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

[Momofwishkid]

It sure seems like Tyler can not be stopped by the casts I know Gavin loves it when he gets the wheel chair. He was actually sad when he had to give it up.
Another awesome day at the parks and Stitch again How did Tyler react to the picking his nose

 

[cantwaittoseemickey]

I am just now getting caught up on your TR. What an amazing trip you had. I love all of your pictures they are wonderful! It is so hard to wait seeing what a great time you all had. I absolutley love that Tyler was able to see Stitch so many times

 

[p00h4me]

Great to see that the casts doesn't stop Tyler!

Love the pictures at Epcot! Another Stitch meet too even though this Stitch was not teaching nice manners to Tyler but that's Stitch!

Great shot!

 

[Jenvenza]

What a determined little boy! I am so glad he is not letting those casts get him down! You must be so proud!

Love the new updates!

 

[maroo]

Awesome determination!!

Go Tyler, GO!



I didn't know about that back entrance to Nemo...they were going to send us around the front and we didn't even get to ride at all. Oh well!

Good to know for next time!

 

[kdzbear]

He sure doesn't let anything slow him down! I'm sorry they had to sedate him though. It always makes me feel sad.

Stitch 4 times at 4 parks!!! Awesome! You guys did great making his wishes come true even when you didn't have a ton of assistance from your agency. You did an awesome job!

Thank you! Breanna kept commenting the whole trip how my determination made things happen. I guess once you get used to fighting for your child at home for his school and medical needs that it just carries over into everything you do. He could not have had a more amazing trip. All you need to do is be nice to cast members and take a few minutes to talk to them and then look at what can happen!

It sure seems like Tyler can not be stopped by the casts I know Gavin loves it when he gets the wheel chair. He was actually sad when he had to give it up.
Another awesome day at the parks and Stitch again How did Tyler react to the picking his nose

Tyler is moody about his wheel chair. He prefers his independence. He now can almost run in his casts. I keep finding little blue cast pieces all over my carpet. We are only on week one of three. I am not sure they will make it to week three. I have already had to go in once to have them reinforced.

Tyler is at about a two year old level mentally so he just thought it was normal to do whatever Stitch showed him to do, which is a bad thing. However, Stitch is known for having high badness levels and Tyler just loves him!

I am just now getting caught up on your TR. What an amazing trip you had. I love all of your pictures they are wonderful! It is so hard to wait seeing what a great time you all had. I absolutley love that Tyler was able to see Stitch so many times

Thank you! Tyler was so excited each time he was able to see Stitch again! I love to take photos!

Great to see that the casts doesn't stop Tyler!

Love the pictures at Epcot! Another Stitch meet too even though this Stitch was not teaching nice manners to Tyler but that's Stitch!

Great shot!

Thank you! I really like that picture too! Those pictures were just from the first 15 mintues.

What a determined little boy! I am so glad he is not letting those casts get him down! You must be so proud!

Love the new updates!

He is amazing and very determined. He adapted so much better to the casts than I imagined he would. I was so scared that first day in the hospital when he was so wobbly, but now he acts as if the casts have been there forever. They are covered in signatures and he loves to show off all of the signatures!

Awesome determination!!

Go Tyler, GO!



I didn't know about that back entrance to Nemo...they were going to send us around the front and we didn't even get to ride at all. Oh well!

Good to know for next time!

We did not know about the back entrance either. After we made it into the building Aaron thought that something was wrong with the cast member's directions so we started to hunt a new entrance. I think all Wish families going during a busy time period should be alerted to look for the gift shop entrance. Maybe even tell them to just ask the cast member where the gift shop is since otherwise the cast member will put you in the regular line. I am sorry you had to miss it!


Now that the holidays are over, I promise I will get this report finished up. We went to Springfield, MO the weekend before Christmas to spend time with my family and then we did Christmas with my husband's family here. I also spent about 3-4 days just editing photo pass photos since all of the previous editing had them all saved as 5x7s and had to go back and repeat each edit for the 4x6 and 8x10 sizes. It is now done and ordered. I had until the 26th of December and I ordered it on the evening of the 25th!

