Angel's Make a Wish DREAM Cruise/extended days at wdw 4/13-25 PTR :)

[angel's momma]

I found the DIS when I was planning our very first wdw trip in 2004, and was amazed by the wealth of info here. I learned so much, and that info enabled us to experience so many special activities over the years, like waking up Tinkerbell, decorating the tree at the Christmas shop, finding the key under the mat at Muppets, etc. We would have never been able to afford all of our trips if I hadn't learned about value season, pin codes, free dining, etc.

I had some medical issues that got worse after our last trip in 2010, and sometime in 2011 I stopped reading the Theme Park forum daily, because I was sad that my health issues prevented us from planning a trip. I continued to read the Budget Board daily though. I continually learn things there, not just budget related.

So much has changed since our last trip, I feel like I'm planning for the very first time again.

It's hard knowing if it's the right decision to spend the money to add on the wdw days, because we haven't had the new house long enough to have a good idea of the utility bills, and we have no idea how long it will be before we can sell the old house. We've decided to use some savings, and hope that it's the right decision. We spent some time today looking over QS menus, deciding if it's worth it for us to buy the QS dining plan. We've been very spoiled because we've had free dining on every trip except the first one, and that one we had the vouchers that were similar to the QS dining, and were even good at Beaches & Cream (yum!) at the time. We loved the free TS dining, but also very much enjoyed the free QS dining. We decided today that we're better off just paying OOP, and even if we do end up spending as much as it would cost us for the QS dining plan, we'd be selecting snacks that we like better than the typical dessert you can get with a meal on the plan.

Last night I drank a Vanilla Coke around 8pm, and I should have known better. I don't drink coffee, and rarely have soda, and the caffeine kept me up for hours. I used some of that time to try to get up to date on a couple of wdw activities Angel has done on all of our trips - character "hunting" and pressed pennies. They've added a lot of new penny designs. It's fun to collect them, but I'm always glad once the added weight of the quarters is gone from my bag.

Right now there are 10 potential characters for Angel to add to her book. She currently has met 167 different characters on our trips.

She's excited about the Agent P missions at Epcot - she really enjoyed the Kim Possible ones, and we did all of those missions.

We always stay at POP, and we were happy to learn that you can walk over to AoA. We enjoy seeing the resorts (and getting the pennies ), but taking a bus to a park to transfer buses to go to another resort can be time consuming. Our first trip we went & explored every resort, and we had a lot of because we barely waited for any of the buses we needed that day, and often were the only people on the bus. It was value season, and the middle of the day, but it was still amazing.

We're finding ourselves getting excited, and right now we have to be careful about that until we actually get cruise dates, approval to add on the days, and then book the discounted package that is currently being offered. There's still a lot that may not work out, and if that happens, the more excited we've become, the more disappointing it will be.

I'm trying to sort through all the various notes I copied & pasted from the Cruise forum. At the time, I really didn't expect that Angel's wish would be granted this year, or I would have tried to keep the info more organized.

I emailed the wish coordinator a list of questions, so for now we'll keep gathering info on the DIS, and wait to see what dates MAW approves.

 

[angel's momma]

It is just so hard to keep being disappointed.

Angel has been studying over the weekend to take her driving permit test. With her platelets at only 67000, we weren't planning to have her drive anytime soon, but she's supposed to take the test anyway. When she read that the permit is only good for 2 years, I realized we shouldn't pay for the permit until we knew if the Dr. had a cut off for what her platelets should be, because she has to log in 100 hours of driving with the permit.

Last night I had an awful realization – she may not be cleared to ride roller coasters either. I called clinic today, and the nurse said she’d talk to the Dr., but she thought the platelets would need to be 75,000, & was confident Angel could get there in a few months, until I pointed out Angel has hovered where she’s at for months, and we've been told Angel may never get any higher on platelets. The nurse called back, and driving is not a problem, but they don't want her on roller coasters until platelets are 100,000. The nurse thought we should just book & hope for the best, but we can't do that - the trip wouldn't be the same if she couldn't ride the roller coasters.

