The surprise trip where dreams came true! Update Day 8! LOTS of pictures)

[shaniadobie]

subscribing !!!

 

[Sneezie]

DD: Shelby who is 13 will turn 14 on the trip. She is the typical teenager attitude and all. She loves Disney but for the most part when we are not there acts like it is just OK. Spends way to much time on the phone. The week before the trip got back from New Mexico from a mission trip with the church.

My DD(14) is always excited about our trip to WDW until we get there. Once we're there she starts acting like a butt. This year, I've warned her, if she starts her ungrateful attitude she's going to stay in the room and I'm taking her KTTW Teenagers, can't live with them.... That's all!

I can't wait to hear the rest of your story!

 

[katielou]

Great trip report so far We just upgraded our Thanksgiving trip to BC. I will love seeing your pics!!!

Beth

 

[ms_mckenna]

My DD(14) is always excited about our trip to WDW until we get there. Once we're there she starts acting like a butt. This year, I've warned her, if she starts her ungrateful attitude she's going to stay in the room and I'm taking her KTTW Teenagers, can't live with them.... That's all!

I can't wait to hear the rest of your story!

lol I like that plan. Shel had 2 times where she got in that pain in the butt realm but quickly we snatched her back thankfully. DH and I were talking about what to do with her next trip if she really gets out there and not punish one of us at the same time. We had talked about sending her back to the room as well because she will be 15 almost 16 by next trip but honestly she would like to have a 2 bedroom DVC unit to herself so I can hardly call that punishment for bad behavior lol.

Great trip report so far We just upgraded our Thanksgiving trip to BC. I will love seeing your pics!!!

Beth

Will this be your first BC trip? Be sure and look for Art. He has to be the nicest guy ever.

I will add more to the TR probably Monday. We are going looking for houses tomorrow. Hopefully will find something big enough for us all.

 

[SwansLoveDisney]

Your trip report is great! You have a beautiful family!

It sounds like your trip was excellent so far...

 

[katielou]

This will be our first disney trip with our kids. My husband and I went quite some time back before we had them. My kids and even my husband are really excited about BC. We were booked for POR and decided to upgrade when the codes came out. I will love being so close to epcot and mgm.

Is the adoption going through? Hope your house hunting goes well.

anxiously awaiting an update

Beth

 

[ms_mckenna]

That is awesome you will love BC. I cannot even begin to put into words how relaxing it is. The pace just seems to slow down there it is WONDERFUL! If you are not staying CL call and get turn down service at night it makes it a bit more magical. I will post some turndown pics monday the kids adored it! What kind of room do you have booked? Trying to think Nov you should still have a good chance of being able to enjoy the pool some. We were at Dolphin in Nov of 06 and DD swam in the Grotto at the Dolphin. I will try and remember to post more things I can remember about the hotel for you.

As far as the adoption are kinda in limbo at this point. Waiting to hear back from the agency that will certify us. We live about an hour and half away from them so there has been talk of us going through someplace closer to us instead of them. We actually have had some changes and hope to try to get all four of the children (they are a sibling group) instead of just the girls. We just have to see what the state will certify us to do ... and a big part of that is our house having to be big enough for everyone. If all works out we will be their foster parents by Christmas and adoptive parents by the next Christmas. Going through CPS is a long process. Which I wish it were quicker but honestly would not have it any other way. At least they make sure you are sure about the choice you are making. :

 

[katielou]

Well I cant sleep either so what is better than being on the dis. My husband has told me " You will know everything about Disney by the time we go as much as you are on the dis" It is alittle addicting.
We are staying in a standard room but have read that we can request turndown service. My kids will like that. I am really hoping that the pool will be warm enough to swim in. It looks wonderful .
I noticed you are in Texas. What town. We live in Houston. Watching the weather this weekend. Hopefully the hurricane wont decide to come our way. Last time we evacuated to Austin. 22 hours later and power cord to the tv forgotten at home we were a little cranky to say the least.

beth

 

[ms_mckenna]

Your trip report is great! You have a beautiful family!

It sounds like your trip was excellent so far...

Thanks Are you guys going for MNSSHP when you go in Oct? I want to make it there so badly lol I just have to geth DH to agree to a short trip to do it! Hoping within the next 2 years we can do it. My favorite holiday is Halloween would be so cool to combine it with being at DISNEY!

