In Our Daughter's Eyes - Emily's Wish Trip Dec.10-Jan.11 ALL DONE PICS ADDED p.16!

[Mom2mitokids]

Just wanted to say that i'm loving reading your TR. Sorry to hear about Emily. Glad she did calm down and you got to go back to the orientation.

 

[Emilyswish]

Good morning!
I am joining in on the fun! I did not get the chance to read through your entire PTR, but I did get through the first couple of posts. What a lovely family you have. I cannot wait to hear how your first park day went. The end of your last post does sound like perhaps you may have had a small snafu?

Welcome!! I've got the first part of our MK day coming right up!

Wow, what a long day!!! Glad you finally got the kids some food, and Emily finally settled down. The kid's "ice cream face" pictures are a hoot!

So glad you didn't miss out on getting your tickets so you could get started the next day, although that comment about the wakeup call has me worried.....

Yeah, that wake-up call . . .

Just wanted to say that i'm loving reading your TR. Sorry to hear about Emily. Glad she did calm down and you got to go back to the orientation.

Thanks for reading!!!

 

[IheartDDuck]

That bathtub picture is just priceless!

Looks like you made it through a long day. I bet you were ready for bed when the time came!

 

[Emilyswish]

We were dreaming of Mickey and Cinderella’s Castle all through the night. Our plan for the day was to head to Magic Kingdom, getting out the door by 8am. I knew from my research here on the Dis that it would take a while to actually get into the park and since it usually takes our crew a bit longer than the average family anyway, I wanted to get an early start. After spending most of the day there we planned to spend the afternoon and evening at Hollywood Studios. Gee-off had picked up bagels and juice at Walmart the night before so we didn’t need to go to the HoH or call for the breakfast cart at the village.

I set the room alarm and my cell phone for 6:30am even though I knew Emily’s feeding pump would be finishing around 6am and beeps until you get up to turn it off. After all, we were pretty exhausted from our travel day, so I didn’t want to start our first day off by getting up late!
Just as expected, Emily’s pump beeped, (remember her crib was in the hallway outside our room because it didn’t fit through the doorway) and I politely asked DH to go turn it off. Not even a minute later, Emily started choking and vomited all over her crib! This was certainly not the wake-up call we were planning on. Emily doesn’t generally throw up for no reason, so immediately I was worried that even if we got her cleaned up and got everyone ready on time, she might actually be sick and not able to handle the park. Since our villa had 2 bathrooms and a washer and dryer, I started a load of laundry and started a bath for Emily while the other kids were still sleeping.

Gee-off also said his stomach wasn’t feeling very well either at this point. Oh no. Not good. We hoped it was just from stuffing ourselves with Boston Market last night!

The other kids woke up raring to go (YAY!!), so I continued to get Emily ready; gave her morning meds, put on her clean clothes and started her morning feeding at a reduced rate to give her tummy a break in case it was more than a one time thing.

Since it was taking a little longer than usual to get ready, Gee took Carter, Brenna, and Drew over to Matthew’s Boundless Playground. It was right at the end of our driveway since we were in the new section of villas and they had so much fun running around the colored squares and saying hello their CandyLand character friends. It was actually really cold again this morning, in the 30s, so I didn’t even attempt to bring Emily out this time. But I was excited to get her out there at least once during the trip since it’s totally handicapped accessible.

By the time we were all ready head to MK, it was after 10am!! But at least Em hadn’t gotten sick again and we were on our way. Gee-off still wasn’t feeling well but he pushed on. We followed the directions in the “bunny book” and after about 20 minutes we saw this:

And very soon after, we saw this!

We all let out a cheer and headed into the parking lot. We had brought our handicap placard for Em with us so we put that up and were directed to a special parking area ( a bit further than the actual handicapped parking lot since it was already late and crowded). With Em in her chair, we had to walk to the ticketing area but it wasn’t too far. Now, I have to say here that we decided not bring the double stroller for Carter and Brenna this day because we thought they might not want to be “stuck” in a stroller and for the same reason we did not rent a Disney stroller even though GKTW gives you a free rental. Also, we knew how crowded it was going to be and we didn't really want to be pushing around the double stoller and the wheelchair through the crowds. Carter and Brenna actually did a great job of either holding one of our hands or holding on to either side of Em’s kart while we walked.

