A Real Princess Goes to the Magic Kingdom!

[Bill_Lin]

Well... the Medicaid mystery may be solved . In typical S.S.A. fashion, (hmmmm let's see.. .what does that really stand for ? Should I give my opinion? ) they decided that my wife was still working even though she wrote to tell them otherwise. They had been adding her "projected" earnings to calculate elligibility. ARGGH! Did I spell that right? Or did I spel thet write?

Our send-off party is tonight. We just learned that our reservations for the village have the wrong number in the party, had left our DS13 off completely, had the wrong address for us and had no flight information? I have resolved to take it all in stride.

Stay tuned for updates. We leave on Monday!

Bill

 

[wendygrace]

Good news on the medicaid! Glad it got fixed!

Glad to hear GKTW has the right info now. Enjoy your party!

 

[jennydep]

Bill, I am so excited for all of you! Will you be doing a live trip report while you're there or do we all have to wait till you get back?!?!

 

[5dwarves]

Bill:

Glad to hear the insurance is resolved before the trip . One less thing to worry about! For all you Dis-ers who are getting ready to leave in the next few days, I thought I would suggest that you recheck the weather in Orlando. Our temps are very similar to theirs and we have just dropped substantially. Two weeks ago we were in the 100's. Last night our high was 82 and tonight it will be 76. Orlando is more humid than No. Alabama, but the temps aren't that much different...you might want to consider a light jacket for evenings...just me being paranoid for you

 

[LeeLee2U]

Oh, Bill!! What a day!!! I'm so glad they finally got it all figured out!
How did the party go last night??

We found out yesterday that we will get our $$ right before we get on the plane. We were supposed to be meeting our coordinator the night before, but due to some complications w/his business we won't be meeting till the morining of!!! Oh Well, we'll be in DISNEY!!!!!!!
I'm so glad @ the ins. SS is still showing us to be in 2 seperate households even though we all have the same address! We've been in the office 2x to get it fixed. We are supposed to get some back pay but haven't seen it yet. It's not huge but hey a $130 is $130 that we didn't have!!
Just a few more days !!!!

 

[Who'syourMickey]

Maybe we should do a face to face to try to get our daughter's ins. back. My dh can take a paycut now that we are refinancing the house this Friday. We have had private ins for two months from when we lost the state ins, but just in that short time, have an unbelievable amount of bills, deductable, copays and out of pocket to show my husband that this is not a good deal for us. Medicaid told me he could take a paycut and request a redetermination. After disney...of course!

 

[Eeyore's Mom]

I bet your house is buzzing with the anticipation! Just want you to know you have one more future MAW trip planner watching for your updates and can't wait to hear all of the details. There is no such thing as TMI either, well, I better clarify that - there is no such things as TMI when it applies to you TR. We will be leaving Alaska the end of January for our (my DS's) MAW trip and I am living through all of you until then!

 

[hotmamac]

Hi Bill ~
I think I am the lost mom that you were told about before. You posted a wonderful message on my thread. It's weird, but I felt connected to you once you did that and I've been counting the days until your trip too.
I can't tell you how much I wish you and your family a wonderful, magical trip to Disney. I wish you good weather and smooth sailing (flying).
God bless and enjoy!!!
Misty

 

[LeeLee2U]