Not sure what to do now, and it's heartbreaking to see Angel so sad.

 

[OhanaDreams]

It is just so hard to keep being disappointed.

Last night I had an awful realization – she may not be cleared to ride roller coasters either. I called clinic today, and the nurse said she’d talk to the Dr., but she thought the platelets would need to be 75,000, & was confident Angel could get there in a few months, until I pointed out Angel has hovered where she’s at for months, and we've been told Angel may never get any higher on platelets. The nurse called back, and driving is not a problem, but they don't want her on roller coasters until platelets are 100,000. The nurse thought we should just book & hope for the best, but we can't do that - the trip wouldn't be the same if she couldn't ride the roller coasters.

Not sure what to do now, and it's heartbreaking to see Angel so sad.

Sending lots of good vibes to you. I totally understand about the restrictions. There are many rides Buglet can't go on either. Hopefully you can find something to take the place of those thrill rides.

 

[angel's momma]

Thanks Amy Sorry Buglet has restrictions that prevent him from doing many of the rides.

The wish coordinator answered my questions. We are allowed to add on as many wdw days as we'd like.

They'll try to have us fly out of one of the 2 airports an hour away, but most likely it will cost too much & we'll have to use one 3 hours away. I haven't said much about my own health issues, but I have pain issues, and difficulties with long car rides. I've been apprehensive about how I'll handle the wish trip at all, particularly the flight, and having the airport be 4 hours north of the one we've used in the past will mean a longer flight time also. The brochure we received says limo transportation to & from the airport, but the email said they will pay our gas & lodging if we have to drive the 3 hours, so it's sounding like we won't be having a limo after all. Neither DH nor I are comfortable driving in large cities, and have no experience driving where that airport is located.

We won't be able to fly down the night before & stay at the Hyatt. That means we'll be boarding the ship much later than we expected.

Angel can't request a verandah.

I'm sorry for all of the complaining, but the DIS is the only place I have that I can vent & someone will understand what I'm even talking about.

 

[NEmel]

Christi I am sorry you have gotten some unsetting news. Hoping everything turns around and will work out perfect!

 

[angel's momma]

Thanks Melissa


After much discussion, we've decided to go ahead with our plans, and see if our April dates are even approved. If so, we'll go. If not, we have to decide how to proceed.

It was sweet how Angel chose the April Cruise dates she preferred, because it includes my birthday and our wedding anniversary.

Angel woke up yesterday with a stomach ache, but felt fine besides that, and no fever. By dinner time, she was feeling nauseous, and didn't want to eat (which is always unusual for her). We convinced her that she might feel better if she ate, but eating made it worse. She's been nauseous since then, but at least she hasn't thrown up. Last night I gave her the option of just staying home from school, so she wouldn't have to wake up with the alarm, but she didn't want to do that. Today she still felt nauseous when she woke up, but her temperature was still normal, so she decided to eat some crackers to see if that would help so she could eat breakfast & go to school, but even the crackers made her feel worse, so she went back to bed. She's still nauseous, but hopeful that she'll be feeling better & able to go to school tomorrow because she's worried about making up the assignments.

 

[angel's momma]

Feeling like nothing is going right concerning the trip. I sent for my birth certificate mid-December, and it said 4 weeks, so I was hoping it would be arriving this week so we can get our passports taken care of. Today I get a postcard saying that it will be 7 weeks, and it's dated 1/18. Not sure why the discrepancy, but this could prevent us from going.

Angel still isn't feeling any better.

 

[Lilfoot93]

Praying Angel feels better soon!

Sorry to hear all the trouble you are having trying to get this cruise going. Hopefully the birth certificate gets here quickly and you can get passports in time for an April cruise. How sweet of her to think of going on your birthday and anniversary!

