Our Trip with ASD DS, NT DD and Pooh sized mommies - Updated 6/11/09

[C&G'sMama]

Friday May 1st

Today it was back to MK. This time we didn’t rush to make it to park opening but we were there just after 9:00. We told the kids that today was Mommy and Mama’s day to choose. Though, we did start at Toon Town so sister could see the fairies. G is not allowed by his sister to call her by her actual name, every time he calls her “C” you’d think he was calling her a dirty word. He has to call her “sister” and if you were ever to meet him that is one of the first things he’ll tell you . We waited an hour to see them but she really wanted to and since we were able to wait inside in air conditioning I didn’t complain. The further into the week we got the hotter it got. As DP said “How can it be 87% humidity and not be raining?” The kids and I rode Goofy’s Barnstormer and then we wandered over to Tomorrow Land. We love that little path that leads from the train stop in Toon Town because no matter how crowded the park is, there are never many, if any, other people on that path.

Okay this is when we realize why we brought the stroller. We go over to Tomorrow Land and get Fast Passes for Buzz Lightyear, then we go to C of P (DP’s favorite). Well, we decide “let’s leave the stroller in that little stroller corral over by the TTA”, which is a family favorite but isn’t open while we are there during the Space Mtn. refurb, but anyway… We go to C of P, no problem as there is no wait. We go to Buzz, no problem, we have a Fast Pass. We go to The Laugh Floor without the stroller, big OOPS. We wait inside for what seemed like an hour but was probably only 10 minutes or so. It seems like an hour because G was all over the place and hanging on us and flailing his arms etc. That was a good reminder to us as why we had the stroller in the first place, let’s just say we didn’t do that again.

We then make our way over to Adventure Land and go see the Tiki Birds, another mommy and mama choice and then go to El Pirata y El Perico for lunch. This is the first time in years we’ve been there when it’s been open. It was yummy. Loved the toppings bar where you could create your own salad. DD ordered off the childrens’ menu and was still hungry when she finished her Quesadilla so she ate of off both mine and DP’s bowls. It was more than enough to share. After lunch DP and the kids set off to Pirates of the Carribbean while I go to Frontier Land to get Fast Passes for Big Thunder. They then meet up with me at Country Bears.


After Country Bears we get over to Big Thunder. Then it was on to the Castle for the dinner. C puts her Tinker Belle Costume back on for dinner and G has been Peter Pan all day. We told him we couldn’t find the pants. Okay, I lied, I knew where they were but it was so hot I couldn’t stand to have him wearing pants all day, yes he had shorts on. We get to the Castle. The line is not well organized and people kept cutting. So I finally in a very loud voice said to a CM “Where are people supposed to line up because people keep cutting in front of us?”. It worked. It wasn’t the CM’s fault. It was the other guests. For the most part I go with the flow but it was hot and about 5 families jumped in front of the people in front of us but they didn’t know what to do, but I did. That aside. Dinner was great. C had the Mahi Mahi and G had grilled chicken. I thought they had a pretty decent selection on the kids’ menu at this place.

So we got pictures with Cinderella and pictures with the mice and fairy Godmother and we leave. It was about 6:00 by now and we notice people are leaving in droves. We look at each other, “should we stay?” We actually left, we knew we’d back Sunday so we made a reasonable decision. It was another night with all four of us going swimming and then getting to bed at a half way decent time.

C&G with Tink

Mama (me) and C at CRT

 

[C&G'sMama]

Saturday May 2, 2009
Well, I’m getting there. It’s midnight and I can’t sleep so I’m going to try to write another day of the report.

On this day we went to EPCOT. We did not rush to get up. We wanted to go to World Showcase with the kids. We only had until 3:00 as we were dropping them off at the Neverland Club at 4:00. We picked up a “Kimmunicator” at Innoventions and then headed towards WS. We walked through the fairy garden which was cute. We went to Mexico and did the river ride and looked at the art work.

And then it was on to China for our 1st mission (okay it was our only mission).It was cool, well except that I don’t have a lot of patience and DP had to take over and lead because the whole finding clues frustrates the heck out of me (I’m the same way in mazes, they kind of freak me out). With DP back as leader (and me in a time out) things went much more smoothly.

DP had printed off country flags to color for the kids. So we talked about each country as we walked through and then in Germany, Japan and Morroco we got 1 counter service meal to share to get the kids to try something different. They liked it (not everything, but they tried it). They colored masks at a KidStop in Italy and we pointed out the mosaic in Morrocco. We had planned on doing another Kim Possible Mission in France but ran out of time. We let each of the kids pick out a pastry in France and went through the Arcade to eat by the water. DP and I declined as we were coming back later to eat at Le Cellier. We then took the boat back across the lagoon and headed out to the monorail.

