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Kidani, HRH & BLT in 6 nights- Yes! We are THAT crazy!! Nov 4-10,09 OBX updates 4/13
Well, here I am again, with another tale of what we did and how we did it. I'm Ellen, official Disney nutcase assigned to planning all vacations for my dear family. Of course it is my pleasure to plan these trips, and I feel very, very fortunate after having planned this one- because on THIS trip, we were ALL going to WDW for the first time in 2 years. Hopefully. There was no issue with myself, or my DH (Pods), or with our 2 younger sons, DS12 (Tyler) and DS10 (Timmy). We are all very happy to go, go, GO! wherever and whenever we can. The issue was with DS15 (Sean). Sean is a beautiful, intelligent, sweet young man who happens to be autistic, too. And his autism very often gets in the way of fun things like....going to summer camp (when he screamed for an hour and wouldn't get out of the car) or going to Florida to visit his Grandma & cousins (which he let us know when he wouldn't get out of the car at the airport). Fun, fun stuff. :rolleyes: I guess Sean had decided he would prefer to sleep in his bed- ONLY. Makes it a little tough to go anywhere that way. But, I was DETERMINED he was going to WDW in November 2009. Because we have been going to WDW every other year for most of his life. And WDW, well, he loves it there. And the CMs are SO KIND, the characters SO WONDERFUL to him... it is a TRULY magical experience for us all, and I was NOT going to give it up!! :thumbsup2 So, I dug my heels in, and over the course of a year, we were successful in getting him de-sensitized to hotel stays (by taking him on overnights to various Embassy Suites in NJ). All that was left would be getting him on de plane! Well, how about getting him into the airport even? Off the plane? Onto the DME? Into the hotels? Into the parks? Out to dinner? Oh boy, this is a little more challenging than it sounds. A 15 year old throwing a tantrum like a two year old is NOT ever a good thing and really needs to be avoided as much as possible. Soooo....
What I did was make a book for him. It's about 40 pages in length. And it details EVERYTHING we would be doing over the course of our trip to WDW. Along with photos. Photos of EVERYTHING...Newark airport. The Continental plane. The monorail at the Orlando airport. DME. ALL the DVC villa rooms (including photos of the pull-out chairs, thanks to some very kind DIS friends! :hug:) and the HRH room. Even the shower stalls. Every park and every ride we know he loves. Even every restaurant we had ADRs for. And we read this book together everyday, several times, for a month before D-Day- November 4th. And everyday, about 100 times a day, I asked him, "Where are we going on November 4th?" to which he would reply, "Walt Disney World". "How do we get to WDW?" "On the airplane." Until, it was finally November 4th, and we were waking him up to get into our van and go to the airport. But would Sean do it? Would he be able to conquer all of his inexplainable fears? Would we FINALLY be going on a family vacation with our whole family, or would he be escorted home from Newark Airport at the final moment by our friend Ann who was kind enough to wake up so early and ride along in our van with us just in case? Would he be spending the week with my cousins Sheree & Henry again (the saints who watch him for us when we do go away without him)? Stay tuned to find out!! :goodvibes As a side note, on my last TR, I was able to finally figure out how to post links to individual posts, so I'll be doing that HERE- And....we're OFF! http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=...95&postcount=9 C'mon Sean...you can do it!! http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=...6&postcount=16 Happy New Year Everyone! http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=...9&postcount=29 It's time for club Cool! http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=...4&postcount=31 A night in Germany- dinner at Biergarten http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=...0&postcount=37 The Yankees win the World Series! http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=...7&postcount=44 Some old Scrapbook pages http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=...9&postcount=49 EE in the FRONT row! http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=...1&postcount=51 Flying lessons at Sanaa http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...5&postcount=56 Hangin at Kidani http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...9&postcount=58 A Room with a view http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=...1&postcount=68 Finally! MK then Jambo for BOMA http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=...5&postcount=79 Goodbye Kidani, Hello DTD http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=...8&postcount=86 A Great day with my son in DTD http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...8&postcount=90 Osprey Ridge Golf http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=...7&postcount=92 We're walkin' right down the middle of Main St, USA http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=...&postcount=103 More MK with my Sean http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=104 Uh-Oh at HRH http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=...&postcount=119 Never Underestimate the power of a DVC 1 bdrm villa http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=...&postcount=120 The Simpsons Ride ROCKS! http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=137 Give a Day, Get a Day (off topic- OOPS!) http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=...&postcount=157 Lunch at the beachclub- with Squirrel, but not Moose! http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=...&postcount=160 Twistin' by the Pool... http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=...&postcount=172 Visiting Aunt Irma http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=...&postcount=175 Rip Ride Rockit- is it worth it? http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=...&postcount=176 Another Blast from the past- U & IOA 2005 http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=...&postcount=184 Off to Mythos for lunch! http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=...&postcount=185 A visit with Irma, circa 2003 http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=...&postcount=197 SPLASHDOWN! At IOA http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=209 A Little Hoops before we go http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=211 Back to the Mothership-Checking into BLT http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=218 Chef Mickey's...for the last time http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=227 My name is Ellen, and I am fireworks challenged http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=234 TOWL, baby! http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=239 Yum Yum- Kona Cafe for breakfast! http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=248 Sidetrack-Skiing & Chinese New Year http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=287 Buzz Cuts & Tea Cups http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=288 More MK http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=290 Sum of All Thrills with Satan's Spawn http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=299 The Ooh La La Part http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=300 DHS http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=313 It's a SNOWICANE!! http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=321 Timmy takes on Rockin Rollercoaster! http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=336 50's PT http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=341 BLT pool at night with my Shawnee http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=354 TOWL & UH-OH.... http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=357 Here in OBX http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=363 The sun is shining! http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=365 DVC & CR Management ROCK! http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=379 Update from OBX last week http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=380 Timmy gets in one last Thrill ride http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=389 OBX Ring in the Spring! http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=390 OBX http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=391 OBX http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=392 OBX http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=396 |
I'm here and can't wait to hear all about it!
