Tyler's Wish Trip - Nov. 20-25, 2009 / Dream Factory

[kdzbear]

I met Tyler and company last night. They were at MK for EMH and I had them on my bus going back to the resort.

I'm sorry to say that they did have some issues with drivers (not me, I know and honor the stroller as a wheelchair tag) and the stroller. However I believe that things are better now. They are staying at All Star Music and are having a great time.

I spoke up when I saw the lime green mickey heads on the stroller. We chatted for about 10 minutes. They are great people . Unfortunately, I did not have any bus cards left or I would have given some to them, hopefully they will PM me so I can send some to them.

We enjoyed meeting you and chatting with you briefly!

Hope you're having a wonderful time!!!! Can't wait to hear all about it when you get home!!!

Our trip was the most magical trip ever imaginable!

So cool that you would take the time to update us, thank you! It's the people like you that truly care that we can't wait to meet when it's our turn!



Hoping you all are having a wonderful time and that Tyler is loving every minute of the trip!!

Wow! How neat that you got to meet Tyler and his family while you were driving the bus! I thought they were staying at All Star Sports though? Good to hear that they are having a great time! Thanks for posting!

That is so sweet of you to stop by and update us on Tyler and his family! Thank you!

We did stay at All Star Sports. He was just a little confused as it was late at night and the buses run from the Magic Kingdom to All Star Sports and then on to Music and Movies. That night we were at the Magic Kingdom until 3:30 am! The kids did take a 3 hour nap that day from 4-7 pm and we were going to take them back to the resort if they were tired, but they were not. This magic occurs at the Magic Kingdom from about 2:45 am to 3:10 am on extra magic hours for resort guests:

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

 

[maroo]

You just made my day!!!!!!

And the day of everyone around me! This is FANTASTIC!

What a magical moment!!

 

[Momofwishkid]

Wow, what great pics. Definite magic happening!

 

[pipersmom]

How cool was that? It's sounding like you had a wonderful trip, can't wait to read more once you're rested up from the vaca and holiday right on top of each other!!

 

[p00h4me]

Welcome back! Wow! Sounds like the whole family had a wonderful time and that Tyler got to have some special moments for his wish trip. Can't wait for more details on your trip! Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[kdzbear]

New update: Instead of packing I am now dealing with my son's well being! He arrived home at 1:10 pm and school let out at 11:50 am. The bus company told me he was in the school and he was not. He was strapped to his bus seat on the bus for an hour and 20 minutes while they waited on a new bus. I have been on the phone with the principal on and off all afternoon. The teachers are claiming they had no idea that the kids were on the bus that long and the bus company is saying that the teachers would not let the kids back in the school. I guarantee that when this is over, it will never happen again. Airlines can't keep you on a plane that long. Imagine a 4 year old that can't communicate and there were 5 of them on the bus. Then they told me that they did not call since they thought all of the kids on the bus went to daycare. Tyler has never gone to daycare. Now I am waiting for the principal to interview the bus driver and get back to me. She assures me that this will never happen again. I am just so mad right now. They are supposed to take care of my little guy when he is at school!

Quick update from a few things that happened before the trip. The vice-principal called me back and apologized up and down. There are now many new procedures in place to make sure it never happends again. First, the aide that takes the kids to the bus must stay until the bus pulls away. If she needs to leave to check on something else, she must return within five minutes to make sure the bus has left. Every parent / caregiver will be notified for any and every delay with the buses now! So, there are a lot of positive changes that came out of this issue! At least it won't happen to another child again!

Then the Dream Factory never returned my calls or emails prior to our trip. However, I am resourceful and between my husband and myself we were able to get a GAC and a few days later a green stop light stamp. Tyler's trip was the most magical trip ever! I hope to do a brief start to it this evening! Thank you all for waiting for an update until after Thanksgiving!

 

[kdzbear]

I forgot to add that I took over 1,500 pictures in 6 days! I did not realize I had taken so many. I also have 434 on my photopass CD prior to editing! I hope that you all like lots of photos!

 

[StefaniLyn]

We enjoyed meeting you and chatting with you briefly!



Our trip was the most magical trip ever imaginable!







