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Disney After Cancer Treatment

Filed under Disney With Hidden Needs by Pamela Dorr on March 26, 2012 at 1:24 am {9 comments}

Trips to Disney World or Disneyland are often seen as a once in a lifetime event. Many families going through major life events like cancer treatments see Disney trips as a celebration of life. Cancer treatments are designed to kill the cancerous cells that ravage our bodies and take over our lives.  Several years ago, I underwent a series of Cytoxin chemotherapy treatments. During the treatments I sat in a comfy chair and relaxed while the medicine dripped through an IV into my arm. After each treatment I was exhausted for the next 24 hours.

Cancer treatments, while they save lives, take a major toll on a person’s health and energy levels. Taking a trip to the Disney Parks after cancer treatments requires using different touring strategies than one taken prior to a cancer diagnosis, especially if the celebratory trip is very soon after the conclusion of cancer treatments.

I myself and a “pseudo-commando” style tourist at the Disney Parks. My family and I get to the parks as soon as we can, and we stay for as late as we can. Often, we will park hop to another park with Extra Magic Hours. We make up a list of specific attractions that we feel we must visit in each park. If we are able to hit more attractions than what is on our list, then we are happy to have extra fun.  Other Passporter members are “commando” style tourists and will open and close the parks each day. They will hit every attraction in each park as many times as possible during the day. If I had visited Walt Disney World within the first year after my chemotherapy treatments, I would not have been able to tour the parks as much as I did in my last few trips.

 

For people visiting Disney Parks after cancer treatments the best advice I can offer is: take it easy. Slow down and enjoy a leisurely stroll through the parks. Take a break in the middle of the day to go back to your resort and relax by the pool or in your room. Plan a relaxing meal at one of the wonderful table service restaurants that the Disney Parks have to offer.

 

Chemotherapy and radiation treatments take a toll on a person’s body. Rest is the best way to allow your body to recover. Visiting the Disney Parks requires a tremendous amount of walking. Even if you have to benefits of an electric scooter (ECV) or a wheelchair, there are often times where you will need to leave your wheelchair or ECV behind while you wait in an attraction queue. Pirates of the Caribbean is one such attraction. My daughter had to leave her wheelchair behind near the entrance to the attraction and walk the entire way through the queue area. In instances like this, a Guest Assistance Card (GAC) is invaluable. At the beginning of your first park visit, stop in at Guest Services and ask for a GAC. Explain that you tire easily while standing and need to have a place to rest while waiting your turn to experience the attraction.

 

Unfortunately, I have not had the pleasure of visiting Disneyland, so the following advice I offer is specific to Walt Disney World. In all the parks, be sure to stay hydrated. This is key, especially after a cancer diagnosis and treatment. There are certain attractions that will allow you a bit of a rest, while allowing you to stay in the parks.

 

Magic Kingdom

Enjoy a relaxing ride on the People Mover, the Tomorrowland Transportation Authority ride. This attraction is a leisurely ride through Tomorrowland and some of its major attractions like Space Mountain. Learn a little history in the Hall of Presidents. I have read where some Passporters feel this is a great attraction for a nap. LOL At the very least it is a nice air conditioned place to sit for a while.

 

Epcot

The Voices of Liberty offers entertainment while guests wait to experience the American Adventure Show.

In Future World there are benches and ledges where you can sit and people watch for a little while. In World Showcase, you have more options for restful spots. Most of the eleven country pavilions have some sort of attraction where you can sit and relax. Canada pavilion had the “O Canada” movie. There is also and area to sit and listen to the music of Off Kilter. China pavilion has “Reflections of China,” a Circle-Vision movie. These are just two of the options in World Showcase. The American Adventure has an (in my opinion) interesting show about the American Dream throughout history. If you are lucky, while you wait in the air conditioned lobby for the theater to open, you can listen to the Voices of Liberty.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

The American Idol Experience allows you to rest while you listen to (hopefully) good music. Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show is a half hour (approximately) show where you can sit and learn how some of the stunts are created in your favorite action movies. This attraction can be extremely warm, however, especially in the warmer months since it is outside. The Magic of Disney Animation offers a short respite from the heat while  you learn how Disney animators work through the process of creating beloved animated characters.

 

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Festival of the Lion King offers semi air conditioned bench seating while you enjoy a lively, colorful show inspired by the animated movie and Broadway show. This is a large and rather loud venue, so be prepared. Finding Nemo, The Musical is another enjoyable show that gives you a chance to sit and relax. This park has the least amount of shade and is the hottest of all the parks.

 

If you have visited the Disney Parks before and after a cancer diagnosis and treatment, please leave a comment about how your touring plan changed, if it did. For more tips on visiting the Disney Parks after a cancer diagnosis check out the Passporters Open Mouse to Walt Disney World and Disney Cruise Line.

Epcot: a big new world!

Filed under Disney Inspired, Fresh Picked Posts, Getting in Shape for Travel by rescuesk on March 15, 2012 at 12:09 pm {3 comments}

So you are well rested after your adventure in the Magic Kingdom yesterday, and ready to take on Epcot, right? Let’s go!

While the Magic Kingdom is the smallest park on property, Epcot sometimes appears to be the biggest. (It’s not.) Epcot is actually divided into 2 lands, FutureWorld and World Showcase, and both will require some walking!

If you arrive at Epcot via Disney bus or monorail, you will have a relatively short walk to the entrance of the park. If you drive your vehicle, keep in mind that the paking ot is rather large. If you want to save your walking strength for the park, take one of the trams that circle the parking area. They will drop you close to the entrance.

Once you are in Epcot, don’t become overwhelmed by the size. (Save that for Animal Kingdom.) Epcot is laid out, in my opinion, very nicely and very convienently for getting to all attractions. You will start by walking past the fountains and the Leave-a-Legacy towards the park’s icon, Spaceship Earth. From there, you can choose to walk right or left, depending on which attractions you want to see. The walk around the park is beautiful. 

You will be walking towards World Showcase, but the walk will be made easier because you will be stopping to see so many of the attractions along the way, as well as appreciating the beauty that is Epcot. Epcot always gives me the impression that you have stepped into a futue filled with music, sunshine, flowers, birds and fountains. I have seen the future, and it’s good! The attractions in Epcot are set a bit back from the main path, and they are large attractions! Unlike the Magic Kingdon, where you often stand in an outside queue and enter the building at the beginning of the ride, you will enter many Epcot attractions and find a whole story to go with the attraction. For example, if Soarin’ is your goal, you will enter into The Land Pavilion. Soarin is downstairs and to your left, but there are a treasure trove of other goodies to explore before you get there or while you ar waiting for your Fastpass time to come up. Spend some time in all the pavilions in FutureWorld…you’ll d up your walking steps! :)

From here, its on to World Showcase! When you enter the park via the bridge between FutureWorld and World Showcase, you will be facig World Showcase Lagoon. From here, you can walk to the left or the right. The path is a big circle around the circumference of the lagoon, passing by the countries on your way around. This can be a long walk, especially on a hot summer aftrnoon. It can also get very crowded during some of the festivals. Take time to rest. There are benches placed all around the lagoon, as well as tables near the outdoor eateries. And one of the nicest perks is the Friendship boats that run the length and breadth of the lagoon. Climb on one for a relaxing and scenic ride across the lagoon. The ships run in both directions with 2 seperate lanes of travel, so you can cut out some, or all of your walking back.

Remember that with every park adventure comes the walk back. You will get tired in Epcot, and then you will have to get back to your resort. If you stay to watch Illuminations, the night time show that is presented on World Showcase Lagoon, you will have to walk from wherever you are in World Showcase, across the bridge into Future World, and then back to your transportation option. The Friendships do not run after  Illuminations gets set up, around 7 PM, and they do not run after the show. Unlike the Magic Kingdom, your feet are your only option out of the park.

Once back at your resort, time to rest, relax and rehydrate. Our next park is small but mighty…Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Get prepared to do some walking, but alot of standing. You don’t want to miss the Streetmosphere that goes on in this wonderful park!

Who is on Your (Disney Vacation) Invitation List?

Filed under Grown-Up Disney by aliceinwdw on February 9, 2012 at 2:50 am {3 comments}

So, I was just thinking about the fact that, again, in a few short weeks *happy dancing, dancing, DANCING!* (Oh yea! Isn’t that the Bee Gees, or some disco-eque song? LOL), I will be attempting to seamlessly *fingers-, eyes-, and toes-crossed* book our upcoming trip. However, this time, I have little more to do…

“Go to Your Room!”

On prior trips, again being that we’re Disney Vacation Club (“DVC”) members, we’ve tried out a 1-bedroom for when my mom comes up from South Florida to join us for the first part of our trip. (Nice kid, ain’t I?) Unfortunately, though, we’ve sort of felt that the 1-bedroom wasn’t the greatest choice for us because she was “stuck” out on the sleeper sofa. I mean don’t get me wrong, they’re comfortable enough, but I think they’re “better suited” for kids and teenagers than, um, more “mature” adults (I think she won’t yell at me for that :-P ). So, after her repeatedly saying, “No, no it’s fine,” as she’s sleeping on the couch (*sigh*), last year I finally got smart! We skipped the 1-bedroom and just booked us each our own room. Ingenious, I know!

BLT 1-bedroom Living Room is pretty nice! * photo taken by chezp

Well, this worked out much better, and I think everyone was less “feeling like they couldn’t relax” because we weren’t in each others’ space. So, needless to say, this year I will be doing the same; however, this time, my in-laws have insisted on coming down with us too!

I Love That Show!

“Roseanne” (Season 2, Episode 7, Aired 10/31/1989)

Jackie: “How’s your costume coming along?”
Roseanne: “Ahh-ahh it’s the coolest! Wanna see?”
Jackie: “Yeah.”
Roseanne: “Walk this way.” [skips out of room]
Jackie: “Oh! Yea.”
Roseanne: “Ok. I am going to be…the Wicked Witch of the Mid-West!”
Jackie: “Great. Great…Where’d you get the hat?”
Roseanne: “My mother-in-law.”

*****

This is totally one of my favorite TV shows of all time and this scene popped into my head as I was writing this; however, I have to say that I actually LOVE my in-laws! They are just so much fun when they can let loose and not have to worry about being “Grandma” or “Grandpa” or “boss” or what-have-you; they can just be themselves — and boy do they make me laugh. A lot! I mean, who else can say they thoroughly enjoy hanging out with their mother-in-law (“MIL”)?? (You probably shouldn’t mention it if that’s not you…just in case yours has access to the internet! LOL)

So, this time around, I will be planning for not only DH, my, and my mom’s resort accommodations and dining reservations, but I’ll also have to figure in 2 more “co-guests.” For me, this is no big deal as I *heart* me some planning, but I was wondering:

Have you or do you travel with more than just yourself/significant other/usual travel buddy and do you enjoy it?

I guess I could actually just consider my mom a “regular” at this point, although since she’s not with us the entire trip, I still like to think of her as our guest — and I have to say that we enjoy the company (and this is per the DH too). Plus, it totally helps that she just goes along with the plan and isn’t a “backseat driver.” ;-) However, that’s not to say that I leave her out of the planning completely. I still involve her and always ask for suggestions; i.e. are there any past restaurants she wants to re-visit? Is there a new place she might want to try (well, with her not being as Disney Dorkified — no, no it’s ok; this is a good kind of dork! ), I just ask her what “kind” of food would she like to try this time, etc.

I think involving your guest(s) in part of the planning, like talking about what restaurants to try, for example, is a great way to get your “co-travelers” excited about the trip — and yet it doesn’t overwhelm them (like I know she would be if I did involve her in every detail) — because we all know Disney is so completely void of options. *snickers*

I also keep things in mind like the fact that my mom doesn’t do rides and loves Epcot; so this is where we will inevitably spend most of her stay. :-) However, I tend to look forward to our “traditions” with her and, in turn, I like that I “have” to come up with other things that DH and I can attend/try during the remainder of our trip. This is always a fun aspect of my planning because it definitely amps the anticipation — and it would be great if we can actually make a definitive decision to get on over to Islands of Adventure at Universal for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter this year! I’m hoping that with it being 3 years old, come our next trip, that the crowds will have thinned out a bit. Hey, a girl can dream! LOL

Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Hogwart's Castle * photo taken by DebiDebiDebi

Ok, well maybe I’ll go give my MIL a call and see what’s for dinner, er, I mean where she might want to eat when we’re down on vacation! *wink*

Until next time,

Welcome to Dining Out at Disney

Filed under Dining Out at Disney by Heather Macdonald on January 18, 2012 at 2:21 pm {one comment}

Hi everyone and welcome to the PassPorter blogosphere! I’m Heather and I’ll be your guide to all things related to Dining at Disney.

Hi! I'm Heather!

I’ll be reviewing restaurants, talking about dining plans, letting you know about special dining options, and posting lots of yummy pictures to help you plan your Disney Vacations. After all, food is the most important part of any Disney trip, isn’t it?

I just returned from this year’s International Food and Wine Festival at Epcot, so some of my upcoming posts will discuss this year’s great and not so great booth offerings.

A sneak preview of one of my favorite items: Crispy Shrimp Tacos from the Mexico Booth

So to start off, perhaps a little bit more about myself. I’m a bartender in New Orleans and my favorite thing to talk about is food and restaurants.  The best part of my job is that I get to spend hours every day talking about our local eats with all of my out of town guests. I spend a fair bit of my off time exploring New Orleans restaurants, local hot spots, and tourist attractions. I love finding new gems and sharing them!

As far as Disney World goes, planning dining experiences is my favorite part of the pre-trip excitement. I’m famous for changing everything at the last minute and booking last minute trips. I’ve also been known to put my dining options up for public votes–so keep an eye out for that if you’d like to have some input on what your going to see in this space! I love lots of things about Disney besides dining: Stitch and Eeyore are my favorite characters, I love everything about Pirates, but my favorite park to spend time in is Disney’s Animal Kingdom. In addition to being a food fanatic, I’m also a DVC member and an Annual Passholder–so I’ll let you know about special discounts and events for those programs.

I’d also love to answer any questions you might have about Dining at Disney, so I’ll be checking the http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/feasting-snacking-eateries-walt-disney-world/ for great questions. In addition you can send me any questions you have in the comments section of any post or directly to me by Private Message here: http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/members/ilovedisney247-21682.html. I’ll try to get to everyone’s questions in a timely fashion!

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you at the table!