 

[kdzbear]

We received our mission and we were supposed to start at the International Gateway. We made a short stop at Canada to get the kids’ passports stamped.

Then we picked up our mission and found out we were headed to France. I was grateful that it was not all the way back to Mexico. We started our mission when Belle, Marie and Aurora came out. We missed Belle.

The kids took pictures with Aurora.

Then Breanna was so excited to meet Marie for the first time as she even wore her Marie shirt for the possible meeting!

We finished the mission in France and Breanna wanted to do one more mission so I agreed. This time we were sent to China.

On the way I saw a mom with four small kids including twins and I offered to take their photo for her. She was so happy as she said that she did not have any vacation photos of the whole family together. Then she offered to take ours so we posed in front of the holiday decorations. I am standing off to the side so the nutcracker can be in the photo.

Once we reached China, Mulan was out. The kids stopped to chat with her. I asked if Mushu would be out later and I was told that he no longer comes out as he is not popular enough. He is Breanna’s favorite character so this was a little disappointing to hear.

Then we had counter service food in China. It was ok. I had a salad. I really liked the ginger ice cream.

We explored China while completing our mission.

After this mission, I told Breanna that we were done with missions. We headed over to Norway. It was crowded and Tyler saw the boat ride and started screaming so we did not ride it.

We walked through Mexico and stopped for passport stamps, but we planned on coming back here later in the day and never made it back.

Then we headed over to Germany. I love it here. There was also a photopass photographer here, but you will have to wait on that photo.

 

[kdzbear]

Next we arrived in America. They had several characters out including Pluto, but we did not visit with them as we had already met them. However, after being told that Mushu was no longer popular I could not figure how Kronk from the Emperor's New Groove made it out to meet guests.

The band was parading and playing in the streets. They also had their own gingerbread house inside the restaurant area.

Next we went back to Japan to see the candy artist. We stopped to watch the amazing drummers. Tyler and Hayley were taking a nap in the stroller by this point.

Miyuku was amazing in her creations. We had never managed to see her before and it was so fantastic to watch.

We then wandered into Morocco where Tyler and Hayley tried on some hats.

Then it was back to England. We found Tigger, Pooh and Eeyore greeting guests. Then Off Kilter was playing as we exited the building.

We had a little bit of time prior to dinner. We tried to ride Test Track, but Tyler was screaming so bad that he could not ride it. I took Breanna and rode it. Then Aaron and Breanna headed to Mission Space while Tyler, Hayley and I took our time and looked through gift shops. Hayley loved the play tunnels inside Mission Space and made it to the fourth story, but Tyler just liked going in a circle on the first story.

 

[kdzbear]

After all of the trauma to Tyler we headed to the character spot. We went to the exit to learn that for this queue you go to the front of the line and then they send you through. This day is when my camera decided to take every photo as a giant blur. There are about six out of 30 that I can share with you. However, there were photopass photographers there so it is not all lost!

Then it was time for dinner at the Coral Reef. None of us eat fish so we weren’t very excited about eating here. Right after we parked the stroller under an overhang and went in another couple came into the waiting area to tell us it was pouring rain outside. We waited about 30 minutes past our reservation time. Then we were seated on a second tier of seats. Our server heard it was Tyler’s Wish trip and tried to move us closer to the fish, but it would not work out. Tyler stood in his chair most of the meal and starred at the fish. The food was ok, but we would not dine here again. I am sure that if you ordered and liked fish, you would have a much different experience.

After dinner we took Tyler back to the Seas so he could see the fish. We found a smiling ray. We tried to see Turtle Talk with Crush, but both Tyler and Hayley would not keep quiet so we had to leave shortly after the show started. We did ride the Finding Nemo ride again.

Then it was off to ride Soaring. Aaron took Bre as Tyler did not want to ride anything else. He used the GAC card and I tried to walk around and entertain Tyler and Hayley. By this point some sort of ball bearing in the stroller decided to break. The stroller would not turn the front wheel. I had to push the stroller without letting the front wheel touch the ground. Aaron called me to tell me that there was an hour wait for the ride from the fast pass entrance that they were in. I took the two little ones to Mouse Gears to look around.

