Trip Report Honey, I Blew Up The Magic Band (Completed!!)

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to my September 2014 trip report. I know I’m starting it a little late – but life has been so crazy and hectic since we have returned, there doesn’t seem like any time to just sit and write.

You can check out my pre-trip report here:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/our-almost-totally-free-trip-to-dsney.888659/

I didn’t finish it – so it ends rather abruptly.


You can also read last year’s trip report here:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/completed-this-is-autism-when-you-add-a-little-pixie-dust.873100/


Just to remind you who we are:

Me – Mary, aka “mom”. I am a teacher turned homeschool mom, advocate and blogger.

Ross, the daddy, aka “Grumpy”. He is the character who works non-stop all year to make this trip possible for us.

Julia, aka “sissy”, our oldest daughter who is 12. This will be her last trip with us before she turns into a… I hate the word… teenager! She LOVES Disney as much as I do and I pray that she always does.

Hope, aka “the Hopester”, (a nickname she somehow adopted when riding Spaceship Earth last year). She is my youngest daughter, 5 ½, diagnosed with severe Autism and Sensory Integration Disorder

Many people look at me like I’m crazy when I tell them we are taking Hope to WDW. But it’s like 10 days of intense therapy for her. It challenges her so much while presenting her with the greatest incentive and rewards. We sacrifice the whole year to make this trip possible and it is so worth it.


Hope’s WDW goals for this trip:

Ride Splash Mountain and like it.
Ride 7 Dwarfs Mine Train.
Ride the Monorail without a meltdown.
Sit in booster seats rather than a highchair.
Tell me what she wants to eat rather than me just deciding for her.
Sit in a theater seat rather than her stroller during a show.

Julia's goal: Skate at Hollywood Studios

My goal: Eat at Columbla Harbour House!

Ross' goal: Eat at the Food & Wine Festival

Will we all meet our goals? You'll have to read to find out!

Everybody ready?

Off we go…

 

[Figment Forever]

Hope is just beaming at every one of them. Sooo cute.

Out of all the characters she met, I think she was the most excited with Winnie and Friends!

Thanks so much for reading!

 

[Sudcaro- Sudcaro]

Wow. Just wow. I think I would have had a meltdown if that had happened to us, honestly.

 

[ScarletBegonias]

Wowwwwwww. I am so stressed out reading your MagicBand story!! I'm so glad that you eventually got it figure out. I'm just confused on how the person even added it if they are not allowed or able to! So glad to see you're laughing about it now. That could be a day ruiner, right there!

 

[PineapplePrincess]

All's well that end's well I suppose, but I'm very upset on your behalf for the rude way you were treated at Guest Services! The photo of Hope looking so lovingly at Beast is my favorite!!

 

[fractal]

What a crazy day at MK! Sorry you had to go through that. It seems to me that you handled it much better than the CMs. Disappointing to say the least, but it was an exciting read.

 

[lbrad]

We headed for dinner at the GF – and what would be our first Monorail ride this trip. At first, Hope did not want to get on. I was so happy that we managed to get on an almost empty car. I think it was Ross who asked her if she wanted to come out of her stroller and sit on the seat next to Julia and mommy. She hesitated, but then she did it. Once she was settled on the seat, sure enough, the rest of the ride went smoothly. She wasn’t even bothered by when we stopped. We told her there would be 4 stops before we got off and she needed to count. She loves to count as much as she loves to read so she did it! And when she reached number four – she stood up and we all got off. Hooray!!!


We entered the Grand Floridian and found a restroom so I could transform Hope into a princess. After we all freshened up a bit, we checked in for our reservation. I think we actually just gave our name and immediately went to have our photo taken and then we were seated. I don’t remember any kind of wait here. But at this point, I was so tired; I might have slept through it.

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Dinner was fantastic – this was a first experience for us and I planned it more for the characters than the food – but the food was really good! The stepsisters were HALARIOUS! The evil step mother was spot on! They totally stole the show from Cinderella and the prince. It was an amazing time and I would definitely book it again.

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It was at this dinner that I realized the progress that Hope has made. She no longer stared past the characters or smiled just to smile for the camera. She was completely immersed with them. She knew who they were and would even say their names. It was obvious that they were a part of her world and she was part of theirs. That night we dined with the Royal family and the only word to explain it was magical.


It is amazing! Disney World has broken through her wall of Autism – and it was incredible to see how far she has come. Of course, I was crying by now – but happy tears – and trying to hide them from Ross and Julia. I knew it was going to be an amazing trip. (If only nothing goes wrong with the Magic Bands.)

Your daughters are beautiful!!! Love the pictures from dinner

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Just stumbled upon this today- what a great trip report! Your family is wonderful! Hope seems to be adapting well with all the craziness. I can't even believe all the issues you had with the magic bands. I am such a planner and if things don't go exactly as I hoped, I get so stressed. I can't even imagine. The story of your husbands lost band is hysterical. Love that picture of Hope wearing two. Too cute.
I have to say, your family has some impressive park stamina. You guys had so many late nights! I don't know how you did. Plus you do a lot of walking! Walking back and forth from Future World to the World Showcase several times. Impressive!
We stayed at Pop this past December with our daughter who was almost 4 at the time. It's an amazing resort, so kid friendly. Highly recommended!
Can't wait to read the rest!

 

[party like it's 99]

I just read your entire report and am in love with it! My family also had negative experiences with the magic bands, our dinner reservations never showed up in the system and my brother's band lit blue every time we went to the parks!

 

[Figment Forever]

Wow. Just wow. I think I would have had a meltdown if that had happened to us, honestly.

