9/16-10/3 The trip that dreams are made of....

[Cass]

Glad to hear Aladdin was okay!

You have 3 handsome boys there, make that 4 (your hubby too)

 

[swankybeth]

Your trip report is great, I'm really enjoying reading about all of the magical moments that have been happening to your family. Glad to hear Aladdin recovered! Looking forward to the next installment.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

your report is great and you boys are dolls!!

 

[jaycns]

I forgot to mention one small fact...on this day, we were all wearing PotC shirts. Along with that, "Goofy" was wearing his Mickey pirate bandanna (complete with ears) and "Stitch" was wearing his Goofy pirate bandanna (again, with ears). So we did look a little pirate like.

Well, this all has something to do with the story because at least 4 times that day people stopped us and spoke with us about it being "Talk Like A Pirate Day". Who knew...not me...but in chatting with people about it I was able to meet another DISer. I don't know who. I was so awestruck that I didn't get her name. I had never met a another DISer in person before...I was more then a tad bit excited. SO...if you happen to "be out there" and read this, please hit respond or PM me. It was great to have met you! We spoke for about 10 minutes on the bridge in front of Splash Mount. at about 2:45 PM on 9/19.

Just after my very first "DISer" sighting we headed on to Splash Mount. For all 5 of us, SPLM is one of our top two rides (if not our very favorite). My favorite drop is the dark drop. I love not being able to see what is coming as it goes down, down, down. We love the story line, the characters, the music, the length of the ride, the logs, Brier Rabbit, and of course...the drops!!

Just as we boarded the ride, it started to sprinkle. Ahh...it's a water ride...what will a "few" more drops of water hurt? Being the ever protective (read just a tad bit overprotective) mother that I am, I made "Aladdin" (the one who only hours earlier had been doing breathing treatments) put on a poncho and donned one myself. I couldn't talk dh or the two younger boys into it (hee hee hee, they would soon learn that mommy is always right). As soon as we got "back outside" where you float past the Critter Elixir and the veggie garden it started to pour. I would assume it was about this time that "Goofy" and "Stitch" might have first considered the fact that maybe mom does have an idea of what she is talking about. Down Slippin' Falls we went and back "into" the indoor part of the ride. Once there we hoped for a let up in the rain....however, it was not to be. DOWN...down...down the falls we fell, right into the brier patch. Instead of letting up just about 5 seconds after we made it through the patch...somehow MORE water was falling from the sky...imagine a bucket being filled to the brim and then dumped straight over your head!! Yep, that would have been a little bit LESS water then was pouring down on us. It was fun but it was WET!! As we floated along we were thinking, okay, we can do this...and then...the ride stopped. Yep just stopped. And we were stuck out in the portion of the ride between the large drop and the next indoor section of the ride. Well, being that I knew "Aladdin" was at least as dry as possible and it was in the upper 80s we had a great time being ducks. Before long we were on to the next indoor portion of the ride. By the time we exited, it was shut down (other then getting the people behind us safely out of their logs). This downpour was one the likes of which I had NEVER seen before. I have been in the rain forest during the "wet" season. I have been to FL many times during September and been caught out in the rain...but this rain...it was a soaking. Lucky for "Aladdin" and I we were dry under our ponchos.

A quick "wring out" and the rest of the family "poncho"ed up we waited a few minutes for the buckets to let up but quickly figured, we would just venture out even if it did not. So on we forged. We made our way over to Fantasyland and took a ride around the world (because it is a small world after all). By the time we were done doing that the rains had all but stopped (hip hip hooray).

It was now time to head over for dinner. Tonight we head to a family favorite...the Liberty Tree Tavern.

TO BE CONTINUED (hopefully with photos...only one day is missing...but even that is NOT a good thing)

 

[paigevz]

Wow. You were really waterlogged! We LOVE Splash Mountain too.........it's our favorite . The Pirate show sounds fun, that'll be something new for us. How neat that Goofy got chosen!

Poor little Aladdin...............lucky though to have parents to take time to get him what he needs before going on with the show.

Hope you find your pictures soon..........I know that's gotta be frustrating.

Okay, I'm off to find that recipe for you and PM it.

I can't wait to hear about LTT!!!

 

[Al and Kate's Mom]

Jay - you are the bomb!

