Lexi's pre-trip report for Dream Factory wish trip! June 18-24, 2009

[Corrine 1973]

What a great start to you TR. I must admite that I am already hooked and can't wait to read more.

The airport is what I worry about the most, I think. I have three young children so I too will have several bags and carry ons, I will also be bringing a car seat for my 2 year old for the plane. I think he will do better in a chair that he is used to. It is definatly not the part I am looking forward to.

Can't wait to hear more and see more of those wonderful Pics.

 

[sammie girl]

Thanks to you all for sticking around and reading this. I really do appreciate it. I am going to try to get another day posted tomorrow after church. Hopefully it will get done but at least I will start it.

 

[sammie girl]

This is the only day we set an alarm the whole trip. We had 7:45 res. for the princess breakfast at Epcot. We were soooo hoping Snow White would be there. They don't guarantee which princesses will be there. We get up, get ready and head off. DD is so excited the whole way there she is just a little chatter box full of energy. We went the long way (because we didn't realize until another 2 days that there was a shorter way LOL).

When we get there we show our button and follow the blue line (thanks fellow disers). We get up to the lady directing parking and show her the button. Yes, she lets us continue on into the blue/handicap parking area. We are there so early (before park opens) and most others parked in regular parking that we get into the 2nd row (we left the 1st row for others). We were getting out of the car and this lady next to us starts talking to us. Turns out she is a cast memeber who takes us into the employee entrance to avoid the long line of baggage etc. .
We get the stroller (using our button it is free) and head to the breakfast.

While waiting for our name to be called DD is just to nervous wondering if Snow White will be there. Another cast member notices DD and stops to tell her that YES Snow White is there today. OH BOY now the reall excitemtent starts to shine through.

They call our name and the first princess we meet is Belle. They took a pic with just DD and Belle (I had it put on photopass but don't have those pics back yet.) Then we go to our table. The breakfast was very good alot better than I had anticipated. The kids ate really well and the princess came out to mingle through the tables. I did get pics of the rest of the princesses I will share in a moment. A guy comes to our table and tells DD that Belle has a gift for her! Belle gave DD the picture package they were selling. It came in a folder with a big one and 4 small ones and that was also on our photopass. I don't have it copied on my comp yet though.

Here are the pics of breakfast with some captioning.
Ariel---My DS has always had a crush on Cinderella but it was almost broken after meeting Ariel. He did change back to "Rella" though. LOL

And now the most awaited moment----DD's Dream of meeting Snow White!

Look at that smile! DD was very happy to have this dress on and Snow White said "Oh My it is my twin and she even wore my shoes". DD was amazed at how much she sounded just like the movie and said they REALLY used her voice in the movie! I just love the fact that my child isn't growing up to fast.

So that is our breakfast. We finished up here and headed over to 'Soarin. We have never been to Epcot before but we loved this ride. I was a little shy about the button at first (didn't think this would happen). But after the first time and seeing how nice the employees were about it I decided to just go with the flow and use the buttons accordingly.

We then headed over to Test Track. My DS actually liked this ride. Then we had to check out the VIP lounge. We didn't stay here to long because DS was having an all out breakdown. (Haven't really seen him act like this before so I guess he was just so tired and all) Here are the few pics from the lounge and we also met a really nice family in here that works for Seimens. They really paid attention to DD and made her feel special.

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After leaving Epcot we headed over to MK. I wish I would have remembered they connect by tram so we wouldn't have driven but o-well it worked out because the weather was soooooooo HHHHHHOOOOOOTTTTTT!!!!!!! We ended up going back to the villa for part of the day.
I have to leave off here to head out to Church but hopefully will return today for the rest of Day 2.

 

[jessica52877]

Love the princess breakfast pictures. I am so GLAD that Snow White was there. I am sure it made DD's day!

 

[Matt1026]

I have really enjoyed reading your report. I just love the pictures! Especially the picture of your DD and Snow White. I know that must of been a magical moment for her.

