Trip Report Hurricanes, Foot Pains and “What The Crocs Just Happened?” Anniversary Tale – A Sept/Irma 2017 TR (COMPLETED)

So here we are again… Another amazing trip is over.

My original title for the is report was:

The Best-Laid Plans Of The Mouse & Men… because so many of our carefully thought out schedules & plans were completely turned upside down by Irma and other “forces” along the way.

However, Ross and Julia who do not share my love for Robert Burns or John Steinbeck vetoed that and came up with their own title.

Before I begin our tale, I want to express and offer our thoughts and prayers to all who suffered in Hurricane Irma as well as Harvey & Maria. There are times when I joke about the fact that we were in Florida during the hurricane, but in no way do I not realize the devastation that was caused to so many.

That being said... Let the Trip Report begin! Who’s in?

 

[Figment Forever]

What a proud moment! Way to go Hope.

Thanks @Matty30 ! It was an awesome moment!

 

[Figment Forever]

What an amazing experience Hope had with Belle. This once again proves that Julia is a great big sister by stepping in when you might have been a teeny tiny bit over protective.

Thank you @RedNoseMickey ! Yes - Julia is awesome! Hope is so blessed to have her!

How exciting!! Way to go Hope!! I would have been bawling!!

Thanks @riverside! Yes- I was such a mess, but thankfully they were all happy tears.

This is the best sentence of the whole TR!!

I agree! lol

Sitting at my desk at work with tears in my eyes because I am so proud of your "Picture Frame" Hope! She did an amazing job!!!

Thanks so much @Cetta! It was an awesome moment for us all!

Way to go, Hope!!

Thanks @Tuvalu !

Awesome moment for Hope!

Thank you @joshsprincess921! It was such an amazing experience!

Joining in very late, but I read thru all your post today.... and it's like a book I can't stop reading! Now I'm upset I have to wait for more!

Way to go Hope, and way to go Julia for nudging Momma too!

Thank you @Rista1313! Welcome aboard! I am hoping to update tonight so hopefully you will have more to read soon! lol

 

[Figment Forever]

Day 5: Tuesday, September 12th Continued…

Once I got my emotions back under control, we scooted off to explore a still empty MK. We walked over to meet Ariel in her Grotto where we actually found the longest wait we would encounter for the day – 40 minutes - we passed on because I knew Hope doesn’t like the “echo” sound in the cave, I suggested we return later on when we could use a FP.

Instead we walked back to Princess Fairytale Hall to see if there was a wait for Tiana & Rapunzel. As we were walking, I went on MDE app and snagged a FP for it! I don’t think it mattered because there was no line. I think we waited about 5 minutes.

This was the only picture photopass go with Hope & Rapunzel - it was strange! lol

When we left, I realized that we were in MK for a little over 3 hours and had 7 princess autographs! Not too shabby!

 

[Figment Forever]

When we exited, we decided to hop a ride on the Carousel.

Julia wanted a pretzel so we walked over to the Circus area. As we were walking, Julia started to walk like she had a rock in her shoe. We stopped and she took her shoe off and checked – no rock. We started to walk again but I realized she was limping. I asked her what was wrong and that’s when she decides to tell me she has a horrible pain in her foot. The conversation went something like this:

Me: “What’s wrong with your foot?”

Julia: “I don’t know, I have a horrible foot pain.”

Me: “Do you have a blister?”

Julia “I don’t think so.”

Me: (Getting nervous) “Well what do you think it is?”

Julia: (Speaking ever so calmly) “I don’t know it’s a stabbing pain.”

Me: (Panicking) Stabbing? Like you have something sharp in your shoe?”

Julia: (Still calm) “No, like I have a bone out of place that jabs me every time I step on it.”

I stopped dead in my tracks and looked at her in disbelief. I asked if she was joking, but alas, she was not. She said it had started the day before. I asked her when she was going to tell me about and of course she gave me a classic reply, “I thought I just did.”

I asked her why she didn’t tell me when it started and she said I had enough to worry about with the hurricane – she didn’t want to add any more stress. She also said it wasn’t as bad as today. She added, “Look at the bright side mom, you can name your TR Hurricanes & Foot Pains!” Then she said she was fine and we stumbled on, but in my head, I was already picturing a wheelchair rental in our near future.

Then it was time for a Disney Dollar experience – The Barnstormer.

To be honest, it didn’t need to be a Disney Dollar ride, but Hope sometimes seems to want to award herself with one for a “new” experience, so I didn’t really mind.

