Celebrating Megan's Kidneys -update 4/30, pg10

[kellyw8863]

Hold on tightly to that hope (and a good dose of healthy denial doesn't hurt either)! Sometimes it's all that we as parents of "sick" kids have. FWIW, have you ever looked into MAW for Megan?

I'm loving your TR, and I love the pictures of the girls. Do you mind sharing here how you made the tutus? My six year old is a true girly girl and would LOVE something like that!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Hey guys,

Just hopping over to catch up from the DIS Dad thread. The girls look very cute in their outfits! I'm glad to see there was a reason to celebrate with Megan's health turning around.

So I'm guessing Shannon no longer rides in the back seat? Ever?

 

[erika412]

Love the picture! My guess is Small World?

No, that wasn't it!

Hold on tightly to that hope (and a good dose of healthy denial doesn't hurt either)! Sometimes it's all that we as parents of "sick" kids have. FWIW, have you ever looked into MAW for Megan?

I'm loving your TR, and I love the pictures of the girls. Do you mind sharing here how you made the tutus? My six year old is a true girly girl and would LOVE something like that!

We've known a few people IRL who have done MAW trips and at one point, had Megan needed the transplant, I might have considered it. But now, since she's doing better (for now), I rather keep that option open for down the road. We were asked though by a couple different cast members if this was a MAW trip.

The tutus are so easy. Detailed directions are at http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2048367
If I can do it, anyone can. Honestly, I'm about as crafty as a flea. I finished up Mary's on the drive down actually.

Hey guys,

Just hopping over to catch up from the DIS Dad thread. The girls look very cute in their outfits! I'm glad to see there was a reason to celebrate with Megan's health turning around.

So I'm guessing Shannon no longer rides in the back seat? Ever?

Nope, she won't! She even has said she no longer wants to drive to WDW because she doesn't want to get car sick. I told her that she'll need to pay her own airfare. It was our first time driving down and we actually really enjoyed it and enjoyed having our car there so I think she's out of luck.

 

[praisehisname]

Can I guess again? What about the train?

 

[middlepat]

The tutus are so easy. Detailed directions are at http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2048367
If I can do it, anyone can. Honestly, I'm about as crafty as a flea. I finished up Mary's on the drive down actually.

I'll back you up on this hon. In fact the fleas might still have you.

Nope, she won't! She even has said she no longer wants to drive to WDW because she doesn't want to get car sick. I told her that she'll need to pay her own airfare. It was our first time driving down and we actually really enjoyed it and enjoyed having our car there so I think she's out of luck.

I agree, she's not getting out of future drives that easily. Although I'll give her a pass on the back row.

 

[erika412]

I'll back you up on this hon. In fact the fleas might still have you.

My first reply is bite me, but since that isn't that family friendly, I won't say it and you can just pretend I did.

 

[erika412]

Can I guess again? What about the train?

Nope, not that either!

 

[erika412]

After we took the picture for our Christmas card, we made our way down Main Street. It was fairly crowded as the morning parade was already going on. We skipped it and headed directly to the place of the Honored First Ride. The girls have been talking about "the Goofy ride" since their last trip. So, off to Toontown we went to Goofy's Barnstormer. I think the girls will be crushed when that theming is gone, but at least the roller coaster will stay. Granted it will be a few yeas from now and by then they will have moved on to other things. When we got there, we had Megan measured even though we both knew she wouldn't be tall enough. The cast member at the front of the ride was a very sweet girl- I think from Sweden but now I'm not 100% sure. Middlepat took Mary and Shannon on the ride. As I was walking away with Megan, the cast member came running after me and wanted to know about Megan's shirt. Her dad had a kidney transplant and her sister would eventually end up needing a transplant too. She said they had a genetic thing in their family but her father was doing very well. I like to hear those stories!

Since I had to occupy Megan's time a little bit, we went exploring in Minnie Mouse's house. She loved it. And I went a little picture happy.

Minnie also decorated for Christmas:

Megan sat at this cake and played with it for quite a while. She was fascinated with it.

