My first trip to Walt Disney World was when I was nine years old. Never one to leave things to chance, my mother read everything she could get her hands on, sent in her request for the Disney planning DVD (which we kids watched on repeat), and joined Disney travel discussion boards. We were prepared to Disney.
It didn’t take many trips for my mom to have Disney World down to a science and I, her eager pupil, was there right along with her. We took countless trips and every one of them used every available minute of the day to its fullest. We were there for every Extra Magic Hour and took advantage of every possible FastPass. We played hard, ate well, and saved sleep for the two day drive home.
My first solo planned trip was for my 21st birthday. I went with friends instead of family and immediately overwhelmed them by sending them travel binders ahead of time, complete with daily schedules. “Trust me,” I told them. “I will make sure you get to do everything you want to do.” And we did. No ride left unridden, no show unseen, no Extra Magic Hour unused. We were at the parks from first one open to last one closed and had an absolute blast.
Knowing my love for Disney, and having never been there himself, my boyfriend asked if we could go together in 2019. My best friend had never been either, so the three of us made a plan. And then Covid came. We canceled our trip. We said we would go in a few years. My boyfriend had planned to propose at Disney World, but had to pivot when plans went awry. He proposed at a beautiful rooftop restaurant. It wasn’t Disney, but it was still pretty wonderful.
A lot happened in the next few years. We got married, Covid restrictions lifted, and we replanned our Disney trip for October of 2022. My best friend and I coordinated our outfits, itineraries were planned, and I was so excited to ride all of the rides, drink around the world at Epcot, and eat all of the amazing Disney food. I was even hoping that Disney fertility magic (it’s a real thing) would do its thing. I had been told that I would need to take medication to be able to conceive, and my husband and I agreed that we would start the medication after returning from our Disney vacation. (If pixie dust hadn’t done the trick.) Well, the magic came early and in June we got a surprise.
So now we had to have a conversation. Do we cancel again? Or do we go and just adjust expectations. “Okay,” I said, “so I won’t be able to ride the roller coasters, but I can still stand in line with you guys and enjoy time together. And I won’t be able to drink around the world, but I can still enjoy Epcot food. Let’s do it! We’ll go ahead with our plans.” And then I found out I had gestational diabetes.
A week before our vacation, I repacked my bags to account for the little belly and I went to my last doctor’s appointment before the trip. “Gestational diabetes doesn’t take a vacation,” said my (incredibly unhelpful) high-risk doctor. “Just because you’re going on vacation, doesn’t mean you get to eat whatever you want. Stick to your diet.” I also got my ultrasound and found out the sex of the baby. I had my new expectation. I wouldn’t be able to ride my favorite rides, drink around the world, wear my cute Disney-bound outfits, or eat all of the food I wanted. I wasn’t getting my Disney proposal, but we could use this as an opportunity to tell our friends if we were expecting a boy or a girl.
The first day of our vacation, I got up and ate a well-balanced, doctor-approved breakfast before heading off to the parks. We were going to Epcot first. Right after getting to the park, I checked my blood sugar and it was great. So far, so good. Around 10:30am, we headed to The Seas. I didn’t want to complain, but I really wasn’t feeling good. I was so tired, and sweaty, and kind of nauseous and dizzy. Apparently, Disney while pregnant was a lot harder than I thought. We got into The Seas and I told my husband and friend to go explore, I needed to sit for a moment. The only problem? The Seas doesn’t have a lot of benches.
I finally found a place to sit, but even sitting in the air conditioning doesn’t seem to be helping. I thought, “Maybe my blood sugar spiked. Maybe I wasn’t as good at breakfast as I thought.” So I tested my sugar. It was 38. For those who are unfamiliar with blood sugar numbers, under 70 is considered low. Under 50 is considered an emergency.
I should have found a cast member and told them I was having a medical emergency. Instead, I called my mom. She instructed me to eat all of the snacks in my bag and check my sugar in 15 minutes to see if it went back up. (It did.) I didn’t find out until much later that walking can significantly lower your blood sugar and I wish I had known that before taking on the amount of walking Disney World requires.
“I know your doctor has you on a strict diet and eating schedule, but you need to listen to your body and follow what your blood sugar is saying. You’re doing a lot of walking. I think you’re going to have to eat more and more often, and test more often,” my mom said. So that’s what I did. Once again, I had to adjust my plans. But at least this adjustment involved a lot more ice cream.
Day two of vacation. Our first day, we hadn’t really done any rides I couldn’t do. But now it was Hollywood Studios and there were lots of rides I couldn’t do. Second ride of the day was Slinky Dash. I promised I would stand in the hour-long line with my group. It was hot, my hips hurt, and I was miserable. I made it to the end of the line with them, but I put my foot down afterwards. Yes, I said I would stick with the group, but my body just isn’t up for it. From now on, you guys ride the rides, and I will have my frequent snack breaks.
By the end of the trip, I had mostly figured it out. Our second day at Hollywood Studios, we were there for rope drop to try to get them on the Star Wars rides. “When they open,” I said, “don’t wait for me. Just run.” They ran, I waddled. I passed them in their line 15 minutes later and waved on my way to get my coffee.
Fun fact: slow, waddling, frequent snack breaks, stopping for midday naps Disney is kind of lovely. Sure, it was a lot different than I usually do and not what I would recommend for first-time visitors or people who really want to fit it all in. But I got a lot of time to just talk to cast members, watch the crowds, and try new snacks. I got to appreciate a lot of little details that I would have never noticed as I ran to beat the crowds. If you’re a Spoonie (definition here: https://www.healthline.com/health/spoon-theory-chronic-illness-explained-like-never-before#1), you probably know your condition can change without notice. Each day is different and adjusting expectations is just part of your normal, though still disappointing. If you are someone dealing with a temporary condition, such as pregnancy or a broken bone, it can be especially tempting to feel like your expectations are ruined. Maybe it is the best call to cancel your trip. And maybe, with some support, you can adjust your expectations and have a truly lovely vacation.
I’m very glad I made the decision to adjust my expectations of what a Disney vacation looked like. We had such an amazing time. Sure, almost nothing went as planned, but it was still an absolute joy. And I did get to do my Disney reveal. Oh, boy!
It’s a boy!
Abby
