Make A Wish Day 4- Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios

There was horseback riding at Keaton's Korral at the Village on Wednesday morning. We had to do it first thing so we had plenty of time in the parks. Unfortunately, the first two days in Florida taught us that Seven's crabbiest time was first thing in the morning. Everyone else had reservations about putting Seven on the horse but I thought once he got on and felt the movement of the animal it would calm him. Negative on that one. An animal trainer got on the saddle first and then put Seven in front of her. Two people walked on either side of the horse to make sure there was no funny business. And just for added measure all children had to wear a helmet. Seven wanted none of it and cried and thrashed the whole ride. I'm sure it was 30 seconds long but it felt like an eternity.

 Poor Seven. Poor Animal Trainer Lady. This picture reflects Seven's relief to be off the horse and back in his stroller. All kids got a certificate with their name on it stating they were official members of Clayton's Saddle Club. (Mayor Clayton is the official mascot of the Village and a giant bunny.) They also received these fabulous hats.

Ocean took to the horseback riding quite nicely and loved it so much she wanted to do it again and again.

Our plan was to do Animal Kingdom and then Disney's Hollywood Studios if we could fit it in. That turned out to be possible because we were not that fond of Animal Kingdom save for a few things... Like this fun ride! Expedition Everest was a lot like Disneyland's Matterhorn but SO MUCH better! Of course it scared the bejesus out of Ocean, and yet she still went on it more than once! The girl loves to be scared. I also like Jarrad's face. He's so calm, it looks like he's on a lazy river ride. This was the part where there is a big drop. I don't think he's getting the full enjoyment out of the ride.

Our main excitement about going to Animal Kingdom was to take Seven to the "Bug's Life" show. We sat him on the seat next to us so he could get the full effect. The show has some animatronic features as well as a 3D effect with a big screen. They also use special effects like blowing wind or water on you and the seats make it feel like bugs are crawling under you. He loved it!

 One of Seven's happy times in the bathroom. Notice the shirt? I found it in the Star Wars area and couldn't resist. Seven and Yoda have a lot in common: their size, their wise nature, their strength with the force...

 The new Toy Story ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios had a 3D effect. It was completely interactive so when you shot your gun and hit something, the screen would show the little explosion. It was a blast. It also spun the chair we sat in around unexpectedly sending Seven flying. So that was fun.

 Seven was devastated when he saw I beat him in points at the end of the ride. I of course laughed and ridiculed him like a good mom.

 Ocean met one of those little green army men. I remember those toys being a lot smaller.

The highlight of the whole trip for us was when Seven got to meet his hero, Buzz Lightyear! When we left for our trip the Make-A-Wish people told us the pins and pass we wore would get us to the front of the lines on rides and attractions but not to meet characters. But when we left the Toy Story ride we were loitering outside the exit. A Disney cast member saw us and our pins and started ushering us into a room with Buzz and Woody. They put us in the front of the other kids waiting (which made us feel bad for a second).

I tried sitting him down in front of the characters but he didn't really smile because he couldn't see or hear the characters. So I told Buzz that Seven was very tactile. I asked if he could lean in so Seven could really see him and touch him.

 Boy did that turn on the lights for Seven. I swear he recognized Buzz and just started putting his hands all over him.

Then he went in for a hug!

 It was a magical moment and Jasmine was really feeling it. She started crying! I have to admit it was tender vittles.

 We didn't want the other children to have to wait any longer so I started pulling him away and Seven didn't like that at all. We could all hear him saying in his little head, "NOOOOOOOooooo!"

Even Buzz felt bad for him so he went back in for some hand holding.

And then it looked like Seven wanted to gnaw on his fingers so we decided it really was time to go. It was definitely the best part of the day, a magical surprise.