I can not wait to read more.

 

[kimmylaj]

so glad to be here and catch up on your trip. i love the pictures at the princess breakfast. as far as the airport, the funniest thing was me, my mom, and cousin, and 3 kids under 4. we had 6 checked bags, 3 carseats, 3 strollers, and are you ready? 8 carry ons with diaper bags and cameras. lets just say we were quite a sight. and the people behind us in security were not too happy to be stuck behind us.

 

[kdzbear]

I am so glad that Snow White was there! Your daughter looks so happy! You sound as if you had a great day at Epcot and I can't wait to hear more!

 

[sammie girl]

Love the princess breakfast pictures. I am so GLAD that Snow White was there. I am sure it made DD's day!

According to DD it made her whole life. That is the first thing she tells people.

I have really enjoyed reading your report. I just love the pictures! Especially the picture of your DD and Snow White. I know that must of been a magical moment for her.

It was a great moment. It feels sooooo good to see your child happy after so many months of emotional and physical pains.

so glad to be here and catch up on your trip. i love the pictures at the princess breakfast. as far as the airport, the funniest thing was me, my mom, and cousin, and 3 kids under 4. we had 6 checked bags, 3 carseats, 3 strollers, and are you ready? 8 carry ons with diaper bags and cameras. lets just say we were quite a sight. and the people behind us in security were not too happy to be stuck behind us.

That is funny. I had to stop reading and just laugh about this for awhile. My neice-in-law is staying with us tonight so I had her read it. Sounds like you had quite a time.

I am so glad that Snow White was there! Your daughter looks so happy! You sound as if you had a great day at Epcot and I can't wait to hear more!

I was sweating about Snow White not being there, especially after having to pay so much money for the breakfast and her being the only reason we were there. Epcot was wonderful! I hadn't been there before so I was quite surprised at all it offered.

 

[sammie girl]

We drove over to MK and had never parked here before because we always took the buses from the Disney Resorts. I was really surprised by how they transport you there. The kids weren't to happy because it was so hot and we didn't have a stroller until after we entered the park. They started to get cranky but the promise of MK made it bearable.

I did alot of photopass pics here which I haven't even started on so the pics from here will be scarce. We headed for the Pirates ride first and worked our way around the park. The only ride we were told no front line access to was Buzz Lightyear. We started to walk away because the heat was unbelievable and didn't want DD getting sick standing in the long line when the lady who turned us away decided to go ahead and take us in the back way for front of the line. That was really nice of her and we weren't even mad because we had gotten so much already. So when we get on they ask us if we want to stay on and of course the kids are like "yeah".

Like I have said it was hot. According to the people from there it was the hottest it has been for a very very long time. We were continually at the counter service areas getting "free" water. (thanks Maroo.). We decided to head over to the wish lounge to take a break and maybe let the kiddos take a nap. When we got there a family from GKTW were already there but shared it with us. They were really nice and after talking with them found out they had been paying for waters all day. They said they had spent almost 30 dollars on water alone. I was appalled at this and SO THANLFUL (once again) I had found this site. I passed on the free water info to them and they were very thankful also. The kids didn't sleep and were still cranky from the heat so we decided to head back to the village and maybe try it later in the evening (this was a late night, 12 a.m.).

We went back to the village, showered and just relaxed. I took the kids to drive the boats and play in the Castle then we ate supper at the village and headed back to MK. The fireworks started and my kids freaked (they hate loud noises and like fireworks from my kitchen window). We went to the inside rides through all of the fireworks. We caught the tailend of one of the parades and guess who we saw????

Yep! Snow White again. What a perfect ending to the day.
We also went and met some of the other characters (the fairies was a must because DD had never met them before either and wanted to) Here are some random pics from Day 2 at MK
Belle again

Back with his Girlfriend

I tried getting the Castle in the background. Hopefully the photopass will turn out better.

