Pre-Trip Can I Return These Shoes? They Hurt My Feet. - A September 2018 Pre-Trip Report

"Can I Return These Shoes? They Hurt My Feet."

Yes – Those were the words my husband uttered as we were unpacking from our last trip. If you have no idea what I’m talking about you obviously need to go back and read my last TR…

https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/hurricanes-foot-pains-and-“what-the-crocs-just-happened-”-anniversary-tale-–-a-sept-irma-2017-tr-completed.934251/

Of course the shoe drama didn’t happen until day 15.

If you are all caught up and you are still willing to read on and join us again for as @blgauger says, “Ross’ Shenanigans”, well then, please read on.

Just in case you don’t know our crazy family… Here we are…

Me: Mary – I am a high school English teacher turned homeschool and blogger mom. (Although I am SO BAD at updating my web page.) I have always been a Disney fan and love all things Disney.

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My hubby: Ross – my nutty, “frugal” husband who always seems to add some drama to our trip. He drives me crazy, but he is the hardest working guy I know who makes a lot of sacrifices so we can go on these trips.

Julia – my now sweet 16 daughter who I hope never grows out of going to Disney with her family. Although college seems to be getting in the way of our most loved September trip. (BTW, She usually doesn’t dress all in black. This was her costume from the production of “Much Ado About Nothing” our homeschool group put on. She was backstage & props.) She’s had a tough year with some health issues that are thankfully working out okay – so that’s definitely something I will be celebrating this year.

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Hope – my 9 year old daughter who is boycotting all omnimover rides. She is Autistic and the reason why I started writing TR’s. So many people told me I was crazy for taking a kid with so many “issues” to Disney that I really wanted to highlight the positives and show how successful a trip to Disney with a special needs kid could be. Sadly, this will be her last year as a “kid”. Next year, she will age into a Disney “adult”.

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And of course, here are the shoes of contention…

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Here we all are at Great Wolf Lodge (except for the Crocs). We went for the first time this year with our homeschool group that managed to get an AWESOME rate.

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So yes, as the TR title states, Ross has decided that he wants to see if he can return the Crocs he purchased last year. He figures since he barely wore them and the fact they hurt his feet so much, that it is a reasonable request. I will bring to your attention that Ross and the word “reasonable” sometimes rarely go together. Nonetheless, he is on a mission and firmly believes he has a good case.

Now I spent 15 years in retail management and some of the WORST memories I have are the people who would present me with a pair of jeans to return with nasty stains, ripped bottoms and no tags - and yet swear that, “I’ve never worn them.” So thinking about my husband trying to return his less than loved Crocs is not sitting well with me.

At first I wasn’t too concerned. I thought for sure he would long forget about them as the year went on. He even managed to purchase another pair of sandals that he likes almost as much as the ones Julia stepped on. (I forced him to buy a second pair of them – just in case.) He has also learned to walk a few steps to the side of Julia.

However, when he bought his new shoes a few months after we returned home, he brought up the topic again. Then, as I sat down at our 180 mark to make our ADR’s, he again reminded me of the Crocs, now covered with dust in his closet, and announced he planned on trying to return them. Seriously? Even in the depths of our North East winter as he came in after shoveling snow, his mind returned to those lonely Crocs as he mentioned his hopes that Disney would take them back and give him a merchandise credit.

So here we are, into double digits and quickly approaching our 60 day FP+ date, and he is NOT forgetting about the those Crocs.

These are becoming desperate times. I am now on a mission to “misplace” the Crocs before our September journey. Will I succeed? I don’t know. But if I do not, I made it clear that I am not having anything to do with this craziness. I am not packing them, carrying them or walking with him into the store if he does attempt to make this transaction. I don’t even want to hear about them. He is on his own with this endeavor. Will he actually go through with it? Your guess is as good as mine. But I promise I will document the tale for all of you… because let’s be honest, how else would anyone believe me?
 
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Gurt

Well-Known Member
I really 'hope' the ipod works for Hope it would be such a shame for her to miss out on rides she enjoys, I am also (albeit only just) on the spectrum so I totally understand it can be difficult, I once made a guy move seats on a train because he was sat in the seat allocated to me, the carriage was empty apart from the 2 of us, he was mad and I couldn't explain to him that I couldn't help it.
 

