Another magical trip!!!

[mommie2angels]

I emailed our friends and family when we got back and just remembered I forgot to post about our trip here. I am just going to copy and paste what I wrote to all of them.

Once again a very magical trip. I had decided before we left that I would not write a story and tell ya'll about everyday. Ya'll have to get tired of reading all this. Then I decided I can't not tell you. I just have to. I just hope that my words can convey just how wonderful this trip was. In Mike's own words, "Disney does it again". I have to say that I know lots of prayers were said because this trip was just amazing.

We had planned to go to Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach since we would be there for a week. You will see that we never made it to either place. We just couldn't leave the world.

The night before we left we asked Tinkerbell to come and sprinkle pixie dust on the girls so they would have a good night. I think she must have sprinkled it on us instead of the girls because Mary Elizabeth still had her apnea episodes and Michala was still up with her seizures but all was well because we were going to Disney World. She must have come back the next morning to do an extra dusting because the girls were perfect angels on the ride down. We got up and going a little later than usual but still managed to arrive around 4. It was raining when we got there. Mom had already told us that they had mentioned possibly canceling the fireworks for that night. We stopped by the store and picked up some groceries before heading to our room. We stayed the whole week at the Orange Lake Country Club thanks to some wonderful friends and their timeshare. We had a 2 bedroom condo that was HUGE! We had more room than we knew what to do with. It was so nice! We never could have stayed a week without them blessing us with this. We are so thankful!!!

Once we got settled we got in touch with one of Michala's Aicardi sisters and her family. We met them at the Magic Kingdom (MK) for the fireworks and then Spectro Magic. We had a delicious hot dog from Casey's while watching the fireworks. What a way to start off a trip! We decided to head over to the handicapped seating in front of the Liberty Tree since it was a bit crowded around the castle. Great move! There were not many people at all on that side. The girls were all excited about seeing the parade even though it was late. We went straight back to the room since we would be having an early day the next day. Day 2 to follow soon! We took over 800 pictures so I will spare ya'll but I will share some of them.

 

[mommie2angels]

I couldn't do all the days on one post so here is Day 2.

My sister is rushing me to do day 2. No really she is just expecting to have it waiting in her inbox tomorrow morning. LOL!!!

We were up and out fairly early this morning. Our friends were doing the triathlon at Disney World and we couldn't wait to get over to Epcot to see them run. We got there around 10 and found the perfect spot right before they headed around the World Showcase. It was so much fun seeing everyone running. Teams In Training, which is who our friends were running with, had lots of participants. Each person with Teams in Training had to raise $3,500. It was so cool! One man running with Teams In Training hollered at us to tell us that he was doing it for the kids and pointed to the girls in their wheelchairs. YES! I cried. I think by now I should own stock in Kleenex. LOL!!!

It was such an awesome feeling when we saw our friend come around the corner. We hollered for him and cheered him on. About 11 minutes later his wife rounded the corner. We got lots of great pictures. We met them at the finish line. Karen finished 7 minutes behind Doug so she made up some time with all the cheering that we did. We are so proud of them and so thankful to them for doing such a great thing.

We headed to MGM to meet two of Michala's Aicardi sisters and their families. We met them at the Sci Fi Diner for lunch. Thanks to everyone that suggested this. It was great and so much fun! We asked if they had mashed potatoes. The waitress said only at dinner but she would check with the chef. The chef himself came out to talk to us. He said that it would take awhile for him to make some mashed potatoes but he didn't mind at all if we didn't mind waiting. He said that he would also be glad to blend anything at all for us. We told him that the macaroni and cheese would be great because we were planning to order that anyway. We just like to get them mashed potatoes whenever we can because Mary Elizabeth likes them so much and can eat them so well. He gave us the macaroni and cheese on the house. Just another special touch from Disney.

As we were leaving the Sci Fi Diner we saw a few people over at the Monsters Inc. section. I asked Mike to run over and see who was there. It was Mike and Sulley. We had never had our picture made with Sulley before so this was a real treat. They were great!

We made it to the Sorcerer Hat just in time to catch the characters coming out. One of our Disney friends told us to make sure that we met Jasmine. We got to see Snow White while our other friends went over to see Jasmine. While they were there we headed over to see Chip and Dale because no one was with them. They are two of our favorites. We love to see the girls faces light up when they see them.

