Once we got to SeaWorld our first stop was the turtles. I sat on the bench pouting that I didn’t have a camera to document our day. Then we headed to the Stingrays. Steve filmed the kids touching them. Mom and I opted to pass on that experience.
Next up was Dolphin feeding. I wanted to make sure we got into that so I stood there to hold our place while everyone else went up to see the dolphins and alligators. The gal that was running the line for the Wish Families here was so friendly. She talked with all of the kids there and asked us how our trip was going. We met another family in line that was on their third Wish Trip to Disney World. Hats off to those parents. I can’t imagine having three children with special needs. They had to drive because of their daughters’ medical conditions – all the way from Michigan.
The dolphins were bopping up and down, playing peek-a-boo, waiting for us to come feed them.
We were first in to feed. The trainer had the dolphin lay right up on the wall in front of Drew. It was amazing. They gave a tray of food to each of our kids. I have to say this was a definite highlight of our trip – with NO camera. The photographers there did get a few good shots but I know we would have gotten more and for much less money. I'll have to take pictures of the ones we bought tomorrow because my scanner won't work
and I keep getting a glare on them tonight.
We then took in the dolphin show, another amazing event of the day. It is so cool to see the dolphins interact with the performers. Mom, Drew, Zander, Madilynn and I sat in the wheel chair section and Steve, Brittany, Meagan and Ryan went up to sit center stage. Thankfully Brittany took a few pictures here.
When the show was over we were waiting for the mass exit of people and figured it would be best for us to stay put until Steve and the kids reached us. There was an older lady that was by herself that was in the way of other wheel chairs exiting. I turned to help Zander help her out of the way and when I turned around Madilynn was gone. I looked all over for her. I immediately notified the worker there and was mortified when he said they would wait until the arena was empty before making a call up front. I stood out by the exit watching every person that passed. Zander stood with the worker and my mom kept the other kids, waiting for Steve. Thankfully Zander spotted Madilynn. She had ran into the arena to get Steve because she didn’t want to wait. I was so relieved he had her and then I was angry with her for running off. I strapped her bum into the stroller and told her how dangerous that was.
I needed to cool off and regroup. We found a spot to sit by Kraken and the big girls headed in. They loved the ride and wanted to go again so off they went, with gramma in tow. They all loved the ride. Report was that gramma laughed the whole time – her nervous laugh. We had to have that picture too.
The Polar Express ride was across the park and we wanted to make sure to see it. Ryan didn’t want to ride but once we told him it was another version of Star Tours he was all for it. I think this ride could have been done better. You change perspectives through the ride and it just doesn’t give the same kind of feel Star Tours does. It was still fun though.
When you exit the ride you enter the beluga whale exhibit and the Polar Express Santa is there. We had our pictures taken and headed down to see the Polar Bear. Steve took the kids over to ride some rides while the rest of us headed into the arena to see Shamu: Miracles. The only spots left were in the wet zone. Zander had begged to sit in the splash zone for the dolphin show but I wouldn’t let him because I didn’t want him wet the rest of the day. So Brittany and I sat down to save our seats. Mom and Meagan chose to sit up with the wheel chair and stroller in the Handicapped section.
The kids rode the Shamu Express, which was the boy’s favorite ride of the day, Jelly Jumper and Ocean Commotion – Madilynn’s favorite. I was stressing they were taking so long to get in. We had to fight people off to keep their seats. Brittany ran to buy a poncho and I bought a towel to cover us. Finally Steve called to say they wouldn’t let them in. Brittany went to the entrance and told them we had their seats saved and in they walked. Steve and Madilynn stayed up with Meagan and mom. Madilynn hates getting wet. Zander was so excited to be in the splash zone. They start the show with a sing-a-long of different Christmas songs and they scan the crowd. They boys were so excited to see their faces on the big screen.
I have to say of all the shows we saw and all the rides we rode, this was the best. To hear little children say what a miracle is to them. To hear a father say the birth of his child is his miracle. To listen to the music and see such massive animals so gently and skillfully perform. The sax player was breath taking. To sit with family again, celebrating the Christmas Season with so many others. To cuddle my son while he seizes in anticipation of getting wet/amazement of the show/being tired. To know with all my soul that HE is my Miracle. God has given me such a special gift letting me be his momma. It was here, in this show, sitting with my boys that I could feel my heart being healed. This last year has been such a roller coaster for all of us. I know our Wish Trip would have been a amazing no matter when we took it but I honestly believe that for our family going at Christmas not only made it amazing but healing as well.
And even though we were in the splash zone, for whatever reason our seats stayed dry. The section on the other side of the platform took two hits to spare us
On our way out we asked for direction to the closest Subway restaurant. Meagan had wanted Subway earlier in the day but it was the opposite direction from which we were headed. Steve, Meagan, Brittany & Zander headed in with everyone’s order. Zander started running back to the van for alternatives because they were out of so much stuff. Finally they started making sandwiches and Steve told them we all wanted Pepper Jack Cheese. When the worker said they don’t carry Pepper Jack cheese in any of the stores in that district they all answered with a “WHAT?” I’m sure the worker was more than happy when they said forget it. We can make changes to what we have on our sandwiches and what type of bread we have but don’t mess with our Pepper Jack Cheese!
Thankfully Downtown Disney was close by. We were headed there to the
Lego and Disney stores so McD’s it was. The little kids didn’t mind at all. We didn’t realize they were closing a section of the restaurant and had sat down there. The little old man that was cleaning the area never said anything to us. He just kept wiping tables and stacking the chairs. When the lady at the table next to us stood up he took the chair right from behind her. We all laughed. We told him we needed both the tables and he asked how many we had. I told him nine. He brought over more chairs to squeeze us into that one table we had but no way was he letting us take another table. We laughed again.
The kids were in heaven in the Lego store. Madilynn got a bucket and went to the wall and grabbed a handful of any and all pink and purple legos. She was so proud when her bucket was full. Now the boys couldn’t ban her from lego playing – she had her own! The boys all picked out a set they wanted and we were off for some Disney shopping. Each of the kids picked a stuffed souvenir. Steve bought me another Steamboat Willie (my favorite Mickey). I know there was more in our bag.
With our money well spent, the kids with smiles on their faces and all our feet ready to be done we headed back to the van. Soon we were at POR to drop off mom & Brittany and we pulled into our driveway at GKTW just after 1 am.
Another successfully fun day had come to an end.
At least they're good sports!
