A Real Princess Goes to the Magic Kingdom!

[Who'syourMickey]

We went to cocoa beach too and it was the worst beach I've ever been to, besides horseshoe beach. The deal was that cocoa was so dismal I said "lets try to find a different beach", then dh found "horseshoe beach" on the map north of cocoa and we drove there, it ended up being a 2 hour drive to 2 ft of beach near swampy murkey water in the middle of concrete and debris.

As far as what our docs are telling us, one of dd's opthomologists (in his 80's with decades of experience) says no swimming even in public pools because of bacteria and the other opthomologist (in his 30's, up to date, Harvard trained and highly respected also) says to wear a scuba mask and enjoy. It's the lovely thing about autoimmune disease, there is so many disagreements. So we can pick the one that best suits us.

Just kidding. I haven't spent much time researching the issue of bacteria in beach water for myself to know the risks, to tell the truth. Our daughter isn't on immunosuppressants, but I still am concerned since she has an autoimmune disease that is highly suseptable to bacteria and virus's. Exposure to certain bacteria and virus's can cause flares. She will be put on immunosupressants if she has another flare. Of course, if I ask the one doc about it I know what he will say We should ask the Harvard one what he thinks about beaches.

If people get the flesh eating virus from the skin. I wonder if a precaution like putting liquid skin on any open wounds would help . I don't want her to be in a little box of "you can't do this" because of arthritis and "you can't do this" because of uveitis and pretty soon the kid is afraid to do anything! I understand about being immunosuppressed and not being able to do it because of chemo or transplants. I still think it is sad. Wouldn't being immunosuppressed also mean that being exposed to a crowd of people (germs) would be dangerous too? I'm just curious how they come up with the list of what children can and can't do. I wonder how they compare risks, because if the risk of a theme park was equal to the risk of an ocean then it would just be kind of a risky week, maybe equally risky.

Now you see why I'm all the doctors favorite mom with my never ending questioning.

I'm worried about my daughter in the heat too. She was overheated all last summer while we went door to door getting people of our town to sign a petition against an intermodal coming to our town, then her uveitis flared when she got the chicken pox virus (the virus/flare thing) at the end of the overheated summer. It was september when she was diagnosed but the flare had gone on silently all that summer. I worry that heat could trigger flares too.

I am so happy we are going even with all the concerns though, and it is REALLY nice to have other parents going through similar things on the disboards to talk too....

 

[Bill_Lin]

My next over-planning step has been to get as many videos and DVDs as possible from our local library system that will prepare my DD to understand the theme of rides we might do.

Here is a list of movies that seem crucial for ride/ attraction-preparedness:
Bug's Life
Cat in the Hat (cartoon version)
Cinderella
Sleeping Beauty
Snow White
Aladdin
Beauty and the Beast
Winne the Pooh (any)
E.T.
Shrek
Men in Black
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Lion King
Peter Pan
Finding Nemo
Fantasia
(Haunted Mansion, Tower of Terror and Pirates of the Caribbean don't seem that helpful and might have done more harm than good)

Here are books we had to find:
If I Ran the Zoo
Circus McGurkis
McElligot's Pool
One Fish Two Fish
Uncle Remus

I am sure there must be more. It is almost like some sort of a degree in movieology is a prerequisite.

On the list above my DD loved Cinderella, E.T. Cat in the Hat and finding Nemo.

Now I am trying to figure out if we "need" a portable DVD player or need to rent an airline movie player to keep the rest of the plane sane during our DD5s 5-hour flight from Seattle to Orlando.

Bill

 

[Who'syourMickey]

I am doing the same thing, except trying to watch the movies on cable, because I have library fines and am 86'ed from there. We just watched Bugs life on TV.

Here are some more (like there is time for all of these, I know)

Honey, I shrunk the kids
Raiders of the lost ark
Dumbo
Star Wars
Toy Story

 

[jennydep]

Bill, you may also want to read "And to Think I Saw it on Mulberry Street" by Dr. Suess. I remember there's a gift shop by that name at IOA. If you want to watch any of the rides, you can find most on YouTube. Plus Universal's website has snippets of several rides. My DD loved (and still loves) watching those.

 

[TheLastPrincess]

Bill, your DD is beautiful! I hope she has the bestest time at WDW. All girls are princesses. Your little girl especially is.

