mommie2angels
<font color=blue>Would you like to be in the pictu
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2003
- Messages
- 804
This is the trip report we sent out to our family and friends so I just thought I would share it with ya'll. Some of our family and friends don't do Disney so we had to explain a little more than we would have to with ya'll. Hope ya'll enjoy it!
I hesitate to even try to write this. Its our last night at Disney World. This was kind of a last minute trip to see our Masquerade friends before their last show. Its 12:30 AM, everyones asleep. I should be too. I listen to Mike snore and listen for each of the girls sounds as they are breathing. I am once again reminded what a very lucky person I am. I have a husband that loves me without question and three very beautiful daughters that I truly think love me almost half as much as I love them. The reason I am still up is because this has been one of the most emotional trips I personally have ever taken to Disney World. Each trip my faith in mankind is renewed a little more. Each time I am remind of Gods beautiful plan for our lives. Each time He brings someone new into our lives and enriches the wonderful Disney friendships we have made. I do not know why God created me with the heart that he did. Isnt it my heart that makes me feel these emotions. No not emotions they are very true and real feelings. So many times I wish that I could open my heart up like a book for people to view. Not because I want to be an open book but because I want others to feel and be blessed the way I have been. I want others to see life, love and this wonderful world through my heart and not my eyes. If I look with my eyes I see lots of hurt, sadness and anger. When I look with heart I see more love, kindness and generosity than I think my heart can hold. I know that this trip report may have lots of broken empty spots because there is no way I can recall every step on paper.
Our trip began with the van being loaded and us being ready to go. Mary Elizabeth, Michala, Marlee Anne and I were waiting on Mike to come in and say lets go. On this trip George, who is Marlee Annes pet monkey, baby and Minnie Mouse came with us. This is important information for later on. The girls slept for the first two hours, we ate on the road for the next hour, slept a little more, then watch part of Brother Bear the last of the trip. We arrived at Pop Century around 10:30. Even though we had a couple of problems there the last time we decided to give it another try. Checked in with no problems. We ended up on the 4th floor, which was not the best for us, but considering I made last minute ressies it wasnt bad. It actually didnt turn out to be bad at all. We got the angels in and settled with Marlee Anne still saying Mouse. She was so ready to see him. When she wasnt saying Mouse she was saying Nay, who is the girls adopted aunt.
The next morning we headed out to meet Nay at Epcot. It was an incredibly beautiful day. Not a cloud in the sky. Beautiful just beautiful. Remember now its Saturday and its the opening day of the Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot. Remember we are going to Epcot. We turned the corner to go to Epcot and there was a sea of Florida tags on all the cars that we in line to get into Epcot. WOW!!! I couldnt believe it. The parking lot was packed. As soon as we saw Nay walk up all that went away. You would have thought we had not just seen her only a few weeks ago. It felt like forever. The bond we have with her is absolutely amazing. Disney magic possibly played a part in it but I truly believe Gods hands were totally in on it too. Thats another story for another time. She told us that she and Masquerade wanted us to meet them that night for the pie festival at Celebration. OK now, Nay, Masquerade, pie and Celebration. What a combo. We couldnt wait. I dont even remember now where we went from here.
I do remember lots of pictures of the beautiful fab 5 topararies. Those of you that dont know the fab 5 consist of Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy and Donald. The topiaries of them were absolutely amazing. We stopped by to see our friend at the camera shop only to find out she is off on Saturdays and Sundays. Around the back of Spaceship Earth were beautiful topiaries of Beauty and the Beast characters.
Sorry it took me awhile to get back to this. I went to sleep finally. Now we are on the way home and I am going to try to finish this up. Other than Mike having to deal with problems at work and an accident in Valdosta that held us up we are having a good ride home.
Back to Epcot for the Flower and Garden show. After a quick stop at Guest Relations for Marlee Annes birthday button and Mary Elizabeth & Michalas guest assistance cards we decided to walk around and see all the flower and garden stuff. We wanted to see all the beautiful topiary displays. We stopped by the dog maze, which the girls really enjoyed. There was an older couple walking through there. She and I had a very good time oohing and aahing over the beautiful and amazing things. She had her gardeners hat on so I am sure her yard at home is probably very immaculate.
