She'll smile if you say "poopy sh^t"

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

After almost 3 years, I never thought I would do a trip report from my DD’s Wish Trip in 2008. But after reading everyone’s wonderful TR’s and going back thru our pictures to relive our trip, I had the overwhelming urge to try my hand. I know it’s been a while but I hope you will indulge me a little here.

So a little background:

My daughter Ali was born with a neurological condition called Tuberous Sclerosis. TS is similar Autism in that it is a spectrum disorder. Thankfully, Ali is on the milder end of the spectrum. TS has caused severe seizures since the time she was 5 months old. It was controlled by medication for a while, but then the seizures came back with a vengeance. But since right before her Wish Trip they have been completely controlled with different medication (knock on wood). When they diagnosed Ali, they painted a horrible picture of what her future could be like. I thank God everyday they were wrong. Ali is a vibrant, brassy little whip of a thing. She’s always been a mama’s girl…which is totally fine by mama.

Also along on our ride:

My son Wil, Ali’s big brother. He loves Legos and Star Wars. He’s a sweet and sensitive little guy. He was very concerned about being happy for this trip. He didn’t want anyone to think that he was happy that Ali had “a special condition” (his words) but he was glad we were going to Disney World. We made sure he knew we were all glad to be going!

My DH Vaughn. He had only been to Disney World once before he met me, when Epcot was still only half a ball. I talked him into going for our honeymoon and while he’s not as gaga for all things Disney as I am, he gets giddy when we’re there.

Me – Misty. Been Disney obsessed for as long as I can remember. ¾ of my wardrobe is Disney related, I used to work for the local Disney Store and wish I could get back to the World more often than we do.

My mom and sister decided to go along as well. They went on their own dime and stayed at POR. My mom had been sick with breast cancer and while we were on our trip she got a clean bill of health. Soon after we returned, however, her cancer came back and less than a year later she was gone. We still miss her everyday. I had started a pretrip report at the “other place” and I think my mom’s passing was a big part of what kept me from actually doing a TR until now. I think she’d enjoy it.

My sister, Casey, is like a second mom to my kids. We spend time with her on at least a weekly basis. She’s a bit more “feet on the ground” than I am. She’s easily embarrassed…which I enjoy cause I like embarrassing her. :rofl:

Ok, there. I officially started. It’s all downhill from here….right?

Right.

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

I'll smile if you say "poopy sh^t" too :banana: This one looks like a winner. I can't wait for more :popcorn:

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Thanks for sharing this TR with us, Misty! You're off to a great start and I'm looking forward to reading along. :)

[johnnyb aka John 15]

:suspense::popcorn:

Bring it on, I can't wait to read it neighbor!

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

A word of explanation on my title.

For a very long time, Ali had a severe speech delay (she’s making up for it now ). Now, we’re a bit of a loud-mouth group in my family and expletives do tend to get dropped now and then. So when Ali finally spoke her first word was “shit”. And she’d use it in the proper context. Being her first word, I admit, I didn’t correct her either. I was so glad to hear her say anything. Fast forward, Ali thinks any word related to “potty humor” is hysterical. :laugh:

While we were in Disney, she got sort of moody with all the overwhelming sights and sounds and would tend to get a little grumpy when it was time for pictures so instead of “cheese” we would whisper “poopy shit” and she would light up the room.

At one point, when Ali was getting her picture taken with Belle she looked up and said “poopy shit” without any prompting. Belle didn’t quite understand her and kept asking us what she was saying, but us grown ups were laughing too hard to explain. :rofl2:

I know we're a snarky crowd, but I wanted to explain and I truly hope it doesn't offend anyone.

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

It would take a lot more than "poopy sh^t" to offend us. Especially coming from your little cutie :rofl2:

[SCTigerCock 171]

Priceless! So looking toward yonthe TR. Your daughter is adorable! :heart:

Should we nominate your daughter for Princess Snarky, duchess of PS? :rofl2:

[Lou... 3,118]

Did you get to stay at the Give Kids the World Village?