Once again, we literally walked right on. The train wasn’t even filled. Now, none of us have ever rode this so I don’t know what I was expecting. But 30 seconds after we started we stopped. I was like WTH? Is that it? I think the Bugs Bunny Express at our Six Flags is twice as long and goes around the track 3 times!

Hope was proud of herself for riding and Julia & I decided we would not be flying again, as a matter of fact we said never again!

 

[Figment Forever]

We decided to take to the sky again, but this time with Dumbo. Hope wanted to play for a while before we rode, so even though there was no wait, we paused a while and played. Julia asked if she was too big to climb around. I told her to ask a CM – since it wasn’t too busy and there were adults climbing around with their kids. He was very sweet and said it was no problem and to have fun. There were only about a dozen or so people in there with us. But then she decided she would rest her foot and hold our pager.

After a little bit we went for a ride on our favorite elephant.

 

[Figment Forever]

So I asked the girls what we should do next. Julia really wanted to do Monsters Laugh Floor. Hope yelled out, “Wazowski!” and off we went.

As we were walking into the show the CM was teasing Julia about her Olaf hat. It was very funny.

It was really getting hot out and frozen lemonade was calling our names. We stopped at Storybook Treats – I think that’s the name of it, and ordered a frozen lemonade to share. The CM was having a hard time with the machine and it took about 10 minutes to get it.

It looked like the lemonade wasn’t frozen enough. Where’s Elsa when you need her? She kept pouring and then dumping it out. Finally, she poured one and presented us with it. If I hadn’t already paid for it, I think she would have just given it to us because she didn’t seem too happy with it. You can even see in the picture that is wasn’t the greatest mixture – but it was cold and that was just what we needed!

We took a few minutes to walk around in the gift shop to cool off and then walked over to Winnie The Pooh. The posted wait was 20 minute but there was no wait – we walked right on!

 

[Figment Forever]

Since our lemonade was a little lackluster, we decided on another cold treat. I know what you’re thinking – Dole Whip, but nope, I wanted to try something else that we had never had before so we made our way to Gaston's.

I stood in line while Hope & Julia sat down. I asked Julia if she wanted a cinnamon bun – but she declined.

I sat down with the girls and we all shared. What did we think? Well I think Hope’s face says it all.

Umm.. let’s just say it definitely is not my cup of tea. The marshmallow was weird and even Hope who is an apple juice fanatic wasn’t digging it.

Then it was time for a real Disney Dollar ride – our next FP was for BTM. It was closed last year so we were all so excited to ride. The part that I thought would bother Hope the most is the very loud crickity crackity noise when the train is going up the track. But she didn’t have a problem at all and really loved it. I was so happy!

We stopped to look at the closed Splash Mountain.

Hope was very pleased it was closed, even though I think she would have liked it this year.

 

[Figment Forever]

It was almost 2:00pm so as we walked through Frontierland, we decided to stop and watch the parade. Now this was the craziest – the street was empty! I mean there were people but nothing like it usually is. The was a single row of people sporadically along the street. We sat down and settled in across from the shooting arcade.

In just a few moments the parade started. Anna & Elsa loved Julia’s hat and pointed to her! Unfortunately, it was so hot – my phone overheated and shut down so I only got a few pictures!

After the parade, we decided to leave MK and head over to EPCOT. As we were walking towards Main Street, we saw Mary Poppins with absolutely NO ONE waiting for her so how could we walk by?

Before we left, I still needed to get Hope’s DAS card. All this time, she went without her stroller, but I could see she was at her limit and needed to rest.

Julia also wanted to do something we had never done before – Sorcerers Of The Magic Kingdom. So after I got the DAS, we walked over to the fire station and signed up. Of course she is now hooked on the cards! She has a Pokémon card collection but I think these won her over. We checked out the gift shop where of course she found the binder for them too. But she decided to wait and shop around before she decided to get it.

Side Note: I wanted Santa to bring her some SOTMK cards for Christmas so I checked ebay to see if they have them. Of course they do but they are not cheap! Wait until Ross finds out I am buying cards that I could get for free!

Right before we left, I remembered that I had made a FP to meet Tinkerbell so we crossed over and said hi to her.

Then it was time to say Goodbye to MK. We had a monorail to catch.

 

[Gabe1]

Some people had moved their chairs and table outside their door.

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The pool was not open and unlike Riverside, there were no CM’s working on getting it ready.

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We made the walk back to Riverside.

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On the way, we saw Santa.