On around to the countries. We stopped in United Kingdom to see if Pooh was there yet. He hadnt arrived so we headed over to France for a pastry. Patti got us hooked on the bakery there. I had a chocolate éclair, which Marlee Anne did a very good job of helping me with. Mike, Michala and Mary Elizabeth shared a raspberry schuss. Mike stopped by Morocco to check out the menu. We still have not eaten there, in Germany, Japan or United Kingdom except for counter service fish and chips. Japan had the most beautiful bonsai displayed. After reading about the Kaki-Gori (snow cones) from Japan on the Disney board I had to try one. While we were standing there eating it the character bus came along. Perfect timing. The girls were so excited. We got to see several characters there and get their autographs. I will have to count how many when I look at the pictures. Mary Elizabeth smiled her beautiful smile at each of them while Michala laughed her infectious laugh. Marlee Anne hugged and kissed each one of them. We stopped in the United States for pictures in front of the beautiful Mickey and Minnie there. We also got a picture of Donald Duck there. I wanted a coffee but was way to full from our pastries. We headed over to get a good seat to wait for Masquerade to start. I dont know who was more excited to see them when they started. It was a beautiful show and they all did magnificent as always. I got some wonderful pictures. We shared hugs with all of them and it was just like being welcomed home again.
After the show we went to Germany to eat. We had never eaten there. Our friend Pauls mom suggested it last time we were there so we thought we would try it. We were very pleased with the food selection and the entertainment, which was very nice and kept the girls entertained. I love that we had enough room to sit comfortably with the girls wheelchairs there. The restrooms were very large and had nice changing tables so I decided to change all the girls there. I know many of you dont need this information but for our friends with babies or special needs children this is a much welcomed bit of info. When we went back to the restrooms we met two very nice ladies that we enjoyed chatting with. They were both very wonderful and kind to the girls. On the way out I got some pictures of the beautiful Snow White topiary. We stopped by the Teddy Bear store because we saw the perfect gift for George on the way to eat. You know food first shopping second. Who ever came up with that anyway? LOL!!! There was a beautiful monkey we thought George would just love. We just knew he was being a good monkey back in the room. This time he didnt get to go to the parks with us because we were afraid he would wonder off. You know we almost lost him last time. So we go in to look at the monkey. Before I even touched him to see how soft he was I gasped at the price. He was $95. We just didnt think that we could justify, let alone afford a $95 monkey so we walked out. He was very beautiful though.
Next to Germany there was a playground set up. Marlee Anne met a new friend there and enjoyed playing on the slides with her. Once we pulled her away from there we went to China to take pictures of the Panda topiaries. I think I have this out of order but you get the idea. We made our way on around and continued to take pictures.
Mike wanted to go see the Festival so we went inside to check everything out. They have the neatest tie-dyed Flower and Garden Show t-shirt that I just remembered I forgot to buy. Guess I didnt need it that bad huh? They also have a very cute mug thats a flowerpot. Mike sat with Michala and Marlee Anne while they napped. Mary Elizabeth and I went to get her some milk then we went through Innoventions. We made postcards to email. Here is the link for the postcard we made if you would like to see it. http://204.146.52.215/epcot1.nsf/postcards/28C5CE?OpenDocument&1F2604 Mary Elizabeth was laughing so hard because we kept having to redo it. Her wheelchair wasnt high enough for her to sit in it and be in the picture so I had to hold her. Not an easy thing to do when you are trying to work the computer too. She was laughing at me and it got me tickled. My mouth was still hurting from my surgery so I smiled crooked in all the pictures this trip. Mary Elizabeth and I had the best time with just the two of us walking through. I was going to take a picture of Mary Elizabeth in front of the mural of the Fab 5 cause I loved Loris picture of that. Well as I was about to take it this wonderful this very nice CM came up and ask could he take the picture of both of us. He took lots of time talking to Mary Elizabeth. He very seldom even looked at me. He got eye level with Mary Elizabeth and was very kind talking to her. She was very intent on listening to him. I know that may sound like something small but it is something huge for me. It makes Mary Elizabeth feel very special and loved. I really hate that I did not get his name.