We could see there was quite a line already for the monorail, but with Gee not feeling well and Carter’s motion sickness issues, we decided against taking the ferry over to MK. They did stop us and say that the bus would be the fastest way to go, but we couldn’t take the wheelchair on. So we got in the line for the monorail. I’d say we waited about 10 minutes before we got on. I think I forgot to mention on our travel day that the kids really loved the monorail type thingy (?) at the Orlando airport that took us from the terminal to the baggage area and thought it was a ride, so I thought they would really love the monorail. And they did! They especially liked riding right through the Contemporary. With this trip being my first in over 15 years and our first time coming with our kids it was just so special watching their eyes light up with each site they saw! Emily was still sleeping, but I was hoping she was sleeping off any more sickies.

Here she is on the monorail

We headed through the bag check line (we had to bring a few with feeding stuff, changes of clothes, etc.) and then through the gates where the kids thought it was great to put their own tickets and push the bar all by themselves! And then we were in!!!!

The first thing I saw was the big Christmas tree and then came the tears.

The excitement of everything we were about to experience just came rushing through me and I felt like a little kid again too! I could see there were some people lining up around the tree, so I went to get a closer look. Daisy Duck was there!!! I told DH I wanted to use our pass to have our first character experience, but I think he was uncomfortable with using that so soon. So we skipped it and headed down Main St. I didn’t have too much time to pout because right away I saw a PhotoPass spot and we got our first official family pic of the trip!!! Oh, and Emily was still asleep.

Then we decided we would head right to It’s a Small World since that was the one ride we knew would be calm yet visually stimulating enough for Emily to really enjoy. But as we started toward the castle, we saw a parade heading straight for us!! So we found a spot on the sidewalk and enjoyed our first parade.

continued in the next post . . .

 

[Emilyswish]

It was 11:45 when we got in line for our first ride.

We did have to wait a while for the accessible boat,

but it was worth it because it seats 6 plus the chair in the middle, so we had it all to ourselves!

As we got onto the boat, Emily was STILL asleep! I was a little disappointed because I was really hoping she would be awake to “see” and enjoy the ride. She does have visual awareness of lights, especially in the dark, and usually responds to music and objects in motion. So if she was going to respond to anything, it would be this.

As the boat set forth on the water, our first bit of true Disney Magic happened. Emily WOKE UP just as we went under the sign that says “Welcome to the happiest cruise that ever sailed”! Oh, pure joy! Gee-off looked at me, I looked at him, we both looked at Em with tears in our eyes and said, “This is it. This is what we’ve been waiting for. If we don’t get to do or see anything else, this just made our whole trip!” (Well, that wasn’t word for word, but you get the idea) That oh so familiar song was playing and Emily was looking around wide eyed just taking it all in. She even smiled on and off throughout the ride! That’s when I felt that we really were going to be able to enjoy our trip, sick or not. We’d had this very special moment and I just knew there were going to be more memorable moments to come!

Click HERE for a video of Em on IASW!!!

 

[jj0plin]

Aww Love the pic of her on the ride! She really looks like she is loving it!

 

[IheartDDuck]

I love the pictures of her on the ride! You can tell that she's really interested in what's going on. That was such perfect timing for her to wake up.

Those are the moments that make entire trips. Everything else can go wrong, but having moments like that? Priceless.

 

[billwendy]

Looks like FUN so far! Im so sorry the sickness followed you though the trip, but glad you were able to make the best of it!!

What were the kids impressions of each park? What was Drew's favorite thing since he was the Big kid!!! lol?

 

[disney<333]

Sounds like a great trip so far minus the presentation drama and the sickies! I just got teary eyed watching the video of her on IASW!! So sweet. I happen to think Emily is a great name. My oldest DD's name is Emily and it's spelled the same, too.

 

[Emilyswish]

Aww Love the pic of her on the ride! She really looks like she is loving it!

She really did!

