Make-A-Wish, GKTW, Disney...Catherine's wish...5/17/10-5/23/10**UPDATED 8/2/10 pg. 6!

[jenniferkeala808]

i'm here! i'm here! Your kids are adorable! Can't wait to hear more!

 

[Disfan3]

subbing!!

Can't wait to read more!! Your kids are so cute!!! Little Catharine looks like a happy, joyful, curious girl!! What a doll!!

 

[disneychic]

Great Trip Report! Can't wait to read more

 

[wish_upon_a_star35]

WOOOOOHOOO!!! I've been waiting for your TR!! So glad that your kids enjoyed the limo suprise!!! I can't wait to read more! I'm definitely subbing!!

 

[luckylady]

I'm in. Popcorn all ready. Bought a new recliner so I can be lazy and read all about your trip.

 

[jessica52877]

Poor Nervous Nellie! It was nice to see your carseats in the pictures! I just carseats. A little too much that I could buy a new one each time they come out with something bigger and better! I am surprised that SW counts them against your luggage though!

The limo surprise was wonderul and love how you caught their faces!

Can't wait for more!

 

[yinyanggirls]

Off to a pretty good start! Food is always so critical on trips. I'm glad she made it through, and you guys had the patience to know what she needed!

 

[Kelly in NY]

Just read through your whole PTR and the start of your TR. What pixie dust and amazing moments you had leading up to this trip. You're children seem like amazing children! You must be very proud of all of them. Looking forwward to reading more!

 

[llaxton]

I am reading too! I totally get the irrational in the airport, Mary had a total melt down in DCA I wanted to crawl in a hole! She was almost 3 at the time but she is so tall everyone assumes she is older and I felt like everyone was looking at us thinking why can't you people control your kid?

 

[goofy's_gurl]

At least she was fine after the sprite.

 

[cydswipe]

Hi.. it's Monica, one of your big givers... so happy to see this trip report up and going! I AM A NERVOUS NELLIE! I tend to get impatient with my DD9 when she is hesitant... hmmm... wonder WHO she got THAT from!

Love the surpised faces looking at the limo....

And of course, once again, McDonald's saves the day. hey, it's vacation, whatever IT TAKES!

Can't wait to read along!

Monica

 

[xanphylus]

Hi! I found you and I am all caught up now! Great start! I love the limo faces!! Sounds like the beginning of an excellent trip already- even with the minor mini-meltdown. Aleks just left for MI- she now flies solo, and we had a melt down as well at the airport..... I think it is just all the stress of the unknown. (She never knows how her trips to her mothers will be). I think the sprite was just the ticket though! Wish my kiddo would think Sprite was a treat- she refuses to drink anything carbonated! A good thing I guess... lol.

Can't wait to read more!!!

 

[wishin' on a star]

I'm from Maryland as well

THanks for reading...my sister lives in Davidsonville!

I am here too! And loving your TR already! Can't wait for more!!

I hope I can impart some info that will help with your trip planning!

I had to jump in the car and drive here to catch up....did I miss the party????? So excited that you started the trip report!!! Wonderful start so far....hilarious about the Mickey D stops!!! Glad the plane trip was uneventful. Its so funny that you said Catherine is a nervous Nellie!! My youngest is the same exact way.....she frets about everything and if its a new situation...forget it...she stresses. So I feel for you. Can't wait to hear more!!!!

Hi Cathy! I'm glad you made it!

Subbing!!!

Great report so far! My DS who is now 19 received a MAW trip back in 2006. His wish was to see the X-Games, so off we went to Los Angeles. Wonderful trip and wonderful memories. MAW provided top of the line everything, we even got tickets to Disneyland.

It was funny reading how excited your kids were to see the limo. We got one too and I also did not tell them before. Even at 15 my DS was so excited to ride in a limo

Can't wait to read the rest of your TR.

MAW is the most fantastic organization in the world! I hope your son is doing well now! THanks for following along!

Oh look at those smiles with the Limo suprise! How cool is letting you pick your vehicle!

Your kids are going to be making those smiles soon!!

i'm here! i'm here! Your kids are adorable! Can't wait to hear more!

subbing!!

Can't wait to read more!! Your kids are so cute!!! Little Catharine looks like a happy, joyful, curious girl!! What a doll!!

Thank you ...most of the time, she meets all those descriptions!

Great Trip Report! Can't wait to read more

Sorry for the delay...I'm hoping to get through day 1, so we can relive the Disney magic part!

WOOOOOHOOO!!! I've been waiting for your TR!! So glad that your kids enjoyed the limo suprise!!! I can't wait to read more! I'm definitely subbing!!

Uh oh...I better write fast before you leave on your trip!

I'm in. Popcorn all ready. Bought a new recliner so I can be lazy and read all about your trip.