 

[wendygrace]

Hi there! You're doing good. I don't have anything to add about the ocean. We did not do it as there is no way we would have had the time to take time out to drive that far away. We considered it but I nixed it.

As for the movies, I started to do the movie thing and then I just couldn't keep up. When we got there, it really didn't matter. The kids enjoyed the rides regardless of whether they knew the movie or not.

As for the plane ride, we brought a CD player and a tape player and rented books on tape from the library. They used them briefly but just enjoyed being on the plane most of the time. The flight attendants also paid lots of attention to them and with snacks, well, there wasn't much time to fidget. Our flight was only about 3 hours though.

 

[Bill_Lin]

It seems like I have caused a little panic about flesh-eating bacteria .

It would be helpful for you to know that I tend, like many paren't of cancer survivors, to be very cautious about possible hazards . Don't even get me started about herbicides and artificial sweeteners.

I only actually have read one article about F.E.B. from the Gulf of Mexico. It was in Texas. The man concerned did have a compromised immune system and an open sore. Still, I intend to be careful. I have not heard of any incidents on the Atlantic.

I was hoping there might be a decent beach with sand, north of the Cape. Still, there will be plenty of other things to do besides the beach, and an hour plus drive to get there might be a bit much.

Sorry for causing any alarm .

Bill

 

[Who'syourMickey]

Bill and Lynn,

You don't have to worry about causing me to panic. I already obsess about artificial sweetners, chemicals, chlorine in pools, all organic foods, and even Nail polish (yes, it smells and I am concerned about dd using it or the effect of the chemical on the eye). I don't let dd drink tap water!!!! Only bottled or Reverse Osmosis So it would naturally not be any stretch for me to panic about flesh eating bacteria just as much as everything else. We can laugh at ourselves. I plan on letting all my worries go and having fun on the trip. *insert deep cleansing breath here* If dd wants to eat cotton candy with red dye #5 in it, I will say nothing. One week can't hurt too much.

 

[Bill_Lin]

OH MY !!!

We have an minor crisis . Stay tuned for further bulletins:

Did that get your attention ?

Let me give you some background. My gorgeous DW and her, now, DS 13 went to DW when he was 5 (the same age our DD is now). His main memory of that trip is being really bummed and sad that he was too short to do the Rockin' Roller Coaster that trip.

That is a pretty extreme ride for a 5-year old to want to try, but he was the kind of kid that would put on a cape, climb up on the refrigerator and prepare to jump off while shouting "To Infinity and Beyond." Thankfully Mom was there in time to avert "falling with style."

His Mom "promised" him that he would get to do it "next time." Well guess which ride will be closed when we are on our Wish Trip. Good guess the RRC . We tried to break it to him gently and he took it pretty well. I don't actually think he would have liked it since he does not like spiral-looped coasters that bang his head from side to side .

I told him about E.E. at A.K., D.D. and The Hulk at I.O.A., Kraken at S.W. and reminded him about the "Mountains" at MK . What worked best was to let him know that by skipping R.R.C. he would have time to see Lights, Motors, Action. He is really in to things that explode and make loud noises. He liked that idea.

Thanks to everyone who has been so kind in your postings. I really appreciate the help I have received from everyone, especially:
wendygrace, Jennydepp, Who’syourMickey, 5dwarves, LeeLee2U, Alizesmom, Marion, Iluvmickeymouse, Avivasmom and tinkercat .

We have made contact with another family who will be on a Wish Trip when we are. It will be fun to meet them .

I have a new list of things we have not purchased or requisitioned yet:
Misting Fans (I am not sure if anyone in Washington State even knows what they are)
Swim Trunks/ Shorts for everyone
Crocs for DS 13
A Portable DVD Player (unless we decide to rent a player from Alaska Airlines for $10.00, but they don't have much to offer on those)
Rain Ponchos

I am sure there must be more, but I can't think of it now.

May you all be Blessed,

Bill

 

[5dwarves]

Bill:

The misting fans at Wal-mart next to GKTW (a very busy place, btw) are $4.99 and look very similiar to the $20 ones they sell at Disney...one less thing to pack.

They also have ponchos there. I bought mine ahead of time and they were the thin disposable type for .99$ each...The Wal-Mart in Kissimmee has yellow ones with Minnie, Mickey(they were out of those while we were there) and I believe Cinderella, for $3.99, and they are of heavier weight plastic.