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Port Orleans French Quarter and Riverside share Lifeguards, the ones cleaning the pools. Riverside unlike French Quarter has so many pools to clean. One by one they got to them all. Most of the CMs that are lifeguards at the resorts are college program students. Most stayed overnight at one of the resorts. They were also the same CMs that were entertaining the Children in the Lobbies. As they did not have homes to protect and double time wages if they agreed to hurricane duty they were one tired pumpkins. Our at the Wilderness Lodge were running day 2 on about 4 hours sleep. But they generally have low pay and rent to pay, hurricane duty while so tired they came away with both an experience to share and 2, 24 hour days of of good overtime pay. A win for those low paid CMs and the guest. Kudos to them.

 

[Gabe1]

As we walked back to our room, this is what we saw…

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My phone was dead, so I left it in the room on the charger while we headed of to the pool.

When we got to the pool we got a surprise when we put our feet in – it was FREEZING! Even Hope couldn’t get past her knees. Since it was around 8:00PM, I suggested we call it a night. I figured an early bedtime would have us ready to go in the morning. The girls agreed and off we went back to our room.

We got ready for bed, watched some more Duffy and then drifted off to sleep. I think this was the first time this trip I feel asleep without worrying about the next day.


Up Next: Magic Mirror on the wall, who’s the best picture frame of them all?

I keep feeling for you in this part of your trip. I had these feelings the first hurricane we endured. This was hurricane #3 for me and my family. I was confident in the buildings. My DD and I slept right through the impact. Oddly my DS did not. He did not sleep well and was concerned like you. I was a bit surprised, he is my oldest, his late 20's and surprised he didn't really remember hurricane #2 at Disney.

 

[Gabe1]

It was almost 2:00pm so as we walked through Frontierland, we decided to stop and watch the parade. Now this was the craziest – the street was empty! I mean there were people but nothing like it usually is. The was a single row of people sporadically along the street. We sat down and settled in across from the shooting arcade.

View attachment 240823 View attachment 240824

In just a few moments the parade started. Anna & Elsa loved Julia’s hat and pointed to her! Unfortunately, it was so hot – my phone overheated and shut down so I only got a few pictures!

View attachment 240825

After the parade, we decided to leave MK and head over to EPCOT. As we were walking towards Main Street, we saw Mary Poppins with absolutely NO ONE waiting for her so how could we walk by?

View attachment 240826 View attachment 240827

Before we left, I still needed to get Hope’s DAS card. All this time, she went without her stroller, but I could see she was at her limit and needed to rest.

Julia also wanted to do something we had never done before – Sorcerers Of The Magic Kingdom. So after I got the DAS, we walked over to the fire station and signed up. Of course she is now hooked on the cards! She has a Pokémon card collection but I think these won her over. We checked out the gift shop where of course she found the binder for them too. But she decided to wait and shop around before she decided to get it.

Side Note: I wanted Santa to bring her some SOTMK cards for Christmas so I checked ebay to see if they have them. Of course they do but they are not cheap! Wait until Ross finds out I am buying cards that I could get for free!

Right before we left, I remembered that I had made a FP to meet Tinkerbell so we crossed over and said hi to her.

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Then it was time to say Goodbye to MK. We had a monorail to catch.

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I'm kinda sad you missed the couple days before the hurricane in the parks. We pretty much walked onto everything. The day before the hurricane we did Future World completely and the World Showcase. We moved onto the Magic Kingdom and walked onto everything. We left Tomorrowland at 930, 900pm close but they continued to allow late arrivals on attractions. But like you guys we also found the parks pretty empty the next few days too.

 

[Gabe1]

Day 5: Tuesday, September 12th


As we walked down Main Street I realized I was experiencing something that I had never experienced before and may never again. MK was empty! It was so strange, but yes – the MK was really empty. The usual bustle down Main Street was not there. I recall how important it was for me to get into MK early so I could experience this – and here we were getting to do just that - unintentionally. The only downside was that there were not a lot of photo-pass photographers out.

We made our way down Main Street and headed for the castle.

We spoke to a photopass photographer at the WS entrance. He said how they were contracted and with their personal time most had opted to take time off and many moved North of the impact. He was one of the few photo pass photographers we saw in Epcot re-opening day. The Characters were out and their handlers but not matching photographers. People were just taking their own photos. I felt for the people who had purchased photopass. Mine was with my annual pass, still others bought the package. I hope Disney dealt with all that.

