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

[All7OfUs]

Look! Another enabler!


Kathy

Could be considered my middle name.

 

[KathyRN137]

I would love to go, but just can't swing it financially. I really hope it works out for you to go!

Thanks so much!

Could be considered my middle name.

Lets BOTH work on her!!


Kathy

 

[jordanyosh]

Would Ed mind if I went?

 

[maroo]

Jordan - You crack me up!

 

[jordanyosh]

Jordan - You crack me up!

I don't know where the stuff comes from...

 

[KathyRN137]

Chapter 21: Ed Gets In The Zone...


Monday Morning
November 2, 2009
Day Three

Disney’s Hollywood Studios


True to form, it was Billy the human alarm clock that woke me again on Day Three. Fortunately he was not wet! Yippee! My first Disney day without pee-pee laundry! He came into bed with Ed and me and we made a “Billy Sandwich” by snuggling him in between us. He really loves this, sensory-wise, and he laughed and laughed as we squeezed him tight and gave him the hugs (pressure) that he so enjoys.


Today we were headed to DHS and because Billy insisted on seeing Fantasmic (he had become obsessed with watching clips of it on YouTube), I had been forced to plan our day around the showing of the Studio’s evening spectacular. Historically, the Jersey Week crowds tend to increase as the week progresses, so I hoped that Monday would be a good day to fit this in. Still, I was a bit apprehensive about the crowds.


Billy was very vocal about what he wanted to see and do. In addition to Fantasmic, he was really excited about the new Toy Story Midway Mania (as was I) and the Sunset Boulevard thrillers, ToT and R&RC. He also had developed a bit of a crush on Ariel, so Voyage of the Little Mermaid was a definite. And Muppets. And Star Tours. And dancing with the characters at Hollywood & Vine! And 50’s Prime Time Café! Whew! We had a busy day ahead of us so I got Billy washed and dressed as quickly as possible.


Meanwhile… out on the living room sofa bed….


You would think that after we had enjoyed such a restful evening at “home” that the girls would be hopping out of bed that morning, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. This was not the case, however, even after I opened the heavy drapes and let the sunshine stream into the room and across their faces. Oh the groaning and moaning! You would think that I was asking my daughter to get up for school... she is so not a morning person. Unfortunately there were no animals out on the savanna yet, so I couldn’t even use that as incentive.


Once again sweet Catie volunteered to shower first, leaving Tricia to sleep for a few more minutes but assigning her the duty of making up the couch. Of course, she usually wound up helping to put away the pillows and blankets anyway, so Tricia had really been making out with their arrangement! Oh well, I wasn’t going to interfere... better to let them work these things out for themselves.


The Weather Channel was calling for a partly sunny day, high of 83, with a chance of a thunderstorm... another shorts and tee-shirts day. The girls sat at the breakfast counter and ate their cereal, wet heads wrapped in towels, while Billy ran around the living room dropping dry Cheerios all over the place. (Have I mentioned that the DVC villas provide vacuums, dustpans and brooms?) It’s like they were made for our family! It was so nice to eat breakfast in the room like this; I think it saves so much time.


Of course, we needed all the extra time we could get because the girls still had to finish their beautification routines...

This was Ed:

Oh well. I was trying to avoid the commando style of vacationing, anyway! Besides, we were planning to be in the park all day, so we had best pace ourselves. We got our park bags all packed and I made sure to bring along the ponchos. By 8:30 we were off to the resort bus stop.


We arrived at the park and bag check and turnstiles were uneventful. Well, Ed usually does have to help Billy with the finger scan, but they got through quickly. Now here is a situation in which I am so very grateful that we have the Guest Assistance Card for Billy. The very last thing I wanted to do was start the morning with a frenzied rush to TSM for fastpasses with hoards of other guests. Besides, he and the girls were asking to go directly to Sunset Boulevard for the thrillers... ToT in particular. Why, you may ask??


Because Daddy had agreed to ride Tower of Terror for the very first time!!


Yes, somehow we had been able to convince him that there were no centrifugal forces at work in the haunted hotel and that he was not likely to get nauseous. Just in case, however, he had avoided eating breakfast with the rest of us and had only had a granola bar and a cup of tea back at the resort. He wasn’t taking any chances!


“Come on, let’s get this over with!” he grumped, playfully. We started down Hollywood Boulevard but were stopped by a photopass photographer along the way.

There seems to have been a bit of sun glare, despite the cloudy conditions.


A few random shots along the way: (My niece is thinking about becoming a model and is very much into "Couture"):

​

We turned down Sunset and the girls started teasing Ed that he was walking “Walk of Terror” and began doing the ominous Theme from Jaws:

Dum Dum!
Dum Dum!
Dum Dum Dum Dum Dum Dum! Dum Dum!


Billy just laughed and held Ed’s hand as they walked up the street repeating, “Ride with Mommy and Daddy!” over and over. He was just as tickled as the rest of us were that Ed was finally going to ride with us. The girls stopped to take lots of pictures.

