Pre-Trip Our Bittersweet Return to Disney

Hi again, everyone! We're going back to Disney! While I am very excited about this, I am also very worried about how much we are going to be able to enjoy our trip. For those of you who don't know, we lost Lily in a car accident in December of 2022. She enjoyed going to Disney with me, but she never really loved it like she did Universal and everything Harry Potter, so that makes it a little easier to return. I'm not sure if I'll ever be ready to return to Universal. Last summer we made a short trip to Dollywood to try to make some new memories. The boys decided that it was time to head back to WDW and see how we do.
Here is the last Disney picture I have of us as a family. It happened to be taken on the cruise we took to celebrate Logan's high school graduation.
2022-06-19 - Disney Dream - Disney Dream_2.jpeg


And here is the last Disney picture I'll ever have of all 3 kids together. They were re-creating an old photo.
20220622_152623.jpg


And to get one more depressing piece of information out of the way, we had to say good bye to our cat Flik not quite a month ago. It was hard enough anyway, but Lily was his person and I felt like I was letting her down that I couldn't help him in any other way. Luckily, Logan was able to come home and I did it at home with all of us there. It was a rough weekend, but that Monday morning, there were two cardinals in our backyard flitting around and chasing each other. I choose to believe that they are together again and enjoying each others company. We had some beautiful weather the week before and I was able to take him outside to enjoy the sunshine.
20240220_153555.jpg


Okay, done with the depressing stuff and am ready to discuss this trip.

I think this is the shortest lead up time to a Disney trip I have ever had and I swore I would not take another trip with just one day in each park, but trying to find time between 2 different half Ironman races that Logan is doing this summer, the 424 mile bicycle ride he is doing across Iowa, the end of Owen's club soccer season, the preseason tournaments for Owen's high school soccer team, and my coworkers vacation schedules was very difficult and I feel grateful that we found a week that would work.

When: Wednesday, June 12 - Tuesday, June 18
Where: Pop Century (we have two hopefully connecting rooms)
Who: me (Amy), my husband Brian, Logan (21), Owen (16)
Here is Owen at his first College Showcase this "spring" season. It was snowing and there were 40mph wind gusts!
IMG_9094.JPG


And here is Logan at the end of his second half Ironman race last summer:
155_3rd-2974343-FT_US-6487_054643-30646972.JPG


Now for some plans:
June 12 - our flight leaves Columbus at 5:15am. I didn't really want to leave this early, but there was a huge difference in price for the later flights, so butt crack of dawn it is! I'm sure the boys will sleep in the car on the way to the airport and most of the flight. We are set to land at 7:25am. I think we will probably take Mears Connect to get to Pop Century. The plan for the day is just to take it easy since we'll have such an early start to the day. We'll likely head to Disney Springs and check out a few of our favorite resorts and call it an early evening

June 13, 15, 16, 17 - we will spend one day in each park, I just haven't decided which day will be which park yet

June 14 - we have tickets for the Typhoon Lagoon H20 Glow After Hours

June 18 - our flight home leaves at 4:15. We will likely sleep in and have a late breakfast before heading to the airport

I know we could fit more park time in, but the 4 park Magic Tickets that the are offering right now was a good deal, so that's what we went with. Not sure that we will do much table service dining, but I have until April 13 to think more about that. I'm still trying to decide on Memory Maker. It is so expensive now, and I'm not sure if we would use it enough. Last summer, Owen and Logan wouldn't let me take pictures of them at Dollywood since Lily wouldn't be in them, so not sure if they'll be ready this year.

I'll close this out with some pics of our new(ish) kittens, Harry and Cruella!
20240305_151126.jpg

20240316_125000.jpg

20240108_203103.jpg

20240129_173358.jpg
 

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Oh, I'm so glad you are feeling ready to go back. I hope it can be healing for all of you. Do you have any plans to do something special to remember Lily there? I thought of you all often last summer in Epcot when we went to the kidcot stations.

I'm so sorry about Flik. I'm sure they are so glad to be together again!!
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Oh, I'm so glad you are feeling ready to go back. I hope it can be healing for all of you. Do you have any plans to do something special to remember Lily there? I thought of you all often last summer in Epcot when we went to the kidcot stations.

I'm so sorry about Flik. I'm sure they are so glad to be together again!!
Thanks! We really haven't thought about doing anything for Lily yet, but I'm sure we'll do something.
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The packing pile has been started!
20240324_154329.jpg


I'm seriously considering trying to only do carry on luggage this trip. Last time we flew, both suitcases we took were damaged. In fact, my Mickey Mouse one was destroyed. It looked like it had been run over by the luggage truck. Luckily it was still available to purchase and Southwest reimbursed me for it, but it was still a pain in the butt. That coupled with all the stories of lost or delayed luggage lately make me leery of checking any bags. We'll see what happens as we get closer to travel time.
 

riverside

Well-Known Member
I'm seriously considering trying to only do carry on luggage this trip.

Given the length of your trip and the time of year, I bet you can do it!
Ironically, I always check a bag in for a summer trip when the weather is warmer & the clothes are lighter. Yet, I’ve, not once but twice, got a full weeks worth of clothes in a carryon in January!!🤔
 

DryerLintFan

Premium Member
Thanks! My goal is to try not to plan so much and just go with the flow! We'll see how that goes considering I already have multiple lists going both in my head and written down! I just can't help myself

Amy I’m so glad you’re going back! I know it will be such a bittersweet trip but i hope it tilts towards the sweet.

