How Disney World Helped Me Heal After A Miscarriage

In September 2022, we suffered our second miscarriage, following our second round of fertility treatment, and it broke our hearts.

“We’re going to Disney World”

My husband and I have spoken about going on holiday to Disney World since we first met, in 2013. We’d both been to Orlando before and were so excited at the thought of taking our children to Disney World one day.

So we put off the holiday and kept putting it off waiting for the moment we had a young family to take with us.

Before we started our second round of IVF, in the summer of 2022, my husband told me, “If this doesn’t work, we’re going to Disney World.”

I had been longing for this holiday for years, but I hoped – so hard – that we wouldn’t go.

“I don’t want to go to Disney World”

We arrived at our first scan full of hope and excitement but quickly realised that our dreams were about to be shattered once again. We were devastated.

The first thing I said as we left the hospital was, “I don’t want to go to Disney World.”

But I’m so glad we did – Disney World was exactly the holiday we both needed.

Planning a trip to Disney World

One thing you should know about me, I take researching and planning seriously. Like really seriously. If research and planning was a sport, I’d have medals – a lot of them!

I spent my time off work watching endless videos about the best Disney resorts for adults, the best times of year to travel to Florida, the best places for couples to eat.

Planning auto-pilot took over and helped me forget for a while that my heart was still in pieces.

I made hotel reservations at a Walt Disney World Resort, sorted our advanced dining reservations and learned everything there is to know about Disney’s Genie+ service.

It was a lot of work – but the bonus is I now have a spreadsheet (that is possibly enough evidence to have me committed) to help me plan all future holidays. Let me know in the comments if you’d like me to add a template for you to download.

Taking time to heal

For me, the main benefit of visiting Disney World was the sheer amount of things to see and do – there’s much more than first meets the eye.

We had so much fun while at Disney World, we went on our favourite rides, met our favourite characters, and ate some surprisingly incredible food. It was so much fun to just be a kid again and forget about our troubles for a while. For the first time in years, we felt like ‘us’ again. Not ‘trying for a baby us’, or ‘finding out we need IVF us’, just ‘us’.

Spending time together in Disney World helped us to bond. We were able to focus on each other and our relationship, and we came away from the trip feeling closer than ever before.

My Tips for Navigating Disney World while Healing From Pregnancy Loss

While the fun of the parks helped to provide a sense of escape, as anyone who’s going through fertility struggles will tell you, being around families with young children can be a bitter pill to swallow. And a theme park full of families with young children is probably not the most obvious place to go to heal.

• Find a quiet place to take a break if you need to. The parks are big, and there are plenty of quiet spaces to find if you need to take a break. I found that sitting by a fountain or in a garden was a great way to relax and clear my head. Check out my post about my favourite places to hide from it all at Disney World.
• Be flexible. I can Sergeant Major my way around Disney World with the best of them, but when you’re grieving the loss of a baby it’s important to listen to your body. Be realistic about your expectations, you may not be up for riding all the rides or meeting all the characters. That’s okay. Just focus on doing what feels good for you.
• Give yourself permission to grieve. It’s important to give yourself permission to grieve during your trip. Don’t try to bottle up your emotions. If you need to cry, go ahead and cry. There are plenty of quiet spaces in the parks to hide yourself away. And who doesn’t feel better after a cry?
• Eat good food. One of the best things about Disney World is the vast amount of dining choices available. Whether you’re looking for casual eats or a fancier date-night meal, if you do your research you won’t be disappointed.
• Focus on the fun. Let go, relax, and enjoy yourself. Connect with your inner child, let them transport you to a magical world where anything is possible. There’s something powerful about being able to take your focus away from difficult times and immerse yourself in a different world for a while.

Of course, visiting Disney World isn’t going to magically make the pain, guilt or heartbreak of infertility or pregnancy loss go away. But taking a trip to Disney World can be a great way to temporarily escape the stress and sadness, and find some much-needed joy and happiness.

Remember, you’re not alone. Many people have experienced the pain of pregnancy loss. You’re not alone. There are lots of resources available to help you heal, like these ones from The Miscarriage Association.