Spectrum Moms Take on The World! Our Last Day...Multiple Posts!

[KathyRN137]

Oh, DUH! That's right... I remember now!

You're right, we didn't meet our friend Mickey_Mom until the Studios....

See how important it is to take good notes!! Thanks for the save!



Kathy

 

[Hedy]

I approve of all the Veras.

 

[KathyRN137]

It was about a half hour after we should have left for the park and I hadn’t heard back from Kathy yet so thinking her phone may have gone dead, I texted Amy to find out if they were on their way to the park.

Now, why would you ever think that?


Kathy

 

[JPFamilyMom]

... with a tiny spoiler alert!!


The Incredible Super Powers of the Disney Spectrum Moms!
www.wdwadventuresinautism.blogspot.com


Kathy

You write so beautifully, you put everything into words perfectly how I constantly feel, which I never seem to be able to word correctly

.

Kathy ordered the turkey ciabatta sandwich…it was HUGE and Jess has the pepperoni flatbread.
(correct me if I am wrong)


Now you must now I typically would do no such thing if my kids were around… and I would say the relief of being here and just feeling so free to be carefree was wonderful…this certainly wouldn’t be the last of many silly things I would do during our stay…

​

I had the cheese flatbread, and I only remember because I don't eat meat It was decent, but it hit the rumbly tumbly

yeah lot of silly memories

I was the one texting with Jess during lunch & went to the lobby to meet her. I found her halfway between the lobby & Mara. I'm glad I found her because she seemed a bit frazzled after a long day of travel - but I'll let her tell you about that.

I remember one of our topics of conversation was some kind of mother's potty talk - you know about our kids and their bathroom habits. I recall looking around to see if we'd be grossing anyone out!

Yes thanks for meeting me, being the less traveled of the bunch and having only been to WDW once before, the Orlando airport proved to be a bit overwhelming for me, along with finding ME and then switching gears and looking for a restaurant in a resort I had never stepped foot in frazzled is a nice word to use

It was nice to see some familiar faces... in person (I was very nervous and anxious on the ME bus, teary eyed from the video they show on the way to the resorts, and pinching myself because I couldn't believe I was actually there, and wondering how 7 people would get along all weekend, when we had never spent time together in person before)... my fears slowly faded as I began to see how much we all had in common and conversations and friendships began to flow and grow

My uneasiness also settled when we got back to the room and my suitcase was there waiting for me, after having opted to check my bag I was nervous that it wouldn't make it to the room (my dh and I have not had good luck with checking bags on connecting flights). After a quick freshen up I was very anxious to meet up with Tracy, who was the first spectrum mom I had ever had a DIS connection with.

Heidi kept us as close to schedule that you can keep a group of women, and I was so thankful she was so organized, because most of the weekend I felt so lost... so on to DHS where we will finally be joined with the last piece of our puzzle for our fun Mom's only weekend

 

[mousescrapper]

so I thought I'd say hi & ask to play

welcome welcome...

Today we received our Photopass CD! Here's a little sneak peek of what's to come...

brr that looks cold

I love the scarves!

ME TOOOOOO!!!!!

Julie - did you make those???? I would love to buy one I have a puzzle piece lanyard but noone really notices it so much. The scarf would be an awesome awareness piece!

ETA - I just Googled for them and found them AND a hair scrunchie! Gonna buy both! We are doing the ROAR Bike ride in early May and the hair scruchie will be great!

thanks nope I didn't make them, but my sil and a friend of her's did...we got the fabric from Hobby Lobby and she made one for me for Christmas and I instantly knew that was the perfect Dis-gift for the ladies! and boy they came in handy

Hmmmm, no one here either.


It was about a half hour after we should have left for the park and I hadn’t heard back from Kathy yet so thinking her phone may have gone dead, I texted Amy to find out if they were on their way to the park. No word. Hmmm, maybe her phone was dead too?

The bus arrived so I hopped on and then sent a message off to Julie that I was on my way to DHS. Hopefully I’d hear back from someone soon and we could all connect.

