Christmas and New Year's Weeks, Pirates Voyage, and 1 surgery later

[DaisyFoote]

Welcome to my third tr from my year at Disney. We came to Disney in July for 2 weeks. We were celebrating my hubby and I's 25th anniversary. I've always wanted to go to Disney at Christmas so we decided to go ahead and do both in one year - yeah!
Travel date - December 20. 2015 thru January 2, 2016

So here we are -


I'm Monica. I'm a 2nd grade teacher at Calvary Christian School. Disney is definitely my happy place!
My DH is John. He teaches 5th grade at the same school I do which is super nice.
Our 10 yr old DD is Abigail. She's in 5th grade. My DH is actually her teacher.

We stayed with 2 different groups of friends. The first Sunday thru Sunday we stayed with Lael and Annitra, Mikaylee (12), Zoey (5), Caleb (3), and Bella, the baby.


We live in NC and our friends here live in PA. We were visiting them this summer when they told us they had never been to Disney but had always wanted to go. Well, Lael loves to fish and is content to always go to the beach (Outerbanks or Florida Keys), but he wanted to go to the Disney for the kids. They knew practically nothing about Disney - kept calling it Disneyland and asking if we could walk from AK to MK, things like that. They are also extremely busy people with their own business, so they had no time to research or plan. So, they left everything up to me; said I would be their tour guide. I LOVE to plan for Disney; I might enjoy the planning just as much as the trip itself. I took my tour guide responsibilities very seriously and planned away. There were some bumps in the road though cause they were so busy they didn't answer my emails until sometimes a week later. They also were late getting the money for the park tickets to me so I wasn't able to schedule their fp's on the 30 day mark. If we ever do this again I will know to ask for the money waaay in advance and to just schedule things without asking them their opinion. I realized that by the end of the trip that whatever we wanted to do was fine by them - we were the experts so they would defer to our judgment.

On the second Sunday thru Sunday we were going to stay with my friend Cindy and her DD Abby (12). They would fly into Sanford on the 27th and ride home with us.



December 20,

We left for Orlando right after church at about 12:30. We were so excited! A "short" 10 hours later we were checking in at Windsor Hills. Our friends had already been there for several hours. Since they were already moved in I didn't take pictures - didn't want to go in their private space. Here's a link though if anyone is interested in renting a house which is very close to Disney, http://storytimeorlandorental.com/
I would strongly recommend it, The place was wonderful. It was plenty of room for all 9 of us. There were 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms - one right off of each bedroom. It had a full kitchen so we could make our own meals. I would LOVE to eat at Disney every meal, but we are on a budget. Plus I can't even imagine how much that would cost our friends with 4 children, wow! We unpacked and got settled in. I made up a breakfast casserole for me to cook in the morning and went to bed - ready for our first big day tomorrow.


December 21,

We were heading to HS today, our favorite park, I put in some bbq in the crockpot for us to eat on our mid day break. We were there by rope drop which was no small feat. We went to TSMM first thing. Love that ride even though my DH always beats me. After this we split up from our friends cause we had a fp for Rock-n-Roller Coaster. They went to meet Buzz and Woody, they're first character meet ever.


After this, we call them to meet us at the Beauty and the Beast to watch the show. They were the only ones who had a fp for this but the cm let DH, DD, and I in too - super nice. The show was amazing! My family had a fp for ToT after this. I love that ride but have been on it a bunch of times so I let Lael have my magicband so he could use my fp. He went with John and Abigail and took his DD with him. She didn't have a fp but they let her on anyway, thanks again very kind cms.

Us 2 moms and the small kids went to the Frozen Sing Along and saved seats for the rest of the group. The rest of our group barely made it back in time. In fact, the cms weren't going to let them in but they told them that we were saving them seats so they let them go on through. Whew! This was about the 6th time John and I have seen this show. The historian of Arendale are hilarious and Elsa making it snow at the end - true Disney magic. I was singing along with them during the Olaf song and sang what everyone else is thinking, "and I'll be a ..." and I said puddle during the quiet part. The lady historian gasped real loud and gave me the evil eye. She pointed at me and gave me the sign like "I'm watching you." It was super funny.

