A Little Pixie Dust

[BeckyScott]

The Cast:
Becky- that's me!
Steve- the grumpy DH who will be converted shortly (see Day Two)
Richard- 10
Justin- 8 (autism and multiple food allergies)

The Background:
I spent a lot of time on the dis boards reading. And reading more. And making ADR's and emails about food allergies and buying odd things at the store to save money later.

Day One: Flight and Arrival
The Pixie Dust Day

And we're off! The kids had never been on a plane before. We flew SouthWest and got "A" boarding passes, so each kid got a window seat. I sat with Justin. Of course, there was an aisle seat empty and the flight was full. Believe it or not-- yes, it's true-- the woman that sat in the aisle seat was (I'm sure) a crack addict. Or possibly meth, there is a lot of meth here. She was very anorexic and proceeded to fall asleep and made odd moaning noises for the entire (3 hour) flight. Her boyfriend (or whatever he was) got the aisle across from us and did the same thing.

At one point Justin had to go to the bathroom and I couldn't get her to wake up. Steve got out of his seat, and lifted Justin over this chick and she didn't wake up. Literally dragged an 8-year-old over her, she was so out of it she didn't notice. She slept thru the plane landing. The attendant had to wake her up.

So at least we were in Orlando. We got on a shuttle to the rental car. On our arrival we found some of the rudest ladies behind the counter. Our debit card wouldn't work on their computer. (oddly enough, it worked everywhere else for the following 9 days) They kept telling us to just use another card, but uh, we don't have another card. So they wouldn't let us take a car. The kids were pretty hot and worn out and after sitting next to the crack addict I wasn't in such a swell mood myself. They suggested we take a cab to the hotel. I thought thru various back-up plans. (you should always have back-up plans, that's a very important lesson) We dragged all of our crap back on to the rental car shuttle that was going back to the airport...

and then the pixie dust kicked in...

Dragged over to Magical Express. We weren't planning to use Magical Express. But it saved our butts big time. And everyone was so happy.

We got to Pop at about 6:00, checked in, dumped our luggage, and headed straight for the food court.

I asked for a chef (which is what you're supposed to do) and she came out and I talked her through the allergies (gluten, dairy, egg, cocoa, onion, apple, pineapple, blueberry). Pop has "in stock" the Ener-G hot dog buns and also gfcfef chicken nuggets. Justin chose a hot dog and fries and a frozen Coke. (we ended up *living*on frozen Cokes) They also had several different Divvie's dessert options but all of 'em had cocoa except the jelly beans. Jelly beans are good!

Back to the room, I unpacked and arranged things, we hit the pool, and then went to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a very busy day!

I have uploaded photos to photobucket here-
http://s297.photobucket.com/albums/mm239/beckyescott/
but they're not cropped or titled or anything, right now it's just a big mess of photos.

 

[3 Princesses' Mommy]

I am really excited to read your TR! We are going in late November and I have a 9 y/o with Autisim and 2 other girls that have special needs as well. Our oldest (11, almost 12) has multiple heart deformities (her last open heart surgery was in December) as well as our youngest (6) who also has asthma and a latex allergy. Needless to say we are a bit worried about taking our girls to the "world" for the first time. My DH and I haven't been back to WDW since '98, which was before we adopted our munchkins. I have a big feeling that this trip will be a wee bit different.

Keep your updates coming! I'm glad to hear you had a good time and I am going to peek at your photos. Hopefully the GAC worked out well for your family.

 

[BeckyScott]

Day One- Epcot (right side)
The Magic Begins

We started out fairly early and took the bus to Epcot. Our first stop was Guest Relations. I won't go into too much detail about the GAC, but I will say that it did meet our needs fine for the entire trip. Much of the time, though, we were in less-crowded parks or less-popular rides and didn't need it. Or Justin wouldn't want to go on a particular ride, so Steve & Richard would get FastPasses and I would "babysit". (since I've been to WDW before, no big deal, we could have child-swapped but I didn't really care)

Our next stop was Livin' With The Land. No line, walk-on. It's pretty neat. I think the kids would have been bored with it, but since it was the first thing we went on, they were so hyped up they thought it was cool.

Then off to The Seas. We rode the Nemo ride in, which was very cute. The kids roamed around the aquariums for quite a while... it was the usual Seas stuff. A couple of divers here and there, hey look at the shark, etc etc. We could have stayed longer but it was time for lunch.

Our lunch reservations were early and at Garden Grill. It was a character lunch, and the kids were fascinated by the restaurant rotating. Justin had chicken, fries, and gf rolls-- and asked for more rolls for dessert! I wasn't sure how he would react to the characters, but he did great with all of them.

After that we headed to Soarin'. Okay, seriously, I have a problem with heights. But I had convinced myself it was only a movie, right? And you're not really that high in the air. Which sounds all well and good until it starts. I only saw about 1/3 of it and had a death grip on the arm rests. At one point Richard said "Mom, I'm fine, you can let go of me" and I said "I'm not hanging on for you, I'm hanging on for me" I must say, I was a little worried about the restraints-- it's a lap-belt ride and I would have been more comfortable if Justin had been in some sort of shoulder harness. Richard and Steve loved it, Justin thought it was okay but didn't want to go again.

Then off to Honey I Shrunk The Audience. The kids hadn't ever done a 3-D movie. As the week progressed, Justin turned into a major 3-D movie fanatic. Total sensory overload, flapping like crazy, and loving every second of it. This first time he kept flipping the glasses up, trying to figure out how it worked. We used the GAC and were seated in the wheelchair row, which was in the back. Later on, other movies, we were in the regular line and ended up more towards the front, which I think was much better viewing.

Then off to World Showcase. I bought passports for the kids to keep them entertained, and it was about 95 degrees. We watched the Canada movie (yawn!) and then wandered to the UK. While searching for the Kidcot stop, we walked in a shop and found Tigger and Pooh and NO Line! So of course we had to spend a few minutes there. I was surprised that Richard, who is now too cool for kiddie stuff, messed around with Tigger and Pooh. Steve even got a photo with Tigger.

It was sometime around now that Steve crossed over to the Dark Side and he was hooked. He said "When we come back next year..." and I about died laughing.

I also remember reading somewhere in the Unofficial Guide that you need to remember, your kids aren't going to suddenly turn into little angels just because they're at Disney. This held true. By mid-day they had somewhat regressed to their old selves- 1. bickering with each other non-stop, and 2. wanting to buy everything they saw. This continued for the next 7 days, um well, actually, it hasn't stopped yet.

At that point we came across Unplanned Event #2, which is that when one has a tendancy toward anxiety problems (that would be me), getting overheated is not a good idea. I started to get shaky and I knew exactly what was going on. But. I did not have any "magic green pills" with me, they were at the hotel. Because they're an antihistamine, which dries ya out, and certainly not something I needed to take when it was roasty-toasty outside and we were all pushing beverages like crazy.

We went over to France while I attempted to walk it off, but it was just too hot and it wasn't going away. So then we went to Morocco, got on the boat, and headed back to the entrance. I stopped at First Aid in one last attempt to walk it off-- I know usually in a half hour or so I'm fine-- but at that point things weren't looking so good, I was a mess and everyone else wasn't used to the heat yet and were pushing miserable. So off to the bus we went.

The weather the whole week was something like this- pretty warm but okay in the morning. About noon a blast furnace arrived and stayed until about 5. Then it would cool down to bearable again. But especially between about 2 and 5 were awful awful awful.

Anyway, of course, by the time the bus got us back to Pop, I was feeling fine. Back to the food court, where once again Justin ate a hot dog. We walked along the lake.

Pop (and I suspect most of the resorts) had resident wildlife, and the kids were just as fascinated by that as anything else. Lots of ducks, including a mama duck and ducklings who were outside the food court every morning. Rabbits. Those little Florida lizards. A couple of mornings the ducks were in the swimming pool. If I was a duck, I'd want to live at a WDW resort, too. People feed you french fries and buns, you have a pool, seriously, it's like hitting the duck lottery.

We went for a swim and hung out at the hotel for the evening. Now that everyone had a taste of what we were in for, we started to pace ourselves. Tomorrow we will take a mid-day break.

 

[BeckyScott]

Day Two- Epcot (left side)
Things Start To Get Wild

Before I start in on the day's activities, a few things I wanted to note...

Smokers- DH and I both smoke. Of course, Disney is pretty anti-smoking. But they did a better job than most at making the smoking areas attractive. Usually, you know, you get a nasty ashtray stuck by a dumpster somewhere. Disney doesn't do that. You also find, not surprisingly, that the DSA is where you meet some very interesting people and really have discussions with them. Our typical morning routine-- I was usually the first one up, and I'd grab our refill cups and head to the food court for caffeine. Stopping at the DSA, and there were usually a couple other people there, half-awake, having their morning coffee and nicotine fix. You'd see the same people every day. I met some really interesting people- a chicken farmer, a lady from Louisiana who scrapbooks, lots of UK people... the same thing happens in the parks. The other thing is that whether you want to or not, of course, you're smoking about half of usual. Because the DSA's are spread out and you don't want to backtrack, you'll do this one more thing and then stop for your smoke. Plus the kids ding-donging you, you only get about half your cigarette done and give up.

Another thing that happened, and I think it was about Day 2. I was Justin's "parent of choice" the entire trip. He walks at a pretty slow pace. We initially thought we'd need to rent a stroller for him, but we tried the first day of Epcot with him walking, and then decided not to. But ya almost had to drag him around, he walks so slow and gets distracted so easily. He had a firm grasp on my forearms (mostly my left one) the entire trip. Even when we were back at the hotel, just outside the room, he would grab my arm. Because it was so bloody hot during the day, sometime around Day 2 I started to develop a heat rash on both forearms. It just got progressively worse and worse with each day. But it's a heat rash, no biggie really, it's still there and just now starting to go away. Be forewarned if you have a kid that hangs on you! Those little sweaty palms will do some damage!

So we began the day, breakfast in the room and all the meds! (and duh, packed myself an emergency supply just in case) Got on the bus to Epcot and everyone wanted to ride the Monorail. So we took it to the TTC and back, and rode in the front car for the first part of it.

Then to Spaceship Earth. We used the GAC with no prob there, and everyone liked it fine. I forgot the end part has you tipped back, which is something Justin doesn't like at all, but the computer monitor kept him busy.

Then off to Ellen's Energy thingy. Justin did earplugs for this one, but I don't think he really needed them.

After a short break, off to Mission: Space. The green (wimpy) version. Justin wasn't so sure he wanted to go on this, but he was fine. He said it was like a video game. Richard had a fit in the gift shop.

Then to Test Track. Test Track loads 3 across, so Justin and I were in the back seat next to some man, and Steve & Richard in the front with the man's daughter. I discovered something interesting about Justin that we would see several times during the trip-- he will hold onto other people without caring that he doesn't know them. Test Track was a bit much like a coaster, and he didn't like that part one bit. About halfway during the ride, the guy had been talking to him, (so I'm thinking he realized Justin wasn't typical), Justin had hold of both my arm and this guy's arm. I have no idea who he is, but if he's out there somewhere, a big thank you to the guy on Test Track! Anyway, as usual, Justin did not want to go on it again, his verdict "toooo fast!" , but Richard loved it!

The surprise fountains are very close to Test Track, and we went there next to cool off. The kids both got drenched, but it was starting to get hot and they needed it. After that we headed back to Pop for lunch, deciding that it would be best to take a mid-day break.

We ate, swam, got dressed again. We headed back to the bus at 5. As we came out the door, there was a mob of people standing by the curb looking into the air, texting and tapping on various electronic equipment. As it turns out, this was the day the space shuttle took off, and we had come out just in time! We had no idea it was supposed to take off that day. So I got a couple of pics of that.

Dinner was at Beirgarten. Steve had spent some time in Germany while in the military, so this meal was for him. When we got to Epcot we thought it would be easiest to take the boat across the lake, but for some reason they only had one boat running and we were a few minutes late for our ADR. I was concerned about what food they would have for Justin. The chef walked me around the buffet and the only things there really were the hot dogs. (okay, they're called something else, but they were hot dogs) He did bring some EnerG rolls out. Now mind you, at all of the table services we went to, there were plenty of options for vegetables, but Justin won't eat vegetables anyway. Richard also didn't really like the food, the kid's section was also "themed". But Steve liked it fine. Justin went out to the dance floor for a few minutes.

We had been able to see the very top part of the Epcot fireworks from the hotel balcony, and I think the kids thought that was all there was. They were in for a surprise!

After dinner we went to Norway and on the ride there, and then camped out for the show. This was another situation where smoking came in handy, there is a DSA by Norway, of course nobody was standing in it, and it had a perfectly good view. It had looked like it was going to rain, so afterwards we made our way in the crowd and back to Pop. The bus line was quite long, 3 busses full, if you're staying in one of the cheapy hotels it doesn't do any good to hurry to the bus after the night show. Might as well take your time because if you get to the bus stop 1/2 hour or so after the mob hits, you'll wait less time in line. We also realized that the distance to your hotel's bus stop is directly proportionate to how much the hotel costs.

Another thing I just thought of- if you look at the pics you'll see we did matchy-matchy t-shirts every day. I went to the creative boards here and did a variety of t-shirts, swirly Mickeys and iron-ons and such. This was a great idea. Since they were home-made, they weren't the same colors as everyone else's, and it made it really easy to spot the kids. We had probably 5 people a day comment on how much they liked our shirts. And I had to explain the swirly Mickey procedure several times. We'll definately do that again.

And yet another thing... (wink wink)... as the days progressed, we noticed several times little girls were checking out Richard. I would catch one here and there, and so would Steve. I think we ended up with a total of 9 or 10 times this happened. I would be horrified, but it was so funny... I never thought I would see such a thing!

Tomorrow we'll be off to Disney Studios!

 

[sharadoc]

Hi and thanks for the trip report. My DS Shawn with ASD just turned 13 and we are going to WDW for the first time in January. I noticed you started with 2 days in Epcot, then Studios. Is that calculated for Justin? It made me think that you could be working your way up to the Magic Kingdom, rather than starting your visit with a potential major sensory overload.

I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on your park choices.

Thanks again for the report.

 

[SueM in MN]

great start on your report.
(2 thumbs up LOL)

 

[BeckyScott]

sharadoc- I wasn't intentionally working our way up, but that's what we did. I had read that sometimes it's best to start with Epcot because it's more educational (although we didn't end up spending much time in World Showcase). And Epcot is my personal fave.

 

[BeckyScott]

Day Three
Disney Studios

Well you know the first things we did here.

#1 was to go get FastPasses for Rock-N-Rollercoaster because Steve & Richard were the only ones going on it. The FPs were about an hour away, so we headed off to

#2 Toy Story Mania

Unfortunately, we arrived just in time for it to break down, but at least we got to stand in the air conditioning for a few minutes.

