Nikolas & MAW-We're back from Mickey Mouse's House! Pre & Post trip reports

[2specialkids]

Oops...I was still editing...sorry. The 7:15 was take-off time. We did get to Orlando International about 9:30 and we had a direct flight so it was nice to have the day to recouperate.

 

[sunny04]

Hello! I just wanted to subscribe, and say I'm so glad you had a wonderful trip. Both of your kids are just precious. I don't have kids of my own, but I do support both MAW and GKTW, so it's nice reading TRs about families that benefit from it. I am SO glad you had a great trip!!

 

[MagicMomentsMom]

Poor Mikayla-But who can resist, lol. I'm a starbucks addict Glad the limo got there on time and you guys had a calm trip in the air. Nikolas looks like he loved it! I can't wait to see more pics!!!!!!!!!
They have GenevaClaire on some serious steroid treatments now for her lungs--we're praying that she doesn't end up in Club med with pneumonia. How is Deyki?

 

[maroo]

Woo Hoo!!

Awesome start!

Great pics! I hope you get your PhotoPass quick so that you can share all of those awesome pics!

Feel free to make them bigger...if you want. Don't worry about them being too big or anything. Most of us use "large" for pictures, unless they are something big that needs more detail.

Of course, you can keep them small, too. I know when I started by TR, I was afraid to make my pictures large until I saw others with BIG pictures.

Awesome start! That is GREAT that you guys got to GKTW so early!

 

[pipersmom]

Woohoo! So cool to have your TR started I'm hoping we'll get early flights like that, it would be great to have a day to settle in and enjoy GKTW. He was so cute on the airplane!

 

[2specialkids]

Poor Mikayla-But who can resist, lol. I'm a starbucks addict Glad the limo got there on time and you guys had a calm trip in the air. Nikolas looks like he loved it! I can't wait to see more pics!!!!!!!!!
They have GenevaClaire on some serious steroid treatments now for her lungs--we're praying that she doesn't end up in Club med with pneumonia. How is Deyki?

Poor sweetheart! I'll be praying that she feels better fast and NO CLUB MED! Nikolas loved the plane...he laughed so much that both ways the people in front of us turned around to see what he was laughing at and smiled.

Hello! I just wanted to subscribe, and say I'm so glad you had a wonderful trip. Both of your kids are just precious. I don't have kids of my own, but I do support both MAW and GKTW, so it's nice reading TRs about families that benefit from it. I am SO glad you had a great trip!!

I want to say thank you from all of us for supporting such a wonderful place.

Woo Hoo!!

Awesome start!

Great pics! I hope you get your PhotoPass quick so that you can share all of those awesome pics!

Feel free to make them bigger...if you want. Don't worry about them being too big or anything. Most of us use "large" for pictures, unless they are something big that needs more detail.

Of course, you can keep them small, too. I know when I started by TR, I was afraid to make my pictures large until I saw others with BIG pictures.

Awesome start! That is GREAT that you guys got to GKTW so early!

I have a huge screen on my laptop and they looked SO BIG! I'm going to switch to the large pictures for the rest of my report.
The site says the cd has shipped a few days ago. We had around 215 photos then I went in and added borders & siggies and such so now there is just under 300. (Most of them are character pics.) I need to get the rest of the mini-discs transferred to full sized dvd's so I can pull the snapshots off but I have to use my dd's computer since the laptop has slot loading instead of a slide-out style drive. Maybe I can do that this weekend...I've got some nice pics on it I'd like to take to my Creative Memories crop next weekend. It's the first time I've ever gone and I want LOTS of options.

Woohoo! So cool to have your TR started I'm hoping we'll get early flights like that, it would be great to have a day to settle in and enjoy GKTW. He was so cute on the airplane!

Early flights are great! You may not have your park passes yet but there is so much to see at GKTW you won't be bored. Plus this allows you to nap and plan. Oh and there are lots of other places with passes you can access like Kennedy Space Center and Gatorland. I wish the trips were 10-14 days so there would be time for everything.

 

[2specialkids]

Day 1 continued…

The GKTW Village is really pretty simple to find from the airport so we just followed the directions on the back of the welcome sign and had no trouble. We got to the Village and checked in around 11:30am so our villa wasn’t quite ready yet. They gave us our meal card/door key and told us to go to Katie’s Kitchen for some lunch. Boston Market stocks there and the lunch is sandwiches or salads, sides and a drink. It’s all very good!
After wandering around and having some ice cream we checked back and got our villa. We were in 266 which is in the back by Matthew’s Boundless Playground.
Our villa was mostly tile inside and was beautiful!