We definitely had our meltdown moments on this trip! But I am glad we could keep a sense of humor through it. Thanks for reading!

 

[Figment Forever]

Wowwwwwww. I am so stressed out reading your MagicBand story!! I'm so glad that you eventually got it figure out. I'm just confused on how the person even added it if they are not allowed or able to! So glad to see you're laughing about it now. That could be a day ruiner, right there!

My husband is convinced I got the poor guy fired! I too, would love to know how he did it. I honestly thought you could add up to 14 days on a park ticket. Thanks for reading!

 

[Figment Forever]

All's well that end's well I suppose, but I'm very upset on your behalf for the rude way you were treated at Guest Services! The photo of Hope looking so lovingly at Beast is my favorite!!

The "beast" picture is one of my favorite!

I really wonder how many people try to scam WDW everyday - not that it justifies how they treated us. It was annoying how their general attitude was a Fast Pass makes everything OK.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Figment Forever]

What a crazy day at MK! Sorry you had to go through that. It seems to me that you handled it much better than the CMs. Disappointing to say the least, but it was an exciting read.

The things we do for an exciting TR! lol Thanks for reading!

 

[Figment Forever]

Your daughters are beautiful!!! Love the pictures from dinner

Thanks so much for reading!!

 

[Figment Forever]

Just stumbled upon this today- what a great trip report! Your family is wonderful! Hope seems to be adapting well with all the craziness. I can't even believe all the issues you had with the magic bands. I am such a planner and if things don't go exactly as I hoped, I get so stressed. I can't even imagine. The story of your husbands lost band is hysterical. Love that picture of Hope wearing two. Too cute.
I have to say, your family has some impressive park stamina. You guys had so many late nights! I don't know how you did. Plus you do a lot of walking! Walking back and forth from Future World to the World Showcase several times. Impressive!
We stayed at Pop this past December with our daughter who was almost 4 at the time. It's an amazing resort, so kid friendly. Highly recommended!
Can't wait to read the rest!

Our family makes fun of us because in the summertime they hear me say we are in "Disney training"! We live very close to a Six Flags so we have season passes. In the summer, I have the girls break in their Disney shoes and we practice walking the park. My version of Disney boot camp!

My daughter would love to stay at POP, I just can't leave POFQ - maybe one day...

Thanks for reading!

 

[Figment Forever]

I just read your entire report and am in love with it! My family also had negative experiences with the magic bands, our dinner reservations never showed up in the system and my brother's band lit blue every time we went to the parks!

Oh - that blue circle! I hope they honored your dinner reservations. Thanks for reading!

 

[Mitch3223]

Thanks for the update! Loving your story, sorry to hear you had such little help/compassion from CMs at MK

 

[Figment Forever]

Thanks for the update! Loving your story, sorry to hear you had such little help/compassion from CMs at MK

Thanks for reading! I'm happy to say that the number of CMs who were wonderful outnumbered those who weren't so great!

 

[Figment Forever]

Day 9: Tuesday September 23rd Our Return To Hollywood


We woke up still feeling a little rattled from the previous day’s craziness. So we took our time getting ready and stopped in the food court to have some breakfast before boarding the bus for our second day at the Studios.


Before we left for vacation, I found out Julia’s best friends were going to be in Orlando the same time as us – so this was the day we planned to get together. Unfortunately, my friend, Donna, misunderstood when I told her we would be at the Studios today – she thought I meant Universal Studios and they purchased a package there. Julia was, of course, sad, but thankfully not too devastated. The idea that we were going to see Fantasmik a second time during our trip cheered her up! (Well that was the plan…)


It’s so funny how we have disliked the Studios in past years, and now we were so looking forward to spending a second day there. Hope was beyond excited to see Disney Jr. again! We didn’t have a chance to do the animation class or take our time to walk through One Man’s Dream on our first day – so those were on Julia’s to-do list.


As we approached the gate, I can’t tell you how nervous I was to scan my Magic Band! The CM’s at POFQ said we were good to go – but I was still a nervous wreck. Thankfully, the whizzing circle of green was back!

We went to Disney Jr. & Voyage of The Little Mermaid first – both stand-by.

Hope LOVES Disney Jr.

Counting her gold doubloons.

Then we headed to see Beauty & the Beast. We were excited to see this because last year – it was rained out. And the year before that, it was rained out – in the middle of the performance! That was comical! One minute, the cast was singing and dancing and then the next, the entire cast exited and a line of people with brooms swept across the stage to clear the water. Unfortunately, the rain didn’t stop and it was announced that the show could NOT go on. Then the entire cast took their bows! Needless to say, we were all excited to watch this year with sunny skies above!


We had a Fast Pass for the show – but this was another weird Fast Pass moment. We waited along side of the stand-by line but the stand-by line entered before the Fast Pass line did. It didn’t really matter to us – the show starts at the same time… it was just odd. It also seemed that there was a section for Fast Pass holders – but I could be wrong. They sit us in the handicapped section, so I wasn’t paying too much attention.

We all enjoyed the show!

 

[Sudcaro- Sudcaro]

We were at HS today - first time. Our daughter loved the Disney jr show! And I did too. I smiled seeing your daughter dressed as Sofia because mine was dressed like her too!

 

[Figment Forever]

More pics from Beauty & The Beast.

As we were exiting, Julia shocked us by saying she was thinking about riding ToT. She rode it the first time we visited WDW in 2008 – but not since then!

We were hungry so we headed for Pizza Planet. I don’t know why, but I always forget where Pizza Planet is located – so we had to ask a few people to direct us. Just as we walked inside – it started to POUR and people began piling in!

It was crazy busy! Hope & I got a table upstairs and waited for Ross & Julia to get our food.