Jackie

 

[NEmel]

Feeling like nothing is going right concerning the trip. I sent for my birth certificate mid-December, and it said 4 weeks, so I was hoping it would be arriving this week so we can get our passports taken care of. Today I get a postcard saying that it will be 7 weeks, and it's dated 1/18. Not sure why the discrepancy, but this could prevent us from going.

Angel still isn't feeling any better.

Sorry Angel isnt feeling good. I hope she gets better soon. Just remember they always say it will take longer then it usually does. I think that is how the government works, lets hope! Once you get the bc the passports wont take but a coupke of weeks. Heres to good thoughts and healing!

 

[angel's momma]

Thanks Jackie & Melissa

I called today to see if I could get more info, because it shouldn't have taken them a month to start processing it, but that's what the postcard sounded like. Worst phone menu I've ever had to use, but I'm sure there are some even worse. Instead of being "if you want a, press 1, b, press 2" It was "if you want a,b,c,or d, press 1", then you had to listen to all of the instructions for a, then had to press 1 again, hear b, etc, and of course my option was d. All of that, then told to press again to talk to a rep. Then it said they couldn't take my call & try again later. Later I actually got through. Rep confirmed it's in process, and estimated 10 business days before it would be mailed. That's a lot better than 7 weeks. I just hope the rep is right.

Angel's not feeling better, but at least she isn't feeling worse either. School thinks she should have all her make up work done when she returns - if she felt well enough to do the work, she'd be in school.

We spent quite a bit of time today snuggled on the couch looking at the Dream menus & pictures of the food. She's always liked a wide variety of foods that most kids don't eat. She's very excited about the food on the cruise. Unfortunately, I'm the picker eater.

I also discovered that Pop has added a King cupcake that has candied bacon on it - my bacon crazy girl can't wait to try it.

 

[angel's momma]

Angel still wasn't feeling any better, so she stayed home again. The good news is that she started to feel better this afternoon, and was even able to get quite a bit of her school work done.

Had a lot to deal with today concerning the passports for Make A Wish, and insurance, but too tired tonight to post. The good news is that the part with Make A Wish did work out.

 

[angel's momma]

Angel's so excited about the food on the cruise, she was showing DH all the pictures tonight that she & I looked at yesterday.

 

[angel's momma]

Angel's finally over whatever she had.

Not sure what we would have done if she wasn't, because it was important that she be able to go into town yesterday. Friday we received an Express envelope from UPS from Make A Wish marked Extremely Urgent. It was a letter from the wish coordinator (I wish she had called or emailed me, because it would have given me an extra day to arrange things). It said we needed to apply for the passports before she could do anything further on the trip preparation. I had been wondering about that, because Melissa had gotten the boys' passports before their chapter could submit dates. I also know a FL family that has already gotten their dates for early June, and their chapter says they don't need passports at all (We had already decided that we would get the passports even if MAW didn't require them, because we know how suddenly Angel's condition could change). Since our wish granter had told me in Dec. that the wish coordinator would be sending us a check to help pay for the passports, and the wish coordinator had told DH, and emailed me, that she was submitting the dates, I assumed everything was ok. I didn't know what to do since we don't have my birth certificate. DH called her & explained, and asked if it would be ok if just he & Angel applied for their passports for now, and she said that would be fine. She also said that she did already submit the dates (yay), but she can't do anything further until we send her the receipt from applying for the passports. Our local post office is too small to do passports, so we needed to go to town for it. The weekday hours aren't long enough for us to get there after school & work, so it needed to be done Saturday. I filled out the applications, made all the copies, etc. Friday afternoon, and found a discrepancy online concerning the Post Office info, so I called. Good thing I did, because I hadn't read anywhere that it was by appointment only. They had an opening, so DH & Angel have that taken care of.

We also received a bill from the anesthesiologist for her line removal. Our insurance has already paid it, so it probably just crossed in the mail. The problem is that the bill also listed an unpaid amount from the line INSERTION that was done last Feb. We did get bills from them last year, once a month from Feb.-June, that I thought were strange, because they all said payment due 0.00. Now I need to figure out if this bill occurred before or after Angel's deductible was met last year.