 

[kdzbear]

By the time Aaron had caught up with me, it was drizzling again and we gave up on watching Illuminations. We headed to the monorails to complete my holiday tour.

The Grand Floridian was spectacular! The tree was beautiful and they had a photopass photographer there to take family photos in front of the tree. Then the Gingerbread house was so detailed and amazing.

 

[pacrosby]

ooohhhhhhh!!! You are making sooooo disappointed that we didn't make it to the World Showcase Going back in the spring with dd and my mom and will DEFINATELY take it in then. No doubt my mom will love it but I believe dd is old enough to appreciate it as well.

Thanx for taking the time and effort to put this together (and I KNOW it ain't easy)

Pamela

Matty's Wish Trip PTR (completed and closed) http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2325607

Matty's Wish Trip TR (in process) "Mom, Dad, 3 Kids, and a Gingerbread Boy" http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2356739

 

[kdzbear]

After this we headed to the Contemporary. It was a little disappointing. I guess that next year it will be twice as large. The idea is to create a gingerbread image using the mosaic tile mural as inspiration, but they only had time this year to create half of it so it will be better next year. I liked the monorail tree in the gift shop.

Then we went back to the Magic Kingdom to catch a bus to our resort. When we arrived back at the room there were more towel creations for the kids. They loved them. Aaron and I put the kids to bed and then started to figure out how we were going to pack everything.

Up next is our last partial day at Disney, which was spent in a torrential rain storm.

 

[p00h4me]

Hope your family had a wonderful Christmas! Loved all the updates but so sad that it's the end of your last full day. Too bad about your camera acting up. I hope your last day had some dry periods so you could enjoy what little time you had left. I guess I'll have to wait to find out!

 

[kdzbear]

ooohhhhhhh!!! You are making sooooo disappointed that we didn't make it to the World Showcase Going back in the spring with dd and my mom and will DEFINATELY take it in then. No doubt my mom will love it but I believe dd is old enough to appreciate it as well.

Thanx for taking the time and effort to put this together (and I KNOW it ain't easy)

Pamela

Matty's Wish Trip PTR (completed and closed) http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2325607

Matty's Wish Trip TR (in process) "Mom, Dad, 3 Kids, and a Gingerbread Boy" http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2356739

You will love the World Showcase. The first time I went to Epcot I was 14 and I fell in love with it then. However, there is so much to see at Disney that it is impossible to see it all. The reports take time to write, but if it even helps one other family plan a trip or makes one other person smile then it was worth it. I like being able to share the magic that was bestowed upon our family with others! I can't wait to read all about your trip! I read about Matty's encounter with the gingerbreadmen today! Wow!

Hope your family had a wonderful Christmas! Loved all the updates but so sad that it's the end of your last full day. Too bad about your camera acting up. I hope your last day had some dry periods so you could enjoy what little time you had left. I guess I'll have to wait to find out!

We had a great Christmas. Tyler received lots of Star Wars items and a few Handy Manny items. Santa brought him a little Stitch with a santa hat on and a holiday scarf. My nine year old was so excited that Stitch had a little patch on him that said Happy Holidays 2009. It was just great having family members all together to celebrate.

My camera is going to the shop as soon as I find the receipt with the warranty on it. It was not in the box. I am hoping it is still packed in the instruction book inside one of the office boxes that I have not unpacked yet.

The last day was not dry, but it ended with two very magical surprises! I will try to get it updated in the morning. Then you will have to wait for the photopass CD for some more amazing photos!

 

[pipersmom]

I looove Epcot/World Showcase, it's probably my favorite park. (well, my memories of it, anyway..that was over 20 yrs ago). It looks like you guys had fun with the Kim Possible missions, sounds like Tyler was getting tired by the end of the day though. Looking forward to the next installment!

 

[kdzbear]

I looove Epcot/World Showcase, it's probably my favorite park. (well, my memories of it, anyway..that was over 20 yrs ago). It looks like you guys had fun with the Kim Possible missions, sounds like Tyler was getting tired by the end of the day though. Looking forward to the next installment!