We did stay at All Star Sports. He was just a little confused as it was late at night and the buses run from the Magic Kingdom to All Star Sports and then on to Music and Movies. That night we were at the Magic Kingdom until 3:30 am! The kids did take a 3 hour nap that day from 4-7 pm and we were going to take them back to the resort if they were tired, but they were not. This magic occurs at the Magic Kingdom from about 2:45 am to 3:10 am on extra magic hours for resort guests:

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

The pictures are wondeful! and 3:30 AM!!!!!! wow! I am impressed! I didn't even know MK was open that long!

Quick update from a few things that happened before the trip. The vice-principal called me back and apologized up and down. There are now many new procedures in place to make sure it never happends again. First, the aide that takes the kids to the bus must stay until the bus pulls away. If she needs to leave to check on something else, she must return within five minutes to make sure the bus has left. Every parent / caregiver will be notified for any and every delay with the buses now! So, there are a lot of positive changes that came out of this issue! At least it won't happen to another child again!

Then the Dream Factory never returned my calls or emails prior to our trip. However, I am resourceful and between my husband and myself we were able to get a GAC and a few days later a green stop light stamp. Tyler's trip was the most magical trip ever! I hope to do a brief start to it this evening! Thank you all for waiting for an update until after Thanksgiving!

I am so glad the school seems to be taking this situation seriously and handling it by implementing new procedures. I hope it never happens again!

It is unfortunatel that DF never returned your requests for information. It saddens me that you had extra hoops to jump through. But I am happy to hear you had a magical trip because of your perserverence!

I forgot to add that I took over 1,500 pictures in 6 days! I did not realize I had taken so many. I also have 434 on my photopass CD prior to editing! I hope that you all like lots of photos!

You sound just like me!!!! I can't wait to see the pictures!

 

[inkedupmomma]

what awesome pics! glad you guys had a blast! Happy thanksgiving!

 

[kdzbear]

Welcome to the start of Tyler’s Wish / Dream Trip! My husband and I woke up at 3:30 am. Our goal was to be out of the house by 4 am. The kids slept in their travel clothes so we just needed to change diapers and put on shoes in the morning. We actually made it out the door at 4 am. We drove the 20 minutes to the airport and my husband dropped me, the 7 carry-on bags, the 1 checked bag, the double stroller and the three kids at the door to the airport. I had already done online check-in. I walked up to check our bag and could not get assistance. The one employee was only assisting those using the self-check in kiosks. I finally said something and he came to help us. I then told him that we were all in different rows and he told me that it would have to be fixed at the gate as they reserved rows for this type of situation and he could not unlock them from the baggage area. So then we checked the bag and headed to the area before security to wait for my husband. We were through security in less than 10 minutes. They had a family lane open that had no line compared to the regular traveler’s line that was a good 30 people deep. Then we waited at our gate until it was time to board.

The same employee that helped me downstairs was the one manning the gate upstairs and was able to seat us all together.

We switched planes in Atlanta with enough time to use the restroom, but not enough time to grab something to eat. So once we landed in Orlando we grabbed some McDonalds to eat in line while waiting for the Magic Express to take us to our hotel. We had just enough time to finish our meal. Hayley ate hers on the ME once she woke up!

Tyler was so excited on the bus once the video started and he saw Stitch and friends riding the bus and checking in at the resort. The video shows you what to expect when you arrive at the resort. I had done the online check-in and our room was ready. I was a little disappointed that we were in the tennis building. However, a wonderful Disboards member had a surprise waiting for us at check-in. It was in my welcome packet. The cast member just said that the envelope was for me and she did not know what was in it!

Then we made our way to our room. I took the long way to the room. I am not good with maps. We found a short cut later and the walk was not bad at all. There was a tennis court outside our area with Donald Duck playing tennis while Huey, Dewey and Louie played baseball on the tennis court. The icons were cute and their pictures come later in the report!

Then when we had stayed at Sports a few years ago, we had had some maintenance problems such as electrical plug connections not being covered and crumbs from the previous guest being on the floor still. I had an outstanding order for VIP housekeeping, but I did not know what that meant. It was awesome! We had a fridge in our room and lots of towel artwork!

We briefly settled into our room and changed diapers again. We put the Christmas skirts and shorts on the kids and left their Wish shirts on. I think that Maroo has ESP as the shirts matched the Christmas bottoms. I packed their Christmas shirts in the bag and then headed for Epcot as it was already 2 pm and we had dinner reservations at 4:10 pm.

