A Halloween Adventure in Autism (11/12) New Thread Begun on TR Board!

[familyblackout]

This morning we were having breakfast and I was taking the new Disney plates out of the dishwasher... Billy spied them and I guess it triggered something in his brain, because he suddenly announced, "We will call Catie and she will come to our house for a Disney party!"

Wow! Was that a complete sentence, or what??

So, naturally, we had to grab the phone so he could call his cousin and officially invite her to our house for a pary!

I was so happy to hear him speaking appropriately on the phone to his cousin... conversations are difficult enough for him, but even more so on the phone. After he hung up, he took my hand and led me to our calendar so we could circle the date for our "99 Days to Disney Party"... July 22. He actually has school that day (a field trip to a state park) and I'm working a half-day. But, it is the actual day of our coundown, so we'll just plan an afternoon get together.
Kathy

YAAY!! Oh, that is so awesome!
That made me tear up
I just love that Disney magic! Lightening McQueen really brought my son (3, and I believe on the spectrum) out.
I wish I had a Disney Store near me! I used to live near one, and being so close to WDW, I never even really thought about it! Now I am farther from the mouse (though still in FL), AND there's no Disney Store, so I am really jonesing!!!
Good for you on the healthy eating!! (me, it was my son's birthday this week, soooo... not so much. I don't want to weigh myself, because it would be too embarrassing to move my ticker BACK!!! )

 

[mousescrapper]

Great Shopping Loot! I saw the stuff Carissa bought too...very fun, love all of it! Can't wait to hear all about the 99 day party how fun

Michael really loves stuffed animals too...and I guess I am a sucker for buying him more too.... at the Harry Potter thing, he was content w/ a bag of Bertie Bott's jelly beans, but then we saw the plush and well we came home w/ Fawkes too


hearing all the about planning and such, makes me glad our next trip will be at the end of the month. I know you'll let us know if Mike stears your right on this trip, I used him for the 08 trip and then just the UG charts for the March trip...both seemed OK, a few bad apples on each trip...but I may do TGM for next yr w/ more time to plan it out and consult the UG charts but don't want to be overally either...


and speaking of trips.....

There is a slight chance we'll do WDW at Tgiving but that is a big maybe.

I like this slight chance!

 

[KathyRN137]

Your pics make me want to go to the Disney store. I love the plates and all the Up Stuff to! Your party will be super fun!

Tricia and I went to Party City today and picked up some more things: napkins and cups to match the colors in the plates and goody bag stuff!!

Oh my goodness! I am going to have to hit the Disney Store today and see if they have those same dishes! Love them!!!

I hope you have success! They are great for a party, but also for summertime BBQ on the deck!!

Kathy, I just adore the new Disney summer plates, and what a great sale price on all of them!

Thanks!! I like that they each have different characters on them... the colors are a bit different, but they all go together so nicely!

I wish I had a Disney Store near me! I used to live near one, and being so close to WDW, I never even really thought about it! Now I am farther from the mouse (though still in FL), AND there's no Disney Store, so I am really jonesing!!!

My condolences! We used to have a Disney Store at the local mall, but then it closed. But the next nearest location is only about a 20 minute ride, so I'm lucky.

Great Shopping Loot! I saw the stuff Carissa bought too...very fun, love all of it! Can't wait to hear all about the 99 day party how fun

Oooh, I'll have to check out her thread! I suppose they're starting to clear out the summer stuff to make room for Halloween merchandise! That makes me happy!! Means my trip is getting closer!!


Kathy

 

[KathyRN137]

Love that Billy called Catie to invite her to the party! How sweet of him!

He loves his cousin!

YAAY!! Oh, that is so awesome!
That made me tear up
I just love that Disney magic! Lightening McQueen really brought my son (3, and I believe on the spectrum) out.

Disney Magic has always brought out an amazing amount of language from Billy... it really lights a spark in him... He makes such progress during and after our trips, verbally and socially!! I think if you can find something that touches a chord in your child you should jump on it and squeeze every drop of magic out of it!!!

