Magical Express from Hell - The Vacation Story, Part 2

You would think that after getting to Orlando safely The Thomas Family vacation would be stress free. Traveling is never a great time, but the result is usually worth it. Not this time...

Saturday morning, Dad, who always wakes as soon as it's light out, came to wake the troops up. He did let us sleep until 9:00 AM, which is actually sleeping in for him. So, we begrudgingly move from our soft comfortable bed and begin dressing. Mason is out of sorts and feeling homesick. We take our time to try and get him adjusted. Being the Thomas family eating is, of course, the first thing on our list to do. We head down the never ending hallway and head to Mara. This is the counter service restaurant at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We are on the Disney family plan and we are entitled to 1 entree and a dessert. WooHoo! I am getting the Chicken Cesar Salad and a cheesecake, Mom and Dad are both getting the Turkey Ciabatta sandwich, the diabetic with fruit and one with cheesecake, and Mason with world class MAC AND CHEESE! Now with happy tummy's (or so we thought) we are heading to Epcot. On the way over to the park, Dad sort of grabs his stomach and states that his tummy was hurting. We discuss all the possible issues it could be (none of which need to be repeated), but we really think nothing of it. By the time we get past the security bag check, admire our picture contribution the walls and get through the line for our first Disney ride, Spaceship Earth, it is about 1:00 PM. Mom and Dad are in one car and Mason and I are in another. This is a slow moving ride that details our progression. In the end we get to place ourselves in our future world. We get to see our future pictures. Dad loves this part, but after the ride I noticed that he was gone. I asked my mother about it, and she told me that he didn't want to make a big deal about it, but that Dad wasn't feeling well and was heading back to the hotel.

This is Mom and Dad's future life. This will be the last photo we get of Dad for a couple of days! :(

Me and Mason in our future.

Dad doesn't want us to worry about him; however, how can you not worry about someone that is leaving because they don't feel well. We take Mason to the Innovations exhibit and allow him to play and explore. Mom spends time on the phone calling and texting Dad. At this point it is about 1:45 PM. The message we receive from Dad is that he is in more pain than he has ever been in and that he is calling 911. OK...panic is setting in. If anyone knows my dad, you'll understand why this is a big deal. This man doesn't complain about anything, and he doesn't go to doctors unless he absolutely has to. As quickly as we can we board the bus to head back to Animal Kingdom. OH.MY.GOD, this is the longest bus ride ever! We board the bus by 2:00 PM and it takes us nearly 30 minutes before we arrive at our stop. As we pull up, we see the ambulance in the front of the hotel. Is this really happening? Mom is going to stay out front by the ambulance and wait for Dad to come out. I am going to take Mason back up to the hotel. As we were going into the front door, Dad is being wheeled out on the gurney. He calls out our names, and Mason and I head over to say goodbye. He looks at me and sort of shrugs and tries to smile, and Mason gets a high five. Hardest thing in the world. We are in another state, away from our family, and our patriarch is down - that's not normal and it makes everything else seem off. But, we are going to power through, we are Thomas' after all. 

Dad is taken to Celebrations Medical Center, which is located off Disney property, in a ritzy neighborhood. Apparently, this is the place where they take tourists and celebrities. You might recognize the place...

Yep! It's the place that Tiger Woods was taken after his domestic incident....

Arriving at the hospital at at approximately, 2:30, Dad was immediately rushed into the emergency room. He was started in on an IV and had multiple tests being administered. He receives a CAT scan that reveals that he has a lower bowel intestinal blockage. There are 2 procedures that can be done, the 1st is to empty his stomach and see if the bowel will become unblocked. The other procedure would be surgery, it's high risk and not the most favored treatment. They go with the first option first. Dad has a nastrogastic tube put in, which was a completely traumatizing experience for both Dad and Mom. The procedure is having a tiny tube inserting from the nasal area into the stomach to remove fluids and gas and help relieve pain and pressure. Apparently there is  ALOT of fluid and gas because it takes 3 days before the nose tube is taken out and Dad filled an entire beaker of his stomach contents. We do communicate in the 4 days he is in the hospital. While Mom and Dad are at the hospital Mason and I will text pictures of what we are doing. And while Mom is with me and Mason, she texts Dad pictures of our dinners and what we are doing. In return, he sends pictures of himself, his jello, etc.

