When you wish upon a star..Hannah's make a wish trip

[HeatherN]

Wow you made it through your first two days and only had 2 meltdowns??? Very impressive! Seriously, I know that "its too hot and I am starving meltdown". I think I had one I love all of the pics and the GKTW looks just fantastic! How nice you got to meet your online friends! Glad the little girls surgery turned out ok. How tragic how these kids are treated in other countries.
SeaWorld looked like fun and I think that was a good idea to go there first. You kinda get your "touring legs" and can really look forward to Disney! Sounds like you were treated nicely there too. Can't wait to hear about Disney......and the grumpy CM's they've got there.

We had wanted to go straight to disney but we did want to get the lay of the land so to speak first.Also we had reservations at Cinderella's royal table later in the week and needed to use our tickets that day.I also was trying to avoid some crowds by avoiding disney on the weekend.(although there crowds were so crazy I don't think it would have made a difference!)I have been reading other's comments about grumpy CM's and honestly we only ran into one the entire trip.Paul and I talked about that a lot and wondered how they didn't get grumpy? All those people and that hot weather-I know if it had been me, I would have gone postal!

 

[HeatherN]

I lived in Orlando for a few months and used to volunteer at Give Kids the World. I think it's one of the best places in world. Looking at your photos brought back wonderful memories I'm looking forward to reading the rest of your trip report!

That is so great that you volunteered at GKTW.We really enjoyed the volunteers there.They could not do enough for us and they were great to chat with.We got such a kick out of some of the senior groups.One man played to harmonica for us at breakfast and took requests.He almost made me cry though when he played one song "you are my sunshine". When Hannah was a baby she had this singing flower that played that song and when she had her heart surgery I used to sing it to her when she was crying.I didn't cry although I came close but it was a good thing. It made me think about how far we have come with Hannah and how close we were to loosing her.Being on this trip made me realize how lucky we are and we so enjoyed celebrating that as a family.

 

[mom2aiden]

I just found this trip report and I'm loving it!!! I'm so impressed by the talented generous DIS botiquers who made those incredible outfits and surprised the kids with gifts

I can't wait to read the rest of your TR!

 

[Lambflock]

I am loving your Trip report!!! You are getting me so excited!!!

 

[kstgelais4]

Yay! I am so glad that you already started your trip report! So far I'm loving it! The volunteers at GTKW sound awesome!!!!

 

[stace1214]

Hi Heather!
I'm so glad you guys had a great trip! Can't wait to see more pictures! I can only imagine how much Hannah loved meeting the princesses!

 

[HeatherN]

We interrupt this trip report to show you this great outfit:This is from Ibesue.There was a small snafu with the mailing of it(don't ask her about it but she is mad at her husband! ) She just had a new grandbaby(congratulations!!!!!!) so it didn't get here until we were home already.None the less it is GORGEOUS and we LOVE it.Hannah wore it the day after we came home.It will still get a lot of use.We might take a quick trip to the Pittsburg zoo in a few weeks and she will be sure to wear it there.Thanks so much!!!!!( I didn't realize her eyes were closed until after I downloaded all the pics-sorry!)

 

[HeatherN]

Welcome aboard to all the new people that are reading.I hope we are not boring you to tears yet!
Stacy-Hannah LOVED the princesses.You know how she feels about them! Honestly EVERY single character thrilled her.Can't wait for you to see the pics.Your trip is coming up soon!

 

[VanniGirl]

What a wonderful report - can't wait for the rest!

 

[froglover2]

Better late than never!! You have beautiful kids thanx for sharring your trip with us!!

 

[bex271]

that is a cute outfit and she looks so adorable in it.

becca

 

[kaysmommie]

Just started reading your trip report and already love it! You have a beautiful family. So cute how Hannah packed all her stuffed toys in the suitcase. So far seems like your having and a great time. I love all the custom outfits your kids are wearing. Going back to get caught up.

 

[t-beri]

Ok, Heather, I LIED...I didn't wanna see Shamu (just your cute kids) I really wanna see some WDW(oh, and the kids)...so GET TO IT!!!!

