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

[kdzbear]

Yeah! My trip report is unlocked and I can post again. I am not sure what caused it to get locked in the first place. I will add more updates soon!

 

[maroo]

Yeah! My trip report is unlocked and I can post again. I am not sure what caused it to get locked in the first place. I will add more updates soon!

I think the Mod was trying to move it over to the Trip Report board (from the Pre-Trip board) and it landed on the Completed Trip Report board instead!

It is all good!

I love the pics you have posted!! I couldn't post all of my comments earlier...I think you take GREAT pics!

Can't wait to hear more about the magic!!

 

[kdzbear]

Here are some more parade photos:

Then after the parade we found Lilo and Stitch. We are now 2/2 at finding Stitch in the parks!

Stitch was up to his normal ornery self, but Tyler loved playing with him!

Then we found our friend, Christopher. He was on the phone when he came down the hill to where Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore were. He recognized us, smiled really big and waved. He visited with us as the kids visited the characters. He asked the kids if they had enjoyed the Christmas party and if we saw Stitch today!

First the kids met Pooh.

Then they saw Eeyore.

 

[kdzbear]

I think the Mod was trying to move it over to the Trip Report board (from the Pre-Trip board) and it landed on the Completed Trip Report board instead!

It is all good!

I love the pics you have posted!! I couldn't post all of my comments earlier...I think you take GREAT pics!

Can't wait to hear more about the magic!!

I was worried I exceeded the photo limit for a trip report. I searched the boards for answers. I am glad it is open again1 More magic coming in 2 minutes! Make sure you are sitting down!

 

[kdzbear]

Next up was Tigger!

I am not sure if I mentioned this before, but it was right at 4:30 when we entered the line and the line closes at 4:30 PM. As you can see all of the guests were able to meet the characters one at a time. Then we were the last family in line so Pooh and Eeyore decided that we should take pictures with everyone all together! Maroo, are you sitting down for these pictures? p00h4me, you will love these!

Then Pooh waved bye to us while still holding on tightly to Hayley. He explained to us through signs that he was keeping Hayley. I asked if Hayley was going to live in the Hundred Acre Wood with him and he shook his head with a yes.

That is our new friend, Christopher, over by Eeyore!

 

[kdzbear]

Now even though my camera was acting up, there were three photopass photographers all snapping pictures of my three kids. I have some amazing shots to share later once I receive my CD! The magic from this day continues in more photos below.

It is now after 5 PM and we make our way to customer service to ask about the green stop light again. We asked the first day at Epcot and we were told that they don’t have the stamps. We were again told, “no” and it was explained to us that our GAC should work just the same as the ones with the green stop lights. It is not a big deal and we are off on our next mission.

 

[Jenvenza]

I just found your TR and I LOVE it! You kids are adorable and all the magic you got on this trip has made me tear up a few times! What a wonderful experience you guys have had so far! I cannot wait for more!

 

[kdzbear]

We find the bus for the beach club. I am not sure who said that deluxe resorts have better bus routes, but the beach club does not. We stopped at Swan, Dolphin, Yacht and somewhere else before reaching the Beach Club. Then the bus still had to go to the Boardwalk. It was a long bus ride.

The end results are worth the wait! The carousel is magnificent!

After we looked at the many details of the carousel, we were told to go out by the lighthouse by the pool. There was a PP photographer out there taking photos so we had a family photo taken. I was told that they take them by the carousel only during daylight hours due to the poor lighting situation. The view was so worth the long bus ride.

 

[maroo]

No. Way.


I LOVE those characters! What an awesome picture...all 3 of the kids each with one of them!!!!! That is so awesome!

I can't wait to see even more from PhotoPass! Fantastic!!!

 

[kdzbear]

Now, we found the bus stop and took a bus to Downtown Disney. That ride was short and uneventful! However, when we arrived at DTD, it was chaos. I was thinking that Animal Kingdom closed at 5 PM so it was the perfect night for DTD. I was not thinking that it was a Saturday night. There was a stage set up and some sort of DJ and kids activities going on. We had canceled our Yak and Yeti reservations after the kids did not like the menu selections. We thought we would take Tyler to T-Rex. There was a 20 minute wait just to put your name on the wait list!

We walked over to Rain Forest Café. Tonight was the night we were paying out of pocket and I had $10 off coupons for both Rain Forest and T-Rex. I also had a $25 gift card from My Points for any Landry’s restaurant, which we were originally going to use at Yak and Yeti. If I had thought it was Saturday, I would have eaten at the Rain Forest at Animal Kingdom before we left. The wait at the DTD Rain Forest was two hours! It was only 40 minutes with a Rain Forest Safari card. We purchased ours in 1997 and it saved us so much money through the years. I love it. We put our name on the list and tried to walk around.

