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.
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And here is the last Disney picture I'll ever have of all 3 kids together. They were re-creating an old photo.
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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.
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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!
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And here is Logan at the end of his second half Ironman race last summer:
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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!
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LeighM

Well-Known Member
A friend of mine will be checking into CBR tomorrow and I can ask her to let me know. I usually put Softsoap into a travel sized squeeze bottle since that's the only thing we can use with our contacts. I think next time, I'll just order sunscreen, bug spray, Softsoap and other heavy or liquid things from Amazon and have it delivered to the resort on the day I check in.
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
A friend of mine will be checking into CBR tomorrow and I can ask her to let me know. I usually put Softsoap into a travel sized squeeze bottle since that's the only thing we can use with our contacts. I think next time, I'll just order sunscreen, bug spray, Softsoap and other heavy or liquid things from Amazon and have it delivered to the resort on the day I check in.
Thanks! I hope they enjoy CBR as much as we do! I have no room for any more liquids, so I'll have to suffer through the bar soap or place an order somewhere. Not sure what we'll do yet.
 

LeighM

Well-Known Member
Thanks! I hope they enjoy CBR as much as we do! I have no room for any more liquids, so I'll have to suffer through the bar soap or place an order somewhere. Not sure what we'll do yet.

It's their first time staying at that resort. They haven't seen the room yet but recently got notification that they are in the Trinidad section. I really hope they like it.
 

Minnie1986

Well-Known Member
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And it can't come fast enough!!

I'm using this holiday weekend to do some shopping and packing. I finished my "medicine chest" as Brian likes to call it.
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And I'm taking Owen shopping later for shoes and shirts since he won't stop growing!

Lots more lilies blooming!
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Glad to see that I'm not the only one who brings a whole medicine cabinet with them when they travel!
 

LeighM

Well-Known Member
Those are the new Under the Sea rooms! That's where we want to be!

I just remembered to ask her about the soap dish. Her and one of her sons have been reacting poorly to the heat and got a bad sunburn yesterday. Today was their rest day and she thinks they have sun poisoning. She used to tease her husband about the amount of meds he would bring a lot (much like my husband did to me) but she's been using the prescription ointment he had to help with the itch from her rash. I was like I'm sorry yall are being affected but I bet you won't be laughing at all the meds brought next time LOL. The 50+ SPF sunblock she brought hasn't helped prevent their burn.
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I just remembered to ask her about the soap dish. Her and one of her sons have been reacting poorly to the heat and got a bad sunburn yesterday. Today was their rest day and she thinks they have sun poisoning. She used to tease her husband about the amount of meds he would bring a lot (much like my husband did to me) but she's been using the prescription ointment he had to help with the itch from her rash. I was like I'm sorry yall are being affected but I bet you won't be laughing at all the meds brought next time LOL. The 50+ SPF sunblock she brought hasn't helped prevent their burn.
Yep, Brian no longer makes fun of me because he's usually the one who needs something that he didn't think to bring and I did!
 

cgersic

Well-Known Member
I just remembered to ask her about the soap dish. Her and one of her sons have been reacting poorly to the heat and got a bad sunburn yesterday. Today was their rest day and she thinks they have sun poisoning. She used to tease her husband about the amount of meds he would bring a lot (much like my husband did to me) but she's been using the prescription ointment he had to help with the itch from her rash. I was like I'm sorry yall are being affected but I bet you won't be laughing at all the meds brought next time LOL. The 50+ SPF sunblock she brought hasn't helped prevent their burn.
Just to pop in, I get sun poisoning a lot after a bad burn years ago - calamine lotion is the only thing that will make my tiny blisters go away and I believe I've seen it in the resort shops!
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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Single digit day!!! And now only 3 more days of work! They are going to be the longest days ever!

I had a very expensive weekend. Logan came home for a family member's graduation party and he had a bulging sidewall on his tire. He's lucky he made it back to Ohio without a problem! So we had to get that fixed and had an oil change and tire rotation while they were at it! Then Logan wanted to go shopping for tennis shoes, so we went to the local outlet mall. Logan ended up with a pair of Nike running shoes, a pair of Reef flip flops, a Nike hoodie, an Under Armour workout tank, and Under Armour running shorts. Owen ended up with Nike high tops, 2 pairs of Crocs, 2 pairs of Adida shorts, 2 pairs of Adidas pants, and an Adidas jacket. Brian got an Under Armour zip up hoodie. And I got zilch!! Isn't that how it always works!?! I'll save my spending money for Disney!!

Packing is now fully under way with the complication of also needing to pack for our weekend in Iowa for Logan's race.

A few more lilies have bloomed!
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Lily's boyfriend's mom had this made for us to put in the lily garden.
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A few pics of Harry helping out around the house!
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And a picture of Ella playing with her favorite toy!
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TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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I can't wait!!!

Weather is looking great for Logan's race on Sunday with an overnight low of 58, a daytime high of 75, and only 3% chance of rain!

If only the outlook was that good for Florida
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Hopefully, the rain is just the standard Florida summer afternoon storm and not all day rain. I know the rain is needed there, but can't it please wait one more week!?!
 

cgersic

Well-Known Member
I can't wait!!!

Weather is looking great for Logan's race on Sunday with an overnight low of 58, a daytime high of 75, and only 3% chance of rain!

If only the outlook was that good for Florida
Hopefully, the rain is just the standard Florida summer afternoon storm and not all day rain. I know the rain is needed there, but can't it please wait one more week!?!
It's like the surface of the sun hot here, so any moisture is going to be welcomed! Getting excited right along with you and good luck to Logan!
 

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