We are staying in a standard room but have read that we can request turndown service.

I know what you mean about not sleeping lol. I did way to much research online before we left for this trip.
We were in a standard room as well but were extremely happy with our view. Honestly if you can request it it was surprisingly quiet being with a view of the lobby entrance. Plus as standard views go I thought ours was very nice.
Yes I did not realize you were from Texas as well. I used to live in Victoria so not to far from Houston. My youngest spent some time in Texas Childrens in Houston ... wonderful people there. We now live in North East Texas near Tyler if you know where that is lol.
They are telling us up here to fill up in case of the evacuation. I guess so we have gas? I have never heard them say that though thought it was a bit strange. Course I heard that from a friend too that told me about it lol. I hope you don't have to evacuate.

 

[SwansLoveDisney]

Thanks Are you guys going for MNSSHP when you go in Oct? I want to make it there so badly lol I just have to geth DH to agree to a short trip to do it! Hoping within the next 2 years we can do it. My favorite holiday is Halloween would be so cool to combine it with being at DISNEY!

We are definitely going to MNSSHP! I also LOVE Halloween and I think it's fabulous that we'll be at Disney World in Halloween costumes. I haven't been to MNSSHP before, but I have heard wonderful things about it. So you should definitely try to go!

 

[katielou]

I know where Victoria is. I grew up in Rosenberg. Now live in Houston. About 15min from the med center. I have spent several nights at Texas Childrens with my kids. Great hospital. We have filled out gas tanks and my husband is out at Home Depot No telling what he will come back with. We are not evacuating this time.

Beth

 

[scottny]

ok caught up. the Pirates experience looked like alot of fun. I loved CP when we went, no rushing when we were there either.

 

[ms_mckenna]

Glad you guys are safe Beth I thought about you earlier when I was watching the weather. I am sure HD is a MAD house down there right about now!

Hey Scott ya you have to do the Pirate Tutorial they are awesome. I like your CP pic. Where were you guys seated? It looks like an area I may have to ask for next time was it in the middle? Looks like there was a bit more room to move around anyway.

 

[ms_mckenna]

AK the park we have waited for!! A little history this is one of my families favorite parks to be at. We love FOTLK, and last time did not get to ride EE so we were so excited to be riding it for the first time!

We got up about 7 and hurried to get dressed and made it to the park a little after it had opened. It was looking like it was going to pour before we even got there so I think the crowds were even more diminished because of that. We walked in and got one or 2 good photo pass pictures and the rain set in. I have very few pictures from today because of the humidity my camera was constantly fogging up. I thought it was just me but the few photo pass pictures we have later in the day of the kids and Stitch are just as foggy. Which I will definitely have to figure out a way to keep that from happening if we ever go during a rainy time of year again.

Everyone was in a great mood this morning can you tell.

Notice the beginnings of the fog monster. DS is doing his best to bear it he wanted to get to EE lol. I just knew that the rain was going to get worse and we really wanted AK to be our Christmas card picture this year.

Before we hit our first ride it had started to sprinkle heavily. As we were walking in we passed by the apes and they were VERY active just making
noises back and forth and playing up high. Shel thought it was a tape of the voices I think. We didn't stop for very long and I later was kicking myself in the butt because by the time we got back to them they were already pretty much gone in for the day. We rode EE first not near as scary as it looks. I do not know what I expected but it is not bad at all. It is actually a lot of fun! Alex really decided he loved it as well. We left there and decided it was time for the ponchos because the rain really started in. We went to Makaresh Jungle trail and James and I enjoyed it but the kids were not that interested. I think the kids would have been more on board if it had been dry. The tigers were out just laying around and enjoying the rain. James got some really cute pictures of them!

Of course the fog again.

