The next morning we woke up and listened to the news. Rain, and a lot of it, was in the forecast. Knowing that we were heading to Florida, James (Mr Smarty Pants), went to Walmart and bought 5 of the cheap emergency ponchos for a $1.25 each. Rain wasn't going to ruin our once-in-a-lifetime vacation! The rain wasn't scheduled to start until later in the morning so we hurried and got ready and ran to get breakfast. After breakfast, we went down to the theater to meet Mickey and Minnie! They come and spend special time with all the of kids at Give Kids the World each week. On our way into the theater, Goofy, Pluto and Mary Poppins came walking out! Holy Smokes did we have some excited kids!
They visited with us and took pictures. It was so much fun and they were so nice. Mary Poppins even gave us a challenge to find the purple horse at Disney Studios. The kids and I couldn't find it but James said he did....RIGHT!
After that, we went in and had an amazing experience visiting with Mickey and Minnie.
Once again, I cried. It is just so humbling and emotional seeing so much attention brought to Jeffrey.
For people to hear his "voice" and recognize how special he is was so great. I love it when people can look beyond the physical state of his body and realize what a treasure lies just under the surface. After leaving there, we drove to Disney Studios. By the time we got there, it was raining...hard! There was even a moment of "Do we really want to do this?" BUT we unloaded and made it and ran into the park. At this point I was once again grateful for the methodical thinking James always does before we travel. The Disney ponchos were $7.50 a piece! Money well spent if you didn't have any cover. We went in and tried to find something fun to do that had a covering. We all decided to go watch the Beauty and the Beast play. We seriously were on the front seats...and it was great!
If you ever need to entertain some silly children while waiting for a play to start, give them your camera. I think that all the people around us were laughing just as hard as Julie and Jackson at the faces they were pulling.
After the play ended (2 thumbs way up!) we headed over to Tower of Terror. Julie was scared, of course, but Jeffrey thought it was great! After that we headed over to the Rock N Rollin Rollercoaster, with music from Aerosmith. James and I LOVE Aerosmith (not as much as Tim but still)and this ride did not disappoint. I have to say, this was the first ride we did not let Jeffrey go on because it had inverted twists and so forth. So we did the wonderful child swap. Jackson and I went first and then Julie and James went. We loved this ride! We decided to sugar ourselves up instead of eating lunch (yes, we win the parents of the year award) and got special treats at this little shop. I remembered Tami Burgess telling me about Tigger tales and I will say, they lived up to the hype. Jackson had a sugar cookie and Julie, James and Jeffrey each had a special treat. I think someone had a massive rice crispy treat but I can't remember. Sugar overload! Next we headed over to see a Little Mermaid play done with water, lasers, and actors. It was very well done but with a really choppy script. Most people know the story of the Little Mermaid so it really didn't matter though. When we exited that building we found a little nook that you could go into a building and meet a bunch of the characters! We saw Mr Incredible and Frozone,
Sorcerer Mickey,
Handy Manny,
Lotso Bear (his place even smelled like strawberries),
Leo and Annie from the Little Einsteins (Jackson refused to be in this picture because he isn't involved in baby shows),
and Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum!
One of the cast members pulled me aside and said, "Come back around 4pm" and was so sweet to us. (I wish I would have carried around Thank You cards or treats for all the cast members who helped make this experience so great!)
While we were leaving the kids saw a huge mural of the girl and lizard from Tangled and the kids wanted their pictures taken with it since they both loved the movie. Next we headed over to the Toy Story Mania ride. We were so excited about this because we loved the Buzz Lightyear ride so much. Our neighbors gave us the game for the Wii a little over a year ago but we thought it was cool that we had the video game that is now a ride! We were only on for about 30 seconds when all of the sudden, the ride broke down.
We were evacuated off the ride but the cast member told us that it would more than likely be back up later in the day. At this point, we were heading in an area when the Monsters from Monsters Inc came out. They pulled our kids to the front of the line and Jeffrey kept trying to pull Sulleys fur.
After we left there, we ran into Tater and Lightening McQueen where the kids had their pictures taken again.
We made a turn and there it was...the Star Wars section of Disney Studios (insert Star Wars theme here). Jackson eyes lit up like fireworks on the 4th of July! (Name that movie) We watched the Jedi Training and while Jackson didn't get picked to be on stage, he stood in the back and did all of the training moves along with the Master Jedi.
It was so cute! After posing for a few more pictures,
he was satisfied and we were able to leave and go watch a 3D Muppet Movie. This was not my favorite thing. After that we decided to head back to where are all the characters were. Our friendly cast member did not disappoint in her advice because as soon as we walked in, we saw Aladdin and Genie.
Next was Captain Hook and Mr Smee.
Chip and Dale and with these characters we learned two things 1) James didn't know how to tell the chipmunks apart so they showed him the secret, do you know it? 2) Jeffrey LOVES to feel the characters noses! In fact, he loves them so much that he almost pulls their heads off. Yes, it came close. (Can you imagine the therapy sessions?)
We also saw Pocahontas and Meeko
and then Goofy!
Again, we were scared for Goofy's nose but we managed to not traumatize all the children. After that we went back to the Toy Story Mania ride and succeeding in having a great time hitting the targets while riding this ride. It was about this time we decided to call it a night.
It was getting cold and for some reason, the kids had it in their heads that as soon as we got back to GKTW, they were going to go swimming. So we drove back and had dinner at the Gingerbread House. Then James, Julie, and Jackson got into their swimsuits and went swimming in a semi-heated pool in 62 degree temperatures. It was way too cold but they loved it so? When we got back to our room, a special version of GKTW the Candyland game was waiting for us on our table. It's really neat. At this point, I about passed out along with the whole gang. It was definitely time for bed!