Thank you! I love Epcot and the fact that the kids can be exposed to at least a little bit about other cultures while visiting. Bre loved the KP missions. It is a fun way to explore parts of the countries that you might not otherwise explore! Tyler was tired by the end of the day, but it was great that he and Hayley could sleep in the stroller!

 

[kdzbear]

We have now made it to the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and our last partial day. Aaron got ready and then took the big checked suitcase to check it and two other smaller carry-on bags to luggage services. By the time he returned everyone else was dressed and ready to go. We were out the door by 7:15 AM this morning. We did not have to wait too long for a bus.

By the time we arrived at the park it was close to 7:50 AM and I was nervous since my schedule said that the park was supposed to open at 8:00 AM and I was not sure how we would make it to breakfast at 8:20 AM with all of the people heading in to the park for rope drop. Well, it turns out I had nothing to worry about. The park hours changed again and the park did not open until 9:00 AM. We went through the check point for breakfast reservations and then we had most of the park to ourselves. The sprinkles had started to come down a little harder at this point. I took a few photos of the mostly empty park and then we stopped for a photopass photo prior to heading to the Crystal Palace for breakfast.

The restaurant had just opened, but they did not have enough greeters to seat everyone so we had to wait about 15 minutes past our reservation time just to be seated in an empty restaurant. I took a picture of the kids before we were seated.

First Tigger came to visit the table.

Then Tigger posed so Tyler could take a picture with his disposable camera. Those photos have not been developed yet.

Everyone was able to select some food prior to Pooh Bear making a visit to our table.

Pooh really liked the girls dresses as you can see his reaction!

 

[kdzbear]

Then Eeyore came to say, “Hi”.

Finally it was Piglets turn to stop by.

Then it was time for a parade with the characters and my kids joined the fun.

After the parade Tigger came back for a second visit and shortly afterwards there was a second parade.

 

[kdzbear]

After breakfast we decided to let Tyler ride the train. However, the closest depot was either Frontierland or Main Street so we chose Frontierland. The handicapped entrance to this train is up a ramp that is also the exit ramp. We received many rude comments from people that we were going the wrong way. By this point I was wet and grumpy. I loudly told one rude person that it might be the exit, but it was also the handicapped ramp’s entrance. No one else said a word to us. We got situated on the train and were heading to Toon Town, but when we arrived in Toon Town it was 9:55 AM so we could not get off there. We decided to ride the train around again. Tyler liked the train, but he did not like the loud train whistle, which is the picture below of Tyler covering his ears.

We finally made it to Mickey’s house. I wanted to see it one more time before it is removed for the new Princess area. I hope they change their minds and find a new home for Toon Town and don’t tear it down completely. I also wanted to see it decorated for Christmas.

We stepped in line to meet Mickey. Hayley was taking a nap by this point. We managed to get everyone’s ponchos off prior to the greeting.

Then we decided to build a Potato Head. We did not need any more potatoes, but we needed parts. The only part we did not find was Darth Vader’s helmet. A cast member went out to the storage shed to look for one, but we never saw her return. Once Tyler and I gathered all of the pieces, Aaron sat down on the floor with him and packed the box. Aaron is an expert box packer. When Bre was little he packed a huge box of pony parts for one of my friends back home and she was amazed at how many pieces he fit into the box.

After this we decided to brave the rain again. It was pouring rain and it was not cold, but it was not warm either. Tyler wanted to ride Buzz Lightyear. The crowds were not too bad today and I think it was due to the rain. We start into the fast pass line when we discover that Cinderella lost her shoe again. I volunteered to go back out into the rain and look for it. Luckily it was not too far away. Someone had found it and set it up on a trashcan so we could find it easier. Then I made my way back through the line maze and was able to ride with my family.

 

[kdzbear]

Aaron thought at this point we should head up the pathway by the castle and to Fantasyland. When we got there the pathway was closed. Everyone was sopping wet even with the ponchos on due to the extreme downpour and sideways rain. Aaron suggested that we go shopping! He never says this so this meant that he was really wet!

