We did it. And survived it. We took the girls to Disney, specifically the Magic Kingdom. Granted, there were five adults (me, Russell, my mom, my dad, and my sister) and two children, but still. Everything pretty much went off without a hitch. Emma loved every little thing about it. I bet she said 15 times every day, "This is so exciting." We got a disability card that works somewhat like a FastPass+, only better. At the ride, the "cast member" signs your card and writes down the time to come back based on the current waiting time. For example, we would go to a ride with a 30-minute wait at 1:00. The worker would write down the date, 1:00 pm, 30-minute wait, 1:30 pm, and then stamp it with a special stamp. We could then come back at 1:30 or any time after 1:30 on that day, and the worker would cross that ride off of our card. The trick is that you can't get another ride written in your card unless the ones up above it are crossed off. But you can do this limitless times per day, whereas the FastPass+ only works for three rides per day.
Ok, enough of the boring stuff. Emma got to meet Elsa, Anna, Belle, Tinkerbell, Mickey, Minnie (twice), Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Pluto, Merida, Brer Bear, and Brer Fox. Meeting Mickey was the first thing we did on the first day we got to the park. We walked into the room where he was meeting families, and she looked at him, looked at me, looked at him again, looked at me again, and said, "He's real! He's real! That's him! He's real!" She liked all the rides, but the teacups were her favorite. My sister bought her the Bippity Boppity Boutique experience, and they did her up a little more than we preferred. Emma thought it was great, though, so that's what matters at the end of the day.
I was positively amazed at how accommodating everyone was for us and not just with Emma's wheelchair. When they saw that we had two children to carry, two diaper bags, a wheelchair and a stroller, both of which had to be placed separately on the bus, people were so happy to help.
One day we ate at Pinocchio's Village Haus, and a cast member approached Emma to ask her if she knew who the blue fairy was in Pinocchio. She didn't know (and I barely remembered myself), so they told her that that fairy grants wishes. They asked Emma if she had a wish that she wanted granted. Here's where Mommy has to step in because she's so shy. I asked her if she wished for a puppy. No. Another baby. No. A baby brother. No. (I only asked these questions because I knew what the answer would be, trust me.) A new doll? Yes. What kind of doll? A Belle doll. This was news to me. So I made a mental note to secretly buy her a Belle doll while we were there. The cast members then told her that there was a hidden wish book somewhere in the restaurant and that they would look for it and let Emma write her wish in the wish book. A few minutes later, they came back, and we took Emma to a little corner of the restaurant where there was a big, fairy-tale-looking book at a child-sized, wall-built desk. The desk and book were under a backlit stained glass picture of the little blue fairy. I helped Emma write her wish for a Belle doll, and she signed her name in the book. The cast members (there were about seven of them at this point) stood around Emma and told her to close her eyes while the lead girl said some sort of rhyme and somehow made some tinkling bells jingle. When Emma opened her eyes, they said that they would be on the lookout for the blue fairy to see if she would make Emma's wish come true. Fast forward 20 minutes, and three of the cast members were still hanging around at our table chatting. My mom got up to get a piece of chocolate cake but came back because the line was too long. One of the cast members quietly walked away and shortly thereafter came back with a piece of cake for her. About five minutes later, a fourth cast member walks up and says that the blue fairy gave her something to give to Emma. I saw behind this girl's back a bag from a Disney gift shop. She then presented Emma with a brand new Belle Barbie-type doll in the box. We died. All of us.
Next act of kindness: we stayed around one night for the Main Street Electrical Parade, the light display on Cinderella's castle, and then the fireworks display. We had already been to one parade and learned about the handicapped section along the parade route, thanks to ANOTHER incredibly kind cast member. So at this parade, we were in position, with Emma on the front row. A parade worker came up and started talking to Emma, asking her who her favorite princess was. At that particular moment, it was Elsa. This cast member then let Emma borrow her magic flashlight - this was her real flashlight with all these different settings and stuff to help manage the parade route. She said she had to go check on a few things and that she would be right back. Fifteen minutes later, she also comes back with a Disney store bag behind her back and a giant Elsa doll in the box in the other hand. Obviously, Disney cast members have the ability to give kids gifts at their discretion, but we were so humbled by their hard work and generosity. They went above and beyond what they have to do to just get their jobs done - they searched and battled crowds to make sure that Emma got something that they knew would make her smile. They truly made DisneyWorld the happiest place on earth for our little girl. I later realized that these gifts combined were worth $50.
Ok, so pictures. Brace yourself.
Here's my best attempt at a picture in the Charlotte airport before we got on the plane. Again, this is pretty typical of what happens when I try to get a picture of the two of them. I don't know how people with all kinds of kids take successful pictures.
On the bus to the Magic Kingdom on Day 1: Hard to believe it was so cold that coats, hats, and gloves were necessary because it got quite warm just two days later.
Festival of Fantasy Parade:
This is her whoa-that's-silly face:
Pure excitement over getting to ride on the train around the park:
Pointing out her Magic Band and cover to Elsa:
The Elsa doll that was given to her:
Gazing at the Main Street Electrical Parade:
We finally found something Reese is afraid of: giant characters who don't look like people. This picture was taken seconds before she freaked out.
Another picture just before freak-out #2:
Emma had no idea who Brer Bear was. I mean, random - who really remembers these characters?
She was such a little doll in this outfit!
I gotta throw somebody under the bus. Russell took this picture of Emma with Belle, so that explains why the lighting is so bad. He has no idea how to use a big girl camera.
Emma with Merida's bow and arrow:
Emma does a LOT of hair flipping anyway, but especially when she has pigtails. It's hilarious. I was able to catch her mid-flip. Please notice that there's a smile on her face. It was basically pasted on her face for the whole four days we were there.
Emma rode The Barnstormer roller coaster, and she loved it. However, as soon as the car stopped, she looked at my mom and said, "My hairbow fell out!" She lost one of the Minnie ears and looked like a windblown ragamuffin. Luckily, the bow landed in the car and not on the ground.
Emma and Russell rode the race cars, and I'm not sure who had more fun.
One of Emma's favorite characters that she met was Goofy, and she was not one bit afraid of him. She practically impaled her face on his whiskers.
You may have noticed that Emma had an autograph book for all the characters to sign. She loved that book! One thing that was interesting as an adult was to see how the characters signed their names. They had to manage a small pen with a huge glove on. On top of that, some of them (like Donald below) have to sign on a really awkward place (duck bill, for example) because the human inside can't see around the bill. Funny-looking, huh?
A kiss on the head from Daisy:
Minnie managed to tell Emma without using words how much she loved her Minnie Mouse outfit. When I interpreted this for Emma, she didn't waste any time pointing out to Minnie her Minnie Mouse Magic Band and the little Minnie Mouse charm on it.
The teacups, her favorite:
And when the fun was over, there was still a plane ride to look forward to:
Reese just loved looking out the window and being able to stand against it. She does this with our storm door at home...sort of like those cats that sit in the window all day.
