Stumble It!
I planned this trip for her.
Because she's at the age where everything is magic and wonder. She loves princesses and fairies and dinosaurs. We packed and planned and loaded all for her.
And she was miserable.
Her favorite part of the whole trip was the pool at the resort. I mean, it was a nice pool.
I thought the baby would be an albatross and most of our trip would be spent trying to keep him happy. I thought she would be in awe and high on princess pheromones. Instead, he was a joy to be around and she was clearly not ready for this trip.
(See? JOYFUL)
She was afraid of everything. Since it's Halloween time, they had Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party which should be renamed The Castles All Dark And Purple With Fog and Witches Come Out and Cackle and YOUR Kid Might Be Scared So Don't Waste $160 and Come Back When She's Older.
We tried. We tried so hard. I held her, tried to show her it wasn't scary. I bribed her with flashing necklaces and ice cream. But she was terrified. She wanted to leave. She was literally sobbing and shaking and pulling us towards the exit of the park. Not wanting to emotionally scar her, we gave in and left after it was clear she wasn't going to calm down.
"I'm sorry I was so scared Momma," she kept apologizing after we had to leave. I hugged her and told her it was okay but inside really I was angry, disappointed. I said to Mike, "Do you know how hard we worked so we could do this for her?" I huffed. I puffed.
I felt juvenile and small, but I was upset. I knew I shouldn't be, but my disappointment was bitter. That morning was a failure because she was also scared of everything at Hollywood Studios and we were THAT family that had to leave shows and rides because our kid freaked out. And not even the little one - the one I did this whole thing for.
Animal Kingdom was a better day. She was talking all morning about getting her face painted. She wanted a lion. No, a tiger! No, a cheetah! All morning long, she talked about it. So as soon as we got in the park, we headed for the face painting section. The man did a great job and made her look like the tiger she picked out. He handed up the mirror and she lost her ever-loving shit.
She was afraid of HERSELF.
I tried not to laugh out of sheer madness and the fact that, well, it was sort of funny. I apologized to the man, said we'd be back in a few minutes, and went to the bathroom to wash it off. He kindly repainted her without charging me again with a rainbow and stars and glitter and she was once again appeased (even if this poor pic doesn't show it).
By the end of the day, she wanted us to carry her. She refused to sit in the "baby stroller," she wouldn't let us rent her a "big girl" stroller and wouldn't even sit on my mother's lap on her scooter. So I had to carry my 40-pound three-year old out of the park in 90 degree weather. I wanted to cry.
She wouldn't sleep unless I was next to her. She wouldn't nap. She was NOT tired and she did NOT want to nap. See?
She cried at every little thing. I had disrupted her life, she was over-tired, and she was not herself. Rather, she was the worst version of herself.
Magic Kingdom during the day proved to be a better choice and the only thing she seemed to mildly enjoy. We brought both strollers this time and Sawyer was in the "baby" stroller and I pushed her in the Sit-n-Stand so she felt like a big girl. We tried some rides, walked around a bit, but her favorite part of the day was playing in the water area while we waited to meet Ariel.
Because all the fairies are getting the play these days, the lines to meet them were upwards of an hour. But there was NO line for the princesses, so both kids got to spend a ton of time in there. Sawyer flirted with Sleeping Beauty and Charlotte hugged and danced with all of them. She looked like a hot mess due to previous Ariel water logging in all of her pictures, but whatever. At least she wasn't screaming.
My mother-in-law took Charlotte to the Arabian Nights show that night (where she was a perfect angel for them of course) and Mike and I took the baby to Epcot to see the fireworks. This is what he thought of them at first.
(Dude, WTF?)
But he loved them and was such a good boy.
The next day we went back and finished the few things we missed at Magic Kingdom but it was HOT, she wanted to go to the pool, and I was ready to be done. We got back, relaxed by the pool, had a nice dinner, and then my mother put the kids to bed so Mike and I could go back to Epcot and enjoy it as adults. By which we mean: eat and drink our faces off.
Though they were both perfect on the plane trip down, the plane trip home was something out of the rule book of What Would Suck To Happen To You On a Plane. We got settled in the wrong seats. The baby screamed most of the flight. He peed out the side of his diaper and down my shirt and pants. Charlotte screamed because she couldn't watch her DVD when they made us shut if off. Worst flight ever.
