DisMomAmy
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2007
Welcome to my latest Trip Report! We just returned from 10 wonderful Disney days from 4/19-4/29. We love spending spring break at Disney and this year didnt disappoint! We were celebrating DS11s (Alexs) upcoming elementary school graduation and also his return from a week at environmental camp with his 5th grade class. It was an amazing experience for him & definitely a reason to celebrate! Also, DS8 (Zach) earned his green belt in karate the afternoon before we left for our trip so I added on that celebration so he wouldnt be left out.
Who are we?
Im Amy, SAH Spectrum Mom to two wonderful boys who happen to be on the autism spectrum. Im also a part-time bookkeeper, working mostly at home. Ive spent the past six years running our school PTO and will be stepping down in June to focus more time on my boys. Alex will be transitioning to middle school this summer. Its going to be a big change moving from our little elementary school to a large middle school with kids from several other towns.
DH is Tim, a workaholic software engineer. He doesnt love Disney like the rest of us, but he gets more and more excited prior to each trip! It was his idea to keep this trip a secret from the boys until the morning we left.
DS11 is Alex! Or Alexander as he always used to make us call him! Alex is in 5th grade for about six more weeks! This summer hell attend a summer program at his middle school to help him with the transition to the big school. Alex is a wonderful kid and has come SO FAR since he was diagnosed with autism (PDD-NOS) at 26 months. He does an amazing job articulating his needs and telling us when hes had enough of something. Considering he didnt talk until he was four and used to bite people and bang his head on the floor, this is an AMAZING thing! Alex has a unique sense of humor and has been trying to figure out the social rules of when it is and isnt OK to share it with people! Alex plays trumpet and swims on the swim team. He also loves soccer & basketball. In his spare time at home, he likes making spreadsheets about anything imaginable!
DS8 is Zach! Zach is our sensitive guy. He is an artist and loves to share his creativity. He is in second grade and will be free to roam the school next year without his brother lurking around the corner! Even though our boys are very different than one another, Zach is also on the autism spectrum. Zach was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome at the end of kindergarten, about two years ago. Zach is a very emotional kid, but hes also very sensitive to other people and their feelings. Not exactly what most people think of when they hear autism. Zachs major challenges are reading social cues and emotional regulation. He also has a lot of sensory issues hes very sensitive to bright lights/sun, heat, loud noises, etc. Just in the last year, he has come so far and has been doing a great job dealing with his challenges. Zachs favorite things are baseball, karate & Legos! He loves sports and in addition to baseball and karate, he played soccer & basketball this past year.
This was our 7th trip to Disney in the past six years. Our first with the kids was just a few days in 2006 with DBIL, his family & DMIL. We stayed offsite at an awful hotel that we exchanged through our timeshare without much research. We (I) knew we had to go back for a real Disney vacation which we did in 2007. In 2007 we stayed off-site at Marriott Grande Vista and had a great trip. DBIL & family and DMIL joined us for part of the trip. We got to experience our first (and only) MNSSHP that year. Our next family trip didnt happen until 2009 when we stayed on-site for the first time at Caribbean Beach Resort. I loved staying on-site but CBR was too small for us. In 2010 we stayed at Sheraton Vistana Resort and had another great trip. 2011 was a repeat at Sheraton Vistana Resort but something was off that trip we needed a re-do! So in November 2011, to celebrate our 15th anniversary, we took the kids to help us celebrate & we stayed at BWV in a 1BR for five nights! It was an amazing trip & I was afraid wed raised the bar too high!
This trip started as most of our trips do, with a few nights visiting DBIL in the Tampa area, followed by a week off-site through our timeshare. We booked Sheraton Vistana Villages. Then, after our November trip, decided to skip the visit & booked three nights at the Hard Rock Hotel to do Universal Studios! Then we worried Zach might not be tall enough so we decided to postpone Universal & stay on-site at Disney. The Beach Club had long been my dream resort so when the spring discounts came out we booked a room at BC, to which I later added Club Level! I was so excited and we made many plans around staying in the Epcot area again. Then that dreaded day in March came SAB was going to be partially closed! We went back and forth but ultimately decided to change resorts. There were pros & cons to every resort we considered if we couldnt stay in the Epcot area, we wanted club level at a resort on the monorail loop that wasnt going to happen. One day it finally came to me Animal Kingdom Lodge! Id stayed there in January 2011 with the Spectrum Moms (see TR in signature) and knew the boys would love it! We couldnt get club level so I booked us at Kidani in a 1BR. Finally I could sleep again At least for a few weeks Just days before we were going to leave for vacation, I read that the SAB pool work was going to be done early and the pool would be fully open during our vacation. After going back and forth on what to do and getting confirmation that the pool was in fact open, I was thrilled to be able to switch our reservation back to the BC. Our Garden View CL room wasnt available so we went with Lagoon View CL! Everything felt right with the world again!
