Trip Report The Rain Never Bothered Us Anyway - June 2024

Hi! We're back and I'm sort of settled back into our routine, so I thought I would try to get started on this report. There were lots of ups and downs, but we had a good trip! And as my title suggests, the torrential rain and flooding they were calling for did not happen and we were not bothered by the rain that did happen! I'm going to start with some general thoughts in this first post before jumping into the actual trip, so please bear with me.

I really struggled this trip, and not just the way you would think I would and definitely not just the way I thought I would. It was definitely hard going back without Lily, but I really struggled physically this time too. I've always been blessed with a good metabolism and have stayed pretty much the same weight I was in high school (things just shifted a little after having kids), but I'm going to be honest here and tell you all that I've been pretty lazy and sedentary since Lily's accident and we haven't had the best eating habits. Combine that with the hormone changes that happened almost like a light switch went off when I turned 50, and I'm carrying 15 more pounds than I am used to. My legs and feet hurt like they never have before on a Disney trip! By the end of our 5th day, my left ankle and foot were swollen and the top of my foot looked like I was getting the "Disney crud" on it. I wore the same shoes on our first day that I have always worn on Disney trips and that I wore all weekend in Des Moines and have never had any issues with, but I had pretty bad blisters on my left foot by the end of our first day. Luckily, I had plenty of blister band aids and such and was able to treat them and not have them give me much issue. I was just not able to tolerate the heat like I used to be able too either! All of this was very frustrating to me.

My heart was literally breaking the first day watching Owen struggle. He and Lily were so close, and he thought he would be ok, but he really wasn't. He was almost crying in the lobby of CBR first thing when we got there. Then later that day, as we talked about the schedule for the week, he commented that he wasn't planning on swimming when we were at Typhoon Lagoon. He and Lily always hung out together in the wave pool and lazy river at the water parks. I asked before scheduling the After Hours at TL and he was excited about it. Just not when it came right down to it. He did end up enjoying his time there with Logan, but, man, it was hard watching him work through it.

But you know what was the hardest part? I never would have thought of this ahead of time, but the first time they asked how many in our party and I had to stop myself from saying 5 and say 4. It hurt every single time I had to say that.

Not gonna lie, I did cry a little on the plane on the way down, but once I got myself under control again, there was a rainbow outside the window. It was hard to catch with the camera, but it was definitely there! It made me stop and smile.
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I promise, the rest of the posts will be more upbeat!
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We exited and headed to our next LL.
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As you can tell from the previous pics, Tiana's AP previews had a rough start and they didn't start calling any boarding groups until much later in the morning or maybe even early afternoon, I can't remember since it didn't really affect us.

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And we made it!
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Songbird76

Well-Known Member
It was very difficult watching Owen struggle! Luckily, he was able to work through it pretty quickly and started enjoying himself.

I have never had an issue with CBR before and have always been assigned the island that I have requested. This time it was just not the particular building I requested, but ended up being fine. That stinks that you had such a poor experience there. It is one of my favorite resorts.
I still love the resort, and we always had really good placement in terms of the building. I paid for preferred room and requested Martenique because it was close to OPR and is the first stop on the bus route, so we would be the first ones on the bus in the morning, meaning we always got to sit. But now that the skyliner is opened, my understanding is that the buses don't go frequently to Epcot and HS, so I don't see us staying there much in the future, because we don't like the skyliner. We stayed at All-Star Music this last trip and it was a great resort as well. Still didn't get the building I requested, but we did get ground floor this time, thank goodness. That is the most important thing for me.
 

Minnie1986

Well-Known Member
Hi! We're back and I'm sort of settled back into our routine, so I thought I would try to get started on this report. There were lots of ups and downs, but we had a good trip! And as my title suggests, the torrential rain and flooding they were calling for did not happen and we were not bothered by the rain that did happen! I'm going to start with some general thoughts in this first post before jumping into the actual trip, so please bear with me.