Here are some of those texted pictures:

The view from our hotel. Any animal in my view was sent to dad!

See, I told you I could get him to sleep just fine! 

Poor Daddy, with his tube, taking self portraits in the hospital. 

See Dad, I'm dressed for dinner!

Mason misses you!

Don't worry Dad, I'll order the lobster in your honor!

We miss our daddy!

On the home front, I try and make this the best possible time for Mason. After all, Dad doesn't want us to sit in the hotel room all day long. So, I take him to the pool where we play for an hour and half, I get him showered and settled down so that we order room service (big deal for a small person!) The kid is pretty exhausted the first day and I think the trauma took more out of him, but I am not going to let down and tomorrow we head off to MAGIC KINGDOM for the day. 

Mason is an angel. He is agreeable and wants to do everything I want, for the most part. I am working hard to make it fun, but it's hard without our other half. We start our day by getting hot dogs and french fries from Casey's baseball theme counter service. I devour mine and he picks as his. I start to feel worried! Maybe I'm doing well with this, the kids not eating. Maybe he'll be hungry soon. We actually made it through quite a bit of Magic Kingdom. We ride on Buzzlightyear, Autotopia, Tiki Birds, and the tree house. Mason claims to be starving, so we head back to the hotel where I prepare a feast of PB&J, baked lays and a chocolate donut for dessert. We have only an hour to rest before we have to go to dinner. And guess who surprises us? MOM! She comes back in time to join us. Wow, we have 3 out of the 4, and that makes us a little happier. Here are some pictures from that day!

While we were eating a mother and her baby ducks came by.

Mason is weary about all the duck attention. 

Our car for the ride.

We are waiting in line for Autotopia!

Mason waiting for me to quit taking forever.

Mom and Mason at the Captain's Grille at the Yacht Club,

Me on the boardwalk waiting on the boat.

Mom and Mason with the Epcot fireworks.

The lighthouse at the end of the boardwalk.

Mason chilling on the dock!

 

 

 

Day 3 Dad is improving so much more. He is able to start eating liquids and then even soft solids. His Xrays are coming back better each time. We are hoping for a release on Tuesday. Since there is nothing that can be done with Dad he sends Mom to be with the two kids, me and Mason. All Dad is going to do is drain his stomach, pass some gas and hope for something stronger. So, we venture off to Epcot again. Mason and I go on Ellen's Energy Adventure. And of course, Finding Nemo was important. Again, it was hard to be away from Dad, so I think that we were all in agreement to head back to the hotel.

Finding Nemo

Fish are friends not food.

Sending Mason off to School....

Outside the living seas

The EPCOT ball.

We don't have to worry about Dad anymore because he is released from the hospital on Day 4. He gets back later in the afternoon, so we force him to take it easy. However, the next day he was ready to go. He made the most of the 2 days he had left and we followed along nicely.

Taking our boat ride Ft. Wilderness.

Mason and Mom after dinner at Ft. Wilderness

Mason and I at Ft. Wilderness

A little photography time

A gorgeous evening in Florida

Daddy is back and ready to vaca!

The boys checking out the surroundings of the hotel.

My beautiful mom

Me

Looking great!

Mason looking his adorable self.

 So, the Thomas Family didn't have the best vacation ever. But, we did learn a few things. We learned that in times of need we have a lot of people that would do just about anything to help our family. We also learned that even when the going gets tough, we grab a hand, crack a joke and make it work because we love each other. And in the end, isn't that what is important?

Magical Express from Hell - The Vacation Story, Part 1

As my previous post mentioned, The Thomas Family vacation never fails to be entertaining and full of excitement. This reigns true to form with this last vacation, one that will not make the top 10 list, but also will never be forgotten either.

