A vacation for Divas

To vacation, or not. That is the question.

I need a vacation!

The last vacation that we took was in October 2007, it was to celebrate my 10 year wedding anniversary - and my family went to Disney World. Since my husband and I had honeymooned there 10 years before we thought it was the perfect time to go back and to bring our children. My son was 6 years old, going on seven and my daughter was 2 years old. When we returned home from Disney, we put Alex full-out on the gluten and casein free diet and have not looked back ever since. We've talked about going back to Disney and will do so again as a family some time in the not so distant future. Disney is one of the few places that we can go where Alex's GFCF diet will be able to be accomodated and there is no doubt my kids (and our family) are huge fans of all things Disney. My son worships Wall-E and Pixar and spends his time drawing Disney logos. My daughter is a real life princess. When we went to Disney, Alex did great. We used a special pass, which accomodated Alex's needs and allowed us to bypass wait times. He did surprisingly well in big hustle bustle restaurants, loved the characters, rode rides and even watched parades and fireworks. We had a great trip and we made memories.
















But, this next trip I'm taking to Disney - Alex isn't going. He is staying home with my husband and will be going to school as usual. This trip to Disney is just for me and Belle. We're going with Grandma who'll be there for a conference. This trip is for the girls. When invited to go, I didn't hesitate. The idea of a trip 'just for the girls" sounded great. And then, I started to have second thoughts. Was that fair to Alex to leave him behind when he loves Disney so much? Would he miss me? (Yes) Would I miss him? (Yes) Didn't Belle deserve a trip that was all about her? Ultimately, I decided yes. We are going to Disney. This time will be all about Belle and all about being a princess. This time she gets to call the shots instead of Alex. The last trip was largely dictated by Alex and his needs. We skipped shows, we avoided things that we knew would be too much for him. Though we did do a princess lunch at Epcot we didn't go all out princess. This time, we will. Yes, I will miss Alex very much but I also know that his priority is school and therapies and I can't pull him out of school for a week the way that I can with Belle (in pre-k). Plus I think this will be a great experience for Alex to get Daddy time, just like I'm getting in Mommy time with Belle.


Yep, my princess and I are going to Disney.. very soon. We leave on February 22nd just 10 days from now. I'm both nervous and excited for the trip all at the same time. We'll be staying at the Contemporary and have plans to dine with princesses and go to the Bippidy Boppidy Boutique for a princess make-over.


This is Belle's time.




















Some Epinions.com reviews of our Disney Experience in 2007:
Disney Pop Century Resort
Character Dining at The Crystal Palace with Winnie The Pooh & Friends
Character Dining at Chef Mickey's
Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge
Dining with Disney princesses at Norway in Epcot
Dinner with Farmer Mickey & Friends at Epcot's Garden Grill