I just remembered something that happened this morning when we went through the que to get in. CM George asked if we had any meds that needed to be refrigerated. I told him no but thanks so much for asking. He explained that that is a service Disney is glad to provide. I was very touched and very pleased with the time he took to explain that to us.
When Mary Elizabeth and I got finished we went to find Mike and the girls. They were sitting with their backs to us so we snuck up on them. Mary Elizabeth started laughing before we got to them because I told her we were going to surprise them. We went to the Land to get them something to eat. I was still full from lunch and wanted to leave room for pie and coffee at Celebration so I didnt eat. Mike and the girls ate though. While we were sitting there waiting for Mike to bring the food we met a very nice family. They have a special needs daughter and they were very interested in Michalas chair. I really enjoyed meeting them and spending time talking to them. While we were sitting there Marlee Anne was entranced by the boats. Matthew, the CM working them ran over in between boats coming up to talk to Marlee Anne. He gave her a collectors card and then gave her one for Mary Elizabeth and Michala. He came over several times after that to visit with her when he could. He was very nice. He asked her if she was going to ride the boat. She looked at me and said Mommie. I told her that maybe tomorrow we would. We never did make it back to ride them though. Maybe on our next visit.
By the time we got the girls fed it was time to head back to Italy to see Masquerade. We actually didnt have much time. We took the boat across and arrived just in time. The show was once again wonderful!!! We told them goodbye and headed out to Celebration.
I almost left out the fact that we heard Davy Jones sing I'm A Believer. We didn't stay for the show but stood in the back so Marlee Anne could dance to that song. It was really excited. He looks good to be as old as he is. Not that he is old are anything. He has aged well.
Remember now this is our dream to live in Celebration. WOW!!! It was so amazing. The streets were blocked off and there was stuff to do everywhere. We met Renee and we were so excited to get to meet Melani. Melani is Renees niece. Right before we met Renee, Melani did a paper on Aicardi syndrome. Renee read our website and found out the Michala has Aicardi syndrome. Just another sign that it was meant to be for us to meet. We gave Melani one of the Aicardi syndrome t-shirts and she was wearing it. Michala was so excited to see Melani wearing it. We headed over to where the pie was. OK get this picture. We met them at the most beautiful Barnies coffee shop I have ever seen. The buildings here are just beautiful. Then we walk down the streets. As we were walking Mike said dont look to the right. Of course I did. The most lovely childrens clothing shop. I decided it was best that I not stop there. We will be sure to take Granmama there someday. HA!
As we walked through the entrance to the all you can eat pie area the lady gave the girls Oreo cookie toys. Then Renee says get all the pie you want and we will take it to the table. We start loading our arms. Well except me cause I had to taste the candy cane pie. OH MY WORD!!! Does anyone have a recipe for this? It was heavenly!!! There were all kinds of fruit pies, moose tracks, mango, lemon, key lime and I am sure some I am leaving out. They had milk and coffee. We sat with our very special friends beneath beautiful trees under the Florida sky. It was truly priceless. I sat there quiet for a minute looking around taking it all in. Looking around at our huge table made by the three smaller tables. Seated at those tables were people that have quickly become a huge part of our lives. My breath was taken away thinking of how all this happened. Once again I thanked God for the blessings of life, love and friendship. These people had invited us to come and spend the evening with them and a beautiful evening it was. These are people that do not see the wheelchairs that our daughters sit in but they see them for who they are. They do not see us as parents of special needs daughters but as friends, as family. We are truly so very blessed.
After we had all eaten as much as we could, given lots of hugs, and taken some pictures we went our separate ways. Knowing we would see each other the next day made the parting a little easier. We were anxious to see if we had any towel animals in our windows. We saw lost of them in other windows on the way back to our room but there was nothing in our windows. We were all tired so it didnt take us long to get to sleep. We were anxious to get back to see Mickey.
