A Halloween Adventure in Autism (11/7) Prayer Request for Catie (p.129)

[KathyRN137]

At least he'll know that WDW will come sooner! He'll be able to say less events in his social story (I believe that's what you've called it)! No more "first back to school, then Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then WDW"!

On the contrary! It will be all of the above, PLUS then Christmas, then New Year's, then Valentine's Day, then...

Oh, and he likes to put in all of the family's birthdays in there, too!!

This will not be a social story, it will be a social novel!

Six dancing bananas for six less months to wait!!!


Sara

Thanks for the fruit!!

...And the best of all - CONGRATS on cutting 6mos off your ticker!! And it even comes with a better bonus of more days and lower DVC points! The sleeper chairs are great, so glad they're adding them to OKW. Now, if they just follow suit at the others we'll be all set.

I hear ya on having a hard time finding the time to update, I didn't get the last day of our Live report up and now we've been home a week. Hoping that now that everyone is back to school and work I'll find some time to get that finshed up...

Thanks!

I think those sleeper chairs are the best! Especially for a group of five... a two-bedroom villa is more than you need!

Yes, you must finish your HHI report... I've enjoyed it so far; its the first HHI report I've read and its so much fun to read about a totally new Disney experience!


Kathy

 

[MaryAz]

Yay for 6 less monthes. June I think will be better all around! SO exciting!!

 

[KathyRN137]

Yay for 6 less monthes. June I think will be better all around! SO exciting!!

Thanks, Mary!

Oooh, and MAY is just around the corner for YOU!!


Kathy

 

[All7OfUs]

That's great news, Kathy!! So glad you could give that ticker a really BIG trim! In fact, I'd say it got a whole new do!! So many good reasons to go in June...

 

[AmandaSparks730]

How sweet! Maybe Billy will be the Next Big Thing! "Walt Disney World Pleeeasee!" : a novel by Billy.

"First, Mickey's Philharmagic, then..."

 

[WDWisOurHappyPlace]

Happy for you Kathy, that you've made a decision and can start with the planning, yeah! June will be fun.

How sweet! Maybe Billy will be the Next Big Thing! "Walt Disney World Pleeeasee!" : a novel by Billy.

"First, Mickey's Philharmagic, then..."

I would so buy that book.

 

[MEK]

Oh Kathy - nine nights in June....that sounds heavenly. I love how late the parks are open in June. congrats to you!

 

[KathyRN137]

That's great news, Kathy!! So glad you could give that ticker a really BIG trim! In fact, I'd say it got a whole new do!! So many good reasons to go in June...

Yes... better for the entire family!
Not that I wouldn't adore seeing WDW at Christmastime... but the would take away some of the magic for Billy, and we can't have that, now!

How sweet! Maybe Billy will be the Next Big Thing! "Walt Disney World Pleeeasee!" : a novel by Billy.

"First, Mickey's Philharmagic, then..."

We could make it a pop-up book!

Happy for you Kathy, that you've made a decision and can start with the planning, yeah! June will be fun.

I would so buy that book.

I love the idea of letting the kids start off their summer vacation with a big BANG! Perhaps I will send inqueries regarding two books to prospective publishers!

Wouldn't it be funny if Billy's pop-up book won a contract?!

Oh Kathy - nine nights in June....that sounds heavenly. I love how late the parks are open in June. congrats to you!

That's true... good point! We're used to relatively short park hours during November. Longer hours will give us a chance to go back to the resort for a rest or swim... something we'll probably need in the summer heat!


Kathy

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Better you haven't heard this today....

CONGRATS !!!!!



Hey I have a DVC question for you. Since this is our first stay. Do you get anything before your trip?? Today is my 45 day mark and just wondering if I should be expecting some kind of documents.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Team "We Need To Get Billy Published"! It can come as a companion novel to your novel, Kathy! Mother and son!

 

[KathyRN137]

Team "We Need To Get Billy Published"! It can come as a companion novel to your novel, Kathy! Mother and son!

...Hey I have a DVC question for you. Since this is our first stay. Do you get anything before your trip?? Today is my 45 day mark and just wondering if I should be expecting some kind of documents.

We always receive a written registration confirmation in the mail.
Did you get one?

If you are concerned, you can double-check your registration info at dvcmember.com.

45 DAYS!!!


Kathy

 

[mousescrapper]

Thanks, Scrappie! Hey, we all get busy... sometimes I dont make it onto the DIS for weeks at a time... everybody here understands how Life gets in the way!

Thanks for the good vibes!!

Did you get your new DVC Planner in the mail yet? I was drooling over the pix of Bay Lake Tower!! Someday we must stay there!

