To dance or not to dance .... that is the question

[tinytreasures]

Great updates. That look on her face when she was being eaten is so cute
Sorry about the rash poor kid

 

[rosieari9197]

wow, u guys look like u enjoyed every sec. of it. we are headed out on our son aris make a wish may 8th and looking at ur pics is just priceless! great pics!

 

[petals]

luvin your trip report. I luv the pic of you and Bri rescuing Lhea from Jaw's mouth

 

[HeatherSP]

Monday morning started out with the usual mommy can’t sleep. So as I tip toed in to the bathroom to get my shower there was Lhea right behind me. “Mommy, can I take a hot tub bubble bath?” She was just too sweet to send her back to bed. So again she made lots of bubbles. Having the shower right beside her tub was convenient because I was able to peek out and see her through the mirror just in time to keep the bubbles from going into the floor. It wasn’t long before everyone heard us up and decided that they too wanted in the bubbles. However, Monday morning is a special time at GKTW so I had to convince them to settle for another shower in the huge shower (which is convenient for showering multiple little girls at the same time). Steve and Alex were good sports about NEVER getting to use the big bathroom. The girls and I had claimed it.
Like I mentioned before Monday morning is special at GKTW.
Why?
Well …. They have special visitors.

Characters come over from Disney world just to spend a little extra time with the wish families.
Goofy was there.
And so was Pluto

The kids loved how Pluto signed autographs on his nose!
And of course …..

There was Minnie. She just loved Lhea.
And no Disney trip is complete if Mickey didn’t visit too!

After seeing the characters we headed over to the Gingerbread house for breakfast. Then a very important decision had to be made …… where do we go today???? Of course THIS day had been planned for a very long time.

MAGIC KINGDOM!!!!
It was a very busy day there because of spring break. We accepted the offer of riding a bus over instead of waiting on the monorail or boat. This turned out to be a good decision because we got there pretty quick.
We were on our way to guest relations to ask about seeing Tiana but we got sidetracked. Daisy Duck was meeting kids but there was a very long line! I wasn’t sure if Lhea would be allowed to skip the line with her GKTW button but I figured I’d ask. Daisy was super excited to see us. She invited Lhea right up.

As we left Daisy we saw snow white. She also welcomed us as her “special guests”. Gracie and Snow white hit it off great. Gracie finally met someone who talks as much as she does. We stopped to get a stroller. Then we were off to guest relations again. Where I was told where Tiana would be and at what times, and that I should tell Tiana about Lhea’s wish.
As we leave guest relations I ask Steve for the camera. What do you mean you don’t have the camera? No, you didn’t give it to me? I gave it to you? Didn’t I? Look in the stroller…look in the bag … uh oh!!!!! Panic sets in. ALL of our pictures are on that camera!! I dumped our bag and prayed as I searched it. Steve went inside guest relations to see if we left it. Bri and Alex partnered up to go check at the stroller counter …. NOTHING …… NO CAMERA!! NOOOO! Not TODAY! So we started our desperate search for the camera. I went back over to where daisy was and then where Snow White was …. Steve went back to the stroller line to see if anyone turned it in. I found NOTHING. I was ready to cry. I started praying again. I walked back to find Steve and met him about halfway and he had a big smile. The guy at the stroller counter had picked it up. I Thanked God out loud very enthusiastically.
We were walking by a building when a man asked if we were looking for princesses. Of course we were! We were directed inside where we met Sleeping Beauty, Belle and Cinderella. Here we were able to bypass most of the line but still had about 5 families in front of us. This was great because we would have easily waited in that line well over an hour.

Then we were off …. To see if Wishes really do come true.

 

[jj0plin]

I am so happy you found your camera!!! I left mine sitting on a wall in Downtown Disney and someone came after me to bring it back... I about cried! Looks like you all were off to a great start with all the character greets Can't wait for more!

 

[reelmom]

You can't stop now.

So glad that you found your camera.

 

[katoot]

That's great that you were able to find your camera fairly quickly. My wife and I weren't so lucky this last January...

 

[jessica52877]

I am glad the kids loved universal! I always find it a nice break from disney crowd wise and just seems more relaxing for some reason. Did you guys skip Barney??? He is my favorite!!!

Thank goodness your camera was found!! I love that Lhea is loving all the characters!

 

[brookerene]

Want to read more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Great TR so far!

 

[mommy2girlswv]

Tell Alex, he is our families fave driver too!!! Love all the pictures and can't wait for more!!!