We decided to head over to see Beauty and The Beast. I was so excited to hear Four Quarters For A Dollar. Well I forgot it was Sunday and they are not there on the weekends. The show was awesome as usual! Afterwards we got to go backstage and meet Belle, the Prince (The first person to email me back and tell me his name gets a prize which hasn't been determined yet unless I already told you his name. In that case you can email me and tell me but can't be in the contest.) and Gaston. They were very nice.

Next we headed to Rock N Roller Coaster. They had already been on it that morning but it's my favorite ride and I had not gotten to ride it with them that morning. It was so much fun!!! I just love that ride!

One of the families headed out after that. After telling them goodbye the rest of us went over to Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Mike and our friend Pam both got on the top 10 list for high scores. They were both excited and we were very proud of them. We would have been more proud if they had gotten in the hot seat and won us a cruise.

It was time for us to feed the girls so we headed over to the ABC Commissary while the others rode more rides. We met them at Fantasmic at 7:00 to go ahead and get seated. Each time we see this I just love it even more. It was raining a little so Mickey didn't magically appear on the top of the mountain. He stayed down low. All the characters came out in the boat though. It was wonderful!

We headed back to the room to get ready for our next day. I have to tell you now while I am thinking about it. Coming back to the room each night was so neat because the girls were so excited to be stretching out. Mary Elizabeth doesn't always love her wheelchair and it's so neat to see her stretch and roll around when we lie her down on the floor. Michala loves to be scooting about. Marlee Anne has spent a whole day away from her stuffed monkey named George and she is so excited to see him. She runs in and scoops him up in her arms and gives him hugs and kisses. Then of course she takes him around to everyone so that he can give all of us kisses. It's very sweet!

 

[mommie2angels]

I am honestly not to sure that my heart can handle reliving all the magic of this day. I forgot to say that we always ride the boat on our first day over to the MK. We also always try to start our trips out with a visit to the MK first. We did ride the boat over the first night that we were there to see the fireworks. Every time I think of this I laugh because the first time my mom heard me say we take a boat over she said what kind of boat. She was so worried about the girls being on a boat. LOL!!! Well we decided to ride the boat over this morning. As we were getting on Chip and Dale walked in front of us. We have never been on the boat with them. The girls were so excited to see them. The CM was very nice to ask them to stay downstairs for a picture. They didn't even know we were behind them. They were dressed in their sailor outfits. They were so cute.

I forgot to mention that the night before we had talked to Prince Charming on the phone. He is from our hometown and was going to work out a time to have his picture made with the girls or rather for the girls to have their picture made with him. We were to meet him right after his 9:45 show. We were waiting behind the castle when a very nice CM asked could she help us. We told her we were waiting on Prince Charming and he was expecting us. She said let me tell him you are here. In just a few minutes out stepped Prince Charming. Truly a magical experience in itself. As he led us behind the HUGE door he said I brought some friends to meet you. WOW!!! Did he ever. There was Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Chip, Dale, Belle, Prince ? (Snow White's prince. What's his name?), Mulan and of course Prince Charming. They all made such a fuss over the girls. Mulan and Belle held Marlee Anne. Belle told Mary Elizabeth how very beautiful she is. Mary Elizabeth smiled her beautiful smile and acted very much like a princess herself. Michala on the other hand got a little wild. She was beside herself with excitement. Words cannot describe how very special and magical this moment was. My heart overflows each time I think about it. I have to send the pictures of this moment because they tell so much. Did I tell you I cried? Don't guess I have to. LOL!!! I think from that moment on we floated around the park. The week couldn't get any better but oh it did. Maybe nothing else topped that but several magical moments were equal to it.

We went to the front of the castle to see "our" Prince Charming in the show. It was still raining a little so they cancelled the show. Oh did I forget to tell you it was raining. See we were at Disney World so it didn't matter.

We were going to head over to Splash Mountain to meet our friends and another Aicardi family we had never met before. I had promised a Disney friend that I would take pictures of the pavement around Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride. I had never noticed the pavement there before. It's beautiful! It has little jewels embedded in it. The details are amazing! As we were taking pictures our friends came up. We got to meet the other family and their precious daughter. We decided while we were there we would ride Aladdin. Mike rode with Marlee Anne and I rode with Michala. Mary Elizabeth sat with our new friends. Next time I am sitting out with Mary Elizabeth. That and Dumbo are not my favorite rides. I know that's so dumb but I would much rather ride Rock N Roller Coaster. I do not like the height of Aladdin. It's to scary for me. I can see someday Marlee Anne is just going to laugh at me.