Vacation began as normal. I was packed and ready to go when my parents and Mason pulled up at 9 am on Friday, July 16th. First to be dropped off was Pecker, the bird. He had learned a new trick and was whistling his way into the boarders, as was Mason all the way to the vets. He was placed next to a bird who's favorite line was, "Oh crap." We were sure that Pecker would be returning with this precious new vocabulary, at this point it was our only worry. The three Musketeers: Jake, Daisy and Max were the next to be dropped off. They were heading to Doc's for the week, they are always spoiled and adored the entire time they are there. Max was whining and barking from the back. Daisy sat and shook and Jake sat proudly on his spot on the console of the car. With all the animals dropped off, we were headed to the airport and made it by 10 am, which is exactly how dad likes it. We had our bags checked in and we were heading to security by 10:15. Did I mention the surprise of the $100 fee we were charged by American Airlines for our luggage. $25 a bag + 4 bags = $100. Seriously? What is up with that? We already paid $500 for airfare for a weeks vacation. You have to bring luggage and we don't want to be the douchebags that try and carry on all our luggage and take up all the overhead bin space! We pay for meals, snacks, movies and taking up air on a plane, now we have to pay to bring luggage too! AMAZING! Anyway. We made it to our gate by 11 am. We were seating and eating our meal of Burger King and Cinnabon happily (it's vacation, we love to eat!). As a true believer in signs, I should have taken the next few events as hints to the upcoming doom and we should have turned around and left.

Now, the next part of this story is not meant to be racist or stereotypical, but just part of the story. No offense is intended. While waiting, Mom is doing what she does best, people watching. Every few seconds she nudges me to point out another fashion victim, an idiot with a giant wedgie, a nose picker, etc. I usually acknowledge her find and then continue on with whatever I am doing, in this case I was engrossed in my newest book. She soon points out a man sitting about 4 seats away from us. She says, "I hope he isn't next to me on the plane." I look over and at first glance I don't really notice anything off. He is wearing jeans, a polo shirt, and ball cap. He matched, he looked clean, so I continued on with just a nod. Mom kept up. "No, seriously. I do not want that man next to me." What in the world? Look closer she tells me, specifically, look at what he is reading. I do, and it happens to be a book about one of the top leaders in a middle east terrorist group. Seriously? I look closer at the man, and he is middle eastern. Now, I understand that people read books, and that just because the man was middle eastern and reading a terrorist book doesn't mean that he is one. However, in defense of America and what we have gone through...I might have rethought this action. Well, now I am obsessed with this. I know it's bad, but I was watching his every move. By about 11:45 he'd gotten up and left. Now, I can't tell you if he boarded a plane or if he moved places, but he was gone. The next thing I hear was an announcement over the intercom, "All boarding and departure of planes are stopped because of a security breech." What? Are you kidding me? I look over at my parents, and they are calm. I'm freaking out, but they are just sitting there like it's no big deal. Maybe I'm overreacting, it's unusual, but it happens.

Dad insists that it's time to go stand by the gate, it was close to 12:15. Of course, I had heard the announcement 2 more times by this time, so I was having a hard time understanding why we had to go stand when we were seated just fine, but I wasn't going to argue. Needless to say, after standing for a good 10 minutes, I asked them if they had heard the announcement? My parents, deaf, hear nothing. So, I shouldn't be surprised that they had not heard. Dad blows it off and Mom, like me, immediately looked around for the man observed earlier. I guess that apple didn't fall too far from the tree. Our 12:50 flight departure turned into a 2:00 flight departure. A small red flag has appeared. Next stop Dallas Ft.Worth Airport.

Landing was rough, take off was rough. We are late getting into Dallas, but it shouldn't be a problem because we aren't changing planes. Wrong! After all the people get off the plane, we all take this chance to stretch our legs and change seats. We aren't sitting together. Dad and I will be sitting several seats away from one another and 10 rows up from where Mom and Mason are sitting. Not ideal, but it's only a 2 hour flight, so we will be okay. We landed at 5:45 and we were supposed to take off again at 6:30. Hmmmwatch a complimentary movie. Well, considering most of us don't leave without our own headsets for our IPhone, etc, it's not quite the same...but, I'll take it.