 

[HeatherSP]

Way back in Novemeber Lhea met with the “fairy godmothers” (Make A Wish volunteers). When asked what she wished for she told them “I wish to dance with Princess Tiana”. And of course princess Tiana lives in Disney World. And so began our journey of making Lhea’s wish come true. I was disappointed when Make A Wish called and told me that they can’t make Lhea’s wish of dancing with Tiana come true but they could still send us to Disney World so we could try to meet her. I was sad for Lhea but I thought there must be a way to make this happen. With some good advice from my friends on the Disboards, I prepared Lhea for the possibility of not dancing with Tiana but had my heart set on making it happen for her.
We are in Magic Kingdom and have just visited with several princesses. And of course Lhea is looking for Tiana. So we pull out our map and find the path to where she is. We check our watches and Yes! She should be there now. We find her and of course there is a long line. So I went to the exit and waited for a cast member to come over. They see Lhea’s GKTW button and ask us to wait just a minute. Lhea is jumping up and down. They come to open the gate for her and Lhea freezes up. She will NOT go! I try to coax her over but she clung to my leg. Finally I get her inside and she looks up at Tiana and bursts into tears. Daddy picked Lhea up and tried to get her to talk to Tiana and prince Naveen who was with her. I tell Tiana all about Lhea’s wish and Tiana got excited. She looked over at Lhea and said “Oh I LOVE to dance!” But Lhea was too overwhelmed to cooperate.

Daddy wiped away Lhea’s tears and tried to settle her down. Finally the Photopass guy was going to take a family picture with Tiana and Lhea was willing to stand for the picture. (I will edit in some photos when we get our Photopass CD). Once Lhea was standing and smiling Tiana was able to get a big hug from Lhea.

Tiana danced and held onto Lhea’s hands. Tiana was wonderful! She even gave Lhea a big lipstick kiss on the cheek as she left. She had made Lhea’s day …. And mommy’s too!

 

[fulseasmama]

Looks like you guys had a great day at Universal. I loved the Tiana post...dream come true. Thanks so much for sharing!

 

[petals]

that piccie of Lhea meeting Tiana is the cutest pic ever.

 

[HeatherSP]

We spent the rest of the day at Magic Kingdom. We did so much there is no way I could possibly write it all. So I will just write about some of our favorite things.
At Magic Kingdom we weren’t always sent through the exit to be next like we often were at Universal. We were either sent to the fast pass lane or through the handicap entrance. Although it wasn’t as quick, it was certainly much faster than waiting through the lines. There is no way we would have been able to do even half of what we did if we had to wait. Our very first ride of the day was Aladdin’s magic carpet.

The temperature in Florida was about 10 degrees higher than their normal April weather. Most days it was in the 90s. It wasn’t long before we got hot and thirsty. Unfortunately Disney doesn’t have a souvenir cup with cheap refills. Buying full price drinks for 7 people so often quickly got expensive. But Magic Kingdom had a special placefor us. It is a special lounge just for wish families to use on their wish trip. There was a TV with Disney cartoons and free bottled water and juice in the fridge. Everyone had a chance to cool off and rest. Lhea insisted on resting on the magic carpet instead of the huge pillows or a couch.

There was a table with some games for the kids.

Bri loved the magic lamp! But no matter how hard she rubbed we couldn’t find the genie.

After everyone was refreshed we went to find some more fun. But first Daddy just had to stop and pose with Walt and Mickey.

Alex really liked driving the cars. Especially since he got to drive by himself.

And everyone LOVES Dumbo

At one point Daddy and the big kids ran off to ride some of the bigger rides. But me and the girls decided to hang out with stitch.

And who would have guessed that Stich was such good friends with Chip and Dale. They were having a dance party. The girls REALLY loved dancing. And the chipmunks really loved dancing with them too!

While we were waiting for the big kids to come back we decided to try on some hats.

Thanks to our friends on the Disboards Big Give, each of the girls were able to pick out a hat as a souvenir. And the shop even sent it to the front so we could pick them up on the way out.
When the rest of the family came back we went to ride some more rides. The kids loved Toy Story and were excited to visit with Buzz.

Lhea found the tea cups. Despite Dad trying to convince her not to ride (because it makes him dizzy) Lhea absolutely insisted. And she also insisted that Alex ride with her because he is good at spinning.

Lhea also found another of her favorites. This one is also a merry go round – not to be confused with the one and only miracle ride.

And of course we had to ride Winnie the pooh.

This is what Lhea thought of It’s a Small World.

And of course to end the night we had to watch the parade.

They enjoyed Mickey ice cream while they waited for the parade to start.

Lhea’s favorite part of the night.

It was getting very late and the kids were exhausted so we watched the fireworks as we headed out.

 

[ellenbenny]

I am absolutely loving your trip report and pictures. The kids are so adorable (even the big ones ) and it looked like everyone was having so much fun!

Loved seeing the 3 little girls in their matching Minnie Princess outfits, and seeing all the big give stuff in action is so much fun. I'm glad Lhea was able to dance with Tiana, even if she was a bit overwhelmed at first.