I hope you managed to get up and do something...sorry for the delay!

Poor Nervous Nellie! It was nice to see your carseats in the pictures! I just carseats. A little too much that I could buy a new one each time they come out with something bigger and better! I am surprised that SW counts them against your luggage though!

The limo surprise was wonderul and love how you caught their faces!

Can't wait for more!

Hi Jessica! We opted to bring our own boosters so we'd have them in the limo. Normally, they ride with a booster with a back, but we opted for the backless to make the transporting easier. The car rental company would have provided them, but we were a little nervous about the quality...so we just brought them.

Off to a pretty good start! Food is always so critical on trips. I'm glad she made it through, and you guys had the patience to know what she needed!

Yes...never let a child get hungry when you are trying to have a good time and relax!

Just read through your whole PTR and the start of your TR. What pixie dust and amazing moments you had leading up to this trip. You're children seem like amazing children! You must be very proud of all of them. Looking forwward to reading more!

The Big Give, the MAW dinner...we really did have some magical moments...thanks for reading!

I am reading too! I totally get the irrational in the airport, Mary had a total melt down in DCA I wanted to crawl in a hole! She was almost 3 at the time but she is so tall everyone assumes she is older and I felt like everyone was looking at us thinking why can't you people control your kid?

Hi Liz!

At least she was fine after the sprite.

Hi.. it's Monica, one of your big givers... so happy to see this trip report up and going! I AM A NERVOUS NELLIE! I tend to get impatient with my DD9 when she is hesitant... hmmm... wonder WHO she got THAT from!

Love the surpised faces looking at the limo....

And of course, once again, McDonald's saves the day. hey, it's vacation, whatever IT TAKES!

Can't wait to read along!

Monica

Hi Monica...I may be a little slow, but I will keep chugging along until it's done! I try to be so patient with her and her nerves...but sometimes it's hard when you know just going with the flow would be so much more pleasant! I have to admit, we never even thought twice about going to McD's both times! They were hungry...we feed them...whatever is close!

Hi! I found you and I am all caught up now! Great start! I love the limo faces!! Sounds like the beginning of an excellent trip already- even with the minor mini-meltdown. Aleks just left for MI- she now flies solo, and we had a melt down as well at the airport..... I think it is just all the stress of the unknown. (She never knows how her trips to her mothers will be). I think the sprite was just the ticket though! Wish my kiddo would think Sprite was a treat- she refuses to drink anything carbonated! A good thing I guess... lol.

Can't wait to read more!!!

Hi Jen!! I'm glad you are here!!! I bet you all miss Aleks. I hope she has an okay summer with her mom. Sorry about the meltdown.

My kids think anything carbonated is the bomb...so when we are having a rough day...out comes the soda pop!

 

[wishin' on a star]

So, I've had two sick kids, and finally can write a little more before I head out to pick everyone up. They all have 1/2 days today, so we'll see how far we get!

Okay, so where were we? Oh yes...we've exited the airport...hopefully ahead of the other two families from our flight, so we can get checked in quicker! The ride was uneventful, although the directions take you on this road with some construction. And, lots of stoplights. Stoplights that are horribly timed, so we felt like we were at red light after red light. The kids were happily eating their McD's and I navigated while Dave drove.

Finally, we turned near the Walmart, and took note as we anticipated a trip here later. We knew we were close, and then we saw this!

If you didn't know GKTW was here, you would never even guess that there was such a beautiful resort here! It's completely private and hidden from the road! We pulled up in front of the House of Hearts!

We headed in to start checking in. There was no one else there at this point...it was probably getting close to 2:00.

Catherine got her magic button and they gave us the bunny book with a quick orientation on the map and told us about the food choices. The kids got t-shirts, and Catherine got a stuffed Mickey and Carmella and John each got a smaller Shamu. We were delighted that they were going to have a 3:00 orientation that day, because we had dinner plans at Downtown Disney with Catherine's godparents who were also at Disney for the week. This was great, because we could get the orientation done, enjoy DTD with our friends, and still be able to get up and out to the parks in the morning.

So, the lady who checked us in (can't remember her name for anything!) then took all three kids and myself on her golf cart for a little tour, while Dave followed in the car. I seemed to have forgotten that any of this was worth photographing, so I have no pictures of this part of the day. Until we arrived at our villa! We were in 289, which was about two doors down from Keaton's Korral, and really close to just about everything you would want to do at the Village.

In we went, and found a great goody bag on the table, full of treats and surprises for the kids.

I didn't get any great shots of the villa inside before we began throwing our stuff all over the place...but I did get pictures of the extras that they included.

In the fridge...not as well stocked as others in the past have described, but really not a big deal with all of the meal options at GKTW.

The coffee...in case you are brand particular...I did go out and buy a bottle of flavored creamer, because vanilla is my thing.