Waiting to meet the fairies.

Posing for the Camera.

They got a kick out of this.

They were in a much better mood after the sun went down and it cooled off a bit.

On the way out at we stopped for some pineapple icecream (that is my favorite) DD was happy because she got a diet coke float. Yep one scoop of ice cream in diet coke. She loved it. Here is the end of the day. And the owl was back out on the fence when we arrived home.

Here are some more random pics of the day.

We also rode the this while back at the village on a break.

That is the end of day 2. Stay tuned for more magical moments.

 

[sammie girl]

On day 3 we had plans to go to Universal Studio. This is on a Saturday so we figured it wouldn't be as crowded as a Disney park.

I hadn't been to Universal for many years (since I was a teenager). I didn't know they had redone everything and the walk was going to be so long. Again I wish we would have brought a stroller from home for these walks to the entrances. It was so hot that we had to stop 3 times for breaks before we even got into the park.

Once in we started out with the Shrek ride. This is the only time on the trip where we experienced a staff member be rude. When I showed him the button he rolled his eyes and grunted. It didn't bother us because everyone else bended over backwards for DD.

After this we went on Twister. While waiting for an escort we were discussing the Barney show and how DD wanted to meet the "Real" Barney. The worker in charge of the line at this ride asked which show we wanted to attend. We told him it didn't matter as long as she was able to see Barney. He told us to hang on with our escort. He came back and said he had made a phone call and that after this ride to head straight to Barney for a private meet and greet. Wow was DD excited.

DD couldn't believe she met the real live Barney lol. I will never tell her any different about the characters.

We went on ET after this and the kiddos loved it so we went to go on it again. When we got back inside we learned that it was closing down for mechanical issues Wow were we lucky to have gone on it when we did.

DS noticed that some of his favorite characters were out on stage so we endured the heat to watch it. Then off to meet some of his favorites.

We bought the meal plan just to avoid buying drinks all day so we ate lunch and supper here and refilled our drinks all day. The plan was worth it in the heat if nothing else just for the drinks. And the lady who sold it to us didn't charge us for our DS.

I really wish I would have brought the kids swimming suits here because the water play area was so neat. I didn't bring a change of clothes so they missed out on the water part. We tried finding a suit or shorts for DD but they didn't sell them in her size so all of you planning keep this in mind for your trips.

We went on MIB and that is where we used our free picture.
We ended up staying at this park longer than anticipated because we had to take so many breaks from the heat. We started to head out about 5:30 but stopped over at Hard Rock Cafe before leaving.
If you show them the GKTW button they will let your child pick a free pin (they let both of my kids). If you ask they will give you 50% off with your button. Keep in mind none of this was told to us but I had read on another wish report about this so I knew to ask. Make sure if this is one of your stops to be sure to ask for your discounts and your childs free pin.

We headed back to the village and made it in time for the tail end of the Birthday Party. I wish we would have gotten back earlier because it looked like alot of fun. They bring out all kinds of stuff. The kids did get some dippin' dots and beads. We went for some icecream and made their pillows and DD completed her star.

DS dancing and being his silly old self

For some reason the pics of the star didn't copy on here and I don't have time to mess with it right now.
We closed the castle down with the speaking clock. How cool.

I thought this was really neat.

We went back to the villa and was once again met by our owl friend.
Time for bed and another exciting day.

 

[BeckySob]

Oh goody, you took advantage of Hard Rock Cafe! Isn't that awesome! It was like being in heaven when we were there! We bought so much stuff!

 

[sammie girl]

We got up this day with the intention of sleeping in but we didn't. We ordered the breakfast cart to save on time.

We had intended on going to Sea World and spending a few hours and then on to IOA and back for the CandyLand party. As you will read nothing went as planned this day but that is o.k. because we didn't have anything set in stone and were just going with the flow.