We had to go change everyone's diapers while the other families went to Country Bears Jamboree. Then we all went to Liberty Tree Tavern for lunch. WONDERFUL!!! We all enjoyed the food very much! Next we did Goofy's Country Dancin' Jamboree. Our friends little boys, Marlee Anne & I sat out in the middle so we would be involved in the fun. Mary Elizabeth and Michala sat on the side with Mike. Mike told me after it was over that the CM said that she would be glad to make room on the floor for the girls wheelchairs. I thought that was so very nice. Since I was out on the floor already and he couldn't get my attention there was no way he could take both of the girls out there. Still a very nice gesture on the CM's part. Marlee Anne loved the dancin'.

Next was the parade. We had our usual seats in front of the Liberty Tree. It was so much fun to see some of the characters recognize the girls. Mickey and of course Prince Charming remembered them from that morning in the castle. Two of the people in the parade came over and got Mary Elizabeth and Michala in their wheelchairs and took them out to be part of the parade. YES!!! Once again I cried. This was the first time they have ever been part of the MK parade like that. It was truly magical!

We went to ride Haunted Mansion after the parade. Our friend was going to sit out with her daughter since you have to transfer them from their wheelchairs. She is on a ventilator so she couldn't transfer. Just as we entered the ride we got a call that her ventilator battery had died. She had just put the new one on. When we got to her Disney EMT and all was there. They bagged her all the way up to baby care and started charging the batteries. Disney once again stepped in and did an excellent job! Once they got the batteries charged they were able to walk around and do some more things. As they were leaving that night the battery went dead again. They were going to drive all the way home and bag her. Instead they called 911 and Disney came to their rescue. Disney gave them a new battery and made sure everything was hooked up and fine before they let them go. Amazing!

After Haunted Mansion we decided to ride It's A Small World. Mike ends up with the song on his mind and just love the ride and so do the girls. Thankfully Mike toughs it out with us. We decided to check to see if Mickey's Philharmagic was open. It was beyond belief. We loved it! As we were walking out Mike said Disney does it again. It was really great! Can you tell we are Disney fans? LOL!!!

Our friends were going to ride some other rides while we went to see Cinderella's show in front of the castle. Prince Charming did a wonderful job!!! I think there were some other characters in it to but since I only watched Prince Charming I am not sure. It was time for the girls to eat so we headed to Cosmic Ray's. After we finished eating we headed over to ride Buzz Lightyear. We met up with our friends but they were heading to ride some other rides. After going around once the CM asked if we would like to ride again. Of course we did! We all love that ride so much. Now they take pictures of you on the ride. The pictures turned out great.

It had been a very long day so we headed out. We stopped by the hat shop to see if one of our favorite CMs were working. She wasn't there so we went to Exposition Hall to look for the pin. I think I forgot to tell you about our two big searches for this trip. I had told a Disney friend that I would pick up 2 Kim Possible pins for her daughter. Well I didn't know they would be so hard to find. We love challenges like this! Kim Possible cheerleader pin was no where to be found at Disney. We did find the other Kim Possible pin but I tell you that wasn't easy either. The other challenge was to find a small Belle snow globe. Back in May we bought our friend all the princess snow globes for her birthday. Well her mom was dusting and knocked Belle off and broke it. The princess snow globes like she had a complete set of have been retired. There was no Belle snow globe any where. If anyone has one that they are willing to part with please let me know.

We headed back to the room to get ready for the next day. I will work on Day 4 later tonight or tomorrow. Hope ya'll are enjoying our trip as much as we did. We love sharing it with ya'll.

 

[corky805]

Love your reports. thanks for sharing!! LOts of magic

 

[GreatBiscuit]

Wow! What a fantastic trip! Sounds like it was truly magical! It was so neat to hear what Prince Charming did for your girls. (I guess that's how he got his name!)

 

[mommie2angels]

Thanks so much for letting me share our trip with ya'll!!!

