Disney World - Heading Home

Kimmie was really glad to be heading home. She was tired of the hotel and wanted to be home.

However, we did not make it clear to her that we would not get home that day. It took a day and a half both ways, but she wanted to be home that night. When we stopped at a hotel about 9:00 pm, she was NOT happy. "Home tell none." was what she signed repeatedly. Translated that means "No hotel." She always signs "home tell" for "hotel."

Dad rushed in to get us registered while Bethany and I gathered a few things and Kimmie. When we entered the lobby, someone else was registering ahead of Dad, and he was still waiting. We all stood there and waited--some of us more patiently than others! Kimmie stood there and yelled, screamed, whatever you want to call it.

When Dad finally had a key card, he quickly handed one to me so I could get the little screamer out of the lobby. Bethany and I took her upstairs to the room, while Dad grabbed our suitcase from the van. Unfortunately, when we reached our room the key card did not work. We stood in the hallway with the little screamer until Dad arrived with his key card . . . . . . it didn't work either.

To get the little screamer out of the hallway, Dad rushed her back to the elevator to go down for new cards, while Bethany and I stood with the suitcase in the hallway.

Kimmie did calm down after we were in the room. The next day when we finally arrived home, before she climbed out of the van, she signed, "Home tell none." We assured her that we were home and finished with hotels.

Since our trip, every few days Kimmie talks about "Magic Kingdom." We ask her, "Do you want to go back to Disney World?" She always says, "Yes." But for many weeks when we would follow-up with the question, "Do you want to go back to the hotel?" She would say, "No!" It has been a couple months since our trip, and she has finally started to say yes to going back to the hotel.

She really does like to be at home.

--Mom

Disney World - Shopping

We were a little disappointed with the shopping at Disney World.

When asked what she wanted to do at Disney World, Kimmie's first answer was always hug Aladdin. Her second answer was shopping. She had very specific things she wanted to shop for: Aladdin playing cards and an Aladdin coloring book.

I was a little skeptical that we would find these items. However, I read in my 850-page Disney guide book that there was a store across from The Magic Carpets of Aladdin ride that specialized in Aladdin merchandise. We went there, only to find that it mostly carried cultural merchandise. There was one rack of Jasmine "princess" souvenirs. Of course Kimmie has no interest at all in anything with a girl on it.

We looked through the shops everywhere we went (the air conditioning was part of the draw), but we were really disappointed in the depth of selection. Mostly there was Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Disney Princesses, Tinkerbell and Toy Story III merchandise. Everywhere we went we looked for something with Aladdin or the Blue Genie. There were no t-shirts, no pins, no magnets, no pencils, nothing.

We began naming all the movies that Disney has made and thinking about how few of them were represented in the Disney merchandise. We really felt like Disney missed the boat by not having a larger variety of characters represented in their merchandise.

But Kimmie did not go home empty handed. Late in our trip we went to the toy store in Downtown Disney and finally found something with Aladdin. We found a playset of plastic Aladdin figurines. (What I believe to be the only Aladdin souvenir in all of Disney World!) Fortunately it was a different set than the one she already had at home.

And then there was the "Make Your Own Star Wars Sword" display. She added a green sword to her collection of Star Wars swords. (She bought the purple one with birthday money, so I think her collection is complete now, at least until they come out with another color.)

She also added a new Pooh plush to her Pooh collection and a new panda plush to her panda collection.

We may have to add on to the house to hold all her collections!

--Mom

Disney World - Pooh, Eeyore & Tigger

I have been busy and have not finished my stories about our trip to Disney World!

The first characters that we saw, that Kimmie wanted to hug, were Pluto and Goofy. We waited in line and she hugged on them with her Pooh Bear in tow.

One of the workers, cast members, commented on her Pooh Bear and asked if we had seen Pooh yet. I said no, so he pulled out a map and marked exactly where we could go to see Pooh.

We made our way to the character greeting place where Pooh, Eeyore and Tigger were and got in line. The area where they were was pretty good size. The line went along the side of the area with a rope to keep those waiting out of the greeting area, but we could see Pooh and Eeyore and Tigger.

One of the cast members was walking along the rope chatting with those waiting. When he stopped to chat with us, he noticed Kimmie's Pooh Bear and watched her hold her arms up towards Pooh wanting to hug him. The characters were getting ready to leave for a couple minute break. As Pooh was walking past, the cast member called to him to come over to Kimmie. Pooh reached down and hugged Kimmie in her wheel chair. She was thrilled. When Pooh left, Kimmie reached for the cast member and gave him a big hug around the neck. He melted.

The next thing I knew he was unhooking the rope and telling me to take her up by the front of the line so she could be first when the characters returned.

Eeyore had not left yet. Kimmie got herself out of the wheel chair and into Eeyore's arms for some good hugs.

They were all very nice to her. I kept watching the characters to see when they would stop hugging on her so I could pull her away, but they would just keep on hugging.