The kids had never been to one of the clubs before. They ended up loving it. We left the Neverland Club at 4:15 to be back at Le Cellier by 5:00. We had actually tried to cancel our reservation but the concierge at the hotel talked us out of it. She said to do our best to get there on time but not to sweat it if we were a little late (no pun intended it was hot). So we set out. Okay another Pooh Size thing. It’s hot, very very hot. We’re from Western New York, we’re not used to this heat in the beginning of May, record heat. We are not in the best shape. I would not suggest trying to get from Poly to Le Cellier in less than 45 minutes unless you can move quick. But, we made it. And it was wonderful. And the desserts were so cute! The staff was really friendly and brought us each a glass of water in the waiting area. We had big plans of closing the park that night, we were going to go to “The American Adventure” and eat pastries in France. We finished dinner and headed back to the front. We went on Spaceship Earth and went to our car. We picked the kids up a little after 8:00. The kids were not happy to see us. “Couldn’t you have gone back to the room and come get us later?” Yes, but I was afraid I would fall asleep and forget to get them. They both did well. We had left the stroller with them in case DS had a melt down. He didn’t. Another great day.

C ready for our Kim Possible mission

G making a mask in Italy

Chocolate Moose and S'More at Le Cellier (I just thought these were so cute)

 

[C&G'sMama]

Well our computer has been on the fritz for a couple of days and it contains a word document that has our last day at disney TR on it. I have my laptop right now. So we've been back a month and I still haven'tfinished the darn report. Maybe after the weekend.

 

[mechurchlady]

I have enjoyed the trip report so far and await the last chapter.

 

[PixieintheCity]

Thanks for the great trip report so far! And hey, if you think being back a month from WDW and not being finished with your TR is bad - imagine my shame that we traveled in August 2008 and I still haven't posted mine!

My DS has ASD and your report really hits home. On trips down to WDW when he turned 5 and 6, a Disney double rental stroller really helped him tolerate the long days. I can totally relate to the meltdowns on the lines. Last year, when he turned 7, I feel that he really turned a corner and while he doesn't need the stroller anymore, frequent breaks and the use of fastpasses and GAC when needed are the only way that we can make it through with fewer meltdowns.

Last year we stayed at the Nickelodeon Family Suites for a night on DS's actual birthday as he was going through his Spongebob mega-obsession. I agree with you that it is quite a bit of fun for DS (and my DD who was 1 at the time) and also a break for us since the set up of the water park was pretty straightforward and allowed us to relax a little while DS played with only a level 2 out of 3 on the hypervigilance scale.

It will be our first time at CBR this coming August, so I'm really appreciating the tidbits about the resort, too.

I look forward to the rest of your report!

 

[Tiggerish]

To quote from Oliver Twist, "Can I have more, please?"

 

[mrsksomeday]

Thank you so much for this report, I am really enjoying it. Looks like you had a great trip.

 

[SereneOne]

Looking forward to hearing more!

 

[C&G'sMama]

Thanks everyone. I promise to finish. We have been insanely busy and our computer is still down. We have a guy that is working on it for us and I can't find our microsoft office disks. He has given us a loaner in the mean time. He has backed up most of our stuff for us. We have also received our photo pass. As soon as everything is back up and working we can download our photo pass and I can post more pictures. I was hoping to get the report I had stored on Word in our computer. If not, maybe I'll try to post tonight or tomorrow without pictures and I'll add pictures when everything is up and running again.

 

[PrincessMom4]

I know how you all feel. My child now (finally has a diagnosis) has what's called Sensory Processing Disorder. One older couple stared at us when we asked our daughter to clean up the leftover box she threw (I hate when other people leave their litter wherever plus my daughter did something wrong she will fix it) over the parking lot at the transportation centre. I wasn't asking her to do anything extreme or inapproperiate just pick up some of the food, put it into the box and throw it out. The last trip was better was much better than our 2nd trip. My daughter tends to do better with "odd" number things. Example, grades 1 and 3 were good years but grades 2 and 4 were/are not good years. Our first trip to Disney she was really good (4-5 meltdowns in 10 days) but our 2nd trip was not good at all. She tried to run off and was screaming/meltdowning just minutes after we arrived at AK. She had a really good sleep. Now our 3rd trip, she was really good; only 2 meltdowns and was able to pull her self out using her "bucket method" (a technique we were taught to help her cope). So our next trip we are prepared and making sure she has her tools ready (she no longer likes the bucket method and is now onto the toolbox-same thing as bucket method) for the next trip.

