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

[MLM5.. aka Judy 97]

I haven't said much but your report is amazing. Seriously, very touching. I love that you "teach your kids to dance like no bodies watching" I truely believe that is the way to go. It's harder as they get older, my oldest ones are 13, 11, 10 now, all getting a little more "aware" of whose watching, I guess that's part of growing up, but as long as mom starts the conga line.. they still jump in.. for now anyway .. :rofl2: I'm from a long line of "southern" christans.. most of which think I should be studied.. I think they are right, they might learn how to loosen up a bit! :parrot: Thank you so much for sharing your story! :heart:

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

As I said before, when you stay with GKTW, you are granted 3 days at Disney, 2 at Universal and 1 at Seaworld.

I'm a die-hard Disney fan and could not fathom what there would be at Universal that we would want to see. Originally.

But, my kids are also fans of Scooby, Shrek, Dora and Spongebob. Plus, I can't imagine myself going to Orlando and paying for anything other than Disney, so we decided to give it a day. Well, a half a day. Alot of the rides in Universal seemed to require kids to be a bit taller than my kids. We're a short family.

My mom and sister decided they didn't feel like shelling out the extra cash so they headed to Epcot World Showcase for the morning while DH, the kids and I headed to Universal.

And I'm gonna say it now...we had a great time! Who'd a thunk it. I'm a Disney Snob, but Universal was really great!! Their castmembers (or whatever they call them) were every bit as helpful and friendly and spotted our magic button from miles away and made sure we never waited in a line.

I think DH was the most excited about this park...he got to meet "Doc Brown" and see a real Delorian from the Back to the Future Movies. He was so geeked!!

Another big hit with the kiddos is Madagascar and we got to meet these guys.

I'm not entirely sure Ali knew who Curious George was back then, but she's not one to miss an opportunity to get her picture taken with a big fuzzy creature!

We went on Shrek 4d and I thought it was FANTASTIC!! We all loved it. Then we went on a Jimmy Neutron ride that was sort of virtual reality and Ali flipped out. I'm not sure whether it was too much stimulation or what, but she and I had to leave the ride so that everyone else could enjoy it. lol.

Trouble is, sometimes when something sets Ali off, it's tough to bring her back if you know what I mean.

This was our saving grace

Ali spotted this big Dora sign and a store filled with Dora treasures!!

We ended up getting her a stuffed Dora and Boots and after that she was fine the rest of the day. Whew!

We did what we could and then decided to go back to Port Orleans Riverside for some swimming with my mom and Casey. (shhh..don't tell).

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

I haven't said much but your report is amazing. Seriously, very touching. I love that you "teach your kids to dance like no bodies watching" I truely believe that is the way to go. It's harder as they get older, my oldest ones are 13, 11, 10 now, all getting a little more "aware" of whose watching, I guess that's part of growing up, but as long as mom starts the conga line.. they still jump in.. for now anyway .. :rofl2: I'm from a long line of "southern" christans.. most of which think I should be studied.. I think they are right, they might learn how to loosen up a bit! :parrot: Thank you so much for sharing your story! :heart:

Thanks Judy! I appreciate you reading along.

My sincerest wish for my kids is that they can always be just who they are without worrying what the world thinks of them. I know that's always gonna be the case, but I can try. And I love the part about you leading the conga line!!! LOL If you're not leading the Conga line, the view is always the same, right? :rofl2:

[MLM5.. aka Judy 97]

Thanks Judy! I appreciate you reading along.

My sincerest wish for my kids is that they can always be just who they are without worrying what the world thinks of them. I know that's always gonna be the case, but I can try. And I love the part about you leading the conga line!!! LOL If you're not leading the Conga line, the view is always the same, right? :rofl2:

Yes it is, and I have the attention span of a nat.. I need to be in front!! :rofl2:

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Great updates!

I was starting to get worried about you.

I'm glad that you had fun at Universal. We are also Disney snobs, but I have enjoyed Universal when we have visited.

Looking forward to hearing more about your trip!

TCD

[stefa70 205]

Phew! Glad you made it back. Another great update. 2 things that we can agree on:

1. I still call DHS, MGM. It just rolls off the tongue easier.

2. I am also a shortie (who doesn't ride roller coasters) so Universal & Islands are not at the top of my theme park list.

[Roller ... aka Ed 351]

We just call it the Studios ...