Hey Bill! Yesterday was my first day back at work. I was going to teach 1st graders 1/2 a day. Yes I said was going. I dropped the kiddos off at school, took care of Breakfast for B. Boy will I be glad when we get his nurse!!!!! Poor guy is still having trouble w/Breakfast at school. They give him his card and then he just stands at the line door waiting on someone to carry his tray!!!!!!! Sooo I've been going w/him the last few days!!!
Anyway I run home load up my van w/some garage sale items. Hurry over to a friends house a couple towns over. Work that for a couple of hours and then have to be at school by 11. I was only there an hour when my DH walked in the door. After 5 months of hearing NADA ZIP ZAP DOODLE NOTHING. Transplant center called and said there were 2 possible donors!! So we ran down to Houston. (O.K. O.k. we drove down!!) He had fresh blood drawn and then we waited, and waited ane waited some more! W/ Lupus the process is @3x as long as it is for other folk. The peliminary tissue testing matched both donors but then they had to do the luppus testing!
During this the Wish Org calls me w/ the conf. # to ourr hotel Sun night so I tell him whats going on. They were great said IF and they hoped it did happen, but If we did have to cancel the trip it would be no prob we'd just reschedule for after transplant some time next year when DH could travel. In fact they said if Fam or anybody needed the hotel Sun night they were welcome to use the room!!
So then we were like WOW maybe this is really happening things are falling into place! See this is the 9th x he's been called in and there have been kidneys they've tested and the pre-lim didn't match. The last year and a half have been pretty hectic we've had our hopes up so many times. After almost 7 years of kidney failure we are getting a little anxious!
Anyway the one reacted against his antibodies so that was a NO GO. The 2cd one was matching so far in the testing, but they found infection in both those kidneys so no go for that one. But in those 10 kidneys that we know about only 2 matched and those had something wrong so he couldn't get them, but that means 2 things.
#1 It means There are some matches out ther
#2 It means that 16 people recieved kidneys! For all of you that are donors or have had loved ones pass and they were donors THANK YOU! In your grief of death someone is given life. My heart gets overwhelmed when I think of these families and as always the whole time we are waiting I'm praying for the survivors of these families and for all the people waiting on diff organs!
So Anyway we are stillg oing on our trip. DH gave extra blood so they can test any more poss. donors while we are away w/out us having to come in.
So as of right now. BillLin We'll see ya'll Wed!!! and WYM we'll see ya'll on Fri!!!
Bill and Elisa I just got your PMs. i have to run right now , but I will answer today!

 

[Bill_Lin]

Wow LeeLee, what a roller coaster. We will keep praying for a kidney. It will be great to see you on Wednesday morning.

We had all kinds of things to tackle the last few days, regarding the trip. DS26 has had a bad physical flare up. We had some mix ups with our reservations, like the wrong number in the party, one name left off, flight information arriving later than we expected at GKTW, finding out the traveller's checks are not accepted many places, technical troubles loading some pre-paid debit cards. I talked the local bank manager into cashing our trip check without a hold (the bank the check was drawn on has no branches around here). I bravely faced all the obstacles and overcame them... LOL.

Last night I picked up a Leap Pad and companion books for Princesses, Ratatouille (sp?) and Madagascar. I purchased some glow necklaces and two small flashlights for dark rides. Oh... and I also found a misting fan bottle to hang on the stroller. The weather looks like it will be GREAT: high 80s in the daytime, lows at night in the mid 70s with afternoon rain showers. The tropical depression heading that way seems to be falling apart due to adverse winds. Yippeee! I also bought a striped terrycloth towel my DW is making into a poncho for Lysi to use after wet rides. She chills really easily, so that should help.

My best buddy says he might have a portable DVD player for us to borrow if he can find the battery pack. That would be great.

Our Chuck e Cheese, Make-a-Wish send off party was Tuesday night. Here are some pictures.

First, opening the presents:

A true Princess gets her Princess gear (check out the princess cake):

She kept searching for Chuckee. She finally ran him down:

And I was worried about her being nervous around characters... I don't think so:

One of many cool rides there:

Grandma and Grandpa's little

The whole crew (My youngest sons, who are not going on the trip, the first two in the middle, the other is my foster son):

Lysi had her first day at Kindergarten this week. She is totally independent:

The Princess dress for the trip and a crown DW made:

Now understand that I work in a very politically-correct occupation where we DEFINITELY do not talk like this, but it was kind of funny. I do not use the 'R' word myself since I work with that population. When we were at Chuck e Cheese, I said to Chuckee.... "I will say Hi to Mickey for you." My number two son said, "Dad, you shouldn't say that... it is kind of a sensitive subject because Chuckee is Mickey's ******** cousin." For some reason that struck me as funny.

Well... I have finished all I am going to do at work, have bought all that I am going to buy, have reserved a wheel chair at the airports, have converted our check into debit cards and have decided to just relax and enjoy the ride from here on.

Yes, I plan to post a trip report most days of the trip, if GKTW computers have USB ports for my camera download (or is it upload?). It is so great to connect with everyone on here. I will see LeeLee and crew at MK, and Who'syourMickey at the GKTW Christmas Party. HURRAY! Friends are like spices on a fine dish, they make the whole experience more enjoyable.