This morning the girls and I slept in while Mike and our friend went and played golf. We had a wonderful morning enjoying our much needed rest. Mike on the other hand did not enjoy golf. Well I should take that back because he really enjoyed the time with Greg and the two Scottish gentlemen that they met. He didn't enjoy his score though.

When he got back to the room we headed over to Epcot for fish & chips in the United Kingdom. They were wonderful as always. We waited for our friends to get there and then we all headed over to Test Track. We rode that first and then Mission Space. Pam gets motion sickness and had a little bit of a tough time with it. Mike decided again that he would not try it this time. Maybe next time. Greg loved it so much he had to go ride again. This has to be my second favorite ride.

It was almost time for the girls to eat so we thought we would head over to The Garden to eat. We decided to stop by The Living Seas to see if we could find Nemo. Once there we were told that he left Saturday for some more testing stages. They weren't sure when he would be back. We changed our mind about eating and decided to go to Mexico to eat instead. We stopped by the Coca Cola Igloo on the way there. Our friends had never been to that so it was a lot of fun to share that with them. We met some neat families there and it was funny to try to trick everyone into tasting the yucky drinks. After that we headed to the baby care center to change all the diapers. That's another great center!

Mexico was wonderful! We actually sat outside to eat at the Cantina. Very good! We walked around the world showcase until we got to the other side. We had great seats in the handicapped section for Illuminations. We always enjoy getting there earlier and being able to meet the other families there. We never grow tired of Illuminations. We enjoy it more and more each time we go.

I forgot to mention that I dressed the girls in t-shirts that their Mimi and Didi had brought them back from Paris just so we could take pictures in front of the Eiffel Tower. We got to France and I looked and looked. No Eiffel Tower. I even began to question myself whether there was ever one there or not. Had I dreamed it? I knew I hadn't because I had pictures of it. My friend asked what I was looking for and I told her. She said are you sure it was ever there. She even went to ask someone. Well it's being refurbished. So instead of pictures in front of the Eiffel Tower we got them in front of the restaurant.

It was a wonderful day once again! OOPs! I almost forgot to tell you that we rode one of Mike's favorite rides, Ellen's Energy. It is fun. I just like to give him a hard time about it. LOL!!!

 

[mommie2angels]

Today we went to Animal Kingdom first thing. We had never seen the characters dressed in their Animal Kingdom outfits. We also had never seen Tarzan Rocks or done the River Rapids. When we walked in Mike said well we can't see the Tarzan show today. There was a big sign. We didn't realize the only do that show Thursday - Sunday.

As we were going over the bridge to the Tree Of Life we ran into a very friendly CM. Marlee Anne grabbed her hand and wanted her to go with us. Marlee Anne just couldn't understand why she wouldn't go with us. The CM had to squat down and explain that she had to work but maybe she would see her later. We told Marlee Anne we were going to see Mickey Mouse and with that she was OK.

There wasn't a very long line at all for the characters. We went over to see Mickey first. When he saw us he gave us all big hugs. He told the CM that he wanted all the characters to come make a picture with us. The CM said yes boss. They had to go in for a break first. The CM came over and asked us to please wait and they would be right back out. She said except for Goofy because he had a commercial to make. Well in just a few minutes they came back out and leading the pack was Goofy. He came to take a picture with us before he went to make his commercial. The girls were very excited and of course Mike and I were very touched and impressed by it all. We got some wonderful pictures.

Mike and I decided we were ready to eat. I was so excited to be able to go to Flaming Tree for a barbeque chicken salad. Well when Mike brought it to the table I was very disappointed. Instead of being in a taco shell they are now in a plastic bowl. It was still good but not the same. We sat down beside the duck pond. The girls loved that. It was fun to see the birds and ducks come so close to us.

We stopped by the baby care center before going over to ride the River Rapids. I do not like this baby care center because the tables to change the girls are little bitty baby changing. The ones in the other parks are nice and big. While we were in there a mom came in to change her daughters clothes. She had to buy them new outfits because they got so wet on the River Rapids and it was a little to cool to be walking around wet. I asked her if I was guaranteed to get wet. The CM working there said 2 out of 12 get soaked and the others usually all get at least a little wet. We decided to pass on that ride.