I was so tired and my feet hurt. I just wanted to sit down. So I watched a mom sit on a bench with an empty seat for over 15 minutes. Then I went and sat down with Hayley. The woman on the bench immediately told me that her mom was sitting there and I needed to move. She was very rude. We decided to walk around inside the shop. Then it was finally our turn to sit down!

Breanna really wanted to shop at the WOD, but I was so tired. I finally gave in as I was not sure when we would make it make to DTD. On the way I remembered that I wanted the kids to see Santa. The line was under 10 minutes. The pictures they took with my camera are dark, but the PP ones are great!

Then we ventured in to the WOD. It was not so crowded inside now. I guess a lot of people were done for the evening.

We let the kids pick some souvenirs. Breanna picked a Belle dress for her American Girl doll that my sister gave her. She has a just like me version. The Disney doll clothes fit the American Girl dolls. She had a hard time choosing between Belle and Jasmine clothes. Hayley selected three of the plush toddler dolls from the ones she did not have. She chose Belle first and said, “Belle” as she already has Tinkerbell at home. Then we walked around the store and I picked up a few surprises for later since Christmas is just around the corner.

Then we had to go to the basin store. One of the judges that my husband works with broke his Disney mug last week and WOD only had ones with names such as mom or dad on the handles and he needed a blank one.

Then finally it was back to the resort. We had early breakfast reservations with Stitch on Sunday.

 

[kdzbear]

I just found your TR and I LOVE it! You kids are adorable and all the magic you got on this trip has made me tear up a few times! What a wonderful experience you guys have had so far! I cannot wait for more!

Thank you! Welcome and thanks for joining along! Your kids are beautiful too! The story just keeps getting better. I am not sure if I didn't have pictures to prove it happened, anyone would believe me!

No. Way.


I LOVE those characters! What an awesome picture...all 3 of the kids each with one of them!!!!! That is so awesome!

I can't wait to see even more from PhotoPass! Fantastic!!!

I told you more magic keeps happening! Sunday is a huge day full of even more magic!

 

[p00h4me]

Wow! Your timing on this trip is fantastic on the character meets! I love all the Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore pictures too. My favorite is the one with all three characters with the entire family. Tyler got to play with Stitch again. Yeah! The gingerbread carousel is fantastic this year. Love all the pictures you took to capture all the details.

Day 2 was another full day for the family! Can't wait for day 3!

 

[pipersmom]

Wow, you guys got to do soooo much and meet so many characters! I can't wait to see your next installment, the kids are just beaming in all the pics!

 

[yinyanggirls]

Here is the link: http://www.rarechromo.org/informatio...ons FTNW.pdf .

I'm just now going back to the beginning...I was wondering if you have ever heard of CDO? Chromosome Deletion Outreach? (I think their site is CDrg but don't quote me on that). They are US based and raise money for research (no money is solicited from members or required to join) and offer a database and support group for families. They even offer a list of families in your state/area that are working with a chromosomal abnormality (that have approved their info be shared). It sounds like your son's is extremely rare but certainly his challenges are shared by other kids with "syndromes". My daughter is still undiagnosed, but every doctor in several states have agreed she seems to have a genetic syndrome. It was actually her geneticist who submitted her paperwork for MAW, even though she is undiagnosed. Okay, sorry for that rambling. Didn't know if you knew about CDO and I can tell you are the type of parent that does her research.

 

[yinyanggirls]

Then he said the most profound thing. He said, "God must have given us this baby since he knew we could take care of him and love him whereas a parent on drugs could not handle him so he gave them the perfect child". It is so true. I did not think I had the strength to deal with a special needs child when he was born, but I have learned so much and I have become a much stronger person because of him. Besides one little smile from him melts my heart!

Oh geez, maybe I should've just stayed where I was with all the happy pictures. You made my eyes water, which is a hard thing to do anymore. Your husband is wise, and it took us a little time to come to terms with this. We were/are infertile and after desperately wanting a baby to love it ripped my heart out every time someone found a baby in a dumpster. I was very bitter towards women who were able to have children but did not appreciate them. When we finally realized that adoption was our path to parenthood it was another blow to find out that our daughter had pretty severe disabilities. We loved her from the minute we saw her. Probably before. We had no doubt that this unborn child was meant to be ours, and no one knew that there would be anything "wrong" with her. Around the time it started to become obvious that she was behind in everything and her medical issues were continuing, we finalized her adoption and immediately were told we were amazing and wonderful people for going through with it. WHAT?!? She was OUR daughter! If someone had given birth to a baby like her no one would ever say how wonderful you are to keep her....it boggled our minds. It was a challenge to adjust our dreams for her, and grieve the loss of the daughter we expected, but she was nothing but a bundle of pure love. An angel straight from heaven. Even now with all the docs and therapies and worries about the future, we call her the "easy" one. Phew. Sorry for all of that on your TR, but I just had to share what a nice feeling it is to find people who understand. That's one great thing about our kids... I have found that even without a specific diagnosis we have made amazing friends and can relate to so many of the different challenges out there. Okay, 'nuff said.