The kids were hungry because they did not want anything when we left the hotel so we stopped and got some soft pretzels for them after the jungle trail. A CM at one of the carts stopped me to see our shirts and wanted to see my lanyard ( I had on Alex's because I had held it while he went to the bathroom). I told her it was his lanyard and she said oh he must like stitch. I resisted the urge to say what tipped you off lol and said yes . BTW Alex at this point has 4 stitch heads and one of the same stitch head with a body. Don't ask me why but if you know my son you know why I took the "OK honey whatever you want to do" approach. I explained a little about it to her and she decided she wanted to give him a pin. Alex is a bit taken a back when anyone offers to be nice like this. He thinks that all special treatment he gets is because of his disability so he is really stand offish about it. I have finally gotten him to pretty much go with the flow with it at least at Disney. That is only because he has seen other kids get the same treatment at Disney. So she gave him a pin that I still need to look up because it is a promo pin from Epcot and she told him not to trade it away because it is hard to get. I did not put it on his lanyard instead I immediately put it up and told her I would save it for his home collection and thanked her.

Again we get going again and decide that we are going to hit FOTLK. We got lost but finally got there. DH of course remembered how to get there and my bad sense of direction made me want to go another route (I can get lost anywhere anytime). We discussed and decided he was right after looking at a map lol. It was great just like last time! I still think that has to be the most magical show I have ever seen. The eye contact that the dancers give is so amazing! We were in the front row and the kids just watched it again like nothing else in the world was going on at that moment. It is amazing how much it captivates their attention.

When we left we went and saw IT2BAB. It was cute. I was not thinking when we came in though and did not transfer Alex out of his wheelchair and I should have.

We stopped by Flame Tree and James got the ribs which he said were OK he did not like the sides though. I honestly should have known better than to suggest it to him because he cooks awesome ribs and thinks everyone else's are sub level lol. The kids and I ate from McDonald's. We sat outside because it was so cold inside and we were all wet. I love it there sitting outside and watching AK walk by in front of you. Since I love the rain it made it even better. Course we really loved being at AK when it was raining period. The people cleared out a lot and you can still do a lot there when it rains.

Then it was on to Nemo which I enjoyed but I think Shel could have done without it, The seats were just bench ones and are a bit uncomfortable. We obviously will go see it again if we adopt so that our new children can see it but unless one of them just loves it I doubt it will be something we do every year.

We made our way back over and were looking for our parade spot. We were insanely early as we always seemed to be for things like this this trip. Shel wanted to stop a shop and get a clippy that she had seen and it is the one right behind the w/c spot for the parade. So we now were in that limbo time if we left we didn't really have time to do anything else but we were to early for what we were at right now lol. So we decided to enjoy it and spend the extra time in the shops and pin trade. The kids are REALLY in to pin trading by this point! One CM said she had a mystery pin but it was an evil one. Alex told her that her sister liked the evil ones and so he called her over and Shel traded with the CM. It was Maleficent from the cauldron series. She told Shel about how hard it is to find the one from Fantasia. We left and Shel said she didn't like it that much and she would probably just trade it away.

We found Stitch at the next shop and he was an awesome one and tried to run away with Alex in the w/c. The kids really liked him. Unfortunately none of my pictures came out, and the photo pass guys were not much better.

We stopped by Island Mercantile and Shel bought a King Louie and Alex window shopped. That child is such the tightwad. Shel had a really sweet older lady check her out ... Margaret. We saw her later in the day again.

Low and behold as we walked out the door Alex got a magical moment and traded 2 times from a woman's book pin book and got a certificate and all. Both times he picked mystery pins. He got really into trading for Mystery pins! The first he was thrilled about it is a Stitch in the monorail second it was the SAME pin the lady told Shel not 30 mins before it was really hard to find! He was so excited about that one too because he finally had something Shel wanted to trade for a stitch pin that she had. Which is the point she decided she was keeping her cauldron pins lol. Then the lady told Shel she would do 2 trades with her to ... another magical moment.

We left and went back to the spot. Thankfully the rain had finally let up so they went ahead with the parade. We sat and watched the parade which I have to agree with everyone it is the best day parade I have seen at Disney.

Chip shaking Alex's hand.

Dale kissing Shel's hand. BTW I learned this trip how to tell the difference between Chip and Dale! Chip has a black nose that looks like a chocolate CHIP! And Dale has a red nose lol.

The kids decided they wanted to do Dinosaur which I was not thrilled about but we headed that way. There was a woman asleep on the park bench as we walked in and Alex thought it was hysterical for whatever reason. Shel jokingly said someone should have taken an afternoon break lol. Because of the rain and no one being in the park it was basically a walk on. The kids loved it. James and I rode it once and because of how much it shakes you around that was quiet enough for us!

