Ok, so my autistic son of SW1K fame (search the board for threads from '05 about SW1K) is now rapidly approaching 2000 rides on Snow White's Scary Adventures. My best guess is that he will hit that on or about February 23rd. Back when he hit 1000 rides, a couple of people on this board helped make it a very special day by arranging for Snow White herself to come meet Ben after a performance of Cinderellabration and then go on the ride with him. It was an amazing day, and he still carries around the photos everywhere he goes.
Unfortunately, the guy who helped put that together hasn't posted on this board in over a year, so I can't go back to him again. I plan on stopping by Guest Services this weekend while we are there to see if they can arrange something, but I thought I might try posting again here to see if any MK CMs might have some ideas.
Basically, my son Ben is autistic. Back in the spring of '02 we brought him to WDW for the very first time. Before that trip he was essentially non-verbal, but during the four days we were on property his language exploded. In his entire life I had never seen him so focused and present for such a long period of time. Following the success of that trip, we made a second visit with him the next year and then wound up moving from Seattle to Orlando in the summer of '03 so that we could use the parks as a kind of giant therapy session. Since we have been here he has made so much progress, it truly is amazing and Disney has played a key role in that success.
His favorite ride, obviously, is Snow White's Scary Adventures, which he has now ridden 1948 times. He hit the thousand mark back in '05, and then got very, very sick for most of '06 and barely visited the park at all. He spent five weeks in the hospital that summer, three at Florida Hospital in Orlando and then another two weeks at Shands Hospital in Gainesville, which apparently had the only surgeons in the state of Florida who could perform the necessary surgery on a child his age. He spent the rest of that year recovering from the surgery and illness, but by early '07 he was back to his normal self and wanted to get back to the Magic Kingdom as often as possible. The way he has grown and strengthened in the last year has just been incredible to watch.
So here we are, rapidly coming up on SW2K, and I really want to make it special for him. Anyone with any suggestions or special connections, please either respond here or send me a private message. I would think that with the whole Year of a Million Dreams thing that this would play into a very nice PR thing for Disney, I just don't know how to reach the ear of the right person. As I said, I will talk to Guest Services this weekend and also to the regular CMs who know us in Fantasyland, but I am hoping that someone here might have some good ideas as well.
Unfortunately, the guy who helped put that together hasn't posted on this board in over a year, so I can't go back to him again. I plan on stopping by Guest Services this weekend while we are there to see if they can arrange something, but I thought I might try posting again here to see if any MK CMs might have some ideas.
Basically, my son Ben is autistic. Back in the spring of '02 we brought him to WDW for the very first time. Before that trip he was essentially non-verbal, but during the four days we were on property his language exploded. In his entire life I had never seen him so focused and present for such a long period of time. Following the success of that trip, we made a second visit with him the next year and then wound up moving from Seattle to Orlando in the summer of '03 so that we could use the parks as a kind of giant therapy session. Since we have been here he has made so much progress, it truly is amazing and Disney has played a key role in that success.
His favorite ride, obviously, is Snow White's Scary Adventures, which he has now ridden 1948 times. He hit the thousand mark back in '05, and then got very, very sick for most of '06 and barely visited the park at all. He spent five weeks in the hospital that summer, three at Florida Hospital in Orlando and then another two weeks at Shands Hospital in Gainesville, which apparently had the only surgeons in the state of Florida who could perform the necessary surgery on a child his age. He spent the rest of that year recovering from the surgery and illness, but by early '07 he was back to his normal self and wanted to get back to the Magic Kingdom as often as possible. The way he has grown and strengthened in the last year has just been incredible to watch.
So here we are, rapidly coming up on SW2K, and I really want to make it special for him. Anyone with any suggestions or special connections, please either respond here or send me a private message. I would think that with the whole Year of a Million Dreams thing that this would play into a very nice PR thing for Disney, I just don't know how to reach the ear of the right person. As I said, I will talk to Guest Services this weekend and also to the regular CMs who know us in Fantasyland, but I am hoping that someone here might have some good ideas as well.