We left for Sea World. It was already so hot. When we got there DS wanted a hat to keep the sun off of him. We bought him a hat and a sword DD got a white whale.

We headed over to the stingrays. DS really liked this and wanted to try to feed them. I went to buy him a tray of food but the lady at the counter seen the button and said we get free food for the stingrays also. Cool, both the kids got their own food.

DD ended up being to scared to feed them but she did touch them. We then headed over to the dolphin's. We all were very VERY miserable by this point. It was extremely hot! This next pic is of DS after only being in the park for about 10 minutes.

We hurried through the dolphins and were going to go inside somewhere to cool off but the kids wanted to go home. They didn't want to go to anymore parks. So that is what we did. Here are a few pics of the dolphins.

As you can see DD isn't in the pics on this trip because she was the most miserable out of us all and I was worried about her meds getting to hot (she has to carry it on her because it is continually pumped into her back side through a catheter and reacts badly to extreme weather.)

We left this park after only 1/2 hour and headed back to the villa. We all took showers and laid down for a few hours. The kids woke us up and wanted to go get lunch so we ordered Katie's Kitchen and ate in the Ice Cream parlor. They decided they wanted to try IOA so we left and went on our way it is now around 4:30.

Again we weren't looking forward to the long walk but we made it and made a very short trip of this also. It was just so hot still. We went on Spiderman (my favorite ride the whole trip). DD was again to small for the rollercoasters so she was really bummed. We headed to Suess Landing which was neat and I could have spent a whole day there with the kids if it weren't so hot. They rode the cat in the hat ride 8 times in a row (there wasn't a line). We rode the train that goes through the little cafeteria. Here are some pics of our day here.

So hot but so excited to ride this train.

This was in the suess landing I thought how neat is that and we donated all of our change here.

While back at the village we also made a trip to the church for some time with the Lord. DD prayed (she went to a Catholic school so was very excited to be able to kneel.) She also wrote in the book.

We headed back to the village but missed the Candyland party. This was our worst day so far because of the heat. We took things really really slow and ended up having a good day because of it. We missed things we wanted to do but were happy because we weren't rushed in the extreme heat. Remember you won't get to do it all so decide what is most important to your kids. We let them kinda run the show.

 

[sammie girl]

Oh goody, you took advantage of Hard Rock Cafe! Isn't that awesome! It was like being in heaven when we were there! We bought so much stuff!

YES!!!! It must have been your TR where I read this at. LOL. Nobody tells you about this discount so thank you very much. We bought a ton of stuff and most of our stuff for others came from here because it ended up being so cheap.

 

[sammie girl]

This day was DS's day to shine. We got up early (not on purpose). We went to the Gingerbread house for breakfast and to meet the Disney Character's at GKTW.

We also met Minnie and Mickey but those pics didn't copy either. I do have them though. Minnie made a big production of DD's outfit. HEEHEE. DD really liked this part.
We then headed over to spend the day at HS. Again if we stayed all day or a couple hours it didn't matter.

Our first stop was to HSM because it was getting ready to start as we were walking by. DD really liked this but I could have passed on it. It was so hot and here is a pic of DS while we were watching it. We have only been in the park for a few minutes and this is how hot it already was.

We then headed straight to the Jedi training camp. We just missed the first show so I waited in front for the next show. DD needed out of the heat so DH took her to ride the Star Wars ride. DS stayed with me because he was so excited to fight Darth Vader. I asked a CM about it and he told me to put the button on DS and he would be picked first. YEAH!!!!!!!! Here are some pics with a story to follow.

This really surprised me. After seeing how big DV was I thought for sure DS would chicken out but he did pretty good. He dropped his sword one time and picked it right up. We were watching the video for the first time last night and DS stated"Mommy my legs were really shaking because they were so scared." My neice-in-law asked him if his arms were shaking and he said "no just my legs were scared". I love it. He really enjoyed this.
We then went into the store and let each of the kids make their own light swords and bought DS the robot R2D2 which was on sale for 60$.

