Yay Lauren is going to see Mickey-our PTR MAW GTKW

[pacrosby]

YAY found you!! Don't know if you got back to the Wish Trippers' Unite thread but I posted a 'hi' there as well. My son Matty has HLHS too (he turned 7 in January). We were in WDW/GKTW back in December (so hard to believe it's been that long). We will forever be changed by our experience.

I'm so happy to read that Lauren is doing so well. Matty is another one who also 'appears' perfectly healthy on the outside. Sometimes it's hard to wrap my head around the fact that the 'inside' is such a disaster LOL

Enjoy the planning. I found the incessant planning of the trip to be almost as much fun as the trip itself. There's so much we never would've known about/done if it hadn't been for these boards.

Ask lots of questions................that's what we're all here for

 

[Laurensmom2004]

Hey Pamela.......I read your TR off and on all day yesterday!!!!!! Wow you guys sound like you had an incredible time!!! I'm so happy for all of you!
You sound like such an amazing and devoted mommy!
So glad Matty is doing so well.....we've been blessed!!!!!

 

[Laurensmom2004]

I hope you all don't mind-I'll also be using this as a reminder of the 'cute' little things that happen along the way.
Lauren is so funny......she's certain she's getting her wish and is oh so IMPATIENTLY waiting for the day she's told she's right

She's started doing 'chores' to earn spending money at DW. I think it's so sweet/funny...of course she'll get spending money one way or another; but, for now, she's learning a great lesson! And, to top it off, it was her idea!!!
Now her big sister-ha that's another story.

This morning Lauren said 'Mom, I would loooooove to meet Big Time Rush." For those that don't know-they're a new show on Nick. "Do you think we could meet them at DW?"

I replied with I'm not sure....I think they film btr in California lol.....but of course I'm about to google where exactly btr is filmed (I learned quite a bit from reading Pamela's TR for Matty)

As of this minute our plans are to:

leave early July 10th.....we're driving down and MAW is renting us a car (which is so awesome)....it's possible we'd leave the afternoon of the 9th (Friday) just depends on how the work week goes

Several stops along the way (it's a 15 hour drive) we'll pull into GKTW sometime Sunday afternoon. We'll spend our first day taking in everything to see at GKTW. If for some reason we arrive that morning....we may go ahead and go to a park. We'll all be ready to get out and walk, but if it's late I don't want to use one of our park hopper days.

Regardless, Monday is MK day!!!!!! It's priority on Lauren's list. I have a rough draft written up of our day.....I'll put it on here in a bit. Experienced mk'ers (did I just make up a new word?) I'm definitely hoping for feedback on the 'doable' part of this day. I have to keep in mind Lauren cannot handle getting too hot and I very well may have added too much that first day!

 

[cajunfan]

I know Wish Trips are different, because of the "magic" card/button, but keep in mind that Monday is always one of the busiest days at MK...most people start their week off at WDW with going to MK first on their first day (Monday!)

Lynn

 

[wish_upon_a_star35]

Lynn thanks for that info! I didn't know that. I'm going to have to go back and take a look at my plans and see what I have planned for Monday!

And I didn't know that about the penguins either. I wonder if my son would like that? He LOVES bugs so I wonder if he'd like to pet a penguin? I really need to make more plans!

 

[cantwaittoseemickey]

Hi! Great start to your ptr. I wanted to stop over and say hello and "sub" to your ptr. Finally someone that will be there when we are there!! Maybe we can meet up

As far as heat we are pretty concerned with the heat too. I made my itinerary to were we could enjoy the Wish Lounges through the week at MK and Epcot. Also another idea is to purchase a cooling vest for her. We will be packing Ty's cooling vest with him. Ours is a stacool vest and is his favorite. He also has a cooling vest from Silver Eagle Outfitters but it does need to be damp to work. You can find them both online. We are also purchasing some of the small hand fans at WalMart and keeping with us.

 

[Laurensmom2004]

Thanks Tonya! I've never heard of them!!!!! I'm gonna look them up in just a sec! I'll be jumping over to your ptr too!!!

and thanks Lynn!!! I didn't even think to check on that!

 

[Laurensmom2004]

Aw man!!!!! I've been looking around the GKTW website trying to find their weekly schedule of events for July. I saw where several Survivor alums (I'm a HUGE fan) we're meeting the weekend after we leave for a GKTW fundraiser. That would've been sooooooooooooooo cool!!!!!!!! (for me anyway, noone else would've cared lol)

 

[cantwaittoseemickey]

Here you go hun! Have fun planning a magical trip!!

http://www.gktw.org/pre/Village/schedule.asp?p=village

 

[Laurensmom2004]

thanks sooooooooo much!!!!!!!! got it bookmarked now! do you happen to know anything about the winter wonderland night?

 

[MousekaMaddi]

37 days and counting

 

[cantwaittoseemickey]

And here I was wondering if anyone was ever going to join us that weekend YAYY!!!!!

Winter Wonderland has Santa claus, "snow" a parade and a carraige ride among other things that I will let someone else answer since we havent experienced it yet and I'm not sure. But they say this is the night NOT to miss!