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Phew! Glad you made it back. Another great update. 2 things that we can agree on:

1. I still call DHS, MGM. It just rolls off the tongue easier.

2. I am also a shortie (who doesn't ride roller coasters) so Universal & Islands are not at the top of my theme park list.

I still call it MGM too. Now how do i keep it from rolling off my tongue :rofl2:

[Roller ... aka Ed 351]

I still call it MGM too. Now how do i keep it from rolling off my tongue :rofl2:

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

We enjoyed Universal also, I do like that City Walk is right there and you don't have to make reservations to walk into a restaurant! It's just not a place that I feel that I want to return multiple times in a year!

I'm enjoying you're report, thanks!

[Lou... 3,118]

I still call DHS, MGM. It just rolls off the tongue easier.

I still call it MGM too. Now how do i keep it from rolling off my tongue

We just call it the Studios ...

I'm going to slap all of you silly. It's Hollywood Studios. What's so difficult about that?

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

I'm going to slap all of you silly. It's Hollywood Studios. What's so difficult about that?

Now Lou...no threats of violence on my TR please. :rofl2:

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

We met back up with my mom and sister back at their resort, POR.

We decided to rent one of those four person bikes that resemble a surrey with the fringe on top...minus the fringe. My mom wsn't so sure she could manage and threatened not to peddle. But then we got a call from my dad. He told her that her oncologist had called to tell her that the scans she had before we left all came back normal and that her cancer was gone.

When she told us, my sister looked right at her and said "now, you're gonna peddle."

This is one of my favorite pics from the trip

Wil and Ali sat themselves right up front and enjoyed the tour of POR. It really was beautiful!

We tried out the pool. I'm not sure if it's the main pool or not. It was almost deserted. But my mom still managed to make a friend. LOL. She was that kind of person...she could talk to anybody about anything. I inherited that from her. I always said she and I must give off a vibe that makes people want to tell us their life stories. :rofl2:

So after all the crazy rides that my kids went on...they were afraid to try the slide into the pool. WHAT??? Come on!

I'm pretty sure I had to bribe them with various Disney goodies in order to get them to go down it. But once they did...that's all they wanted to do.

We ate dinner at the counter service area in POR which was really nice and had some great options.

Then back to GKTW and to bed!

Next up, Animal Kingdom and some MAJOR pixie dust!

[Roller ... aka Ed 351]

Poppy Shirt! :popcorn:

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

This is Animal Kingdom day!!

Now as I said, MAW and GKTW provide 3 days at Disney. If you've been playing along, you will note that we had already done our 3 days. DH, the kids and I were going to pay for this day out of pocket. My mom and sister had their hopper passes.

We get to Animal Kingdom and meet up with mom and Casey. They take the kids to check out the AK Christmas tree while DH and I went up to buy our 1 day passes.

There was a nice older gentleman at the window that we went to. While we were talking to him we told him we were there with MAW and he looked a little confused and said he thought we got in for free. I told him we had already used our days and were paying for this one. We joked that if he wanted to give us a discount we would gladly take it.

He told us to go over to the guest services window and see if they could give us some kind of discount. I was kidding, but it was worth a shot. So we went over and told the woman at the counter that we were here with MAW and had used up our days, but wanted to pay for the day at AK. I guess I was thinking maybe there was a AAA discount or a Florida resident discount that they could apply. The castmember asked to see our MAW tickets and then typed on her computer. Next thing I know she slides our tickets and 4 new tickets across the counter and tells us to have a magical day.

I was standing there with my wallet out and was waiting for her to tell us how much, when it started to dawn on me that she wasn't going to charge us. WHAT!?!?!?!

As DH will probably tell you, it takes ALOT to render me speechless...but this did it. I couldn't put two words together! Of course I burst into tears and start to blabber and try to thank her. DH had to finally lead me away. I didn't even get her name!!

How's that for a major dose of magic!!!

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Great pixie dust. :banana:

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

We were walking on air!!

Heading in we saw the castmembers with cages of creepy crawly stuff. Surprisingly, both kids were only too happy to peek in the cages and listen to the castmembers talk about them. Ali is usually freaked out by a tiny ant, but I guess Disney bugs are different.

Next stop...the safari! DH had been to AK on our honeymoon, but the last time in WDW for mom and Casey was before AK was even built.

At some point, we found the face painting station. My kids are obsessed with getting their faces painted. Still are. This past Easter, the Easter Bunny brought them face paint kits and I spent the summer painting them as various animals and monsters.

I think it was something like $15 a piece, but we hadn't paid for our admission, so I was feeling a bit flush so we decided to let them do it.