We left here and walked around to a few more rides. DD found a building which she really liked, rooms dedicated to nothing but Snow White.

We also loved these flowers of Snow White and Dopey.

Enjoying their lollipops.

We also went to the American Idol show and voted.. DD liked this because she thought she was really at the show. Once again we didn't tell her any different because we didn't want to ruin the magic for her.

We headed back to the village fairly early because of the FOTL access we made it through everything.

Once getting back we ate supper and icecream. We also took part in the Double Dare. Ds was picked for pie eating contest and DD and her dad were picked for a game and then DH was able to throw a pie at DD. This was so much fun and the most we have all laughed together in a long long time.

When we got back to the villa we had more presents and a note saying they were going to be taping a show called "Letters from God". If DD wanted to be an extra she could have. She chose not to because she wanted to go to AK to ride the roller coaster. This concludes day 5.
I have random pics to add at the end I can't remember what day we did all of this on so I am going to make a random page at the end of the report.

 

[sammie girl]

This was our AK day and back to MK. We knew we wouldn't be at AK for long because we had been there before and only wanted to to the safari and coaster for DD. When we got into the park we were all hot, tired, wearing down and all of us were starting to become very cranky. We intended on going strait to the safari but once again were so hot we took a break at the Lion King show. This is one of my favorite shows and the kids also enjoy it. After this we cut through the meet and greet trail and decided to do that on our way. All of these pics were taken on photopass and I haven't had time to mess with that yet.


We knew to go through the exits because that is what the first CM told us to do so at Mickey we walked up through the exit. DS is the only one who wanted to meet Safari Mickey so he went up and took his pick with him. On our way back through the exit a lady very rudely and loudly says to my kids "You had to cut in through the line to not even smile in the pic it shouldn't matter if you are dieing or not" I was pissed. It takes alot for me to get mad to the point that I will be in a confrontation but this did it. For one my daughter isn't dying she is not terminal just life-threatening. For 2 what if it would have been a child who really only had a few days left. I spoke up and tried to explain to this lady in as nice a manner as I could allow at the time. She kept screaming how her kid has to wait in line and all these dying kids just walk right up like they are more important (MY DH had taken the kids far away from this lady while I was in this confrontation with her). I started to cry because it just broke my heart. I went up and got the CM in charge and told her what had happened. She had me point the lady out and I left so don't really know what happened after that.
This was the only rude person we encountered the whole time and I didn't let her ruin our day or our trip.
We headed to the safari and then to the coaster.
I went on the coaster with DD first and Dh rode next. The coaster made DH who was probably already suffering from a light heat stroke even sicker. We went into the air-conditioned building to eat and take a break. DH said he might have to go to the hospital because he was feeling really bad. The kids were miserable because of the heat and didn't want to go to anymore parks. We headed back to the villa and all took showers and collapsed in bed. The kids woke after a little while and wanted to go swimming so I took them and let DH sleep. Here are some pics from that morning.

DD was very surprised to meet Pocohantos.

We also rode these while there and thought they were much better than Dumbo.

This is on our way out of the park. This is how hot and miserable it was this day. By far the worst day.

After swimming I took the kids for icecream

And to play miniture golf.

Played pool.

And had a star wars fight.

We went to the castle for la ti da spa and to play around when it started to strom and rain.

Ariel and friends

DH decided to walk up to meet us and was caught in the rain storm. My phone didn't work in the castle so he walked around until he found us. Poor DH.

DH said it had really cooled off and if the kids wanted to go to MK. Of course they did so we put on our ponchos and off we went.

Trying to take the sword out

This was the best time we had a park. We got there around 7:30 and left at midnight. We found the mountain roller coaster that we didn't even realize was there. We thought it was just splash mountain. DS was soooooo excited to finally go on a big coaster and after we got off he said he never wanted to do that again. HaHa.

