If Only I Had A Doula When I Planned My Disney Vacation
Posted on: February 24, 2016 | Birth Stories, Misc.
Around 20 years ago my mom and step-dad took my brothers and I to Florida for vacation. We drove down in our new van, rented a condo, and had a blast. My youngest brother was too young to really enjoy it as he was about 18 months old so his dad’s parents watched him while the rest of us went to Disney World!
My mom always felt guilty that he missed out and kept saying she wanted to go back. As everyone knows, life happens and she never made it back with him as a child.
Fast forward to about 6 years ago and I started thinking of taking my own children and asked my mom if she would like to join us. She was thrilled, but thanks to different financial struggles we ended up putting it off. My mom had been looking forward to going and decided she would make it happen.
She had been saving for most of that 20 years and wanted to use that to take all of her kids and grandchildren to “The Happiest Place on Earth”. My step-dad decided not join us, but we still had 15 people total!! We magically found a time that we were all able to get off work and contacted a vacation planning specialist. We thought we were doing everything right.
Turns out you get what you pay for, or in our case what you don’t pay for!
The vacation planner didn’t cost us anything, she gets paid by the different companies in Florida that she recommends to us (or something along those lines). To be honest, they should have been paying me!
She didn’t tell us that you can make dinner reservations starting 180 days before your vacation and that if you are not on at midnight pacific time to book those, you will be lucky if you get any of the sought after experiences. I got on at 165 days before our time, when she had finally put our deposit through so I could, and I was in tears. It was nearly impossible to get anything we wanted. I was having to make reservations for smaller groups of us at different times. If only I had a doula to remind me to relax, to give me that calming presence that I could do this even if it wasn’t how I originally envisioned it. To Support me in the choices I made for our group.
We also had to constantly hound our vacation planner to put different payments through before deadlines were up. We almost lost our flight because she didn’t realize it would have to be a certified check or money order we paid with and she had to overnight it hoping they got it in time. If only I had a doula there, to remind me that everyone makes mistakes and I just have to do my best.
2 words…fast passes.
If anyone has been to Disney recently, you know the joy of fast passes. Everyone is given 3 fast passes for each park ticket they have, what these do is allow you to go to a fast pass line instead of the regular line and generally goes a lot quicker because they only allow a certain amount of fast passes to be scheduled during certain times.
I again was on at midnight pacific time to arrange fast passes for 15 people who were splitting up to do some things separate and some together. Everyone had given me a list of what they were hoping for, and I had to split it out by what park because even though we had park hoppers (meaning we go jump from park to park), the fast passes all had to be planned in the same park for the first 3. I worked around dinner reservations and was able to get almost everything everyone wanted. If only I had a doula to help me keep my mind on task. A doula to help me navigate how to go through the different steps in the most efficient and quickest way. A doula to again remind me that even if we didn’t get all of our top picks, it was still going to be a pretty epic vacation.
As the vacation loomed closer I had planned our transportation to and from the airport, planned almost all of our meals, planned our fast passes, contacted people to care for our pets, and countless other small details.
Did I mention I was doing this while my husband was living an hour away for work and it was a surprise for my 4 children who were around me ALL.THE.TIME! If only I had a doula who could help me take care of the kids while I was making these plans, figuring out the reveal, ordering custom shirts.
It finally came the day we were leaving and I was doing all the packing last minute and of course, I was so stressed I literally made myself sick to my stomach. Yeah that was fun… I am an over-packer who wanted to have extra clothes for weather changes and in case kids got dirty (so about 3 outfits per kid, per day), toiletries, Disney costumes, shoes, airplane busy bags, etc. If only I had a doula who could have helped me pack for 6 people or at least sit and talk with me while I did it, reassuring me I was not forgetting anything!
The day of the reveal I gave my older kids a letter to read that said where we were going while my mom changed the little kids into their custom “My First Trip to Disney 2015” shirts. I was expecting squeals of excitement, instead they just sat there. We got them to change their shirts and go outside where I had a party bus/limo waiting to whisk us out of the snow storm to the airport. The entire ride there and sitting at the airport waiting to board they just sat, emotionless. I found out that day, even though they used to want to fly, they were now terrified! They were fine once we were in the air, but a doula would have been nice to keep their fears at bay for take-off. If only I had a doula there to help them keep calm in the face of the unknown.
When we returned, the kids and I got very sick. While their sickness lasted about a week each, mine lasted a few weeks because my immune system was not as strong after my surgery. If only I had a doula there to help me get through the mounds of laundry I brought home, help me make dinner for the kids, and keep the house running while I was bed-ridden.
All in all, we had an amazing vacation! 3 days at Disney World and 2 days at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida and a couple of relaxing hotel days. I did almost all of the work, while my mom paid most of the money. It was an unforgettable time and I survived with a smile on my face.
It would have been nice to have a doula through all of it for myself. However, I realized that all that extra work I put into this vacation wasn’t for nothing. I was the doula for the other 14 people who were involved. I helped them plan for the dream vacation they wanted, but I also helped them enjoy the vacation they went on. It wasn’t the vacation they had originally thought they were going on, but it was so much better. Everyone came home happy, except for wishing we could have stayed even longer. When one of the couples had a small issue come up, I helped watch their kids and I assisted them in opening their means of communication without judgement.
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When is a time you thought, if only I had someone to help me through this? Share in the comments!!
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