Spectrum Moms Take on The World! Our Last Day...Multiple Posts!

[KathyRN137]

Sometime earlier in the trip I had taken it upon myself to spook Jess around the corner at the POC ride…well she got me back:

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To put this into perspective you must all realize that, up until this moment, Jessica had always demonstrated a rather quiet and reserved manner. What a surprise it was to all of us when she spontaneously decided to give Julie her payback jump-out-and-scare!


I loved that we were able to spread some magic by giving away our EE FastPasses.


And what a treat it was to be able to enjoy the Tree of Life in such a slow and relaxed way! I noticed so many details that I had never had time for in the past when touring with the family.


While shopping, Tracy and I came across these incredible magnets with faces of Disney characters showing various emotions... Happy, Sad, Angry, Bored, etc. We thought they would be PERFECT for Billy and Ariana! We each bought two; one for school and one for home.


Billy's teacher loved it... she even make a class activity out of it... all the kids in his class took turns choosing a Disney character face to express how they felt. She keeps it in his desk to help him express himself when he is frustrated.

Kathy

 

[DisMomAmy]

It was fun to take some time to explore the Tree of Life. It is a magnificant work of art. I remember the coverage on Good Morning America when the park was first opening. The story of how they created the Tree is one of the things I remember all these years later.

 

[KathyRN137]

Agreed... I am committed to making more time for Tree of Life exploration on our future visits! And more time in The Oasis, too!


Kathy

 

[Dreamer & Wisher]

What a beautiful day at Animal Kingdom... looking forward to reading another update.

 

[petals]

luvin the lilo and stitch pic. I always have best interaction with Stitch when I'm there!

 

[Mickey_Mom]

I loved our time exploring the Tree of Life. It was a must-do for our family trips but something always came up to prevent us from getting there. I can't wait to take the kids this September and I love the idea of making a game for them.


It was a nice walk down the path and fun to stop and take pictures of whatever caught my eye. Then walking past the waterfall to even more....

The details are astounding!

Demetri will love this one.....

Back to Expedition Everest and by chance, I took one of my favorite pictures of the trip. On our spin on EE earlier in the day, I'd been snapping away during the ride and got some pretty funny and cool pictures, my fav the silhouette of the Yeti pulling up the track....

This time around I had another picture in mind I wanted to try for. Like Julie said, it felt like we were going much faster, and with that in mind plus the timing of my camera from when you push the button and the picture snaps off... I lucked out with.....

The picture flashes up on the display briefly before getting itself ready to take the next picture and still in the midst of the ride, I remember turning to Amy and exclaiming, "I got the Yeti!"

 

[MRYPPNS]

That is a seriously cool Yeti picture!!!

 

[mousescrapper]

I am working on scrapping some layouts from our Jan trip and wanted to share 2 of the layouts I have finished. I love scrapbooking hence my DIS name and it is so fun to scrap Disney I knew I wanted to do something special for the MOM trip portion of my latest Disney book I am working on...

the opening layout is the group shot galore (yes there are some trip spoilers in here) and special thanks to Jess for a few of the pixs that she sent us ladies...

The next layout is all about my traveling companions and what they mean to me....

I know you can't read all the sentiments perfectly so I typed them out for you as well:

Kathy...my writer friend!it all started with kathy and her dream to share our stories and love for our Autistic children and the Magic of Disney! Her dedication and vibrancy is contagious in a wonderful way. I am humbled and honored to call her a friend and confident. Her desire to give and share is beautiful. I love reading her testimony to reach out to others.

Heidi...my good time buddy!She and I just crack each other up constantly and had a blast together on this trip and continue to laugh away now. Even though I love to laugh w/ her, I count on her straigh-forward say it so to help me take a step back and see things differently whether it's w/ my kids, home, or WDW planning. I love her to peices and can't wait to do WDW w/ her again!