Of course, not long after this, we decided to do Kali River Rapids (poor planning on my part lol) and the face paint was history...

and this is what Wil ended up looking like

:rofl2:

Right about the time we got off of Kali, I was starting to feel sick. I muscled thru it for a while. We changed the kids clothes after Kali and headed off for Dinosaur.

I sat that one out.

Then it was on to Expedition Everest. I wasn't sure my stomach could handle it, but there was no way I was traveling all that way and NOT going to ride. So we did. And got the funniest ride photo ever!

I'm not sure if you can really see on the computer, but I'm hanging on for dear life and screaming like I'm about to buy the farm.

DH and Casey are holding on and screaming.

And Wil?

Wil is barely holding on to the bar and is smiling.

Told you he's a commando!

[MLM5.. aka Judy 97]

This is Animal Kingdom day!!

Now as I said, MAW and GKTW provide 3 days at Disney. If you've been playing along, you will note that we had already done our 3 days. DH, the kids and I were going to pay for this day out of pocket. My mom and sister had their hopper passes.

We get to Animal Kingdom and meet up with mom and Casey. They take the kids to check out the AK Christmas tree while DH and I went up to buy our 1 day passes.

There was a nice older gentleman at the window that we went to. While we were talking to him we told him we were there with MAW and he looked a little confused and said he thought we got in for free. I told him we had already used our days and were paying for this one. We joked that if he wanted to give us a discount we would gladly take it.

He told us to go over to the guest services window and see if they could give us some kind of discount. I was kidding, but it was worth a shot. So we went over and told the woman at the counter that we were here with MAW and had used up our days, but wanted to pay for the day at AK. I guess I was thinking maybe there was a AAA discount or a Florida resident discount that they could apply. The castmember asked to see our MAW tickets and then typed on her computer. Next thing I know she slides our tickets and 4 new tickets across the counter and tells us to have a magical day.

I was standing there with my wallet out and was waiting for her to tell us how much, when it started to dawn on me that she wasn't going to charge us. WHAT!?!?!?!

As DH will probably tell you, it takes ALOT to render me speechless...but this did it. I couldn't put two words together! Of course I burst into tears and start to blabber and try to thank her. DH had to finally lead me away. I didn't even get her name!!

How's that for a major dose of magic!!!

you just made my eyes water.. I'm such a sap today :rofl2:

[stefa70 205]

Well you guys are braver than I am. I haven't even rode Everest, but if I did, I too would be screaming and/or crying like a girl!

Commando Will!!

BTW, I like your new tag.

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

you just made my eyes water.. I'm such a sap today :rofl2:

LOL Judy...all saps welcome! I get sappy easily. Like those insurance commercials where they talk about people doing the right thing and passing it along. Those get me every time.

Well you guys are braver than I am. I haven't even rode Everest, but if I did, I too would be screaming and/or crying like a girl!

Commando Will!!

BTW, I like your new tag.

I'VE BEEN TAGGED!?! Should I be this excited? I am!!!

Yes Stef, EE scared the daylights out of me. Wil rode it twice!

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

I'd like to back up for a second here if I may.

We started our AK day off with breakfast at the Gingerbread House in GKTW. Most mornings, we just had cereal in our villa, but we decided to have something hot for a change.

This was another morning when Disney brought characters over to meet GKTW guests and on our way we ran into this lovely Belle.

She was an absolute doll! She took forever with the kids and got down on her knees to talk to them. This is also the time Ali kept trying to say "poopy shit". Luckily, her speech was really hard to understand back then and Belle would just smile at her and then turn and try to ask us what she was saying. We were laughing so hard. But it just felt wrong to say "poopy shit" to Belle even if she is a castmember in costume so DH and I would just shrug and smile. Part of me thinks she did understand what Ali was saying, but couldn't fathom why a 4 year old would be swearing at her in GKTW! :rofl2: :rofl2:

And I wanted to point out another special aspect of GKTW. Not only are there volunteers cooking and serving the food, but they don't even let you carry your tray to your table. They do it for you! They really make you feel like royalty and they are all there only out of the goodness of their hearts. I just can't express enough what a blessing that place, and all the volunteers are. :heart:

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

Animal Kingdom day - part 2

So this was Thursday and every Thursday at GKTW is Chirstmas. EVERY Thursday...complete with Christmas dinner, Santa and presents!

We finished up some of the big parts of AK and decided to head back to GKTW to celebrate Christmas a little early.

