Screaming

If you have read very many of my blog posts, you may have the impression that there is a lot of screaming that goes on here with Kimmie.

Well, I suppose you could look at it that way, but there's not as much as it may sound like.

And we're used to it, so we mostly just shrug it off.

And when Kimmie smiles or laughs or giggles, well, you just forget all about that screaming.

--Mom

Disney World - Aladdin

Sometime over the past year, Kimmie made the connection that the Disney animated characters are at Disney World. We have pictures from our trip to Disney World in 2000, of Kimmie hugging Eeyore and Tigger and Baloo, but she didn't seem to grasp where we were and that we could go back.

This year, when she figured out that Disney World is where the cartoon characters live, that's where she decided she wanted to go. From the very first time she said she wanted to go to Disney World, it was specifically for the purpose of hugging Aladdin.

I did some research and learned that Aladdin and Jasmine can usually be found at EPCOT in the Morrocco section of the World Showcase. Sure enough, when we came to Morrocco, there they were along the lake greeting kids.

The characters that we saw during our trip in 2000 were animal characters where the costumes are over their faces. With Aladdin being a "face" character, I was concerned that he wouldn't really look like the animated Aladdin. But, as you can see from the picture, he looked very much like the cartoon, and as far as Kimmie was concerned he was Aladdin.


Jasmine was a little disappointed that Kimmie wouldn't have anything much to do with her, but she quickly realized how special this was to Kimmie. Jasmine enjoyed watching Kimmie right along with the rest of us.

There were some flowering bushes next to where Aladdin and Jasmine were greeting folks. As Kimmie was leaving, Aladdin picked one of these flowers and presented it to her.



Kimmie has framed pictures in her room now, so she will always remember this special day.

Our only disappointment was that the Blue Genie was not available to greet. We inquired at both EPCOT and Magic Kingdom and were told at both places that he was taken off the greeting schedule. But we have recently learned, from some relatives in California, that Disney's California Adventure park has an Aladdin musical production show that is outstanding.

Hmmmm.

--Mom

P.S. Happy Birthday, Kimmie!

Disney World - Swimming

While at Disney World we took Kimmie swimming three times. She loved it!

The first time we took Kimmie swimming, I went in with her. She likes to wear a float vest. We like her to wear it, too. It's nice to have that little bit of extra security. However, we still need to be in the pool with her, and the vest is not foolproof.

Kimmie was wound up pretty good that first day we swam. I was adjusting her float vest, and she had that mischievous glint in her eye. She was laughing, and pushing and wrestling trying to get away from me. Of course, she's wet, I'm wet, and eventually she slipped out of my hands. While still laughing she splashed face down in the water. I immediately grabbed and yanked her out of the water. I caught Dad's eye and he rushed over. Kimmie was coughing and sputtering. I lifted her up to Dad who raised her up to sit on the side of the pool.

I have to compliment Disney on their lifeguards. They are very attentive. One was at our side before we could blink. He was offering to bring over oxygen for Kimmie, then he offered to call EMS. He assured us that there is no charge for an EMS call. Disney pays for it all.

Kimmie was coughing, but she was also breathing well and her color was fine. We assured him that Kimmie was ok, she did not need oxygen nor did she need EMS. He was very persistent telling us that she could be dry-drowning. By this time Kimmie was breathing normally in between coughs and signing "swim more, swim more." The lifeguard offered to call EMS three times. We finally convinced him that she was fine. Kimmie was fine, if she hadn't been she wouldn't have wanted to "swim more."

We did feel safe while we were swimming. The lifeguards were very well trained and patrolled the perimeter of the pool continuously.

The last time we took her swimming was on our last day at Disney World. We had finished at the parks. Kimmie was so tired by then that she just wrapped her arms and legs around me and hung on like a monkey. I told her she was a monkey, but she said, "No." I walked and bounced around in the water with her wrapped around my neck. After a while her eyes were glassy and I thought she was almost asleep. I told her she was a hippopotamus sleeping in the water. She said, "No."

Swimming was a nice break from the heat, but we could have done without the excitement of an almost EMS call.

--Mom

Disney World - Soarin'

We were very careful about the rides that we took Kimmie on. We did not want to take her on anything that might be too jarring for her back. In other words, no roller coasters or simulator rides that jerked around. I read up on every ride before we went to make sure.

Soarin' is a simulator ride at EPCOT. We all read about it and decided that it would be ok for Kimmie. It was described as a perfectly smooth ride. What we didn't take into consideration is that she would absolutely hate it!

She screamed through the entire ride. No amount of hugging and comforting did any good.

The images projected on the screen to give us the feeling of hang-gliding over mountains and oceans were obviously videos, but that coupled with the seats being lifted up so that we were dangling and swaying, and the wind in our faces gave a very real sensation of hang-gliding. And it totally freaked out Kimmie.

The rest of us thought it was a really cool ride, but a painful experience with Kimmie shrieking.

It was a very popular ride with frequent wait times of over 100 minutes. Of course we had Kimmie with us. We didn't have to wait that long, but it was probably the longest wait that we experienced, maybe 20 minutes.

--Mom

Disney World - Favorites

At the end of our trip to Disney World, we asked Kimmie what her favorite part of the trip was. She immediately said, "Hug Aladdin." Well, we have to agree, that was our favorite part, too. Seeing Kimmie's dream come true was very special.

