Dolly vs. Disney
Both road trips have come and gone. A brief overview:
The car rides were sort of fine. Wearing the stockings was no big deal, other than that I needed help getting them on every day. It’s getting harder to do anything below the stomach, as the solid mass of baby is certainly not dwindling. I felt okay for the most part, minus a few days where my stomach felt pretty cramped. Plus the frustration that ensues with spending 8 of your free days in a car. Luckily, I’m a big reader and writer, so I wasn’t bored.
The heat and humidity weren’t honestly much different than they’ve been in NJ. Particularly in TN, we were often asked what we thought of the heat. They have no idea that NJ is not exactly Canada. We spent a decent amount of time in air conditioned spaces, so that helped. There was one day we went for a walk in Gatlinberg, and that was a little rought; my parents had to go back to the car way before we did.
In Florida, our day in Animal Kingdom was no piece of cake. There's not as much air conditioning there as there is in other parks. There certainly aren't as many rides (more of a breakdown of that on the way), so I did get overwhelmed and have to stop to go indoors and maybe eat and sit and have a break from planning every aspect of the trip (that was my unofficial job, which I really did enjoy, but I was a little frustrated at that particular park). I felt better after sitting for awhile and eating. To be fair, that was probably not even pregnancy related. That could happen to anyone in that heat.
In TN, we did some shopping. We went to some caverns. I was delighted that that was something I could do pregnant.
But the big thing we did there was Dollywood. My parents took me there when I was two or so, and they've always talked about how great it was. And it's not that it wasn't. But it was $75 to get in - and there literally wasn't a single ride that allowed pregnant women on it. We had already done some research on Disney and knew there'd be plenty of things we could do there. Here, they wouldn't even let expectant mothers go in the little water play park for the little kids. Okay, to be fair, I'm not sure they wouldn't actually let you, but all the signs recommended not going. I wasn't going to push it. I just couldn't believe they charged full price and then recommended doing nothing but eat and go to the Dolly museum.
Now, Disney? That was totally different story. There are a LOT of rides and attractions that are expecting-mom approved, which was great. Apparently, and this I didn't know until after we were on our way to Florida, no one will actually tell you you can't go on any rides. They're just not recommended. You can talk to your doctor about things like Kilimonjaro Safaris, which I guess the park feels is a bit bumpy, and get the okay to go on it.
Now there were some of my favorites I couldn't do. Hands down Dinosaur and Avatar: Flight of Passage in Animal Kingdom are the greatest rides in Disney, and neither one was okayed for pregnancy. (Of course, the line for Avatar was never under three hours the day we were there anyway.) The last time we went to Disney, I tried Big Thunder Mountain Railroad for the first time, and I loved it, but that was a no.
But really, other than that, I didn't feel like I was missing out on much. In fact, in some ways, things worked out better than a normal Disney trip. Namely, when we went to Magic Kingdom, we actually worked our way around the park in a circle (mostly), stopping at any ride that had a wait time of 30 minutes or less or any show. We were never not in air conditioning for long at all. So many people warned me copious time to be careful (Yeah, cuz I'm really willing to take risks with this pregnancy after all I've been through) and stay hydrated (I drink about 90 ounces of water every day anyway) and not exhaust myself ("I'm not an invalid" has basically become my catch phrase).
But the Disney trip really was fun. That's one I highly recommend if any of you become pregnant.
I mean, unless you really are more heat sensitive than I am. Everyone's different.
The car rides were sort of fine. Wearing the stockings was no big deal, other than that I needed help getting them on every day. It’s getting harder to do anything below the stomach, as the solid mass of baby is certainly not dwindling. I felt okay for the most part, minus a few days where my stomach felt pretty cramped. Plus the frustration that ensues with spending 8 of your free days in a car. Luckily, I’m a big reader and writer, so I wasn’t bored.
The heat and humidity weren’t honestly much different than they’ve been in NJ. Particularly in TN, we were often asked what we thought of the heat. They have no idea that NJ is not exactly Canada. We spent a decent amount of time in air conditioned spaces, so that helped. There was one day we went for a walk in Gatlinberg, and that was a little rought; my parents had to go back to the car way before we did.
In Florida, our day in Animal Kingdom was no piece of cake. There's not as much air conditioning there as there is in other parks. There certainly aren't as many rides (more of a breakdown of that on the way), so I did get overwhelmed and have to stop to go indoors and maybe eat and sit and have a break from planning every aspect of the trip (that was my unofficial job, which I really did enjoy, but I was a little frustrated at that particular park). I felt better after sitting for awhile and eating. To be fair, that was probably not even pregnancy related. That could happen to anyone in that heat.
In TN, we did some shopping. We went to some caverns. I was delighted that that was something I could do pregnant.
But the big thing we did there was Dollywood. My parents took me there when I was two or so, and they've always talked about how great it was. And it's not that it wasn't. But it was $75 to get in - and there literally wasn't a single ride that allowed pregnant women on it. We had already done some research on Disney and knew there'd be plenty of things we could do there. Here, they wouldn't even let expectant mothers go in the little water play park for the little kids. Okay, to be fair, I'm not sure they wouldn't actually let you, but all the signs recommended not going. I wasn't going to push it. I just couldn't believe they charged full price and then recommended doing nothing but eat and go to the Dolly museum.
Now, Disney? That was totally different story. There are a LOT of rides and attractions that are expecting-mom approved, which was great. Apparently, and this I didn't know until after we were on our way to Florida, no one will actually tell you you can't go on any rides. They're just not recommended. You can talk to your doctor about things like Kilimonjaro Safaris, which I guess the park feels is a bit bumpy, and get the okay to go on it.
Now there were some of my favorites I couldn't do. Hands down Dinosaur and Avatar: Flight of Passage in Animal Kingdom are the greatest rides in Disney, and neither one was okayed for pregnancy. (Of course, the line for Avatar was never under three hours the day we were there anyway.) The last time we went to Disney, I tried Big Thunder Mountain Railroad for the first time, and I loved it, but that was a no.
But really, other than that, I didn't feel like I was missing out on much. In fact, in some ways, things worked out better than a normal Disney trip. Namely, when we went to Magic Kingdom, we actually worked our way around the park in a circle (mostly), stopping at any ride that had a wait time of 30 minutes or less or any show. We were never not in air conditioning for long at all. So many people warned me copious time to be careful (Yeah, cuz I'm really willing to take risks with this pregnancy after all I've been through) and stay hydrated (I drink about 90 ounces of water every day anyway) and not exhaust myself ("I'm not an invalid" has basically become my catch phrase).
But the Disney trip really was fun. That's one I highly recommend if any of you become pregnant.
I mean, unless you really are more heat sensitive than I am. Everyone's different.
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