
getting further and further from the resort. I sent him a message. No response.
I waited and then sent a second message. No response. I finally called, and he
was so rude! He kept blaming the lights (hate to tell you, friend, but I know
the roads very well and it wasn't the lights that caused you to continue
driving in the wrong direction) and actually became belligerent, so I hung up
and canceled the ride. We decided to take the bus, and as we were heading over
to MK, I sent a complaint to Uber about that driver. Not only did they respond
quickly, they apologized, assured me they would look into this driver's
account, waived the cancellation fee, AND gave me credit on my account! I am SO
impressed with their customer service!
We finally made it to MK
just after 4:00 pm, which is when you can check in for MNSSHP, and we rented a wheelchair so I could push my mom around so
she wouldn't have to walk everywhere. This turned out to be a very tiring and
challenging undertaking – I have never noticed how many uneven surfaces there
are! I struggled the whole night to keep the wheelchair from bumping into
people, walls, trash cans, you name it! Yikes! Embarrassing! I did get better
as the night went on, but those were not my finest hours! Maybe next time we
will rent a scooter!
The party was awesome! It was much more crowded that when C
and I attended on October 12, but the weather was perfect, we got great spots
for the parade and the fireworks, and my mom had a fantastic time, which is all
that matters! I was so glad she finally got to experience it! We were able to
eat and ride attractions and people watch, and just enjoy the time together in
a fun setting after a very long and draining almost-four months.
Something awesome happened when we went over to Sunshine Tree Terrace, home of my beloved Orange Bird! When it was my turn to order, the cast member stuck a sign out of her window to indicate she was ready...and that sign was Orange Bird! I asked to take a picture of it and showed her my phone case and explained how much I loved Orange Bird, and a few minutes later, I left with two Citrus Swirl Floats that were "on the Mouse" because I loved Orange Bird so much! Such a little thing, but it made me so happy!
On Monday morning, we ate breakfast and packed up before
spending the rest of the morning watching the animals. The Magical Express bus picked us up at noon, and we both had TSA
pre-check for this leg of the trip, so we got to the gate in no time. The comfy
seats made for a nice flight home, and my brother picked us up at the airport.
One major bonus of flying in and out of BWI was getting to see my adorable
niece and sister-in-law before we drove home!
Here are the pics from our trip; as I mentioned, I really
didn't take that many! I did get a few cool Boomerangs during the parade
and the fireworks, though! The last video of the fireworks shows the 360-degree display and it is beautiful to see in person!
Check In:
Our Room:
Our Views:
Around the resort:
Club Level Lounge:
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| even the sugar is adorable! |
Disney Springs:
Magic Kingdom/MNSSHP:
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| yes - the lights for Space Mountain were on again! |
Boo to You Parade:
HalloWishes Fireworks:
Back to the airport:
Happy Tails to you!