I really struggled this trip, and not just the way you would think I would and definitely not just the way I thought I would. It was definitely hard going back without Lily, but I really struggled physically this time too. I've always been blessed with a good metabolism and have stayed pretty much the same weight I was in high school (things just shifted a little after having kids), but I'm going to be honest here and tell you all that I've been pretty lazy and sedentary since Lily's accident and we haven't had the best eating habits. Combine that with the hormone changes that happened almost like a light switch went off when I turned 50, and I'm carrying 15 more pounds than I am used to. My legs and feet hurt like they never have before on a Disney trip! By the end of our 5th day, my left ankle and foot were swollen and the top of my foot looked like I was getting the "Disney crud" on it. I wore the same shoes on our first day that I have always worn on Disney trips and that I wore all weekend in Des Moines and have never had any issues with, but I had pretty bad blisters on my left foot by the end of our first day. Luckily, I had plenty of blister band aids and such and was able to treat them and not have them give me much issue. I was just not able to tolerate the heat like I used to be able too either! All of this was very frustrating to me.

My heart was literally breaking the first day watching Owen struggle. He and Lily were so close, and he thought he would be ok, but he really wasn't. He was almost crying in the lobby of CBR first thing when we got there. Then later that day, as we talked about the schedule for the week, he commented that he wasn't planning on swimming when we were at Typhoon Lagoon. He and Lily always hung out together in the wave pool and lazy river at the water parks. I asked before scheduling the After Hours at TL and he was excited about it. Just not when it came right down to it. He did end up enjoying his time there with Logan, but, man, it was hard watching him work through it.

But you know what was the hardest part? I never would have thought of this ahead of time, but the first time they asked how many in our party and I had to stop myself from saying 5 and say 4. It hurt every single time I had to say that.

Not gonna lie, I did cry a little on the plane on the way down, but once I got myself under control again, there was a rainbow outside the window. It was hard to catch with the camera, but it was definitely there! It made me stop and smile.
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I promise, the rest of the posts will be more upbeat!
Continuing with traditions after a significant loss is a true emotional struggle, but I'm glad to know that you all were able to make it through and enjoy a place that brings you so much happiness.
 

Minnie1986

Well-Known Member
Owen ordered the mixed grill platter
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I had the jerk chicken bowl
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Brian and Logan were boring and ordered pizza
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Brian said the pizza tasted like cardboard! I wondered why they ordered it in the first place. Owen didn't necessarily care for his either. It wasn't that it was bad, he just didn't like the flavoring on the chicken in particular, but all of the meat. Mine was just ok, it was much better a few years ago when I had it.

It started raining lightly while we were finishing up. I was like, "no big deal, I'll just get my umbrella out to protect the camera and we'll be on the way." Brian was looking very sheepish at that point because he had left the backpack in the room. We just waited it out a few minutes and the rain was done so we were ready to head back to the room for an early night.
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I can't tell you how happy that directional sign makes me, as I have both Barbadian and Trinidadian heritage🇹🇹🇧🇧
 

Figment Forever

Well-Known Member
Enjoying your report! Your pictures of Caribbean Beach are so beautiful! It seems so different - they must have refurbished it all! We had such a bad experience there... I don't think I could ever convince Ross and Julia to return. But I think I would give it another try. I love that it's on the Skyliner like Pop. However, I do remember how BIG the resort is and I don't miss having so many stops on the bus route.
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Enjoying your report! Your pictures of Caribbean Beach are so beautiful! It seems so different - they must have refurbished it all! We had such a bad experience there... I don't think I could ever convince Ross and Julia to return. But I think I would give it another try. I love that it's on the Skyliner like Pop. However, I do remember how BIG the resort is and I don't miss having so many stops on the bus route.
We usually request Jamaica which is the first stop in the mornings since they split the sides of the resort, so didn't even think about it that first day. Luckily, that was the only time we had bus issues at the resort.
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Sorry for the delay in reporting! Owen had his first high school preseason soccer tournament and Brian and I ended up helping with concessions and being there 7am-6pm both days. I was a little exhausted by the end of the days! Thought I would share one of my favorite action shots I got.
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I forgot to post the beautiful ride photo from Pirates in my last post.
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Not sure what I was looking at (or Brian either), Logan looks surprised about something, and it appears that Owen was looking at his phone! Very flattering picture for us all!!

