I am a life long Disney fan, of course. I haven't a clue exactly how many time I went from 3-21, but it has got to be a pretty decent number of times. When I was in college my boyfriend and I went every year between Christmas and New Years. We even debated getting annual passes so we could go every time I came home from collage. When I met Mike I hadn't been to Disney in a year or two. Between his issues with crowds, a poor economy and the fact that I was suddenly mom to a 5yr old I doubted if I'd ever get back there. It was a strange time and soon we had Riley.
Mike assured me that we'd go to Disney "someday". My hopes were not high. Then time passed and it seemed possible, but Mike insisted we wait until Riley was completely potty trained. I suspected he was stalling, but he had a point. Last summer we had an opportunity. I was stunned when he asked me to look into a Disney trip and blown away when he gave me the go ahead to plan it.
We had a great three day trip to Disney. We all enjoyed ourselves. Mike didn't enjoy some parts and I doubted if I'd ever get us back as a family. When I asked if he'd go back he reverted to his old answer of "someday". Again my hopes weren't high. I pressed on another seven months trying not to think about the "Happy-est Place on Earth."
It wasn't hard to be distracted from Disney dreams there was a lot to keep me busy. As 2014 started I decided we needed to plan another family vacation. When I looked into things I found a great Groupon for a theme park we'd been to before and liked (not Disney).
It was a wonderful way to celebrate Isaac's magnet middle school acceptance and academic achievements. We had a lovely day. I thought theme parks were behind me when I had the back surgery (Have I mentioned being wrong a lot?). It was so nice to have a theme park day with my family. I came away wanting more of them. In my mind theme park trips are one of the perks of your kids growing up. I worried that we just weren't a "theme park family" because Mike doesn't enjoy them as much as the kids and I.
When my best friend decided to grant her daughter's birthday candle wish of a trip to "princess land" aka Disney she asked me for tips. It really made me want to go back to Disney! I talked Disney with her, joined Disney Moms facebook groups and watched youtube videos of other people's Disney trips. That's when I decided to pitch Mike the idea of getting annual passes. He had some concerns and I pressed on offering varying ideas on the subject. In the end I agreed that Mike just wouldn't want to go that often. I was concerned whether I could handle taking the kids on my own. It boiled down to this: I could drive the kids to Disney and probably handle a day with them, but there's no way after all that I could get us home.
Ok, I give up. It's not realistic. There was no more to discuss. Then I found out about an amazing only-come-around-once-a-year deal. I could buy a 3 day ticket that equated to $43 a day! It didn't have to be used all at once either. I talked to Mike about it and we decided it would be ok for me to get Riley and I each a 3 day ticket. I would save one day to go with my sister, but I had two other trips to plan...
I was over the freaking moon to have such a problem. I called Mike's cousin's wife who has a pass and a 2yr old and she was planning a trip to Animal Kingdom that week! Hot Damn!! She was happy for the company and I was happy for the ride.
I definitely wouldn't have been able to do the round trip drive and all that Disney fun. I left my wheelchair gloves at home which made everything harder. Hello, friction burns. There was a particularly vicious hill I am not a fan of at all that is of course in a central area. It's hard enough to mount a steep incline on your own, but try it in a crowd with a 4yr old on your lap, Oye! Other than that I felt like I did better than I expected. Roo had an awesome day with her little cousin and Mommy got her Disney fix. Were there's will there's a way, right Mickey?"
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