A Halloween Adventure in Autism (11/7) Prayer Request for Catie (p.129)

[moparop]

Poor Billy! I hope this was a quick 12 hour virus...

 

[Charleston Princess]

Poor Billy and poor Kathy -- dealing with fever in the middle of the night is never fun!

What a dilemma to face after a few hours of sleep as well!

 

[IluvXU]

This makes me remember even with a car to get some medicine for the kids for our trip... just in case!

 

[Mickey_Mom]

Oh Billy. The happiest place on earth, your favorite place in the world and you're sick. Just not fair.

 

[KathyRN137]

Oh d-d-d-dear

Definately a lose/lose situation...you don't want Billy to get worse, and you don't want him to be upset while the girls were having fun...then again, you don't want the girls to have to stay around Billy at the risk of THEM getting sick, too...

Well, as far as that last one goes... I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that when it comes to kids and viruses, if one gets it, they all wind up falling like dominoes.

Oh boy, poor Billy. Hope it does not get any worse. No one wants to be at Disney!!

Thanks, Mary! But its something we all need to be ready for. Next time I'm bringing a BIG bottle of orange medicine!

Poor sweet Billy, always polite even when he is sick. I am so sorry he got sick on your trip, that breaks my heart.

Thank you, Tracy! He still wasn't himself when we met up with you a couple of days later... he's usually much more cheerful!

Oh no, poor Billy (and mom)! I hate the dilemna of deciding whether to change plans or see if the kid can make it.

Like I said, Denise, it's a lose-lose situation!
Oh well, we aren't the ones in control, no matter how much we think we are!


Kathy

 

[KathyRN137]

Poor Billy! I hope this was a quick 12 hour virus...

*Sigh* Unfortunately, Margaret, it was not...

Poor Billy and poor Kathy -- dealing with fever in the middle of the night is never fun!

What a dilemma to face after a few hours of sleep as well!

Jackie, it's so true... a broken sleep really affects you the next morning.

This makes me remember even with a car to get some medicine for the kids for our trip... just in case!

Oh, definitely! I packed enough Motrin for a headache or two, I wasn't even thinking about anyone getting really sick!

Oh Billy. The happiest place on earth, your favorite place in the world and you're sick. Just not fair.

I felt as though poor Billy lost a great big chunk out of his beloved Disney vacation... but he was such a good boy throughout the entire ordeal. I really want to make it up to him next year with an extra-long trip!


Kathy

 

[KathyRN137]

Chapter 33: Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Tuesday
November 3, 2009
Day Four



What to do? What to do? Would Billy get worse? Should I cancel our ressie for breakfast with Pooh and friends? Should I bag the Magic Kingdom completely and just take the girls down to the pool for the morning? These thoughts swirled in my head as I showered and dressed quickly. During our stay I had become so very appreciative of that second bathroom in the Kidani one-bedroom villa...it made getting ready in the morning so much easier since the two teens had a bathroom all to themselves.


When I emerged from the master bath, Billy was awake. He and Ed were sitting up against the massive wooden headboard cushioned with several colorful pillows and were watching TV. The drapes were open now and hazy gray light streamed in through the lace curtains. Billy looked flushed again and said his head hurt. Ugh.

Without bothering to dry my hair or put on makeup, I grabbed my bag and went down to the gift shop in search of more liquid medicine. I felt fairly confident that they would have some kind of children’s stuff there, but I remember thinking that it would probably be Tylenol, which Billy hates. Hopefully we could get him to take it…either that, or he would have to learn how to swallow pills real quick.


The Kidani lobby was nearly deserted. A couple of families were checking in and an old man in Bermuda shorts and black socks was walking around snapping pictures of the African artwork. The rhythmic sound of tribal drums and chanting floated in from hidden speakers. Under different circumstances it would have made me smile appreciatively… there’s nothing like a Disney when it comes to involving all the senses in the resort experience. Unfortunately, I had other things on my mind.


I was the only customer at Johari Treasures and the CM behind the counter greeted me with a cheery “Good Morning!” Oh, how I wished it was! I found the small section that stocked personal care items and was overjoyed to find small bottles of the orange medicine in stock! Then I picked one up and looked at the price tag. I couldn’t believe it... $7.50 for four ounces of liquid Motrin!


Okay, okay… I love Disney and realize that their goal is to make money as well as magic. But, its one thing to make a little profit off of guests by jacking up the prices of sunscreen and deodorant they forgot to pack; its quite another to take advantage of a child being sick while on vacation. Shame on you, Disney!


