57 days until wish trip to Disneyland

[tastycollector]

Kinda bummed. My brother offered to help extend our stay, but changing our flight would cost away to much to do that. He is going to get us an extra day at Disneyland. He can be a pain, but he tries. He is almost 30 and is just hanging and working.

Our wish coor. didn't seem real happy with sharing info so that we could pay to extend the visit. Maybe it's just because this trip has been so hard with having to change it once all ready.

Anyway, we will have 3 days at Disneyland and 1 at Legoland. This is probably all we can handle anyway. I can't wait to see the parades. I am still not sure what to pack.

 

[kdzbear]

I read on the main Wish board that you are going to Goofy's Kitchen. It is so much fun! You will have a blast. The character interaction is great. You might want to call and ask about the peanut butter and jelly pizza. I read on someone's recent trip report that Chef Mickey's in DW removed all nuts from their buffet. I am not sure if DL would do the same. My kids loved that pizza and it is decorated with the peanut butter on the bottom and then the jelly swirled on the top similar to a spider web pattern. I have tried it and it is not bad. I love the desserts on their buffet!

It sounds like your trip is coming together well!

 

[tastycollector]

We went to the doctor for Dev's check up yesterday. The doc said that with his last blood work she wanted to rerun some tests. They ended up drawing 15 tubes of blood. I hate it when is wants to check his immune system along with everything else. It took the lab tech multiple sticks to get enough blood. I hope that it didn't clot. Some of the tests take a week to get back, and we are waiting on these tests to decide about his next treatment before we leave in 4 weeks for Dev's wish trip. I was awful not having his port for this blood draw! His arms are black and blue from the sticks. I've gotten to where I HATE to be in the room for them.

I booked breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen. We hoped to have lunch there on Wednesday, but they are closed at that time. The kids picked it for the PB&J pizza and Pluto.

The doc did give us clearance to ride water rides if the water is chlorated. I have to call and check.

 

[kdzbear]

I am sorry about all of Dev's blood work. It is never easy to see a child in pain.

I found another resource for you: http://www.anaheimoc.org/Articles/Archive/Webpage10153.asp This site has lots of coupons for the DL area including 10% off at McD's. I thought they might help!

Keep up the great planning!

 

[Sarah84]

Newbie reader joining in
I have a port and have never set the alarms off so no need to wrry about that.
Sorry to hear you had to put your trip back once already due to Dev's health, hope you dont have any problems with your new dates and have a lovely time at Disneyland. Im going for the first time in september and can't wait

 

[tastycollector]

Newbie reader joining in
I have a port and have never set the alarms off so no need to wrry about that.
Sorry to hear you had to put your trip back once already due to Dev's health, hope you dont have any problems with your new dates and have a lovely time at Disneyland. Im going for the first time in september and can't wait

Thanks for reading!

 

[tastycollector]

Still waiting on blood work results...Dev goes to the dentist on Monday afternoon. This is the first trip to the dentist since his blood infection and the heart issues. It is scary for me. It is just a check up to make sure he won't have any issue on his trip. On the 26th, Dev goes back to his doc to decide what we are going to do in the coming months. We will also decide how many IVIG treatments he needs before we leave. Hopefully, we will only have to have one. The other thing the doc is worring about his liver. The drugs they used for the last infection were really hard on his body.

I booked for Goofy's kitchen on Thursday morning and Breakfast with Minnie on Friday. The kids couldn't decide what they wanted. I was told that we can always cancel if they decide playing at Disney is more important.

I am going to have to shopping for DH or I will spend all trip washing for him.

 

[twinmum]

Hope you get good news from the test results...waiting is hard, isn't it?