I can't wait to see all of your pix... you must take a bazillion (just for me!)

No I have not yet...hope soon. What fun! oing to check my box ASAP...don't worry I'll take a ton for you (and me)

 

[KathyRN137]

Chapter 27: Peevishness at the Pixar Parade!


Monday Afternoon
November 2, 2009
Hollywood Studios



When I write my reports I try very hard not to sugar-coat our Disney adventures. I truly feel that if a person heads off to WDW expecting nothing but magical, pixie-dusted moments, that person is setting him- or herself up for a major disappointment. And so, just as in Life, we accept that there cannot be light without dark, up without down, or a Ying without a Yang…even when we are on vacation!

Besides, who really wants to read page after page of “Every day was wonderful!” “Everything was special!” “Everyone got along perfectly!!”

Bor-ing. (And probably not completely true.)


It’s been a long time since I last posted. So, to put everything in perspective, let me first give you a little re-cap of our day so far:

-We arrived early... not exactly at rope-drop... just a little after park opening.

-We started our day with ToT... it was Ed’s first ride, ever!

-Then Ed took off for Starring Rolls while the kids and I rode ToT a second time, followed by R&RC.

-We caught a bit of Streetmosphere, then met up with Ed. The girls pin-shopped while he finished his coffee.

-Next was Star Tours, followed by a fun and leisurely character lunch at Hollywood and Vine with friends from Playhouse Disney.

-After lunch we visited MuppetVision 3D and did a little Christmas shopping at It’s a Wonderful Shop.

-After snapping a few pix on Streets of America, we were off to Pixar Place for our first ride on Toy Story Mania. We were instantly hooked and did it a second time!

-After that we headed to the Magic of Disney Animation for a visit with the characters from UP.

-The girls played with the interactive games for a few minutes and then we were off to stake out viewing spots for the afternoon parade.

**********************************************************​

So, here it was, about 2:25pm, and we had been able to do so much! Although the sky remained overcast, it had warmed up quite a bit and I was beginning to drag a little. It felt good to plop myself down on that little wall in front of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame with the family and wait for the afternoon parade to start.

Now, unless it’s part of a special after-hours party like MNSSHP, I’m usually not big on watching parades while we’re at Disney. The exception to that rule is SpectroMagic, which I love. Afternoon parade times are good opportunities to fit in a ride or two while large numbers of guests are drawn away from them. But the new DHS parade, Block Party Bash, seemed very appealing to me because of all the great characters from our favorite Pixar movies: Toy Story I and II, Monsters Inc, A Bug’s Life, and The Incredibles.


Characters plus music and dancing? Billy would be all over that!


I also knew from reading trip reports that the parade contained acrobats, stilt-walkers, and guys on scooters doing tricks. I figured that might add something of interest for the older girls. And so, I had made it a point to work the parade into our itinerary. We were planning to be here all day... probably would’ve been a good idea to head back to Kidani Village for a little break... but because this would be our one scheduled Studios day, it would be our only chance to catch the parade.


So, here we were, sitting in our lovely viewing spot a half-hour before parade time. Glad we did that, because the parade crowd was growing exponentially minute-by-minute all along the route. The boys were sitting on my left and the girls were sitting to my right on a wide end section of the wall. They were content to occupy themselves with chatting and texting.


But, for Billy... wait time was tough. He kept jumping up and waving his arms while stimming (repeating certain phrases and making repetitious noises) quite vocally. I had brought a cheapo hand-held toy from home for him to play with, but he was totally uninterested. I tried giving him a snack in order to distract him; that was gone in about three minutes. The stimming noises continued and Ed was beginning to lose patience with him because he would not sit still. Naturally, when Ed gets irritated, I get a bit out of sorts, too. I suppose that’s why the following events aggravated us a bit more than they normally would.


You will see in upcoming pictures that we were seated on a low wall in front of the Academy busts. As cast members began setting up ropes, one of them approached all the guests that were sitting there and informed us that we could not sit with our legs hanging along the parade route because of guest and performer safety issues. Okay... fine. Everybody pivoted and sat with their legs now hanging over the inside of the wall. The cast member seemed satisfied and went on her way.


Ed began to grumble a bit about how worrying about potential lawsuits was spoiling the Disney magic (or words to that effect), but, what can you do? We still had a great spot... and a seat that wasn’t on the ground. The crowd was growing around us and many of them were sitting on the ground. Ed and I turned our attention back to helping Billy cope with the wait. Some cast members came around with hula-hoops and jump ropes for children to play with while passing the time. Although he didn’t want to participate, watching the other children seemed to distract Billy a bit. Huzzah.


