Trev's Star Wars MAW trip

[Lilfoot93]

The reason for this trip is that my son, Trevor, was born with a congenital heart defect. In May of 2012 we found out that he would be granted his one true wish!! He has a slight obsession with Star Wars so that is what has led us to Star Wars Weekend in Orlando! We have been looking forward to this trip as it is our first family vacation and to experience Trev's wish to Star Wars Weekend. You can learn more about Trev here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2960002

We decided to take a red eye so we could enjoy 7 full days in Orlando. We had a shuttle van come pick us up at 6pm on Saturday night. Here we are SO excited for Trev's wish to come true! And to soak up the sun... Little did we know that we were leaving the nice weather behind us...


All loaded up and ready to go!

This was the first time the kids have been on a plane AND the first time we have gone on vacation... I was a little nervous about the 5 hour flight but they did WONDERFUL!! Allie and Kara slept about an hour and a half and Trev about an hour! My Dad luckily slept the whole flight. Scott got about an hour in. As for myself I had not slept since I had woken up at 7am that morning!


Here is Trev in the cockpit! His sisters had the chance too but they declined On the way down we ended up getting comped the movie players and free food... The downside is that it was the middle of the night so we ended up getting a cheese/fruit platter to share and the kids did watch one movie before trying to fall asleep... Who was I kidding thinking they would sleep on the plane!?! They were awesome during the whole trip though! There were a few other young kids on the plane and you did not hear them either! The flight was a little rough in spots. There was a 2 hour stretch where you could feel the turbulence the whole time! I was really wishing I could be sleeping at that point

We arrived a few minutes early which was wonderful news to me! The kids enjoyed the take off and landing. They couldn't wait to do it again! It was 5:58am when we arrived in Orlando. We took some more pictures with the pilot and crew. Then we made our way into the airport. We were suppose to be greeted by a GKTW volunteer but did not see anyone. We stopped at the bathroom to freshen up since we traveled all night. We then went to find our way to where we thought the greeter maybe. We asked a couple different people working at the airport and they had no clue. We went to the baggage claim and ended up at the wrong one. Eventually we ended up at the right one and found our greeter! She had been waiting for us but somehow we missed her when we got off the plane. She was asking passengers and the pilots. They all said they had seen Trevor but in the end we found her and we got our luggage and she took us to get our rental van. We stepped outside and it hit us like a ton of bricks... THE HEAT! THE HUMIDITY!! It was only 7 in the morning... It felt wonderful though! We were sweating within minutes waiting for our greeter to find out where to pick up our rental van.

 

[lovethattink]

I'm here!

 

[lovethattink]

I'm so glad the flight was a good one. And you know I think the picture of Trevor in the cockpit is AWESOME!! Glad you were able to find the greeter after some confusion. Very cool about the comp movies and food. It's good your dad was able to sleep. I'm sure that helped for the long day ahead.

 

[WDWRids]

Can't wait to hear about his Trip!!

 

[Lilfoot93]

Thanks for joining in!

The flight was great!!!! The great thing about a red eye is that I was too tired to be nervous about flying... Now the way home was a different story!!!

I will try and do some more tonight when the kids are in bed. I have a feeling it will take at least a couple weeks to get this all done... Trev just finished school yesterday and next week Scott leaves for San Fransisco for work then we go to Idaho for a family wedding. This will be a crazy month!!

Jackie

 

[Lilfoot93]

I haven't forgotten it has been super busy around here. I will try and do some more in the next couple days. School is over now and Scott is getting ready to leave for San Fransisco. The day after he gets back we leave for Idaho for a few days for a wedding. It has rained for all of 20 minutes since we have been back... SO different from our time in Florida!

Jackie

 

[lovethattink]

There were storms today, but we missed them. We went to DTD for lunch and shopping and while we were driving there we saw lightning. But when we arrived to DTD, the ground was wet with puddles, but it wasn't storming anymore.

 

[wiigirl]

In for your TR!

 

[Lilfoot93]

We were walking to the stall to find our rental van. As we were walking we seen a lot of mini vans in all different colors. We were hoping for any color than red as we have a red truck and red mini van... We found our stall with our van and the color was..... RED!! I guess it will be easy to remember what van is ours We were SO excited to be in Florida on our way to Give Kids The World! We pulled up to the village and it was AMAZING!!!



It was about 8am when we got there so we went to the front desk to get checked in. Allie and Kara got a cute stuffed whale and Trev got a Mickey Mouse. By the time we were done checking in it was about 8:30. We did not have breakfast on our meal card so they gave us a voucher for breakfast. We walked over to the Gingerbread house to get breakfast. There was so much to take in... The whole place is just AMAZING!!! I had about 30 minutes before I had to be at the 9am orientation. The waffles were the best part of breakfast! The kids had chocolate milk some fruit and fruit loops. I think this would become their daily breakfast when we ate their in the mornings! It was great to have someone help with all the trays.


the Gingerbread house where we ate breakfast and dinner


Our first meal at GKTW. The food was great!