 

[dolphinrescuegirl]

I'm loving this trip report! I had to laugh about the Splash Mountain ride stopping in the rain. sounds like something that would happen to me. I can't wait to hear more!

 

[jaycns]

We checked in at the Liberty Tree Tavern and grew colder and colder as we were waiting to be seated. By the time we were seated I had made a decison...I would send dh in search of some sweatshirts for our poor waterlogged selves. Dh was happy to run them as it meant I would come no where near a store. Shopping and I...we are VERY good friends. I do fully admit my love of shopping. Combine this with a love of Disney...you get a very dangerous pairing!!

Dh returned about 10 minutes later with five sweatshirts. All of us warm and toasty, we dug into our meal. The food at the Liberty Tree Tavern is good. Not great. Not fancy. Not "wow, I could never do this at home". But good. Comforting. Filling. And (at least in my family's estimation) tasty. Think somewhere between Thanksgiving Day and a Sunday afternoon meal. Now picture yourself eating it in a colonial period tavern surrounded by Mickey, Goofy, Minnie, Chip and Dale. Waaa laaaa...you have dinner at the LTT. My favorites are the rolls, the beef, the taters and the dessert! YUM!

Another "favorite" at LTT are the mugs they serve your drinks in. These are available for purchase from your server (all you need to is ask). They come wrapped in tissue paper in their own boxes. At only $5.?? ( I cannot remember the cents) I think they are one of the best deals in all of WDW. We meant to purchase them after our meal but we forgot.... It wasn't until we had walked to the other side of the park that it was once again thought of.

Shortly after we exited the tavern it started to rain again. Most people seemed to be clearing out. Maybe we should have taken the hint...but we kept on. We just did the rides that were housed indoors. We spent a lot of time over with Buzz Lightyear. We had a ton of fun shooting our blasters. Dh and I have this competition going...up until last year I had never even come close to beating him...then thanks to my DIS friends I learned about a few high value targets and waa laa...I was in the running... This year I had been keeping even better mental notes on the targets and the point values...so this year I beat him hands down! Now, before anyone says I should pity my dh and share the DIS boards tips with him let me share my reasoning why I don't have to First, if you don't read the boards that is YOUR problem...not mine. Second, he beats me hands down at basketball. I figure my DISing for an advantage is much the same as him having practiced basketball for years, it simply gives you an advantage. Advantages go to those who work for them.

The time was about 8:30 PM and it was still raining. We figured we would do just "one more thing" and head out. We chose Mickey's Philharmagic. I've already gone into why we love it and what is so neat about it, so I won't bore you with all that again...the reason I mention us seeing this show is what happened to "Goofy" during the show...HE LOST A TOOTH!! "Goofy" has lost a few teeth before but he is one of those kids that LOVES to lose his teeth. He is really into the tooth fairy and just likes to see what they look like "on the inside". So one second he is reaching out for 3-D jewels and the next second he is reaching in to grab his tooth. On our way through the little store to leave MPhil. I asked for a small bag (I figured I would lose the tooth without something to wrap it up in). Not only did the CM give me a bag, but he also pulled out a handful of stickers and told me that he thought the tooth fairy might want to leave some under the pillow.

It was almost time for the park to close, it was still raining and we knew "Aladdin" needed to get back to the room and dry out, get some more meds in him and then get some much needed sleep. As we started to head out of the parks, the fireworks started. I cannot believe they could do a fireworks show with so much rain coming down, but they did!! We were standing AT the flagpole looking back on a mostly empty Main Street standing in the rain all wrapped in dripping ponchos and watching Wishes. It was another made for my forever memory book moment. Dh had his arms wrapped around me and the boys were sitting down at our feet (so few people they could do this and still see) with there little arms linked together and their heads leaned on each others shoulders. We were tired, wet and even a wee bit cold but we were also together in what seemed like over very own world. I know I cannot do justice to sharing this moment. Even though I want to put the magic into words, it just won't come...but that's what it was, pure magic. It felt like time stopped. The fireworks were so beautiful. Dh's arms felt so warm. The rain almost felt like a cocoon around us. The boys just looked so sweet all plastic wrapped, arms linked and leaning on each other. It was not a picture perfect moment, in fact, we frankly must have looked like drowned rats wrapped in Saran Wrap...but beauty really is in the eye of the beholder and I don't think we ever looked better (to me) then right then.