I guess i never picked up that you’re in Columbus. I didn’t think our airport got out that early. We’re flying to Vegas tomorrow and our flight is at 6am and that feels brutal enough! I applaud your tenacity!! But also if you ever want to grab coffee hmu.

I quoted the above post to say, i normally overplan our Disney trips because i enjoy IT and that’s my personality. And then i also normally execute them precisely 🙃 but last month when we went my partner had a bum foot and i was forced to throw half my plans out the window and modify the other half. And I’ll be honest i was really disappointed. But I’ll tell you that was the most enjoyable trip we’ve ever had to Disney. I think going forward I’ll make my normal plan and then remove half 😂
 

erstwo

Well-Known Member
I'm honestly most worried about my toiletries and the amount of liquids that can go in carry ons. I may be able to divide it up among the 4 of us and make it work though.
Are you TSA precheck verified? If you are, I wouldn’t worry. I fly with a LOT of 3 oz bottles and never have a problem.
You actually should be fine either way. The only trouble I’ve had in the last decade was when the pre check line was closed at my terminal in LaGuardia and I had to use the regular line - of all things- they confiscated my nearly empty full size toothpaste and a 3.5oz conditioner bottle I’d flown with for years. Never said a word about the other 10 bottles (shampoo, face serum, etc) I had in my bag. 😱
Unless you’re going to fly there via London Heathrow - 🤣- you should be fine!
 

LeighM

Well-Known Member
I can squeeze A LOT of 3 oz and less items in the flat bottom quart sized bags. I was finally able to find a travel size bottle of contact saline solution so that alone allows me to travel without a checked baggage. I never wanted to gamble on a TSA agent having issues with a full size bottle of solution and whether it could be considered medical.
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Amy I’m so glad you’re going back! I know it will be such a bittersweet trip but i hope it tilts towards the sweet.

I guess i never picked up that you’re in Columbus. I didn’t think our airport got out that early. We’re flying to Vegas tomorrow and our flight is at 6am and that feels brutal enough! I applaud your tenacity!! But also if you ever want to grab coffee hmu.

I quoted the above post to say, i normally overplan our Disney trips because i enjoy IT and that’s my personality. And then i also normally execute them precisely 🙃 but last month when we went my partner had a bum foot and i was forced to throw half my plans out the window and modify the other half. And I’ll be honest i was really disappointed. But I’ll tell you that was the most enjoyable trip we’ve ever had to Disney. I think going forward I’ll make my normal plan and then remove half 😂
We're actually in Dayton, but there are no longer any nonstop flights from Dayton International to MCO, so we always drive to John Glenn. We're on the east side of Dayton, so only takes us 45 minutes to an hour depending on traffic to get there.
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Are you TSA precheck verified? If you are, I wouldn’t worry. I fly with a LOT of 3 oz bottles and never have a problem.
You actually should be fine either way. The only trouble I’ve had in the last decade was when the pre check line was closed at my terminal in LaGuardia and I had to use the regular line - of all things- they confiscated my nearly empty full size toothpaste and a 3.5oz conditioner bottle I’d flown with for years. Never said a word about the other 10 bottles (shampoo, face serum, etc) I had in my bag. 😱
Unless you’re going to fly there via London Heathrow - 🤣- you should be fine!
We do not have TSA precheck, but I was definitely considering it. One of our AAA offices has an enrollment event happening in April that we might take advantage of.
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I can squeeze A LOT of 3 oz and less items in the flat bottom quart sized bags. I was finally able to find a travel size bottle of contact saline solution so that alone allows me to travel without a checked baggage. I never wanted to gamble on a TSA agent having issues with a full size bottle of solution and whether it could be considered medical.
TSA is so unpredictable, that is for sure!
 

imahistorygeek

Well-Known Member
We do not have TSA precheck, but I was definitely considering it. One of our AAA offices has an enrollment event happening in April that we might take advantage of.
It's one of the best things we've ever done. It's 100% worth the price. We fly out of ATL and we've never had to wait more than a few minutes. The TSA agents in the pre-check line are slightly less mean and I feel as though I'm not yelled at as much as regular security.
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
It's one of the best things we've ever done. It's 100% worth the price. We fly out of ATL and we've never had to wait more than a few minutes. The TSA agents in the pre-check line are slightly less mean and I feel as though I'm not yelled at as much as regular security.
I will definitely look into this more. I only worry about Logan following through with getting it done since he's out in Iowa.
 

erstwo

Well-Known Member
We do not have TSA precheck, but I was definitely considering it. One of our AAA offices has an enrollment event happening in April that we might take advantage of.
Since you don't have it already, I'll mention 2 things (that you might already know)
1 - If you think there's any chance you might be traveling internationally in the next (5) years - kid studying abroad? - you might look into doing Global Entry instead of TSA Precheck - it's a little more paperwork (and appointments are hard to come by sometimes) but it has made arriving back in the USA so much easier for me. And TSA Precheck is 'included' in my Global Pass (essentially, I'm TSA Precheck verified if I have Global Pass)
2- Check to see if your credit card will reimburse you for the Global Pass/ TSA Precheck fees (if AAA isn't covering them for you!) - it's sometimes a nice perk cards will offer.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom