Vacation plans and dreaming and a slight rant, if you can call it that

Am I the only one who is constantly thinking about vacation?  We've had such an unseasonably chilly spring and my bones are craving some sun and warmth.  Last week, after an extra super crappy day at work, I began daydreaming of an extended vacation.  Or maybe an escape.  I imagined us packing up the van and heading south for a few weeks.  We would spend a few days in DC/VA.  Check out the Outer Banks in North Carolina.  Spend a few days in Charleston, SC.  Rich and I had always planned to vacation there but ran out of time before having kids.  The van would continue heading south to Florida, where there are beaches aplenty.  We would eventually reach Key West.

We are in the midst of planning our annual summer vacation to North Conway with requisite visits to Story Land and Santa's Village.  The girls are super excited, even more so as other family members will be joining us.  Even though a beach, frosty drinks and a book won't be involved, it will still be fun and I'm very much looking forward to it.  There will be time later (years later) for relaxing vacations.  Before we know it, the girls won't want to go to Story Land or Santa's Village.  I want to take advantage of these days while they're in my grasp.

And then there's Disney.  We haven't really discussed when our next vacation there will be.  There are deciding factors, such as who is working where, that won't known for some time.  I suspect we'll return in the next 12-18 months.  Sometime in the next few months when I'm not as busy at work (that'll be the day), when my CPA license has been renewed and when the closets and my pre-baby clothes are all organized (or donated), I want to start planning the girls custom outfits so that I have plenty of time for sewing.  The most difficult part will be guesstimating how much they will grow between now and then.  With then being an unknown date.  Meh, I'll just add a few inches and all will be good.
  
A few months ago, Allie and Emily drew these pictures of princesses and Grammy shared them online with a sewing group. 





(If you want to smile, check out the bunny next to Snow White.)

Someone gave the creative suggestion to turn them into autograph books, which is a great idea that I wouldn't have thought of myself.  I think we'll start with new drawings and I haven't exactly decided what to do yet but ideas are spinning in my mind.

Okay, so now it's time for my rant.  I couldn't talk about Disney and not mention this.  Have you read this article (here's a follow-up by CNN) regarding rich moms in Manhattan bragging about hiring a disabled guide for their Disney vacations so that they are able to "jump to the front of the line."  I'm obviously appalled but unfortunately, not surprised.  The world is full of those who feel that they are entitled for a variety of false reasons.  The fact that they ignore the obvious issue that they are ruining accommodations for those who truly need it is beyond disgusting.  

It appears, though, that I'm not the only one who thinks that maybe this has been written in an exaggerated form for the sake of creating a media frenzy.  Not that I don't believe these people cheated - they did.  For example, here's a direct quote from that article:

“My daughter waited one minute to get on ‘It’s a Small World’ — the other kids had to wait 2 1/2 hours,” crowed one mom, who hired a disabled guide through Dream Tours Florida.

There are multiply oddities with this statement.  First of all, if the wait time for It's a Small World is 2 1/2 hours, you clearly are not as super special as you think you are because you are vacationing at Disney when the 99% un-entitled, underprivileged have to vacation there, like normal public (GASP) school vacation weeks.  The typical wait time for this ride is 5-10 minutes unless there's some type of malfunction with the ride and if there was some type of malfunction, no one, not even the super special, would be riding it.  Second, there is no way in hell that it only took you one minute to board that ride.  There are only two boats that are handicap accessible so you would have to have waited for those two boats and if the regular line was 2 1/2 hours long, the handicap accessible line would have been at least an hour long.

We obtained a GAC (guest assistance card) during our last trip to Disney.  In doing so, we were able to use Anna's stroller in areas where strollers are not normally allowed, such as ride lines.  It was a huge back saver for us.  HUGE.  You can read my post describing our experience here.  There's a lot more that I could have written but didn't.  Limiting information surrounding use of a GAC is a bit of an unspoken/unwritten rule within the Disney community.  This is done with the hopes that cheaters won't be able to cheat as easily.  

It's a common misconception that a GAC gives you front of the line access.  It most certainly does not.  For us, the wait for It's a Small World was much longer than the regular line.  For some rides, like Dumbo, we were redirected to the Fast Pass line, which still had a wait.  For other rides, such as Soarin', everyone was in the same line, GAC or no GAC.  Yes, there were times that we didn't wait as long was we would have had we been in the regular line but we certainly weren't skipping to the front of the line.  That's absurd.  The only ones deserving of that are the Make a Wish kids.    

If it would mean that my daughter didn't have to have spina bifida, I would happily wait in line all day.  I know I'm not the only parent with that sentiment.