The Magic Continues...

We are having the time of our lives! Where to begin? I’m including a lot of details – you don’t need to read – they are more for us when we get back so we remember everything!

We don't have access to internet in our villa - thus, updates will not be frequent. I haven't even started to think about pulling in pics. There will be many!

Here's what we've been up to:
We woke fairly early Saturday morning. We ate a big breakfast and got back to the Water Park. More trips down the one mile long raft ride (Trav and I alternated with Carson – Grace is just a bit too small yet!). We played for about another hour and a half. With our prune-hands and toes, we made our way up to the room. We got ready for the big trip…checked last minute items, moved the van into underground parking, and grabbed some snacks.

We got down to the lobby early and soon the limo arrived. Carson was in awe. We had a wonderful ride to the airport. As we pulled up to the curb, a Make-A-Wish volunteer was waiting for us. Mary had a sign: “Carson”. Carson’s eyes were huge. Mary helped us tremendously. She already had our boarding passes, she helped us check our luggage, and with her guest pass she escorted us to our gate. Her extra set of hands was a big help! She talked to the Air Tran staff and made some special arrangements.

In the meantime, Carson and I searched for more snacks and Grace fell asleep in Trav’s arms. She slept for about an hour, which was great.

Soon it was time to board. We were the first ones on the plane. Once we dropped our stuff at our seats, we made our way up to the cockpit. Carson got to sit in the Captain’s chair (with the Captain’s hat on). The co-pilot had him check the fire alarms and then Carson got to get his hands literally on the controls. He did all sorts of ‘maneuvers’. Of course, great pic and video moments!

The flight staff was wonderful and checked in on us often. Grace was a trooper and did very well flying. She wasn’t too crazy about sitting in her car seat, but tolerated it well for take-off and landing. She sat on our laps quite a bit too. Mr. Wish took a nap for about an hour – he was very refreshed as we landed in Orlando.

We thanked the wonderful crew and soon we were navigating through the airport. Trav carried Grace in her carseat – made for better efficiency! Once we got on the other side of security a volunteer from Give Kids the World (GKTW) was waiting for us with a “Give Kids the World welcomes Carson Kitch” sign. Once again, Carson’s eyes were HUGE! She had a luggage cart in tow. What a welcome relief that was. She knew our baggage claim area and led us on our way. Within minutes we were on our way to pick up our rental car. She helped with all of that. When the Avis agent saw we had two kids and a moderate amount of luggage he upgraded us to a brand new minivan – only had 13 miles on it! Once we got the kids settled in, the volunteer walked us through the map and directions to GKTW. She was such a life-saver. We were so grateful for our two wonderful volunteers to help our trip run so smoothly.

We found our way to the Village. It is very hard to describe all of the wonderful and incredible things. It’s kinda like a Ronald McDonald House (only much bigger) combined with Disney. Everyone is phenomenal. We were greeted at the gate “You must be the Kitch family!” and in the House of Hearts (central desk and so much else goes on here) “This must be Carson and his family!”. Carson was given his GKTW button – also known as the “Boss” button as he is the boss this week…or so the staff told him. Soon the kids had Mickey and Shamu animals, t-shirts and more in tow. Everything – food, entertainment, and more – is complementary at the Village. The Manager on duty came and visited with us and upon seeing Grace she offered to have a high chair and full-sized crib delivered (a portable crib is in each villa). We got checked in and led to our villa.

Our villa had two bedrooms and two baths, a kitchen, dining, and living room, a front porch, and a washer and dryer. The staff had subs and beverages waiting for us, since we arrived after supper. There was also a gift bag on the Dining Room table – we were told to expect one every night! It was full of goodies for the kids. After our tour, we unloaded and got settled in. First item of priority was getting Grace to bed. GKTW staff brought the crib and set it up. Soon, Grace was sleeping. She was such a wonderful traveler today.

We got things ready for our day on Sunday – Epcot!

Sunday dawned and we were all awake fairly early. I went to a GKTW orientation at 9:00. We enjoyed a continental breakfast that was brought to our door with a trolley cart – we can call any day for a breakfast to go (pizza and beverages are also available until 10:30 p.m. every day). If you haven’t checked out GKTW’s link on our blog do so (it’s on the right hand side).