The flight does go on without too many hitches. We are going to be late, very late getting into Orlando, but we will get there. It's just after midnight when we land. We are able to get our luggage quickly, with the plane switch I am almost positive ours is on top. My bag comes back with a tag that reads, heavy...that's rude, but it's time to go to the hotel. We have been to Florida almost every single year for the past 13 years. We have used the Magical Express for the past 5 years, yet, we get lost trying to find it. Why did I pack so much? I am regretting this as I drag a 50 pound bag around the airport. Oh, yeah and I'm sweating again. After 3 attempts, we finally make it to the bus. And again, we wait. We wait for 4 more people to arrive, and we are able to finally leave. It is well after 1 am by the time we arrive at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge, Jambo House. We go to check in and they don't have a reservation for us? It takes 15 minutes to figure this out, and another 15 minutes to actually get to our hotel room...longest hallway ever! By 3:00 am we are in our room, and finally getting to bed. We are excited for the next day and are planning on heading to Epcot first. We figure our biggest excitement will be our dinner for the next night and possibly seeing Mickey Mouse. So wrong...

National Lampoon's Thomas Family Vacation

Mark Twain said it best, "There is no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them." And I think we can all agree that this is even true when it is time for a FAMILY vacation. Every year the Thomas family will go on one big trip. Lately we are stuck on Walt Disney World...aka...hotter than hell humid! We always have a good time, laugh, and truly enjoy being with one another. However, my family is so different that the trip is usually humorous because of our own reactions. I can't help but think that keeping a daily journal of our adventures would be quite comical. So here goes....

The Thomas Family

Vacation

Let's get to know our key players ....

Dad, Big Daddy, or The larger obnoxious one. He begins planning and putting a lot of work into our vacations in January. He is always good about making this the easiest trip for us and that we have fun. He is also a Virgo and although we do not leave until Friday, his suitcase is already out and it will be fully packed before the end of the day on Tuesday. His books, IPAD, Computers will be stacked neatly in order of usage in his favorite man purse. He will now begin letting us know each day, "In just ____ days we will be having dinner with Mickey Mouse. At this time next week, we will be eating sugar cookies while watching fireworks." This is when we say that Dad is officially in Vacation Mode. There are times when we wait for him to sprout Mickey ears and start whistling zippa-doda-zippa -de-day out his rear end. 

Mason, aka little one, Dad's Mini Me, and Bubba, or the little obnoxious one. He does nothing to help in preparation. He has no clue what goes into his suitcase, if he has enough underpants and we are sure he doesn't really care about it. Oh, make sure that fluff butt gets packed and he will oversee the packing of his carry ons. As the carry on will need to include all of his DS games, extra sticks. chargers, yugio cards, coloring books, IPOD music and movies, a blanket, and his pillow...crucial items for an airplane trip. By Thursday night he will be running around like a mad man, getting the dogs riled up, but he will not contribute in anyway. 

Mom, Mama T, or Mommy: she tries to hard to refrain from packing all her favorite outfits, and matching flippy flops. She gets a large bag and tries to make it all fit into one, but then she starts sneaking her stuff into our bags. Of course, all of this is done the night before we are scheduled to leave. During packing, she will call me multiple times to check and double check and verify all the outfits, underpants, hair dryers, and hair products are accounted for.

Brandi or Andi: the procrastinator, the one that defies all the rules and doesn't care. I am only allowed one suitcase, that is OK I have the Big Foot of all suitcases. Only 3 pairs of shoes? Really, because I will hide 3 more pairs of flip flops. Of course, I play around with clothes and outfits with shoes for several hours, pack everything I own and then whine when I can get my suitcase shut and when it nearly drags me down the stairs in a rush to my death! Of course, I would get so much more done if mom would stop calling me every few minutes....

These are just our preparations prior to departure. Just wait until those updates come....there is nothing quite like the Thomas Family on the loose...It tends to be a little like The Beverly Hill Billies. Good Luck Florida....See you Friday....