Yes, at this point we gave in and let Tyler bring the giant Stitch home with him! Thank you to a special Disboards member for your help with this purchase! He loves his Stitch and sleeps with him in his bed and carries him around the house. It was the perfect souvenir for Tyler! He was able to bring Stitch home!

Next, we went back to All Star Sports for lunch. Aaron chose a table at the very end of the food court to allow the kids to run around. Bre and I went first and got our food. Then Aaron went to stand in line. He was gone for about 45 minutes as the cheerleaders for the Thanksgiving Day parade had returned for lunch. While he was gone Tyler was chucking crayons from one area to a large bowl on the crayon table. He loves to play basketball with anything that he can toss. There were no other kids at the table. At the same time Hayley had shredded about ten napkins under her chair. A manager was cleaning up in our area and I apologized for the mess and told her we would clean it up before we left. We started chatting and I mentioned that it was the last day of my son’s Wish trip. We talked about how we started in the parks this morning, but we gave up as it was just too wet. Then Aaron returned with only one meal. I had to go back to get Tyler’s meal. Each meal type had its own line. I waited forever in line. I was now worried about missing the Magic Express. A group of cheerleaders and their families allowed me to go in line in front to them. I was almost to the front when I saw a group of cast members enter the dining room. They were carrying helium balloons with stuffed animals attached to the bottoms of them. They walked over to the bakery area and took three rice crispy treats out of the case. My original thought was they were helping someone celebrate a birthday until I saw the three treats. I do not know why, but my eyes started to well up with tears and I knew they were taking them to my kids. However, panic quickly took over my magical moment as Aaron was standing next to me on the other side of the rope asking me what snacks I would like with our remaining snack credits. I asked who was with the kids and he told me, “Bre”. I told him he needed to get back there right away, but he took his time. By the time he returned there were four cast members babysitting my kids. They were also adorned with balloons, stuffed animals and rice crispy treats. Breanna had Goofy. Hayley had Pooh and Tyler had Mickey and Minnie. It was truly a magical end to our magical trip!

Now, Aaron went to get our carry-on bags so we could reorganize as we still had loose shopping bags that had to be put into something. He came back through the dining room with the luggage services guy. I can’t remember his name right now, but I think it was Kevin. He told us that he would hold the Magic Express for us. I had to run to the gift shop to get a Stitch ornament that we could not find that morning in the big Magic Kingdom shop and I needed another carry-on bag to hold all of our new stuff. We made it to the bus right at the time on our tickets. I am not sure if the bus driver was joking or not, but he said that we were very lucky as he was about to leave. Now we would not have missed our plane as it was still three hours before our flight and we could have taken then next Magic Express in an hour and we still would have been fine. I spent the first part of the bus ride stuffing our new carry-on bag. It holds a lot. It is a wonderful weekender bag!

Once we arrived at the airport we had 2 ½ hours before our flight. We sat down pre-security so Aaron could eat his lunch as he had fed his to Tyler. I had had the people at Sport put a lid on the plate so we go take it to-go. While we were waiting we were right outside a Disney store so I took Tyler to trade pins. One cast member asked us what we were looking for and I told him Stitch pins. We looked at 5-6 cast member lanyards and no one had any. Then a manager came out of the back and he said that he had a stash in the back and he would go look, but no luck. Then he asked if we could follow him to the other Disney store in the airport. We said sure, but I needed to let Aaron know where we were going. He saw Aaron, Breanna, Hayley and all of our stuff and told us to wait right there. He came back with three Stitch pins for Tyler and would not let us trade any of our pins for them! The Disney magic was still following us in the airport.

We made it through security without any problems. Tyler held Stitch in his lap as we pushed the two little ones in their stroller. We received lots of smiles. Many people stopped to ask if there was someone holding Stitch in the stroller as you could only see Tyler’s legs. I am not sure why I did not take a picture of this. Hayley stayed awake the first leg of the flight with me while everyone else slept. Then everyone crashed on the second leg. We made it back to our home airport a little after 10 PM. It was truly a magic trip from beginning to end.

I will post some more photopass photos once my CD arrives! Thank you for everyone that has read along whether or not you posted comments. I hope you enjoyed our journey.