Sorry if I missed this earlier, but where are you staying? When we had our family trip to DL, my hubby and I really enjoyed the closeness of everything, the ease of hopping between DL and DCA...and Downtown Disney too! It just seemed so easy to pack so much into a day - less planning needed, too. We all preferred Space Mountain at DL over WDW (and is closed for a rehab at WDW right now anyway), and there were others too. We were staying at the Grand Californian and learned that in <10 minutes we could walk from our hotel room to the DL front gate, other side of the bag check. It made is so easy when one of our guys got sick and needed time in the hotel room, but it didn't wrck our day because when he was feeling better it was wasy to rejoin up. And DL is so much more compact than the Magic Kingdom that when Mark had a flat tire on his wheelchair (and nope, we had no spare...we carry one now!), he was able to manage DL in his walker and using the train!

Any other DL/DCA questions?

Alison

 

[tastycollector]

Hope you get good news from the test results...waiting is hard, isn't it?

Sorry if I missed this earlier, but where are you staying? When we had our family trip to DL, my hubby and I really enjoyed the closeness of everything, the ease of hopping between DL and DCA...and Downtown Disney too! It just seemed so easy to pack so much into a day - less planning needed, too. We all preferred Space Mountain at DL over WDW (and is closed for a rehab at WDW right now anyway), and there were others too. We were staying at the Grand Californian and learned that in <10 minutes we could walk from our hotel room to the DL front gate, other side of the bag check. It made is so easy when one of our guys got sick and needed time in the hotel room, but it didn't wrck our day because when he was feeling better it was wasy to rejoin up. And DL is so much more compact than the Magic Kingdom that when Mark had a flat tire on his wheelchair (and nope, we had no spare...we carry one now!), he was able to manage DL in his walker and using the train!

Any other DL/DCA questions?

Alison

We are staying at the Fairfield Inn. It is about a 9 min. walk to the main gate.

Can you do DL/DCA in just two days or do you need a few more? We can't decide if we should try to extend our stay.

 

[twinmum]

We are staying at the Fairfield Inn. It is about a 9 min. walk to the main gate.

Can you do DL/DCA in just two days or do you need a few more? We can't decide if we should try to extend our stay.

Well now, that's an interesting question. I guess anything is possible, so I am sure you could do DL/DCA in 2 days - the park hopping is really easy.

On the other hand, you can certainly take longer. In fact, we were at DL/DCA for 7 nights, and we only took one day off! We certainly felt that we had done everything very thoroughly. We also had to take it slower because of our son Mark's reduced stamina, and also, he wasn't well for part of the trip, so we didn't do really long days in the parks. It was just a lovely, slower paced vacation.

Why not take a look at the list of attractions and see what is a "must do" for your family? That might give you a better idea of what you are trying to fit in. I think at minimum DL needs 2 days and DCA 1, and you can certainly mix it up, park hop,etc. Don't forget to plan some time in Downtown Disney too.

I assume that you'll get the same kind of GAC that Wish families get at WDW, and that certainly speeds things up in terms of waiting in line. Still, the opinion I am giving here is based on our experience, which includes a GAC for use of alternate entrances (because of Mark's wheelchair and stamina). So, we weren't doing a lot of standing in line, and we still managed to spread it out over that many days!

I'd add some time!
Alison

 

[tastycollector]

Well now, that's an interesting question. I guess anything is possible, so I am sure you could do DL/DCA in 2 days - the park hopping is really easy.

On the other hand, you can certainly take longer. In fact, we were at DL/DCA for 7 nights, and we only took one day off! We certainly felt that we had done everything very thoroughly. We also had to take it slower because of our son Mark's reduced stamina, and also, he wasn't well for part of the trip, so we didn't do really long days in the parks. It was just a lovely, slower paced vacation.

Why not take a look at the list of attractions and see what is a "must do" for your family? That might give you a better idea of what you are trying to fit in. I think at minimum DL needs 2 days and DCA 1, and you can certainly mix it up, park hop,etc. Don't forget to plan some time in Downtown Disney too.

I assume that you'll get the same kind of GAC that Wish families get at WDW, and that certainly speeds things up in terms of waiting in line. Still, the opinion I am giving here is based on our experience, which includes a GAC for use of alternate entrances (because of Mark's wheelchair and stamina). So, we weren't doing a lot of standing in line, and we still managed to spread it out over that many days!