Wet as wet could be we walked the path back to the Contemporary. Once again we met some little creatures...this time we met Kermit's cousins...some cute little frogs. The boys delighted in seeing them and our walk in the rain actually passed much too quickly.

When we did finally arrive back in the room I started to fill the tub up with hot water for the boys to soak in. Upon walking further into our room we found another magical surprise waiting for us. At check in, "Goofy" had gotten a birthday call and we had ordered a cake on our first night there (his birthday)to celebrate. The Contemp. staff must have made note of this at some point because waiting for us in the room was a card with an autographed picture of Mickey Mouse "Happy 7th Birthday "Goofy". Your friend, Mickey Mouse" and a helium balloon that said Happy Birthday on it.
Once again, "Goofy" was sky high with happiness!!

That happy surprise seen and smiled at, I got all of the boys into the hot bath and sent dh in search of some snacks and to fill our mugs once again. Pretty soon all of the boys had crawled into bed, the tooth had been placed under the pillow (and "Goofy" had informed us he was sure that Tinker Bell would come instead of the Tooth Fairy since this was Disney World) and it was time for them to have the curtains pulled back so they could watch the water parade out the window before they drifted off to sleep.

Once they were out I sent dh in search of a small stuffed Pluto to leave under "Goofy's" pillow and I took a quick shower to warm myself up. Then it was back to the never ending job of being a mom (even on vacation) so I dealt with all of the wet clothes, sorted all of our new trinkets and reviewed our plans for the next day. Upon his return we placed the Pluto (even Tink needs a few helpers) and the stickers and crawled into bed ourselves.

Tomorrow would soon be upon us and if "Aladdin" was still back on the road to being healthy it would mean a visit to Typhoon Lagoon.

Highlights of the Day: "Aladdin" being well enough to go to MK. "Goofy" being chosen by Capt. Jack to join his pirate crew. "Goofy" losing his tooth. "Goofy" having balloon and card waiting for him in the room. **This sure was a good day for "Goofy"** And the number one moment of the day? Standing in the rain at the flag pole...holding on to one another and watching Wishes. That was magic pure and simple!!

 

[jaycns]

I lovin' your TR jaycns!





I'm so glad you had a great time at Coral Reef. The photo's and all the special touches looked great! And I'm glad you didn't pay any attention to the "Rudies".....some people!

Looking forward to more!

They did do a great job on those menus, didn't they?!! I was so excited when I saw them!!

Thanks for reading along with me as I relive our trip!!

 

[jaycns]

How lucky to have two of the boys picked for artist of the day. I hope that your other son was picked one day as well, so as not to feel left out.

Blessings

We were hoping that would happen too...but it wasn't in the cards. Turns out the one that didn't get picked is the artsy one but he had more then his fair share of birthday magic all week long and he is such a kind little guy he was just happy for his brothers and the other kids that got picked. He didn't seem to feel left out at all. I am lucky to be mommy to such a sweet little guy!

 

[jaycns]

Jacyns- I am loving your TR! Thanks for writing it! Your boys are absolutely adorible! You are such an entertaining writer. Sounds like you and your family are having an amazing time Families like yours make me so excited to start my family! I hope one day DF & I will have children who will be as happy as yours

Thanks for sharing the info about the personalized menu & diver at Coral Reef. That must have been such a wonderful moment for you and your family! It's a shame about those non-disneyish jealous people DF and I are getting married at WDW next summer, and this would be a great surprise for him I am like you though... I don't know if I could keep a secret!

Thank you for the kind words. I am sure you will be able to keep the secret....just think of the happy expression upon your new DH's (yep...husband, he will be your husband then ) face when he sees a sign and the menus...that was the only thing holding my lips shut...the thought of seeing my dh be blown away...and he was

 

[jaycns]

Love the report and glad you enjoyed the Contemporary (two more days!!!!)

Have a magical time! Let me know if you do a trip report!

 

[jaycns]

You and your DH could do a Vow Renewal or maybe one or all of your boys will want to get married at Disney b/c of all their wonderful childhood memories! Don't worry- I'll definitely write a TR

I am already working on dh for that one! I figure by the time we celebrate 20 years I might just have him sold on the idea...only 9 more years to go...hmm...I better kick it into high gear

PLEASE DO write that trip report! I cannot wait to hear about something as magical and speical as a Disney wedding! Ahhh... What a wonderful thing for you both!!