They were two little kids who were worn out.
I was worn out. I wanted to cry with them.
I wanted this trip to be magic and filled with awesome memories of watching our daughter experience something so many people love. But it wasn't. I can't change what it was so I'll try and remember the good things, laugh at the bad things, and vow never to go back for at least 7 more years when I don't have to deal with diapers, car seats, or sleeping issues.
I'll hold onto these:
Sunday, October 25, 2009
It's not you, Disney. It's us
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19 comments:
Well. You're being an adult about it. I'm not sure that I would be. I'd be sitting there a little angry about the shoes I didn't buy so I could go on vaca. Maybe round 2 in 7 years we'll join you.
Aww, so sorry it was rough. Good to have a reminder that a magical family moment can happen with a walk down the street, though!
Good to have you back :-)
wow. you had quite the time, no?
You know, the whole week-before-Halloween thing never occurred to me. It makes sense in a way, I guess, but also if you're trying to market yourselves to the toddler demographic (because, let's be honest, Disneyworld isn't for eight year olds anymore) maybe being scary isn't great planning.
Sorry your trip was so difficult, but it seems like she had at least some fun.
Oh, this brings back SO MANY memories! We did the exact same things with Josie - not Disney, but a hundred other things that SURELY she was old enough for and would enjoy, and we were so excited and thrilled for her and then it was the worst day EVER.
I think it might be a first child syndrome. I see a lot of other parents doing it, too, and I think that's what results in many of the screaming children you see at places. It didn't help that she was so ahead in speech and comprehension, since she seemed like an older child, and we allowed that to dupe us into forgetting that her emotional self was still 2 and 3.
I'm sorry you spent so much money and had such a terrible trip. I know it's heartbreaking, and I'm so sad for you! The time will come when it won't be that way, but it's a lot later than it seems that it would be.
The good news is, you'll never make this kind of mistake again, so you got it all over with in one huge swoop, and by the time Charlotte is old enough to cope with it, Sawyer will probably be ready, too, because he'll have been exposed to more older-child things and because, frankly, he's a boy.v
I'm so sorry your trip wasn't what you were hoping it would be. I'm sure I would feel the exact same way. It looks like she did have some fun, and I hope you managed to have some fun too. Children are interesting creatures, you never know what is going to delight them and what will scare them.
My 9yo would have flipped at the scary Disney, wtf?? She is still traumatized over the Stitch ride that should never be in that place.
We enjoyed the 2 days we spent at Disney. But not the lovefest others have with it. We spent a good portion of our time, one or the other sitting with Olivia while she was too afraid for one ride or the other. It was frustrating.
I'm glad we didn't go when they were smaller. We may go again, but not anytime soon.
You know it is funny... the first trip with Matthew was like this. I guess I forgot about that. I was pregnant and exhausted so maybe that is why.
Anyway, our first whirl wind trip (we went for three days - WAY too short for WDW visit) was before the baby was born and the first day was horrible. The 2nd day ironically like you was to Animal Kingdom and that a much better experience but he was scared of everything and not very happy expect oddly in the hotel lobby??? and still not sleeping really well and I guess it was just a tiresome trip.
And the plane ride home was difficult because we chose to leave in the evening rather the morning like we normally would travel and OMG I just wanted to be home before we even boarded the plane to fly back to Indy.
Apparently I did not learn my lesson because we did out 1st WDW trip during the early part of 2008 (March maybe) but we went back...
We did our 2nd visit in Feb 2009 when the baby was born and about 6 months old (What the hell was I thinking, right?!) I think we had different expecations of Matthew and our energy levels, etc and it turned out to be lovely.
He was full year older and LOVED everything. SO maybe it is that 3 year old age range that is not a good thing when it comes to WDW? Because Matthew at 3 was horrible, but Matthew at 4 was wicked awesome.
I am sorry the trip was a bummer. It looks like there were some good moments - like you the first time I was kind of upset because we spent so much money and he kind of hated it, hid his face, did not want anything to do with anything WDW.