Make A Wish Day 3- Universal's Islands of Adventure

Seven woke up a little cranky, aptly so as we knew he had an ear infection, so we decided to go to Universal's Islands of Adventure. We knew it had a lot of big kid rides so he could take a little break. While Jarrad, Ocean and Jasmine went on the Spiderman ride, I took Seven to meet Spiderman. It went surprisingly well for how he felt. Spiderman was super nice too. No one rushed me along, not the people behind us in line or the photographer or Spiderman, while I was trying to get Seven to look up at me for a picture. The rain coats I mentioned in the last post proved handy again on this day. Jasmine, Ocean, Seven and I were in the girls restroom changing Seven. When we came out we found everyone huddled under trees because a torrential downpour was happening. It lasted about 2 minutes but it was fun to be the only ones in the street for a while.

Seven also got to meet Betty Boop. He just attracts the ladies.

 Ocean and I went on the Pteranodon Flyers ride which was actually super fun. I didn't mention before but with a pass that one of us wore around our neck, we would get a personal escort to the area where you entered an attraction and were put on the ride immediately. That made it a lot easier to fit in all the fun in one week.

Ocean went on the Dudley Do-Right Ripsaw Fall ride with Jasmine which put Splash Mountain to shame for the splash factor. It's hard to tell by this picture but she is soaked from head to toe.

 Ocean got a wand at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. She took to it like a duck to water. She's definitely not a Muggle.

 Seven was just barely tall enough to go on the High in the Sky Trolley Train at the Dr. Suess area of the park. He seemed to really enjoy it.

Like father like son. The train track took us above all the Dr. Suess Landing area for a bird's eye view.

 We got back to the Village just in time for the "Cook Out At The Beach" that happens every Tuesday at Give Kids The World. We still felt we couldn't get enough of the Boston Market food at so instead of hamburgers and hotdogs I went over to Katie's Kitchen and brought the lot back to the beach. Both kids loved the water park. Ocean loved that they were handing out cotton candy. They had a dj and dancing for the kids. They were also handing out free Harry Potter t-shirts that they sell  at Universal so we all got one.

I love it when we put Seven in odd places. I wish we had a tub like this at home.

This was our surprise waiting for us when we got back to the villa.

Make A Wish Day 2- Magic Kingdom!

This was us in front of our villa the first day. When we went inside there were housewarming gifts for us. There were snacks and sodas and stuffed animals for the kids.

When we went down to the Gingerbread House for breakfast we saw Mary Poppins, Pluto and Goofy in the plaza out front. Seven always gravitates towards the women, I don't know why. Okay, I know why.

We decided to go to the Magic Kingdom on Monday because Buzz Lightyear is Seven's favorite character. We based that information on the fact that his Buzz Lightyear toy is his favorite to play with. So naturally we wanted to take Seven to the Buzz Lightyear ride. He seemed to love it!

While Jarrad, Ocean and I went on a ride for big kids, Jasmine took Seven to a 3D show. He looked so dashing in the glasses. He also went on the Astro Orbiter several times in a row.

I found an awesome toy outside the Buzz ride. It vibrated and lit up when you pulled the trigger. Apparently Seven isn't scared by anything, including death by laser gun!

We all went on the Jungle Cruise. We were treated so wonderfully. We were the first to get on the boat, sitting at the front next to the skipper. She asked Ocean if she wanted to steer and of course she said yes. Ocean had no idea it was on a track and she took her job very seriously! She made every turn she was supposed to and never moved her eyes from the "road." She'll be a great driver some day!!

Seven just kicked back and chillaxed. Anybody notice Seven wore three different outfits during the day? That's because he kept having blow-outs for poor jet-lagged Jasmine! But an interesting occurrence popped up during her several trips to the ladies room to change him. Seven's favorite place during the trip was the girls bathroom. Maybe it was the quiet and cool space or the echo, we weren't sure. But he was consistent.

He smiled every time he was in one!

This was our picture for Splash Mountain. Ocean and I got matching rain coats just for this trip because rain was forecasted off and on the whole week. They also proved useful on the water type rides.

Seven went on "It's A Small World" with Jasmine, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, and saw a Monsters, Inc show. I took him to the Country Bear Jamboree and he loved the singing and moving bears.

 Seven also met Jasmine and Aladdin but was a little too cranky to pose appropriately for photos.