There wasn't a very long line to see Pooh, Eeyore & Tigger so we decided to see them. I had promised a friend that I would get Eeyore to sign a card for her daughter's 13th birthday and this seemed like the perfect time. Pooh squatted down to see Marlee Anne. She was very anxious to see him but stopped midway. Mary Elizabeth was very excited to see her favorite character. Pooh was very excited to see her too and he really showed it. When it was time to see Eeyore she went right up to him and gave him a kiss. It was her first character kiss. We didn't get a picture of it because the CM had our camera. We will make sure we journal it in their scrapbook though. Next was Michala's favorite, Tigger. She started bouncing in her wheelchair before we even got to him. It was so funny! Marlee Anne decided she would be brave and give Tigger two kisses. We did get a picture of one of those.

We decided we would like to do the safari again. We never seem to grow tired of it. Always something new. We got a wonderful guide. The animals were out where we could see them really well.

Tonight we were going to celebrate my birthday so I got to pick where I wanted to eat. I picked China at Epcot so we decided to go ahead and leave the AK a little early. On our way out we saw our special CM friend. The girls were so excited to see her again. We got pictures together before we left. We had some pictures made when we saw the characters but we decided we would look at those later.

We went straight to Epcot and headed to China. The food was wonderful!!! The service was great also. I just love that place. We walked around some before heading back to our room.

As we got to Italy we saw that Masquerade was performing. This is one of our favorite groups. There are so amazing! After there show they came around to do a meet & greet. We got some wonderful pictures with them. I never knew who each of them were so there CM greeter wrote it all down for me. The lady in white with the tambourine spent a lot of time squatted down beside Mary Elizabeth playing the tambourine for her. Mary Elizabeth loved that and just smiled so much. The CM came up and asked us if we would please wait until they were through with the meet & greet. She asked us to go stand beside the steps because the cast wanted to get a group picture with us. After we got the picture the CM went and got the address and asked if we would send a copy of the picture because the cast had requested one for their wall. I was already crying of course because seeing Mary Elizabeth & Michala enjoying themselves so much meant the world to me. It meant so much for the cast to see how they had touched the girls. The masqueraders let the girls touch their costumes. Of course Michala was pulling on the feathers and beads. I told her to be careful and each time the masquerader would motion that no it was fine for her to do that. They were very caring and giving of their time. I know it may sound weird but even though they didn't talk and probably even more so since they didn't, they were very expressive especially with their eyes. Several times they would stop me, stand directly in front of me, hold both my hands and look so deep into my eyes I honestly thought they were looking into my soul. Some would start to cry and others would hug me. It was so amazing to experience that.

Mike and I couldn't stop talking about it as we walked back to the van. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day.

 

[IMISSDISNEY]

Thanks for the great trip reports, I really enjoyed reading them.

 

[Minniespal]

Wonderful trip report ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[wuv tigger]

You did a WONDERFUL job with your trip reports!

I only cried 4x's

The person who gave you the week @ OLCC will be truly blessed to hear of the wonderful times you all had @ WDW!

 

[mommie2angels]

wuv tigger, that special person may be regretting they ever did that. They hear about all our trip reports, get emails all the time and have kinda gotten stuck with us. We have definitely developed a very special friendship. This board is amazing how it brings people together. We just love it!!!

We loved being able to share our trip with people that enjoyed sharing them with us. Thanks for reading them!!!

 

[SueM in MN]

I enjoyed your trip report.
I know what you mean about some of the Masquerade people looking into your soul. I think they are soome of the most expressive and communicative people.

 

[tixx]

Originally posted by corky805
Love your reports. thanks for sharing!! LOts of magic

lol....lol

 

[Nanajo1]

Your trip had industrial strength Pixie Dust! Thanks for posting.

 

[kathymc]

another touching and loving trip report - only cried twice!

wishing you more pixie dust for the next trip with your angels!

 

[nativetxn]

Okay, I'm all puddled up now. What a <b>magical</b> time for your girls.

 

[wuv tigger]

Originally posted by mommie2angels
I couldn't do all the days on one post so here is Day 2.

One man running with Teams In Training hollered at us to tell us that he was doing it for the kids and pointed to the girls in their wheelchairs. YES! I cried. I think by now I should own stock in Kleenex. LOL!!!

Now you made me cry!