After this we went to see my DD's favorite characters, Phineas and Ferb. She has a stuffed Perry that they grabbed and loved on - super cute. You can see my DD came prepared with her Perry shirt.

While waiting in line to meet P&F my DD took Caleb to meet these guys -

We went to the comedy show after this. It wasn't that great, but I'm sure it could be. Since the performers have to do everything off the cuff I'm sure some times they are really cooking and some times it's just so so. We got the so so performance. I was really anxious to meet Santa Goofy but we didn't stop today. We knew the kids had to have their mid day break so we were in a hurry to get home at this point. I determined though that I would meet Santa Goofy before the end of the trip.

As we were riding home I decided that I should go to the MK to schedule us a FP for that night. Being that I was the tour guide of the trip and it was our friend's first time, I felt the pressure to assure that they had a good time. Our plan was for my DH to park at the Contemporary, let me out so I could run into MK, and that I would be right back. Well, the guards at the gate wouldn't let us park there, said it was too crowded. I told my DH just to drop me off and I would stay at the MK and meet up with them later. I was actually feeling OK so decided I could make it through. He was reluctant but did it.
So - would I be able to get any good fps for our evening. What would I do all by myself for 3 hours in the MK? We'll see next time -

 

[DaisyFoote]

Living the dream

 

[DaisyFoote]

My very first time being in the Magic Kingdom all by myself, how exciting. I got there just as the Christmas parade was coming down Main Street. I wished I would have stopped to watch. I saw the parade about a month ago at MVMC party. I loved it, but thought I would get to see it again so I would wait. I ended up not getting another chance to see it our whole 2 weeks we were there. I did go to the 3:00 parade on January 1, but they were back to doing the FoF parade. I hate I didn't get to see the Christmas parade again but that's the problem with taking a mid day break - you miss the stuff that's only offered mid day. Oh well - I was on a mission. I had to get fps. I went to a cm and asked them where the closest fp machine was. He told me TL. Looking back on this, I think there is a fp machine at the train station - is this correct? On this day though I took off for TL. Got there and then stood in line for a good 15 minutes. When it was finally my turn I scanned my band and only my family showed up. I was surprised I wouldn't be able to schedule our friend's fps cause I was the one who had scheduled all their fp up to that point already. I asked the cm why I couldn't - that we were linking in My Disney Experience. He said they had to link their bands to my account. I was confused - we were already linked I thought but... Guess I skipped my mid day break for nothing. Oh well, I was going to make the best of it.


First I went and got me a coke and then rode the People Mover. I then went on the Carousel of Progress for the very first time. I was really impressed with the technology of it for being such an old ride. A rotating theater is pretty impressive if you think about it. I also then had "It's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" going through my head for the rest of the day. I then went to play some Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. I was thinking I wouldn't be able to since my daughter was the key holder. I was able to switch that to me temporarily so I could play. After opening up several portals I went to get my new cards. They had some Olaf cards left over from the Christmas party so they gave me an extra one - Yeah!!


I then went to Pecos Bill and got the steak fajita platter. I love Mexican food and love the new menu. While I was eating my DD called to tell me the boys had made it back to the MK. They were riding around on the train, little Caleb loves trains. The girls were going to come later, the baby was still sleeping. So, I went back and played some SotMK some more while I waited. We all meet at the front entrance about two hours later. I didn't write down exactly what we did - wasn't planning on writing a trip report. I know we took pictures, watched Christmas Wishes and the parade, and rode some rides. It was a wonderful first day at Disney!