What could I do? Not knowing how long Billy’s fever would last, I bought three of the little bottles. Let’s see… three tsp every 4-5 hours…that should give us about a three-day supply. If the fever stayed really high longer than that, we’d be headed to the hospital, not the first aid station. Clutching the bag holding the little bottles of orange magic, I quickly got back on the elevator and rode up to the third floor.


Upon entering the villa I was immediately accosted by the girls who were anxious to know what we were going to do. Shooing them away and tossing a quick suggestion over my shoulder that they use the time to straighten up the living room a bit, I rushed into the bedroom. Billy lay there, flushed and panting… his breathing rapid and shallow.


“Do you think we should get him to a doctor?” Ed asked, concern written all over his face. “Let me check his temperature again and see how he does after more Motrin,” I replied. (Sometimes its good to be a nurse.)


We got a reading of 103, and that’s while he was still covered by the Motrin. (It was only three hours after his last dose of medicine.) Nevertheless, I gave him another dose and went into the bathroom to run a washcloth under some cold water. I wrung it out and brought it back to where Billy was stretched out on the pillows, looking pitiful.


“Today we go to the Magic Kingdom!” he declared. Hoo-boy. When he did not receive an affirmation he stated it again, as if we hadn’t heard. “We go to the Magic Kingdom!” I covered his forehead with the cold, damp cloth. Even burning up with fever, Billy knew what the plan was and he wanted us to follow it.

“Billy, you’re sick…” Ed began.

“No sick!” he replied. “We go to the Magic Kingdom. Pleeeese, Mommy? I want the Magic Kingdom, please!” He stared at me expectantly.

“No, Billy has to stay here and rest,” said Ed firmly.

“No! No! No! No! I want the Magic Kingdom,” he wailed.


It just about broke my heart. I had to look away and I caught sight of the girls standing in the doorway, awaiting our decision. “Okay,” I said, “I’ll stay here with Billy and Dad will take you two to the Magic Kingdom.” They turned and went to gather their things. “You’d better hurry if you’re going to make that eight o’clock reservation,” I said to Ed, slipping off my sandals and preparing to take over Snuggle Duty. But Ed objected.


“Kathy, I’ve got something to do while you’re all gone… I’ve homework that I need to finish.” He got up off the bed and retrieved his laptop from the desk. “If you stay you’ll just mope around.”


“If I stay, I’ll be taking care of my Billy, not moping around,” I said, a little tartly. Imagine him thinking that a mom would easily agree to go on ahead to the Magic Kingdom while her poor little guy was sick!


“Fine,” I huffed. “You stay here in the room and the girls and I will go to the pool for an hour or so. From the other room we distinctly heard the two girls cry, “Awwww!” Ed continued to insist that he would stay while I took the girls to the MK. “Why should the girls miss out on Crystal Palace just because Billy is sick?” he demanded.


We proceeded to go back and forth, arguing about who should stay with Billy and who should go with the girls. I didn’t want to leave Billy, but Ed did have a good point. Not only did he need to finish his homework and study for an upcoming exam, he would probably use that “stern Daddy” voice to make Billy stay in the bed and rest a whole lot easier than I could. Realizing that I had lost the battle, I quit protesting and reluctantly went to organize my park bag. The medicine and cool compresses must have helped because he looked much better. After covering my boy’s face with kisses and giving Ed instructions about when to give the next dose of Motrin, I tore myself away… leaving Ed to console Billy with an offer of Cheerios.


While we had been arguing, the clock had been steadily ticking away. It was almost seven-thirty and, given the nature of our luck that morning, I doubted that we would make it in time to check in at the Crystal Palace by eight. I borrowed Catie’s cell phone (my charger still had not arrived from home) and as we walked along the hall toward the elevator I called Disney Dining so I could explain the situation and ask that our reservation be held. Fortunately, the CM on the other end was very understanding and told me she would call the Crystal Palace personally to have them hold our ressie. I snapped the phone shut just as we were passing through the front door.


Lo and behold, what did we see pulling up to the temporary resort stop but the bus heading to the Magic Kingdom! Thank Heaven, if there was any time we had the need for good bus karma, it was at that very moment! We climbed aboard and found three seats. Tricia sat next to me and patted my leg. “Don’t worry, Mom,” she said, “Billy will be okay.” I sighed guiltily, still believing that I should have been the one to stay behind. “We may have to make this a half-day and come back after lunch,” I warned. “I want to give your Dad a break.” She and Catie nodded understandingly and quickly turned their conversation to other things. I sighed again as the recorded announcements blared over the speakers, and we were given “special tips” to help us enjoy our visit to the Magic Kingdom:


“…we recommend you line up at the parade route at least thirty minutes before the start of the parade…”


“Yeah, right!” I heard Tricia scoff. “Like there’d be any spots left by then!” I laughed. How wise in the ways of Disney we had become! Eventually the blue spires of Cinderella’s Castle and the gleaming white facade of Space Mountain came into view. We craned our necks to see them better. Its usually such a thrill to get that first glimpse of the Magic Kingdom, but that morning it was bittersweet. “Poor Billy,” I thought, sadly. “Hopefully he’ll be well enough to visit with Mickey and the gang at Chef Mickey’s tonight.”


