Holy crap, the time is almost here, lovelies! On Friday night, Hubby and I will drop the puppers off to be boarded and thus begins our vacation. So close, but so far...
This will be my 5th trip to Disney World, kids, and I am so freakin' excited! Even cooler is that this will be the second time I've been there with Hubby (the first being our honeymoon) and the second time I've been there with my bestie, M! How cool is that?
So, naturally, I've been thinking about past Disney trips. My memories from my first 3 trips are fairly fragmented, but a few key points stand out from each.
Year: 1994
Age: 9
With: My parents
My first trip to Disney World. Holy balls, was I excited for this trip! Partly because I got to miss school for it (my dad's work didn't always line up with school breaks, and he was determined to take me there), but mostly because it's damn near every nine-year-old girl's dream to go to Disney.
Sadly, I only have a handful of memories from this trip. I remember crawling around in the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids play area, while wearing my Minnie Mouse headband. I remember going on Space Mountain with my mom and barely being able to walk afterward (I felt so effing sick). I remember eating dinner in France and that the butter was sculpted like a little man (a soldier, I think) and feeling so grown up. I remember one night for dinner, all I had was a Nestle ice cream bar (I was pretty sure I was the luckiest kid ever). I remember the day we left, I found a coin on the floor of the hotel closet (I still have it; it's from England!).
The memory that stands out the most, though, is a sadder one. Particularly for my poor dad. We had a one room suite, so my parents had the bedroom and I had the sofa bed in the living room area. One night I woke up and had to pee so badly that I couldn't sleep anymore. The only bathroom, though, was in the bedroom, and I didn't want to wake my parents up. So instead, I sat at the edge of the bed and waited. I'm not sure what I was waiting for. Morning, maybe? Anyway, at some point, my dad woke up and came to check on me, only to find me perched at the edge of that damn bed, trying not to cry because I was nearly in pain from holding out. When he asked what I was doing, I explained, and to this day, he says that moment broke his heart. I can't even imagine how he must have felt.
The vast majority of the memories from that trip are pretty great, though, so no worries.
Year: 2001
Age: 16
With: My high school cheerleading team (and my mom)
This is the first trip to WDW with M. She and I were damn near inseparable at that point in time, and among the other team members were my boyfriend (the longest relationship I've had aside from Hubby) and a few other good friends. This is the only WDW trip that I have an actual scrapbook from, and the pictures make it look like the trip was a blast!
The only problem was that it wasn't a blast. I have a hard time pulling up positive memories from that trip. I think one of my favorites was when we were trying to get a group picture, and one of our teammates was out taking pictures of us instead of being in the picture!! It was so funny when we realized what was going on. Being in my first national competition was a real rush, too (even if we did suck and took last place). Oh, and swimming in February is a novelty that I don't think I'll ever tire of. :)
What went wrong? Where to begin?
First of all, there was a rule that whenever we were on Coach's time, there were no couples. My boyfriend had his 18th birthday in Florida and the best I could do was sneak a quick kiss before we headed out for the day. We couldn't hold hands, couldn't hug, could hardly talk to one another without fear of being caught. As if that weren't enough, Coach decided that M and I were going on too many rides together and were told to separate. So, I'm at Disney World with my boyfriend and my best friend, and I can't hang out with either of them? Awesome. Thanks.
I won't go into detail about all the other things that sucked, but I do have to mention the one that really bothered my mom (who was one of our chaperones). At DHS (or, at the time, MGM), there's only one thing I absolutely must do when I'm there. It's the Muppets 3D movie. I loved it when I was 9, and it's one of the few experiences that I was dying to repeat. Coach promised we'd get to it, so, I was psyched. Lunch came around, and mom reminded Coach about the Muppets (I wasn't the only one who wanted to go, so it wasn't JUST for me), and again, she said we'd get to it. In the meantime, Coach kept asking our captain and another select few teammates what we should do or see. We did all sorts of stuff, but we never got to the Muppets 3D movie. I tried not to act too disappointed, but my mom was less than pleased, to say the least. Favoritism is one of my mom's few hot buttons, but there wasn't anything she could do.
Year: 2002
Age: 17
With: My high school cheerleading team
If 2001 was bad, 2002 was an absolute nightmare. For one, M was no longer on the team. Another good friend, T, had opted out because of a bum knee (in reality, it was because she didn't want to go, but she really did have a bad knee). So I was down two good friends, my mom, and my boyfriend (since we weren't together anymore and he was out of high school anyway). The trip was so bad that I honestly don't remember much at all. If I think about the 2001 trip, I can pull up little bits and pieces of standing in lines, eating in the food court area, waiting for the buses, etc. When I try to recall the 2002 trip, I can't even tell you who I shared a room with. I've blocked most of it out.
I do have one good memory from that trip. We were done at one of the parks and were heading to another to wrap up the day (it might've been our last night, even; I don't recall). We decided to take the monorail, and I remember standing there with my friend A. We were both pretty un-enthused (to say the least) and were standing apart from the rest of the team (A and I have been friends since I was 3; if there was anyone there I could connect with, it was her). The monorail pulled up, and we hung back, letting people get on, when the conductor yelled that she had 2 spots open in the front. A and I ran. The front car of the monorail is awesome. The conductor was there, doing her thing, and there's LOTS of room to spread out. Especially since it was only the two of us and a couple from Tennessee on their honeymoon. We got to ask the conductor questions about what she does, and she answered them all without any attitude. When we came up on Epcot, it was just glowing and it took my breath away. I went to grab my camera and the conductor asked if I wanted a picture. When I said yes, she slowed down the entire monorail just so I could take it. If ever there were a magical moment, that was it. (I'm actually tearing up just thinking about it!)
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