 

[DaisyFoote]

December 22

Today we went to Animal Kingdom for rope drop. We were about to get on the tram to take us to the front entrance and my DH realized we forgot our magic bands - ughh. Glad we realized that before we got to the front entrance. My DD ran back to the car to get them. On the way running back to us, my little Minnie watch fell off my magic band. We went to lost and found later in the trip to see if someone turned it in - no luck. Anyway, when we got to the front we took some pictures in front of the big, beautiful Christmas tree. The cm was real funny here. She had John and I kiss while Abigail closed her eyes. I've done that pose before and always like it. So, we're kissing away and the cm is saying, "Hold it, hold it." We did for a while before we caught on - lol. Lael was yelling, "Get a room!" That was a cute way to start our day.


First thing we saw was Divine, she is so amazing. Here's a stock photo, not sure why we didn't get our own.


We stopped to let all the kids sign up to be a wilderness explorer. They stopped at some stations throughout the day but didn't obsess with it this time. We then went and meet the original wilderness explorers, Dug and Russell. We then went and meet Mickey and Minnie. Caleb LOVES Mickey. I think this first meeting though he was kind of in shock and a little shy. He definitely warmed up to Mickey by the end of the trip though.



We went on the safari and walked several of the trails. We saw Finding Nemo. On our first trip I read that the best place to sit for this show was in the middle of the auditorium, that if you sit too close the performers distract you from enjoying the show. Well, that was tour guide Mike's opinion but definitely not mine. We had to sit on the front row. It was a wonderful view - the performers give that show 100%. A deaf lady also came to watch the show so they had some interpreters right in front of us as well. They were amazing - they became the characters they were signing for and it was just an amazing thing to watch, I felt like that was the best view we had ever had of that show.

We then went and explored DinoLand and let the kids play in the Dino Dig area for a while. We were planning on a mid day break, but since the park closed at 8:00 we decided to try to just push through. We split up from the Dueys cause they wanted to We rode Expedition Everest after dark - that was a first and we loved it. Mikaylee was sooo afraid to ride - her dad had to convince her. After many tears she finally agreed. We watched the 2 smaller kids while they rode first. They came back and they all loved it. Zoey was the one who loved it the most and wanted to ride it again with us.


We then went and watched the Lion King. It's such a great show, but I've always like Finding Nemo better. I know most like Lion King better - but they are both awesome. We then took some pictures before heading out -


We went out to eat at Lael's favorite place - Buffalo Wild Wings. If you are a sport's enthusiasts that is a pretty amazing place. Many, many big screen tvs all playing different sports. The wings were actually really good as well. Then it was home for an earlier night.

 

[DaisyFoote]

December 23

We started this day at Epcot. We had FP's for Soaring so we went to Test Track at rope drop. The ride was down so we ended up going on the Nemo ride and then Turtle Talk with Crush. We rode Soaring - one of my favorites. We then went to meet Mickey. Now this time Caleb was warmed up. As we were in line he started yelling - "Mickey!" It was so cute.


Afterwards we went across the "street" to meet Baymax since there wasn't a huge line.


Annitra and her 2 oldest girls had reservations for Cinderella's Royal Table so at about 11:30 we got our final pictures from Epcot and then I headed over with them to the MK. I had secured it with my credit card so I had to be with them at check in. They had such a good time.

After I dropped them off I played a little bit of SotMK and then headed back to Epcot to meet up with the rest of the group to go home for our mid day break. Annitra and her girls just pushed on through. We meet up with them later that evening and then split up - give them some private family time and us the same.

That evening DH, DD, and I had reservations for a carriage ride over at Fort Wilderness. My DH was super excited about going on a "one horse open sleigh" at Christmas at Disney World. The rest of these pictures are not mine. You can see the name of the photographer at the bottom left hand corner. I actually took some pictures of my own but this guy's photography is amazing and my phone takes horrible pictures in the dark. I would highly recommend his trip report.
I'm glad we did it but would never spend that much money on doing it again. I guess we were really hoping so see a lot of the camp sites cause we've always heard that people really do a great job on the decorating. We only saw a small section of the campground - maybe 2 or 3 loops. It was a fast 30 minutes - well, really only 25. It wasn't worth the $240. We did get this fancy pin though -

Afterwards we toured the fort a little bit. My DH rode the bus back to get our car while my DD and I went on the ferry to see Fort Wilderness Lodge. That place is so beautiful, especially with their Christmas decorations.

