Tyler's Wish Trip - Nov. 20-25, 2009 / Dream Factory

[kdzbear]

Then Hayley was so excited to get to meet Thumper and Miss Bunny.

Here she is meeting them. Thumper turned around and wiggled his tail for her too!

Then we got in a really long line for the VIP seating. Aaron asked me how it could be VIP if so many people were in line. It turns out most of the people in line thought it was the entrance and they were redirected. A cast member led us to a front row seat in the giraffe section and he did not know that giraffes are Tyler’s favorite animals!

Breanna got to lead the giraffe section and teach them the sound a giraffe makes. She will never forget that a giraffe sounds like a sheep!

 

[kdzbear]

Tyler loved the monkeys since they use a lot of the same equipment that he uses at gymnastics.

A cast member of the show came over to talk to my kids and told them that she loved their outfits. Then all three kids were asked to be part of the parade, but Tyler was a little scared and would not go. He was overwhelmed by the scariness of Scar’s performance and the fire twirler / eater scared him too.

 

[kdzbear]

We watched the rest of show. We were told before the show started to remain seated after the show and a cast member would come and get us. Before the theater started to empty out a cast member was leading us out a cast member only door. She asked us to wait just a minute and then the entire cast came out to meet us! They got down on the kids level and asked them about the parts of the show they liked best. One of the giraffe performers showed Tyler that they had on the same pattern of material in their costumes. It was so amazing! This event was simply magical!

As we were leaving one of the cast members told me to post the photos on his facebook page, but I do not know his name or how to get the pictures to him. If anyone recognizes any of the Lion King cast members then send them over to see the photos!

Then we changed diapers again! We do this a lot! While I was waiting on one of the little ones the other one saw Thumper and got in line again! Soon the whole family was in line to see Thumper. I was so glad we had seen Miss Bunny earlier as she was not out anymore.

Then I took more tree pictures!

At this point we decided to go to Pizza Safari for lunch. The food was good and Hayley loved the dessert!

Next up, the rest of our Animal Kingdom day!

 

[pipersmom]

I love all the pictures! So neat that you all got to be up close and personal with the parade. The kids look like they're having a really good time. Diane sounds like a very special CM to arrange all that for you guys, I love people like that!

 

[p00h4me]

Great 2nd day pictures at the Animal Kingdom! Too bad the family didn't qualify to be part of the parade but they did provide other magical moments for all of you. I love all of your pictures especially of the Christmas decorations! I enjoy WDW during the Christmas season the most too! That's a great picture of the family with the FOTLK cast!

There is a medical resident that should be able to start practicing here in the next few weeks and she is a geneticist! She is going to set up her practice here! I will not have to drive a six hour round trip drive to see a geneticist anymore!

That is fantastic news for you and Tyler!

Yesterday, we got around 5 inches of snow and it kept snowing until noon, which is very unusual down where we live at the foothill of the mountains. Our poor chickens stayed in the coop all day long. They did not like that white stuff on the ground or floating down from the sky. We cleared the snow away from the front of the coop but it's still very cold outside today and they wander out for a little bit before going back into the coop where its a little warmer. Last year, there was no snow at all. If we don't get a white Christmas, at least we had some snow this year in December.

Looking forward to part 2 of day 2.

 

[maroo]

WOW!!!

This is fantastic!

I thought the pics from the first night were incredible...this is just...I am speechless!

Twice in one trip to have that much pixie dust thrown on is AMAZING!

I don't think I have ever, in any trip report, seen the cast of the Lion King come out to do a meet and greet. How cool!!

 

[StefaniLyn]

Absolutely AMAZING! And your pictures have just moved FotLK higher up on our priority list for our 1/2 day at AK! You guys truly deserve all that pixie dust and more! I am so happy for you!

 

[kdzbear]

I love all the pictures! So neat that you all got to be up close and personal with the parade. The kids look like they're having a really good time. Diane sounds like a very special CM to arrange all that for you guys, I love people like that!

Having the kids participate in the Festival of the Lion King parade was so amazing! Diane was awesome! We tried to find her again to thank her, but we could not. I will write a letter to Disney about her and how she made our trip so special!

Great 2nd day pictures at the Animal Kingdom! Too bad the family didn't qualify to be part of the parade but they did provide other magical moments for all of you. I love all of your pictures especially of the Christmas decorations! I enjoy WDW during the Christmas season the most too! That's a great picture of the family with the FOTLK cast!

I think the kids had more fun at the Lion King show than they would have in the parade! The Christmas decorations at the Animal Kingdom were my favorites of all 4 parks.

That is fantastic news for you and Tyler!

Yes, I am so excited to have a geneticist here in town!

Yesterday, we got around 5 inches of snow and it kept snowing until noon, which is very unusual down where we live at the foothill of the mountains. Our poor chickens stayed in the coop all day long. They did not like that white stuff on the ground or floating down from the sky. We cleared the snow away from the front of the coop but it's still very cold outside today and they wander out for a little bit before going back into the coop where its a little warmer. Last year, there was no snow at all. If we don't get a white Christmas, at least we had some snow this year in December.

Looking forward to part 2 of day 2.

We had snow right before we left on the trip, but the ground was too warm for it to stick! I think having chickens would be hard work, but fun. I loved the fake snow at Disney!

WOW!!!

This is fantastic!

I thought the pics from the first night were incredible...this is just...I am speechless!

Twice in one trip to have that much pixie dust thrown on is AMAZING!

I don't think I have ever, in any trip report, seen the cast of the Lion King come out to do a meet and greet. How cool!!

It was amazing. I was expecting maybe Timon, but I never expected to meet the whole cast! The pixie dust has not even begun to rain yet. It was the most amazing trip and so many unreal experiences occurred on our trip. There is lots more to come!

Absolutely AMAZING! And your pictures have just moved FotLK higher up on our priority list for our 1/2 day at AK! You guys truly deserve all that pixie dust and more! I am so happy for you!

I think your girls would love the FOTLK. It is a neat show and if you have a stroller as a wheelchair, you will be one of the front rows. We took Tyler and Hayley out and carried them in since we had no idea what was in store for us and we didn't want to throw any glitches into the magic!

 

[kdzbear]

I will try to do a couple of quick posts before I need to go to my Junior Girl Scout meeting. We are taking the girls on a field trip today! I had started to upload the new set of photos to Photobucket when something happened to Foxfire and the internet shut down. Now the original photos I was downloading are under new downloads and not in the file they should be in. I also cannot tell which photos uploaded and which ones did not so please be patient as I try to fix this mess!

After lunch we decided to ride the Safari, but we hit a detour on the way. Terk was standing off to the side with only one family waiting to see her.

Then we saw Flik. Tyler has always been very texture oriented. I assume that this is due to the other areas that he is lacking that he learns through touch, but not all characters understand why they are being rubbed and having their eyes felt. This time it was just Flik’s chest!

Then it was time for Flik to go on break so he took my kids with him!

The character handler told us if we waited about two minutes we could meet Baloo so we went up a little hill to a hidden area to meet him. There was already one family waiting so we waited behind them. When the character handler came, she did not understand how we found the path and knew where to be. We told her that the other character handler sent us. Then she was happy that her co-workers were actually doing their jobs. Baloo brought King Louie with him! Baloo is one of my favorite characters so I had to have a photo with him too!

Next we got a special treat as we were leaving the character area.

 

[maroo]

MORE pixie dust?


I feel like I am drinking from a fire hydrant!

 

[Dreamer & Wisher]

Wow what a great trip so far! The kids look so cute in their outfits! You did a great job on the shorts and the skirts.

Can't wait to read more about your trip.

 

[pipersmom]

So cool that you all got to meet Baloo and Louie. I didn't realize they still had the older characters out and about! Looking fwd to the next installment

 

[kdzbear]

MORE pixie dust?


I feel like I am drinking from a fire hydrant!

I hope you are really thirsty!

Wow what a great trip so far! The kids look so cute in their outfits! You did a great job on the shorts and the skirts.

Can't wait to read more about your trip.

Thank you so much. Those were the first skirts I had ever made other than the plain one for under Hayley's Halloween costume. The trip was beyond all of my expectations. Disney is wonderful!

So cool that you all got to meet Baloo and Louie. I didn't realize they still had the older characters out and about! Looking fwd to the next installment

I love the "older" characters. Wait until you see who was out at Epcot later in the week. I am updating now that I am back from Girl Scouts. The girls got to go into the kitten city in pairs. There were 10 kittens in the city. They were in heaven and their Pet Care badge is now done! We have been working on it all semester with guest speakers and different activities!

 

[kdzbear]

As we were leaving the secluded character area, we ran into DeVine. She is simply magnificent to watch. We watched her for about five minutes.

Then it was on to the safari. I took pictures along the way.

We were able to get right on a safari that was about to leave.

I took lots of pictures of the giraffes for Tyler. He loves giraffes. Could you tell by his shorts? He picked the material.

 

[kdzbear]

Here are the rest of the safari photos:

If you look to the middle right, you can see two cheetahs in this photo.

After the safari, we took the train to Rafiki’s planet watch. At this point I was noticing that my camera was getting worse. About every 5th picture was coming out blurry. I managed to make it work through the trip, but I also have lots of unusable blurry photos. It is a good thing I take so many. I will send it in under warranty, but it will have to wait until after Christmas.

Then the kids were able to pet this animal. I am not sure what it is. It is the larger version of the acouchi and its name rhymes with acouchi. It is related to the acouchis that we have at our zoo that run loose in the jungle building. The animal handler had never seen an acouchi before and she was impressed that we could see them at our zoo.

More planet watch activities are in the next post. I can only put 25 photos per post!

 

[Momofwishkid]

Your pics continue to amaze me. I have to admit I got a little teary eyed from the FOTLK pics and what they did for your family. Cant wait to read more!

 

[kdzbear]

We checked out the inside of the building.

We looked around inside some more. Then we got in line to meet Rafiki. We were told that Jiminy Cricket would not be out for about 45 more minutes so we did not get to meet him. Pocahontas was also out, but we had already met her.

Then we went outside to the petting zoo. On the interior bridge the goats were locking horns and trying to butt one another off of the bridge. It was entertaining.

They were having an animal information session in the outdoor pavilion. They were showing off a porcupine and a kid from the audience was selected to help train him. We caught the end of the show. Aaron and Hayley watched the whole show while I had the two older ones in the petting area.

Here is a cute hedgehog that they used earlier in the show:

They had out some porcupine quills so you could feel them. They were smooth and then the points were very sharp.

Then I took a picture of the pretend village from the train on the way back to the main station.

 

[kdzbear]

Your pics continue to amaze me. I have to admit I got a little teary eyed from the FOTLK pics and what they did for your family. Cant wait to read more!

Thank you so much! The FOTLK was just unbelievable. There are no words to describe the magic that Diane and her co-workers created for us!

 

[kdzbear]

Now at this point Aaron really wanted to ride Kali River Rapids. I did not as I did not want to be wet the rest of the day, but we headed that way to show Tyler the ride. On the way we found a fun rickshaw so Bre and I posed for a photo.

Then the kids saw the gibbons. Despite their calling, “Whoooop” to them, they did not respond. They did turn to the direction of my kids’ obnoxious noise. We have an animal park here that has two gibbons and Tyler and Hayley have perfectly replicated their whooping sound and do it non-stop.

Then we took another detour to Expedition Everest. Tyler was too small to ride. Breanna and I rode first.

Aaron chose not to ride so I took some more picture of the coaster going up and down. Tyler liked to sit and watch and say, “up” when it went up and “down” when it came down over and over!

I loved these flowers.

Tyler saw Kali River Rapids and decided that he was not going on it so we walked over to Dino Land.

Hayley and I walked around while the other three rode the Triceratops Spin.

Then I took some more pictures of the Christmas decorations.

Then we tried to meet Goofy and Pluto, but since we did not have a green stop light on our GAC, the cast member would not let us. It was not a problem as they had seen Goofy earlier. So we headed towards the front of the park.

 

[kdzbear]

The parade was going by and guess what? It was Mickey’s Jungle Jammin Jingle parade that was not supposed to start until the next week! It was great and I was able to fit Breanna and Tyler right in front of some adults so everyone could see the parade perfectly!