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

:popcorn: Can't wait to read more!

[polkadotsuitcase 12]

I'm loving this already -- can't wait to read more!

[stefa70 205]

Looking forward to more of this report! Who doesn't love potty humor?

:popcorn:

[Duane 152]

WHAT!? That's all so far? Come on girl and get this thing rolling, I've gone and got myself hooked on another trip report.... Can't wait for more! :dance:

[ºoºThomasclan85ºoº 8]

Can't wait to hear more! :popcorn:

[disney4dan 68]

Looks like a fun trip. Really sorry to hear about your mom, but that photo of her on the bench with a big smile on her face is fantastic.

Can't wait for more of this!

[ftwildernessguy 778]

I gotta admit it, I smile when anybody says poopyshit.

[okgirlie...Brandy 6]

Love it so far. :popcorn:

I am sorry about your mom but glad that you were able to take that trip with her. :heart:

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

I'll smile if you say "poopy sh^t" too :banana: This one looks like a winner. I can't wait for more :popcorn:

Looking forward to more of this report! Who doesn't love potty humor?

:popcorn:

I gotta admit it, I smile when anybody says poopyshit.

Thanks guys! I find it almost impossible NOT to smile when I say poopyshit. :rofl2:

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

Did you get to stay at the Give Kids the World Village?

Yes, Lou we did. We stayed in one of the newer villas over across from Matthew's Boundless Playground.

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

Thanks for sharing this TR with us, Misty! You're off to a great start and I'm looking forward to reading along. :)

Thanks! Every time I see your siggy, I want to tell you that I had a Border Collie mix named Brady. She died before Ali was born, but Ali's middle name is Brady after her.

:suspense::popcorn:

Bring it on, I can't wait to read it neighbor!

Howdy! Where about are you? We're just outside of Pittsburgh.

Priceless! So looking toward yonthe TR. Your daughter is adorable! :heart:

Should we nominate your daughter for Princess Snarky, duchess of PS? :rofl2:

She IS quite the little whipper-snarker!

:popcorn: Can't wait to read more!

I'm loving this already -- can't wait to read more!

WHAT!? That's all so far? Come on girl and get this thing rolling, I've gone and got myself hooked on another trip report.... Can't wait for more! :dance:

Can't wait to hear more! :popcorn:

Thank you to everyone for reading along! I'm working on the next piece right now.

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

Looks like a fun trip. Really sorry to hear about your mom, but that photo of her on the bench with a big smile on her face is fantastic.

Can't wait for more of this!

Love it so far. :popcorn:

I am sorry about your mom but glad that you were able to take that trip with her. :heart:

Thank you. If it taught me anything, it's never wait on the important stuff. If we had waited even a few more months, she wouldn't have been able to be a part of it. And it's nice for my kids to have the memory of their first time at Disney World being there with my mom. :heart:

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

Ali was granted her wish to “see din-eze” not long after she turned 3. This is actually what led me to find “the other place.” I started searching for information on MAW and Disney World and found a great group of people that had either been on or were planning to go on a MAW Disney Trip. They were a wealth of information and I actually ended up knowing more than our Wish Coordinators half the time.

This was the first time I had ever heard of Give Kids the World Village. And I admit, at first, I was completely uninterested in staying there. After all, it wasn’t “on property” and I had never been to the World without staying at a Disney Resort. I even asked Ali’s Wish coordinator if we could possibly stay somewhere on property. But the more I read about GKTW, the more I realized that we would have many more opportunities to stay at a Disney Resort, but never again have a chance to stay at GKTW. And boy am I glad we did! It is very hard to put into words what a special place it is. But I will try.

So, over the months leading up to our trip, I bought pins and lanyards and made t-shirts so that the night before the trip I presented everyone with a goodie bag of stuff for our trip (including mom and sis). I made us matching shirts and everyone got special pins to start our trip out right (Thank God for Ebay.)

Here's a picture of Wil modeling the one shirt I made (with assistance from people from "the place that shall not be named")

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

So, early the next morning, DH, the kids and I loaded up into our van and headed to Pittsburgh International Airport. We parked at an off site long term parking facility and a shuttle took us to the airport. It was still dark outside.