Again we took it slow but it was so nice out that we really got back into the Disney magic. Thank God for the rain and cool so we wouldn't have our last memory of the park being hot and miserable.

We headed back to the villa and went to bed.

 

[sammie girl]

This was a sad day for us. We had such a magical time we weren't ready to go home yet. The night before they had left instructions for checking out and such and I had packed our stuff in between parks the day before so we were mostly ready to go. Our flight didn't leave until 7:30 p.m. so we had a whole day the village. We went and got breakfast and came back to pack up the car and make one final walk through. We were getting out of the car to head inside the villa and guess what we should see?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

The owl that we had seen every single night since day one. Can you believe it? We finally see him in day light on our very last moment at the villa. HOw awesome is that!
So we pack up and enjoyed the village. Played at the playground, drove the boats, road the train again, played mini golf again.
If you are going to GKTW make sure to look for the armadillo that lives somewhere in the mine golf areal. We seen him and he let us get pretty close before he ran away.

Here are some pics of our last day and throughout the last week of us enjoying the village.

This is the production crew and their stuff during the movie taping.

Found DD's star Pic

Writing in the journal at the chapel

Mayor Clayton's house.'

 

[sammie girl]

More random pics of village.

At the airport on the way home

I don't have the pic uploaded yet but when we came home it was dark but the next day it stormed here and after the storm we went outside to do some sparklers and parachutes when we looked up there was a double rainbow right over our house. What a beautiful way to end such a great vacation and start another chapter at home.

One thing I thought was really touching was our second day there my DD told me she wanted to live there because everyone so was nice and nobody looked at her funny when she had to check her blood or do her pump. More tears were shed on my part. What a wonderful experience for my DD to go through this. I will remember this trip forever and am planning on staying around this board for a long time to come. I hope someone always keeps it going for the future people.

One thing I really regret about this trip and a warning to all of you future goers. There were so many of us overlapping our trips to GKTW from this board. I didn't get to meet any of them and my DD kept asking when she was going to meet her new friends. I really wish I would have been more organized to find a way to meet up with all of you. Hopefully we will still be able to meet the ones in our area. That is my only regret for the whole entire week.

Thank you all for sticking around and reading my reports. It means alot to me to be able to share my children with all of you. I hope you were able to learn something from my TR. God bless you all and all of your precious little ones.

 

[sammie girl]

You still can't get rid of me and my TR is offically finished

Thought I would mention that our flight back was wonderful. The guy at the front check-in let us board 1st because we had a special need child. How nice. It stormed on our way back and the lightenening was beautiful from above.

ALSO I MENT TO MENTION THIS ALOT BEFORE.

I recieved so many compliments on the children's clothing. Everytime we turned around someone noticed and complimented them. Talk about making them feel good about themselves. My DD repeatedly told them "Some People made us these and we don't even know them but they still like me." I hope you all realize how much you boosted my child's self-esteem by your kindness. It really means alot to me and my husband and made their trip even more special. THANK YOU all soooooooo MUCH!!!!!

 

[Corrine 1973]

I just loved your TR. I must admite that I am a little sad that you are done, I felt as if I was there with you.

I can not believe how rude that person at DAK was. I beat that her tune would change if she had a child who had a life threatning illness. But then I wouldn't wish that on anyone. There are just some really rude people in this world, and I feel truly sorry for them.

I am so glad that you made the best of it, some rough times with all that heat, but you pulled out some pixie magic anyway.

Thanks for the Hard Rock tip, I will definatly have to put in my iteniary.

 

[kdzbear]

Wow! You have been busy writing today! I think I just read three days worth of posts. I agree with how hot Orlando can be. I try to take advantage of the free ice water at the fast food areas. Your children looked like they had fun despite the extreme heat. I love that you got to enjoy the Magic Kingdom at night. It is much cooler then and normally less crowded. Thank you so much for sharing your trip with us! We will have to meet at a Dream Factory event in the future!