There are also a ton of swim suits there. I forgot mine and bought something at Walmart fairly inexpensively, and there was a large selection.

We got our portable DVD players from Target before we left. If you buy one, make sure it comes with a chargeable battery, or your daughter will have a 2lb paperweight without a cigarette lighter plug in on the plane. We had to buy ours seperately.

The other thing we were tripping over everywhere at Disney was crocs. They are in DTD and in the parks. We had purchased ours before we got there, and I didn't notice the price. We did buy some Disney jibbitz (the little buttons that go in the crocs) for $4.00 each. On the crocs website they are only $3.00...so, expect the crocs to be slightly higher there.

 

[LeeLee2U]

Bill
If you can't find misting fans let me know. They are all over here. Of course where I live the temp. and heat index has been higher than in Fl. Yep we've got pretty thick humidity here. Tues. it was 105 w/ a heat index of 112 and that was at 5:30 in the evening.
about RRC Our DS& was so upset that it was going to be closed. I don't think he would'ne enjoyed it either.

On another note DS5 is so excited. We went to his spasticity and mobility Dr. Mon. He asked her to please measure him and he was 43 inches! (With his braces and shoes) So he will be able to ride just about everything he wants to do! He's hit a growth spurt. He was only 38 1/2 in. 4months ago!

Only a Month left!!!!! I know ya'll are getting excited! We sure are!!

 

[Bill_Lin]

To Who'syourMickey:

I think it is fairly common for parents like us to become paranoid about health risks as we try to protect our children. I am beginning to get concerned about how my attitudes are affecting my DD, however. She was pulled out of the yard and into the house on several occasions recntly when neighbors were spraying "harmless" herbicides on their lawns. I read what the laboratory tests of those products actually said and was amazed at how deceptive some of the "EPA safe" labels are. At any rate, she now is afraid to walk on ANY grass without an okay from us that it is free from herbicides. The tried and true test to convince her is to point out clover, oxalis or other weeds in the grass.

She tends to get pretty freaked out if she sees a bump or bruise or spot on her body. She is even keeping a close eye on her freckles for any changes. Now my question is this: How much of this is from her hearing what I have said, how much is from public health announcements on television, and how much of this is because she is now old enough to understand what cancer is and what she really went through.

I am going to have to try harder to keep positive and protect her in more "sneaky" ways. I don't want to help her become a hypochondriac.

Keep Smiling!

Bill

 

[alizesmom]

Bill, I think it is difficult to draw a line between protection and obsession especially when our little ones have already been hurt. Do the best you can and she'll love you for it. Karen

 

[Bill_Lin]

Wow! I have had an education about marketing this week. Up here we call Wal-Mart "Wally World" from National Lampoon's Vacation. Well, Wally World is in another world I think. They are putting out Halloween stuff... wait a minute, what month is this.... oh yeah, August. We had this brilliant idea to wait until the latter part of summer here before buying our trip clothes and such. There were almost no swim trunks at all. There were plenty of winter coats. I had to buy 2 pairs of orange trunks. I hope I don't look like the Great Pumpkin.

There were lots of little battery powered fans, and one hand-powered mister. There was only one that had both fan and mist, and it was the size of a LARGE pop bottle. I guess we could buy it and hang it on a stroller.

We did buy basketball type shorts for the boys to use as swim trunks. I also found some nice short-sleeved, light-colored cotton shirts. Lin and Lysi found swim suits as well. At a local thrift store we found several Disney activity books for the flight.

I had a sudden brainstorm about keeping Lysi occupied on the plane. I talked to a young lady at Radio Shack. She suggested Leapfrog. Now I am excited about that. The neighbor actually has one we can borrow. I plan to buy some games for it. I still think I will rent a player of the plane even though the movies are not very good. They are mostly for adults.

WARNING: those of you who don't like pet peeve rants..... skip the next paragraph!

Okay, so here goes: I keep reading on line about people's complaints about restless, noisy preschoolers on planes. I don't have much sympathy for such people, but come on..... Why are all the movies geared toward adult business travelers? Most adults can entertain themselves easily on a plane by reading, working on their laptop, annoying other passengers with their questions and anecdotes or just resting. Preschoolers can't read, so why not gear the movies toward them? The kids and their parents would be happier, and so would the other passengers.