 

[cajunfan]

Aw man!!!!! I've been looking around the GKTW website trying to find their weekly schedule of events for July. I saw where several Survivor alums (I'm a HUGE fan) we're meeting the weekend after we leave for a GKTW fundraiser. That would've been sooooooooooooooo cool!!!!!!!! (for me anyway, noone else would've cared lol)

I wonder if this has anything to do with the fundraiser that they did for Adri's (Adri'smommy) wish trip?

I am that sort of reality geek too!

You need to post some pics and tell us more about the girls!

Lynn

 

[Laurensmom2004]

Hi Lynn!

I was looking at the facebook page just yesterday about them. The whole thing is so cool!!!

I posted a siggie pic of Jordan and Lauren yesterday....sometimes it's showing up on my pc at work and sometimes not lol. I hope you guys can see it!

Lauren is doing so great...I was looking at her sleeping this morning before I left for work. We're so blessed with how wonderful she's doing right now! She is LOVING the pool and wants to be in it 24/7. She's our sassy, outspoken (sometimes too much lol that's from dealing with so many doctors/nurses/etc), funny one.
Jordan is more laid back....15 and completely all about her friends/youth group/music/movies....she just finished her Freshman year on Wednesday. She had a fantastic start to trying for a scholarship. She had to grow up quickly when we had Lauren-I was gone so much. Of course she had my mom and dad right next door and then dh was home w/her. She was in school and they would come visit us at the hospital 3-4 times a week. We were inseparable before that so it was hard. I want to make this trip special for her as well. I'm excited I found out about the penguin experience at Seaworld.....she's going to flip!!!! Then we'll be going out one night by ourselves to downtown disney and of course spending several hours at Universal-Harry Potter.
Well now I'm blabbing----thanks for asking Lynn!!!!

 

[cajunfan]

It is ok to "blab" about kiddos here! I can see your siggie picture. So who are the girls most looking forwar to "meeting" at WDW? Jordan looks like a tink girl, and Lauren looks like an Aurora girl...of course with the "attitudes" you just described, that may be backwards. Then of course one of my favorite charachters is Stitch, so what does that say about me?

Lynn

 

[pacrosby]

Just catching up to see how your planning is going! Love the px of your girls. Now we need px of YOU too

I liked your description of Lauren. Matty is QUITE the character too. He's such a ham. Of course that's with his friends and family. Put him in an unfamiliar situation with unfamiliar people and it's like "Who are you and what did you do with my Matty?"

And I'm with Lynn. Blab away! That's what PTR's are for

 

[Laurensmom2004]

Lynn-you are right on the money with Lauren!!! too funny.....she does love Aurora and also dumbo (she has a thing for elephants ). She's most excited to meet Mickey of course. As for Jordan-she used to be the biggest princess fan ever!!!!! She was the first grandchild for my folks so needless to say she was a little spoiled. She was a Disney fanatic and her idea of the perfect day was a trip to the Disney store with me and Nana lol. Ohhhhhhh I miss those days. Her faves now are the Lion King (Simba), Eeyore lol, and well anyone from Tarzan (we're both huge fans of that one). While she's excited to be going back to Disney World......she's very excited about going to Universal (harry potter) and Seaworld (penguins). Of course Lauren still doesn't know about Universal and Seaworld or well even when we're going for that matter.
I'm also keeping some things secret from Jordan such as the penguin experience at Seaworld.....she'll get to pet a penguin and have her pic taken with one. It's gonna be so great.....all her friends buy her stuffed penguins, etc when they go on vacation....it will be so fun for her to send a pic of her with an actual penguin!!!

Haven't heard anything from our Wish coordinator, who's also named Lauren, in about a week. Last I heard they were waiting on an actual sponsor for Lauren although they've given us dates and reserved the rental......I'm not sure what that means. I'm getting anxious. I haven't even made any breakfast/dinner reservations b/c I'm really waiting on something concrete!

Pamela-I hate pics of me lol but I'll see what I can find. I wish Lauren and Matty could've been there at the same time!!!! I bet those two would be so funny together!!!

 

[wishin' on a star]

If you have dates, go ahead and make those ADRs! You can always cancel if things change, but it sounds like things are going to work out for your dates in July!

Your girls sound amazing, and I too would love to see more pictures!

 

[Laurensmom2004]

thanks laura!!! I'm working on a rough draft of the week - i should finish tomorrow then i'll call and make reservations!!!!!!

i hope to get my rough draft up in a couple days! i need some input-i think i might be reaching on some of these plans lol

 

[cajunfan]

thanks laura!!! I'm working on a rough draft of the week - i should finish tomorrow then i'll call and make reservations!!!!!!

i hope to get my rough draft up in a couple days! i need some input-i think i might be reaching on some of these plans lol

Always reach, and have in the back of your mind to remember to go with the flow if necessary...in other words don't get disappointed if something does not get done...stop and smell the roses! That being said, remember that you will have the "magic" button to not have to wait too long in lines.

Lynn