ANOTHER Adventure in Autism (4/15) A Taste of What's to Come...

[Halloweenqueen]

Such beautiful pictures! My fireworks pictures NEVER come out!

 

[SwansLoveDisney]

I love those pics of Wishes!

I'm so sad that your trip is ending and I just started reading! I have SOOOO much to catch up on!

 

[maroo]

Ok...I will stop bugging you about writing that book.



I love Wishes, too. And Spectro is my favorite, too!! I can't wait to find out where you guys ended up to see it and how bad the crowds were!

Sounds like a simply magical evening!

 

[jcc0621]

jcc0621: Hey, thanks for the link...I enjoyed your report. I laughed so hard when that cell phone went plop, right in the water!

Thanks for going back to read

Glad the kids enjoyed their ride on the tea cups. This is one of Jimmy's favorites

Also, glad that AR took advantage of the chair. We always do MK, with Wishes on our last night too, and I always get misty about it.

 

[karriemouse]

My DH's thoughts towards Penelope Pitstop? ....

Yes I know - sad!!

 

[Goofster57]

I would like for them to bring “Mickey’s PhilharMagic to maybe DCA, help draw in more crowds, it is a great show


Is that a hidden Mickey made by the lights in the lower right hand corner?

OK, so it might be a stretch,

Work with me here people.......

 

[mousescrapper]

Kathy,

I am so sorry I missed like several posts there....oh my. is all I can say and that this report maybe could have had a double tile Adventures in AR....

anyways I'm glad you were still able to enjoy the Disney magic and the kids had fun.

DH and I saw MPM a night when people were lining up for Spectro too and it was empty.

Hope Spectro is awesome, I'm so sad our schedule didn't work out for this trip for us to see it. I agree it is my favorite.

Is that a hidden Mickey made by the lights in the lower right hand corner?

OK, so it might be a stretch,

Work with me here people.......

I think I see it

 

[Goofster57]

I think I see it

Cool, someone else on Heavy Medication......

 

[maroo]

Ok...so what drugs am I on if I think this one is a ghost?

 

[KathyRN137]

Halloweenqueen: Hey Queenie! My fireworks pix usually don't come out...I just got lucky with a few this time! I took dozens of pictures with all different settings, hoping that a just a few would look decent enough to post!

SwansLoveDisney: Hi Jules! You were so smart not to pack away your trip notes!! I'm glad you came back and got us all off that bus!

maroo: J/K! I told Ed, "Stop talking to my DIS-friends about me writing a book, it looks like I'm fishing for compliments!" and it annoyed him, oh well!! I said I would write a book after I retired and that seemed to placate him for now.

jcc0621: I agree, Janet. I love Spectro/Wishes on the last night! The only bad thing is that afterwards, it's so very hard to leave!! We did Epcot on our last night one year and I didn't get nearly as "misty" about it....

karriemouse: Oh! Did you get Wacky Races in the UK? That was such a great cartoon; I'm not sure why it kind of died off while Scooby-Doo (another great one) remained so popular in syndication.

mousescrapper: I understand, Scrappie, you've been busy making your to-do lists and checking them twice!!

Goofster: I see the HM, and I'm not on heavy meds. The doctor was just saying the other day he thought I could get by on a lower dose.....

Definitely, possibly, maybe a Hidden Mickey!!

Thanks for reading!

I'll try to get the next segment up soon; I've been working a lot of extra hours this week to cover someone who's on vacation.

Sorry, but no, she didn't go to WDW....

Kathy

 

[KathyRN137]

Keep this up and we'll be seeing all sorts of things!

Kathy

 

[maroo]

Well, honestly...I saw the ghost the first time around. But when they brought up the Mickey...my ghost had to come out for a visit, too! I must be reading too many Halloween pre-trippies!



Cool on the book!!! I guess we will be nice.






So...uh...when ya gonna retire?

*runs away*

 

[wvdislover]

Don't you just hate for your trips to end? I always cry at the end of our trips, along with DD7, and maybe DD11, if she gets caught up in our "moment" DH, on the other hand, just doesn't "get it"--not just about crying when we leave Disney, he just doesn't understand female emotions (you'd think after 18 years, he'd be better at it than he is ). He's just not an emotional person, whereas, my DD's and I more than make up for it This has been another great trippie! When's the next one start? I'll be waiting patiently...no, make that IMpatiently

 

[KathyRN137]

Hey, hey, hey!! It's not over yet!!

We've still got Spectro plus half a day more to go!

*We do something fun at the resort the following morning....


I will update tomorrow....just too, too sleepy now to do any writing!


Kathy

 

[wvdislover]

Oooh! There's more! It's tomorrow, though...where are you? Did you have to go in to work to finance your next trip report? (I did )

 

[KathyRN137]

Chapter 51: “Let This Night Forever Live in our Dreams!”



No time for watery eyes, we needed to get a move on! The Noodle Station had proven itself to be a good viewing spot for Wishes, but it would not provide us with an optimum line of sight for the SpectroMagic parade. Off we went, retracing our steps through TomorrowLand and FantasyLand, which were now beginning to get quite congested with folks squeezing in “just a few more rides.”