So the "big boys" headed back to RnR while Justin and I did the Great Movie Ride. (yawn, but air conditioning is good) We were in the front car and that worked out nicely, the CM spoke to us a bit.

Next to the Backlot Tour. It was pretty good. The problem here is that I have a pretty extensive theatre background, okay not film, but theatre, so I have a tendancy to be a bit more skeptical (is that the right word? hmm) about things like the Backlot Tour. Steve took about 30 pics of various props. And one of his knee.

Then on to Muppet Vision 3-D. Richard was horrified that we were making him watch the Muppets, he is much too cool for that I guess. But it was great and afterwards he thought it was the best thing ever. Justin spent most of it trying to grab stuff, he's really liking the 3-D.

It was time for lunch. We went to Backlot since it is the "allergy restaurant" at Disney Studios, but it was packed full of people. Seriously crowded. I opted to just take our chances with it and ordered Justin a hot dog with no bun and fries. That was the only time we didn't speak to a chef first, and it turned out okay. If you're dealing with allergies, my advice would be to try to hit the counter services when they're not so crowded, we did that the other days and it worked out.

We saw the 2:45 of Lights Motors Action!. I asked if we could sit in h/c seating for the show, in case it got too loud and we needed a quick exit. There were two rows of benches in addition to the wheelchair area, and the park wasn't very crowded that day. But no problems, I guess it was so neat that the noise wasn't a big deal.

After that we headed back to Toy Story Mania. Everyone wanted to do it again!

We stopped by the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. It was really hot. Steve hung out by the front gate, while I chased the kids with the camera. Silly me. They were all over the place!

It was pretty darn hot so we went back to Great Movie Ride to kill some time in air conditioning. This was one of the wierd GAC things. We were instructed to go to the first row in the ready-room, but when they opened the doors to let people in, they started loading in everyone else but us. There were people actually just walking in with no wait and going straight thru to the cars, while we stood patiently behind our little rope. So I said "screw this", dropped our rope, and went on in. It wasn't like we needed a wheelchair spot. I don't know when they were intending to come back and get us. Anyway, because of that we ended up in the back row, and on that ride it makes a difference. The CM is narrating for the front cars, really, if you're in the back you're running about 10 seconds behind.

After that, Richard and Steve went to get Fast Passes for the Star Tours ride. And Richard had another gift shop tantrum.

Our ADR for Hollywood & Vine was pretty soon so we went over there. The usual drill, we were in the computer, the chef came out and pretty much said there wasn't anything at the buffet Justin could eat so she'd make him something, and once again he wanted a hot dog and fries. The kid is obsessed with hot dogs and fries!

We were just finishing dinner when it was time for the Fast Passes for Star Tours so Steve & Richard headed out while I finished up with the bill etc. They called a few minutes later and said to head over, that it was a great ride and not scary and Justin would love it.

Except Justin didn't want to go on it. This was the one official autism tantrum of the entire vacation. He couldn't tell us exactly why he didn't want to go, and even after Steve explained everything, he still did not want to go. Screaming bloody murder. By this point in the game, we were at the front of the line. I asked the CMs if we could baby-swap him. I did feel really bad as we had used the GAC, I was just caught very off-guard and frantic that he was having such a fit about it, it was a little chaotic. So I rode with Richard, and there was a group of slightly tipsy UK twenty-somethings behind us who were very entertaining.

We had about an hour and a half to kill before Fantasmic. The kids were begging for Toy Story Mania again, so we headed back to there, and then back to the Honey playground.

The playground closes early so we stayed there until they kicked us out

Fantasmic we also asked if we could sit in the back with the h/c seating, and no problem there. Met a very nice CM college student who talked to us for quite a while. Fantasmic was great stuff! Justin was flapping once again. The only stinky part is that we were in the back row, but the row in front of us (which was also h/c seating) was empty, so people coming in late started sitting there, most of them drunk, all of them obnoxious. And then too, there were the people leaving early to get out before the crowd, who blocked our view. After it was over, we sat until most of the crowd was gone, having learned our lesson about that already. Then back to the bus and Pop.

Tomorrow is our "off" day although it didn't turn out to be any less busy.

 

[IlovemythreeC's]

I am enjoying your report very much. Bummer about the drunk people in front of you at Fantasmic though - I cannot wait to hear about the rest of your trip!

 

[SueM in MN]

And then too, there were the people leaving early to get out before the crowd, who blocked our view. After it was over, we sat until most of the crowd was gone, having learned our lesson about that already. Then back to the bus and Pop.
.

I hate it when those people leave early. And, instead of just getting up and getting out as quickly as possible, we had people the last time we went who stood up and watched for about 45 seconds before they finally walked out.

We always wait until most everyone is gone to leave it too. It's much easier to get out and when you get to the bus stop, much less people.

 

[BeckyScott]

Day Four
The Day Off (but not really)
aka "The Clampett's Go To Maui"

The Clampett thing is a joke in our family, and it suits the evening perfectly.

We started the morning with Chef Mickey. That was the #1 best eating the entire trip. The chef made special waffles for Justin. And Justin has quite an addiction to bacon, so we totally got our money's worth that morning! He was so busy with his bacon and waffles that we had to make him stop eating when the characters came to the table, he wasn't even paying attention. Bacon!