Thanks for reading along!! Up next: Arrival Day!
Who are we?
Im Amy, SAH Spectrum Mom to two wonderful boys who happen to be on the autism spectrum. Im also a part-time bookkeeper, working mostly at home. Ive spent the past six years running our school PTO and will be stepping down in June to focus more time on my boys. Alex will be transitioning to middle school this summer. Its going to be a big change moving from our little elementary school to a large middle school with kids from several other towns.
DH is Tim, a workaholic software engineer. He doesnt love Disney like the rest of us, but he gets more and more excited prior to each trip! It was his idea to keep this trip a secret from the boys until the morning we left.
DS11 is Alex! Or Alexander as he always used to make us call him! Alex is in 5th grade for about six more weeks! This summer hell attend a summer program at his middle school to help him with the transition to the big school. Alex is a wonderful kid and has come SO FAR since he was diagnosed with autism (PDD-NOS) at 26 months. He does an amazing job articulating his needs and telling us when hes had enough of something. Considering he didnt talk until he was four and used to bite people and bang his head on the floor, this is an AMAZING thing! Alex has a unique sense of humor and has been trying to figure out the social rules of when it is and isnt OK to share it with people! Alex plays trumpet and swims on the swim team. He also loves soccer & basketball. In his spare time at home, he likes making spreadsheets about anything imaginable!
DS8 is Zach! Zach is our sensitive guy. He is an artist and loves to share his creativity. He is in second grade and will be free to roam the school next year without his brother lurking around the corner! Even though our boys are very different than one another, Zach is also on the autism spectrum. Zach was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome at the end of kindergarten, about two years ago. Zach is a very emotional kid, but hes also very sensitive to other people and their feelings. Not exactly what most people think of when they hear autism. Zachs major challenges are reading social cues and emotional regulation. He also has a lot of sensory issues hes very sensitive to bright lights/sun, heat, loud noises, etc. Just in the last year, he has come so far and has been doing a great job dealing with his challenges. Zachs favorite things are baseball, karate & Legos! He loves sports and in addition to baseball and karate, he played soccer & basketball this past year.
This was our 7th trip to Disney in the past six years. Our first with the kids was just a few days in 2006 with DBIL, his family & DMIL. We stayed offsite at an awful hotel that we exchanged through our timeshare without much research. We (I) knew we had to go back for a real Disney vacation which we did in 2007. In 2007 we stayed off-site at Marriott Grande Vista and had a great trip. DBIL & family and DMIL joined us for part of the trip. We got to experience our first (and only) MNSSHP that year. Our next family trip didnt happen until 2009 when we stayed on-site for the first time at Caribbean Beach Resort. I loved staying on-site but CBR was too small for us. In 2010 we stayed at Sheraton Vistana Resort and had another great trip. 2011 was a repeat at Sheraton Vistana Resort but something was off that trip we needed a re-do! So in November 2011, to celebrate our 15th anniversary, we took the kids to help us celebrate & we stayed at BWV in a 1BR for five nights! It was an amazing trip & I was afraid wed raised the bar too high!
This trip started as most of our trips do, with a few nights visiting DBIL in the Tampa area, followed by a week off-site through our timeshare. We booked Sheraton Vistana Villages. Then, after our November trip, decided to skip the visit & booked three nights at the Hard Rock Hotel to do Universal Studios! Then we worried Zach might not be tall enough so we decided to postpone Universal & stay on-site at Disney. The Beach Club had long been my dream resort so when the spring discounts came out we booked a room at BC, to which I later added Club Level! I was so excited and we made many plans around staying in the Epcot area again. Then that dreaded day in March came SAB was going to be partially closed! We went back and forth but ultimately decided to change resorts. There were pros & cons to every resort we considered if we couldnt stay in the Epcot area, we wanted club level at a resort on the monorail loop that wasnt going to happen. One day it finally came to me Animal Kingdom Lodge! Id stayed there in January 2011 with the Spectrum Moms (see TR in signature) and knew the boys would love it! We couldnt get club level so I booked us at Kidani in a 1BR. Finally I could sleep again At least for a few weeks Just days before we were going to leave for vacation, I read that the SAB pool work was going to be done early and the pool would be fully open during our vacation. After going back and forth on what to do and getting confirmation that the pool was in fact open, I was thrilled to be able to switch our reservation back to the BC. Our Garden View CL room wasnt available so we went with Lagoon View CL! Everything felt right with the world again!
Thanks for reading along!! Up next: Arrival Day!
you started, great start, can't wait to read all about it
Alex always has trouble with a natural looking smile! But you're right - he looks like he's afraid the car is going to speed away!