We asked Kimmie what her favorite ride was. She responded with, "Blue carpet." (The Magic Carpets of Aladdin.) Kimmie and I rode it 4 times. The first day we were at Magic Kingdom, we all rode it once. When we went back at the end of the week, Kimmie kept saying that's what she wanted to ride. When the park opened, Dad and Bethany went to ride Big Thunder Mountain while Kimmie and I went straight to The Magic Carpets of Aladdin. There were not enough people in line to fill the ride, so Kimmie and I rode it three times straight without getting off.

We asked Kimmie what her favorite show was. She responded with, "Magic mouse." (Mickey's PhilharMagic.) We saw it three times. It's a 3D show. We went to it twice the first day we were at Magic Kingdom, but Kimmie wouldn't wear the glasses. Later in the week, when we were at Hollywood Studios, Kimmie started wearing the 3D glasses on the Toy Story Mania ride and then at the Muppet Vision 3D show. So, when we went back to Magic Kingdom on the last day, we went back to Mickey's PhilharMagic and she wore the glasses. But she may have liked it best because Aladdin is in it.

Magic Kingdom was definitely Kimmie's favorite park. We went there the first day after arriving and checking into our hotel. The rest of the week, as we went to the other parks, she would sign "Magic Kingdom." We didn't get to everything the first day, so we went back at the end of the week.

Bethany said that her favorite parks were EPCOT and Animal Kingdom. I asked her why, and she said that Animal Kingdom and EPCOT had more stuff she was interested in, like nature, cultures, and science. She said that she wasn't as interested in the movie stuff that's at Hollywood Studios, and Magic Kingdom was more for little kids. I thought it was a pretty good assessment of the parks.

--Mom

Disney World

We took our trip to Disney World a few weeks ago. I've been planning to write some stories about our adventures there, but it's taken me a little while to get at it. Here is the first, an overview.

Everything I read about Disney World said that it is very accommodating to individuals with disabilities. I was hopeful that would be the case, so we could have an enjoyable trip, but I was also skeptical. When I called Disney World to get more information about traveling there with Kimmie, they seemed hesitant to give me any information. In one book I had read that we should go to guest services upon entering the park and request a "Guest Assistance Card" based on Kimmie's disabilities. We decided we would try that and see what happened.

Wow! We were amazed at how well we were treated. Between the wheelchair and the Guest Assistance Card, we were immediately directed to an alternate entrance at each ride/attraction, either the fastpass line or a wheelchair line. We usually had to wait a few minutes for them to work us into the queue or for the few people who might be in line ahead of us, but the wait was minimal and almost always out of the sun.

Occasionally, as Kimmie tired, she would get impatient if she couldn't get immediately on the ride, but usually she was ok or we were able to keep her distracted. She would not have been able to tolerate the regular lines, and it would have been very difficult had this not worked out. We were very grateful, felt a little guilty, but were very appreciative.

Bethany put it this way: We are not taking advantage of Kimmie, because we would not have chosen to come to Disney World. The only reason we're here is because Kimmie wanted to come.

Which is true. We were there because of Kimmie. And the rides that she could not ride, we had to wait in the regular line or get a fastpass and go back.

The Disney staff ("cast members") were very nice to Kimmie, especially the older ones. And especially Aladdin. He was very sweet with Kimmie. I'll write about that later and include pictures!

--Mom

Dresses and Tags

We took Kimmie shopping for new dresses a couple days ago.

Always a fun experience. You see Kimmie cannot stand to try on clothes that still have the tags hanging from the little plastic cord.

I think we tried about 8 dresses on her. It was loads of fun. Every dress had lots of little fabric buttons up the back, all buttoned on the hanger. Since the buttons are fabric they don't slide easily through the button holes. Before I can put the dress on her I have to unbutton all these buttons. Then pop the dress over her head. As soon as it hits her shoulders, she is trying to yank it off, while I am trying to button all these little buttons. Like I said, it was loads of fun.

Then to unbutton the buttons . . . off with the dress . . . toss it and a hanger over the door at Dad . . . then to unbutton a bunch more buttons on the next dress. While I'm doing that, Kimmie is putting her play clothes back on. Once I get the buttons undone, I have to take her play clothes off to put the next dress on . . . and it all starts over again . . . the dress hits her shoulders . . . she's trying to get it off . . . I'm trying to button the buttons . . . . .

Oh, and during all this there is the screaming. Wonder how far and wide her screams could be heard? Wonder what that store clerk thought!

(Dad read this and said the screaming didn't sound that bad outside the dressing area. I guess it sounded bad to me since it was pretty much in my ear and inside a small area.)

Once the tags are off, she wears the dresses fine.

--Mom

Bethany Where?

Kimmie: "Bethany where?"

Us: "Where is Bethany?"

Kimmie: "Church."

Us: "She's not at church. She's with some people from church. They're in Arizona. She got on an airplane and flew for 3 1/2 hours."

Kimmie: "Aaaahhh." Slaps hand or stomps foot. "Mad."

We've had this conversation with Kimmie 5 times today. She misses her sister and is really mad that Bethany's gone.

I think she's going to be looking for Bethany at church in the morning, and then she's going to be really mad that she can't find her. I bet it's going to be a really "fun" morning at church.

--Mom