Countdown calenders are almost doneI cannot wait to get them all put together. I will take a pic when they are all done.
Welcome!!!!! I think the planning is almost as much fun as the actual trip so dig in deep and have a ball. The Xmas morning surprise sounds great......and they're really old enough to 'get it' and enjoy the next weeks/months of planning and prep with you.
We are leaving in a couple of days and are one of those families extending our trip. I think not all chapters have the same policy but ours gave us the confirmation number and allowed us to just call the rental car company directly and extend the rental. They will pay for the first 7 days and we will be responsible for the last two. Apparently there are chapters that won't even allow extensions because they are afraid they will be left holding the bag but ours (MA/RI) had no reservations whatsoever. Hopefully yours will be as flexible and easy to work with as ours has been
Pamela
Matty's Wish Trip http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2325607
I am still working on our countdown calendar, but I also cheated and bought some at the dollar store and some stickers and figured I'd let them each have their own to countdown on. Funny that you had to reveal the dates early. I know I wouldn't have been able to hold it in!
We are extending our trip and our chapter told us to get an entirely new rental contract. Once I find out who they are using, I plan on calling the company and asking if there is any way we could keep the same vehicle so we don't have to take the time to switch our luggage and stuff. (We are leaving Orlando for our extension).
Cute calendars!
We will do a little swimming because that is how the kids always begin their trips. We will do orientation but not sure what time yet. 
.There will be lots more but those are the must do's.
Then we will head over to Universal Studio's to make sure we ride JAWS 
lol Now the last time I rode that ride was 15yrs ago and my eyes were closed the whole time. But they must stay open this time cause I have to get pics of Tyler screaming when he comes up at him. We are going to make sure he is on the side of the boat that leans in toward him lol. Sierra cannot wait to ride it either. She loves things like that. We also hope to catch a stunt show but Im not sure those are during this time. Then we are definately heading back to GKTW for Christmas
Here are my quick thoughts on the three days you have in Disney...
Most every family spends a full day at the MK - there are a ton of things to do there.
Between the last three parks...there are LOTS of things to do - more than any family could do in one trip...so each family has to make a list of the things that would appeal to each...
For me...here are the must dos at the other three parks:
Epcot:
World Showcase - I would skip this if I only had three days with kids...unless my kids were excited about the countries. Not that it isn't great - there are fun things there to do - but not anything a family can't live without, in my opinion.
Future World - Must Do's, in my opinion:
Wish Lounges - there are at least 2 in Epcot - your wish trip will be the ONLY time you get to see these...so go for it!
Soarin' - if your kids are tall enough and not afraid of heights - best ride in Disney.
Turtle Talk with crush - I love this, especially for little kids that would "talk" to Crush.
GREAT place to see a BUNCH of hard to find characters - use the button and see them all!
Animal Kingdom:
Safari seems like a must do - but I could skip it. Like driving through a zoo...unless that is your thing.
Expedition Everest - great roller coaster - not TOO terribly fast, does go backwards.
Lion King - MUST DO show! Show them your BUTTON - sit toward the front!
Finding Nemo Show - MUST DO show! Sit in the BACK section on the FRONT row...best seats in the house! Try NOT to sit in the front section...The whole point of the show is that these puppets are being worked by humans and if you sit too close, you can see the "humans" and miss what the puppets are doing (which are supposed to be the focus)...being so close tends to ruin the magic for me for this particular show.
DHS:
This is a harder park...as it depends a lot on YOUR family and their interests...
Toy Story is a must for everyone! But other than that...each attraction stands on its own...to do everything would really take all day - and maybe two if you only do parts of days...
anyway...I am sure you didn't want THIS much info...but that was on my brain tonight!
Im trying to figure out what I want to put the "extra's" in that the kids get. A carry on or check it.
Im offically starting our pre-trip thread woot woot!
Hi I am Tonya mom to Ty(10) and Sierra(12) and DW to Tim. We all absolutely love Disney!
Our son Ty was born on time(barely) but has quite a few medical conditions. He has a swallowing disorder that leaves him choking and gagging quite often. He also has a neurogenic bladder and is in the begining stages of preparing for reconstructive surgery. He also has spina bifida Occulta and had surgery in May to correct his teathered spinal cord. He is mostly fed by a feeding tube.
We are arriving February 14th 2010. A Valentines tripWe will be staying at GKTW.We are beyond excited about this. To be able to stay in a place just like home is just unreal. We just cannot imagine what lies ahead for us. We are so grateful! He has quite a few apts coming up and this will be such a great thing to think about during them.
I can't believe I just found your PTR! Ali seems to have some similar "issues" to Ty. She also has a tethered spinal cord (post repair) and significant swallowing issues. All of her liquids are thickened, and she's totally NPO during periods of illness when her swallowing really goes to pot. We're hoping to go over April vacation, but February is our second choice if that doesn't work out.One reason we were waiting to tell the kids is because my fil has bladder cancer. The day before Thanksgiving he found out he has brain cancer and just last week found out it is in his lungs. So it is hard to be excited about our trip and also a little hard to plan as we just don't know what his health state will be at that time. But after talking with our coordinator we feel alot better about the trip and that we can go ahead with our plans so we decided we would go ahead and tell the kids the date on Christmas.
Ty asked me last night if I knew when we were going and I told him noHe acted like he didnt believe me lol.
but Ali has never had a FEES done. No one can tell us why she can't swallow and basically attribute it to the mito. Frustrating! I hope you get some answers and that you see some quick improvement with his bladder function.Today is try on summer clothes day that way I can go shopping while the kids are in school in case they need something. I borrowed my mom and sisters luggage. Maybe one day I will buy our own
Thursday night we spent the evening playing cards. We sat and chatted about airplanes and our trip. It made it all so real. I had butterflies in my stomache before long.I am not a fan of flying by no means and told hubby I was ready to not fly. But this is Ty's wish so we will carry on. I just pray for peace so I can enjoy this flight and this trip.
You know once we got there, we ditched what we had on "our trip" and just went went the flow.
The thing you want to make sure you do is get the times for Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios, cause it only plays twice a week and just one time, usually 7pm. Wishes fireworks is a MUST a MK, and that is everynight at 8pm following spectromagic...which is another MUST. If Jake could do all three of these every day for our trip, he would.
His IPOD has all the songs from Spectromagic, Fantasmic and Wishes..
Oh the one thing we did not do on his Wish trip, was seeing Illumanations at Epcot, and this trip we will be...