After that we walked around the Contemporary a little and did a full loop on the monorail just for fun. Then back to Pop.

I ran laundry (3 loads, ten bucks) while Steve & the kids hit the pool and the arcade. I was trying to avoid the arcade but they had spotted it early on in the trip. Some $40 later, we left with a small chalkboard, some mini-slinkies, and a little parachute man. I was opening the chalkboard package and noticed it came from Oriental Trading. Niiiice.

Then back to the room, where the grown-ups took a nap and the kids watched tv.

Dinner was approaching and we had reservations at Artist Point. (The Clampett's Go To Maui) Bus to MK, then bus to Wilderness Lodge. We got there early (hey, what can I say, for once the busses were faster than I'd expected) so we hung out in the lobby for about a half hour. Justin liked the rocking chairs. It's a nice resort. Right before our dinner started, it started to rain. We were outside enjoying the scenery when they kicked everyone out of the pool.

The usual routine- chef comes out, we decide on chicken and mashed potatoes for Justin. Richard freaked because he's supposed to be ordering off the adult menu and he doesn't understand what any of it is. I also learned that neither of my children had ever used a cloth napkin before. It really was pretty funny, in a pathetic kind of way. The kids stayed fairly well-behaved, which was all I could ask. Fairly. The food was **okay**, which is to say that Artist Point is not the level of restaurant we typically eat at, and we felt pretty out of place. They make the plates look very pretty but there were several things we couldn't identify. Richard did get the paint-brush dessert and that was way cool! I wanted one! Steve got some bizarre cheese sampler for dessert. Who knows. The whole thing was just odd and I would personally say not worth 2 dining credits. But we're borderline redneck, so take it for what it's worth.

After dinner, we headed to the boat dock for our return. It had stopped raining (got a photo with a rainbow!) and had cooled off quite a bit. We sat in the front of the boat and the CM came out and talked to us, the ride back over to MK was really nice.

Then back to Pop. So much for resting!

 

[BeckyScott]

Day Five-
Animal Kingdom
Did We Have A Day Off?

So, upon arrival at AK, I did what the tour plan said (which is about the only thing from the tour plan I did do), and ditched Steve and the kids in Dinoland while I headed to Expedition Everest to get Fast Passes for Steve & Richard. They were in the Boneyard playing when I got back.

Then we headed straight over to the Safari so we could ride before it got too hot and the animals dissapeared. The safari was really neat, and there were lots of animals out. AK is the park that I'd say was our least favorite of the four, but we have the most photos.

After that it was time for Steve & Richard to head back to EE. Justin spotted the little fountain in Asia and stayed there the entire time they were gone. When they got back (Richard says "not again!" to EE) we headed over to Kali River Rapids because it was right there and we needed a cool-off. And cooled off we got! Everyone got soaked. I always think it's funny, and it did happen to me, when you go on rides like that and like the right half of you gets completely drenched and the left half is still dry. I had worn a "skort" that day, to complete the safari look, and the outside dried pretty fast but the shorts underneath did not and I felt like I was wearing a wet diaper all day.

Went to Restaurantasorus for lunch, where Justin ate (guess what!) a hot dog with gf bun and fries. It was about then that I first noticed the counter-service desserts. I wonder how many of those carrot cakes Disney serves in a day. All the counter services have the same desserts. Pop had more, but the parks it was: the carrot cake with the little icing carrot, the evil chocolate cake with the curl on the top, or the strawberry mess. Most of the time, we didn't even eat them. The dining plan is a lot of food.

After lunch we went in search of this one particular hat that Steve wanted. He had seen someone wearing it and it did have the AK logo on it. But it was nowhere to be found. (we're thinking it was from a previous year or something) Then the most horrifying thing-

Richard spotted Pal Mickey.
(that's a 3-scared smiley event)
Begging for this evil beast. So here's the deal, buddy. You get Pal Mickey and you get nothing else, because Pal Mickey cost $60. And we don't want to hear another word from you.

From this point on, we were subjected to Mickey telling us really bad jokes, vibrating non-stop, and Richard with Mickey stuck permanently to his ear. It did keep him shut up. But Pal Mickey is evil. I kept asking the bag inspectors at the park entrances to confiscate him, and they just laughed at me. Richard wants me to make Pal Mickey more outfits for our next trip.

After that we took Pal Mickey to the Pantagoni trail and he vibrated and talked the whole way. Ugh. Then to Rafiki's stuff. It was boiling hot by this point so that little train ride was miserable. We got in the building though, and came across several characters, with pretty much no line. (by "pretty much" I mean only 4 or 5 people instead of 50) Pics w/ Rafiki, Jiminy Cricket, and Pocahantas. Richard wouldn't stand with Pocahantas, so my dear husband volunteered instead. I went up to help Justin with the autograph book and stuff, and it was the closest I got to a princess the whole trip. (doncha feel bad for me?) We stopped at the petting zoo for a few minutes but dang it was hot! The animals were in no mood to be friendly.