And the stuff in the bathrooms:



Plus, there was a ton of regular Tide powder in the laundry. John has eczema, so I went out and bought a bottle of Free and Clear.

For those who don't know already, the villa has a full kitchen and living area with TV (which we didn't turn on the entire week!). One bedroom has two twin beds, and there is a rollaway and crib in the closet. Plus a bedrail. We put all three kids in here and left the rollaway up for the week. John loved being able to share with the girls, as he has his own room at home and hates that everyone else in the house has someone to share with. This room has huge bathroom in it with a big handicapped accessible shower, jacuzzi tub, and two sinks. The other bedroom has a king sized bed, tv, and the bathroom is in the hallway with a tub/shower. THere is a full sized washer/dryer in the hallway.

Uh oh...gotta run to pick up the kids...more later this afternoon hopefully!

 

[ellenbenny]

I'm loving your report so far and can't wait to read more! Thanks for taking the time to write!

 

[jessica52877]

So sweet that John liked sharing the room. I am sure he'll realize when he is a few years older how nice it is to have his own room!

I love that they even have cute little samples in the bathroom! I am all about cute and little! LOL!

 

[xanphylus]

Great tour of the villa! I know how it is with the eczema- Davy has it too! His is better in the summer though, what with all the humidity down here in Ga. Winter's are yucky for him. I hope John's didn't flare up on him during the trip! I also like how he wanted to share his room! Aleks would be the same way! lol! Kids are funny! Gotta love em!

 

[wishin' on a star]

It was almost time for orientation, and Dave was hungry. So, we headed over to Katie's Kitchen. The kids wanted ice cream though, so I took them to the ice cream parlor while Dave ordered some food. By the time we came out with our ice cream, it was already 3:00 and he had left for orientation. They delivered his lunch to him at orientation!

The ice cream store is stocked with ice cream from Friendly's. You can get cones, sundaes, or shakes, and they have all kinds of toppings to enjoy. The volunteers at the village staff the ice cream parlor, and they are open from 7:30 in the morning until 9:30 at night. We love breakfast, so we actually never had ice cream for breakfast...but I know many who did!

We enjoyed our ice cream at one of the benches outside shaped like an ice cream bowl! That's Katie's Kitchen in the background. It's a walk up window. You can get take out here, and take it back to your villa or eat at one of the umbrella tables there. They will also deliver if you call them from your villa!

Once we finished our ice cream, we had to throw away our trash. This guy was one of our favorites. He talks, and says something along the lines of "Paper! Gimme gimme gimme some paper!" We stopped to see him quite often!

We took a few minutes while we waited for Daddy to look around a bit. We didn't want to explore the castle without him, so we didn't go in there. And the carousel wasn't open (seemed to only be open in the morning and atfter 5:00 most days). So, we headed over to ride these guys.



We headed over to the Amberville train station next.

Not much here, as the train wasn't working the week we were there, and the arcade was under renovation. Not the end of the world, and there wasn't too much disappointment. We drove the little motorized boats for a minute, and checked out the model train. I have a picture of this, but the stock photo is better than mine.

Finally, we met up with Daddy again. We walked back to our villa past Old Elmer, who seems to always be sleeping...although the kids thought MAYBE he'd be awake each time we walked past.

We did a quick change and headed to Downtown Disney. The kids were excited to meet up with "Uncle" George and "Aunt" Sheryl and their two boys. We had a hard time getting an ADR that we wanted at DTD, so we had taked one at Portobello's. But, it wasn't crowded when we got there, so we asked at T-Rex if it would be possible for all nine of us to get a table...and the answer was YES! We figured after the long day of travel, the kids would be MUCH happier somewehre like this instead of having to behave at Portobello's.

T-Rex is definitely a sensory overload kind of place. But, the kids all handled it well, they all ate well, and the food was pretty good. I can't even remember what I ate though! I think it may have been a pasta dish.

After dinner, we went to the Lego store. John had earned a reward at home for staying in his bed 10 nights in a row (he loves to come sleep with me...however Daddy then gets out of bed and sleeps in John's room...nice for John, not so nice for Mom and Dad). He picked a Lego Creator beach house, and the kids put together mini figures. We spent quite a bit of time in here!

We went to World of Disney. Carmella got a pair of pink and green Mickey crocs, and the girls both got some jewelry.

We headed back to our villa after this. Everyone was getting tired...it had been a long day with travelling and a little exploring. Time to get some rest, because the next day was our first day at a Disney park!

 

[luckylady]

What a great day you had. Love DTD so much to do down there. Can't wait to read about your first disney day. What park did you go to? I know I have to wait and see. LOL Hope the kids are feeling better soon.

 

[cantwaittoseemickey]

Sounds like a great travelling day. Your first bit of magic was at T rex