Kathy

 

[joy13]

Great update! I love that Billy got so excited about the party and called his cousin - just awesome!

We used to have a Disney store about 30 min away, but it closed

 

[eandesmom]

Great update! I love the plates and Tricia's shirts! And the plushies You can never have too many plushies

I hear you on the 90 day park hour/ADR. Sadly even though I didn't make my ADR's until 41 days out, park hours STILL changed between when I made our ADR's and when we went. And while the crowd calendars were helpful...when your entire week is in the 8's...well....not much helps lol! Except EMH.

 

[KathyRN137]

Great update! I love that Billy got so excited about the party and called his cousin - just awesome!

We used to have a Disney store about 30 min away, but it closed

Awww! That's too bad... The stores always have lots more than what you can get online...plus, it's always nice to actually see and feel what you're buying!


Kathy

 

[KathyRN137]

Great update! I love the plates and Tricia's shirts! And the plushies You can never have too many plushies

I hear you on the 90 day park hour/ADR. Sadly even though I didn't make my ADR's until 41 days out, park hours STILL changed between when I made our ADR's and when we went. And while the crowd calendars were helpful...when your entire week is in the 8's...well....not much helps lol! Except EMH.

The ever-changing hours drive me nuts! "Jersey Week" can get a little crowded, too, so I feel like I'm losing whatever advantage I had by being "in the know!" about factors that affect the crowd levels...

Kathy

 

[KathyRN137]

Prepping Billy for the New Version of HOP


Well, if you've read about our past WDW adventures you know that Billy loves Magic Kingdom attractions that feature audio-animatronics. Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise and Enchanted Tiki Room usually come to mind. But Billy (being Billy) has a peculiar fascination with the Hall of Presidents! A classic "Walt" attraction, for sure, but how many times has someone in your family begged you to see it multiple times?!

Perhaps its seeing all those "robots" up on the stage...perhaps its the wide screen film...perhaps its the musical score...perhaps I will never know! Whatever the reasons, he loves to visit the HOP.

Thankfully the recent closure of the attraction for major renovations did not occur during one of our visits! He would have been inconsolable! (Funny... he knows Space Mountain will be "down" during our upcoming trip, and it doesn't seem to faze him.) He learned all about the new president in school, but I wasn't quite sure if this would translate into a realization that his beloved HOP would be changing to reflect that.

In addition, there have been lots of other changes to the attraction.... a new musical score, new speaking parts for Presidents Washington and Lincoln, and really an entire new theme that will pemeate the presentation. Hmmm. How will he react??? Autistic spectrum kids can be quite rigid and usually do not accept change well.

(Amy and Scrappie have just thought, "That's really the understatement of the year, Kath!")

The best thing for me to do is to prepare him ahead of time. How lucky I felt when I discovered some YouTube clips that discussed the process. We watched them together a few times, so hopefully he will not be taken aback when he sees the "new" show.

I've included links in case you might be interested! Enjoy! (You know you love it!!)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdpAbHwoFq0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ5hl4ktn-o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3rPpDTGNuk


Kathy

 

[All7OfUs]

Wow! I didn't know they were going to change more than just adding Obama. New score? new parts for Lincon and Washington? are they trying to be more PC or what was the motivation?? Hmmm....

Glad you could Prep Billy ahead of time, that will add some level of comfort and predictability for him.

 

[moparop]

Love those Disney store finds!! Doug would go crazy for the Dug and Alpha. He randomly yells out "Squirrel!" and laughs hysterically at himself.

 

[KathyRN137]

Wow! I didn't know they were going to change more than just adding Obama. New score? new parts for Lincon and Washington? are they trying to be more PC or what was the motivation?? Hmmm....

Glad you could Prep Billy ahead of time, that will add some level of comfort and predictability for him.

I suppose that Disney figured it was a good time to update the attraction with new digital sound and video... they had to close it anyway to add President Obama.

Here is some more info on the update from Marc Goldhaber and Jeff Kober....