 

[C&G'sMama]

Okay, I'm finally to the last day at the parks.

Sunday May 3rd

Our last full day.

Boy the week went by quickly, as always. Tonight MK is officially open until 11:00 with evening EMH bringing it to 2am. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts it got hotter and more humid every day and Sunday was no exception. We had 5:30pm reservations at Crystal Palace. We actually considered canceling and eating at the hotel that night but the hotel had nothing until 8:30 or so. We decided to keep our reservation.

We spent the day getting ready to make the trip home. DP stayed in the room with the kids to do homework and I did one last round of laundry and started packing the car. I am probably one of the most disorganized people in the world, but, I’m pretty good at packing the car. Just leave me alone while I’m doing it.

We left for MK at 4:00. We got there well ahead of our reservation and just walked slowly down Main Street and around a little bit until about 5:15. We were seated around 5:45 and left CP at 7:15. It really worked out well as we missed the heat of the day. We walked over to Tomorrow Land and C of P, Buzz Lightyear and the Laugh Floor one last time. If you remember from Friday’s report we didn’t use the stroller at the Laugh Floor and it didn’t go so well. We used the stroller this time. There were parts of the pre-show we had missed on Friday but did not realize until Sunday when we saw it again. He got out of stroller and danced while we waiting but we weren’t near anyone so there was no fear of him hitting people.

From Tomorrow Land we headed over to Fantasyland. We stayed there until after the fireworks. We went to Mickey’s Philharmagic, Snow White, Peter Pan and The Hunney Pots. The kids rode Dumbo together and the tea cups twice. I am so glad they are old enough to go without us now. Those Tea Cups kill me. We watched the Fireworks from Fantasy Land. We have never watched from this perspective before. It was very cool to have the fireworks being set off on both sides of us. We may have done another ride before we left Fantasy Land, I can’t quite remember.

We then made our way over to Frontier Land where we went on Big Thunder and Splash Moutain. It was EMH by now and the waits were very short. We talked to a woman who had been there the previous Sunday which was part of “Grad Nights” and she said it was mobbed. I’m glad we missed that. We were going to go on Pirates but it was experiencing technical difficulties so the kids went on the Magic Carpets.

Then we headed out but not without stopping for my first Dole Whip. The kids got the Orange Cream. DP got a water. I am reposting the picture of me with the Dole Whip. By this time it’s after midnight and I’m tired. DD bursts in to tears because it’s our last night. We head out of the park and make our way to our car. We pulled out of the parking lot at 1:22 am. We went back to the resort and went to bed.


Passing time before dinner

Goodbye Piglet, hopefully it won't be too long 'til we see you again

One last time on the tea cups

This looks really good... but we're really tired. It's 12:30 in the morning

The mama is toast, happy toast, but toast nonetheless

 

[PrincessSarah314]

Really cool TR! I didn't see much about being pooh-sized though. I don't usually have any problems at WDW, but have been in a state of panic as our first trip to DLR approaches quickly! I even started a thread about it. The link is in my signature, pop over and share any thoughts you have from your trip!

 

[C&G'sMama]

Really cool TR! I didn't see much about being pooh-sized though. I don't usually have any problems at WDW, but have been in a state of panic as our first trip to DLR approaches quickly! I even started a thread about it. The link is in my signature, pop over and share any thoughts you have from your trip!

Good point. I'll check out your thread. I think it's because we've been so many times I only pointed out a couple of things from this trip that stood out. It's because we are so comfortable there (at WDW).

We've been going since 1996 and DP and I have both "grown" a little shall we say since then. We did have concerns this last trip as we were both feeling bigger and out of shape. We go through the handicap entrance versus turnstiles. DP is 6 inches taller (I'm 5' 2") than me so she tends to have more issues because of that with leg room. Soarin' was a close call but we made it. I always worry on rides like Big Thunder of sharing a seat with one of my kids because the bar doesn't go down all the way for them. I had visions of one of them "popping out" of the seat. But I was assured they would be fine and they are. I also believe on any rides where it would be an issue, ie Rockin' Roller Coaster, there are individual restraints.

As DP and I are both Pooh sized we try to remember to sit on alternate sides especially if the ride is in the water, ie Pirates and Small World.

If anyone has any specific questions about being pooh sized, let me know. I guess I can echo what many others say, WDW is very accomodating. And while I feel I do need to work on getting smaller, I'm not going to put my life on hold until I reach that point. Life is too short. I go swimming with my kids, as I said in one post there were even handstands by the mommies, I go on the rides. I walk all over the place and just have a great time.