As soon as we arrived Breanna wanted to ride Spaceship Earth so we did. Tyler and I rode together.

Then we spent some time exploring the games and displays after the ride. They were a lot of fun! We still had some time to kill before dinner so we walked over to the Visa meet and greet. We were the third family in line. This is where we met Timothy. He is a character handler. We had our photos taken with Minnie, Mickey and Goofy. They let the kids take as much time as they wanted with the characters and then we were given a voucher to select a free 5x7 later at the photo center at the front of the park. It turns out you can choose the photo on any day during your stay. We did it later in the week as the line was long.

 

[StefaniLyn]

What a wonderful start to your Trip report. I'm so glad you were able to get seats all together. I was very worried about that. And how wonderful that you get VIP Mousekeeping! The towel art is amazing! Love it. I can't wait to read more!

 

[kdzbear]

Then we headed to dinner. Tyler was about to jump out of his clothes as soon as he saw Chip and Dale! Mickey was the first character to visit our table at the Garden Grill.

Next up was Pluto.

The food here was really delicious. We had never tried this restaurant before. You do not realize you are moving until the scenery behind you changes. The food is served family style, but it is all you can eat. We did not have the fish on our plate. The turkey with cranberry orange relish was amazing. My husband enjoyed the beef and tried some of the turkey. The kids had chicken nuggets and mac and cheese.

Then Dale came and he was up to his usual antics. He would not use our princess pen to sign autograph pages and found a red crayon to match his nose to sign with.

Then Pluto came back for another visit.

Then Mickey came by again.

Finally, Chip made it to our table. The character interaction was amazing and they really took their time with our kids and played with them!

Then it was time for dessert. Tyler did not know what to think of the worms and dirt. However, Breanna and Hayley dug right in. The dessert for the adults was a blueberry cobbler with fresh whipped cream and it was decadent. I ate way more than I should have of the dessert!

Then we headed to the bathrooms to change diapers again and to change the kids into their Christmas shirts. Well halfway through the meal Hayley wouldn’t sit in her high chair. She stood next to it and danced around. She had blown out her diaper and it leaked on to her skirt. So, I washed the skirt the best I could in the bathroom, but then it was too wet to put back on her. So we aired it out on the way to the Christmas party. It was dry by the time we arrived.

We took the monorail from Epcot to the Ticket and Transportation Center. It was extra special since the first monorail that we rode on this trip was the teal monorail!

I then took a picture of Aaron and Bre sitting under the pink stripe since I assumed that it was striped pink since this car was part of the former pink monorail and that the stripe on the purple part would be purple.

We later found out that all of the insides are striped pink. It was a good thought for that night!

When we arrived at the Ticket and Transportation center the line to catch a monorail to the Magic Kingdom was down the ramp and around the corner so we decided to take a ferry. It arrived after a two minute wait, it was not crowded and we were at the Magic Kingdom a few minutes later. It was the first time most of my family had ridden the ferry. It had a gorgeous view of the castle all lit up. We arrived at the Magic Kingdom at about 6:30 pm.

Those are my two installments for this evening. Next up is Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party!

 

[kdzbear]

The pictures are wondeful! and 3:30 AM!!!!!! wow! I am impressed! I didn't even know MK was open that long!

They changed the hours the week before we went. Since we were staying on Disney property we had the perks of extra magic hours (EMH). The park closed for guests at Midnight and then if you were a resort guest you could stay until 3 am. That day was the day the crowds flooded the parks and it was so nice to have three peaceful hours without fighting the crowds!

I am so glad the school seems to be taking this situation seriously and handling it by implementing new procedures. I hope it never happens again!

Yes, I am very satisfied with the outcome!

It is unfortunatel that DF never returned your requests for information. It saddens me that you had extra hoops to jump through. But I am happy to hear you had a magical trip because of your perserverence!


You sound just like me!!!! I can't wait to see the pictures!

I did take lots of pictures. I took the most with characters since you never know what will turn out with three kids that are constantly moving. I just kept clicking and some amazing shots came out!

what awesome pics! glad you guys had a blast! Happy thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our extended family here at home. I am so glad we were home for the holiday!