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
38 Days To Go!!!!!

And... I think I know for certain Hope's issue with the omnimover rides. It's the fact that the ride may stop at some point during the duration of the ride. She said it scares her. I think she identifies it as a "mistake" and in her mind, if something goes wrong, you start over. But obviously, you can't just go back and start the ride from the beginning - it picks up where it left off, and that, she can't deal with.

So what to do??

Even the offer of a Disney Dollar reward did not budge her decision. Everytime, I mentioned those rides she would cover her ears with her hands and declare, "NOT GOING TO RIDE!"

I thought and thought what I could do.... The days are ticking away - how could we go to WDW and not ride Peter Pan?? or Buzz? or the big golf ball??? I don't think it would be bothering me as much if I didn't know she loved riding these rides. For example, I asked her if she was going to ride R&R and she said, "Too scared. You go upside down, I want to stay right side up." Now how can I argue with that? she makes a point - she doesn't like going upside down and I completely respect that. But theses omnimover rides she loved and I hate when her Autism gets in the way of things she enjoys. Something happened to make her stop loving them and I 'm pretty sure it happened at our Six Flags. Last year, we rode this ride, Battle For Metropolis, which honestly isn't really an omnimover ride, and I think it stopped along the way and she was not happy with it. After that experience, a few weeks later we were in Disney and all this started.

Then yesterday I had a thought. Sometimes if she needs to calm down, playing her I-Pod helps her. So I asked if she wanted to take her I-Pod on those particular rides and if the ride stops - she could play her I-Pod until it starts again. Well.... she seemed to like that idea! So as of right now, that's the plan and she says she's riding the omnimovers!

Everybody keep your fingers crossed!
What a creative solution! I'm wondering if I can modify that for my DS. He is afraid of a LOT of the rides that are somewhat dark....Carrots of the Pirabbean, Haunted Mansion, etc....He doesn't have an ipod, but maybe if we tell him he can watch a youtube video on the phone if he's freaked out, he'd be ok. (With headphones of course) We could bring his Tangle, but I'm not sure that would distract him enough. It's great for when he has to sit and talk to someone about things that make him sad, but I'm not sure it would work for attractions....I will have to think about this!
 

Figment Forever

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I really 'hope' the ipod works for Hope it would be such a shame for her to miss out on rides she enjoys, I am also (albeit only just) on the spectrum so I totally understand it can be difficult, I once made a guy move seats on a train because he was sat in the seat allocated to me, the carriage was empty apart from the 2 of us, he was mad and I couldn't explain to him that I couldn't help it.

Thanks for sharing. I understand what you are saying - I see episodes like that in her all the time.
 

Figment Forever

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
What a creative solution! I'm wondering if I can modify that for my DS. He is afraid of a LOT of the rides that are somewhat dark....Carrots of the Pirabbean, Haunted Mansion, etc....He doesn't have an ipod, but maybe if we tell him he can watch a youtube video on the phone if he's freaked out, he'd be ok. (With headphones of course) We could bring his Tangle, but I'm not sure that would distract him enough. It's great for when he has to sit and talk to someone about things that make him sad, but I'm not sure it would work for attractions....I will have to think about this!


Thanks for sharing. I find that anything is worth a try - you never know what could work.

Hope used to have severe issues with the dark rides - she still is a little hesitant to "dark" things. Her OT suggested that it wasn't necessarily because she was afraid of the dark, rather that the darkness in the ride added a whole other level of sensory input that she couldn't process so well. One think that really helped her was to wear her sunglasses on those rides. It sounds silly but it seemed to calm her. I would call them her "safety" glasses. She really liked it. About a year later, she didn't need them anymore, but she would cover her eyes and only peek through a little bit, and then the next year, she didn't even need to do that. Her earphones were a great help too.

Another program that helped us BEYOND words was "The Listening Program". It is a pricy program, but it was given to us through her OT. I can't say enough about it. It helped her battle through so many sensory issues she had. It always came with us to Disney. I still pull it out when I see she's struggling through something.
 

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Thanks for sharing. I find that anything is worth a try - you never know what could work.