I'd add some time!
Alison

Dev still wears out easily. He has only been out of the hospital about 6 weeks. We were in for 31 days and have done another week since then. the other day Dev feel asleep in the middle of the day playing his handheld video game. He was coming home and napping every day after school. I am guessing that we will have to nap every day. We are also taking his transport chair. After a month in bed and losing almost 10 pounds, he is still pretty weak. My Mommy bells say that 1 day for DL and 1 day for DCA is just not enough.

 

[twinmum]

Good morning! Rats, I was almost done a fairly long post and poof, it disappeared!

I hear you on stamina. Our twins were extreme premies and neither has great stamina. Our Wish Trip in November was actually our 3rd Disney trip - twice to WDW and once to DL. Finally, this time we were able to accept that if we pushed the boys beyond what they can handle, someone either gets sick or exhausted or we all just get cranky. And who wants to be cranky in "the happiest place on earth?" We kept sleeping/waking times close to usual, really watched for signs of flagging energy (more that on other trips!) and just tried to not push. For us, it paid off this time.

I did some seaching on google and it looks like there is indeed a Wish Lounge at Disneyland similar to the one at the Magic Kingdom in WDW. This was a wonderful place to recharge. Mark and I stopped by one day while Douglas and Dad were swimming back at the hotel. There are cold drinks, movies, games, big comfy pillows and so on, and the CM who was there was eager to help in any way she could. Mark could have stayed for hours, but we did stay for about 40 minutes and felt very renewed after some juice/water, a snuggle in the pillows watching part of a movie etc. (At MK, you can also bring in food, so it would also be a quiet place to eat lunch).

Here's a quote from one of the sites I checked: "The (baby) center's former location next to the First Aid Center on Main Street is now home to the Wish Lounge, a place where families who are visiting Disneyland through such wish-granting programs as the Make-a-Wish Foundation can take a break from their day and relax in a quiet environment."

Consider stopping in here - it may be someplace Dev could nap rather than going back to the hotel. It was very quiet during our visit, but that will depend on whether there are other Wish Families in the Lounge at the same time.

I re-scanned your report and I know you were wondering about a good "starter" roller coaster. Mark loves coasters, but not the big ones with loops etc. Douglas discovered these on our last trip and is now offically a coaster wild man. Mark's favourite ride is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which is smaller than the other "mountains" (Space and Splash) and certainly doesn't have the wildness of California Screamin' at DCA. My hubby and I took turns on that one (Douglas was not yet coaster wild and Mark too small and wouldn't consider it anyway!). There is the world's most embarassing picture of me at the take-off on California Screamin - taken from far away,and when my hubby zoomed in to see how it turned out, he screeched out loud and showed everyone around him! It looks like I am excited/terrified/leaving my face behind all at the same time. We both loved that coaster - my hubby kept zipping back to jump into the single rider line to do it again and again. Yes, there are loops, but they are very smooth - the most intense moment is take-off.

Alison

 

[tastycollector]

Cool coaster info! Dev thinks he is a coaster man. Her has never ridden any, but his OT thinks he will love them. Dev has Sensory Interagtion Disorder-hyposensitive. He needs lots of input to know whats going on. He goes to OT and spins, swings, and throws his body on mats as hard as he can. This should be a great trip for him.

Dev got cleared to SWIM!!!! Only in treated water, but this means that he can swim in the pool, ride the water rides, and go to the water park at Legoland!!! He is super excited! We just can't go play at the beach.

We are still looking into extending our stay...

 

[tastycollector]

Dev's wish coor. called...we should be getting a package in the mail in a few days! I have to call the doc to get antiboitics to take on the trip. The dentist said on Monday that Dev needs at least 2 teeth, maybe 3. We won't get it done until after the trip, but she is afraid that 2 of them may infected.