Dude, that SUCKS. My heart is broken for you. I hate that it went this way - I was SO excited to hear all about Charlotte's love of it all!
You've got an awesome perspective on it, though - and this is great bribery material for when she's older.
xoxo
I'm sorry your trip was so much less than you anticipated. We managed to make it through, but only barely. My SIL is a wonderful woman, and I thank her dearly for buying my hopper pass and the house so all I had to buy was our airfare - but she had agendas and schedules. Her oldest is 7 and her second is 3. My children are younger - Mila is 2, and Malachi is 11 months. And my babies are MOMMA'S kids. It's not like I can leave them with just anyone to get on a ride myself...Though thankfully my mom and dad went too, and they adore Memaw and Papa. I eventually told my SIL to give me Genny, and I would take the three little kids and go to the shows - which they all LOVED. Funny thing is, Gia, the 7 yo, decided to join the "baby party". After I stood up for my kids and myself, the trip was much more fun and relaxed - but those first two days were harried and filled with at least one meltdown from each child. Oddly enough, you know which park was the favorite of all the kids? Epcot! It has to be because we were relaxed and did not rush ANYWHERE. On Friday, despite having another day left on our hopper passes, we chose to stay at the house and swim.
Unfortunately, the Friday did NOT refresh the kids enough for the plane trip home, and I too struggled with cranky, overstimulated babies all the way home. Only I was the only adult, and I had to console both kids. Yeah. REALLY glad to be home!! It was disappointing to me, because my first trip to Disneyland was when I was 2 - and I remember it. I had hoped for memories like that for my own daughter. Ah well. We'll try again later - MUCH later.
I understand. I so understand. We experienced lots of that in PA this summer. I spent most of the week being sad at the kids' behavior because I wanted it to be special to them and instead they gave me crap all week. Best part of that week was hanging with you and Robyn. :) Oh and coming home. :)
I really want to take my kids to Disney before Meg is too old for all the stuff the twins love right now. But I can't afford it and I know how they will act and I'll just be pissed all week.
So sorry it wasn't what you'd planned and hoped for. I believe this is why I won't be planning a Disney trip for at least another 2 years.
I'm so sorry :(
I was so hoping you had the magic we did.
But, I bet she'll be telling everyone about how much she loved it!!!
Think positively, though.
I think our kids are the exact opposite. That's how Matt behaves at home and is an angel at Disney. That's why I want to live there!!!
this post rocked.
i get how you feel, trust me.
i get doing this ONCE A YEAR how you feel.
luckily, i lived closer to disneyland and ended up buying annual passes so that the HORRIFIC experiences with my daughter, could be evened out by the sometime okay experiences.
Dude. You have SO. MUCH. AMMUNITION. for the future. You can hold this over her head FOREVER! Guilt trips to last a lifetime.
Oh, I'm so sorry you didn't have the totally fun trip you were hoping for. We go to Disney every year so I think that the kids are just "conditioned" to enjoy it and be good but we've had the unhappy experience at other places many times. I think at one time or another, every parent has tried to do something for their kids that they didn't appreciate or had the response they were hoping for.
Don't give up though, next time will be better :)
She will look back on the trip and remember how fun it was, even though it may have not been for the adults..lol. I give you a lot of credit for not breaking down. If it were me, I may have found a quiet corner and cried my eyes out..lol. Just remember though, you gave your children an awesome experience, that at least Charlotte will remember and that is wonderful!
Oh boy, do I know what you went through! My husband and I took our two oldest when they were three and one and I was three months pregnant to Disney World for the first time. Six months of planning and saving and it was a nightmare!
Five years later, we went back with our eight, six, and four year olds. It was a dream. All of them enjoyed it so much.
It's good that you can view this trip with a sense of humor.
And that is exactly why I would never take my kids (the same age as your kids) to Disney while they are so young. Whenever someone I know mentions going to Disney with kids under 5 I have to put my 2 cents in about how I will wait until my youngest is at LEAST 5. My husband and I would rather save ourselves a trip from hell.
The crazy thing is that everything Charlotte enjoyed, Alexis was batshit scared to do. Like, she totally lost her mind scared when she got within 10 feet of any characters. The rest of it, though, she absolutely loved. You just never know what to expect.
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