The Eleventh Time's the Charm (Trip Report 5/29/21-6/5)

Supportive heart. :purple_heart:
It will get better.
That picture is priceless and can certainly be used in the future for embarrassment purposes (awful of me to say but totally something I would do).

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Been there. Done that. Once on the floor of a public restroom… Hang in there! Can’t wait to hear more about the trip (good, bad, and chaotic) when you’re settled back home.

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My children fought like… people who fight. Once, they were going at it, and a woman passing by stopped and laughed her a$$ off, literally wiped tears from her eyes, and finally said, “I never thought I’d ever see two siblings who hated each other more than my sister and I do.”

I cried.

That horrible woman.

My poor children were 8 and 3 at the time.

They get along better now.

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Ugh. The worst. Time for a grown ups only trip. So sorry.

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They can use the picture and infamous Main Street brawl story when they are giving the best man’s toast at each other’s weddings.

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Heart of support. We’ve had our share of these moments. It’s exhausting, for sure. Hang in there.

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The first time i went to WDW with both boys my youngest was about 2 1/2. When I got home from that trip I called my dad and apologized, I am sure i was just as bad to travel with when I was his age. That’s when we decided WDW every other year was good enough. We go more now that the boys have moved away.

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I said it after our family WDW trip in 2012 and I meant it, I will never travel with my sister and her family again. Then my parents did a trip with them in 2017 and said the same thing :joy:

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Lol

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Ugh. I’m so sorry. Traveling with young kids is not for the faint of heart. I’ve been there too and sympathize deeply with all the negative feelings.

On the positive - your wife looks like a mom boss in this picture telling her kids to get their :poop: together.

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After thinking about the trip this morning, I realized that the reason I’ve been so frustrated all week is that the kids behavior made it impossible for me to enjoy the atmosphere; to “stop and smell the roses”. I guess I expected too much. After this horrendous year, I was looking forward to being “home”. But it didn’t feel that way. It felt like I was treading water in a hurricane of parenting chaos, heat and exhaustion, and a little Disney mixed in for flavor. My wife nailed it when she said it didn’t feel magical, it just felt like we were at a theme park. All that said, I’ve started going through our photos and there were a lot of special moments. They were just short, and sprinkled into the chaos.

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It’s just one moment in time. There will be other moments coming. You’re paying the patenting dues right now :upside_down_face:

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Also, my solo trip in January 2020 really spoiled me - it will be a long time before I can enjoy another trip like that one. 5 days of doing whatever I wanted in my favorite place (and yes, that includes running 48.6 miles)

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Over time when you’re less tired and stressed, you’ll remember the special moments more!

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My wife and I talk frequently about how it seems like we’re on an island because so many other families show a public side of how easy it is to raise kids and do all the things without the chaos. For us it is hard, messy, and a series of embarrassing and frustrating events with jewels hidden in the rough parts and signs of really great people being formed when we step back and look at the big picture.

Keep your chin up. It will get easier and less stressful. Sorry it was hard. Stay the course. You’re not alone

I had the same conversation with my wife 4 years ago (re: no travel for a few years). Thought we’d never go back to WDW. Two years later we convinced ourselves to try again and it was the best vacation of our lives.

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Best vacay ever when mine were 8 and 11 but before that I highly preferred DLR for a diff set of reasons than I do now to WDW. Those being less is more at that age, almost as many attractions in way less space so easier to get to, easy to take naps, can use your own stroller everywhere with more ease, NO BUSSES to have to break down strollers for or that you somehow have to get all the sleeping toddlers/younguns off without waking up and into the stroller while rebuilding it, better weather means less fatigue for everyone. I suggest trying DLR next time until they’re all over 8 and don’t need a stroller. I enjoyed my solo parent DLR trip when mine were 2 and 5 more than my WDW trip when they were 3 and 6.

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My sympathies… Was this the kids’ first trip to WDW? I won’t bore you with the details, but our first trip to WDW with the kids (DS 9 - an easy child) and (DD 7 - a handful and stubborn) was not magical. We built ourselves up that we were spending all of this money to give them the trip of a lifetime, and the kids were tired, moody, and just wanted to swim, jump on the bed at the hotel and watch TV. It was exhausting (especially the BBB fiasco with DD - another story for another time). Many private tears. When we got home, we decided we would not return for a long time. Three years later, we tried again, and it was better…then two years later, again, even better. Each time, it has gotten better and better, and we all grew to love our trips to WDW! I think young kids are just overwhelmed and out of their normal routine. There is not enough down time when you are spending that kind of money. It takes time, and eventually, my kids started participating in the planning. DS just celebrated his 21st BD, and in May, he shared a beer flight in Epcot with his Dad. It WILL get better, and you and your wife will look back on this trip and laugh. :heart:
ETA: Thanks for sharing your trip with us! I enjoyed it and it made me laugh!

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We are leaving for a Wyoming trip for a week today… and all of us are just getting over a week-long stomach flu that meant no sleep for everyone, packing isn’t done, and DD2.5 has been waking up at 445 every day. She couldn’t nap yesterday because my son’s 8th bday party was from 2-4 so we didn’t have to provide lunch, and good thing we didn’t because it was 95 degrees and humid and no one could eat anyway. She fell asleep last night at 545 and was up 3x last night, and up for the day at 5. She will get no nap today, we have a 3 hour layover in ATL, and we don’t even GET to Wyoming til 930 our time. DS hasn’t been to bed until 10 the last two nights, when he usually goes at 8. And sis has woken him up at 5 both mornings. I’ve slept approximately none and washed more nasty laundry than I care to think about, and both kids are already whiny and grumpy, and we have 14 hours to go today.

So, yeah. I feel you. The exhaustion and frustration part of parenting sucks, and when you’re shelling out dough and supposed to be having a magical time, it’s even more heightened.

Can you take a nap? Take a nap if you can. i love naps. Naps fix everything. Pay a sitter and put on some earplugs and nap. Did I mention naps?

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You know what they say… there’s no such thing as bad kids, only bad…ear plugs. :slight_smile:

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Oh wow. Sending positive vibes and pixie dust!

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