We got a call today from our trip coordinator from Make-a-Wish. She asked Lysi to come up with a favorite restaurant for her going away cheer2:. She can have 10 guests. We almost have that many people living in our house... or at least it seems like it. Between the 4 of us who live with Lysi, her foster brother, my sons who lives in Spokane, and Grandma and Grandpa, that only leaves one guest.... oh wait, I guess we don't count in the 10.

OH NO!!! Kyle just suggested to Lysi that she choose Chuck-e-Cheese's. We call it Cheesy Chuck's here. Some folks call it Up Chucks. The foster brother thinks it would be a good idea to go to Chuck-e's but have pizza delivered there from Dominoes. Can you tell we don't like their pizza much?

I have two questions for our coordinator. Pray for us:
1) Can Make a Wish ask Disney to let us in the Magic Kingdom early for Little One's Hour with the Resort Guests?
2) Can Make a Wish ask Disney for us to have a tour of the castle?

I will let you know what I find out.

Last night Lysi and I watched a bit of the Travel Channel Disney World tape. She made it through Mk and most of Epcot . She seems to be realizing that it is really going to happen now and is showing signs of excitement (but not as many signs as I am). Each night we add a Disney sticker to our countdown calendar. LESS THAN FOUR WEEKS TO GO!!!!!

By the way... I have put a lot of miles on my Crocs. I sure do love them. We found a way to make our own Jibbets. Take two buttons. Invert one. Sew them together. This is a fun craft.

Please check out my "essay" on Disney and Wish Trips: http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1552585

Thanks to all,

Bill

 

[wendygrace]

Bill You are too funny. glad you found something at Wally World. Halloween stuff is all out here as well. Summer stuff is on clearance and pretty much gone. But then, school has already started here.

I can't wait until your trip.

Off to read your essay!

 

[KathyRN137]

The Leapster sounds like a great idea, and you can use earphones with it, too, so those around don't have to listen to the games! My son uses his on the bus to and from school every day.

For plane trips, we invested in a portable DVD player, again, with earphones. (About $125.) Billy loves watching DVDs and it really helps to occupy him on the three hour flight!

Hey, speaking of Disney movies, The Jungle Book is set to be released from "the vault" by the end of the month!


Kathy

 

[LeeLee2U]

Leapsters are WONDERFULL!!!!
Both of my boys love to play on their cousins and we are going to try to get them each one before we leave!
We have just loaded up on Disney books from our friends of the Library group. They knew B was going on his WISH trip and sold them to us for 5 and 10 cents a piece!!!. We are now the proud owners of over 50 different Disney books. That is NOT counting theones we already had !
Hmmm The great Pumpkin..... You not MNSSHP is going on at that time, maybe you could come up with something
I'm right there with you on the excitement level. Every day it just gets more "real"!!
I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Bill_Lin]

Actually, I am looking forward to spending as many evenings as possible at the Village, so I don't really want to do the Halloween thing. Besides, she is not into even mildly scary stuff . I have been working hard to innoculate her against being scared on some rides I hope she will try (Dinosaur, Jurrasic Park, the Haunted Mansion) but who knows what might scare a kid when the time comes. I am a bit concerned with the extreme motion rides as well due to her insides being a bit out of place from surgeries. We went on a little ferris wheel like ride where you hang from "parachutes." The ride goes up and around in a circle fairly quickly. At one point it goes backward. When we were going backward she said it made her tummy "start to hurt" but not really hurt . That got me concerned a bit so we will have to start slow. She did fine on a log flume ride and a tiny roller coaster. It seemed to be the falling and backwards motion that got her. I am REALLY wondering if she should try the Tower of Terror. She thinks she wants to, but I am very skeptical.

As far as evenings go, I can see my little princess getting tired as the days where on (not to mention the rest of us), and a cool pool sounds great. I want her to feel like the Village is home for that week and the parks are places we visit. She will be a citizen of the Village.

Bill

 

[Sabrina90744]

Bill, thanks for sharing your Princesses WISH trip with us, sounds like she is going to have a magical time! Can't wait for more. On another note, try taking a tiny flashlight with you the kind that are attached to keychains, that helped my kids a lot on the dark rides.

 

[Bill_Lin]

Hey, thanks. I had forgotten about the flashlight idea. I assume we will have to be careful about this to avoid a problem with the ride monitors. Perhaps a little red light like hang on your keys to find your car door lock at night. Does anyone have experiences with this?

Thanks,

Bill