 

[jaycns]

Glad to hear Aladdin was okay!

You have 3 handsome boys there, make that 4 (your hubby too)

Thanks!!

 

[jaycns]

On this morning we all slept in. It was well after 8:00 before any of us even stirred. On this morning, there would be no sunrise photos. There would however be many hours of sunny fun!

"Aladdin" was doing much better this morning. He still had a few days left of his meds but at least his lungs weren't trying to whistle Dixie when he woke up.

"Goofy" awoke with a big smile. During the night, had come and left "Goofy" a small stuffed Pluto and some Mickey Mouse stickers. Upon finding those items he was very happy.

Since we were headed to the water park, I didn't do anything more then make sure we all brushed our teeth. After that we donned our swimsuits, grabbed our refillable mugs (we would once again leave them in the van during the day and then fill them upon our return to the resort) and made our way to the van.

We didn't get to Typhoon Lagoon until a few minutes after 10:30 AM. Lucky for us lazy bums, the water park was almost empty. As we walked in we stopped to snap a few photos. Notice how empty the wave pool is!

On our way into the park their was a chalkboard with Disney trivia questions written on it. Our boys wanted to stop and try to answer a few of them...

We read them over together and then each boy chose a question. "Goofy" chose to answer the question of "What are the names of Donald Duck's nieces?" The answer? April, May and June (we had learned that by visiting with a CM at AK earlier in the week). "Aladdin" chose to answer the question, "What was the first character created by Walt Disney?". The answer to that one...Oswald the Rabbit ("Aladdin had read a few Disney biographies before this trip so that was an easy one for him). "Stitch" even found one he knew the answer too..."What is Donald Duck's middle name?"...the answer to that is Fauntleroy. Keep in mind that "Stitch" is only 5 years old. He knew that Fauntleroy was his middle name because we have a Disney glass we bought from McDonald's years ago that has Disney trivia facts written on it. He likes us to read the glass to him at dinner sometimes...go figure, all of that useless trivia info we had picked up was actually useful for something! For each correct answer the boys got a "prize", a pirate eye patch. Way more meaningful to them then the eye patch was the big deal the CM they shared the answers with was making about them. She was so full of excited energy for them! She really made them feel special and smart. THANK YOU SWEET CM!!

Next up? A quick bit of shopping to get "Aladdin" a surf shirt. I didn't want to worry about anybody getting a sunburn on this day (or any of our yet to come beach days). The other boys already had one so it was a short shopping list.

Now it was time to hit the slides. We had so much fun sliding the morning away. I cannot remember all of the slides names...but we hit them over and over all morning long. After a late lunch (decent food...great cookies) I took a quick swim across the shark tank. If you have never been to Discovery Cove or snorkeled or been diving then this might seem interesting...however, for someone who has done those things...it was not a must do. It was not a waste of time, just not something I would want to wait in line to do.


It's time for sleep...so the rest of this day is to be continued...

 

[jaycns]

Day 5 continued...

By the time we had done all of the slides (dh and "Aladdin" doing the ones that looked a bit much for the younger boys), those that wanted had swum across the shark tank and we had done the family raft ride. The family raft ride at Blizzard Beach is an eleven on a scale of one to ten. The family raft ride at Typhoon Lagoon is a four on a scale of one to ten. You have to lug your own (not so light) raft up the steps, it's bumpy and throws you around a lot and you never really get up high speeds...it seems to be designed more for tossing and turning. What gives? Why is the family raft ride at Blizzard Beach so much more fun?! We rode the family raft ride at BB time after time after time and loved it so much that we could have done it even more if time had allowed...but at Typhoon Lagoon...once down was enough to more then satisfy any desire we had. This is just one families opinion...but we have all firmly voted BB Disney's better water park.

That aside, we were at TL and we were gonna have fun (remember we like to have fun no matter what, so just because TL was not our favorite didn't mean it was not going to be a fun day). Instead of giving up and driving over to BB we just "switched" tracks. We figured today would be less about the "rides/slides" and more about just exploring what this unique water park had to offer.

