Ally's Great Make-A-Wish Trip Report Updated 11/9

[Iluvmickeymouse!]

I finally made it over!!! Can't wait to hear all about your trip! Maybe I'll start my tr today when the girls are napping. Oh wait...15 people coming to my house tonight to celebrate dh's bday and my house is a pit....it may have to wait until tomorrow! Love the pics in the cockpit...that is so cool.

 

[scrappin]

I cannot wait to read more about your trip - we are heading to GKTW in December on a wish trip. It sounds amazing. I am not even going to show my family the Ice Cream Sundaes - they will be wanting to eat there all the time!

 

[Momof2wCF]

I was wondering about parking and now I see you park right at the villa- cool!!

Glad it helped you, Jill! Those kind of details helped me tons, too!

GKTW Banana Splits are acheiving world wide fame! Seeing your picture of the ice cream makes me want to hop in the car and head to Kissimmee!

Mmm! Me, too, actually!

Although I won't be able to add pictures to my TR because of camera and computer related problems. But hopefully people will still want to hear about our trip none the less.

Definitely, we want to hear about it, pix or not!! Thanks for your sweet comments!

Oh wait...15 people coming to my house tonight to celebrate dh's bday and my house is a pit....it may have to wait until tomorrow!

Oh, yeah, I hear you! I keep expecting my DH to say "don't you have things to do besides the TR?" Welcome home, Karla! Can't wait to read your TR!

Another TR is on it's way:
I hopped out of bed when the alarm rang, and I was ready in double-quick time. My family, however, had other ideas, and they wanted to sleep more. (Can’t think why?) So I went out on the front porch and watch the little anoles(?), geckos,* lizard-thingies* out on the driveway while I drank my coffee. They were very respectful of my personal space, so we were getting along just fine. The morning *train* chugged by twice looking for any families who wanted to come to breakfast.

Finally everyone was ready, and we got to ride too. GKTW is so great, and this was MY first visit to the Gingerbread House. There were volunteers from different resorts, I saw some DisneyHand shirts, and there were many seniors who volunteer out of the joy of it. We met a lot of wonderful people there. After the nicest breakfast I’ve had in a while (pancakes, cantaloupe, bacon, eggs..) we were finally off to Epcot (at 10 am, but who’s counting?)
The GKTW guidebook (bunny book) had excellent directions, and we drove through the Disney World arch about 20 minutes later.
The MaW button and GAC got us through parking and into a really close lot, which was VERY wonderful at the end of our day. We met my parents just past the bag check, and discovered how easy it was to find each other wearing the same shirts!
After wheelchair rental, we headed for Innoventions East. (My family are dorks, I told you) So the very first number one thing we did at WDW? Make virtual robots and race them. Dorks. I rest my case.
Now you need to know that my mom is EVIL. She asked to be my partner, because she didn’t want to do the run and jump on the virtual dance pad thing..No problem, I’ll do it. Now out comes the *Gramma-Cam*. That’s fine too, gotta get all these Hallmark moments of the grandkids on tape. No, no, that’s not why the *Gramma-Cam* came out.. It’s to film my backside while I’m doing those oh-so-cute-moves trying to win the stupid robot race (Came in 11th out of 12th, thank you very much) Paybacks are NOT going to be pretty
We did have fun making the cute little plastic robots, though, and Ddad, DH and DS had a great time watching the “plastic extruder” and telling us how it worked.
After we finished with Innoventions, we found Ellen’s Energy Adventure, with our hero Bill Nye the Science Guy. That was really fun how the theatre seats moved. I hadn’t told DMom and DDad, so they were not expecting anything like that.
Since DD was warmed up to rides now, we decided to try Test Track. Too fun!!

After the ride, there is a car showcase where you can sit in cars and look at Hybrid engines, so we spent a while in there, drooling over the cars we could never afford.

Up next: The Land, the Sea, the Exhausted Feet. ..and Ally makes me cry with my golden moment of the trip

 

[Eeyore's Mom]

We've had a few people tell us to skip Epcot if we are short on time. They have no idea what big nerds my family is either. They are going to LOVE Epcot! I will have to pull my oldest out of there without a doubt. It really does look great and your shirts are so cute!

