DonnettaR
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2002
- Messages
- 885
Hey I just wanted to let everyone know how our vacation went. For those of you who don't know, this was a special cruise for us because my 13 year old daughter Clarke(aka Herclover on the disboards) away on February 25th. She looked forward to our yearly trek to Disney and DCL. She was a huge fan of the Hercules the Muse-i-cal show. Well anyway here is our trip report
The trip overall was a healing one I think. First, the flight there was uneventful. We arrived in Orlando on Thursday, July 12th. We stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Our room was ready when we arrived around 10:30, what a shock. I had purchased online movie tickets for us to see Harry Potter at Downtown Disney, so we just hung out at the hotel until it was time for the movie. We saw the movie, got some dinner and then headed back to the hotel. It was really neat staying there. Our room had a balcony which overlooked one of the savannahs. We saw lots of animals. Clarke would have loved it. She wanted to stay at a different hotel for a change.
The next day, was my most emotional day at WDW. I boarded the bus to the Magic Kingdom to take the "Keys to the Kingdom" tour. This is the tour that Dani and I wanted to take last year, but you have to be 16 to take the tour. I was the only person on the bus from the hotel to the park. It was an 8:30 tour and the park didn't open until 9:00 that day. I cried all the way there. I just kept telling myself that I had to get through the tour for her. I wore a button with Dani wearing her huge WDW birthday hat.
When I got to the tour garden and saw my name tag, I got really upset. When I booked the tour, I had specifically asked that the name tag have Clarke's name on it. Upon seeing me cry, the cast member behind the desk came over and gave me a hug and explained that they had gotten the information about the name tag for my daughter, but that there was no name listed with the request. She asked me my daughter's name and quickly made another name tag with Clarke's name on it. I took the tour with both name tags and people asked me about it. I was able to tell them of my wonderful daughter, and it was a lovely tour. At the end of the tour, they hand out a special pin as a souvenir. Well, they gave me two pins, one for me and one for Clarke. It really made my day. We visited a couple other parks, but mostly just enjoyed the hotel. They had a hot tub there, so I soaked a lot and read.
Then Sunday it was off for the cruise. I had made a lot of magnets to decorate our stateroom door. I had pictures of Clarke dressed as various Disney characters and pictures of her on the cruise. I got so many compliments about that door. I also included Clarke's last post on the Disboard. It was made on February, 22nd. She simply said "Hey, I am going on this cruise with my mother and grandmother. My name is Clarke, I am a girl and am 13 years old and will be 14 in August". She often made this introduction to find out how many kids her age was going to be on the cruise. I remember her telling that there was hardly anybody on the boards going on this cruise. She said that there was someone on the boards who's screen name was "NoKidz". She did not like that. Anyway, it also included the quote that I had put on her headstone in her signature.
Well when we arrived on the ship, there was note from the ship's manager telling me that they were saddened to learn of Clarke's passing and hoped that this trip would help in the healing process. They had sent papers with the signatures of the "Hercules" cast and other Disney favorites and also an invitation to meet (I had told SueEllen that I would love to have a cast picture to put in Clarke's room---boy did she ever help us) the Disney Characters on the last night of the cruise. Well I was beside myself with joy. Our door was truly a tribute to her and I got so many compliments from people all over that ship. I think everyone including the staff had seen our door. Anyway, on the night of the Hercules show, (which was on my birthday) when we returned to our room, there was a framed autographed photo of the cast. I was so very happy.
The next day at my spa appointment while taking my history the spa tech asked why I needed to de-stress and I explained to her that I had recently lost my daughter. She immediately hugged me and said "that is your door that is decorated with the pictures". She said that she had seen it when she went to perform an in-room massage. She gave me a free "rainforest pass for the rest of the cruise.
and a special certificate...a "Disney Magical Moment" certificate. And the magic didn't stop there. That night upon returning to our stateroom, there was a message from Tracy, the hotel manger, telling me that she had seen the door and thought it was very special. She also left us tickets to get free snorkels, bikes, and floats. They also gave me a free set of lanyards and pins, because it was my birthday. Disney went far and above to make this a memorable trip for me and my family.
But, the most special thing happened when we attended the "Who wants to be a Mousketeer" game show. We have gone to these things forever and never won. The first night that we went my ticket number was 31 and my mother's number was called to be a contestant. She missed her number, but I was happy that I had the number 31. The next night my number was 49 and I was called to play the game. I won a highly coveted paperweight. My aunt missed me onstage and when I told her that I won, she asked what number I had. I told her 49 and she said simply "Dani". She said "4 + 9=13". I just cried right there.
The last night of the cruise we went to meet the characters and I got to show Hades, the picture of Clarke dressed like him. He was so happy. He said that nobody ever wants to be the villain. He kept showing the photo to everyone. It really meant so very very much to me. I finally met Tracy and the repeat cruisers get together. She saw me and we both just cried. I made a point to talk to the captain and let him know who kind his staff had been to us, and had in fact made this a healing trip for us.