Barack Obama joins Hall of Presidents

Following a week of sneak previews and Passholder previews, the Hall of Presidents opened on Friday for special viewings by the new citizens from the morning's naturalization ceremony, and to the general public in the afternoon. It officially opened on Saturday, July 4.

The new show carries the subtitle "A Celebration of Liberty's Leaders" and for the first time features speaking roles for three presidents. Abraham Lincoln was the only speaking President from the show's opening in 1971 until the addition of Bill Clinton in 1993. From that time on, the sitting President also spoke in the attraction. This year, George Washington also is given a voice.


The recordings are a mixture of old and new. Abraham Lincoln is again voiced by Royal Dano, with the recitation of the complete Gettysburg Address from recordings made for the Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln attraction at the New York World's Fair. Barack Obama, of course, provides his own voice for his doppelganger. George Washington is voiced by David Morse, who appeared as Washington in HBO's award-winning miniseries "John Adams."

Of Dano's recordings, Jeff Kober wrote in his blog last Friday:

In an interview during the Hall of Presidents press event, Kathy Rogers, senior show producer for Walt Disney Imagineering, discussed the possibility of using Royal Dano's voice again in the revised Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln show coming to Disneyland.

What his narrative might be remains to be seen. In this show, Abraham Lincoln offers the Gettysburg Address, believed to be picked up off of original recordings made for the LP Record originally done for Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.

While you anticipate this return, definitely come back to The Hall of Presidents. The changes are worth visiting when you're at the Magic Kingdom


Kathy

 

[KathyRN137]

Love those Disney store finds!! Doug would go crazy for the Dug and Alpha. He randomly yells out "Squirrel!" and laughs hysterically at himself.

Kathy

 

[mrsksomeday]

Great idea to prep him Kathy. I will be waiting to see how he adjusts, but you do so well in making sure there aren't surprises, I think he will be fine. He has a fantastic Mommy .

 

[KathyRN137]

Great idea to prep him Kathy. I will be waiting to see how he adjusts, but you do so well in making sure there aren't surprises, I think he will be fine. He has a fantastic Mommy .

Aww, thanks Tracy! You're sweet!

Did you get the tee shirts from the Disney Store??

Kathy

 

[mrsksomeday]

Aww, thanks Tracy! You're sweet!

Did you get the tee shirts from the Disney Store??

Kathy

I got 2 shirts for Christian. Hannah already has some Disney stuff and I wanted to make sure Christian doesn't feel like everything is for her.

 

[Charleston Princess]

I will have to watch those youtube clips -- I am curious to see the changes -- all of the reviews I have read have been very postive so far.

 

[eandesmom]

Prepping Billy for the New Version of HOP
Well, if you've read about our past WDW adventures you know that Billy loves Magic Kingdom attractions that feature audio-animatronics. Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise and Enchanted Tiki Room usually come to mind. But Billy (being Billy) has a peculiar fascination with the Hall of Presidents! A classic "Walt" attraction, for sure, but how many times has someone in your family begged you to see it multiple times?!

Kathy

DS8 was inconsolable that it was closed and he couldn't go see it, it was on his list of "must sees". But then very excited about the reason, Obama. Go figure!

Very very smart to be prepping him and how great that you found those links!

 

[DearDaisyinDurham]

We have not visited HOP since the 90's as DH lumps it in w/ COP (not to be visited unless under duress) but I really want to see the updates....we're thinking of planning our next trip to be in March again as spring was so nice at WDW

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Confession time...I have NEVER done the HOP. Unless I did when I was little but I definitely don't remember it!

Other things that I've never done at Disney as an adult

Country Bears
Main St Vehicles
Tiki Room
Tom Sawyer Island
Astro Orbiter
Race Cars
American Adventure
Ellen's Energy Adventure
Movies in China, France, Canada
Circle of Life
Lights Motors Action
Journey in Narnia
Sounds Dangerous.

Also never been to the waterparks or the mini golf courses!

This year I finally- made it to the Boardwalk, rode the Riverboat, rode Living with the Land, and rode CoP so there is always room for improvement on every trip!