Anne Marie...my it's a small world friend...I live in ____, You live in ____ let's meet and who knew but AM & 1 of her sisiters babysat my husband Matt when they were kids LOL! So great to have a wonderful friend so close and we can have mini DIS meets all the time (in the midst of the busies) I love talking, laughing and "talking the DIS talk" w/ her. She has become a very important friend and person in my life! Thanks to the Mouse

Jessics/Jess...my sweet/trickster friendShe was so quiet at first taking in everything & everyone...but her ever sweet & cuteness "level" also revealed some trickiness in her too. I love her laugh and warm nature. It was so wonderful to get to know her and she brought some great memories to my trip. I can't wait to kick line down Main Street again...

Amy...my go to bud!We just clicked immediately, you would have thought we'd known each other forever. Her childlike fun and crazy quirks make me laugh and smile, but her strong sense of loyalty and encouragement are what make me love her the most. During the trip we laughed and goofed like Goofy the most I feel blessed to have her in my life always.

Tracy...my Canadian friend, eh? I love her enthusiasm and joy in the little things! Her wonderful creativity in how she brings Disney magic to her family and home was evident during the trip. helping us and always having a smile. it was wonderful to meet her and consider her a life-long friend!

Enjoy

 

[MRYPPNS]

Awwwwww......you are too sweet my friend. I look forward to many more adventures with you!

 

[KathyRN137]

The picture flashes up on the display briefly before getting itself ready to take the next picture and still in the midst of the ride, I remember turning to Amy and exclaiming, "I got the Yeti!"

That is a seriously cool Yeti picture!!!

Cool, yes... and SCARY!

Usually we whip past him so fast we can hardly see him!

So glad you caught it just right!


Kathy

 

[KathyRN137]

Kathy...my writer friend! It all started with kathy and her dream to share our stories and love for our Autistic children and the Magic of Disney!

Aww! I'm so glad we became DIS-Friends!

Julie, I do so admire you scrapbook creativity... all your pages are like mini works of art! So glad you're having fun with them!


Kathy

 

[DisMomAmy]

Amy...my go to bud!We just clicked immediately, you would have thought we'd known each other forever. Her childlike fun and crazy quirks make me laugh and smile, but her strong sense of loyalty and encouragement are what make me love her the most. During the trip we laughed and goofed like Goofy the most I feel blessed to have her in my life always.

That's so sweet Julie!! I feel exactly the same way. Hanging out with you really drew out my inner child and crazy quirks! I feel like we have clicked from the start... Every time we chat on the phone it's like we talk every day.

Thanks for sharing your very special Spectrum Moms layout!!

 

[MEK]

The picture flashes up on the display briefly before getting itself ready to take the next picture and still in the midst of the ride, I remember turning to Amy and exclaiming, "I got the Yeti!"

I hate cutting and pasting photos because I am so lazy, but this is AWESOME!!!!!!!! I LOVE IT! WAY TO GO!!!! LOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVEEEEEEE IT!

Beautiful tol pictures as well. Excellent job and what a great day ladies!

 

[irish dancer]

I haven't had as much time to Dis this summer so I've had a little catching up to do.

Loved the Tree of Life walk, had never done that with the family but want to make time for it next time.

While I had fun on EE in the morning, once was enough so when it came time to return I opted to head out with Jess and peruse the shops at the Poly.

Our little adventure started by heading out to the buses. As we waited we decided to hop on whatever monorail hotel bus arrived first because you can't have enough rides on the monorail IMHO. Up pulled the GF bus and we hopped on. Once arriving at GF we jumped the monorail to the Poly. Jess was on a mission to find anything Stitch to bring home for her boys and I was in search of a sweatshirt. Now, not any sweatshirt but a crew neck NOT a hoodie which is all I could find on property.

Were we successful???

Well, kind of. Don't really think Jess found what she was looking for but I do think she picked up something there. I'll let her share any purchases. As for me, I did find a sweatshirt unfortunately they didn't have my size. The very nice CM tried calling the other monorail hotels shops to check if they had my size without luck. I settled for getting the information and phone number to order from home.

My search was not entirely over, I would continue my quest.

 

[Mickey_Mom]

While shopping, Tracy and I came across these incredible magnets with faces of Disney characters showing various emotions... Happy, Sad, Angry, Bored, etc. We thought they would be PERFECT for Billy and Ariana! We each bought two; one for school and one for home.