Our bus pulled up to the depot and since it was just under an hour until the park officially opened, it was a relatively quick trip through bag check and the turnstiles. It was a quarter after eight and guests were already through the little rope drop the CMs set up for early diners. Only the lovely sight of a near-empty Main Street with the Castle in the background could make me smile that morning:

Another hazy day… but it wasn’t all that warm yet.

Can’t believe we weren’t later than this!

At first I thought the folks to the right were taking the Keys to the Kingdom tour, but they were all dressed in buisiness attire and had Disney name badges.



We were greeted by a succession of PhotoPass photographers as we walked down Main Street, but we were already late for our reservation so we had to decline for the time being. As we rounded the corner at Casey’s we saw that there was a considerable, but not horrendous, number of people waiting to be called inside. I jumped on the end of the line to check in and was pleasantly surprised at how quickly it moved. The two CMs at the podium really knew their stuff! I gave my name and ADR time to one of them and before I could even begin explaining the reason for us being so late, she said that we were fine...they had been given the instructions to hold the ressie. I went on to explain that we would be a party of three instead of five because one of the children was sick and she took the time to say how sorry she was and how terrible it was to be sick on vacation, etc. It was so nice to be treated in such a warm and friendly manner.


Turning to re-join Tricia and Catie, who were waiting off to one side, who should we see but Nancy (Dreamer & Wisher) and her family! If you recall, we had enjoyed a DIS meet with them during the MNSSHP Halloween night. After laughing and exchanging surprised greetings I told them about Billy and they were very sympathetic and wished him better soon. Such a nice family! They were soon called for their table, which left us with a bit of time to take some pictures of the Castle from our vantage point on the CP porch:


Everybody say “Ahhhhh!”

Amazingly, we were soon called in ourselves. We followed the hostess inside and turned left. Funny, we’ve eaten at the Crystal Palace at least four times and we’ve always been seated on that side of the restaurant! We were led to a lovely table situated alongside the bank of multi-paned windows. Outside, the dense green foliage seemed to be part of the carefully designed landscaping that segwayed from Main Street into Adventure land.

Now, quickly! Off to the buffet before the characters start coming ‘round! I sent the girls first so that I could stay with the bags. Out came the camera and I was ready!


Tricia and Catie returned. Catie’s plate was piled high with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, Mickey waffles and a Danish. Tricia brought back a small dish of watermelon cubes and a hard-boiled egg. Do you see how slender Catie is and how curvy my daughter is? I tell ‘ya, Life just isn’t fair…why oh why can’t we all be born with that kind of metabolism?

I went up next and returned with Mickey waffles and sausage. Mmm! Mmm! Mmm! A cup of hot tea and I was set!


When the tables were just about filled, the characters began circulating. First came sweet, gloomy Eeyore:

(Please disregard the broken date stamp on Catie’s camera... and the fact that she and Eeyore apparantly caught me mid-chew!)


Our favorite “small and insignificant creature” came next:

Rapidly followed by this trouncy, flouncy fellow!

These three Hundred Acre Woods friends whirled from table to table in rapid succession and then we were left with a lull. Where was Pooh-Bear? Oh well, we used our time wisely and cleaned our plates. The girls went up to the buffet a second time. Tricia returned with more watermelon and Catie brought a plate full of small Danish and mini muffins! I couldn’t let her get herself sick by eating it all, so I took one of the Danish. I am a very considerate aunt.


Our server came by with our check and I gave her my KTTWC, still hoping that we would have a visit from the silly old bear before we left. When she returned with my card and we still hadn’t seen Pooh, I decided to accept the situation and get moving. The park had opened and outside the windows we could see guests streaming down Main Street and around the Hub. I decided to settle for a picture of the Pooh topiary in his absence.

The girls seemed more interested in taking topiary pictures than in rushing out to do rides, so I decided to go with the flow and let them.

Turns out it was a good thing we had lingered. Music blared and out came Pooh with his parade sign, motioning for all the children to follow him around the room! Catie still had her camera out and managed to catch one blurry shot as he marched past us:

Ah well! Better luck next time…

We stepped outside and noticed that the temperature had risen a few degrees. We stopped to put on a bit of sunscreen. You can get sunburned on those hazy days far more easily than you can when the sun is shining brightly.