We spent so much time in Minnie's house that they were done with Goofy's ride and spotted us in Minnie's Garden. All 5 of us went through Minnie's house again then. I put away the camera though.

After Minnie's house, we headed over to Fantasyland. Our first stop was the Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh. I took this next picture while waiting in line. It isn't that great of a shot, but I just love the excitement in Megan's face. I think she's beginning to understand what "going to Disney World" really means. FUN! Megan took off her tutu on the way to Pooh, and Mary and Shannon followed shortly after. I was a little bummed that they took them off, but they did last longer than I thought!

Next came Cinderella's carousel.

In Mary's trip journal, she wrote that her least favorite thing of the trip was going on Cinderella's carousel. I think I could come up with proof that she really did enjoy it, but she says it is for babies, so I'll just let her go with that story.

 

[praisehisname]

Yay for Barnstormer! So it's going to stay even after the remodel? That would be cool!

 

[erika412]

I thought they were keeping it and putting it in the circus area with the new dumbo. Or building the circus around it. It will be rethemed from goofy, but still exist.

I haven't updated because we've been traveling. Then I've been sick for the last few weeks after coming home.

 

[erika412]

After we went on the Carousel, we hit It's a Small World. It is one of middlepat's favorites. Megan was very enthralled with it as I'm sure any two year old is. Shannon asked me how all the people moved like that. I said it was part of Disney Magic. Little did I know we were going to be having a few magical things happen to us on the trip. And I was going to be using that phrase a lot too with her because she's my "how does this work?" or "why this" girl.

We then headed to the Tiki room.

While at the Wilderness Lodge a few years ago, Middlepat purchased a cd of the music from all the rides. So, for a while before the trip, we were listening to it in the car a lot. The girls love the Tiki room song. While we were watching the pre-show, we got a text that our room was ready. Yay! I was dying to see the room and get settled.

After the Tiki room, we had lunch at Cosmic Ray's on our way out of the park. It was super crowded so we found a table first and then middlepat went up to order. I can't remember what he got for me, but our main concern was what to feed Megan. We were under the impression from an email from their Dietary services, that all counter service restaurants would have allergy-free chicken strips/nuggets. I think I must have misunderstood, because it was that all parks offer them, but only at select counter services. So, I think Megan ended up eating some of the fruit packs that came as sides to the other kids meals. I was actually looking forward to having a sit down meal the next day and knowing we were going to have to talk to a chef before ordering.

We then decided to head to our room and we got there at 3:30pm. We were in Tukelau on the main floor- room 1943. I took some pictures before we destroyed it. We were very pleased with the room size and I liked the toiletries too.

Our only towel Mickey Head of the week:

I would have been happier with a double sink in the bathroom:

Having the under-the bed boxes was awesome because we just stacked them together in the corner. If we would have had luggage instead, I'm sure they would have gotten in the way during the week. We brought a pop-up hamper as well as recommended on the Dis.

Once we got a little settled, we decided it was too early to go to bed, and on a whim, went to Epcot. My one and only thing I really wanted to do at Epcot was Soarin'. The last time we went, Mary was too short for the ride, so we didn't do it. I've been dying to go on it! She got a fastpass for it, but since it had been a few years, it was long gone lost somewhere. That's ok! I was more than willing to wait in line just to go on it.

So, we took the Monorail to Epcot and proceeded to have two of our three "magical moments" on the trip. That's coming up next!

 

[middlepat]

After the Tiki room, we had lunch at Cosmic Ray's on our way out of the park. It was super crowded so we found a table first and then middlepat went up to order. I can't remember what he got for me, but our main concern was what to feed Megan. We were under the impression from an email from their Dietary services, that all counter service restaurants would have allergy-free chicken strips/nuggets. I think I must have misunderstood, because it was that all parks offer them, but only at select counter services. So, I think Megan ended up eating some of the fruit packs that came as sides to the other kids meals. I was actually looking forward to having a sit down meal the next day and knowing we were going to have to talk to a chef before ordering.

Actually Megan had a hot dog. I was able to talk to the service manager at the counter and he "walked" the hot dog through the kitchen from cooking to counter to be sure that there was no cross contamination. I was very happy with this level of attention from the management even on such a busy day.