Suddenly to my right, I felt Tricia squishing into me. I turned and was surprised to see that both girls had moved from the nice, wide area at the end of the wall where they had both been sitting, Indian-syle, and were now squeezed together on the more narrow middle part of the wall. Sitting on the prime piece of real estate were two boys who looked to be about seven and ten, and a woman I assumed was their mother. My mouth practically dropped completely open in surprise.


“What are those people doing sitting in your spots?” I asked the girls, perhaps in a more brisk tone of voice than I normally use.

“The lady asked if we could move over so they could sit down, so we did,” Tricia answered.

I did not bother to hide my annoyance. “And so you two just gave up your seats?” I said. “We’ve been sitting here for over twenty minutes and you just gave up your seats without asking me or your father?”

Catie’s expression suddenly became that of a deer caught in the headlights. She declined to answer but my daughter, who is never at a loss for words, snapped back, “What were we supposed to do, Mom? She asked us to move over!”

“You should have asked me first,” I said. Now, to tell the truth, I was rather proud that the girls were acting so unselfishly. However, it’s one thing to give up your seat on the bus for an elderly person or a pregnant woman, it’s quite another to give up your primo parade-watching spot to a person who comes along at the last minute, walks around a big crowd of people who have been patiently waiting and expects to sit in the front.


(I wasn’t so much lecturing to them as I was trying to communicate this to the woman who had committed the faux pas.)


Tricia, however, did not catch this. She was now upset because she felt she had done the right thing and I was scolding her for it! Angry tears welled up in her eyes and she began to scowl. “I don’t want to watch this stupid parade anyway!” she retaliated, folding her arms tightly in front of her.


I softened my tone a bit, but continued. “Tricia, she should have asked me or your father, not you two.” I looked over, but either the woman didn’t hear me or was pointedly trying to pretend she didn’t.


“What’s going on?” Ed demanded. “What happened?” I realized that I had left him to handle Billy on his own and that he was probably annoyed with me. “Take a look,” I said, nodding toward the woman and her boys. Ed turned to Tricia. “Why did you give them your seats?” he demanded.


I began to explain to him how the woman had flanked us and persuaded the girls to move over, but before I could finish Tricia began to cry big, fat teenage-girl tears. “Why are you two so upset with me?” she wailed.


Oh, the pain! The drama! Sooo appropriate for Hollywood Studios!


“We’re not upset with you,” I said, evenly. “We’re upset because you were taken advantage of by an adult who figured you looked like two nice girls who would give up their seats.” I handed her a tissue, which she pointedly refused. “Why do you think she asked you to move over, not Daddy or me?” She continued to sniffle and not talk to me, so I decided to drop it.


Ah, but there was even more drama to come in this parade soap opera!


Soon another cast member... this one appearing to be in a more supervisory position... approached the line of guests sitting on the wall and informed us that we all had to get up. No one could sit on the wall during the parade. We had to stand behind the wall, which was really the same height as a bench, so we couldn’t even lean against it. Ed thought this was ridiculous. He called the supervisor over and pointed out that the other CM had told us not a few moments earlier that we could sit on the wall so long as our legs were turned inward. Supervisor CM brusquely insisted that no one could sit on the wall because of safety issues.


Already vexed by Billy’s constant stimming, Ed was in no mood to have someone “police” him. “Well, you shouldn’t have one person telling us one thing and another telling us something else,” he complained. Dutifully, however, we all got up and stood behind the wall, as did the other guests (including the claim-jumpers.) Satisfied that he had achieved his objective, Supervisor CM moved on down the line.


“That’s so dumb!" Tricia complained. "Why can’t we just sit here until the parade starts and then stand up?” I rolled my eyes at her. “Just leave it alone,” I begged. Ed was scowling and Billy’s fidgeting and stimming was beginning to get on my nerves as well. To top it off, now that Billy had to remain standing we had the added worry that he would stomp on or trip over one of the guests sitting on the ground around us. Unfortunately, they were so close that we had no room to sit down ourselves!


I remember thinking to myself as I looked around that there was a much better place that we could’ve sat... on the steps in front of the American Idol attraction (I will point it out when I add the pictures), but at the time I didn’t think that we could sit there. I also began to think that perhaps it might not be a good idea to try to stay in the park until closing but we were kind of stuck. We had a very early dinner ADR (3:50) at 50's Prime Time Cafe... the only time I could get that wouldn’t make us late for Fantasmic. We would have to skip it if we took a break and came back later for the nighttime show... which was a definite must-see for Billy. I mulled this over for a while, weighing the pros and cons. Eventually I was relieved to hear parade music coming from the direction of The Hat. Thank Goodness! We had been waiting for about fifty minutes already... let’s get on with this thing!