After orientation we loaded up and were on our way. With Carson’s “Boss” button we enjoy free parking at all theme parks as well as free stroller rentals. We do have a double stroller that was brought to our villa – it is very nice, but a bit cumbersome. It works well when Carson tires out to have a place for him.

Soon we see the signs for Walt Disney World. Carson is beside himself. As he spots Spaceship Earth at Epcot he is practically jumping out of his booster seat. We were quite strategic with our order of the park visits. We’ve heard from others to do the Magic Kingdom last – otherwise Animal Kingdom and Epcot will be boring.

We get going and head to our character lunch in Norway. We see six princesses: Belle, Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Jasmine, and Ariel. We got autographs and pics with everyone but Snow White. We start with the attractions and Carson is having a great time. Depending on the attraction, Grace goes on some. The ones she does, she enjoys. With our Guest Services pass, we are first in line for every attraction. All we do is show the pass to a Cast Member and they whisk us typically into a side door and there we are. For one ride that had a 70 minute wait, we were on the ride in less than 5 minutes from the time we started with a Cast Member. We went on/saw: Spaceship Earth, Turtle Talk with Crush, The Seas with Nemo and Friends, Soarin’, Test Track (twice), and stops along the World Showcase. We spent the most time in Norway and Canada. Grace fell asleep in France. :-) She woke up a while later. She was hanging in there so we decided to stay a bit more. We really wanted to see the Illuminations fireworks and we were so glad we stayed to see it. It was amazing.

It didn’t take us long to get to the van. Impressively, it also didn’t take us long to get out of the parking lot. Soon we were back to our villa at the Village.

Today dawned and we first met Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy and Mary Poppins. They were guests at the Village. We had pics and autographs with all of them. Pluto and Goofy were especially silly – Goofy tried to eat the autograph books and Pluto placed the book on top of his nose to sign them. Carson thought that was very silly. Next we had an incredible breakfast at the Gingerbread House Restaurant. An impressive selection with a fun atmosphere. The volunteers were so caring and sweet. One GKTW staff member came and asked us about our plans. She quickly left and returned with info about Cocoa Beach and the rest of the Disney parks to help us plan for specific events going on this week. It was like having a personal travel agent! We stopped by the Main Desk and picked up complementary tickets to Kennedy Space Center. Soon we were navigating through Orlando and on our way to the Coast. Grace took a great nap on the way out. Yeah!

We enjoyed the info and bus tour a lot. Likely Trav and I more than Carson (Grace reacted based on what Carson thought). It is an impressive visitor’s center. Carson and Trav went on a Shuttle Launch Experience, which Carson really thought was cool. While on the bus tour, we got to see a ‘bird on the pad’ as a shuttle is planned to be launched on Friday. We all got to touch a moon rock as well. There were a lot of status updates all over the center. We had our pic taken in front of a shuttle backdrop. When the photographer saw Carson’s “Boss” pin, she wrote on our ticket that our pics would be free. The pics are great – glad we had them taken!
From Kennedy we drove down to Cocoa Beach. Carson has wanted to see the Atlantic Ocean – even more so since he has been studying maps and the continents in school. For locals, it is probably a little cool, but we are loving the 70+ degree days. Our time at the beach was no exception. We all dipped our toes in. Grace was like Velcro on Travis – but she did dip a toe in. Carson and I ended up a bit more wet. I had brought our swim gear with, but we decided it was getting a bit late to go swimming. After a bit, we loaded up our sandy feet and drove back to Orlando. Grace fell asleep along the way. She was a very tuckered out little girl. She barely opened her eyes as we got her into her pj’s. Trav and Carson ate supper and brought me a yummy take-out box.

Trav and Carson adventured off to Amberville, mini golf, and other places in the Village. Their last stop before coming back to the villa was the ice cream shop. It is open from 7:30 a.m. and until 9:30 p.m. They had three different soy flavors, which made Carson’s night. Topped with sprinkles, he was one happy kid. They even brought me some ice cream!

I got a lot done in our villa – straightened up and got ready for tomorrow. We have an early morning with a character breakfast at Disney. Then off to Animal Kingdom. We’ll be back here by mid-afternoon for rest and more exploration of GKTW.

Time for bed for me – I know I’m missing some stuff, but I wanted to get this down for now!