Dwty Goes Mousehunting - Pre-trippy

[Guest]

Well Hello! Welcome aboard my pre-trippy. Do make yourself comfortable, can I get you a drink? (I think you might need one!)

Before we start I do need to make a couple of safety announcements which may assist your comfort and enjoyment and protect your mental health as you read my ramblings (...ahem, carefully constructed pre-trip report).

1. This will be long, very long - please ensure you carry out regular leg exercises to prevent DVT

2. You may need tissues - whether these will be required as a result of jaw breaking hilarity or utter misery and desperation due to the trippy continuing until the end of time will be determined by your sense of humour and strength of character.

3. I cannot guarantee that my sense of humour will match yours - please feel free to leave the trippy via the nearest available exit should you find yourself offended by my style of writing.

So, disclaimer complete, seatbelts fastened? Then I shall begin:

The planning for this trip began back in April 2007. I was in WDW with my ex partner and through the flood of tears that accompanied my last day, I made a promise to myself that I would not be returning to Florida until I was a mummy and ready to view the magic through the eyes of my child. This was my ultimate dream.

The 3 years that followed were an emotional roller coaster and my dream of becoming a mummy seemed to be disappearing rapidly as my health issues escalated. Many of you will remember the SOS sent out by Joa B for Dibbers to send cards of support when I was taken seriously ill whilst on a business trip in Belfast. I have never been more scared in my whole life and I honestly thought my chances of conceiving a child were gone. As for the hospital, they had never seen so many cards arrive for one patient - imagine if you will the scene in the first Harry Potter movie when the owls deliver hundreds of Hogwarts letters to 4 Privett Drive. Thank you Dibbers, your kindness will never be forgotten.

6 months on and there was suddenly light at the end of a very dark tunnel. After returning from Belfast my wonderful consultant performed my second lot of surgery which was successful and referred me straight back to the IVF clinic where I had attempted to commence fertility treatment 2 years previously. This time I was going it alone.

My 2 tiny embryos, which had been frozen 2 years before, were thawed (they both survived), observed over night (they both developed) and then transferred back to me. I was so grateful to be giving them a chance.



2 weeks later I was stood on my parents doorstep at 08:45 on a Sunday morning, pregnancy tests in hand, tears streaming down my face. I absolutely couldn't believe it. Finally my dreams were going to come true.



Once I had adjusted to the fact that I was actually pregnant I started to think about the future and inevitably the discussion about Zigzag's first trip to the Mouse began. (My embryos were nicknamed Zig and Zag and as I will never know which one stuck, I remain loyal to both).

Fast forward to 11 February 2011 I welcomed my beautiful, healthy, enormous (10lb 2oz) baby girl into the world and by June we had booked our holiday.



Trip details:
14 nights in a 2 bed villa at Saratoga Springs Reosrt with inclusive DDP (13/09/12-27/09/12). This will be my second time staying onsite, having spent 2 weeks at All Star Movies back in 2007.

CONTINUED...

[loves_disney]

great start to your pre trip, sad story with a wonderful ending!
2 bed? looking forward to hearing all the cast members on this trip!

[Guest]

...continued

So who is going?

Me - Sally AKA Mummy (38): Chief organiser, Disney obsessed, have been planning meticulously for many months. I have put together an itinerary that guarantees the ultimate in enjoyment. Anyone who does not display enjoyment at all times will face consequences (oops, did I say that out loud?) WDW is my happy place and this will be my 5th visit and without doubt, my most special.



Nana - my mum (will probably hit me if I reveal her age): Doesn't understand the need to plan and is secretly terrified of my itinerary which she is probably attempting to commit to memory as her bedtime reading. She wants a stress free holiday which will create plenty of happy memories with her precious granddaughter. She loves "It's a Small World" and would happily ride "Splash Mountain" if it wasn't for the pesky drop at the end. "Perhaps Disney would consider stopping the boat and letting me off before that bit?" Yes mum, I'm sure they would be delighted to.