This “float” unfolds into a kind of trampoline for acrobats to bounce on...

See all the people sitting on the steps? A perfect spot, right? I didn’t think we could sit there because I wasn’t sure if we would be blocking people entering or exiting from the American Idol attraction and didn’t want to get booted off by cast members. Oh well, live and learn!


Billy was thrilled to see the Toy Story float coming! This is the one that stopped right in front of us…

I like the Green Army Men so much better with faces! The “blank” faces are a little creepy!

Just what we needed to brighten our moods... LOTS of high-energy singing and dancing in this parade! It was a bit loud... not “break out the earplugs loud”... but that really couldn’t be helped since we were right in front of the speakers.

Billy was really into it!

The girls had such a nice place to sit before we had to move!

The scooters and acrobats were cool!

Continued in Next Post!


Kathy

 

[KathyRN137]

Chapter 27, Part Two:


Because the Toy Story float parked in front of us we saw a lot of Bo Peep, Mr. Potato Head, and the Green Army Man... who acted as Master of Ceremonies (of sorts).

We were strongly encouraged to make a lot of noise!

Kudos to the CM who had to perform in this costume! I don’t think she can see very well...

Billy reached out, but instead of the usual “high five” he held Potato Head’s hand and kept shaking it!! Obviously the CM can’t feel when someone touches that part of the costume, and didn’t see Billy. Of course, how could Billy know that? Ed and I quickly instructed him to let go, but before he could...

... one of the performer rushed over and quickly separated the two. I wasn’t too thrilled about someone grabbing my child’s hand away, but I suppose the cast members are instructed to be extra careful about guests getting hurt since they are performing so close to the crowd. Still, it kind of spoiled the moment.


Oh well, at least once Potato Head realized what had happened “he” made it a point to wave at Billy, who didn’t seem bothered in the least. Eventually it was time for the Block Party to move on and we were able to get a look at some of the other floats and characters as they rolled by...

The Incredibles:

Monsters Inc:

A Bug’s Life:

The last strains of parade music faded away and the crowds slowly evaporated. Ed looked at his watch and suggested we start heading over toward the PTC since our ADR was in ten minutes! Looks like the resort break idea was out. Oh well, we could use a nice leisurely dinner as a substitute “break” from the park.


On the way over we passed the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular theater...

I suddenly remembered something I had wanted to show the kids... one of those quirky little Imagineering additions to the park... the well to the left of the entrance. In all our trips we have never stopped to read this sign:

Winking at Ed, I dared them to pull the rope! They were a little unsure at first... but they gave it a try:

One good turn deserves another!

I won’t spoil it for you, just in case you haven’t done it yet, but it made them laugh.

They can be weird, sometimes!

With that little bit of magic crossed off my list, we continued on our way toward the Prime Time Café to immerse ourselves in ‘50’s food and fun!

Too bad I was still full from lunch!!


Kathy

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

:

We always receive a written registration confirmation in the mail.
Did you get one?

If you are concerned, you can double-check your registration info at dvcmember.com.

45 DAYS!!!


Kathy

I got that when we booked. Do we get any documents right before like when you book a package???

 

[KathyRN137]

I got that when we booked. Do we get any documents right before like when you book a package???

Nope. Just the Magical Express vouchers, if you're using them.


Kathy

 

[Hedy]

. Poor Tricia and Catie. Sometimes,being 13 is enough to set you off.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Oh, dear. A run of good luck is always followed by a run of bad luck, and vice versa.

In other words, when you fall at FLHS rehearsal in Converse sneakers, you won't fall at FLHS/NHS Night in heels.

But more on that tomorrow in my PTR

Anyway, it seems like drama always seems to show up at WDW with you guys! Weather it's between Billy and Tricia, or Ed and Aunt Rae, or Tricia and Aunt Rae, it's always there to make your TR's more interesting and heartfelt

 

[KathyRN137]

. Poor Tricia and Catie. Sometimes,being 13 is enough to set you off.

Tricia being 13 could often set me off!
(She quickly got over her bad mood.)


Kathy

 

[KathyRN137]

Anyway, it seems like drama always seems to show up at WDW with you guys! Weather it's between Billy and Tricia, or Ed and Aunt Rae, or Tricia and Aunt Rae, it's always there to make your TR's more interesting and heartfelt

Just keepin' it real.


Kathy