After roasting up there, we decided we needed a return visit to Kali, where once again the same half of my body got soaked, and Richard spent the entire ride worrying that water would leak into the bin and hurt Pal Mickey.

We went on the trail in Asia, then to Tough To Be A Bug. (no line there, I guess since it was later in the day)

That timed out exactly right to our reservations at Yak & Yeti so off we went. Yak & Yeti turned out to be the #2 worst place we ate. First off, they didn't know "the drill". The CM at the counter didn't have it down that we had allergies (every single other table service did) and didn't even look at the computer when we told her we had reservations. When the chef came out, he obviously had no clue we were coming, and he didn't have one of those little note pads that every other chef everywhere had. I don't know what was going on with that, since every other place used the exact same system, I had it all figured out, and they didn't do any of it. The server took my KTTW card at the beginning of the meal and kept it until we were done, which didn't happen any other place, and I was a little paranoid about that. The food was okay, but not worth a repeat. The chef, bless his heart, grilled chicken for Justin but put it on skewers, so while he might have had some knowledge about food allergies he didn't really get the concept of autism (and it's pretty obvious Justin is autistic) Skewers? I don't think so. The air conditioning was cranked and we were all still wet....

Not that it mattered, because when we left there it started raining. I was freezing by this point and afraid everyone was going to get sick. We pulled out the kid's ponchos (we'd only carried two) and headed to the bus along with about ten thousand other people. Pal Mickey wouldn't shut up. Got to Pop, changed our clothes, and went to bed.

Overnight-

Steve laid down to go to bed and was hit suddenly by a huge pain in his upper jaw. He has a lot of problems with his teeth, not sure what was going on, maybe an ear infection, he later told me he'd been lightheaded since we arrived. I was asleep so I didn't know any better, but about midnight I woke up and he was chewing ice and pacing. Didn't know what to do. Well duh, I've been on the disboards long enough to know what to do. You go to the front desk and tell them you need help. Dork.

Which he did, and they called him a cab to go to Celebration Hospital, and gave him $50 in cash (charged to our KTTW card) for the cab. He was only gone about an hour and a half, which compared to our local ER, a total miracle. They sent him home with scripts for penecillin and percocets, and just for good measure gave him *3* percocets for the trip home. He had to be escorted back to our room. Total delirium. The front desk at Pop faxed his scripts to the pharmacy and we were told they'd be there first thing in the morning.

Therefore, for the remainder of our vacation, Steve would be "under the influence". For him, I think this was a blessing. Percocets make it much easier to put up with "It's A Small World".

While Pop took care of him very nicely, the pharmacy that WDW uses does not take insurance, and the perc's and penecillin cost us about $100. And it wasn't a lot of them, just enough to get thru the week and get home. Also, because he was so drugged when he got back to Pop, he wasn't exactly sure where his scripts were or what was going on with the delivery or frankly, how he got back to our room. By the time I got down to the desk the next morning, the CMs were all different and they didn't know either. So really, I have no clue what all happened that night.

Tomorrow-
Day one of Magic Kingdom

 

[SueM in MN]

And then too, there were the people leaving early to get out before the crowd, who blocked our view. After it was over, we sat until most of the crowd was gone, having learned our lesson about that already. Then back to the bus and Pop.
.

I hate it when those people leave early. And, instead of just getting up and getting out as quickly as possible, we had people the last time we went who stood up and watched for about 45 seconds before they finally walked out.

We always wait until most everyone is gone to leave it too. It's much easier to get out and when you get to the bus stop, much less people.

 

[jaycns]

I am really enjoying reading about your family's time at WDW. Thanks for sharing with us!

 

[BeckyScott]

Day Six
Percocets make for a fun Magic Kingdom
Left side of the park

When we got to MK, the first thing I did was check in at City Hall. I had called (7 days in advance!) for Steve to do Flag Retreat. He knew I was doing something but not exactly sure what flag retreat was. He was scheduled for the next day.

Next stop, the hat shop. Mickey ears are a must-do. Steve & I went old-school on it, the kids did the make-your-own.

Off to the Treehouse.

Then to Jungle Cruise. It was pretty funny, of course, because it's so hokey and the CM was making very bad jokes. We were sitting toward the front of the boat and Richard got picked to co-captain! He thought he was the bomb.

After that was Pirates. Which is also really hokey. But even more hokey were the zillions of camera flashes going off when we got to Captain Jack. Like it was really Johnny Depp or something.

Lunch was at Pecos Bill. They didn't have hot dogs, actually this one really stunk for Justin. We ordered him the chicken salad (a green salad with chunks of chicken on top) and they gave him some EnerG rolls. I thought he could make some sort of sandwich, maybe? But he just ate the rolls.

Steve's scripts weren't delivered until about noon to Pop, since the percocet is a controlled substance, etc. He was trying, really he was, but it was time for him to go pick up some meds. The kids and I stayed in the park while he went back, which took well over an hour. The kids didn't want to do anything too "fun" while he was gone, so we went to the Tiki.