Hope used to have severe issues with the dark rides - she still is a little hesitant to "dark" things. Her OT suggested that it wasn't necessarily because she was afraid of the dark, rather that the darkness in the ride added a whole other level of sensory input that she couldn't process so well. One think that really helped her was to wear her sunglasses on those rides. It sounds silly but it seemed to calm her. I would call them her "safety" glasses. She really liked it. About a year later, she didn't need them anymore, but she would cover her eyes and only peek through a little bit, and then the next year, she didn't even need to do that. Her earphones were a great help too.

Another program that helped us BEYOND words was "The Listening Program". It is a pricy program, but it was given to us through her OT. I can't say enough about it. It helped her battle through so many sensory issues she had. It always came with us to Disney. I still pull it out when I see she's struggling through something.
I've never heard of the Listening Program. I wonder if I can even get that here, but I'll look into it. I'm planning to bring some headphones for DS next Summer. DS did fine on things like Nemo, Buzz Lightyear, etc, but haunted Mansion, Carrots of the Pirabbean....he wouldn't go on those. He DID do ToT, but it thoroughly terrified him and he wouldn't go on anything that seemed remotely creepy after that. I asked him if watching ride videos would help and he said it might, but if it looked scary, he wouldn't go on the rides when we got there, so I'm not sure what to do about it. But we're waitlisted for a program designed for families to learn how to communicate better with someone with Autism, and to teach him more coping skills and such, so maybe by next Summer, he'll be better about it. I really hope the ipod helps Hope!!
 

Elizabeth Swann

Premium Member
In the Parks
No
I read your last trip report and I have been looking for your ptr. We are at POP 9/2-9/18 and we are at the same parks on 9/13 (HS) and 9/14 (AK). I will say hi if I see you. We would rather stay at POP for longer than stay in a deluxe for a shorter vacation too.

We usually spend our first night at AOA but since I am very allergic to dogs and it is now a dog friendly resort, I didn't want to risk getting sick on our vacation. I called and talked guest services and she couldn't guarantee I wouldn't be near a room that a dog is in or in a room that a dog had been in. I know that technically they can't guarantee that at POP either but the odds are less there.
 

Figment Forever

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I read your last trip report and I have been looking for your ptr. We are at POP 9/2-9/18 and we are at the same parks on 9/13 (HS) and 9/14 (AK). I will say hi if I see you. We would rather stay at POP for longer than stay in a deluxe for a shorter vacation too.

We usually spend our first night at AOA but since I am very allergic to dogs and it is now a dog friendly resort, I didn't want to risk getting sick on our vacation. I called and talked guest services and she couldn't guarantee I wouldn't be near a room that a dog is in or in a room that a dog had been in. I know that technically they can't guarantee that at POP either but the odds are less there.


That's tough with the dogs. While I think it's great that WDW offers pet owners the ability to stay with their dogs in the room, but I also feel bad for those with allergies. Hopefully they give those rooms an extra cleaning.

I hope you have an amazing trip and yes, PLEASE say hi if you see us!!
 

LMSB

Well-Known Member
Following along!I have to catch up on your trip report from last year as well -- your girls are getting big!
I'm a fellow East coast-er, originally from central NJ now living in South Jersey:)
 

Elizabeth Swann

Premium Member
In the Parks
No
Does anybody know if opting out of mousekeeping is still an option. If so, what is the credit they offer? Is it a gift card at the end of your stay?

I know at Pop they are. You have to tell them when you check in and it is $10 a night minus your first night. They will email you an e-gift card and I think you receive it pretty quickly. If you do pass on housekeeping though they will do the security checks on your room.
 

Figment Forever

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Following along!I have to catch up on your trip report from last year as well -- your girls are getting big!
I'm a fellow East coast-er, originally from central NJ now living in South Jersey:)


Thank you so much for following along!! My brother just moved to South Jersey near LBI, so I've been spoiled being able to visit him all summer! It's beautiful!
 

Figment Forever

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I know at Pop they are. You have to tell them when you check in and it is $10 a night minus your first night. They will email you an e-gift card and I think you receive it pretty quickly. If you do pass on housekeeping though they will do the security checks on your room.


Thank you @Pooh'smate ! Do you know how I would request fresh towels or throw out the trash? Is there a certain procedure?
 

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