I went and sat through orientation which I almost fell asleep in! I had not slept since the morning before when I woke up about 8am and now it was 9am the next day!

Meanwhile Scott, my Dad and the kids went and ate ice cream... I was not too impressed they went without me!


Trev enjoying his first of many ice cream trips... I think some days they had ice cream 3 times in a day!!

After the meeting I was just too tired from not sleeping all day... I needed sleep! But first we had to find out where our villa was! The kids and I got on the little cart and we rode to find our villa while Scott and my Dad drove behind us. The lady driving the cart got lost and we finally found our villa!


Trev examining the gifts that were left for the them. We were right across from the pool and right next to Elmer the sleeping tree... We never did see him wake up



We seen these cute little guys everywhere! We tried to catch them but no luck! The only ones we see here are in the pet store! They were fun to have around!

By this time it is about 9:30 in the morning and I HAVE to sleep! I can barely keep my eyes open. I tried to take a nap but it didn't really work. So after about an hour of resting we decided to go swimming. The kids did not like the idea of sunscreen but it had to be done. Good thing Grandpa was there to put it on them... Of course there was no fussing for him So we were off to the pool. The kids were excited it was across the street!






Once Kara was swimming she could care less that I never got her a Rapunzel suit... She was just excited to finally be swimming after months of not being able to!

 

[mommy2mrb]

I'm here!

great you got some pixie dust on the flight and how cool the kids were invited to go into the cockpit!
good the kids got a little bit of sleep on the plane! bummer about the mix up with the baggage claim, it is confusing! yup FL humidity is tough to handle, takes all your energy out of you!

cool your villa was across from the pool, yay for ice cream breakfasts


can't wait to see you and the kids on Tuesday! enjoy the sunshine today!

 

[WDWRids]

Great start to your trip report! LOVE your photos!! Perfect location right across from the pool. I bet you were tired after all those hours up - do hope you did get some good sleep when you finally could rest. Can't wait to hear more!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

I'm in! We went for my sister's wish trip in 2000 so seeing the pictures of GKTW village brings back memories.

Your kids are adorable. I hope your son is doing well and I can't wait to hear more about your trip!

 

[lovethattink]

Love the update. So glad the kids got to go swimming that first day. Your villa was in a great location. Love the surf picture. On my phone it looks real. Great action shot of Trev jumping.

I won't even tell JJ that your family is seeing Lisa again on Tuesday. He'd want to be on the first flight out to see all of you!

 

[2012bella13]

I am enjoying reading your trip report, I miss GKTW so much, such a wonderful place. Great pics, look forward to reading more!!

 

[Lilfoot93]

I'm here!

great you got some pixie dust on the flight and how cool the kids were invited to go into the cockpit!
good the kids got a little bit of sleep on the plane! bummer about the mix up with the baggage claim, it is confusing! yup FL humidity is tough to handle, takes all your energy out of you!

cool your villa was across from the pool, yay for ice cream breakfasts


can't wait to see you and the kids on Tuesday! enjoy the sunshine today!

We are excited for Tuesday too! I love going to the zoo and I am glad you guys can join us!

Great start to your trip report! LOVE your photos!! Perfect location right across from the pool. I bet you were tired after all those hours up - do hope you did get some good sleep when you finally could rest. Can't wait to hear more!

We were in a perfect location! It was SO close to everything we needed...Especially the pool!

I'm in! We went for my sister's wish trip in 2000 so seeing the pictures of GKTW village brings back memories.

Your kids are adorable. I hope your son is doing well and I can't wait to hear more about your trip!

Thanks for joining in! Trev is doing well right now. Waiting for his next surgery but praying we can hold off for another 3-4 years. GKTW is a magical place! I hope your sister is doing well.

Love the update. So glad the kids got to go swimming that first day. Your villa was in a great location. Love the surf picture. On my phone it looks real. Great action shot of Trev jumping.

I won't even tell JJ that your family is seeing Lisa again on Tuesday. He'd want to be on the first flight out to see all of you!

I have no problem with you guys coming out We would love to see you again!

Sad thing about the surf pic is that I was napping so I NEVER saw where it was... Only once the photos were on the computer did I see it

I am enjoying reading your trip report, I miss GKTW so much, such a wonderful place. Great pics, look forward to reading more!!

Thanks for joining in! It was truly a magical place! The kids want to go back for ice cream If it were only that easy... It is a 6 hour plane ride just to get there!