Looks like you had a great time at Sea World. I didnt' get to ride Kraken when I was there either I have a terrible phobia of being near water that is enclosed by glass....I know it's weird, I'm afraid of a lot of things. Aquariums and I don't get along so well, but I liked seeing the outdoor exhibits, like the rays and the sea lions too!!! They are so funny, they practically perform to get those fish! I did go into the Manatee house briefly, I Manatees. They live in our river in the winter through spring when the gulf is colder b/c our spring fed river has inlets from the gulf and is 72 degrees year round. In the summer it's FREEZING but it's nice for the manatees in the winter. It's so fun to go kayaking or swimming and see one up close in the wild! My heart breaks for that species.

I am so exited to see the DHS pics!!! Hurry Heather, hurry!!!
...t.

 

[HeatherN]

Ok, Heather, I LIED...I didn't wanna see Shamu (just your cute kids) I really wanna see some WDW(oh, and the kids)...so GET TO IT!!!!

Looks like you had a great time at Sea World. I didnt' get to ride Kraken when I was there either I have a terrible phobia of being near water that is enclosed by glass....I know it's weird, I'm afraid of a lot of things. Aquariums and I don't get along so well, but I liked seeing the outdoor exhibits, like the rays and the sea lions too!!! They are so funny, they practically perform to get those fish! I did go into the Manatee house briefly, I Manatees. They live in our river in the winter through spring when the gulf is colder b/c our spring fed river has inlets from the gulf and is 72 degrees year round. In the summer it's FREEZING but it's nice for the manatees in the winter. It's so fun to go kayaking or swimming and see one up close in the wild! My heart breaks for that species.

I am so exited to see the DHS pics!!! Hurry Heather, hurry!!!
...t.

T -you are totally cracking me up! I was kind of holding off because I just ordered my photopass CD and was hoping it would come soon.It has the best pictures on it.I may just have to start writing and post those pics later.Plus the start of the kids wearing thier custom clothing starts at Hollywood studios so I will start soon since I know you all are anxious. I will post the first character meet(before breakfast at GKTW) in a couple of hours.I have an appointment at 11:00 and I am uploading all those pics to photobucket right now.

 

[HeatherN]

Monday morning I got the kids up bright and early since I knew this was our first disney day.GKTW had a character meeting that morning and I wanted to be there early so we wouldn't be waiting in line all morning and miss out on any disney time.We got to the GKTW theatre about 7:40 (it started at 8:00). I figured there would be a line but , there was NO ONE there! After about 10 minutes a few people showed up and they let us inside.This is the kids fooling around while we waited.

Once we were inside they led us up to the stage.We waited for just a minute in the seats and chatted wth the volunteers.After a minute I spotted a big ear poking around the corner.Mickey and Minnie stepped out onto the stage!!!! This was our very first character meet and it was a doozy!!! Logan was not real thrilled about the whole thing.I think the characters freaked him out but we kind of knew this would be an issue for him ahead of time.Hannah on the other hand was in heaven.Mickey and Minnie clowned around with her and gave tons of hugs.We posed for a nice family pic(hey, at least Logan was IN the picture ) They were super nice and took their time with us.Like a dork, I forgot the autograph tags so a volunteer grabbed some autograph books for me and we got their siggys.

After we were done we walked outside and spotted Belle!! She was so lovely and chatted with us for a while.

Then I spotted Goofy.Now I have never really played favorites with the characters too much before, but now I have to say that he is one of my favorites.He pointed to his cheek for me to kiss him and then jumped up and down when I did.I left lipstick on his cheek which I feel bad about but did try to wipe it off.I don't have a pic of me kissing him because I am the one always holding the camera! Oh well, Hannah really loved him.Logan-not so much!

We then saw Pluto who Hannah just fell in love with.He was really cute and the last pic is one of my favorites from the whole trip.The look on her face just captures how she feels about disney in general.Meeting characters was the highlight of her trip.I know she will never forget it.Neither will I.During this whole morning I felt myself getting teary a lot just seeing her joy.

