The Log Dog Blog: WDW October 2018...again!

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:

Mom - 1 / Mom - 2 / Mom - 3 / Mom - 4 / Mom - 5

Mom - 6 / Mom - 7

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!

I love numbers...look at the odometer!
This happened just as we were
arriving at my brother's house!

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!

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