So, next up? The wave pool!!! It was here that all of the hype surrounding TL made sense to us! WE LOVED THE WAVE POOL!! Fun! fun!! FUN!!! Whoosh!!! We spent a good hour and a half in the wave pool...bobbing along and being pushed on the crests of waves. I would highly recommend the wave pool! As you can see below, "Aladdin" gives it a thumbs up sign as well!

All of the bobbing we could handle done, we thought it might be a good time to start back to the resort. So, we gather up the sand buckets the kid's had gotten with their kids meals and head toward the front of the park...it is then that dh makes a horrible discovery...the little green box Disney Water Parks box that he is wearing around his neck? IT IS GONE. OH NO!! Our van key was in there(we had taken it off the ring so it would fit), all of our tickets that we had long ago bought at the Disney Store (and had remaining days)were in there, our room keys (that you could charge on and had our current theme park tickets were in there and worst of all, dh had his driver's license in there...

The van key was truly not a big deal. I mean nobody wants to lose the key to their vehicle but we had another set back in the safe at the resort and we could easily catch a bus to take us back to the resort and then again back to TL. Not really a problem on that count. The tickets bought long ago at a Disney Store (we had them with us that day because we used them to get into Blizzard Beach) were a bummer to think of losing (we had two water park days and one theme park admission left on them) but could be replaced and would not do anything more then teach us a costly lesson about not renting a locker. The room keys, well those could just be replaced at our hotel check in desk and canceled in the meantime so that if somebody with any not so great intentions found the room keys we wouldn't find any weird charges on our accounts. It was dh's driver's license that caused the most concern and flat out panic at the thought of losing. We were to depart for a Disney Cruise that coming Saturday. The current day of the week? It was Wednesday. What could we do? Without the license he couldn't board the ship (he didn't have a passport for this trip, we were going to use his driver's license/ birth certificate combo). WHAT WOULD WE DO??!! It was late on Wednesday afternoon. Our home state (where he could get a duplicate license) was a 12 hour drive away. AHHH...would he have to fly back, get a duplicate license, and then catch another flight right back? UGH. The thought of that was horrible for him (remember motion sick is his middle name and flying leaves him feeling woozy because of it for the rest of the day).

Dh went to comb the area of the wave pool we had spent the most time in and I went to lost and found at the front of the park. Upon our arrival at the lost and found I got some not so welcome news...it had not been turned in. I could only cross my fingers and hope that dh was having better luck with backtracking his steps then I was. It was there we met Christopher (a security CM) who was beyond helpful. The first (of many) helpful thing that he did was dial a phone so that we were connected with resort and we were able to cancel our room keys so that in the off event they were found by someone who would be inclined to help us run up our bill...they would not be able to charge anything on them. The second thing was to help us make our report of what we had lost. I know it's his job...but he didn't make us feel dumb and he understood the urgency of finding dh's lost license so that we could go on the cruise. Another helpful CM stepped in right about now. We were starting to fry. It was now mid afternoon and we had applied our sunscreen upon pulling up in the morning and left it in the van (which of course at this point was not a place we could get into). We had no other sunscreen on us and no way to pay to buy any other sunscreen (we had been using our room keys as our cash, with them lost and "turned off" we were out of luck). Well, a sweet CM (I didn't catch her name) came up and asked us if there was anything she could do for us while we were waiting on the bench near lost and found at the front of the park. I explained the situation and told her that right about now we were all hot and ready to fry. I asked her if they might have any sunscreen available to borrow. She went off to check for me...not only did she return with some packets of sunscreen but bottles of water for all of us (even dh who was not there but would soon be joining us). Now, I don't advise being in this situation but if you are...Disney is about the best place to have it happen. They were so kind and understanding and really tried to make us feel better. The water was refreshing and really hit the spot and the sunscreen was a lifesaver!! THANK YOU VERY KIND CM who came over to check on the family looking a bit down on the bench. Your simple act of caring was deeply appreciated!!

When dh turned up empty handed a few minutes later, we took the kids back to the edges of the wave pool and the sandy beach area near the wave pool in order to let them do a little bit more playing while we waited. There was nothing we could do now but check back at lost and found later. So we were going to make the best of it!! And we did. We had a lot of fun splashing around in the shallows near the wave pool and especially the sand. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from that part of our day. The first one is of the boys building sand castles together. The second is one of my favorite pictures of "Goofy" from the entire vacation. The third one is "Aladdin" relaxing with his lounge chair in the water. He pulled his chair out and joined me with the water lapping around our feet. Had I not been so worried about the driver's lic., this hour and a half would have been almost perfect.