With the dimmed lights and the increased volume of pedestrians, I was getting a bit uneasy. Crowds plus darkness always give me a vague sense of anxiety, I don’t know why. It’s not like I didn’t know where we were headed; I wasn’t afraid of getting lost. Perhaps I was nervous about the kids getting separated from us.


Aunt Rae had my arm in a death grip as we picked our way through FantasyLand, nearly colliding with other guests on more than one occasion. She was walking very slowly and we fell further and further behind Ed, who seemed intent on forging ahead through the crowd without realizing that those of us in the rear were falling further and further behind. He was holding onto Billy, so I wasn’t so concerned about losing him, but Tricia was walking behind them and I was worried she would get jostled away from us as she weaved in and out through the ever-increasing foot traffic.


It was then that I discovered a practical advantage to draping the kids in light necklaces and bracelets….it made them easier to keep track of in the dark! Every time Tricia would disappear from view, I just kept a lookout for the glowing lights and she would soon become visible to me once more.


We hung a left past Mickey’s PhilharMagic and I breathed a sigh of relief when Ed stopped, turned around, and realized that AR and I needed to catch up. I felt better once we were traveling as a little herd once more.


Ed broke out a few flashlights and they seemed to help. A short walk along a (very dark) path soon brought us into Liberty Square, where it seemed a bit brighter.


I like to watch the MK parades from either Liberty Square or FrontierLand. Back in our newbie days, we would try to line up along Main Street or the Hub (with about a thousand or so others) and I found it to be just too darn crowded. I remembered those folks we saw up on the RR platform when we first came in....what was that....about two, two and a half hours ago?? And I wondered if they had felt their long, long waits had been worth it. (Well, they had probably seen the first Spectro and were already standing on line at the bus stops for their rides by now.)


The parade route through Liberty Square seemed surpisingly crowded, so we pushed on into FrontierLand, just following the ropes until the crowd thinned and we found a place to park ourselves. As luck would have it, we settled in not too far from a cart peddling Ed’s favorite… the roasted sugared almonds. Oooh, they smelled so good!


Believe it or not, we still had a few snack credits remaining, so Tricia and I went over and picked up several cones of the warm nuts, along with some hot cocoa for everyone except Billy (who you may recall, drinks nothing but water.) It was cool out, but not cold. Yet, the hot cocoa seemed more attractive than ice cream at that point. We settled in with our snacks and awaited the parade.


One of the reasons we had a few more minutes to find a spot and get our goodies was that the second parade reversed the route. This parade was beginning in Main Street and working its way slowly toward us in FrontierLand, giving us that little bit of extra travel time.


I am not the best amateur photographer, but I fiddled with the camera settings and practiced lining up a number of pretend shots as the parade music seemed to come closer and closer. (Did that at least sound somewhat tech-savvy?) I hope so.


Eventually, the first of thousands of glittering lights turned the corner way up by the Hall of Presidents and slowly inched their way toward us. Billy began to jump up and down in excitement and Aunt Rae ooh-ed and ahh-ed. I held my camera in nervous anticipation….I wanted good shots, but I also just wanted to enjoy the parade. On the other hand, I didn’t want to give up control of the camera! LOL! Poor me!


The floats were getting closer! I could feel my heart pounding with excitement! I think this parade is just too awesome for words; so I will let the pictures, poor as they may be, speak for themselves:

As the last float drifted past us, Billy summed it up perfectly: "Goodbye, Parade!! See you next time!!"


AAAHHHHHHHH!!!!


After the parade, Tricia tugged at my arm asking to visit a nearby pin shop. We were in no hurry to leave, so she and I spent a bit of time browsing and we picked up a few more cloisonne beauties.

It was late, somewhere around eleven, and although the park would be open for another hour, we had to face the fact that we were getting pretty tired. We stood on the raised wooden platform outside of the pin store and talked about what we wanted to do next. Billy yawned widely. I could hardly bear the thought of leaving, but decided to balace the want for more Magic Kingdom with the need to get everyone back to the resort and into bed.


"One more ride!" I declared, "and then we have to go!"


Wow, one last ride. Only one, then that was it for MK for a very long time. How could we posssibly choose?


Kathy

 

[Hedy]

"Goodbye, Parade!" Brilliant.

 

[IluvXU]

I too love Spectromagic. I could see it everynight we are at WDW. (or everynight period!)

 

[mom2mek]

Your parade pics are pretty good, Kathy! Much better than I got!

Ahhh.....Spectro.... only in Disney....only in Disney....

Love what Billy said!

Oooo....what did you ride? what did you ride?


Sara

 

[Jupiter&Wolfe]

Hi there! Just a lurker popping in to say hello!

Just about a week ago I decided to try out reading Trip Reports, and yours is the second one I've stayed attached to.

I just wanted to say that while this seems like it was a difficult trip, you and your family seemed to handle it wonderfully! You got guts!


I have a some friends and family with different levels of autism, and so am familiar with it. I just wanted to give you, your family, and Billy major kudos for taking everything in stride. Though I often find it's not hard to...the rewards and life lessons learned from my loved ones with this condition more often than not outweigh the difficulties they set!



I anxiously await the conclusion of this Roller Coaster trip!!!