 

[Who'syourMickey]

I am joining your TR and loving it! Ah, those Friendlies banana splits! Wow! When you ask for extra cherries they aim to please.
It's making me crave another one like crazy! I love how Ally got to visit with the pilots on the plane, wear the copilots hat, sit in his chair, and get wings! I love your matching T-shirts. I love the look of joy on Ally's face! It sounds like you did a bunch of fun things at epcot! We did soarin at Epcot after parkhopping from MGM.

 

[LindaBabe]

Sounds like you are having a great time already! SO sorry we didn't get to meet up while you were there.

 

[Winnielover]

What a wonderful TR!! It's getting me even more excited for our wish trip, Which is in 3 short days!!!

I'll be eager to read more of your TR when we return and hopeful that I'll be able to relate with some of the experiences you and your family had while there.

 

[5dwarves]

I cannot wait to read more about your trip - we are heading to GKTW in December on a wish trip. It sounds amazing. I am not even going to show my family the Ice Cream Sundaes - they will be wanting to eat there all the time!

The ice cream palace opens at 7am and doesn't close until 9 or 10. You will have ample time to wile away the hours there. There is also a soft serve ice cream machine in the Gingerbread house...we put it on top of our waffles....YUM!

Oh, yeah, I hear you! I keep expecting my DH to say "don't you have things to do besides the TR?"

After wheelchair rental, we headed for Innoventions East. (My family are dorks, I told you) So the very first number one thing we did at WDW? Make virtual robots and race them. Dorks. I rest my case.

My husband will ask...why are you still dising, we already went and came back aren't you done?.........MEN! hmmmph.

Oh, and another thing.....Dorks of the world unite! We love nerds in our house!

We've had a few people tell us to skip Epcot if we are short on time. They have no idea what big nerds my family is either. They are going to LOVE Epcot! I will have to pull my oldest out of there without a doubt. It really does look great and your shirts are so cute!

Don't forget the Epcot eateries! We ate some awesome fish and chips and french pastries there. Yum!

What a wonderful TR!! It's getting me even more excited for our wish trip, Which is in 3 short days!!!

I am so glad it is almost time for your trip! I am sure you are all very excited. Looking forward to reading your TR when you get back!

 

[Momof2wCF]

After stopping for lunch at the Electric Umbrella (the wraps aren’t too bad ) and picking Ally up a Pal Mickey,

we went to find The Seas with Nemo.

I love those clam-mobiles! We were kind of jumbled going in, so I didn’t get to see DD’s reaction, but she was really happy coming out. Then we waited a little bit for Turtle Talk, where they let us in the back way so we were first in! Too cool! Ally sat in front with her new Pal Mickey and Crush CALLED on her She was a little overwhelmed, but she talked with him for a minute before he moved on to someone else. I was so thrilled for her! We also got to see the manatees and get eaten by Bruce. How cool is that?

The Land was next, and we went on the Living with the Land ride first. We were all impressed with the hydroponic stuff, and the Mickey pumpkins were especially cute. They have a HUGE tomato TREE in there! Wow.
DMom and DDad decided to head for the World Showcase now, since they did not want to go on Mission Space. However, on the way out, we saw Soaring, and the Wish kid asked *PLEASE* to go even though we have seen it a dozen times at DL. As we are waiting to go in, Ally leans back against the rail, looks up at me with the most contented smile, and says “I’m so glad I wished for this.” Pure golden moment. It made me cry.

On our way to Mission Space, we passed Journey Into Imagination with Figment, and after reading online how many people loved it, we had to go. It was our old friends from the Imagination Institute with Dr. Nigel Crane! (From Honey I Shrunk the Audience)

Gotta love it!! Then we got our picture taken with the giant Kodak in the Sight Lab.

It was the best family picture we got the whole time. Unfortunately there was no way to keep it, so I got it the best I could with MY camera.
Then we got the kids’ picture *flying* with Mickey. (I bought it, can I post it?)