About halfway through the bus ride my cell phone rings and its Amy wondering where I am. Turns out I’d not received a crucial text from Kathy letting me know they’d gone back to the villa to wait for me there and they hadn’t received my texts because their phones were charging.

yes we all felt so bad... but glad we got it figured out quickly and made it to the Studios for the official FUN to begin!

I approve of all the Veras.

so yes myself (Julie), Amy. Anne Marie and Jess all had VB bags. when we were in line for security ck at DHS this lady in front of us asked if we had "robbed" the VB outlet before arriving

 

[KathyRN137]

...so yes myself (Julie), Amy. Anne Marie and Jess all had VB bags. when we were in line for security ck at DHS this lady in front of us asked if we had "robbed" the VB outlet before arriving

That's so funny; hadn't heard that story before!



Kathy

 

[ellajeansmom]

Hi Ladies

I am so enjoying your report - its like having a 7-in-1 report as everyone chimes in with their perspective

Looking forward to more silliness!

 

[eandesmom]

what great updates you guys! So many to comment on...

Lunch sounds delicious, relaxing and a perfect first ice breaker as you got to know each other. I love the taking off of the shoes and just walking through the pool, that sounds like bliss. And it also sounds like a huge departure from the sneak peek photopass pic where it looks COLD! But also pretty cool, since you all had your fab scarves on!

I am on the robbing the vera outlet comment and truly impressed that really, by 3 or so you'd all found each other, checked in, without much in the way of miscommunications or mishaps!

 

[KathyRN137]

I am.... truly impressed that really, by 3 or so you'd all found each other, checked in, without much in the way of miscommunications or mishaps!

Well, except for poor Tracy! Not sure how we missed all her texts... but all's well that ends well! Believe me, we were THRILLED that the villa was ready so early.

Thanks for following!


Kathy

 

[Disneylvr]

Thank you! I know I have a lot of reading, but any pointers on getting up to speed appreciated! When is the May trip? My family is going to our first Star Wars Weekend 5/26-5/30, and I could possibly meet for a meal. STL has a nice ASD Community, but no one I know as mouse crazy as us

TIA!

I am from STL and am mouse crazy and part of the ASD Community! We try to go every year but unfortunately we may have to skip a trip this year but will go again in 2012.

 

[DisMomAmy]

Hi All!! This is where the story telling will get a bit trickier since we were all together. I'm going to post the update just using my pictures and the other moms can add in their photo & the bits & pieces of the story that I forgot. Enjoy!

When we left off, we had finally found our seventh member, Tracy, at Hollywood Studios! We made our way to bag check & saw lines like I’d never seen before! I think there were only two security CMs at the bag check area and they were being thorough. To add to the congestion, there were clearly some Brazilian tour groups at the park, who weren’t speaking English. They were sitting down in the bag check line (on a little half wall area) which was causing a lot of confusion about whether they were actually in line or not. I believe it was Kathy & Anne Marie who had ticket business to take care of so we grabbed their bags and they headed in through the “no bags” area. By the time we got through bag check, they were actually waiting for us.

One thing we noticed before even entering the park was Tower of Terror covered in scaffolding.

Our plan for today had been to arrive by 3pm, head to Sunset Boulevard to ride or pick up fastpasses for Tower of Terror and/or Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster as time permitted, then to see the 4:00 Beauty & The Beast show. We knew from our "Lines" apps that all of the FPs were gone so that option was out. By the time we got ourselves to DHS it was almost 4:00 so we decided to head right for Beauty & The Beast and regroup after that.

Hi Bo! (Jackie - That one’s for you & Chelsea.)

When we finally made it to Beauty & The Beast, it was filling up fast! They let us into the theater but we couldn’t find any seats. We asked them to open up the overflow bleachers at the back of the theater & we grabbed front row seats.