We told the kids that the grownups were tired and we needed to pick one more thing then we were done for the day. So we headed back to EE only to find out because of the rain they had had some problems. Alex was a bit disappointed but we reminded him that would just mean we need to come back on another trip so we could ride it again. They decided they wanted to do Dino again so we turned around and headed back where we were. The lady on bench was still there! She did not look like she had moved. So of course Alex is rolling laughing about it and begging me to let him take a picture with her. Well I told him I would take a picture but not with him in it. He laughed about her well into the night. It takes so little to amuse that child sometimes!

So the kids rode again. The lady at the gate joked with them that she remembered them. Then the guy midway that tells you where to go told Shelby he bet that she didn't remember how to get back downstairs did she? They had a blast riding by themselves.

So we told the kids we were done and they agreed so we headed back. Shel asked if we could stop and see if they had already sent King Louie back to the room and we told her that was fine. Margaret who had waited on her earlier was there and informed her that no they had already sent him over. Shel noticed when she was helping her that she had the stitch pins that Alex was looking for. So she told him and Margaret went around the store helping him look for Stitch heads. She thought it was really cool that we were letting him trade for what he wanted to trade for. By the time we left AK the child had a total of 8 Stitch heads and 4 of the ones with the head and the body. I have officially given up trying to get him to trade for anything else.

We left AK and headed back to the hotel a bit earlier than I expected but we needed the break before things went South with everyone mood. James and I left the kids at the room and ran down and got food from the CS right by SAB.

After we got back up to the room and had eaten I remembered that I really really needed to do laundry. Alex had run out of shorts and underwear so I unfortunately had no choices. I took my passporter, my phone, and laundry bag and headed downstairs. There are 2 laundry rooms at BC the one I found has 2 washers and 4 dryers. One washer was already being used so I had to do the 2 loads in shifts. I stayed with our laundry because I guess I am just paranoid no one else seemed to stay with theirs so I guess it is a personal thing. I caught up on my phone calls back home and touched base with everyone. This is probably the only time I will ever say this but I actually enjoyed the quiet of no one being in the Laundry room. I had my book and I read and relaxed. Well until another guest decided we needed to talk lol.

I got back up to the room at about 9 and I remembered that Alex had not gotten Shel a birthday present yet. I pulled him aside and reminded him that his sister's birthday was the next day. He flipped and I told him to relax there were still lots of shops open in and around the hotel lol. So we told James and Shel we had something we needed to go run an errand. He was really worried because he had not thought of her birthday on his own and I explained to him it was OK we were taking care of it now lol. He is just as bad about being forever picking out things for others as he is for himself. We hit the hotel shop and found nothing so we headed to the BW. After about 30 minutes he finally decided on some Mickey ears he had seen her try on earlier, some little crystals for her to wear on her face and something else small though I cannot for the life of me remember what now. We walked back and enjoyed the quiet time alone. When we got back he decided he wanted to give her her present before she went to bed she of course was fine with that so we let him.

DD was happy with her bday present.

Another wonderful Disney day done.

Tomorrow ... DD celebrates her 14th birthday in Epcot. It was a roller coaster of a day! lol

 

[scottny]

Hey Scott ya you have to do the Pirate Tutorial they are awesome. I like your CP pic. Where were you guys seated? It looks like an area I may have to ask for next time was it in the middle? Looks like there was a bit more room to move around anyway.

Hi,
on the left side of the restaurant directly in front of the door they use to get to the kitchen and the supplies.
also underneath the dome.

if you look in the pic and see the white box with pink arrow, (sorry so small) that was our table. Great location, the characters loved me and always had refills from other servers other than our own,

Sorry pic is not better, my program is not cooperation tonight.

 

[ms_mckenna]

Good to know I will ask for it the next time we go. Thinking there might be more room to move DS's wheelchair around there. Being up against that window there just was not much space at all. Plus the larger characters had issues sqeezing in.
Is that not also where they put a tree at Christmas? That could make for a nice backdrop to our pictures lol.

 

[Stargazer]

Great TR Callie! It looks like y'all had a great time.