So we FINALLY got to Mission Space, where we went on the ‘green’ side. DH and DD did NOT want to try the ‘orange’ side, because DH gets motion sick and DD was too nervous. It was fun, but I was a little disappointed. I expected a more intense ride than I got. But DH and DD were happy, and while I ran back to get the flying picture before ImageWorks closed, they all went on again. DS tried the ‘orange’ side on his own, but said it wasn’t fun by himself.
At 7 pm, Future World closed, and we got booted into World Showcase. My parents had been touring and made it from Mexico (margaritas!) to England, where DDad got Fish & Chips. We met them at their table by the water, and DH and I took off to find something to eat while the kids rested. DH happily found a beer and something to eat, and I headed around the World to find *something* these kids would eat. Oklahoma had Grilled (?) Buffalo, and they love steak, so buffalo it is. (Very good, too) The person next to me in line had one of the coveted margaritas, except she got it in a kiosk close by, and it is a Grey Goose one!! Oooo! Unfortunately for me, three orders of buffalo and two bottled waters max out my carrying capabilities. It was the saddest moment of our trip. Okay, not really, but I DID really want to try one.
While eating, we realized how fortunate we are to have such a good Illuminations viewing spot, so we decided to give up any further exploring and wait for the fireworks. My EVIL DMom reminds me that she isn’t always evil by offering to keep the Ally happy while DH, DS and I go check out the Canada area. (She knew how much I wanted to see the World Showcase) So I DID get to see ONE land. The O Canada movie is very cool, and made me want to travel, so maybe it’s good I didn’t get to see all of the Lands.
Illuminations was beautiful and well worth waiting for, but note for next time.. Sit upwind. There is quite a bit of debris that floated our way, and it got in my eyes pretty bad. I don’t know if the wind always blows the same way, but I might not sit in front of England next time.

The view was great, though, so that part was good. As we made our way out with EVERYONE else, I felt pretty happy with our day. The Wish kid was very content and happy, and we all had a lot of fun on our first day.

Up next: Animal Kingdom, talking trees, and Ally in the Festival of the Lion King

 

[Eeyore's Mom]

What a great day! What I am reading between the lines is that you really need two days at Epcot to do showcases and the rides ??? We are going to have to make some tough choices I think. It just sounds like you are all having such a nice time and so cool that Ally felt so good about her wish.

 

[Iluvmickeymouse!]

Yay an update!! Epcot is cool, we didn't do as much as we would have liked, but there is always next time!!!! Waiting for more!

 

[5dwarves]

What a great day! What I am reading between the lines is that you really need two days at Epcot to do showcases and the rides ??? We are going to have to make some tough choices I think. It just sounds like you are all having such a nice time and so cool that Ally felt so good about her wish.

If you can get there early at rope drop (which I know is really hard) there are fewer people there and you can get a lot done in the first few hours before there are big crowds. About 7 years ago we went to Disneyland over 2 days. The first day we got there at noon, the second day we got there at 9:00. We went on more attractions from 9:00 -12:00 the second day than we did from noon to midnight the first day. Those first few hours can be very productive. In regard to needing two days at Epcot, as far as I am concerned you could go there EVERY day just to eat! Yum!!!!

~Elisa

 

[Momof2wCF]

Eeyore'sMom, Elisa is right, we would have done a lot better to have been there at rope drop, my recommendation is DON'T do Epcot on your first day! We were all really tired and didn't get up as early as planned. Also, we wanted to explore GKTW some, and didn't leave there right away.

BTW, Thanks, Elisa, for throwing in tidbits on my TR! It helps to have an expert Wish Tripper's help!!

Thanks Karla, scrappin, WhosyourMickey and Linda for reading!! I'm honored to have you on board!

 

[Eeyore's Mom]

I like the way you think!! We will plan on getting there early just so we can eat as much as possible that day

Eeyore'sMom, Elisa is right, we would have done a lot better to have been there at rope drop, my recommendation is DON'T do Epcot on your first day! We were all really tired and didn't get up as early as planned. Also, we wanted to explore GKTW some, and didn't leave there right away.

BTW, Thanks, Elisa, for throwing in tidbits on my TR! It helps to have an expert Wish Tripper's help!!

:

That is why these TR's are SO helpful. I can read the books but they don't seem to cover the same things as the other wish families, so thank you again for taking the time to share the details... I will TRY to get the family up and going in the mornings but it seems like even when we lay everything out and really try to get going in the am it just takes soooo long.

 

[Iluvmickeymouse!]

(knock knock) Heeeelllllloooooooooooo....Kirsten are you there??????






Seriously.....we miss you....we want more.....another update please!!!


I know...I know...life is getting in the way of Dis'ing.


I honestly don't know where the month of November went....and now Dec. is almost half over. Hope all is well with you and we will be waiting patiently for the next update!

 

[FSUDisneyGirl]

I am loving your trip report so far. Isn't GKTW an awesome place? I volunteered there while doing the Disney College Program last spring...and I love it! Hope you had a good holiday, and hope to hear more soon!