 

[DaisyFoote]

December 24

The Dueys wanted to sleep in today. Imagine that - sleep in on vacation!! lol So we split up - we would both go to HS and just meet up later that night. Us Footes decided it would be a Star Wars day so at rope drop we headed for Jedi Training sign up. We signed up and Abigail would be in the 11:00 show. We rode Star Tours twice and then went to Phineas and Ferb, we love those guys! We were there right at 9:30 so we were first in line. Once again Abigail brought her stuffed Perry which they always make a big deal about.

We rode Toy Story Mania and got this picture - (one before and one after)


We then went for Jedi training. Abigail did this when she was 5. She was happy that this time she was actually know who this guy was that she was fighting and know more what to do. lol It was fun. Here's us waiting while she's getting ready -

And then Abigail fighting -

We then went over to Star Wars launch bay where we meet these guys -


It's great how Darth Vader is so into character - so intimidating. I love how Chewy can "talk" to you. He would make his noise and I would say, "Well, Merry Christmas to you too" and "It was really good to meet you too."

On our way to Tower of Terror we got our picture taken with this wonderful cm. Abigail couldn't stop squinting for the picture so the guy told her to wear his sun glasses. She went from being very grumpy to a big smile on her face. He was so awesome and his pictures I thought turned out great!

 

[DaisyFoote]

December 24 cont.
We took a mid day break and came back that night for the Osborne Lights - what an awesome display!! My DH and DD hate to stand in line for pictures but I insisted this time. I knew this would be the Osborne Lights last year and didn't want to miss a picture of their final year..


We meet up with the Dueys soon after this and rode Rock-n-Roller Coaster with them. We watched the smaller kids while they rode and then they for us and used parent swap to the best of our ability,


The Dueys left soon after this to go buy some Christmas presents. Mikaylee stayed with us. John and Abigail rode Tower of Terror.

Mikaylee hates that ride - makes her feel sick, so I sat out with her and we had ice cream. I had the apple pie with vanilla ice cream on top - amazing!! We ran to ride Toy Story Mania before it closed down and then saw the Star Wars fireworks. It was another GREAT day!!

 

[DaisyFoote]

December 25,

Happy Birthday Jesus! We spent some time this morning having family devotions and remembering why we have Christmas - it's all about remembering how Jesus humbled Himself and left Heaven to come to earth to be born as a baby so that he could grow up and then die for us so we could be saved - thank you Jesus.


Us Footes decided to go to Animal Kingdom today since it would be the least crowded park. The Dueys were taking an off day. We left before they even woke up. We wanted to give them some family privacy since they had gifts for all their kids. Found out later that they only bought their kids Christmas presents cause they thought we bought Abigail some presents and they didn't want their kids left out. They were just going to let their trip to Disney be their kid's present. That's actually pretty much what we did for Abigail. We did get her a used iphone from her Aunt Nancy that we actually gave her several days earlier.

We had 2 goals for Animal Kingdom. We bought a ball for Dug that we wanted to give him for Christmas. That ended up not happening - we walked by there before they were "open" and came by after they had shut down. Dug and Russell were coming back later that afternoon, but we weren't going to be there that late. We decided we would just give him the ball another day. Little did we know that this would be the last day at AK for John and I.

Our 2nd goal for this day was to do Wilderness Explorer - John wanted to see how fast they could do it. Abigail had said that's what she wanted too but on this day she lost interest. They did some things but didn't fill in her whole book.