I hesitate to even try to write this. Its our last night at Disney World. This was kind of a last minute trip to see our Masquerade friends before their last show. Its 12:30 AM, everyones asleep. I should be too. I listen to Mike snore and listen for each of the girls sounds as they are breathing. I am once again reminded what a very lucky person I am. I have a husband that loves me without question and three very beautiful daughters that I truly think love me almost half as much as I love them. The reason I am still up is because this has been one of the most emotional trips I personally have ever taken to Disney World. Each trip my faith in mankind is renewed a little more. Each time I am remind of Gods beautiful plan for our lives. Each time He brings someone new into our lives and enriches the wonderful Disney friendships we have made. I do not know why God created me with the heart that he did. Isnt it my heart that makes me feel these emotions. No not emotions they are very true and real feelings. So many times I wish that I could open my heart up like a book for people to view. Not because I want to be an open book but because I want others to feel and be blessed the way I have been. I want others to see life, love and this wonderful world through my heart and not my eyes. If I look with my eyes I see lots of hurt, sadness and anger. When I look with heart I see more love, kindness and generosity than I think my heart can hold. I know that this trip report may have lots of broken empty spots because there is no way I can recall every step on paper.
Our trip began with the van being loaded and us being ready to go. Mary Elizabeth, Michala, Marlee Anne and I were waiting on Mike to come in and say lets go. On this trip George, who is Marlee Annes pet monkey, baby and Minnie Mouse came with us. This is important information for later on. The girls slept for the first two hours, we ate on the road for the next hour, slept a little more, then watch part of Brother Bear the last of the trip. We arrived at Pop Century around 10:30. Even though we had a couple of problems there the last time we decided to give it another try. Checked in with no problems. We ended up on the 4th floor, which was not the best for us, but considering I made last minute ressies it wasnt bad. It actually didnt turn out to be bad at all. We got the angels in and settled with Marlee Anne still saying Mouse. She was so ready to see him. When she wasnt saying Mouse she was saying Nay, who is the girls adopted aunt.
The next morning we headed out to meet Nay at Epcot. It was an incredibly beautiful day. Not a cloud in the sky. Beautiful just beautiful. Remember now its Saturday and its the opening day of the Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot. Remember we are going to Epcot. We turned the corner to go to Epcot and there was a sea of Florida tags on all the cars that we in line to get into Epcot. WOW!!! I couldnt believe it. The parking lot was packed. As soon as we saw Nay walk up all that went away. You would have thought we had not just seen her only a few weeks ago. It felt like forever. The bond we have with her is absolutely amazing. Disney magic possibly played a part in it but I truly believe Gods hands were totally in on it too. Thats another story for another time. She told us that she and Masquerade wanted us to meet them that night for the pie festival at Celebration. OK now, Nay, Masquerade, pie and Celebration. What a combo. We couldnt wait. I dont even remember now where we went from here.
I do remember lots of pictures of the beautiful fab 5 topararies. Those of you that dont know the fab 5 consist of Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy and Donald. The topiaries of them were absolutely amazing. We stopped by to see our friend at the camera shop only to find out she is off on Saturdays and Sundays. Around the back of Spaceship Earth were beautiful topiaries of Beauty and the Beast characters.
Sorry it took me awhile to get back to this. I went to sleep finally. Now we are on the way home and I am going to try to finish this up. Other than Mike having to deal with problems at work and an accident in Valdosta that held us up we are having a good ride home.
Back to Epcot for the Flower and Garden show. After a quick stop at Guest Relations for Marlee Annes birthday button and Mary Elizabeth & Michalas guest assistance cards we decided to walk around and see all the flower and garden stuff. We wanted to see all the beautiful topiary displays. We stopped by the dog maze, which the girls really enjoyed. There was an older couple walking through there. She and I had a very good time oohing and aahing over the beautiful and amazing things. She had her gardeners hat on so I am sure her yard at home is probably very immaculate.