Can't wait to read more, you are doing a great job!

 

[brookerene]

That is great that she warmed up to Tiana....can't wait to read more!

 

[tinytreasures]

So glad you found your camera I bet your heart just dropped. Dreams coming true can be so overwhelming sometimes. Poor little thing had to be so excited she didn't know what to do.

 

[HeatherSP]

The day started out as usual with mommy and Lhea up early. Lhea was a little fussy but nothing a warm bubble bath can’t fix. Her rash wasn’t going away but also wasn’t getting any worse. But I was concerned enough to take her temperature. It was normal so we decided to go on with our day. We had breakfast as usual at the Gingerbread House. Lhea cried when there were no more donuts but Alex was willing to share with her.
After breakfast we just had to stop by the castle of miracles to see Lhea’s star on the wall.

It is the second row from the bottom, last on the right side. It is listed on cloud 10. I look forward to going back to visit it sometime.
Guess who else came to visit at the castle of miracles

Sandy from spongebob! The kids were excited to see her.
Of course we had one more decision to make …… Where do we go today?

Hollywood Studios!
Lhea was crying again before we even made it through the gate. The photopass guy made several attempts to get a picture without tears. I think he might have finally got one. (I’ll update when we get our CD). Steve and Bri wanted to look through some shops but Lhea wanted no part of it. Even riding in the big stroller didn’t help. I finally sat outside and held her while they shopped. Soon we saw characters. Certainly THEY will make Lhea smile. But it wasn’t a quick fix like I had hoped.

Lhea really wanted to see Pooh but she cried on his shoulder. It was ok though…… Pooh fell in love with Lhea. And so did someone else

I can’t think of this lady’s name. But she saw Lhea crying on Pooh’s shoulder. I told her about Lhea’s long week and not sleeping well. I explained just how emotional of a week we have had. This lady “adopted” Lhea for about ½ hour. She took Lhea by the hand and led us around to every character that was out. She brought her right up to the front and announced Lhea as her special friend. Lhea liked all of the attention.

And of course the boys had a have “their” picture with stitch

And sometimes the characters chose who THEY wanted a picture with

We did so much here that it is impossible to tell you everything. I think Lhea’s favorite was seeing the little mermaid show. She loves Arial and we somehow missed her at magic kingdom.
But even waiting inside with air conditioning was tough on my tired princess.In this picture you can see how red and swollen her cheeks look and her eyes look so tired

After some ice cream Lhea was in better spirits.

She loved dancing around and twirling her dress.
Look who we almost missed!

Minnie had finished meeting kids and was heading back inside when Lhea saw her and started running to her. When Minnie saw Lhea you would have thought she had just found her long lost sister. She stopped right in the middle of the street to give Lhea a hug. And even stayed a minute to pose for a picture.
The older kids were very excited about the “scenery” here.
Bri was the next American Idol

Alex was excited to show his friends pictures of him in New York

There weren’t many rides but we saw lots of shows. Including our very favorite!

Beauty and the Beast!
But we were most looking forward to Fantasmic. We asked about it at guest relations and were told that if we came to the late show they would give us VIP seating.
So to fill the time we decided we would go see Indiana Jones stunt show. When we went in we were brought up to the front and seated in special reserved seating and told us to hang out a minute after the show. It had Indiana Jone’s and the woman’s (I don’t know her name) stunt double doing the show. It showed how they do the stunts. The kids loved it. Especially Alex. After the show the actors came out to meet us. They signed autographs for the kids and took pictures with us.

Then we watched some of the Jedi training. This is another one of Alex’s favorites.
We finally headed over to see Fantasmic. We were brought in through the handicap entrance then were seated in the VIP seating. The show was wonderful but our pictures didn’t turn out so great.

It was after 11 by the time we left. Lhea was asleep long before we got back to the villa

 

[HeatherSP]

Great updates. That look on her face when she was being eaten is so cute
Sorry about the rash poor kid

I was shocked that Lhea wanted to cooperate for that picture .... she was so funny!

wow, u guys look like u enjoyed every sec. of it. we are headed out on our son aris make a wish may 8th and looking at ur pics is just priceless! great pics!

Your trip is getting close ..... how exciting!

luvin your trip report. I luv the pic of you and Bri rescuing Lhea from Jaw's mouth

I LOVE that one too!

I am so happy you found your camera!!! I left mine sitting on a wall in Downtown Disney and someone came after me to bring it back... I about cried! Looks like you all were off to a great start with all the character greets Can't wait for more!

That is awesome that someone brought it back .... so nice!

You can't stop now.

So glad that you found your camera.

Ha Ha! Sorry ... more updates for you now

That's great that you were able to find your camera fairly quickly. My wife and I weren't so lucky this last January...