We did ride Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, and go on a safari. We meet Santa Goofy - something I was really wanting to do.


It ended up being a wonderful, peaceful Christmas morning.

 

[DaisyFoote]

Christmas evening

I had made big plans for Christmas night. I knew the MK would be jammed packed, but really wanted to see the fireworks. The best solution - go on the Pirates and Pals Fireworks Voyage! I was off on the time so we ended up being there an hour early. That was OK though - it was fun to explore to Contemporary. We did a Treasure Hunt after we checked in. The cms give you a list of things to find in the Contemporary - that was fun. We checked out the gift shop where I bought Abigail a purse to carry her iphone in. They had some nice big couches for us to rest on too.

At the start of the party, two pirates, Patch and Patch, come out and welcomes everyone to the party. We went in and stood in line to meet Captain Hook and Mr. Smee. We went there right off so didn't have to wait long. They were cool characters to meet!


We then ate and ate and ate. They had cotton candy, ice cream bars, popcorn, chips and dip, cupcakes, and lots of gold coins. We got a couple of cotton candies and gold coins to go too. Then the 2 captains returned and divided us up into 2 groups and led us to the boat. Patch had a lot of funny banter as we were riding to the right spot. He introduced everyone with cheers for each family and then played a Disney trivia game where all the kids won a prize. It was a wonderful view of the fireworks. At first I was nervous cause we weren't hearing the soundtrack for the fireworks. It came on in about 2 minutes though - it just took them a little while to get it going. On the way back we played some more trivia. This one girl won a beach ball. Patch threw her the ball and she missed it and it went in the lagoon. Opps - Patch told us not to tell anyone so shhhh. It was very funny though. When we docked Peter Pan was there to meet us! We waited in line for him. He was hilarious. He crowed for us too.


After this the Dueys took all the kids with them so John and I could have some private time. I wanted to ride the monorail to the Grand Floridian and the Polynesian Resort and look at their Christmas decorations. This ended up not working out cause the monorail was packed - so many people returning from the MK on their way to the transportation center. So when the monorail would stop at the Contemporary, hardly anyone would get off. After we realized it was going to take forever, John and I just headed home. We ended up getting back not too long after the others did.

 

[abarriger]

Wow what a fun trip! You guys got some amazing family photos on your trip! I especially love the one in HS with the glasses. What a happy memory-- and seems like an amazing photo pass photographer.

I also enjoy hearing about how you handled meal prep-- I admire you for being so diligent! You must save tons of money.

 

[DaisyFoote]

December 26

This would be the Deuys last day at Disney so we wanted to make it a good one. We started off the day at Epcot where we would hop over to the MK to do the rest of the rides they hadn't done yet. We were there for rope drop and headed to Test Track. We had tried to do this earlier but it was shut down. Thankfully this time we got on. We rode it while Annitra was with the baby and then we swapped.


We meet Dale while waiting for Annitra then headed to ride Nemo and meet Crush.

I don't think we took a break this day since it was the Duey's last. We just pushed through and went to the MK. I don't remember everything we did, but I do know we stood in line for a quit a while to do Enchanted Tales with Belle. They were really impressed.


I had fast passes set up for the Dueys to meet talking Mickey. Caleb loves Mickey and really liked Disney Jr. live cause Mickey actually talked - even though he was small. So I knew he would be so excited about meeting him at the MK - which he was.