 

[kdzbear]

Wow! Your timing on this trip is fantastic on the character meets! I love all the Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore pictures too. My favorite is the one with all three characters with the entire family. Tyler got to play with Stitch again. Yeah! The gingerbread carousel is fantastic this year. Love all the pictures you took to capture all the details.

Day 2 was another full day for the family! Can't wait for day 3!

We did seem to have perfect timing and it was all accidental timing! I thought you might like the Pooh and friends pictures! The gingerbread carousel was my favorite holiday decoration in all of the hotels and parks.

Wow, you guys got to do soooo much and meet so many characters! I can't wait to see your next installment, the kids are just beaming in all the pics!

I did take lots of pictures and I left out the not so pretty ones whether they were fuzzy or the kids weren't smiling. I learned quickly that when you met a character to just keep snapping the shutter button and at least one good photo would be the result.

I'm just now going back to the beginning...I was wondering if you have ever heard of CDO? Chromosome Deletion Outreach? (I think their site is CDrg but don't quote me on that). They are US based and raise money for research (no money is solicited from members or required to join) and offer a database and support group for families. They even offer a list of families in your state/area that are working with a chromosomal abnormality (that have approved their info be shared). It sounds like your son's is extremely rare but certainly his challenges are shared by other kids with "syndromes". My daughter is still undiagnosed, but every doctor in several states have agreed she seems to have a genetic syndrome. It was actually her geneticist who submitted her paperwork for MAW, even though she is undiagnosed. Okay, sorry for that rambling. Didn't know if you knew about CDO and I can tell you are the type of parent that does her research.

I have heard of the CDO and I was registered with them, but Unique was so much more positive and supportive that I stayed with them. They are wonderful to work with. I have recently found a little boy in England with a deletion similar to Tyler's deletion and they look eerily alike. They could be brothers! I know on a lot of the chromosome disorders the children have similar facial features, but this little boy is like a twin to Tyler and he is 2 years older. I have been emailing back and forth with his mom.

Oh geez, maybe I should've just stayed where I was with all the happy pictures. You made my eyes water, which is a hard thing to do anymore. Your husband is wise, and it took us a little time to come to terms with this. We were/are infertile and after desperately wanting a baby to love it ripped my heart out every time someone found a baby in a dumpster. I was very bitter towards women who were able to have children but did not appreciate them. When we finally realized that adoption was our path to parenthood it was another blow to find out that our daughter had pretty severe disabilities. We loved her from the minute we saw her. Probably before. We had no doubt that this unborn child was meant to be ours, and no one knew that there would be anything "wrong" with her. Around the time it started to become obvious that she was behind in everything and her medical issues were continuing, we finalized her adoption and immediately were told we were amazing and wonderful people for going through with it. WHAT?!? She was OUR daughter! If someone had given birth to a baby like her no one would ever say how wonderful you are to keep her....it boggled our minds. It was a challenge to adjust our dreams for her, and grieve the loss of the daughter we expected, but she was nothing but a bundle of pure love. An angel straight from heaven. Even now with all the docs and therapies and worries about the future, we call her the "easy" one. Phew. Sorry for all of that on your TR, but I just had to share what a nice feeling it is to find people who understand. That's one great thing about our kids... I have found that even without a specific diagnosis we have made amazing friends and can relate to so many of the different challenges out there. Okay, 'nuff said.

Your story also made my eyes water. You have an amazing gift in your daughter. I figure that God knows more than I do so if he chose me to accept and take care of Tyler then there is a greater reason than what I can see before me right now. He has been a lot of hard work and a lot of road blocks with doctors and insurance, but one little smile from him and all is right with the world. He has no idea that anything is wrong with him and he is just happy being alive. I wish everyone could see life the way he does. We all would be so much happier!

 

[kdzbear]

Day 3 started off interestingly. We made it to the bus stop by the time I had planned on being there, but we had to wait 35 minutes for a bus. This delay meant that we would be late for breakfast. However, Ricky was so entertaining. He was in charge of the buses at Sports for the morning. He entertained everyone in the lines. He sang, danced and told jokes. He was fabulous! I wish we had videoed him! A bus finally came!

