I was involved in the forums back in 2022 planning for my mom’s 50th birthday trip in April 2023 where we (my mom, dad, and I) stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge. My dad was on dialysis and everyone here was very helpful in providing accommodation tips and the trip was absolutely incredible. My dad was proud of all the work I put in and said it was the most relaxing vacation he had.
Unfortunately, on February 25th at 12:21 am, he passed away at 56 years old from organ failure due to his kidney disease. I am currently back home with my mom and brother, trying to help keep our family strong and together. It’s been difficult but we have each other.
My mom told me she wants to go on a vacation for the anniversary of his passing, and since I use Disney planning to cope, here I am already thinking of how to honor his memory while also provide my mom an easy, relaxing vacation.
I was thinking of staying at Wilderness Lodge, possibly renting DVC for Copper Creek. My dad loved camping and the outdoors, and took my mom to so many national parks in the West. My mom is also from northern California, so all of this seems like a good fit. I am also trying to think of something special we can do for his memory.
I have lots of time to plan, too much time, but the grief can be sickening and I’m just trying to focus on all the positive memories and ways to distract myself. My dad loved Disney, and made sure my family went many times. He and I had so many good memories. I miss him so much.
Thanks for reading <3. Mostly trying to find an outlet for my grief right now.
This is a beautiful idea. I love the fact of incorporating Wilderness/camping in the trip by staying at Copper Creek.
Grief is a tricky thing - you’ll be ok, then you won’t. But finding ways to honor/remember our loved ones is a great way to help through the days.
I honored my dad (who I lost two years ago) on a recent trip by handing out Disney gift cards when I saw dads and daughters enjoying the parks together - I didn’t have the strength to express why, so they were attached to a note explaining that my dad loved theme parks and I loved experiencing them with them, and this was to honor other dads and daughters enjoying their time together at the parks.
My friend had a WDW trip after losing her mom where she bought a dozen yellow Mickey balloons (because yellow was her mom’s favorite) and handed them out to kids.
Whatever you do to remember him, that will help ease the pain. Bless you.
Everyone grieves in their own way, so don’t let anyone tell you how to or how long it should take. I lost my dad the day after my birthday in 2020. I still talk to him every day on the way home from work. People might think I’m crazy, but I don’t care. It’s how I cope.
We are doing something similar this summer. When I was a kid, we went to Yellowstone, so my family and I are driving up and making some of the same stops we did then. One of the things we did was stop at Wall Drug in South Dakota. There was a bench with a female looking mannequin that my dad had a picture of him kind of flirting with. We made that into a Christmas ornament a couple of years ago and I’m going to recreate it. I know it’s still there because my mom and sister made the trip in 2021 and saw it then too.
I am so sorry for your loss. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
I’ve heard of a few things like bringing your fathers picture and taking photos around the parks and resorts. You could rent a boat and do a poem reading or prayer reading on Bay Lake/ Seven Seas Lagoon. They don’t allow spreading ashes but some organic flowers or other organic material could be a nice gesture.
The grief comes and goes in intensity. I don’t think it ever goes away. I lost my father at 18. Decades later I still have moments where I think it was all a dream and that he’s still here with us. I will never not miss him and grieve his loss. But the good memories tend to take over after time has passed. More often you can speak of him and smile instead of feel the overwhelming sadness. It’s good to process it. And finding way to honor him at Disney, being a Disney fan himself, is a beautiful way to do it.
If he has any favorites at Disney- maybe take family pictures there with each person holding or wearing something meaningful to your father. You can pass out some special mementos, gift cards, souvenirs to other guest in his memory (with a little note attached).
I am so very sorry for your loss. My dad passed last February and my mom 16 years ago also in February. It’s shocking to me how much I miss him. Please be kind to yourself.
I am so sorry for your loss, but glad you were able to experience a special trip with him beforehand. I’m sure you’ll find beautiful ways to honor his memory.
I’m so sorry for your loss and my heart goes out to you and your family at this time when your grief is still so raw.
I think that a family trip in your dad’s memory would be both a lovely way to honor him, and also an important moment to spend time with your mom. It sounds like Wilderness Lodge could be a great fit to tie in with the family trips you’ve taken together to national parks - I haven’t stayed there yet myself, but it sounds like one of Disney’s most beautiful and relaxing resorts.
I hope the Forum offers you a soft place to land at a time like this. Like you, I’ve found comfort in coming here and using trip planning as an outlet for grief after losing my dad last year (just a few months after taking my parents to AKL for a wonderful resort stay right before he got sick). Everyone here is so generous with their advice and support, and understands the importance of having these kinds of family memories.
Wishing you and your family strength as you navigate the days and weeks ahead.
I hope you can find some solace here on the forum and at Disney as you navigate the loss of your Dad. And I hope his memory brings you smiles as you plan. Sending sympathy and condolences to you and your family.
I’m so sorry for your loss! I think this trip will be a wonderful way to honor your dad as well as provide some happiness for the rest of you. As far as what you can do that is “special”, you’ll think of something. Being in the place you love that brought the family happiness over the years is honestly more than enough.
My daughters and I spent the one year anniversary of my mom’s death at Disneyland. It happened that her passing coincided with their spring break a lot of years, or it might not have happened that way. But it was good for me to be somewhere happy while I was remembering her and the trauma around her death. For my girls, their first ever visit to Disneyland included my mom (just four years prior to her passing), so it felt right in many ways. We drove down from Washington State, and I remember talking about her as we drove home through the mountains of Northern California, and suddenly there was a rainbow. I’ve associated rainbows with her ever since.
About 12 yrs ago my dad’s funeral was in SoCal so while we were there my sister and I decided a day at Disneyland was fitting since one of the best times we ever had as a family was at Disneyland, not long after Pirates opened. Definitely a good place to be.
I lost both my dad (excellent health, his passing was a shock) and my husband (poor health since 1995, diagnosed with dementia in 2017, I was his caregiver) in 2024. I did a solo trip to WDW in December, and the grief was finally released in front of the castle, totally unexpected, but the tears just started falling. Until then, I had been in a state of just figuring out who I was. I needed that trip to move forward in life.
Now I am planning the trip my daughters always said we would take after their dad passed. We are going in April and staying at the Yacht Club (wish I had booked Beach Club, and I keep watching to see if I can make that change).
For some reason, there is something emotionally healing and restoring about being in WDW. Apparently a lot of tears flow there, and on my “grief release” day, I found many compassionate people. As your family navigates your trip, I hope you find much joy in the planning and then much comfort and peace during your time there. Hugs to you, I know it is hard day by day, and you never know what is going to “get you” each day. Wilderness Lodge seems like the perfect place for your stay in view of your parents’ lifestyle. But maybe take some time at AKL, too, for the memories you made there.
As for honoring your father’s memory, would it be possible to make a donation to Give Kids the World or Make A Wish, in your father’s honor, so that another family can experience WDW?
Thank you all so much for your support and kindness. It truly means the world to me. I am already getting some nice ideas to honor my dad. I want to put together the perfect relaxing trip for my mom, she deserves it after being my dad’s caretaker for the past year.
Spent the afternoon going over hotel options with my mom and partner, and as much as my mom loved WL, she found herself being called back to AKL. She really loved the resort when we stayed back in 2023 and it has such good memories with my dad. But she surprised me with wanting our family to stay in a savanna view Grand Villa! No complaints here of course. If my mom wants it, I’ll make sure she gets it. Anything to make sure she has a the great time she deserves.
Now to figure out the logistics of renting DVC points and figuring out specific dates…