After this the guys wanted to stay through with the oldest girls and close down the MK. Annitra and I were glad to do that for them, but boy did we live to regret that decision. Things really fell apart at this point - and I hated that cause it was Annitra's last taste of Disney. We went shopping, Annitra wanted to buy some special pens for the kids to remember the trip by. As she was looking I was watching Caleb fall asleep. Rut roh. We dropped off the rented stroller and Caleb was sound asleep so Annitra had to carry him. He is a really big boy. I suggested we take the ferry; I thought it would be faster. There was a really long line for the monorail, but I wish now we would have taken it cause then Annitra could have sat down. On the ferry there was no where for Annitra to sit. She sat on the steps, but a cm came and told her she couldn't do that and suggested the 2nd floor. She couldn't make it up the stairs though cause Caleb is so heavy. When we got back I found a good spot for Annitra to sit while I went and got the car. I asked a security guard where I could pick them up from. He pointed to the pick up location where Annitra would have to walk to and wait for me. I wished I would have helped her to a bench over there. I was just thinking hurry, hurry, hurry. We had 3 small children - Zoey was about to pass out. The baby was asleep in their stroller. I regret now that I didn't pick up the baby and let Annitra put Caleb in the stroller since he was so much heavier. Oh well, hind sight is 20/20. Anyway, I had to wait through 2 pick ups for the tram. I finally made it to the pick up location and was stopped there waiting for Annitra to come - who was so close. A mean cm came up to me and told me I had to move. I don't know why he did that - I wasn't in anyone's way; I wasn't blocking traffic. Annitra was only steps away. I said, "Can't I just wait for my friend? She's right there." He said no that I would have to pick up past this line of about 10 taxis. My DH asked me later why I felt like I had to obey this teenager. I don't know why I didn't ignore him - I wished now I would have. I had tears in my eyes as I pleaded with him cause my friend was having a really hard time. He said, "I'll go help her as you pull around to the right spot." His way of helping her was to go tell her to she had to walk to the end of the row; he didn't offer to carry her bag or push the stroller or anything. I was so mad at him and I'm usually pretty forgiving of cms. Well, Annitra ended up making it to the car. She didn't die so I guess all's well that ends well. I hated her wonderful Disney vacation had to end that way though. We pulled around the tell the guy how he should have treated us and he was gone. I parked in that same spot he chased me away from and he never showed up. That was frustrating - guess I caught him at the end of his shift and if I just would have been a little bit later... The guys had a great time though. They rode 7 dwarfs mine train, space mountain, and this -

 

[DaisyFoote]

Wow what a fun trip! You guys got some amazing family photos on your trip! I especially love the one in HS with the glasses. What a happy memory-- and seems like an amazing photo pass photographer.

I also enjoy hearing about how you handled meal prep-- I admire you for being so diligent! You must save tons of money.

Hey - thanks so much for reading and replying. We do save a lot of money by staying off site and planning our own meals. I love to plan so I plan my meals ahead of time - mostly crock pot meals. I take all the supplies with me from my house and just have a list of perishable things to buy when we get there. I guess our philosophy is quantity over quality. Of course it's nicer to stay onsite and eat meals in the park - but we went for getting annual passes instead. So far this year we've spent a little over a month at Disney.

 

[DaisyFoote]

December 27,

Woke up this morning with the Dueys getting all packed up and moving out. They were heading to the Florida Keys. My friend Cindy and her DD's flight was getting in at 10:30. I sent John and Abigail to the airport to get them while I stayed behind to clean. Normally we would watch church via live stream from our computer, but their flight was getting in right at church time. They were pumped for Disney and we were wore out, so John dropped them off at the MK while we took most of the day off. After cleaning and napping we went to pick them up, our plans were to go to Olive Garden and they decided to go with us. We did all go back that evening and did a couple of rides. My friend Cindy didn't ride much this trip. She has a disease that causes her a lot of pain. It was really bothering her on this trip. She had surgery for it at the end of January. Anyway - we rode 7 dwarfs mine train and splash - look at those sneaky girls ducking so we would get all the water. I still owe them for that.