On around to the countries. We stopped in United Kingdom to see if Pooh was there yet. He hadnt arrived so we headed over to France for a pastry. Patti got us hooked on the bakery there. I had a chocolate éclair, which Marlee Anne did a very good job of helping me with. Mike, Michala and Mary Elizabeth shared a raspberry schuss. Mike stopped by Morocco to check out the menu. We still have not eaten there, in Germany, Japan or United Kingdom except for counter service fish and chips. Japan had the most beautiful bonsai displayed. After reading about the Kaki-Gori (snow cones) from Japan on the Disney board I had to try one. While we were standing there eating it the character bus came along. Perfect timing. The girls were so excited. We got to see several characters there and get their autographs. I will have to count how many when I look at the pictures. Mary Elizabeth smiled her beautiful smile at each of them while Michala laughed her infectious laugh. Marlee Anne hugged and kissed each one of them. We stopped in the United States for pictures in front of the beautiful Mickey and Minnie there. We also got a picture of Donald Duck there. I wanted a coffee but was way to full from our pastries. We headed over to get a good seat to wait for Masquerade to start. I dont know who was more excited to see them when they started. It was a beautiful show and they all did magnificent as always. I got some wonderful pictures. We shared hugs with all of them and it was just like being welcomed home again.
After the show we went to Germany to eat. We had never eaten there. Our friend Pauls mom suggested it last time we were there so we thought we would try it. We were very pleased with the food selection and the entertainment, which was very nice and kept the girls entertained. I love that we had enough room to sit comfortably with the girls wheelchairs there. The restrooms were very large and had nice changing tables so I decided to change all the girls there. I know many of you dont need this information but for our friends with babies or special needs children this is a much welcomed bit of info. When we went back to the restrooms we met two very nice ladies that we enjoyed chatting with. They were both very wonderful and kind to the girls. On the way out I got some pictures of the beautiful Snow White topiary. We stopped by the Teddy Bear store because we saw the perfect gift for George on the way to eat. You know food first shopping second. Who ever came up with that anyway? LOL!!! There was a beautiful monkey we thought George would just love. We just knew he was being a good monkey back in the room. This time he didnt get to go to the parks with us because we were afraid he would wonder off. You know we almost lost him last time. So we go in to look at the monkey. Before I even touched him to see how soft he was I gasped at the price. He was $95. We just didnt think that we could justify, let alone afford a $95 monkey so we walked out. He was very beautiful though.
Next to Germany there was a playground set up. Marlee Anne met a new friend there and enjoyed playing on the slides with her. Once we pulled her away from there we went to China to take pictures of the Panda topiaries. I think I have this out of order but you get the idea. We made our way on around and continued to take pictures.
Mike wanted to go see the Festival so we went inside to check everything out. They have the neatest tie-dyed Flower and Garden Show t-shirt that I just remembered I forgot to buy. Guess I didnt need it that bad huh? They also have a very cute mug thats a flowerpot. Mike sat with Michala and Marlee Anne while they napped. Mary Elizabeth and I went to get her some milk then we went through Innoventions. We made postcards to email. Here is the link for the postcard we made if you would like to see it. http://204.146.52.215/epcot1.nsf/postcards/28C5CE?OpenDocument&1F2604 Mary Elizabeth was laughing so hard because we kept having to redo it. Her wheelchair wasnt high enough for her to sit in it and be in the picture so I had to hold her. Not an easy thing to do when you are trying to work the computer too. She was laughing at me and it got me tickled. My mouth was still hurting from my surgery so I smiled crooked in all the pictures this trip. Mary Elizabeth and I had the best time with just the two of us walking through. I was going to take a picture of Mary Elizabeth in front of the mural of the Fab 5 cause I loved Loris picture of that. Well as I was about to take it this wonderful this very nice CM came up and ask could he take the picture of both of us. He took lots of time talking to Mary Elizabeth. He very seldom even looked at me. He got eye level with Mary Elizabeth and was very kind talking to her. She was very intent on listening to him. I know that may sound like something small but it is something huge for me. It makes Mary Elizabeth feel very special and loved. I really hate that I did not get his name.