The palm trees were swaying in the breeze and the puffy white clouds were blowing by. It was not very crowded and the whoosh from the wave pool was soothing. It was a peaceful time (unless you count the worry).

While we were sitting there a woman approached dh and asked him if he was the one looking for the water case on a string. Upon saying yes, she told him that she had found it and turned it in to one of the lifeguards. This set dh off on a trek to all of the lifeguards he could find. A few of them saw a lifeguard carrying a water case on a string but nobody from that woman to the lifeguards knew if it was a bright green one or not and at this point, nobody knew where it was. One of the lifeguards told dh it might be up at lost and found already...so dh went back up and inquired. Christopher once again stepped up and became ultra helpful. He offered to put calls out to the head guards (this is who would have collected the case from the guards). It was now a game of musical guards...who has the case. After a time Christopher confirmed they had a case and told dh to just go back and relax with us and he would find us upon it's receipt. Dh told him the area we were in and came back to enjoy the day with us.

We still didn't know if that was our case...but all of our hopes were riding on it being the one. So we sat and enjoyed the peace for a bit longer.

It was almost an empty water park at this point. HINT, if you are going to a water park the best time to go is either first thing in the morning OR late in the afternoon. That place was empty! **This advice may only be good during the off season.**

After another thirty minutes had passed Christopher found us and drum roll please...he had our little bright green water proof case in tow!! He really was our hero of the day! And we told him so! We even asked him to pose for a picture to go in our family album. He might not be a "character" but he was one Disney employee that we would not soon forget! Here is our "hero" after he returned our lost items.

Yes, even without him we would have gotten our stuff back eventually...but what he gave us that was so precious was confidence that everything possible was being done to find it and he made us feel like it was important to him to help us track it down. He also went way above and beyond any required part of his job by offering to keep an eye out for the safe return of our item and to come and find us out in the water park to return the item to us once it was found.

Our cruise plans back on track, we all breathed in a deep sigh of relief and headed once again, out of the park. I did take the time to stop and fill out a compliment card for Christopher, the security CM. He more then deserved that little bit of praise. I hope that someone higher up will read it and he will be given credit for more then a job well done!! He personified the Disney spirit for us that day! And the CM who brought us sunscreen and water did as well. I just cannot speak highly enough about almost all of the CMs we encountered during our entire stay. They were in one word, wonderful!!

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

[daisy_77]

Whoa! I was getting stressed with you! Thank goodness for the wonderful CM's at TL! I am glad that it all turned out great in the end!


Great TR! I am really looking forward to more!

 

[Poohbear77]

Wow! I was in such suspense, I was sitting on the edge of my seat while reading. Great report writing.

 

[jaycns]

Day 5 (Wednesday) continued...

As we drove back from TL to the Contemp. my head felt about ready to explode. I had one heck of a stress headache. OUCH. While the boys and I waited in the van, dh ran in and got our new room keys and refilled our mugs. Then we drove on over to the South Wing parking lot and made our way back to our room. Upon our return to the room dh logged on to do some work (yes...he did it again, he worked while on vacation ). I popped a few pills, changed into dry clothes, closed the drapes, forbid anyone from speaking (thus the boys all took naps as well, what else can you do silently in a darkened hotel room without the tv on?) and went to sleep. I had two hours and 15 minutes until our dinner at Chef Mickey's and I was going to use every second of that I could to try and get better.

When dh woke me twenty minutes before our ressie time I felt much better. The boys were already up and dressed (thank you dh for being so thoughtful!!) and as soon as I had brushed my hair/teeth, added a little bit of make up and slipped on my sandals we were ready to go. It only took us a few minutes to walk over to Chef Mickey's and we made it with 2 minutes to spare.