Scott is in San Fransisco this week so I will try and do as much as I can this week. Then we are off to Idaho for a wedding. the kids are SO excited for a road trip! Then we get ready for Trev's birthday. I can't believe he will be 8 in 3 weeks! Then it will be time for Kara's surgery... Which she is VERY excited for... You think it was her birthday or Christmas we were talking about! So basically what I am saying is that don't expect this TR to be done quickly... After all my PTR was a year in the making I promise it won't take that long though!

Jackie

 

[Lilfoot93]

My Dad was exploring GKTW while Scott took the kids to the pool and I was getting ready after my rest/nap... Sleep really never came. I was too excited about being here! I did get enough rest though to make it through the rest of the day. My Dad finally joined us in the pool too. We played in the splash park as well.

We then went to Katie's Kitchen and had lunch... Mmmm. Boston Market supplies the food to Katie's Kitchen. I was SO excited when I found this out as they left our area years ago and I LOVED their food when they were out here. I of course had to get their yummy mac n cheese. It tasted as good as I remembered it... The kids did not think the same as I did though We had BBQ chicken sandwiches and apples also.

After lunch we had ice cream... You will see a theme here... Ice cream is one of the food groups, right!?! We headed off to Mathew's Boundless Playground. This playground is HUGE!! We seen some more lizards and of course the kids tried to catch them. We played for about an hour then explored some more. We rode the carrousel then headed back to our villa. I told the kids they had to rest for 30 minutes then we could go back out and explore. (Remember these kids have slept no more than 2 hours since waking up the day before!) Of course they then had a MAJOR meltdown. It lasted about 10 minutes then they agreed they would lay in bed for 30 minutes then get up and play... Within 5 minutes the kids were asleep and so was Scott!





While the kids were sleeping my Dad and I went to Walmart to pick up some much needed water bottles and snacks for the park. We bought 4 cases of water!! I caved in and bought the squeezable applesauce. The kids have always wanted them but I could never justify the cost until now! We bought fruit and bread and pb for sandwiches. Once back at our villa we put our stuff away and everyone was still sound asleep so my Dad and I explored some more. We got ice cream again! When we got back I tried waking the kids and they were SO tired they would not wake up. FINALLY I had grandpa go in the room and wake them... Surprisingly they woke up for him.. that would be the theme of the week... Grandpa can get them to do anything!

Once they were awake we decided to do Trevor's star. The kids also got their magic pillow! It was amazing in their with all the stars of all the wish kids who have spent time at the village. Trev loved doing his star and all 3 loved getting their magic pillows. The girls still wonder how the pillows got in the tree After doing this the girls got their nails done. They were super excited! Then off to ride the carousel again! It had started to rain while we and since it was dinner time we decided to walk to the Gingerbread House. It started off light then it started pouring! Then came the thunder and lightning! I was not worried that it would not stop as everyone has warned us that it would last for about 30 minutes than be over. Boy were we in for a HUGE surprise for the rest of our trip! The kids LOVED dinner! Chicken nuggets, corn on the cob, tator tots, hot dogs, grilled cheese, chocolate milk, juice! What is a kid not to LOVE about this place!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Oh gosh I hope you'll be able to wait for the next surgery! I'll throw some your way! Thankfully, my sister is doing well, thank you for asking!

GKTW village is like a separate vacation in itself! Ah the ice cream parlor! We definitely made a lot of trips there!

It's so cute that they listened to grandpa!

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Checking in to see how everything went!

 

[mommy2mrb]

love seeing the cute photos from GKTW!

we had so much fun with you and the kids at the zoo and dinner on Tuesday!

hope you have a great time in Idaho!

 

[aym4Him]

I haven't been able to get on here in forever (I still need to do E's trip report and we went in NOVEMBER!)!!

I've missed all of you and it's going to take me sooooo long to catch up!

Your pix from GKTW brought happy tears to my eyes. My, how we miss that place.

I wanted to stop by and tell you that Ethan has fallen HEAD OVER HEELS with Star Wars!!!!!! I mean, crazy! He already has so many Star Wars facts, lines from the movies, etc in his little 4 year old brain that it's almost impossible for me to get him to stuff anything educational in there

I think if we could do it all over again, we would have waited one more year to do his trip and wished for Star Wars Weekends. While he did get to meet Darth Vader on his Wish Trip, he was still too nervous to fully enjoy it all.

I can not wait to hear more about Trevor's Wish trip!!!!!

We are thinking of going back this fall (maybe Nov again). It's just a matter of figuring out how to afford going, not renting a car and being able to get back to GKTW for a visit (b/c all he's talked about is "Dinosaur Miniature Golf" and ice cream and the Gingerbread House and meeting all the characters!! Ha!!!!