God Bless You All,

I may drop off the radar until Monday night as we will be at my inlaws the next two nights.

Bill

 

[Momof2wCF]

IT'S ALMOST HERE!!
Bill and family, Have a great time at GKTW and WDW!! We are so excited to read your on-site TR (if you aren't having too much fun to post from there!!)
LeeLee2U Have fun too! Your TR will be really fun to read, esp. the different experience of staying on-site at WDW!!
Have an awesome trip! Tell Mickey we're coming!

 

[Eeyore's Mom]

Sounds like you are ready to go! Looks like the party was a lot of fun too. I do hope you enjoy the whole experience and remember, GO WITH THE FLOW! I have been coaching my husband for a month and we don't go until Jan.- he needs that much coaching though

LeeLee2U- I'm sorry this wasn't the right match. I will pray that the right match comes soon. My son is a liver transplant recipient but we were able to do a living donor (my brother (my hero)) and only waited for 3 month until we did the transplant- I thought that was a long time!! I hope you have a great time on your trip too!

I can't wait to hear all of the TR's!!

 

[alizesmom]

All of these trips coming up. I can't wait to hear how they go and see all of the pictures. Have fun. Karen

 

[Iluvmickeymouse!]

Anyone home yet???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Can't wait to read the trip reports!!!!!!!

 

[5dwarves]

I think they got there on Saturday and will be back this weekend...I am anxious to hear as well. Hope they are having a great time.

 

[Bill_Lin]

Yes, we are back home. I am sorry that I don't have time due to my 10-hour per day work schedule to post pictures and begin a thorough report. I will do that this weekend.

Our trip was MAGICAL . Every good thing I had heard about Disney CMs proved to be true for us . Lysi DID get to have a meal in the castle . Our MK day was Wednesday 9/19. The day started with a LOT of rain. After bag check, I forgot to zip up the side pouch on the GKTW video camera case and lost one filmed disk from Sea World and two blank disks. I was a bit bummed, but you know good often comes out of a setback.

I proceeded to Guest Relations to report the loss. The disks were never found, but Jeff, a CM at Guest Relations asked about my DDs wish. I told him that she had wanted to sleep in the castle, but that she understood why she could not. I told him that we got our dates confirmed too late for a reservation for a meal in the castle and could Lysi have the chance to just peak in. In typical Disney fashion he said, "Hang on a minute and let me see what I can do." He came back and asked if we could be ready to have brunch in the castle in half an hour . He didn't have to ask twice, I can assure you. It was beyond magical . After brunch, when we were leaving the castle, Lysi asked why I had tears in my eye. She did not understand tears of joy.

Jason, our DS26 was unable to go on the trip due to a flare up of his Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy . That was hard for Lysi the day she found out, which was the day before our flight. She bounced back really quickly however and did not mention it at all during the trip.

Lin got a bit of a cold/ cough while there, but it did not slow her down. She passed it on to me when we got back, so I have a good case of it now .

This weekend, I will tell you about our Sea World Day, and why you should not purchase a Netspend Pre-paid debit card . You will learn all the details about our MK Day and how the weather cleared up early to find the park almost deserted. The magic we experienced at AK was amazing. We met LeeLee2you and family there . After our AK day, we met Who'syourMickey and family at GKTW . Our US/IOA day was a lot of fun, but the GKTW Pirates and Princesses Party was awesome. Who would have thought anyone could cut a rug like that in a Shamu suit? Our final theme park day at Epcot and the Studios held more magic and another chance meeting with LeeLee and crew. Fantasmic was the perfect ending for our park days. The last morning we spent at GKTW, which was nearly deserted (and that is no exaggeration). It was kind of eerie, but provided us with our only train ride and golf games there.

Again, I hope you will bear with me in not getting the post going until this weekend.

Bill

 

[wendygrace]

I have tears in my eyes knowing you had a magical time. I cannot wait to hear more!

 

[Iluvmickeymouse!]

I am so glad you had a great time!!!! I suppose we can wait until the weekend to hear all the details. Good thing I don't have any plans this weekend!

 

[Momof2wCF]

Great to hear it was magical!! Can't wait to hear details and see pix!!
Get better!

 

[alizesmom]

You're back. Can't wait to hear about your magical, fantastic trip. Hope everyone gets better. Karen