They visited with us and took pictures. It was so much fun and they were so nice. Mary Poppins even gave us a challenge to find the purple horse at Disney Studios. The kids and I couldn't find it but James said he did....RIGHT! 
After that, we went in and had an amazing experience visiting with Mickey and Minnie. 
Once again, I cried. It is just so humbling and emotional seeing so much attention brought to Jeffrey.
For people to hear his "voice" and recognize how special he is was so great. I love it when people can look beyond the physical state of his body and realize what a treasure lies just under the surface. After leaving there, we drove to Disney Studios. By the time we got there, it was raining...hard! There was even a moment of "Do we really want to do this?" BUT we unloaded and made it and ran into the park. At this point I was once again grateful for the methodical thinking James always does before we travel. The Disney ponchos were $7.50 a piece! Money well spent if you didn't have any cover. We went in and tried to find something fun to do that had a covering. We all decided to go watch the Beauty and the Beast play. We seriously were on the front seats...and it was great! 
If you ever need to entertain some silly children while waiting for a play to start, give them your camera. I think that all the people around us were laughing just as hard as Julie and Jackson at the faces they were pulling. 
After the play ended (2 thumbs way up!) we headed over to Tower of Terror. Julie was scared, of course, but Jeffrey thought it was great! After that we headed over to the Rock N Rollin Rollercoaster, with music from Aerosmith. James and I LOVE Aerosmith (not as much as Tim but still)and this ride did not disappoint. I have to say, this was the first ride we did not let Jeffrey go on because it had inverted twists and so forth. So we did the wonderful child swap. Jackson and I went first and then Julie and James went. We loved this ride! We decided to sugar ourselves up instead of eating lunch (yes, we win the parents of the year award) and got special treats at this little shop. I remembered Tami Burgess telling me about Tigger tales and I will say, they lived up to the hype. Jackson had a sugar cookie and Julie, James and Jeffrey each had a special treat. I think someone had a massive rice crispy treat but I can't remember. Sugar overload! Next we headed over to see a Little Mermaid play done with water, lasers, and actors. It was very well done but with a really choppy script. Most people know the story of the Little Mermaid so it really didn't matter though. When we exited that building we found a little nook that you could go into a building and meet a bunch of the characters! We saw Mr Incredible and Frozone, 
Sorcerer Mickey,
Handy Manny, 
Lotso Bear (his place even smelled like strawberries),
Leo and Annie from the Little Einsteins (Jackson refused to be in this picture because he isn't involved in baby shows),
and Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum! 
One of the cast members pulled me aside and said, "Come back around 4pm" and was so sweet to us. (I wish I would have carried around Thank You cards or treats for all the cast members who helped make this experience so great!) 
While we were leaving the kids saw a huge mural of the girl and lizard from Tangled and the kids wanted their pictures taken with it since they both loved the movie. Next we headed over to the Toy Story Mania ride. We were so excited about this because we loved the Buzz Lightyear ride so much. Our neighbors gave us the game for the Wii a little over a year ago but we thought it was cool that we had the video game that is now a ride! We were only on for about 30 seconds when all of the sudden, the ride broke down. 
We were evacuated off the ride but the cast member told us that it would more than likely be back up later in the day. At this point, we were heading in an area when the Monsters from Monsters Inc came out. They pulled our kids to the front of the line and Jeffrey kept trying to pull Sulleys fur. 
After we left there, we ran into Tater and Lightening McQueen where the kids had their pictures taken again. 
We made a turn and there it was...the Star Wars section of Disney Studios (insert Star Wars theme here). Jackson eyes lit up like fireworks on the 4th of July! (Name that movie) We watched the Jedi Training and while Jackson didn't get picked to be on stage, he stood in the back and did all of the training moves along with the Master Jedi. 
It was so cute! After posing for a few more pictures,
he was satisfied and we were able to leave and go watch a 3D Muppet Movie. This was not my favorite thing. After that we decided to head back to where are all the characters were. Our friendly cast member did not disappoint in her advice because as soon as we walked in, we saw Aladdin and Genie. 
Next was Captain Hook and Mr Smee. 
Chip and Dale and with these characters we learned two things 1) James didn't know how to tell the chipmunks apart so they showed him the secret, do you know it? 2) Jeffrey LOVES to feel the characters noses! In fact, he loves them so much that he almost pulls their heads off. Yes, it came close. (Can you imagine the therapy sessions?)
We also saw Pocahontas and Meeko
and then Goofy! 
Again, we were scared for Goofy's nose but we managed to not traumatize all the children. After that we went back to the Toy Story Mania ride and succeeding in having a great time hitting the targets while riding this ride. It was about this time we decided to call it a night. 
It was getting cold and for some reason, the kids had it in their heads that as soon as we got back to GKTW, they were going to go swimming. So we drove back and had dinner at the Gingerbread House. Then James, Julie, and Jackson got into their swimsuits and went swimming in a semi-heated pool in 62 degree temperatures. It was way too cold but they loved it so? When we got back to our room, a special version of GKTW the Candyland game was waiting for us on our table. It's really neat. At this point, I about passed out along with the whole gang. It was definitely time for bed!
1 comment:
You must have been exhausted. I can't believe all you fit in to your day. And I have to say very little makes me laugh harder than seeing Mr. and Mrs. Incredible in all their thigh glory.
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