What a wonderful start to your Trip report. I'm so glad you were able to get seats all together. I was very worried about that. And how wonderful that you get VIP Mousekeeping! The towel art is amazing! Love it. I can't wait to read more!

I knew that the airline would put us together, but I was a little nervous about it. I guess they have blocks of seats reserved to put families back together in case they are separated. It all worked out! The towel art gets even better as the week continues!

 

[maroo]

Great updates!!!

I am glad you liked the shirts...I had NO idea about those skirts.

Your meal looks great and seems like you guys got a LOT of character interaction already!

Can't wait for more!!!

Do you have pictures of the castle all lit up??

 

[p00h4me]

Great start on your trip report! Oh, great towel creations from Mousekeeping for your room! Love all the pictures with the characters at the Garden Grill with the family especially the ones you captured of Tyler and his big smile. Can't wait to see how you all enjoyed the MVMCP!

 

[kdzbear]

Great updates!!!

I am glad you liked the shirts...I had NO idea about those skirts.

Your meal looks great and seems like you guys got a LOT of character interaction already!

Can't wait for more!!!

Do you have pictures of the castle all lit up??

The shirts matched perfectly. I wanted them to be able to wear their Wish shirts and their Christmas bottoms so it worked perfectly! Thank you! I have a few pictures of the castle lit up!

Great start on your trip report! Oh, great towel creations from Mousekeeping for your room! Love all the pictures with the characters at the Garden Grill with the family especially the ones you captured of Tyler and his big smile. Can't wait to see how you all enjoyed the MVMCP!

Tyler's smile is too cute when I can capture it! The MVMCP was unbelievable! The next nine posts will tell the story of the MVMCP since I can only add 25 pictures to a post according to Disboards rules!

 

[kdzbear]

I will try to finish up Day One. Main Street was packed with people! There was one lane of people trying to get in and another trying to get out.

We headed to Toon Town.

We entered and showed the cast member Tyler’s GAC (Guest Assistance Card) so we could see the princesses. She told us to wait in the princess line and then she would take us to the fairies when we were done. We only waited about five minutes to see the princesses.

Then we were able to get in to see the fairies despite the long line. I assumed that only Tinkerbell would be in the room, but it was Tinkerbell, Irridessa and Terrance. Hayley decided that tonight she would crawl out of every picture so Tink and Terrance decided to have a race with her on the floor. Hayley won the race. The time they spent with her was so amazing and they played at her level!

 

[kdzbear]

After meeting princesses and fairies we took Tyler to the Tomorrowland Christmas show. Just FYI for other Wish families: This show is at an outdoor theater and seating is first come first serve. You sit on the ground and there is no handicapped seating. I thought the show was so cute! The lead character in the play’s name was Hayley. I am not sure if that was her show name or her real name. Her dad was standing next to us to watch the show. He told us he had watched it five times the night before. He explained that she was 23 and had graduated from college. Then she came to Disney to try out for the show and she won the lead part. He said that the best part about it was that she had a paying job! She had a great voice and did a wonderful job performing in the show. I think I liked watching her sing and dance as much as I liked Stitch’s antics. Zurg’s evil followers were also amazing to watch dance. They kept the beat perfectly to their evil music.

 

[kdzbear]

Following this show we decided to catch the 8:30 parade.

We made it to one of the handicapped viewing spaces and we could not find a spot for Tyler to see from. There was a family sitting in the front row with many family members and one relative in an electric scooter. The cast members were trying to explain to that family that they needed to move as there were children in wheelchairs that could not see, but they said that they had been sitting there for an hour and they would not move. They were trying to get a supervisor to come and handle the situation. Finally, I asked if Tyler and I could sit on the ground in a tiny little space between two scooters and the cast member said that it was fine. I did chat with the family that would not move and they were originally told that they could all sit there so I understood their point of view too, but it was frustrating for parents of children in wheelchairs who could not find a spot. I am not referring to strollers as wheelchairs here, but actual wheelchairs that could not find spots. They did fit one little girl in a little farther down the line. All of my pictures on the parade are from sitting on the ground level and looking up. The next five posts are dedicated to p00h4me. Enjoy the Christmas Parade!

 

[kdzbear]

The parade continues on……