 

[Riviera510]

Hey Ka! (and Brian)


Love the pics of the girls in their tutus. I cant wait to read about more of your trip!

 

[FreezinRafiki]

Welcome back and I'm glad you're feeling better!
Can't wait to hear about the rest of the your trip!

 

[erika412]

Actually Megan had a hot dog. I was able to talk to the service manager at the counter and he "walked" the hot dog through the kitchen from cooking to counter to be sure that there was no cross contamination. I was very happy with this level of attention from the management even on such a busy day.

Oh, I forgot about that! Good thing you remember all these things and not the important things I tell you just a day or two before.

Hey Ka! (and Brian)


Love the pics of the girls in their tutus. I cant wait to read about more of your trip!

Hi Wegas!!!! Talking to you about your trip got me in the mood to start working on this again!

Welcome back and I'm glad you're feeling better!
Can't wait to hear about the rest of the your trip!

Thanks!

 

[burly]

I'm in! Great trip report so far. Yay on the kidneys! Here's hoping they keep behaving like us mama's are praying they do!
I cannot tell you how much i am in awe that you drove all that way. Just thinking about it makes me shudder and my kids are older, and louder and whinier! lol
And can i tell you i LOVE the tutu's. I think i will make them for my sister and i to wear on our sisters only trip!
Can you imagine 2 adult women wearing those things into the park!

 

[Disney owl]

great report looking forward to reading more.

What a long trip how many miles was it?

 

[erika412]

great report looking forward to reading more.

What a long trip how many miles was it?

It was 1200 miles each way that we did in 21 hours which includes gas/potty/food breaks over two days. We did stop for the night.

I'm in! Great trip report so far. Yay on the kidneys! Here's hoping they keep behaving like us mama's are praying they do!
I cannot tell you how much i am in awe that you drove all that way. Just thinking about it makes me shudder and my kids are older, and louder and whinier! lol
And can i tell you i LOVE the tutu's. I think i will make them for my sister and i to wear on our sisters only trip!
Can you imagine 2 adult women wearing those things into the park!

I say go for it! I'd love to see pictures! Thanks for the kind words about Megan.

 

[kellyw8863]

Yay, you're back! I was getting worried there for a while! Though I'm not one to talk - I haven't touched my own PTR in a week or so. I can't wait to read more!

 

[erika412]

I mentioned that while on our trip, we had three Magical Moments. Only 1 was really called that by Disney staff, but the other two were just as magical in their own way.

In my last post, I said that I was dying to go on Soarin' and after we checked into our room, we decided to take the monorail to Epcot.

As we go through the turnstiles, a cast member working them noticed Megan's shirt. She asked what it meant and we explained a little of Megan's history with kidney failure, and how she turned around and was doing very well. She wanted to know if we were on a MAW trip. We weren't and then she said to wait a second. She came back with a fast pass to whatever ride we wanted. It was pretty exciting! That was Magical Moment #1 which lead us right into #2.

We went to Soarin' to use the pass. I felt a little bad using the pass for something that Megan couldn't ride, but we were there specifically to go on Soarin'. We decided that I would first ride with Mary and Shannon and then middlepat would go with them after. We didn't use a baby swap because we had the fast pass. So, after getting off Soarin' (LOVED it by the way), the three of us are walking down the exit and we see middlepat talking to someone.

IT WAS MEGAN'S NURSE! The entire time Megan was in the hospital, she had Erin for her nurse. Erin happened to be in Orlando for a wedding-remember, we live in the Chicago area and she obviously does too- and they had one free night. She and her fiance had decided to go to Epcot and they happened to be right there at Soarin' when we were. If you ever had a child in the hospital (and I hope you never have) you'd understand how important the nurses become to you. It was amazing running into her (she recognized middlepat and Megan.) I wish I had gotten a picture of Megan and her, but I was just in shock that we saw her. She hadn't seen Megan since her last hospital stay in March and couldn't believe how good she was looking!

This trip was all about Megan and her kidneys and there, in all of Disney World, we ran into Erin- someone who had been through us with all of the kidney experience. What are the chances!