Upon arrival we got our flashing buzzer from the check in counter and went over to get our pictures made by the giant plate. Warning...cranky child alert!! Let me back up and say that "Stitch" had been dressed when I woke up, but he was still wearing "the look". The look of a tired child woken up and not ready to deal with the world. "Stitch" took one look at the camera and had a melt down. He didn't want to be here. He kept crying that this was the "birthday place" but since it was not anybody's birthday he didn't want to eat here. Yep...he was having a royal melt down. Luckily nobody else was in line for a photo at that moment so the photographer tried to work with us and get him to smile. In "Stitch's" defense, he has sensory integration disorder. He has improved by leaps and bounds over the past three years but every now and again (especially when he is tired and overstimulated...a perfect description of that night) he flips out. Punishment, bribery, threats, sweet talk...nothing works when he enters this state of mind. He needs to have the order he craves or find a way to work himself back into his comfort zone by zoning out everything else around him. We tried explaining this to the photographer who was trying over and over again to "help". Finally the photographer said...well, you could celebrate your unbirthday here...would that work? It was as if he had flipped a magic switch..."Stitch" agreed that he could go into the birthday restaurant on his "unbirthday" too. In "Stitch's" little mind, you went to Chef Mickey's to celebrate your birthday. On many of our previous trips, we had gone to Chef Mickey's to celebrate one or another of our son's birthdays. So, in his head, they wouldn't allow us in without somebody having a birthday. Nothing was going to convince him otherwise. Not my proudest moment as a parent...I promise you that!! But having a son born premature and having this be his only lasting effect? I will not complain. Not for one minute. Not even for one second. I am blessed beyond all belief and I know it. The alternative outcomes of his early birth are for the most part unthinkable. Compared to what could have been, the fit was no big deal.

Well, that line of thought worked well enough to get his picture snapped and we went off to the lounge area to wait for our buzzer to buzz. All the while, I now understood what he is thinking and I am able to help him with the use of some of the techniques we learned in therapy (give him a way to process the info and the repetition to let it sink in). We talked over and over again about how lots of the kids in the place were not celebrating birthdays and "Mickey" still let them in anyway. We went over this for the entire wait...by the time our buzzer went off, he understood and was once again calm. THANK GOODNESS!! We were also able to focus his attention to his pin lanyard (another trick we learned...get him to focus on something familiar when the unfamiliar gets to be too much for him to process).

Back to the sweet little boy that we know and love, "Stitch" spotted his new favorite character, Chip. You couldn't tell by this picture that just a half an hour earlier "Stitch" had been in melt down mode.

Upon being seated we learned that the photographer had talked with the check in podium and had "Stitch's" unbirthday noted on our ressie! When they gave him a birthday placement and loudly proclaimed "Happy Unbirthday" to him upon seating us he looked shocked for a few seconds (I was worried this new change from what we had just talked about might set off another melt down). The rest of us must have looked shocked as well, because we were! His look of shock melted after a few moments and turned into an ear to ear grin! My look of shock faded when the hostess seating us explained that the photographer had told them they had a special unbirthday boy dining with them tonight and she explained to "Stitch" that she was happy he wanted to celebrate this very special unbirthday with them at Chef Mickey's. More pixie dust!! Thank you photographer CM for realizing our son was not being a spoiled little brat but was really having trouble understanding that he "could" enter without it being anyone in our party's birthday. Thank you for taking the time to walk over and mention his belief. Thank you CMs at Chef Mickey's for taking it upon yourselves to help him celebrate his unbirthday. You brought our little "Stitch" happiness that would be almost impossible to duplicate (or forget).

The food was good. The service was great. The atmosphere was once again, right on for a great time! Here are some of the characters as they came around to visit...

Not too long after we got back with our first plates of food the napkin swinging fun started. All of us think it's a hoot to swing those napkins around like a lasso and just let go and have a great time.

It was also during this song that "Stitch" was brought out a cupcake with a candle on it and our server again loudly proclaimed HAPPY UNBIRTHDAY!! "Stitch" was out of this world excited! Minnie Mouse came over to give him a special hug and then it was time for him to blow out his unbirthday candle!

A very yummy dessert buffet later (all of the boys including dh had ice cream while I opted to try the baked treats) we made our way out of Chef Mickey's (we did stop by the podium to thank them for our unbirthday magic) and to pose for one last picture with the unbirthday boy's very favorite character.

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

[serendipity]

What a great sport your "aladdin" is and how cute of an idea to think of celebrating an "unbirthday" for stitch. Great idea to put a stuffed animal under "goofys" pillow. Thank goodness you were able to retrieve all of your cards- how stressful and hard it would have been had you not! I can't wait to hear more abot your beautiful families adventure!