 

[Courtney6682]

Wow! What a great morning at an empty MK!

Glad to hear that Hope liked BTM

I hope Julia's foot problem isn't too serious!

 

[joshsprincess921]

Other than Julia's foot pain, it sounds like you all had an AMAZING day at MK!

 

[Jim Buck]

So happy for Hope, I am still wiping away tears. A great reminder of what Disney is really magical at doing. Makes me want to apply for a job there right now!

 

[Ayden]

When it was her turn, they introduced princess Hope. She told them her name!

This made me cry! I'm so happy for you!!

 

[Ayden]

I feel bad for Julia. I hope her foot will get better soon in your TR! It's awful having to walk so many miles with pain in your feet. Especially if it feels like there's a bone out of place.

 

[LisaBelle]

After our visit with royalty, we made way for our next FP 7DMT. I have no idea why I don’t have a picture from it.

Then I asked if we should head to PP which had a 20 minute wait time posted, but once again Hope had other ideas. She said she wanted to go to Maurice’s cottage. Maurice’s cottage? What was she talking about? At first I thought she meant 7DMT – because it has the little cottage at the end – but she said, “No thank you.”

I should mention that Hope has been on a kick that when she wants to say “no” to something her go-to phrases are ”No thank you.” or “Sorry guys.”

Julia suggested she meant Enchanted Tales with Belle. I looked at Hope who was beaming – “Yes!” she answered. So we headed over that way.

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I was a little hesitant. This was a tough attraction for me a couple of years back and on our last trip I managed to avoid it. It was hard to see all the kids take part in the story of Belle with Hope just watching and not having the ability to participate. I remember making that a goal for her and we have worked hard on it. She has taken part of our 4-H club’s International Night skits where she has portrayed a South Korean bird and the bridge from Billy Goat’s Gruff. But she has always had a “supporting cast” and an adult close by who knew her issues – so they were ready for anything. That would not be the case here at WDW.

I hoped the wait would be too long. Nope - it was a walk on. Then I told myself it would be fine because she would probably not even want to participate – she just wanted to watch the story. But that was short lived. As we entered the line she announced, “Hope’s going to do it.” My stomach turned. I didn’t respond right away, but then I suggested to her that we all just watch this time.

Julia scolded me. “Let her do it!” she said quite emphatically. What’s the worst that could happen? It’s Disney!”

I conceded that Julia was right and when they asked who wanted a part, I held my breath as Hope raised her hand high and jumped up & down. The main characters were picked without her being chosen, but then they said for anyone that wanted a part to come up. I watched my Hope walk over without me by her side, holding her hand, guiding her movement. I was a nervous wreck. I held my breath as they presented her with a picture frame. I imagined her knocking into Belle or the other children, or even worse, what if she started to shout out her own version of the story?!

But she didn’t. She held her picture frame with the biggest smile on her face and got into the line with everyone else. I started to cry. Julia laughed at me.

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They paraded everybody into the next room and the show began. Belle made her entrance and she and Lumiere told their tale. I continued to have bursts of tears mixed with heart palpations and a panic attack all the way through. I waited for something to go wrong... but nothing did.

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At the end, when they announced everyone to Belle, I considered running over to tell them Hope’s name – because she doesn’t always answer when asked. But I remained seated assuring myself that it was more important for her to do this by herself than for everyone hear her name. When it was her turn, they introduced princess Hope. She told them her name!

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At the end she came running over to us and exclaimed, “Hope was a picture frame!” I hugged her so tight and told her, “and you were the BEST picture frame in the entire world!”

It took me a bit to regain my composure and I’m sure that several people around us must have thought I was completely insane. As soon as we exited, I had to paused to text pictures to two of her therapists that have been with us since she was 2 years old! They no longer "officially" work with us - aka they don't get paid to work with Hope. They are considered part of our family and they continue to keep in touch with us so they can be a part of Hope's life. I am very blessed. So I just had to let them know about our picture frame!

Every time we go to Disney, Hope seems to show a huge “growth moment” and this was definitely one of them.

Wow! I’ve been following your reports for several trips and it is such fun to see the progress Hope has made. What an amazing accomplishment for Hope. Julia is such a perceptive young lady! It’s wonderful that she is such a champion for her sister. Hope Julia’s foot didn’t cause too many problems for her!

 

[fractal]

I would say that morning in MK was worth all the Hurricane precautions. Awesome that Hope loved BTMRR!

 

[becca_]

Wow, reading your story about Hope brought me to tears!! You have such an awesome family