Normally I’d be hustling it over to Fantasyland at this point to get Billy on Dumbo before the line got too crazy but today, I could not interest either girl in flying on an elephant. “Mom, Dumbo is for babies!” Tricia sniffed. “Well then I’m a big baby!” I declared, “waghhh! waghhh! waghhh!” She just rolled her eyes. Disgusted, I turned to Catie and asked what she wanted to do. “I want to get some pictures of the Castle before it gets too crowded,” she replied. Okay, you’ve got it Catie! Let’s go!

Ackk! Hey, Buddy, you just ruined a really nice shot!



Let’s get a PhotoPass photographer to help us….

Hmmm. That sky doesn’t look so good, does it?


“Well girls, what now?” I asked. They shrugged their shoulders in perfect unison and uttered the phrase teenaged girls always resort to when they can’t make up their minds… “I don’t know!” Now it was Mom’s turn to roll her eyes. Funny thing was: I, too, couldn't decide what we should do first! I think perhaps we were all feeling a bit off-balance since Billy and Ed weren’t there… I never realized how much our touring plans revolved around Billy’s rigid sense of which attractions needed to be done and in which order.

“Well,” I said, “Can we at least pick which land we should head to?” I figured that once we got there, we could iron out the particulars.


“I don’t care,” Tricia replied. I could see that she was starting to get her Grump on. “Well, you two had better pick a land or we’re going back to the resort.”

Immediately, Catie blurted out, “Fantasyland!”

“Fine!” I said, “let’s go!”


Now, whenever we had entered Fantasyland on our past two or three trips to the World, we always seemed to go around the Castle and not through it. I think it had something to do with the Castle forecourt stage. In any case, that day the paths leading up to and through the Castle around the stage area appeared to be open and in use. So, I decided to take the direct, yet very scenic, route to Fantasyland:

It had been a while since I had the chance to admire the beautiful mosaics inside. We stopped to ooh and ahh over them and, of course, to take a few pictures:

//Close-up shot:

When we emerged from under the Castle and stepped into Fantasyland I felt a pang thinking of Billy. He loves Fantasyland so! I told the girls that I wanted to find some place a bit quieter and make a quick call to check on him. As we walked around the side of the Castle, we unexpectedly ran into a loveable character!

Whoever could it be?


Kathy

 

[MeMom]

Turning to re-join Tricia and Catie, who were waiting off to one side, who should we see but Nancy (Dreamer & Wisher) and her family! If you recall, we had enjoyed a DIS meet with them during the MNSSHP Halloween night. After laughing and exchanging surprised greetings I told them about Billy and they were very sympathetic and wished him better soon. Such a nice family!



Tricia and Catie returned. Catie’s plate was piled high with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, Mickey waffles and a Danish. Tricia brought back a small dish of watermelon cubes and a hard-boiled egg. Do you see how slender Catie is and how curvy my daughter is? I tell ‘ya, Life just isn’t fair…why oh why can’t we all be born with that kind of metabolism?

Nice to have a DIS meet.

My metabolism doesn't stand a chance - I would have had Catie's plate and Tricia's watermelon!

I love the mosaic work in the castle. It is sometimes hard to get a picture of it without other people walking by, though.

 

[MEK]

I think the liquid Motrin is the best thing EVER! I am so sorry Billy is feeling sick! I hope he recovers quickly. To his credit, I am pretty impressed that he still wanted to go, go, go.

I'm glad you took the girls to breakfast. You got some great early am photos. I love CP. The characters are an instant cheer!

That picture of the mosaics in beautiful. I love it. I learned the story when I took the KTTK tour, but now I forget what I was told!

Nice update. But I always get that nervous feeling in my stomach when I read about a sick kid!

 

[kimmylaj]

poor billy, ryan got sick towards the end of one of our trips coughing like he had tb i called our pediatrician from main street on the day before we were due to leave, he sounded so bad i didnt even know if i should put him on the plane, i figured people would be horrified by his cough. we went to the walk in and it was a 14 hour wait at 7am. our flight was at 7 that night. we moved to a 12pm flight so we could get to the pediatrician before she left needless to say after countless delays and plenty of meds we got home at midnight ....ugh..... i hate anyone being sick at disney , it just makes me want to cry. i hope as soon as he is feeling better , he gets to have a great day with dumbo and all of his faves

 

[praisehisname]

It breaks my heart, too, that Billy still wanted to go to MK even with the high fever. I really hope that when you called to check on him he was feeling better.