Look what the TSM Dash has done to Sunset Boulevard in the morning! Everyone must be at Pixar Place!

We arrived at ToT to find a ghostly bell hop and ... a 13-minute wait on standby! Would 13 be Ed's lucky number?

We walked a good way through the queue until we reached the end of the waiting line. I was actually getting a little annoyed because I was trying to take pictures of the dusty hotel and Ed kept motioning for me to hurry and catch up with the rest of them!

He thought the queue was really well done. He’s a Sci-Fi fan, so he found the Twilight Zone concept appealing.

Here’s me, trying to get a picture of the “Rod Sterling” intro... it was difficult because Billy was excited so he was jumping up and down and kept bumping into me!

Oh my! Looks like we'll have to take the service elevator...

Soon the camera had to be stashed away along with the rest of our belongings under the seat... we got the first row!! I remembered to tell Ed about the handles on either sides of the seats and then, away we went into the story! Billy was thrilled to be seated between us and he chose to hold our arms instead of the handlebars. Up and down we went and lots of people behind us were shrieking loudly.

“Stop shouting!” Billy called out (I had to laugh!) “Stop shouting!”

He really loves this ride, and usually it’s just the dark that frightens him, but this time, the screaming of the other guests really bothered him. Perhaps next time I’ll have him wear earplugs.


On the way out...

We exited and of course, the girls made a big deal about congratulating Dad/Uncle Ed for doing the ride. Our picture was "meh" though, so we didn't take it.


I never stopped to look at these "hotel shop windows" outside the Tower of Terror exit before ... they are pretty interesting.

Ed emerged from his first ride unscathed; he was pleasantly surprised to find that ToT did not make him feel nauseous! Hurray, another attraction conquered! (Last trip he was coerced into Mission Space-Green with the same happy result.) When the kids clamored for a second drop, however, he opted out. Like I said, he wasn’t taking any chances. He departed for Starring Rolls in search of breakfast while we went back for another wild trip through The Zone...



Kathy

 

[jordanyosh]

We all have our things to conquer....congrats to Ed! It is one of the best rides EVER.

 

[mom2mek]

Yay for Ed!!! (I tried it for the first time this last trip, too!) - It really is a great ride! It sounds like a fairly relaxing morning so far! Can't wait to hear how everyone liked TSM!!!

Sara

 

[carissanboys]

Good for Ed! I'm starting to think I may need to challenge myself to do all of the rides I'm scared of on my January trip.

 

[AmandaSparks730]

Yay, Ed!

 

[Mickey_Mom]

Good job!

I love the ToT queue area, very creepy. Last trip I opted out of actually doing the ride in favor of getting DH on it for his first time. He declared it 'pretty good' which in George speak means great!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Way to go Ed!! I'm still very afraid to try MS, even the green version. The fact that Ed could do it gives me hope!

 

[KatGarcia]

Ed's a better man than I, I do NOT do TOT.

 

[eandesmom]

WTG Ed!

What a happy morning all around!!!

 

[Hedy]

Congrats to Ed!

 

[KathyRN137]

We all have our things to conquer....congrats to Ed! It is one of the best rides EVER.

It's certainly a thrill!!

And it's so good to have you back, Jordy!

Yay for Ed!!! (I tried it for the first time this last trip, too!) - It really is a great ride! It sounds like a fairly relaxing morning so far! Can't wait to hear how everyone liked TSM!!!

It's so much fun riding with someone who's doing the ride for the first time. Of course, I was too busy holding on for dear life to look at Ed during the drops!

Good for Ed! I'm starting to think I may need to challenge myself to do all of the rides I'm scared of on my January trip.

I avoided ToT for the first two trips we took to Disney. Of course, the kids were much younger, so no one really wanted to do it! Once Billy could do it, well, I figured that I could do it too (and it wasn't as bad as I had imagined!)



Kathy

 

[KathyRN137]

Yay, Ed!

I'll pass that along!

Good job!

I love the ToT queue area, very creepy. Last trip I opted out of actually doing the ride in favor of getting DH on it for his first time. He declared it 'pretty good' which in George speak means great!

I think it's the anticipation that gets to people... once you've "survived" it, you realize that it wasn't as terrifying as you had imagined.

Way to go Ed!! I'm still very afraid to try MS, even the green version. The fact that Ed could do it gives me hope!

Green has no spinning at all. Ed was rather underwhelmed after all the hype, although thankful he wasn't going to feel sick!


Kathy

 

[KathyRN137]

Ed's a better man than I, I do NOT do TOT.

I think R&RC is much rougher... do you do that one?

WTG Ed!

What a happy morning all around!!!

The calm before the storm.....

Congrats to Ed!

Kathy

 

[jcc0621]

WTG Ed, even though you are a Yankees fan

 

[KathyRN137]

WTG Ed, even though you are a Yankees fan

Something tells me you are never going to let us live that down, Janet!


Kathy