December 28

We went to Epcot today. We were there by rope drop so we could ride Soaring first thing - my friend Cindy's favorite ride. We had reservations for Teppan Edo. I love Japanese restaurants and knew Terran Edo would be top notch. It was - very expensive too. Since we were on the Candlelight package we had to spend $63 per person. We each got an appetizer, drink, entree, and a dessert. All the food was excellent. John got the Asakusa (Steak & Shrimp with Seasonal Vegetables, Udon Noodles, and Sukiyaki Beef Rice) and Abigail and I got the Filet Mignon (Beef Tenderloin with Seasonal Vegetables, Udon Noodles, and Sukiyaki Beef Rice). We walked around the World Showcase while waiting for the Candlelight processional to start. It was awesome! We sat on the 2nd row. We didn't have to have preferred seating, at least not for this show. We went to the earliest shows. It probably was more crowded for the other show - it would have been nicer if it would have been darker for the candles. The singing and orchestra was amazing. Blaire Underwood was our host; he did a really good job. John and I liked it so much we were planning on doing it another night. Things kindof fall apart after this night so that never happened.


After touring the World Showcase a little more we headed back and got this picture -


We then rode Test Track and watched Illuminations.

 

[DaisyFoote]

December 29

Our plans were to go to the Animal Kingdom today. John woke up in severe pain though. He's a diabetic and gets sick on his stomach quit often so I didn't think much about it. I let him sleep (Cindy and her DD prefer sleeping in on vacation too) and went to Target to get some supplies. I called John from Target to see if he needed anything and he just told me to hurry back - that he needed me as he was feeling awful. I hurried back to him being in extreme pain. We decided he needed to go to prime care. We called our insurance place to find out who was in network and where we should go. We got an appointment for 4:00. We didn't want to ruin Cindy and our DD's fun so I took them to AK and told them I'd pick them up at closing. After lots of moaning and groaning, tears, and Advil our appointment finally came. The doctor just talked to John about his symptoms, touched his belly some, and had him do this test. John stood on his tiptoes and then went down on his heels. When he did that he doubled over in pain. The doctor knew then that he had appendicitis and sent him right to the emergency room at the Florida Hospital. They had to give him an MRI to know for sure. We went by the house and packed him a bag and headed on over to wait and wait. After his tests came back they said that he indeed had appendicitis. They moved him to his own room on the 9th floor. It was a super nice hospital - the section John was in was pretty new. John would have surgery early in the morning. I went to pick up the girls from AK. After I dropped them off at the house I went back to the hospital and spent some time with John before he went to sleep. What a difference a day makes!


December 30

I went to the hospital early in the morning. They actually didn't take John down for surgery until 7:30 - an hour later than expected. About an hour later the doctor came out to tell me the surgery went well. He said John would be in recovery a while so I decided to run back to the house and take the girls to the MK. By the time I got back John was already back in his room and awake. Later on that day he was able to walk around. We went outside and sat for a while. I know God's timing is perfect. An appendectomy is probably not what most people would want to do on vacation. It worked out perfect for us, well, since he had to have an appendectomy eventually anyway. I was very thankful we had annual passes so I wouldn't have to worry about missing park time. I was glad it didn't happen the week the Dueys were here. Cindy and her DD have been to MK several times so they didn't need a tour guide. I was so thankful Cindy was there to take care of Abigail so Abigail wouldn't be bored at the hospital. The hospital was beautiful, very friendly staff, and his doctor was excellent. I'm sure he was the best doctor in the world. The weather was beautiful so John was able to walk around outside to recover. Romans 8:29 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God..." Here's a selfie of us walking around outside the hospital -


I spent the day with John and picked the girls up later that night.

