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.

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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?
 
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Figment Forever

Figment Forever

Premium Member
Original Poster
Vivian_apfm said:
Loved reading your trip report! That last day must have been really exhausting! Glad you were able to get home in the end. I'm already looking forward to your next trip!
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Thanks so much for reading along! It was an exhausting day, but it is fun to look back and laugh now. I'm hoping to get a pre-TR up soon. Life is so crazy right now!
 
Figment Forever

Figment Forever

Premium Member
Original Poster
Matt and Kelly said:
Absolutely loved reading your report! We are planning on September 2019, maybe a possible meet up is in our future!
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Thanks so much for following along! Can you move your trip up a year? lol This may actually be our last September trip. :( It's getting too tricky with Julia and college classes. But I do hope we can squeeze one more in for 2019 before she goes full time, and if it happens, it would be awesome to meet you guys!
 
Gurt

Gurt

Well-Known Member
Figment Forever said:
Thanks so much for following along! Can you move your trip up a year? lol This may actually be our last September trip. :( It's getting too tricky with Julia and college classes. But I do hope we can squeeze one more in for 2019 before she goes full time, and if it happens, it would be awesome to meet you guys!
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Our next trip isn't till Sept 2019, you have to squeeze one more in so I am not to shy to say hello this time like I was when I saw you guys in 2016! :p
 
Figment Forever

Figment Forever

Premium Member
Original Poster
Gurt said:
Our next trip isn't till Sept 2019, you have to squeeze one more in so I am not to shy to say hello this time like I was when I saw you guys in 2016! :p
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I hope we can and YES- please say hi if you see us! Although I'm sad because it seems that SWGE will not open until after Sept 19...
 
Figment Forever

Figment Forever

Premium Member
Original Poster
fractal said:
Well I can certainly relate to Russ having his shoes destroyed - especially your favorite pair. Luckily for me I found a pair of $20 flip flops! :D

The stapler story made me Lol!

Your last day was the stuff of Legends! You may not have enjoyed it fully at the time, but I'm sure it will come up again and again for a good laugh.

Great report @Figment Forever !
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Thanks @fractal - Ross is happy that someone sympathizes with him! lol We can definitely look back and laugh on our last day - but I remain determined to have a last day in WDW that is stress free! Thanks for following along with us!
 
Minnesota disney fan

Minnesota disney fan

Well-Known Member
Thank you for such a great report; enjoyed reading about Hope's improvement and changes. She is so lucky to have such a nice big sister as Julia. It was fun reading about them. I agree with Hope on Vanilla ice cream. Of all the flavors in the world, I always order Vanilla:) My husband and I have a friendly battle of the best scores on TSM. I Always lose! Do you have any winning secrets,or are you just that good? Love that ride. I also love the VOTLM at HS; don't know why, but can't miss it. The singer is just wonderful.
It was fun to read about your husband's many trials and tribulations, even though it must have been frustrating for him. Like you, I would have laughed hysterically at them. We love POR too, but switched to POFQ this year due to the smaller size and that it doesn't accept dogs.
Again, thanks for the fun TR:)
 
blreinsel

blreinsel

Well-Known Member
Ross stapling his shoes :hilarious::hilarious::hilarious: That is TOTALLY something that my dad would do. He has a pair of tennis shoes that used to be his "good shoes" but then got worn out so became his "outside shoes." Well, shoes aren't meant to last forever but he won't admit it. His outside shoes are covered in duct tape :hilarious::hilarious::hilarious: They are the most ridiculous looking shoes I've ever seen. Maybe you just need to pack some tape this year rather than Ross packing extra shoes. :p

This was such a fun report and I enjoyed reading about Irma from your shoes. Maybe we'll actually get to meet this year, assuming there isn't another crazy hurricane during your trip. ;)

Thanks for pushing through and sharing about the rest of your trip! Looking forward to reading about your plans for the next one. :)
 
LizC

LizC

Well-Known Member
Figment Forever said:
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.
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I’ve just started reading your TR. I don’t comment very often but, this part has me in tears! I also have a little girl with autism about Hope’s age. What an amazing accomplishment for her and you! Great job Mom and Hope!
 

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