 

[ms_mckenna]

The rest of my TR will probably be more split up because I quit writing things down at night on day 5. I have no idea why ... apparently I was not thinking about remembering for the future lol.

Now onto MK day 2 and our 5th day of vacation!

We had a 8:10 ADR for Crystal Palace at MK. James and Alex both decided the night before that they would not be going with us. Shel still wanted to go so I figured we would go just the two of us while we let them sleep in if she still felt the same in the morning. I woke her up and she said she still wanted to go so we got dressed and headed out. My husband said he would call us when they got up and moving around but that he was sleeping "late" at least one day lol. We hopped a bus and headed to MK. By 8 we are in and headed to CP. We get up there and she decides she is not hungry anymore so I spoke with the lady and she tells us no biggie we can cancel. So we are now inside MK course all that is open is CP and CRT but it was so nice to walk around slowly and look. We took way to many pictures lol.

Shel in front of the castle.

Then me.

I had never thought about it before but her favorite poem when she was younger was Casey at Bat she read it 2 years in a row for UIL.

Taking time to smell the roses.

Another castle pic.

So we decide to head to the castle and wait for the rope drop. I had no idea they roped it off again there but we sat and waited for a while. When they were letting everyone into the park I walked over and got another picture which I think is pretty cool.

Rope drop from the other side!

We were waiting at the castle and when the rope dropped Shel headed directly for Tinkerbell's Treasures. She was the first in the shop and had already asked to wake up Tink before I even got there. There was another little girl that came in right after and asked and the lady said Shel had already asked. So Shel asked her if it would be OK if they did it together? The lady smiled and said she thought that might work. I was really proud of her for asking if they could both do it. The other little girl was very happy as well.

Waking up Tink.

Honestly it is neat to say that she has woke up Tink but it was really not that big a deal. Another little girl walked in right after she had finished writing up the girls certificates and I heard the CM say she thought Tink was really tired and probably needed to be woken up again. :

So afterward she and I decided to do the things that Alex either will not do or cannot do while they were back at the room. First we hit Peter Pan which I had not ridden since I was little, better than I remember it. It did hurt my heart that Alex will most likely never see it, but on the bright side he would probably think it was dumb anyway. We left and were going to ride IASW again (by Shel's choice!) and we got down and she decided she wanted to do something different. The CM at the entrance asked her if she got scared of the dolls lmao. We did Cinderella's Carousel, then Pooh (my choice lol).
At this point we decide to go looking for Goofy. We pass the teacups that are not running and low and behold there is the Madd Hatter and Alice! I am sick to my stomach because I do not have the backpack or any of the autograph pages. She does not care she is heading that way and I am following like all good mothers do lol. There are a few people watching them but no one is interacting with he and Alice. Course my child is not a watcher so she walks right up to the Madd Hatter and starts talking to him. He is complaining because he cannot ride his ride because they have BROKEN it lol. She asks if she can get a picture with him? He says Of course My DEAR! The CM running his well not running ride asks if she wants to take a picture in a CUP! Shel lit up like a Christmas tree and said yes yes please. MH asks her what teacup she would like? She picks the closest one with blue she sees and MH opens the door for her and Alice and they all climb in. He makes a comment about Shel having a grin like the Cheshire cat .... she does doesn't she?

He escorts her out talking the whole time. He is WONDERFUL! I wish I had taken more pictures of them interacting but I will make up for that later . She now remembers that she wanted to get her hair done at the Main Street Barber and says why don't we head that way and if we run into anyone else along the way we will stop. This was the point where I knew she was a lot more into the characters than she wanted to let on. We of course had to stop and get a picture to remember our morning at one of my favorite spots in MK.

We head back to the front and she waits to get her hair done. We were really impressed with the lady that did her hair. Shel loved the way she pulled it up and she showed Shel how to do it herself. :

Not bad for 5 bucks plus tip! She even pixie dusted me too. :

Next installment the guys join us.

 

[scottny]

Love the update. I loved eating at CP but I would like to also walk around the park when it is empty. We ate while it was empty.

 

[hjd0411]

What a great update! And what a great morning you and Shelby got to share!

I look forward to reading more - you sound like a fun family.

Oh, and by the way - there is no such thing as too many photos!!!!!!!!!