 

[DaisyFoote]

December 31

I can't remember if it was on the 30th or 31st that us ladies went to the Outlets to buy some crocks for the girls. We went and visited John afterwards. Driving up 4 is crazy - I've never seen a busier rode. After we visited John I took the girls to Epcot (or to MK if it was yesterday - these days are kindof a blur as you can imagine), I went to spend the rest of the day with John. They said he would get to go home today so we just waited and waited and waited. While waiting the girls were having fun at Epcot and Cindy text me this picture -


Finally at about 6:00 that night they released him. He was home and settled in just in time to see the Alabama game - he was thrilled. He would actually rather see them win a national championship that to be at the MK so this worked out great for him. Our original plans were to MK on the 30th and see their special New Year's Eve fireworks and spend the 31st at Epcot. Since we didn't get to see the fireworks on the 30th, I called Cindy and asked her and the girls to meet me at the monorail so we could go to MK. I knew it would be crowded but it is so crowded cause that's the place to be!! John drove me and dropped me off so I wouldn't have to park - what a great guy!! It was super crowded but we walked around back stage so it wasn't that bad. That's when we got these great pictures -


They had Cinderella's carriage set up with a photopass photographer there. I wanted this unique picture pretty bad but I was alone in those thoughts, so we went on. We found ourselves in Fantasyland at 11:40. Everyone was getting ready for the fireworks so we actually went on Peter Pan's Flight with no wait. This is Cindy's favorite ride so she was thrilled. I wanted to find a good spot for the fireworks at that point - but once again majority ruled. We then went on 7 dwarfs mine train without a wait, we were in line while some of them were going off but missed the ending. We headed for Space Mountain after that. Cindy and I let the girls ride that while we waited and then we went on Buzz with little wait.

It was a great night. It was a mad house getting out though. I snapped this picture on the way out -


We ran into some people on the way out. Thousands of people are heading out and this 1 family is heading in. They were wearing Alabama shirts so I yelled "Roll Tide". They stayed back at the Contemporary to watch the game and then the fireworks from their balcony - what a great idea!! They were now coming in as everyone else was leaving. Those people knew what they were doing! We rode a bus back to the transportation center - I've never seen it where the cms are funneling you into groups like they were. It was crazy getting out of the MK that night. I believe us choosing the bus route though was definitely the way to go!

 

[DaisyFoote]

January 1

John wouldn't be able to go back to the parks with us this trip. Us girls went to MK again today. I normally wouldn't do the same park back to back like that, but I didn't originally plan on being at the MK on the 31st when we booked our fps. I wanted to see the Christmas parade one last time. I actually hadn't seen it this trip - the only time was during the Christmas party back in November. The parade ended up running real late though. They had some kindof marching band come by first and then the regular parade. It was actually not the Christmas parade though. I love the Festival of Fantasy parade so it was OK. The parade being so late made us very late for our Thunder Mountain fp. The cm still let us on though. And then Abigail and I rode Splash Mountain. Cindy and Abby didn't want to get wet so we split up at this point. They were going to the fireworks dessert party that night as well. We did a couple of the pirate's adventures and played some SotMK before heading to supper at Pecos Bill. John was texting me at this point wanting to know where we were at and what we were doing. I found out why - he surprised us and came up behind us in Pecos Bill. We were thrilled! He hung out with us for about an hour. After John left, Abigail and I were wondering around Adventureland when we saw the show with Jack Sparrow was about to start. I hated John missed it cause Abigail got to be a volunteer.



We met up with Cindy and Abby later. The girls rode some rides while us ladies took it easy.

 

[DaisyFoote]

January 2

We ended our Disney trip the same way we started it - at HS. John felt like he could come with us during part of the day so he dropped us off. Abigail and I rode Tower of Terror - we have our sad face on in honor of John. Abigail is saying, "Why?!"

He met up with us later to go see Frozen Fever with us. We LOVE that show! We then went to meet Chewy and Darth,

That actually was probably from days before since we are wearing different clothes - hmm. John stayed for several hours and then left. We went to see the Osborne Lights one last time. Once again, Abigail and I are missing John.


We headed back to NC the next day. It was a great vacation, surgery and all. The surgery ended up giving us another blessing - John was able to get an insulin pump since we met our deductible with the insurance. The pump should add years to John's life. When asked what the pump cost him, John says "One appendix" instead of an arm and a leg.


That's all for now - or at least until May 28 when we head back! - May all your wishes come true!