Grandpa - my dad (66 going on about 6) He is very excited about the trip, delighted that he doesn't have to do the planning and, to be fair, is pretty easy to please. He will ride most things, eat almost anything and is utterly devoted to his granddaughter. He will probably drive us all potty with his constant checking of luggage, passports, money, tickets etc but once we get on the plane is likely to be very little trouble!



Aunty Donna - my sister (34). At present we are not sure if she will be able to come as she has some health problems but we hope that she will be fit enough by September to be able to join us. She loves Disney - goes for the medium style rides - Splash and Thunder are particular favourites. Aunty Donna adores her niece and will particularly enjoy playing with her at the water parks.



And finally, the star of the show.

Ariana - my daugher AKA Dwty (19 months at the time of travel) Not only is she my little miracle , she is also the sunshine in my life. Dwty is a beautiful, happy child and my best friend in the whole world. She makes every day special so I can only imagine how amazing it will be to take her to the Happiest place on earth. Dwty has already been to Disneyland Paris - she was 9 months old at the time and loved it despite the fact that it was FREEZING cold and she was too little to go on any rides. She met plenty of characters however - her favourites were Pluto, Tigger, Rabbit and Eeyore (the furry ones basically) and she managed to have a good chew on Mickey's nose.





So that's us, a beautiful bunch I am sure you will agree.

CONTINUED...

[Sandra & co]

great pre trippie dooty is going to have a whale of a time, we 1st took out dd at 19 months and she had a brilliant time. Cant wait to read more

[ojoboots]

I'm sure you will all have a fantastic time. Looking forward to your trippie when the time comes, hopefully with lots if pics

[joanna23]

Woohoo Sally I am definitely subscribing to this and following all your planning.

[Guest]

such a beautiful story and dooty is so beautiful really looking forward to reading more xxx

[Hels80]

She's gorgeous! Looking forward to the rest!

[loves_disney]

fabulous cast! i posted to early! you really are going to have a fab time!

[Guest]

... continued

The Plan so far

We have decided that, as we have all been before, with the exception of Dwty and we do not want to run ourselves ragged and endure toddler meltdowns so we will just be doing Disney. We are looking forward to staying at SSR and will be spending some downtime in the resort aswell. I have already booked a number of ADRS which I hope will satisfy our various tastes.

I have prepaid the Photopass CD ($99) and will be on a mission to get as many photos taken as is humanly possible during our stay.This should ease the stress off my dad and reduce the likelihood of us ending up with a load of photos where we all look thoroughly fed up having been stood for 20 minutes as he "focusses the shot".



The itinerary looks something like this:

Day 0 - We plan to travel to Gatwick the day before . As Dwty will be travelling on my lap, we are not able to do OLCI and are therefore keen to be as early as possible for Twilight check in so that we have the best chance of securing seats together. Dwty has never been on a plane before and Nana and Grandpa bought her a Trunki for Easter which will be packed with every snack, toy, DVD and anything else I can think of in order to amuse her.

We plan to use Tesco clubcard vouchers and stay at the Gatwick Hilton. Depending on the time of Twilight check in, we will either go out for the afternoon Tilgate Park looks good if the weather is fine) or just settle into the hotel and grab some food, look round the terminal shops and take a ride on the monorail.

Day 1 (Travel Day) - I'll say this quietly as Nana and Grandpa are twitching somewhat about the fact that we are yet to book our flights. It's kind of my fault (well totally my fault) as I insisted we should get flights for a good price and promised them the prices would drop... I just didn't say when! Ho hum, we sit and wait for a sale or possibly some divine intervention. In an ideal world we want the BA flight but will take the Virgin one if that comes out best. We are not willing to consider indirect because of Dwty and really want to fly into MCO so we can get the DME as we will not have a car.

I anticipate arriving at SSR with a sleeping toddler and popping her straight into bed.

CONTINUED...