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I'm here and I'm ready! :thumbsup2
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I'm here and can't wait to read more!!!:yay:
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Can't wait to hear all the details. I have a new love for social stories. Hope Christmas was good.
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:woohoo: I am pretty darn excited to see that this TR has started! popcorn::
And for Sean :flower3: I hope it was a great trip for him! |
And....we're OFF!
Well, we pulled up to the airport drop-off, and Sean wouldn't get out of the car. :sad2: He slammed the door shut. And Pods got out to get the luggage from the trunk, and I got out and tried with Sean one more time...
"Shawnee, please get out of the car. It's time to go to WDW. Let's GO!" And when Pods looked up from the luggage.... Sean was standing next to me on the curb. :yay: :yay: :dance3: :dance3: He had opened the door on his own, and hopped right out! We were so proud of our son. He was doing it!!!!! And not too long after that, he was doin' THIS- http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...summer0001.jpg And he was an absolute angel on the flight- we were in heaven! Soon we were on line for the DME- http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...summer0085.jpg And finally, finally, FINALLY, we were checking in at Kidani- I think it was about 12:30. And our 1 BDRM SV was READY!!!! So, of course, up we went to the third floor to check out our room very quickly while we dropped off our luggage- we were running late for an ADR at the Crystal Palace, our traditional 1st meal at WDW. Luckily, we were in one of the first villas off the elevator- our location was PERFECT!!! http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...summer0087.jpg http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...summer0088.jpg http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...summer0089.jpg http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...summer0091.jpg We went out to catch the MK bus. http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...summer0092.jpg Except, there wasn't one. For a looooooonnng time. :sad2: I think we must have missed the last one when we were briefly up in the room. And we watched multiple buses go by for other parks...but none for MK. And the troops were hungry. And Sean will only eat french fries (and pb&j on certain kinds of bread) for lunch, so Sanaa was out. And we were waaaaayyy past our ADR at this point, sadly. So we chose to hop a bus over to the Mara, and had a nice lunch there. Tyler was excited to grab these babies for his dessert- he loves zebra domes! http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...summer0093.jpg Pods & I shared some flatbreads. This one was veggie with olives & pesto- http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...summer0094.jpg This one was chicken, corn & mozzerella http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...summer0095.jpg Tyler had a burger- http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...summer0096.jpg Timmy had chicken nuggets, adult size- http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...summer0097.jpg Sean had a couple of orders of fries, as well as most of his brothers'! This is probably the biggest reason for us not to do the DDP- very hard to eat $40 in french fries a day, even for Sean! The Mara is a very pretty counter service restaurant, I had really never noticed before, and this was my 3rd time staying at AKV. The ceiling is beautiful. http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...summer0098.jpg http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...summer0100.jpg Well, we were soon again waiting for a bus to MK....and we just couldn't hit one. So we made an executive decision, and chose to get on the EPCOT bus instead. But would it all work out? Remember, Sean was counting on the day to go a certain way, and, for the past hour or so, we were striking out! :scared1: You'll have to wait and see...in the next post. |
Woo Hoo! The whole family will be together! :yay:
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I'm in. Your family is beautiful. :goodvibes
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Hello!
I'm new to the Disboards when it comes to replying. I have been reading/lurking for years. I will not let another PODSNEL report go by without saying how much I enjoy your attention to detail and the fun you have wherever you go. Your photos tell a story on their own. Your stories exude love and laughter. I'm on board for another adventure!:thumbsup2 |
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Just wanted to say how great it is that Sean was along for the trip. I'm in too & ready for another post... :thumbsup2
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