VBS is over tomorrow!!! I LOVE it, but boy am I tired. The kids are running circle around me. We got to have ICE CREAM for DINNER tonight! It was the night all the kids sang for the parents. I was excited that we made it to VBS. We weren't sure that he was going to be here... but Dev has started recovering. It sure has been an eye opener as to his ability to last at Disneyland. We are really pushing to stay extra days so we can NAP!!

Since our wish coor. is in FL, we are going to throw our own party on Sunday. It is going to be Devon's Wish Trip, DD9 is getting baptized, and a send off for DD16 going to Norway for 2 years ! It's hard to believe that Dev's trip is in just a few weeks! I haven't even started thinking about packing. Well, I did make DH get some clothes! No STINKY work clothes!

Gotta get up early tomorrow! No sleepin' in for me this summer!

Soon I will learn to post pics. I want to share the movie DD9 made about Dev's Wish Trip and hospital stay.

 

[tastycollector]

We had a great time at our 3 way party. Dev loved everyone writing messages in a little notebook.

Dev goes to the doc on Thursday. We will finally get his test results from 2 weeks ago. Some of them are in already. His liver is doing better. We will also find out how many treatments he has to have before we leave, and if he has to have dental surgery before, too.

We took DD9 to the airport for her trip. Dev really enjoyed seeing everything. We couldn't go to the gate, but he could watch the luggage come out, see what it is like to go through security, and ride the stairs that move. He also told me he wants everyone to come meet us at the airport when he comes home. (There was a soldier coming home and he saw the big party waiting for him. He thought it was REALLY COOL.)

 

[maroo]

We had a great time at our 3 way party. Dev loved everyone writing messages in a little notebook.

Dev goes to the doc on Thursday. We will finally get his test results from 2 weeks ago. Some of them are in already. His liver is doing better. We will also find out how many treatments he has to have before we leave, and if he has to have dental surgery before, too.

We took DD9 to the airport for her trip. Dev really enjoyed seeing everything. We couldn't go to the gate, but he could watch the luggage come out, see what it is like to go through security, and ride the stairs that move. He also told me he wants everyone to come meet us at the airport when he comes home. (There was a soldier coming home and he saw the big party waiting for him. He thought it was REALLY COOL.)

This is actually a great idea...to have as many people as you can get to meet you at the airport when you get back.

If it is anything like our trip, it was a HUGE letdown to get back on that plane...and head home. You were treated like a king all week and then you get back to the real world...to have a surprise of people waiting at the airport when you get back would be a very good thing! For all of you!!

 

[twinmum]

This is actually a great idea...to have as many people as you can get to meet you at the airport when you get back.

If it is anything like our trip, it was a HUGE letdown to get back on that plane...and head home. You were treated like a king all week and then you get back to the real world...to have a surprise of people waiting at the airport when you get back would be a very good thing! For all of you!!

Ooooh, yes...I agree! It's never fun to come back from vacation, but coming back from a Wish Trip is so much harder! We would have loved a surprise like this. For us, it was an even harder thump back to reality - we had begun a major renovation of our house, and while we were away, the rest of our stuff was moved to our rental home during construction. So not only did we come back from the Wish Trip, we didn't even come home...we came to a strange home and to a whole lot of unpacking!

(But no worries, we're back into our newly renovated house, with lots of accessibility modifications for Mark, including an elevator, and it is lovely!)

Happy planning!
Alison

 

[Spookie1010]

Those 57 days have come and gone, haven't they?

 

[tastycollector]

Those 57 days have come and gone, haven't they?

The 57 days went quickly BOTH times. I remember the first time we got this close... This time we are really leaving! I wil be maddly getting ready because we just sent DD9 to OK to visit family. She is getting back 2 days before we leave.

Ready for tomorrow to get here. We go to the doctor for check up. We are hoping to only do one IVIG treatment before we leave.

Dev's package from his wish coor. is coming today. It is a box coming by UPS! It should be fun to open!

 

[tastycollector]

Dev's package came today! It was huge. Dev got some fun games and a dino skeleton to build! He's driving me CRAZY!