By this point in the day I was really feeling sick, but I was determined to keep on keeping on. We had big plans for the rest of this night. We had scheduled to have Mayor Clayton come tuck Wil and Ali into bed that night after all the Christmas festivities.

My mom and sister came with us. Earlier in the week (I can't remember which day) we had done Ali's star and the Star Fairy had left us the coordinates where we could find it in the Castle of Miracles.

This is Ali's star:

As you can see, Wil put his name on there as well. We thought he was entitled as well. And Ali really would never have it any other way. She adores him and he is such a good brother to her.

One of the best parts of GKTW/MAW was that they all made Wil feel just as special as they did Ali. I don't think people always realize how hard it is to be the sibling of a special needs child. There's a lot of attention paid to Ali, even within our families, because of her condition and I think it's easy to forget that Wil's just a kid too and doesn't always why. But Wil was ALWAYS included in everything by everyone at GKTW/Disney World etc. It was pure magic for both of them...and the rest of us as well.

My mom and sister purchased "Bunny Bucks" so they could eat dinner and have ice cream with us. Bunny Bucks cost $1 and that's all it took to get dinner! We ate dinner at the Gingerbread House and then had ice cream afterwards.

Then it was time to go see Santa!!

After we saw Santa, each child gets to pick a toy that has been donated by Hasbro. And there's a big selection. Bravo Hasbro.

Wil picked a Star Wars toy and Ali got a Fur Real monkey. As we headed back out of the theatre, there was a group of high school students standing behind a big long table filled with presents. We weren't sure what this was, but the students quickly came and grabbed my kids and had them each pick out a wrapped present and then eagerly waited to see what the kids got. We found out this is the work of a high school teacher who each year has his students do a toy drive and then they pick a night and come to GKTW to pass them out to the children there. We just happened to get lucky that it was a night while we were there!

Outside there was a party going on!

And then a volunteer came up and asked if Wil and Ali would like to be part of the Christmas parade! Of course they would!!

They wisked us off to a warehouse and got the kids into costumes and then onto their float!!

[Hotmamac aka Misty 11]

At this point in our story, I was doubled over sick. It finally got the better of me and I made my way back to the villa. I have no idea what happened to me that day. No one else got sick, thank goodness and by the next day I was fine. But sadly, I missed out on the rest of the fun. DH, my mom and sister made sure the kids had an awesome time though!

They headed back over to the Ice Cream Palace and there were elves waiting to read them a Christmas story!

When they were done reading, the kids were allowed to take the book home with them!

Then they met Mrs. Claus

Then the kids came back to the Villa to get ready for bed. They had no idea that Mayor Clayton was going to be stopping by to tuck them in!

The pajamas they are wearing in that pic were made for them as part of a "Big Give". There's a group of ladies from "that other board" that get together and make special clothes and things for children (and their families) who are going on MAW trips. For a few weeks leading up to our trip, I swear, every day there was a package delivered to us from someone we had never met who had spent time and money to make something beautiful for my kids purely out of the goodness of their hearts. There really are amazing generous wonderful people out there.

I guess DH only did video of Mayor Clayton's visit, because I can't find any pictures and I was passed out in bed while he was there. Oh well. The kids were thrilled and amazed that he came to see them.

Tomorrow is our last day...boo! But we'll pack every last ounce of fun and magic into it that we can!!

[kampfirekim 260]

LOL!!

You've seen the line for Toy Story Mania...I'll flash whatever I have to to get thru that line quicker! :dropjaw: :bugeyes:

:rofl3: :rofl3: :rofl3:

Amen to that! :rofl2:

I was standing there with my wallet out and was waiting for her to tell us how much, when it started to dawn on me that she wasn't going to charge us. WHAT!?!?!?!

As DH will probably tell you, it takes ALOT to render me speechless...but this did it. I couldn't put two words together! Of course I burst into tears and start to blabber and try to thank her. DH had to finally lead me away. I didn't even get her name!!

How's that for a major dose of magic!!!

Now THAT is magical! :fairydust:

I'm finally getting caught up only to find out it's nearly over!? Nooooo!!!!!

This has been a great TR! Looking forward to the next update.

[momofmany...Christina 17]

After chatting with you the other night, I realized I had started to read your TR awhile ago. So, I had to go back and reread and finish reading. What a great TR. Your kids are adorable and it looks like you had so much fun. There were so many awww and teary eyed moments. I'm excited for you guys to go back again next year and do another TR so I can see how big the kids have gotten!