IloveJack
10-21-2010, 10:36 AM
Final Thoughts
I'm sure David missed getting to ride the thrill rides with me, because I missed being able to ride them. But I didn't particularly enjoy spending time with our friends, even though it meant him getting to ride the big rides. They'd already spent 3 days in the parks when we got there, and they weren't in a hurry to do anything. I like to do as much is possible while there, and got really irritated when they were wasting time, standing and talking. A counter service lunch should never take over an hour and a half, and yet it did. Truthfully, I was happy when they decided not to meet back up the second day.
I learned on this trip that I would later regret it if I didn't please myself at least a little. This kind of ties in with the above, but even with Paige, we finally started splitting up to do things. Sammie didn't like the characters, and I didn't want to torture her with meeting them, or waste our time standing in lines for something that she didn't like, but that's mostly what Paige wanted to do. So finally, I started doing what I wanted to do, even if I was in the minority.
I think our future trips may be just us.
That being said, I loved getting to meet Kristin (Georgesgirl1). I've never met anyone from the internet before, and this was kind of cool. I'm glad that David came out of his shyness for long enough to meet George (her husband), and that Sammie and Myers liked each other (even though Sammie kept stealing Myers' Mickey!). Paige seemed to enjoy meeting them, too, as she always likes discussing Disney.
I also doubt that we'll ever take another 2-year old. Sammie wasn't old enough to be scared last year, but this year was a different story. She was scared of a lot. She had a great trip, and was constantly laughing, playing, and pointing out things she liked. But I didn't like how often we had to leave shows, or that we'd stand in line only to have her back out of doing things. We didn't so much plan to take a 2-year old, as I just wanted to celebrate my 30th ("I'm finally old... ugh") birthday at Disney. We probably won't go back until we celebrate another first birthday... so Sammie should be a little over 3 and a half, then. Hopefully, she won't be scared anymore.
I bought a Duffy bear for Sammie, not to buy into the hype, but because I'd bought her the Disney Bear book last year, on her birthday. I figured it'd be like most of her other stuffed animals... she'd play for a while and then cast him aside. Boy was I wrong. The only way she put him down on the trip was if we took him away. She slept with him nightly, took him to see the fairies, and just carried him everywhere. She loves that bear. I can't say that I like the name "Duffy," though, so for now, he's just "Bear."
Our trip last year was the first week of October, and crowds were so much lighter. It was obvious that it was fall break for many, many people. I was amazed at how many Florida license plates I saw; I guess it was their fall break, also. We didn't want to have to miss a week of school (teacher or student), but the crowd levels were so much worse, especially in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We learned quite a few trips ago how to work the system, between fast pass and extra magic hours, but I still feel like our first two days we accomplished very little. We're not planning to go next year, as I don't expect to have enough money with a newborn. We'll probably go for the baby's first birthday, in early summer of 2012.
On our way there, somewhere near the Florida turnpike, David declared, "We'll never drive again." I agree. If we can't afford to fly, we won't go. We were so tired from the drive that we were irritable with each other, in a place we love so much. We also could've had an extra 7 hours on both ends of the trip, as the drive is that much longer than the flight (even with airport waits).
Having said all that... Paige asked yesterday (October 20) if we'd want to go back with her and her family next fall. She's convinced them to return, and I know that if we check-in by September 30, Sammie would be free for one more trip. I doubt we could afford it, and I don't know about taking a 4(ish)-month old with us, but I swear, Disney love is a disease for which there's no cure!
I'm sure David missed getting to ride the thrill rides with me, because I missed being able to ride them. But I didn't particularly enjoy spending time with our friends, even though it meant him getting to ride the big rides. They'd already spent 3 days in the parks when we got there, and they weren't in a hurry to do anything. I like to do as much is possible while there, and got really irritated when they were wasting time, standing and talking. A counter service lunch should never take over an hour and a half, and yet it did. Truthfully, I was happy when they decided not to meet back up the second day.
I learned on this trip that I would later regret it if I didn't please myself at least a little. This kind of ties in with the above, but even with Paige, we finally started splitting up to do things. Sammie didn't like the characters, and I didn't want to torture her with meeting them, or waste our time standing in lines for something that she didn't like, but that's mostly what Paige wanted to do. So finally, I started doing what I wanted to do, even if I was in the minority.
I think our future trips may be just us.
That being said, I loved getting to meet Kristin (Georgesgirl1). I've never met anyone from the internet before, and this was kind of cool. I'm glad that David came out of his shyness for long enough to meet George (her husband), and that Sammie and Myers liked each other (even though Sammie kept stealing Myers' Mickey!). Paige seemed to enjoy meeting them, too, as she always likes discussing Disney.
I also doubt that we'll ever take another 2-year old. Sammie wasn't old enough to be scared last year, but this year was a different story. She was scared of a lot. She had a great trip, and was constantly laughing, playing, and pointing out things she liked. But I didn't like how often we had to leave shows, or that we'd stand in line only to have her back out of doing things. We didn't so much plan to take a 2-year old, as I just wanted to celebrate my 30th ("I'm finally old... ugh") birthday at Disney. We probably won't go back until we celebrate another first birthday... so Sammie should be a little over 3 and a half, then. Hopefully, she won't be scared anymore.
I bought a Duffy bear for Sammie, not to buy into the hype, but because I'd bought her the Disney Bear book last year, on her birthday. I figured it'd be like most of her other stuffed animals... she'd play for a while and then cast him aside. Boy was I wrong. The only way she put him down on the trip was if we took him away. She slept with him nightly, took him to see the fairies, and just carried him everywhere. She loves that bear. I can't say that I like the name "Duffy," though, so for now, he's just "Bear."
Our trip last year was the first week of October, and crowds were so much lighter. It was obvious that it was fall break for many, many people. I was amazed at how many Florida license plates I saw; I guess it was their fall break, also. We didn't want to have to miss a week of school (teacher or student), but the crowd levels were so much worse, especially in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We learned quite a few trips ago how to work the system, between fast pass and extra magic hours, but I still feel like our first two days we accomplished very little. We're not planning to go next year, as I don't expect to have enough money with a newborn. We'll probably go for the baby's first birthday, in early summer of 2012.
On our way there, somewhere near the Florida turnpike, David declared, "We'll never drive again." I agree. If we can't afford to fly, we won't go. We were so tired from the drive that we were irritable with each other, in a place we love so much. We also could've had an extra 7 hours on both ends of the trip, as the drive is that much longer than the flight (even with airport waits).
Having said all that... Paige asked yesterday (October 20) if we'd want to go back with her and her family next fall. She's convinced them to return, and I know that if we check-in by September 30, Sammie would be free for one more trip. I doubt we could afford it, and I don't know about taking a 4(ish)-month old with us, but I swear, Disney love is a disease for which there's no cure!