As we walked around the side of the Castle, we unexpectedly ran into a loveable character!

Whoever could it be?

Wouldn't that be something if it was Pooh???

 

[moparop]

I am so sad for Billy Kathy! I know how much he had been looking forward to that trip. It makes me even sadder he's going to have to wait so long for his next trip back.We always seem to see 3 out of 4 the characters at CP in about 5 minutes and then have to wait forever to see the last. Because of that, the 8:00 ADR always makes me so anxious.

I hope the morning at MK turns a corner for fun soon!

My guess is the Fairy Godmother!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Awww...poor Billy. What a hard choice for a mom to make....2 kids, both need you.....what to do??

Sounds like you had a nice breakfast despite missing Billy.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Poor Billy

1) I had that same crazy fever, accompanied by a hacking cough, for a couple days back in early May. Funny thing was, it went down fairly quickly. I only missed one day of school, and dragged my miserable, coughing, tired butt back as soon as I could.

2) I had this really weird dream last night that I met you, Tricia, and Billy in the MK...

 

[MHTeacher]

Wouldn't that be something if it was Pooh???

That's exactly what I was thinking!

I'm anxious to hear how Billy was as the day progressed.

 

[Hedy]

Poor everyone.
I'm LOLing at your comment about being a big baby.

 

[Mickey_Mom]

Ah yes.... the Fairy Godmother. That is her usual spot! You must have been thinking about Billy constantly all morning. I'd be a teary mess I think.

 

[SoonerGirl]

Oh, poor Billy, that breaks my heart that he felt so bad and was still begging to go to the Magic Kingdom. I can just imagine how you felt!

On our first trip with the kids Justin got sick and had to miss a day at MK and dinner at CP, Don ended up staying with him because he had his laptop and had work he could do, while I took Jared to the park and to have a meal with Pooh - a little deja vu here!

I feel for Tricia - my motabolism is like hers, I could never eat a plate like Catie's and not pay for it later. The rest of my family doesn't have the same problem as I do though - sometimes life is just not fair!

 

[KathyRN137]

Nice to have a DIS meet.

My metabolism doesn't stand a chance - I would have had Catie's plate and Tricia's watermelon!

I love the mosaic work in the castle. It is sometimes hard to get a picture of it without other people walking by, though.

I do remember having to wait a bit for the "all clear" and then quickly snap the mosaic pictures! (Unfortunately, that's why some came out blurry.)

My dad jokes that Catie has a "hallow leg!"

I think the liquid Motrin is the best thing EVER! I am so sorry Billy is feeling sick! I hope he recovers quickly. To his credit, I am pretty impressed that he still wanted to go, go, go.

I'm glad you took the girls to breakfast. You got some great early am photos. I love CP. The characters are an instant cheer!

That picture of the mosaics in beautiful. I love it. I learned the story when I took the KTTK tour, but now I forget what I was told!

Nice update. But I always get that nervous feeling in my stomach when I read about a sick kid!

I do remember learning that the one stepsister's face is "green with envy" and the other's is "red with rage." Also, they used real gold in the mosaics.

I don't know whether it was harder on Billy or on me to keep him "home."

....ugh..... i hate anyone being sick at disney , it just makes me want to cry. i hope as soon as he is feeling better , he gets to have a great day with dumbo and all of his faves

I often wonder how many germs our kids give and get on the plane! All that re-circulated air...

What a terrible way to end your vacation...

Kathy

 

[KathyRN137]

It breaks my heart, too, that Billy still wanted to go to MK even with the high fever. I really hope that when you called to check on him he was feeling better.

The hardest part was that he knew that he was so close, but still wasn't allowed to go!

Wouldn't that be something if it was Pooh???

I am so sad for Billy Kathy! I know how much he had been looking forward to that trip. It makes me even sadder he's going to have to wait so long for his next trip back.We always seem to see 3 out of 4 the characters at CP in about 5 minutes and then have to wait forever to see the last. Because of that, the 8:00 ADR always makes me so anxious.

I hope the morning at MK turns a corner for fun soon!

My guess is the Fairy Godmother!

//

Funny you should say that about the CP... this was the second time that happened to us as well. Three characters in rapid succession and then... waiting and waiting for the last one!

I really wanted to see my favorite bear.

Awww...poor Billy. What a hard choice for a mom to make....2 kids, both need you.....what to do??

Sounds like you had a nice breakfast despite missing Billy.

I'm very glad the girls didn't have to miss it. Neither of them sounded too excited about it until the possibility of not going came up. Then, all of a sudden, they couldn't live without the Crystal Palace!

At least Billy had fun the day before at Play and Dine...


Kathy