We've been working on ideas for FE gifts since we first read about them here a few months ago. First one we really liked (a beaded Mickey Head ornament), but we couldn't find the right beads. Decided on something else, and had been having some problems figuring out just how to make it work right. Think we may have figured it out, but won't know for sure until we actually see the pieces, so we went ahead and ordered everything today. Hopefully it does work. I posted on the 4/14 Dream thread that we were hoping to be on that cruise, so some very nice ladies from that thread have visited our thread, so I can't say what we are trying to make.

 

[blessedmom4]

Chrisit..I read your posts and just want to hug you!

Honestly, you and I have the same type of minutia...and yet we still hold our heads up, smile and keep on planning! I KNOW things will work out and this WILL be a fabulous cruise, in spite of all of the hiccups. How fun to do the fish extenders, I had never heard about it until a cruise wish trip last year...sounds FUN!

And SO happy Angel is feeling better!!!!

 

[angel's momma]

Thank you Judy. One thing I've learned this past year, is how much I appreciate virtual hugs. Long story short (well, at least shorter ), while trying to find some answers online for Angel about Webkinz, of all things, I started posting on a forum, and when Angel was diagnosed 9 months later, they were there for us immediately, and have never waivered, though most RL people lost interest & contact as soon as Angel was released from her initial hospital stay. Whenever things are hard, I know I can find that a "hug" has been left for me on that forum. Now I find them here on the DIS too.

Since I've started reading caringbridge & FB pages of the kids we've met at clinic, and kids we've found with aplastic anemia, and now the PTR/TRs from the Wish Trippers, I've noticed that an over abundance of minutia is unfortunately something that most of them have in common.

I simply don't know how you do everything you do - it doesn't seem like there's enough hours in a day.

 

[disbridebailey]

Beautiful story!!!

 

[angel's momma]

Thank you disbridebailey Peoria is where Angel receives her care. Welcome to the DIS

 

[angel's momma]

I've been trying to figure out what's new at wdw since our last trip, so I posted the list of what I knew was new on the Theme Park forum, and asked if I was missing anything. A very kind person not only told me about the Sorcerers of Magic Kingdom , they even sent Angel some of the cards.

I emailed the wish coordinator again to get some details concerning the flight options. If they have us fly out of Chicago, we have to drive the 3 hours there, and the limo is from that hotel to the airport. If it comes to that, I'll need to contact her again, because what do we do with our car? Hopefully it doesn't come to that, because she said she would look into the possibility of letting us fly down the day before. She didn't say she'd check on the Hyatt, which we are still hopeful for, but did say that we wouldn't fly out of Chicago if we did go the day before. I told her we'd be immensely grateful if we could fly down the day before, and if we could avoid flying out of Chicago.

 

[Lilfoot93]

That was very sweet of them to send her cards. I hope you guys are able to fly out the night before. Does the hotel have free parking for when you are gone since it is near the hotel?

Jackie

 

[angel's momma]

Thanks Jackie I don't have any details about the Chicago hotel, but I wouldn't think they would want us to park the car there for 12 days when we would only be staying there for one night, and I wouldn't feel comfortable just leaving our car there.



We decided to go ahead & book our reservation at Pop because the current discount has limited availability. The cruise dates we are hoping for are April 14-18, and we booked Pop 4/18-25 with 4 day tickets. The 2 extra days give us some down time, and a chance to go to DTD, AoA, and collect any non-park pressed pennies that have been added.

Still praying that we're making the right decision. The money is currently there, but as a safety net, and I would feel better if I knew what our costs are going to be this year for the taxes, utilities, etc. on the new house - the last electric bill was significantly higher than we anticipated. The plan is to try to make the payments on the trip without touching that money at all, and to repay it as quickly as possible if we do need to dip into it. Trying hard to not have anxiety over it.