Some exciting news, need a little advice

As many of you know, my mother is terminally ill with breast cancer. Well, for Christmas this year my parents decided that they wanted to have a "Magical Family Gathering" and they are taking us all to DisneyWorld in a couple of weeks!!!! They are paying for everything but booze and cigarettes! There are 13 of us total going and I am so excited and anxious! I am a little worried about eating while I am there, abou****er intake and also CLOTHES! All my summer stuff is size 12-14's!! I have gotten a couple of pairs of capri's and I have short sleeved shirts that should work fine, but I don't know what the weather will bring and am a little nervous abou****er and food intake. For those of you who have gone on an extended trip after surgery, do you have any advice? We will be gone for 5 days and 4 nights. With my parents picking up the tab, I feel guilty about drinking 4 $5 bottles of water per day so I didn't know if I could bring my own, etc... plus I haven't been on an airplane since 1989. What kind of things will they allow me to travel with (food, water etc.) Any and all advice will be helpful.

Hi Julie, I am a lurker here, but just had to reply to you post. I am sorry to hear about your mother, but happy that she feels she is able to go on this trip with you all. The info that I have for you is from the prospective of a former travel agent and post-op. First off, the weather down in Fl. this time of year can very from high 70's to low 60's so dress in layers. I don't know about you, but I am always cold, so shorts wouldn't be a high priority for me. Now, about the food/water intake. Take your own water bottle with you. They will let you take it into the parks and there are drinking fountians everywhere that you can refill from. If you don't want to take your own bottle, just buy one bottle of water down there and refill it. The food in the parks is pretty expensive and very high in fat, I would pack some snacks and take with you in a backpack (which you can take into the parks no problem). I usually only eat one big meal a day, so I would plan that for the evening and pick a nice resturant that you can get healthy meals at. Most of the resturants down there will allow you to order off of the childrens menu, but if not, consider sharing a meal with another person. About the airplane, again, take 2-3 bottles of water with you. You can have them in your carryon, no problem, but remember to drink plenty of water. Also, since they don't feed you on the planes anymore, pack your own snacks for the plane as well. Also, I would suggest investing in a guide book for DisneyWorld. You can get these at most book stores, they have alot of great information and tips. (p.s.....I would double check with whoever you made your reservations with and get a wheelchair reserved for your mom. She might not be real happy about the idea, but there is so much walking, she will be better off in the long run!) Have a great trip and let me know if I can answer any other questions for you...........Kris

Thanks for all the great advice! I am happy to report that my mom already thought ahead and she has reserved a motorized scooter for the trip. She thinks all the grandkids will fight over whoever gets a 'ride' with grandma. I never even thought about refilling a water bottle, but I think that is the route I am going to go on that one. As far as snacks go, I am going to pack them in my suitcase and replenish our tote or whatever we end up carrying around every morning. Thanks alot for all the great advice again. ~Julie

Hi julie! I thought that maybe I'd have a few tips to share with you as I just went to DisneyWorld over Thanksgiving. I was 3 months post-op at the time. 1) I bought a Brita Filtered Sports Bottle to take with me on the trip because I had read on alot of the Disney Boards that the fountain water at Disney tasted horrible. I found once I got there though that the water from the fountains really wasn't that bad, but it did taste a little better filtered. Anyway, there are alot of fountains or bathrooms to fill up your water bottle at. They don't have any problem with you taking in your own bottled water either (or snacks either for that matter.) 2) I also took in some snacks in my fanny pack. I didn't take alot of snacks though because I only wanted to have to carry a fanny pack and not a backpack. There is ALOT of walking involved and the extra weight of a backpack would have been too much for me. I would throw in those 50 cent packs of peanuts or cashews that you can buy at convienence stores, they made a good snack. I also usually threw in a small beef stick and even though we should stay away from carbs I took a small pack of peanut butter crackers too. 3) There are actually alot of food options in the parks if there is someone to share a meal with. At Magic Kingdom and Epcot you can get HUGE Turkey Legs for $4.50, My husband would get one and I'd eat just a couple of bites off of it and be full. Also there are several places that serve broiled chicken breast sandwiches that are good and large enough to share. At Animal Kingdom there is a restaurant near the Safari called "the tusker house" that has the best rotisserie chicken I have ever tasted and the meal is huge so hubby and I shared. The very best thing I did though was I bought some of those really small ziplock craft pouches at Wal-mart before my trip and filled each with a scoop of protein powder. Each morning I would fill up a small water bottle with 6 ounces of water and dump in my protien powder. This allowed me to drink my protein shake on the way to the park and it really helped my energy. I couldn't see packing a big tub of protein powder to take with me so the little bags helped out alot. I buy the ProScore 100 from vitalady.com because it mixes well with water and I can mix up a drink anywhere. You need a refrigerator for milk but no****er! 4) If you are really into researching your trip there is ALOT of stuff you can do online. I know alot of really good websites that have tons of helpful information. I just helped a good friend of mine plan her whole trip for herself and 9 other family members. Disney can be so overwhelming if you aren't prepared! E-mail me if you'd like any additional tips at 3halls97 at msn dot com. Here is a link to one really good site that gives menus for all of the fast food counters and sit down restaurants at each Disney park: http://allearsnet.com/menu/menus.htm Seriously e-mail me because I have alot of other tips to help you out! Sorry for such a long post EVERYONE!

Hey Woman, My closet is your closet!!!!! We should be able to come with some skirts, capris, and more Tshirts..... I have some hoodies too that you can layer. --And I think my swim suits will fit. The onsite hotel we stayed at sold mugs that you can refill for the time you're there (we used them for breakfast / lunch it was much cheaper than not purchasing and using disposable). I am going to miss you awful, and will have an enormous cell phone bill to prove it!!!!!! I know you and the kids are going to have a great time and have lots of memories to treasure. PS Do you want to use some of my tanning minutes????? Hugs Barbie LOL

the only advice I have, and its small but just wanted to throw it in there. I know when I was reading carnie wilsons book, that she mentioned every time she has been on a plane since surgery, she gets constipated. and I think it has something to do with getting enough water. I think you lose a certain amount of water just going through the whole flight thing? anyways, someone else said to bring bottles with on your carryon, thats a good idea. you just have to let the attendants know you need lots of water! so thats all I have to add, other than HAVE FUN! take some pics! Judi