Disney really made this a very magical experience for me and my family.
The trip overall was a healing one I think. First, the flight there was uneventful. We arrived in Orlando on Thursday, July 12th. We stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Our room was ready when we arrived around 10:30, what a shock. I had purchased online movie tickets for us to see Harry Potter at Downtown Disney, so we just hung out at the hotel until it was time for the movie. We saw the movie, got some dinner and then headed back to the hotel. It was really neat staying there. Our room had a balcony which overlooked one of the savannahs. We saw lots of animals. Clarke would have loved it. She wanted to stay at a different hotel for a change.
The next day, was my most emotional day at WDW. I boarded the bus to the Magic Kingdom to take the "Keys to the Kingdom" tour. This is the tour that Dani and I wanted to take last year, but you have to be 16 to take the tour. I was the only person on the bus from the hotel to the park. It was an 8:30 tour and the park didn't open until 9:00 that day. I cried all the way there. I just kept telling myself that I had to get through the tour for her. I wore a button with Dani wearing her huge WDW birthday hat.
When I got to the tour garden and saw my name tag, I got really upset. When I booked the tour, I had specifically asked that the name tag have Clarke's name on it. Upon seeing me cry, the cast member behind the desk came over and gave me a hug and explained that they had gotten the information about the name tag for my daughter, but that there was no name listed with the request. She asked me my daughter's name and quickly made another name tag with Clarke's name on it. I took the tour with both name tags and people asked me about it. I was able to tell them of my wonderful daughter, and it was a lovely tour. At the end of the tour, they hand out a special pin as a souvenir. Well, they gave me two pins, one for me and one for Clarke. It really made my day. We visited a couple other parks, but mostly just enjoyed the hotel. They had a hot tub there, so I soaked a lot and read.
Then Sunday it was off for the cruise. I had made a lot of magnets to decorate our stateroom door. I had pictures of Clarke dressed as various Disney characters and pictures of her on the cruise. I got so many compliments about that door. I also included Clarke's last post on the Disboard. It was made on February, 22nd. She simply said "Hey, I am going on this cruise with my mother and grandmother. My name is Clarke, I am a girl and am 13 years old and will be 14 in August". She often made this introduction to find out how many kids her age was going to be on the cruise. I remember her telling that there was hardly anybody on the boards going on this cruise. She said that there was someone on the boards who's screen name was "NoKidz". She did not like that. Anyway, it also included the quote that I had put on her headstone in her signature.
Well when we arrived on the ship, there was note from the ship's manager telling me that they were saddened to learn of Clarke's passing and hoped that this trip would help in the healing process. They had sent papers with the signatures of the "Hercules" cast and other Disney favorites and also an invitation to meet (I had told SueEllen that I would love to have a cast picture to put in Clarke's room---boy did she ever help us) the Disney Characters on the last night of the cruise. Well I was beside myself with joy. Our door was truly a tribute to her and I got so many compliments from people all over that ship. I think everyone including the staff had seen our door. Anyway, on the night of the Hercules show, (which was on my birthday) when we returned to our room, there was a framed autographed photo of the cast. I was so very happy.
The next day at my spa appointment while taking my history the spa tech asked why I needed to de-stress and I explained to her that I had recently lost my daughter. She immediately hugged me and said "that is your door that is decorated with the pictures". She said that she had seen it when she went to perform an in-room massage. She gave me a free "rainforest pass for the rest of the cruise.
and a special certificate...a "Disney Magical Moment" certificate. And the magic didn't stop there. That night upon returning to our stateroom, there was a message from Tracy, the hotel manger, telling me that she had seen the door and thought it was very special. She also left us tickets to get free snorkels, bikes, and floats. They also gave me a free set of lanyards and pins, because it was my birthday. Disney went far and above to make this a memorable trip for me and my family.
But, the most special thing happened when we attended the "Who wants to be a Mousketeer" game show. We have gone to these things forever and never won. The first night that we went my ticket number was 31 and my mother's number was called to be a contestant. She missed her number, but I was happy that I had the number 31. The next night my number was 49 and I was called to play the game. I won a highly coveted paperweight. My aunt missed me onstage and when I told her that I won, she asked what number I had. I told her 49 and she said simply "Dani". She said "4 + 9=13". I just cried right there.
The last night of the cruise we went to meet the characters and I got to show Hades, the picture of Clarke dressed like him. He was so happy. He said that nobody ever wants to be the villain. He kept showing the photo to everyone. It really meant so very very much to me. I finally met Tracy and the repeat cruisers get together. She saw me and we both just cried. I made a point to talk to the captain and let him know who kind his staff had been to us, and had in fact made this a healing trip for us.
Disney really made this a very magical experience for me and my family.
.