I love the pictures of her on the ride! You can tell that she's really interested in what's going on. That was such perfect timing for her to wake up.

Those are the moments that make entire trips. Everything else can go wrong, but having moments like that? Priceless.

Agreed.

Looks like FUN so far! Im so sorry the sickness followed you though the trip, but glad you were able to make the best of it!!

What were the kids impressions of each park? What was Drew's favorite thing since he was the Big kid!!! lol?

Two of Drew's favorite things happen at MK next! His most favorite thing doesn't happen til day 4!!

Sounds like a great trip so far minus the presentation drama and the sickies! I just got teary eyed watching the video of her on IASW!! So sweet. I happen to think Emily is a great name. My oldest DD's name is Emily and it's spelled the same, too.

Aww thanks. It was very special.

 

[sdmom]

Blessings to you and your family. Thank you for sharing your trip.
Your little ones look so happy and sweet watching the parade. Hope the rest of the trip was wonderful.

 

[Mom2mitokids]

What a beautiful picture of Emily on the ride.

 

[smileycrissy]

So glad to hear she woke up for IASW. And the family shot in front of the castle is so beautiful.

I love all the excitement pictures of all the kids.

 

[tinytreasures]

I am so glad she woke up. I wish you didn't have the sickies

 

[fulseasmama]

Amazing and magical how perfect the timing worked out. The picture of her on the ride is wonderful. Loving your TR!

 

[brookerene]

I'm enjoying your TR.... I am also glad that you blogged things. I really enjoyed following along and made sure I checked it every day! I look each day to see hwo tings were going.And it is great that Emily woke for It's a Small World!

 

[Emilyswish]

Blessings to you and your family. Thank you for sharing your trip.
Your little ones look so happy and sweet watching the parade. Hope the rest of the trip was wonderful.

Thanks, I have always loved parades, I'm glad they do too.

What a beautiful picture of Emily on the ride.

Thanks. Make sure to go back and look again if you didn't notice there's a link to a VIDEO of her on the ride before the last picture!

So glad to hear she woke up for IASW. And the family shot in front of the castle is so beautiful.
I love all the excitement pictures of all the kids.

Thank you! It's a shame we were facing the direct sun, all of the kids are squinting so badly!!!

I am so glad she woke up. I wish you didn't have the sickies

Yeah, being sick was a real bummer. But we made the best of it!

Amazing and magical how perfect the timing worked out. The picture of her on the ride is wonderful. Loving your TR!

Thanks for reading along, can't wait to hear all about your trip too!!!!!!

I'm enjoying your TR.... I am also glad that you blogged things. I really enjoyed following along and made sure I checked it every day! I look each day to see hwo tings were going.And it is great that Emily woke for It's a Small World!

Thanks so much. I don't know how he managed to blog each night. We were always so exhausted and most nights he had to trek down to the HOH to use the wifi!! One night he stayed out til 2am!!! And he was sick! But I'm glad he did.

 

[that's nice]

I was going to respond the other night but I saw there was going to be a part 2 to your update and then I logged off. I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore.

Great location of your villa! You must of been across from where we stayed.

So sorry your morning started with the unpleasantness. But you made it to MK!!!

I think I had tears in my eyes when I read the part about Emily waking up right when the ride started. What a great video... you can tell she was just taking in the lights and sounds.

I can't wait to hear more!

 

[MelMel11]

Count me in. Love the picture from the ride. Your kids are precious.

 

[Emilyswish]

I was going to respond the other night but I saw there was going to be a part 2 to your update and then I logged off. I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore.

Great location of your villa! You must of been across from where we stayed.

So sorry your morning started with the unpleasantness. But you made it to MK!!!

I think I had tears in my eyes when I read the part about Emily waking up right when the ride started. What a great video... you can tell she was just taking in the lights and sounds.

I can't wait to hear more!

I think we were just a few villas away from you, we were 242 (you were 239?), just as the road started curving left. Our villa was just to the right of the main playground entrance (if you were facing the playground).

You "think"? Maybe you were chopping onions while you were reading?

Count me in. Love the picture from the ride. Your kids are precious.

Thanks for posting!