When they returned, she hugged on them some more.

Every morning when I get her up, she stops at the pictures we hung in her room and points at Pooh and Eeyore and Aladdin. And then her beloved Brown Bear gets lots of hugs as she remembers.

--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

WDW 2010

That's where we're headed on our next vacation, Walt Disney World. Kimmie kept asking and we decided to take her.

We figured she's had a rough year. She could use something fun to replace all those bad memories. Everytime she starts talking about the hospital, we talk about Disney World.

She wants to hug Aladdin and the Blue Genie. She wants to shop for Aladdin playing cards and an Aladdin coloring book. I sure hope they have those two things or she may be one MAD little girl. There's suppose to be an Aladdin store near the Magic Carpet ride. We'll see.

--Mom

Disney World

Well, if you read the last post you heard about Kimmie's book that's all about her. I think I really started something with my choice of pictures.

Evidentally, in looking at this book and talking with the kids and teachers at school, Kimmie has a new understanding of Disney World. And now knows how to sign it.

She tells us regularly now, almost every day, sometimes more than once a day . . . "Go to Disney World."

Hmmmmmm.

She wants to find Aladdin and the Blue Genie and hug them.

--Mom

Kimmie's "Book about Me"

The first week of school, Kimmie's homework was to complete a book about herself and then present it to the class. The pages were already started. "This is a picture of my house." "This is a picture of my family." "My favorite animal is__________." "My hobby is___________." Kimmie was to complete the pages by drawing or pasting pictures.

As is often the case, Kimmie's homework turns into Mom and Dad's homework. I hunted up and printed off several pictures to complete Kimmie's book and then wrote captions for each page. I sat down with Kimmie and we looked at the book together. She really liked it.

Her hobby is horseback riding. Her favorite animal is the Panda. Her favorite food is chocolate pudding and oreos. And her favorite movie is Aladdin.

After she took the book to school, her teacher asked if they could keep it at school for Kimmie to look at during free time.

Kimmie's favorite page seems to be "My favorite memory is _____________." For this page I put in a picture of Kimmie and her sister hugging Eeyore at Disney World. They were 6 and 9 at the time.

When we went to school on Open House night, Kimmie had to get her book and show us her favorite picture.

--Mom (Stay tuned for Part II)

Vacation and Another Friend

Last week we were on vacation. The first evening we stopped at a restaurant to eat. Kimmie was sitting at the end of the table where the waitress stood to take our order.

It wasn't long before Kimmie was hugging her. When Kimmie finally let go the waitress started telling us about her brother being autistic.

After she walked away, Daddy just looked at me and said, "That's another one, another life she touched."

I said, "Yes, Kimmie made another friend."

--Mom

Losing Kimmie

We have been fortunate in that Kimmie usually stays pretty close to us. We have never had a problem with her wandering off or getting very far away in a public place. We have only lost track of her a couple times. Once in a large home improvements store when she spotted a piece of play equipment and went to play on it while we were distracted. She wasn't far away and we found her quickly.

Once, however, we did have a good scare while on vacation. We were staying in a condo along North Carolina's outer banks. It was a three bedroom condo to accommodate my parents and the five of us. Kimmie was 5, her brother 7 and her sister 2. Kimmie was sleeping on a mattress on the floor of our bedroom.

One night something woke me up and I got up to check on Kimmie. She was not in her bed. I started looking around for her, moving all the blankets, looking to see if she had rolled off her mattress and under the bed . . . Dad woke up and he started looking for her. We looked under and around every piece of furniture in the bedroom, in the living room/dining room and in the children's bedroom. We looked in the bathrooms, the bathtubs, the closets. We checked all the doors to make sure they were closed and locked. We looked behind curtains, in cupboards. In our minds we knew she had to be there someplace, but it was as if she had vanished completely. During the search, her two-year old sister had awakened and sat up in her bed watching us looking under the beds and in the closet. We each went through the rooms once, twice, three or four times. No Kimmie.

I knew that Dad was concerned when he started getting dressed and putting his shoes on like he was going out beyond the condo to search for her. I was trying to figure out what we would tell the police.

Finally I said that maybe my parents had heard her up and taken her in their room with them. Maybe we should wake them up and check with them. I knocked on their door and asked them if they had Kimmie. They were confused and said, "no." I explained that we could not find her. Like us they insisted that she had to be there someplace, and they began helping us look. Seeing our two-year old sitting up in bed, my Mom went in to check on her. As she walked up to the bed she laid her hand down on the covers that our two-year old had kicked to the foot of the bed in favor of her blankets from home. My Mom picked up a wad of the covers and there was Kimmie grinning up at her. My Mom dropped the covers back in place and called for me. When I went to the door, she picked the covers up again, and there was Kimmie, grinning at me, wide awake, and very aware that we had been looking for her.

I had to sit down and breathe again. She can be a little rascal.

--Mom