After that to Tom Sawyer's Island, which was also certainly missable. It was like a little frying pan in the middle of the Magic Kingdom, and the soda machines (the only beverage there) weren't working. Yuck. Sweating like crazy. Back to the "mainland", please!

I had been on the phone with Steve several times and knew he was headed back, so we walked over to Splash Mountain and found a place in the shade to sit.

Justin did not particularly want to go on Splash Mountain. But we managed for him to avoid seeing that last drop. Anyway, he was so hot he was going on that ride, period. And he was fine with it, except for the last drop. Didn't want to go on it again, but didn't get hysterical either.

After that we got on the railroad and did the loop around MK. Then to Country Bear Jamboree, which is really silly too, but funny, and air-conditioned and no wait.

Dinner that night was at Tony's and it was great! We decided we liked it even better than Artist Point. I don't think Tony's gets very good reviews but I picked it because it would be something different- Italian, anyone? Steve got a huge steak, they made Richard an adult-size pepperoni pizza, I had chicken and pasta, and this was the only place that had rice pasta for Justin. He had that and "garlic toast" and ate every bit of it.

I didn't realize it when I was planning, but there was a Pirates and Princesses party scheduled that night so we got booted out early. That, combined with Steve's venture back to Pop, we didn't get as much done at MK that day as we'd wanted.

Back to Pop. The kids wanted to go see the computer pool, we hadn't been there yet, so Steve took them. I got a hair wrap. It was the only girlie thing I got to do, I just really wanted one!

Tomorrow- MK again, and the "coup de grace"

 

[BeckyScott]

Day 7-
MK right side
TTA and a patriotic moment in time

It was EMH morning at MK, and while we didn't get there right at opening, we did get there early enough to hit Space Mountain with no line.

Or should I say, Steve & Richard hit Space Mountain with no line. We weren't even going to attempt it with Justin, since he doesn't do coasters, doesn't do dark, and doesn't do rides where noone can hold him. To kill time, we hopped on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, which of course had absolutely no line. Two rounds of that.

After that to the Indy Speedway. Justin wanted to drive, but as it turns out it was too much for him. You have to push the gas pedal really hard and keep a solid grip on the steering wheel. So I ended up doing all the work.

Then we were off to Buzz Lightyear. No line! So we went twice. It's not as good as Toy Story Mania, of course, I guess that's why nobody was there. But it was fun.

Then Richard wanted to go on the TTA so we did that again. Then Richard wanted to go on Stitch and Justin didn't want to go, so guess what... yep, off to the TTA again!

After that we were off to Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, which was a blast. Then back to Pop for a swim and a nap.

We headed back to the park at 3:30 since Steve had to "report for duty" at 4:45. We got there a little early and hung at the smoking area by Tony's until it was time.

The flag retreat was so cool I cannot even begin to tell you. There were two veterans that day. Neither one of them knew what they were getting into. They also grabbed Richard and another little girl to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. It was just really really cool. I took a ton of pics, and then right in the middle of it, the camera batteries went dead. I have never switched batteries out so fast in my life. Like 6 seconds maybe. And the families follow them back up part of Main Street and then over to a side street for photos. I was walking with Justin attached to one arm and trying to take pictures and it was just really really really neat.

Steve said to me "I guess you really wanna come back next year, don't you?" He called it the "coup de grace", my absolute pull-it-out move to make sure we got a return trip. Bwah ha ha ha!

After that, Richard and Steve wanted to go back to the Speedway but Justin wanted the dang TTA again!

Then to Pooh and It's A Small World. Everyone was horrified and I laughed my butt off. Seriously. You cannot go to Magic Kingdom and not go on IASM. Please.

Dinner was at Liberty Tree Tavern. Justin had a special plate, meat, rolls, noodles, Tofutti ice cream.

After that (we're really busting it now trying to get Fantasyland done) we went to Mickey's Philharmagic. Well you know the 3-D stuff is a big hit, and this was no exception. After that to the Haunted Mansion.

We headed out to hit Hall of Presidents to "finish up" the day, only to find it already closed. Not only that, but we had just gotten trapped because the parade was starting soon. We hadn't planned on doing the parade. The kids were getting grumpy and bickering and Richard wanted to sit down. But you know, 15 minutes before the parade starts there is no place to sit down. We ended up standing by the Liberty Bell, which wasn't a bad viewing spot, except we didn't really want to be there. After that I knew we needed to head out pretty quickly as the fireworks were starting in less than 1/2 hour. But Justin wanted to watch the fireworks. But Richard did not. So. We went back up by Tony's and watched from there. Not a great view, but good enough.

Then we slugged back to the busses and Pop. It was late and we were all very tired.

Tomorrow is our last day in the parks and our "park of choice day". Which one would we pick?

 

[BeckyScott]

Day Eight
Last Day!
Park of Choice- Disney Studios

So we decided to go back to Disney Studios. There were a few things we missed, and this was also the first day of Star Wars Weekends.

We slept in a little later than usual, then headed to the park.

We wanted to go back to Muppet Vision 3-D, but very close to there a Star Wars character appeared for photos and autographs. I think it was Boba Fett. I'm not sure. I'm not really into the Star Wars stuff myself. The kids got photos, and then we headed to Muppet Vision.