Overall it was a very fun first day. When we got back to the villa there was a surprise waiting for us on our kitchen table.This is the Give Kids The World Edition of Candy Land. The board has you passing all the venues at the Village. It is amazing! We were very tired from the time change and getting up early and going to bed late the day before. We ordered Katie's Kitchen to be delivered to the villa and planned our next day.

Give Kids The World Village

I figured, because I'd be talking a lot about the Give Kids The World Village, I would show some pictures and give some brief descriptions of the different venues.

This is the House of Hearts. This is where we checked in and where they had staff 24 hours a day to take care of any issues that came up.

 They had a 7 hole miniature golf course. We never had time to play a round but saw the dinosaurs every time we came and went.

 They spared no expense. The place was beautiful.

I love the whimsy of the dinosaurs.

 This is the Amberville Train Station.

 They had miniature trains and a whole city set up.

 Jarrad brought Ocean in here and the old man that tends to the train station took them on a behind the scenes tour to show her how everything worked! She loved every minute of it.

 There was a huge game room with the old classics as well as all the new Wii and XBox360 games.

 You could take remote control boats out for a spin,

or take a ride on a real train!

 Julie's Safari Theatre was where we met Disney and Universal characters for photo-ops and autographs.

 They had a real concession stand. 

The theatre was also used for some evening events like "Village Idol" for the kids to sing for judges and Safari Double Dare.

 The Ice Cream Palace was open from 7:30am to 9:30pm. One of the Village's catch phrases and favorite aspects of the park is "Ice Cream For Breakfast!"

We took them up on their "anytime" ice cream option several times throughout the week. They will make anything you want from scoops of ice cream with a plethora of toppings, to shakes to sundaes.

 This is the Castle of Miracles. It is home to all kinds of fun things.

 Rusty here guards the front of the castle. Don't let his round belly fool you. He is at the top of his game.

 Father Time... keeps... time.

 The ceiling was covered in gold stars that contained the names of all the kids that have ever had a wish and were lucky enough to get to stay at the Village.  

 This was Tom Foolery. He was up to shenanigans at all times.

 The Enchanted Carousel was open pretty much all day for unlimited rides and it was a great distraction for in between times with Ocean. Seven loved it too. He quieted down every time we put him on it.

Ol' Elmer, I'm sure he did something interesting but I never found out what that was.

This was the Star Fairy's corner where you placed your gold star. In the night she would place it somewhere in the Castle of Miracles to be immortalized for all time!

 Matthew’s Boundless Playground is the world’s largest and only life-sized version of the game Candy Land.

We never had a chance to visit the playground because we were so busy with everything else.  

 This is the Gingerbread House where you can get a hot meal. The menu changed daily and was served buffet-style. There were lots of volunteers here and they refused to let you carry your own tray so you always had an escort to your table.

 The tables were all covered in peppermints (with a clear coat over them. No licking the table.) Apparently 27,000 of the candies went into the making of the place as well as 2,000 dolls. (They are up by the rafters. Not at ALL creepy.)

This was another room in the house. Ocean liked to sit in here next to a friend she made during the trip. Melanie was visiting from Pennsylvania. She had a seizure disorder and had been through 11 brain surgeries already and she was only 8 years old. I wouldn't have known if her mom hadn't told me. I thought maybe she was the sibling of a special needs child.

This is the chapel. It is available at any time of the day for any spiritual need. 

The stain glass is beautiful. 

 Keaton's Korral is where they had horseback riding twice during the week.

There was a pond stocked for fishing. Catch and release only. Apparently they frown upon trying to feed yourself straight off the land there. 

 All the villas were different and adorable.

 This is the Park of Dreams home to the most fun water park.

The pool had lots of water features as well as a zero depth entry. Then they had a water playground that Seven just adored. In fact, Seven had a really fussy morning on Monday. During breakfast he just wouldn't stop crying so we agreed to take turns eating while someone took Seven for a walk. I took the first shift and wandered over to the Park of Dreams. It was our first visit to the pool. As I pushed his stroller closer to the water so he could hear the water sounds, he slowly stopped crying. The view, the sound, it was all magical to him and at that moment I considered just staying in that spot for the week. It was a short lived thought. There was way too much fun to be had outside of the Village.