We arrived at the airport and found my mom and sister. They were heading down on a different flight, on a different airline, but it was leaving at roughly the same time. We also met our “Wish Greeters”…a lovely older woman and her granddaughter. At the moment, their names escape me completely, but it was almost three years ago so I’m gonna cut myself some slack.

Apparently MAW has a deal with our airport that with the greeter, we get express service. They were able to get us thru security in a special lane and then we went on to eat breakfast at one of those little airport cafes.

I’m going to mention here that I HATE to fly. Hate it! My kids were thrilled to be getting on a plane, but I was sick to my stomach. But with Disney as our destination, I was willing to give it a go. I’ve only flown 4 times in my life…twice for work and twice to get to Disney World.

We flew Southwest so there’s no assigned seating. As another perk for the MAW families, we get to board early so we were sure to sit together. DH and Wil sat in one row and Ali and I sat behind them. I kept telling DH to “hold on tight” to Wil. I’m not sure what good I thought that would do. It’s not like he could fall out of the plane.

Actually, our flight down was fairly painless. No major bumps. Except the whole ear pressure thing. I had forgotten all about that and as we were landing, both kids were crying. I found out later that my mom was sure that the plane ride had made her deaf!

Can you tell we always took road trips on vacation growing up?

[johnnyb aka John 15]

I mentioned it on another thread you were in, but we are just north of Pittsburgh out there in that weird county called Beaver... LOL we live just outside of Beaver Falls. I can't wait to read more of this report, it is off to a really great start!

[Lou... 3,118]

This was the first time I had ever heard of Give Kids the World Village. And I admit, at first, I was completely uninterested in staying there. After all, it wasn’t “on property” and I had never been to the World without staying at a Disney Resort. I even asked Ali’s Wish coordinator if we could possibly stay somewhere on property. But the more I read about GKTW, the more I realized that we would have many more opportunities to stay at a Disney Resort, but never again have a chance to stay at GKTW. And boy am I glad we did! It is very hard to put into words what a special place it is. But I will try.

That's very good logic.

Unless a family is unfortunate, and there have been some, enough to have more than one child that qualifies, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity.

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

Once we landed my mom and sis went to catch the Magic Express to Port Orleans to check in.

DH, kids and I headed to find our GKTW greeter. We found her standing near baggage with a cart and a sign that said:

How exciting!!

Our greeter was another wonderful lady, whose name I cannot remember. That's what I get for waiting so long to do this. Anyway, she helped us get our luggage, took us to get our van...MAW had rented a van for us, complete with booster seats...and she gave us a map and directions to GKTW. We were finally on our way!!

Thank goodness DH has exceptional directional skills, cause like I said all my previous trips we on property and all I had to worry about was finding the nearest bus stop. But in no time at all, we were driving up to the gate at GKTW!!

I didn’t take too many photos of GKTW because they give you a cd that has pics of the resort so you can focus on taking pics of your family…which is what we did.

We were lucky and ended up getting one of the newly built cottages over by Matthew’s Boundless playground…a playground built so that even children with mobility difficulties can enjoy themselves.

Our villa was amazing! Around the holidays volunteers go in and decorate the villas so that when we opened the door, there was a fully decorated Christmas tree in the living area and many other little holiday touches throughout! And there were two large goodie bags waiting on the table for the kids. There were videos, and sports cards and stuffed animals, just to name a few things. The kids were in heaven.

Our big plan for the day was to meet mom and sis at Downtown Disney for food and shopping. Two of my favorite things. Wil was dying to see the Lego store and make a Lightsaber.

We met up with Mom and Casey at T-Rex!

We were seated fairly quickly and as I remember really enjoyed our meal. I have to say, I’m pretty easy to please and have only had one meal at Disney World where I said I wouldn’t go back. But even then it wasn’t horrible, just not great (it’s later in the trip). But we had a great time in T-rex and then it was time to explore the shops.