Front row there (not many people in line since I guess everyone was doing the Star Wars stuff).

Then I looked at our schedule and saw that Buzz and Woody would be at Al's Toy Barn pretty soon, and we were right there. We had seen one of the Green Army Men when we were at Toy Story Mania and actually we wanted a pic with one of them, but we were told they wouldn't be out yet and none of the CMs were sure when/if they'd be out for greets. So we got our photos with Buzz and Woody, and headed out for an early lunch.

It wasn't 11:00 yet, so most of the restaurants weren't open. We ended up at the Commissary just because it was the closest place open. And there I made a bad mistake. In my concern over Justin's lunch (he ended up with the usual hot dog) I just ordered the first thing I saw on the menu, which was a Cuban sandwich. This was not a good idea. And I ate two desserts. This was also not a good idea, especially not in combination with the sandwich.

We went back to Toy Story Mania and got in line. As we got closer to the front, I got more and more nausous, feeling lightheaded, the beginnings of an anxiety attack, shaky. I *chickened* on Toy Story Mania. Steve & the boys went on it, and I went to First Aid. I really didn't want to have a freak-out on our last day. After their ride, they came up to First Aid and we tried to leave. Got all the way to the bus and I just couldn't handle it. The anxiety attack had started. So back into the park, and back to First Aid again. (I am so happy that First Aid at Disney Studios is close to the entrance) I laid down for a short nap there, and Justin wanted to stay with me. Steve & Richard went to Great Movie Ride, which all together took them almost an hour. After that, I felt much better, not great but better, and we headed back to Pop. So much for our last big day.

We vegged out in the room for a couple of hours, then decided to try Downtown Disney. This wasn't originally on our schedule, but we needed to do some shopping and we hadn't been there yet. Went to a few stores, Justin made his own light saber, Richard stuffed a box of Mr. Potato parts, I got a scrapbook. Afterwards, we just went back to the hotel room and hung out there with our new goodies and went to bed early.

We leave tomorrow!

 

[BeckyScott]

Going home and a few observations

Saturday morning we woke up and kick-started the kids. I went down to the food court for one last round of frozen Cokes and to use up the rest of our credits. For some reason we had one counter-service left, I have never figured that out, since we all ate at the same time.

Steve & the kids went to the pool while I packed. Or should I say, while I shoved everything back into our suitcases in an attempt to make it all fit. We ended up with one "extra" shopping bag but since we only had one carry-on, not a problem.

Soon it was on the Magical Express and off to MCO. Snack at the airport (fortunately they had plain potato chips), and this time even though the flight was full, I did not sit next to a drug addict.

My observations:

Here is our big discovery. Justin has many allergies, food allergies and also environmental. He was on quite a few meds, plus he was taking a lot of vitamin supplements. When we flew to Orlando, we'd actually had to bandage up one spot on his leg, by his ankle, and the backs of both knees. He looked like a mummy! He also had many itch spots on his arms. The first day of Epcot we left the bandages off, because I thought he would get too sweaty and they'd fall off anyway. I also neglected to give him the supplements, only the oral itch medicine the dr had given me for the trip. Even that med he was only getting about 1/3 dose because the pharmacy couldn't fill the script all the way.

By the second day of Epcot, the spots were healing! The arm spots were almost gone, and the really bad places on his legs were on their way. By about Day Four, there was almost nothing left, and by Day Eight he was healed up. We were shocked. Some 20 years ago, I lived in Sarasota, and when I was there I had no trouble with hayfever. I'd always had hayfever, but the plants/trees/grasses are totally different in Florida. As soon as I moved back to Missouri, the allergies all came back.

So about Day Four we started to hatch a plan. We had casually spoken to several Disney employees about how one goes about getting a job there. But we didn't have a car so we couldn't go to Casting, plus it was a back-burner sort of thing.

We got back home Saturday and were literally in the car coming back from the airport when I caught Justin scratching his legs. I told him to stop and he said "itchy!" Monday morning we had an appt with his dr, just to check in, and she was shocked at how good he looked.

Now, a week later, the itch spots are well on their way back. The rash on his arms has returned. We have upped the itch medicine and re-started the allergy meds, to no avail. He has returned to being a mess. Thursday Steve had a dr appt (same clinic different doc) and had the kids with him, saw Justin's dr, she saw all the rashes coming back and told us we needed to move.

Of course, we spent all our money going on vacation! But the plan has been hatched. I am looking up any old connections I still have, Steve is networking, we are trying to figure out how to get there the fastest but most reasonable way we can. We still haven't really said anything to our families, who will surely throw a fit. But what happened with Justin's health while we were there was almost miraculous. He's had eczema since he was two or three months old! But that is our plan. We are thinking at most, a year, next summer when school gets out.

 

[Bee]

Hi,

I have read your words.. enjoyed your story.
I along with all your other lurkers, I am sure, are praying for you and your family to achieve your dreams. I will pray you get where you want to go.

Good Luck,
Belinda