After the show we decided to ride Tower of Terror & check back with RnRC afterwards. If the line was long, we would go single rider. I believe the wait time for ToT was about 30 minutes. Jessica didn’t want to ride but she went through the queue with us planning to take the chicken elevator. The wait went by very quickly as we chatted & played Julie’s Disney ABCs game.

When we got through the pre-show area into the last part of the queue, we noticed a gross smell and when we rounded the corner we could see someone cleaning up a bio spill! I think someone was so scared of ToT that they peed their pants! It smelled so awful...

We tried our best to convince Jess to ride with us, but ultimately she chickened out while the rest of us nearly fell to our deaths. It was an AWESOME ride, as always. I don’t have a very good redneck ride photo but Heidi does & she’ll post it soon. We met up with Jess at the photo area and stopped for a photo op with a couple of CMs on our way out (Julie knew which camera to look at ):

Up next was Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster. I don’t remember the exact wait time but it was LONG & we could see the line snaking around in front of the building so we opted for the single rider line. We moved along nicely until we got up to the front of the single rider line, right before they merge all of the lines together & we stopped. We hung out there for a bit & watched the shifts change. Julie was a bit excited I think:

The new CM who came on was talking about how the lines were out of control & the FP line was way too long. I don’t remember the exact numbers but I heard her say that she was going to let in all FP people, with about 2 stand-by line people and two or three single riders. I was in the first group to go in along with Heidi I think. We had our own little section in the pre-show area, then we were dumped out into the single rider line & waited for the other moms who joined us two or three at a time. Fortunately the line didn’t take too long. We were all within 3 or 4 limos of each other. Heidi & I were in the first limo (not together – none of us were). The ride was amazing – as usual! No matter how many times I ride RnRC, my stomach always ends up in my throat during the “take off”.

I managed to get a decent shot of my picture (front left of the picture):

We had decided to meet up at the bathroom near ToT after our rides & figure out what to do next. The original plan for after Beauty & The Beast had been to visit The Great Movie Ride, the Animation Academy & see some characters, One Man’s Dream, Muppet Vision 3-D, CS dinner & the 8pm Fantasmic! We were running behind “schedule” so we had to prioritize and make a new plan. Where would we head off to next?

 

[Minnie Mommy Mouse]

I am from STL and am mouse crazy and part of the ASD Community! We try to go every year but unfortunately we may have to skip a trip this year but will go again in 2012.

AWESOME! Are you on the A-List? I'm choochoobaby2001 on there. We live in Wentzville, MO. I am thinking you are on the same Yahoo group as me b/c there is a mom who post about her DD & the spelling is the same. I remember Madelyns since that was my girl name first pregnancy

 

[All7OfUs]

Awesome update- your first park time sounds great- even if you are "behind" a bit. Sounds like the highest priorities were knocked off fairly quickly and you still had some time left.

 

[eandesmom]

you guys are pro's, long lines at bag check or not! BAB, TOT and RRC...check check and check! Very impressive touring ladies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jmskinner]

I am loving this TR. I've been lucky to meet many Dis'ers and it is so funny how we are all nervous about meeting up, but once we do, we just chat away and before long it feels as though we are old friends. I get to have one of those meets with Jessica very soon. Maybe I can get her to ride ToT.

all of the pics! Heidi, love the panoramic ones!!!

 

[DisMomAmy]

We will be there 3/16-3/26/11. Unfortunately our flight out is in the AM, so 3/25 is our last day. That is my actual 40th Birthday, so we planned to spend the day at MK (our favorite park). We have breakfast at Chef Mickey's & dinner at Tony's scheduled, but if your family is at MK we could meet & say hello. We are staying at POR for the first time & that is exciting. We have taken up resort hopping each new trip. On 3/24 we have breakfast at Akerhaus, then from there it is a flex day (either Epcot or DHS or subject to weather maybe a water park).