The inside of our villa was ivory/light colored tile and the accessible bath was amazing. (I wish we had the room to duplicate it in our home.)
They had a Monday afternoon orientation at 3pm so I unpacked a bit of our things and my dad & I went to that one. We got our tickets and more information than you can process there. They give you a purple “manual”-keep it close. It has all the information you need and more in it. The staff and volunteers are always available so ask them lots of questions too. They are so sweet and helpful…you will be amazed…I know we were!
We had supper at the Gingerbread House. Everything there is soooo good. It had a home-cooked taste, not that “restaurant food” taste. They have lots of volunteers to wait on you hand and foot and they expect to do so. That was one thing that was hard for me to get used to since I’m usually the one who does most things. It was a nice break. One thing that made a big impression on my daughter was that there were a lot of kids who volunteer there. Younger and older teens... now she wants to see if our youth group at church can volunteer.
We decided to just hang out at the villa the first night so Mikayla & I went to borrow a couple of DVD’s from the House of Hearts lending library. Guess who was there? Momto4+more & the kids! (Hi Cathy!) I recognized them from the Big Give outfits the kids had on. We said, “Hi” and promised to meet the next evening at dinner to get to know each other a bit. Back to the villa to rest up for tomorrow. It’s our “jam-packed 3 park” day. (Yes, I planned a 3 park day…I’ll explain later but it does make sense.)

 

[StefaniLyn]

what a great start to your trip report! I love the first picture - Nicholas' smile is priceless! Did you only take photo pass pictures at the park or do you have camera pics as well?

 

[2specialkids]

what a great start to your trip report! I love the first picture - Nicholas' smile is priceless! Did you only take photo pass pictures at the park or do you have camera pics as well?

We've got camera, camcorder (2 of 'em) and photopass pics!
I kinda got picture happy. I used a GKTW camcorder & my camera, my mom & dd both shared our camcorder and my camera.
I didn't take nearly as many pictures when the kids went the first time (for dd's 9th & ds's 1st birthday). I think I may have take 125 (still a lot) but no photopass and I wasn't in any of them since my parents didn't take any last time.
I love that picture too! He was so funny on the flights-all smiles and laughter.

 

[pipersmom]

What a fun first day! I love the newer bright colored villas..Piper would love them too, I think, they just fit into the whole kid thing so well. We'll def be checking out the lending library, Piper is a video fiend while she does her treatments Looking forward to reading/seeing more!

 

[2specialkids]

Since this is a 3 Park day I'm going to break this into 3 posts so I can put pictures with each park. My photopass cd is due here in the next few days so I'll add those pics to a separate post when it arrives.
And now for day 2...

“So Many Parks”

Ok, so I figured if I wanted to have 2 full days in the Magic Kingdom (our favorite of all the parks) then I’d split one day between Animal Kingdom and Epcot. No biggie. Except then I decided to do ADR’s for Boo, after all it is his Wish trip right? Well the only one I really wanted for him was with JoJo and Goliath. Ummm, that means we’ve got to go to Hollywood Studios. It was the only park we weren’t going to do. There just wasn’t anything he was interested in except them.
The plan is breakfast at GKTW, then hit Animal Kingdom (it’s a half-day park pretty much) after that we’d drive to Hollywood Studios for lunch (1pm ressies) then we’d be to Epcot by 2:30ish for an afternoon there. I planned this for the first full park day since we’d all be in good moods and full of energy. At least that part was right.
We started out a bit later than I wanted to but nothing too bad. It was 9am when we got to breakfast-I had hoped for 8:30, oh well. We then packed up for Animal Kingdom and headed out. We knew there were only 3-4 “must do” things so we hit the safari first and had a great ride. The animals were all out and moving around. You could even see the lions well. I got them on video since it has a better zoom. Here are some of the random pictures mom got while we were on the safari ride.

We decided against a few things we had been thinking about because they were walk-thru’s and there were a lot of people in them. Our new stroller is comfy but much bigger than a traditional one, plus our Zoo is amazing and most of the animals are there too. Nikolas couldn’t have cared less…he was “people watching” and he could do that just about anywhere! Mom and Dad took him to wander while Mikayla and I rode Dinosaur. Mikayla and I decided against Expedition Everest since we like smaller coasters but the big ones…not so much.

She saw this drop and it was..."NOOOO WAYYY!!"

Well after a few pictures and some wandering we were finished there, right on time.
Next up, lunch at Hollywood Studios with JoJo, Goliath, June and Leo!

 

[maroo]

woo hoo!!

3 parks in ONE day! You go get em!

 

[2specialkids]

OK, the photopass cd came yesterday so I've got more pictures . Now if I could just find the time to get the stills off of the mini discs...oh well maybe this weekend!

On with Day 2...

Now we’ll just lunch at Hollywood and Vine….quick in & out kinda thing right, ummm, not exactly. We had a great lunch with the characters and got some cute pics.

Can you tell he's in love?!?

He was fascinated with Goliath's nose on this trip.

I love this landscape. I even called home and asked DH if I could do it in our yard!

Oops, then we got caught up in Character shots. It was partly my fault, I’ll admit it. I’m a Sorcerer Mickey nut. He’s my absolute favorite! So I get the bright idea to do “just a few” shots….well to do that you have to go to Animation Courtyard and there are characters all over the place. We got pictures with Chip & Dale, more with JoJo & Goliath, June & Quincy, the UP characters and lots of fun ones with Sorcerer Mickey. He had Nikolas laughing so hard!