Then we decided we were getting hungry, however, no one could decide what sounded good. I suggested fruit waffles and everyone agreed that they could find something to eat at Sleepy Hollow. We headed that way and ended up getting side tracked as we couldn't cross the street.
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TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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We had decided to just try our luck in line, but once we got in it, it just wasn't moving, so we quickly got out of line and used mobile order instead which ended up being a good idea. Brian and the boys found a table that was partially shaded, so they grabbed that while wandered and took some pictures while waiting on the food.
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Logan and I got the fruit and nutella waffles, Brian got the spicy chicken waffle sandwich, and Owen got a funnel cake.
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Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it! I am so upset that they took away the waffle sandwiches!! I do love Mickey waffles, but it just isn't the same as these!

Our view for lunch:
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TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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We did not nail the ride photo!
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I love this window on the walk out:
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And I convinced them to stop for a Photopass pic! (I think I forgot to mention that Owen and Logan both said they would get pics taken for me, so I decided to pay the exorbitant price so that we could have a few family pics. Then Brian mentioned that he wasn't sure about it. I basically told him to suck it up and get pics taken for me of us and the boys. We definitely didn't get our money's worth out of it, but we did get at least one family pic in each park which was good enough for me!)
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Figment Forever

Well-Known Member
I wanted to share what we do about family pictures - I hope you don't mind... I don't know if I ever shared this on the boards...

We lost our Lily in September 2007. She is the main reason why our family started to visit WDW. After our loss, when I was finally ready to "reboot" life, I wanted to start in the "happiest place on earth". Our family would return to WDW ever year after in September to celebrate my angel. It was the biggest distraction to help sooth the most painful time of the year for us. And on every trip, we return home with a pair of birthday ears that we bring to her grave. Thinking back to when I first started reading the Magic Boards, I remember always finding your TRs special because of our daughters' shared name.

But I'm digressing...

Family pictures after our loss were tough. How could I ever have a "true" family photo? Even Julia felt like it wasn't complete without her sister. I decided that Lily needed to be in our family photos! I purchased a fabric lily - and whenever we have had a family picture taken, our Lily is always there. It's funny because some people don't even realize it - but others do. It may sound crazy, but it has helped a great deal. I know she is always present in our hearts and in our family photo moments.

I'm not sure if this idea could offer some comfort to guys, but I just wanted to share. ♥️ ♥️ ♥️

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TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Your lovely photos have made me realise I need to pay more attention to the buildings around Magic Kingdom. So next year I will definitely make more time for taking in the atmosphere and surroundings.
Thanks! I try to remember to slow down and enjoy the environment, but half the time the boys were rushing me and those pictures were just taken on the go!!
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I wanted to share what we do about family pictures - I hope you don't mind... I don't know if I ever shared this on the boards...

We lost our Lily in September 2007. She is the main reason why our family started to visit WDW. After our loss, when I was finally ready to "reboot" life, I wanted to start in the "happiest place on earth". Our family would return to WDW ever year after in September to celebrate my angel. It was the biggest distraction to help sooth the most painful time of the year for us. And on every trip, we return home with a pair of birthday ears that we bring to her grave. Thinking back to when I first started reading the Magic Boards, I remember always finding your TRs special because of our daughters' shared name.

But I'm digressing...

Family pictures after our loss were tough. How could I ever have a "true" family photo? Even Julia felt like it wasn't complete without her sister. I decided that Lily needed to be in our family photos! I purchased a fabric lily - and whenever we have had a family picture taken, our Lily is always there. It's funny because some people don't even realize it - but others do. It may sound crazy, but it has helped a great deal. I know she is always present in our hearts and in our family photo moments.

I'm not sure if this idea could offer some comfort to guys, but I just wanted to share. ♥️ ♥️ ♥️

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Oh, Mary! I'm so sorry for the loss of your Lily. I had no idea, but thank you for sharing. I have thought about getting a lily to have in pictures. I've looked on Etsy and found some cute crocheted ones as well, but haven't decided on anything yet. For now, I have a pendant with some of her ashes and one with her thumbprint on it that I wear at all times unless I am sleeping, showering, or swimming and Brian and the boys have bracelets with her ashes and rings with her thumb prints so she can always be with us. We jumped the first hurdle by getting the pics done at Disney, but I think this holiday season is going to be the worst because my parents always want a full family photo done. We all skipped last year, but I think they'll want one again this year and I'm afraid my SIL is going to be very dramatic about Lily not being there and make it worse for us. Maybe a stand in flower would make it better for her too. Definitely something to think about.
 

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