 

[jessica52877]

What great pictures! the family shirts are perfect! You can see Hannah's enjoyment on her face! And, well, you can see that Logan is NOT enjoying it! Too cute!

 

[HeatherN]

What great pictures! the family shirts are perfect! You can see Hannah's enjoyment on her face! And, well, you can see that Logan is NOT enjoying it! Too cute!

I am glad you like the shirts.I actually made them the day before we left.It was important to me to have cute shirts for the mickey meeting as I knew we would have family pics taken.I can't sew at all but I know how to use fabric glue and fabric paint! I am hoping that maybe I can sign up for some of the BIG GIVE family shirts in the future.I also did another set that we wore later in the week.Those family shirts get a whole lot of attention!

 

[HeatherN]

I found a few more pics:

So after the character meet we were all jazzed up but we still needed to eat breakfast.We headed over the the Gingerbread house for a bite to eat.Logan refused to eat breakfast(he HATES breakfast foods and eating in general) so being that we were on vacation I relented and let him have ice cream.Hey, at least it has calcium in it right??

We still had a few minutes before we had to leave for Hollywood studios so we headed over to the Castle of Miracles to take care of Hannah's star and magic pillow.
A nice lady greeted us and explained how it works.Each wish child gets a star that they put their name on.

They then put it in this magic fairy box and when you open the lid again the start has disappeared.Then this little fairly pops up on a video screen and explains that she takes the star to place on the ceiling with all the other childrens' stars and it will always remain there.Whe you look up the stars just cover the ceiling and it really gives you a lump in your throat when you realize how many are there.It really is an incredble sight.

They explain that later in the week the fairy will leave the coordinates of where your star will be placed and you can come back and see it on the ceiling.We then wandered over to the wishing well where the kids threw a coin in and made a wish.It was really cute because when you throw in your coin it makes lots of noises, sometimes a splash , sometimes a burp.Way cute.While we were there a little boy kind of pushed his way in fromt of the kids and started grabbing handfuls of coins and throwing them in.He was quite loud(and rather rude I might add) the worst part was that his parents were right there and did NOTHING to control him.UGG.I found that there were quite a few families there who acted very rude and ENTITLED to everything.One day at the front desk this lady jumped in front of me and demanded the staff call her a shuttle to Universal studios.After some questioning it was determined that the woman had a rental car and she needed to drive that there(seriously-what is wrong with people!)I joked with the staff a little once that woman left and told them they must be tired at the end of their shift.Their phone must have rang 10 times in 10 minutes and a ton of people were coming and going and asking questions and needing things.They always helped very graciously with a smile on their face.I give the a LOT of credit for always being so nice about things.

 

[HeatherN]

We then went to the magic mirror that magically makes a crown appear on your head.They were quite impressed by that.

Oh yes here is the wishing well

The kids then fooled around for a while in the castle

We then went and did their magic pillows.Each child oushes buttons on this big machine and then this pillow pops out.The kids loved it!

Then we let them play for a minute in the playroom.It was so cute and had all kinds of dress up clothes in the closets.I kind of put a quick stop to that though as my mind went straight to head lice.I know, really sick thoughts, but it is on the mind as my Mom was a school nurse for years and had many head lice horror stories! Besides it was time to head back to the villa for a costume change and to go to Hollywood studios, OUR FIRST DISNEY PARK!!!!!

 

[bigdisgrandma]

I am glad you like the shirts.I actually made them the day before we left.It was important to me to have cute shirts for the mickey meeting as I knew we would have family pics taken.I can't sew at all but I know how to use fabric glue and fabric paint! I am hoping that maybe I can sign up for some of the BIG GIVE family shirts in the future.I also did another set that we wore later in the week.Those family shirts get a whole lot of attention!

Heather, I love the shirts. Fabric glue...great idea. I am still trying to get brave about mickey heads out of the now world famous orange hawaii fabric to go on T-shirts for Lindsey, Mandy and Me. Thanks also for the plug for family outfits. I keep telling our group that we need to be identified as a group They are actually being very good sports about it so long as there are no more fluorescent oranges outfits!

I love the pictures. I want to go now!
Have a wonderful day.
Denise