Next up...same day, 3rd park!

 

[2specialkids]

Day 2 (still!)

After lots of character shots we loaded up again and went to Epcot. There are only a few rides in this park we wanted to ride and we never end up going into the different worlds so it’s a pretty quick park for us too.

We rode Spaceship Earth, Soarin’, Journey into the Imagination with Figment, and Nikolas did Nemo with Grandpa & Grandma. Next time we go I’ve want to do that one too. (They did it while Mikayla & I did Soarin’.) We'll probably also check out the different Worlds when we take DH next time.

It was a super busy day but we did all the things we really wanted to and most of the ones we kinda wanted to. Besides doing this day allowed the remaining Disney passes to be completely devoted to the Magic Kingdom.

We stayed until 6:30pm and then went "home" (you’ll call it home VERY quickly). We ate at the Gingerbread House and went to relax.

 

[cajunfan]

I LOVE that picture of Mickey & Nikolas touching noses! His expression says it all!!!!


Lynn

 

[maroo]

What WONDERFUL pictures!

I have NO idea how I missed this great update?!?! Something is up with my subscribed threads...

You think it is choking because I have almost 300 of them?

I digress.

The pictures were great - character encounters were AWESOME - Soarin...

Looks like you guys had a great time!!! Can't wait for more!!!!!

 

[kdzbear]

I love the photo with Chip, Dale and Nikolas! He looks so happy! I love the update! I can't believe that you did three parks in one day!

 

[StefaniLyn]

3 parks in one day is awesome! I love the pictures! Nickolas looks like he is having a blast! Can't wait to read more!

 

[MagicMomentsMom]

awww those pics are so great! I can't believe you did 3 parks in one day

 

[2specialkids]

Ahhhh, the Magic Kingdom….my favorite place to relax and enjoy being a Disney nut. No one looks funny at the “grown-up” who is wearing the Mickey Mouse shirt, ears, etc. You can really be a kid there and it’s OK.

The kids and I woke all up in a good mood and ready to go. We got the grandparents and went to breakfast at GKTW. (We ate breakfast and dinner there every day to save and because it’s really good food.) I just knew this would be a very relaxing day for me and my family. OK, so dad is over all the Disney World trips (maybe we took 1 too many when I was a kid?) but he’s being a good sport since my kids are new to it all. We ate breakfast, packed up and were at the Magic Kingdom getting parked and to the monorail by 10:30. I decided against being there for rope drop at any park since DD is not a morning person and my parents really aren’t into all the parks anymore. Let’s keep it fun and relaxing. We also decided to use the monorail since wheelchairs & strollers on the ferry are just not a fun way to start the day.
We get there, go thru security and head for Tomorrow Land before we go to ToonTown. Of course I have to stop for some photopass pics in front of the castle.

It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm but not hot. Funny how 82 degrees in Florida feels so much cooler than 82 in Indiana. Today we will focus on rides that either Boo can’t ride since we have someone to watch him or ones that it takes another set of hands for him to ride and lots of character pictures. I was quite surprised at how much Nikolas enjoyed meeting all the different characters. He was really into being with each one of them and would get frustrated if we went too long without character interaction. That’s my little man…lovin’ Disney already!

Back to Tomorrow Land…we started on the TTA since Space Mountain was still being refurbished (that was a complete bummer since it’s my FAV!). After that we went over to the Carosel of Progress and Buzz Lightyear. Nikolas enjoyed all of them. He really likes about anything with movement which means he should like most of the park.

After that we decide to head to Pinocchio Haus for lunch. Let’s just say that wasn’t as smooth as I’d hoped and leave it at that. When lunch was finished and tempers had cooled we went over to Small World and rode. This is one of my mom’s favorites. I think it’s really cute but there was too much going on for Nikolas. He just sat quietly and listened to the music without even trying to look around. With his visual issues he just has a difficult time processing lots of things at once. He did seem to enjoy all the music though. Next we rode Peter Pan. He hadn’t seen that DVD yet but he really seemed to enjoy that ride. I think the “flying” over the town had a lot to do with it since the motions are intensified a bit because the underside of the ships are free.

After Peter Pan we started toward Mickey’s Toon Town Fair. When we passed Ariel’s Grotto we notice that she was there and stopped for some really nice photos and a meet-n-greet. My son is such a flirt! He was laughing and grinning at nearly everything she said or did. It was really nice because this was a character Mikayla wanted to meet last time and we kept missing her so now we have the much longed for autographs!

We stopped for a photo in front of the sign and started the character meets.

Today there was Tink, Fawn & Terrance and Belle, Aurora and Cinderella at the Hall of Fame tent. Nikolas liked Fawn but wasn’t too impressed with Tink (I think she was too intense for him though I don’t know why since his sister is just like that….maybe that was it?). He did seem to like Terrance and we got a pretty nice picture for the album.

Next post...meeting the princesses!