We made it to the Magic Kingdom. Then we still had to get a monorail. While on the bus I called Disney dining to tell them we would be late. They informed me that I had to contact the Polynesian and gave me their number. I reached a voice mail that said it was checked frequently and I left a message. We got on the monorail and there was a 10 minute delay due to another monorail on the tracks not being far enough ahead. I liked that they were taking extra safety precautions. I was talking with a gentleman on the monorail about what happened and how many people were fired over the crash. He was quite knowledgeable. It helped to pass the time.

We made it to the Polynesian. The line to check in was long. They took our picture right away and then provided us with a pager. So, we walked around the resort. It was not decorated for Christmas yet. The resorts were using this week to decorate. Here are some pictures of the resort.

Then we wandered through the three little stores / kiosks in the upper part of the resort. Look what Tyler found:

He did not get to take this with him today. The decorations in the store were cute.

Finally, Ohana paged us for breakfast. I noticed that our reservation slip said that we were celebrating a personal triumph, but it did not say what. I informed our server that we were celebrating my son’s wish trip and explained the Stitch part of the trip to her.

Then we sat down to eat. We started with two kinds of bread. I had heard lots about the pineapple bread and could not wait to try it, but it was dry and not what I had hoped for.

Right before Pluto walked over to the table Tyler shoved a huge red grape in his mouth. I asked him not to, but he did not listen. You can see the grape bulging out of his cheek in the pictures.

Then Mickey stopped by.

Now if you look at Tyler’s neck and his hand gestures, you can see the pure excitement when he gets to meet Stitch. Unfortunately three of my photos are completely blurry and you cannot see anything but a blue blob in them. Stitch spent a few minutes at the table.

Hayley was enjoying the Mickey waffles. The meal was served family style and it was all you can eat. The scrambled eggs had some sort of special seasoning on them that made them delicious. All of the food was great!

 

[kdzbear]

Next Lilo and Stitch invited everyone to join in a parade. Breanna took the two little ones, but she did not see the music shakers. By the second go around someone had given them some to shake.

I am not sure what Hayley is doing here.

Lilo finally made it to our table!

She absolutely loved the Autograph pages!

Then Aaron took Tyler to the restroom to change his diaper again! While he was gone a manager came over to my table to talk to me about Tyler. He asked if we had seen Stitch and I replied that we had. He explained that Stitch was coming back to spend some more time with Tyler. He also asked if we had any souvenirs yet and I told him that we were just starting our second full day. He said that he would be right back.

Tyler returned and so did Stitch!

The manager returned with a small bag and told Tyler that he had a present for him. Here is the result! The first one is Stitch coming out of the bag and the second is Stitch getting lots of hugs.

Then both Pluto and Mickey came back by to say, “Hi”.

While I took care of the check, Tyler played with his new Stitch.

Up next is more magic at the Magic Kingdom and how my two oldest became pirates because of the generosity of a wonderful Disboard member! Thank you again!

 

[Jenvenza]

I LOVE the pictures of Tyler with Stich and how excited he was! And then he was so excited giving his stuffed Stich a hug!!! So sweet!!!!!!

 

[yinyanggirls]

Phew! All caught up! I'm totally amazed at your trip so far. I guess it is charma for all the hassles you had before you left. I can understand a little of your previous frustrations. We had a very slow start to our plans. Phoebe was approved immediately, but then it took a couple months before a wish granter contacted us. Then we met with her and wanted to take a little time (one week...) to decide what wish would be most fun for Phoebe. It took weeks to hear back from her that her official wish was approved. Then it took several more weeks before she called me to say the dates we requested were full (I guess our chapter is super busy) so I requested new dates. It took several more weeks before those were approved. Now we are waiting to hear more details, such as flight times and where we are staying...She is super sweet, and I'm sure it has more to do with being a middle man. It is just nerve wracking being told that we are going, but then nothing more....I think WISH families are all appreciative of the gift they are being given, but the whole point of it is to provide a magical experience without the hassle and worry. I'm so glad your trip was magical!!!

How wonderful that you have met another child who is so similar! That is my only reason for wanting a diagnosis at this point. Phoebe is labeled as legally blind, CP, seizures, dev. delay, etc but having a name for the whole "package" could help us know what to expect in the future. I know what you mean about the "look" too. Phoebe has some half brothers who look quite a bit like her, but there are definitely unique traits she has. Her geneticist is convinced that she has some version of Rett syndrome but so far, all the tests have come back negative. So, awesome that you have found a family to connect with! Oh, and YAHOO!!!! on having a geneticist coming to your area!!! I complain about our 2 hrs round trip for appts, I can't imagine 6...

Looking forward to the rest of the TR!