I was thrilled to find these expressive magnets. Ariana is, shall we say "choosy" when it comes to telling us how she's feeling and I was excited to see if she'd follow it. You can't go wrong with the Disney connection and while for now she's limited her expressions to just "happy" and "tired" it's a great start.

That is a seriously cool Yeti picture!!!

Cool, yes... and SCARY!

Usually we whip past him so fast we can hardly see him!

So glad you caught it just right!

I hate cutting and pasting photos because I am so lazy, but this is AWESOME!!!!!!!! I LOVE IT! WAY TO GO!!!! LOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVEEEEEEE IT!

Beautiful tol pictures as well. Excellent job and what a great day ladies!

Thanks! It was a fun surprise to see that turn out!

The next layout is all about my traveling companions and what they mean to me....

Julie, that is so incredibly sweet .... Love you all!!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Before moving on to our night with royalty, I want to post a few photopass pictures from the end of our AK day! These were taken after Heidi, Jess & Anne-Marie had left.

After leaving Animal Kingdom, Julie & I stopped at Jambo House for a little shopping. I don't recall everything I bought but I know I got a CD of Wishes. Julie bought a CD too - I think it was SpectroMagic.

I think Kathy & Tracy went back to Kidani.

After shopping we all met back up in the villa to make a quick change for our night out!

Up next: Dining with royalty! (I'll be back soon with that update! )

 

[eandesmom]

WOW! that Yeti picture is amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What beautiful scrapbook pages and thoughts from the heart capturing a very special trip.

I love the expressions magnets,

 

[DisMomAmy]

Early on in our trip planning we decided to pick one TS meal and tonight was the night for our dinner at 1900 Park Fare! I was very excited because I’d never eaten there & actually had never stepped foot inside the Grand Floridian. And I knew my chances of eating there in with my family were slim with two boys. (Although now I'm rethinking that & might take the boys there to meet the step-sisters!)

As part of our planning we decided that this meal required some special attire… Tiaras! Again, I was very excited about this because I don’t get to do girly things very often! We also knew tonight was going to be the coldest yet so we layered up, put on our tiaras, put on some glow sticks (from Jess) and headed to Magic Kingdom around 4pm. The plan was to hop on the monorail for our 5:00ish ADR. It was very crowded on the monorail & we got split up. Julie, Jess & I made the first monorail and the rest of the gang followed on the next one. Here was our first look at the Grand Floridian - the hotel is gorgeous:

Once everyone arrived, we headed downstairs to 1900 Park Fare:

We didn’t have to wait too long to be seated. We had this picture taken before going in:

The whole evening was fun! The food was pretty good & the characters were great! At one point Heidi had gone over to the buffet when one of the step-sisters arrived (sorry I don’t remember which one). We got some autographs & some pictures. We wanted a group shot but Heidi wasn’t back yet. We told the step-sister & she screamed “HEIDI!!!” really loud to get her back over to the table! It was hilarious!

This was dessert:

Continued...

 

[DisMomAmy]

After dinner we spotted a bride:

Mailing some special postcards:

Up next: Our magical (& very cold) Magic Kingdom evening!

 

[mousescrapper]

Those special postcards were for our Dinner Winner actually (from an earlier PTR game we played) and to a special girl w/ various needs I know through my daughter's school

I could laugh all over again thinking about Anatasia screaming for Heidi through the restaurant ...I believe prince Charming even scolded her for acting so un lady like....Those sisters are quite the hoot! And the picture of us w/ PC I just love Kathy's expression

I unfortunately was not feeling good during dinner...though I tried to hid it well...I barely could eat and was greatly disappointed Not to bring down the ladies' meals after we saw all the characters I retreated to the restroom and then to the lobby to rest till the ladies came out...I had brought these super huge glow necklaces as well...Kathy caught me in mid act getting them ready:

some little children willing milling around me and watching contently at what i was doing After I passed out the necklaces to all I had two lrftover so I looked for a couple kids that looked like siblings and luck had it as were exiting to go to MK I spotted two little princesses and gave them to them...that wasn't the only bit of magic to come this evening either...