Your banner is how I found this thread. I'm super excited about our March trip since it is our longest stay & we have tons of great ADRs, PL, BBB knight package, etc. We had original planned to bring my 4 year old niece (therefore BBB was a must). We bought the boys a Prince Phillip costume (Aidan) & Prince Edward from Enchanted (Josh) for BBB & CRT, so there is no way out of BBB. I'm going to have to get myself dolled up in my niece's spot. I feel like a big dork, but my inner child secretly loves it LOL.

I hope your March trip is magical too & hopefully we can say hello IRL, but I know how scheduling goes

Unfortunately our dates don't overlap... We're arriving in Florida on FEBRUARY 24th not March 24th. And actually our first three days are in the Tampa area visiting family. We won't be in Orlando until 2/27.

Sounds like you have a great day planed for your birthday.

 

[DisMomAmy]

Awesome update- your first park time sounds great- even if you are "behind" a bit. Sounds like the highest priorities were knocked off fairly quickly and you still had some time left.

Thanks! We were off to a good start.

you guys are pro's, long lines at bag check or not! BAB, TOT and RRC...check check and check! Very impressive touring ladies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks Cynthia! The first three attractions were all must-dos for all of us. And thanks to Heidi we had come up with a basic touring plan ahead of time.

I am loving this TR. I've been lucky to meet many Dis'ers and it is so funny how we are all nervous about meeting up, but once we do, we just chat away and before long it feels as though we are old friends. I get to have one of those meets with Jessica very soon. Maybe I can get her to ride ToT.

all of the pics! Heidi, love the panoramic ones!!!

It's so true... We all just clicked right away.

Good luck getting Jess on Tower of Terror.

 

[JPFamilyMom]

I am loving this TR. I've been lucky to meet many Dis'ers and it is so funny how we are all nervous about meeting up, but once we do, we just chat away and before long it feels as though we are old friends. I get to have one of those meets with Jessica very soon. Maybe I can get her to ride ToT.

all of the pics! Heidi, love the panoramic ones!!!

Yeah, it's not gonna happen... It's not like I never went on it before and chickened out, I went on it on my honeymoon and said never again I just don't like heights and you bounce back up way too many times I even get nervous riding in real elevators

 

[Mickey_Mom]

I love taking pictures. Each trip I tell myself I should take less so I can just enjoy the experience without having my camera in my face, but I can't help it. I love capturing that perfect moment in both my camera lens and my minds eye.... and when I see that picture years to come, I instantly flash back to that incredible memory. This trip was filled with incredible memories that I will cherish. Future trips will be just as fun, but this first trip meeting all these fabulous ladies will forever be the best.

I also too love to trail behind just a step or two to capture candid, in the moment pictures, so you might see a shot or two of the ladies walking ahead of me.



As we walked up to Beauty and the Beast, I remember remarking to someone that it was funny to me to hear everyone's voices for the first time. Now when I'm reading trip reports and pre trip reports, I'll know what voice to hear in my head.

The upper bleachers were a different perspective and I played around with the zoom a bit on different shots.... enjoy!

Still love this show as much as the first time I saw it! When Belle and the Beast hand a rose to a lucky audience member at the end, I always choke up just a little....

Heading on down to the Tower of Terror, it was the first time I haven't gone through the fast pass entrance and I enjoyed looking for little details as we walked thru.

CONTINUED....

 

[Mickey_Mom]

The ride was sooooo much fun, I can't remember the last time I laughed and screamed simultaneously so much!

One last look back.....

.... and next of course was what my family fondly refers to as the Aerosmith ride.

That's my only RnRC pic .... I think because my tummy was still yelling at me to slow down after that crazy plane ride I wasn't snapping away like I normally would. I remember as Kathy and I were the last two waiting in the single riders line telling her that strangely enough when I was on the rides, I felt fine, but as soon as I was standing still for any period of time I felt ill. Now our turn, the ride was incredibly fun and unfortunately there was a delay in our limo unloading so I didn't get a bootleg ride photo. I think I'd even done a 'rock on' pose too!

After RnRC, bathroom break taken care of, we whipped out our maps and made a plan for the next part of our evening. Heidi leading the charge with her flag marker.....

.... we were off!