I just remembered something that happened this morning when we went through the que to get in. CM George asked if we had any meds that needed to be refrigerated. I told him no but thanks so much for asking. He explained that that is a service Disney is glad to provide. I was very touched and very pleased with the time he took to explain that to us.
When Mary Elizabeth and I got finished we went to find Mike and the girls. They were sitting with their backs to us so we snuck up on them. Mary Elizabeth started laughing before we got to them because I told her we were going to surprise them. We went to the Land to get them something to eat. I was still full from lunch and wanted to leave room for pie and coffee at Celebration so I didnt eat. Mike and the girls ate though. While we were sitting there waiting for Mike to bring the food we met a very nice family. They have a special needs daughter and they were very interested in Michalas chair. I really enjoyed meeting them and spending time talking to them. While we were sitting there Marlee Anne was entranced by the boats. Matthew, the CM working them ran over in between boats coming up to talk to Marlee Anne. He gave her a collectors card and then gave her one for Mary Elizabeth and Michala. He came over several times after that to visit with her when he could. He was very nice. He asked her if she was going to ride the boat. She looked at me and said Mommie. I told her that maybe tomorrow we would. We never did make it back to ride them though. Maybe on our next visit.
By the time we got the girls fed it was time to head back to Italy to see Masquerade. We actually didnt have much time. We took the boat across and arrived just in time. The show was once again wonderful!!! We told them goodbye and headed out to Celebration.
I almost left out the fact that we heard Davy Jones sing I'm A Believer. We didn't stay for the show but stood in the back so Marlee Anne could dance to that song. It was really excited. He looks good to be as old as he is. Not that he is old are anything. He has aged well.
Remember now this is our dream to live in Celebration. WOW!!! It was so amazing. The streets were blocked off and there was stuff to do everywhere. We met Renee and we were so excited to get to meet Melani. Melani is Renees niece. Right before we met Renee, Melani did a paper on Aicardi syndrome. Renee read our website and found out the Michala has Aicardi syndrome. Just another sign that it was meant to be for us to meet. We gave Melani one of the Aicardi syndrome t-shirts and she was wearing it. Michala was so excited to see Melani wearing it. We headed over to where the pie was. OK get this picture. We met them at the most beautiful Barnies coffee shop I have ever seen. The buildings here are just beautiful. Then we walk down the streets. As we were walking Mike said dont look to the right. Of course I did. The most lovely childrens clothing shop. I decided it was best that I not stop there. We will be sure to take Granmama there someday. HA!
As we walked through the entrance to the all you can eat pie area the lady gave the girls Oreo cookie toys. Then Renee says get all the pie you want and we will take it to the table. We start loading our arms. Well except me cause I had to taste the candy cane pie. OH MY WORD!!! Does anyone have a recipe for this? It was heavenly!!! There were all kinds of fruit pies, moose tracks, mango, lemon, key lime and I am sure some I am leaving out. They had milk and coffee. We sat with our very special friends beneath beautiful trees under the Florida sky. It was truly priceless. I sat there quiet for a minute looking around taking it all in. Looking around at our huge table made by the three smaller tables. Seated at those tables were people that have quickly become a huge part of our lives. My breath was taken away thinking of how all this happened. Once again I thanked God for the blessings of life, love and friendship. These people had invited us to come and spend the evening with them and a beautiful evening it was. These are people that do not see the wheelchairs that our daughters sit in but they see them for who they are. They do not see us as parents of special needs daughters but as friends, as family. We are truly so very blessed.
After we had all eaten as much as we could, given lots of hugs, and taken some pictures we went our separate ways. Knowing we would see each other the next day made the parting a little easier. We were anxious to see if we had any towel animals in our windows. We saw lost of them in other windows on the way back to our room but there was nothing in our windows. We were all tired so it didnt take us long to get to sleep. We were anxious to get back to see Mickey.