Oh NO! You must be devestated!

I am glad the kids loved universal! I always find it a nice break from disney crowd wise and just seems more relaxing for some reason. Did you guys skip Barney??? He is my favorite!!!

Thank goodness your camera was found!! I love that Lhea is loving all the characters!

We somehow didn't get around to the area barney is in until too late :-( But it''s ok because nobody (except mom and dad) knew he was supposed to be there

Want to read more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Great TR so far!

Thanks! More updates for you now

Tell Alex, he is our families fave driver too!!! Love all the pictures and can't wait for more!!!

He will be excited to hear that!

Looks like you guys had a great day at Universal. I loved the Tiana post...dream come true. Thanks so much for sharing!

Thanks for reading along!

that piccie of Lhea meeting Tiana is the cutest pic ever.

I thought so too .... but I'm kinda partial

I am absolutely loving your trip report and pictures. The kids are so adorable (even the big ones ) and it looked like everyone was having so much fun!

Loved seeing the 3 little girls in their matching Minnie Princess outfits, and seeing all the big give stuff in action is so much fun. I'm glad Lhea was able to dance with Tiana, even if she was a bit overwhelmed at first.

Can't wait to read more, you are doing a great job!

Thanks! And thank you to you and to all of the Big Givers who made our trip extra special!

That is great that she warmed up to Tiana....can't wait to read more!

I was a little worried at first .... I didn't want Lhea coming home without dancing with Tiana

So glad you found your camera I bet your heart just dropped. Dreams coming true can be so overwhelming sometimes. Poor little thing had to be so excited she didn't know what to do.

I had never seen Lhea like that. But I am glad it worked out! I love being able to say her wish came true!

 

[HeatherSP]

We were nearing the end of our trip and there was one thing at GKTW that we still had not done.

Have ice cream for breakfast! After all that is WHY people go to GKTW isn’t it?
I bet you can tell by the kids’ outfits what we planned to do today ….. Animal Kingdom! And after that make a quick change of clothes and head over to Epcot. But something happened ….
On the ride over we realized that at the other parks the characters seem to leave early. And we just couldn’t take the chance of missing Tinkerbell. Gracie would NEVER forgive us! So at the last minute we decided we would just do Epcot first.
One of the first places we were going was mission space. We went in to find out if Lhea’s GKTW button got us to the fast pass line and were directed to somewhere much more special. Epcot’s VIP Lounge!

Inside we found a nice lounge with a free soda fountain, a photo game and private bathrooms

It even had a floor that changed colors!

Our favorite part was the private entrance to the mission space ride. When we left we got right n the ride.

We loved this lounge so much we stopped by for another drink on the way out.
We had just a few things we wanted to do at Epcot. We all enjoyed Soarin, test track, and of course Nemo!

We made time to stop and smell the flowers

Visited Donald

And of course Gracie HAD to see Tink!

And we had to check out the waterfall that fell UP!

Our only bad experience there was when we were treated rudely by a cast member when we asked about seeing Duffy the new Disney bear. The 2 cast members argued back and forth over whether we were supposed to skip the line. One said that we only skip lines on attractions and that Duffy was not an attraction and the other argued that they made exception for Make A Wish. I would have rather waited than have to listen to the girls argue. In the mist of the argument Duffy himself put his hand out and waved for Lhea to come over to him. Then the camera for photpass just happened to break at the same time (coincidence? Maybe?) But it was OK I brought my own camera.

I really wish that we either skipped him all together or just waited at the end of that line. I felt bad because I had caused the argument but I also felt bad for all of the kids who had to hear it. Lhea was upset and didn’t understand. Fortunately, she got over it quickly …. After all …. We were at Disney World!
After a few hours at Epcot we went to ….

Animal Kingdom!
Again there were only a few things we really wanted to do here.
We had to see the tree of life … it was on all of the kids’ outfits!

And of course we must see It’s Tough To Be A Bug! …. And there were 2 bugs hanging around the trash can outside

It was actually a glasses bin, not really trash
We rode some kiddie rides

Went on a safari to see all of the animals (and left the camera in the stroller).
Then Dad and the big kids went off to do Everest and some big rides. What would the little ones and I do?
Visit Lilo and Stich!

Explore Dinosaur fossils

Play on the playground

Check out the fish

And the flamingos

Then we were to meet up at the front of the park ….. but, Mommy got lost. But that’s ok because we accidently ran into

Minnie! And we saw Mickey too.
By this time we were all exhausted. There was more to do but we just couldn’t walk anymore. The girls had taken turns riding in the stroller all day but Mommy had tired, sore and blistered feet. It was time to sit down. When we caught up with the rest of the family we all agreed it was time to leave.