Wonderland Katie's family fun trip report! **Complete**

Thanks for the kind words everyone!

Day 8 (Wednesday): Departure day

There isn't much to say about today, unfortunately! We slept in a little bit and got up and finished packing. For some reason, we got a letter from DME saying we were not able to check our luggage at the hotel, so we waited with our bags for the DME, which was supposed to arrive at 11:25 but didn't get there until 11:40. I fell asleep on the bus, I think due to the sadness of it all lol... When we got to the airport, it starting raining really hard and our flight was delayed an hour Mickey didn't want us to leave I had taken some Dramamine before I knew the flight was delayed, so I was starting to feel really out of it. Mom and Dad took Desmond around the terminal and watched all the planes (he still can't stop talking about all the big planes way up in the sky ) Desmond and I both slept most of the flight, which was nice and calm. It was raining and 45 degrees when we arrived in Indy, and the drive home was very rainy as well! We got home at about 9:30, and fell exhausted into bed!

I wanted to share some final thoughts, or things I forgot to add previously:

-We loved our Magic Bands! They were beyond convenient and simple to use, and they synced seamlessly with MDE. The one problem any of us had with the new system was that Dad's finger print didn't work the 2nd or 3rd days (which he thinks happened because Desmond touched the scanner immediately after Dad removed his finger), but guest services remedied it quickly.

-FP+ was also wonderful! The way we toured the parks, it really worked to our advantage. We only waited 20 minutes for a ride twice, and most of the others were less than 10 minutes! We were able to get up to 6 FPs on our MK days by planning our 3 in the morning. The only issues I saw in the FP lines were people trying to get in when their time wasn't available yet, and standing and arguing with the CM and blocking the line

-I never really explained the details of my henna tattoo that you can see in most of the pictures, but it consisted of a Tangled sun, Beast's enchanted rose, a swirly 'hidden Mickey', a Peter Pan-esque star, and Pocahontas' arm band, along with light flowers and swirls as filler The henna has since worn off, but I actually have a tan line in the shape of the sun and arm band lol! I also got a gel manicure the day before we left for Disney, but I'm not sure if it was the humidity or what, but it was all peeled off by Monday

-I like how Scrappy did a high and low of each day, so I thought I would do something a little similar:
Meal: favorite- Kouzzina -- least favorite- Coral Reef
Drink: favorite- Lapu Lapu ( I got mine without sour mix because I can't stand the stuff, and the drink was wonderful!) -- least favorite- the one from PORS
Show: favorite- Finding Nemo -- least favorite- Lights, Motor, Action
Ride: favorite- Space Mtn -- least favorite- Tomorrowland Speedway
Moment: favorite- watching Desmond on the Tea Cups -- least favorite- leaving

In order to curb the post-Disney blues when we got home, I bought a couple of shadow boxes from Hobby Lobby. Mom got me a small Alice in Wonderland snow globe on the last day, so I put that in one box with my AiW pins, the little Alice string doll I got from Hot Topic, and the Cheshire Cat antenna topper I got at the Emporium (Matt informed me that I don't have any exterior antennas on my car lol, shows how much I pay attention to that stuff)! In the other, I put my shirt and wallet sized pictures of my meet and greets with the princesses (although I'm probably going to trade those out for more family/Desmond oriented pictures from the trip ), our Magic Bands, all the other pins, and the castle antenna topper I got
I also got a small 5 photo collage type frame at the Emporium that I have the family pics we took at EPCOT, AK, and DHS.

-I have been thinking a lot about how awesome my family is. We spent a whole week together without even being close to fighting (we snapped at each other a couple times out of tiredness, but overall we got along very well). Most of all, I'm thankful that Desmond has such caring people in his life! Matt, Mom, and Dad all watched Desmond a lot (more than I did too, I've realized by writing this report), and I am eternally grateful for them! No one did anything they didn't want to, but everyone having the flexibility and patience to respond to Desmond's needs was so wonderful! I love them all so much!!

-There are two potential trips in the works for the next year!! Matt's parents said they would like to go on a trip with us and Matt's sister Emily's family. Emily's son, Jacob, is 7 and hasn't been to Disney yet (although he's never been much into Disney stuff, his favorite thing is Godzilla ; ). Matt's parents like to stay at condos and high scale places, so we were throwing around the idea of renting DVC points and (provided it's available) staying in a 2-bedroom villa at the Boardwalk in February! Matt's dad drinks even more beer than he does, so they would enjoy being near the ESPN Club and World Showcase They also like to take vacation at a much more relaxed pace, so there will probably be a lot of pool/nap time.
Furthermore, they are not very 'hands on' when it comes to Desmond, so they probably won't take him by themselves or entertain him if he's getting restless, but that's ok! I've decided I was selfish enough on this trip (and got to do most everything I wanted), that I can be the responsible parent on the next trip The trip still isn't for sure though, because Matt's other sister is getting married in October so his parents might be low on cash from that, but the big thing is that Emily's husband will still be in chemo at the time He has a good prognosis since he is in great shape (fights MMA) but his testicular cancer spread to many of his lymph nodes before they caught it, so he will be on chemo for about a year. He's a tough guy, so we are all hoping for the best!!

If that trip doesn't work out for any reason, I am hoping to take a solo trip the first week of December! This one I have more planned out, mainly because I know what I would want to do, and I don't know what the big group of 8 would want to do in February.
Leave Southwest from Indy and arrive at MCO Monday 12/1 at 9:30. Check in to Fort Wilderness and head to MK. Go back around 4 to set up tent, then back for the rest of the evening and EMH until 1am. Tuesday- AK until 3 or so then back to MK for MVMCP til midnight. Wednesday- planning on MK all day, but taking the afternoon to visit the MK area resorts to bar crawl and see the Christmas decorations! Thursday- EPCOT all day Friday- DHS then leave on DME at 4:30 for 7:30 flight home! I plan on doing quick service dining too; not really anything specific planned but just eat when I'm hungry.
I've tent camped all my life, and I don't plan on spending much time there besides sleeping, so I'm feeling like this is the best bet for me right now. I really wish I could take Desmond, and I wouldn't mind being the one to watch him while someone else rides the big rides, but I don't think I'll be able to get anyone else to go with me... And as well behaved as he was on this trip, I just don't think I could handle everything (like carrying him, a stroller, and big diaper bag on and off a bus) by myself

Just a few extra pictures from the trip
Mousekeeping was wonderful for us! Every other day they did something fun with the stuffed characters and other toys we had in the room They also gave the other room a turtle towel animal
Day 2: Mickey watching TV and the Sorcerer light up Mickey in the window

Day 4: a few of Desmond's small toys in the window and Mickey, Goofy, and Mike watching TV

Day 6: The other two got a little rowdy with Goofy!

^He wanted to go back to Disney World!

Well, I think I have run out if everything I can talk about!! I hope you enjoyed reading my report; I definitely enjoyed writing it!! I will keep everyone posted if one of the other trips becomes a reality!!

Thanks everyone!!! Matt said today that, whether we go with his family or not, the three of us are going back to Disney in February