This is an emotional post for me to write because it is close to my heart. Hook has autism and while he is high functioning, is severely disabled and it impacts our life and changes it every minute of every day. Here is a small way you can perhaps understand a slice of what we live every day.
WELCOME TO HOLLAND
byEmily Perl Kingsley.
c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved
I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.
So, this will be phase one in a set of many posts, but with that background knowledge, Disney has been the ambassador to Holland for us. It has helped us enjoy magical moments and family vacations that no other venue would care or say they had time or availability.
Every time we go to Disney we bring a letter from our son's doctor stating what his diagnosed disabilities are. When we arrive, we present this letter at guest services and receive our Guest Assistance Card. In our case, this card allows us to use an alternate entrance when available to us for our entire party. Hook, due to anxiety and sensory issues has a difficult time with waiting and being surrounded by crowds, but loves rides. This allows us to enjoy rides with minimal waits and crowds. We tell him that Mickey knows that everyone is different and everyone has different needs. Mickey gives him this special pass, because he knows that Hook is special and he wants him to have the best time possible. Without this pass, there is no way we could do Disney with Hook.
We have a few times, encountered some rude people who have asked us why we got this special treatment and what we were doing. I thought about it and gave them this response, "How about, you take my son's multiple disabilities, the main one being Autism and you give that to your child, taking it away from my child and I will be happy to give you this pass and wait in the longer line to ride." I have never gotten any verbal responses back, but many ashamed looks away. No one has ever taken my offer, not that many people ask, but you always find people out there in the crowd that are rude enough that comment.
A few tips we have learned in Disney traveling with our son is to avoid the peak travel times. Bring earplugs to diminish the noise, bring sunglasses to mute the bright lights, bring an ipod for when it is all just too much. Brush regularly if on a sensory treatment plan. Be open and disclose, many cast members are well trained and know how to help and want to help.
More to come in future posts on this topic, just know that children and families with disabilities are welcome and accommodated in Disney and honestly outside of our own home, we have never felt more accepted or at home than when we are when in Disney.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Ohana the ultimate family dining experience!
If you have not figured it out by now, I will come out in the open. WE LOVE FOOD! As a family, we love food, we love dining, we love restaurants, we love cooking and watching cooking shows. We have been taking our kids to restaurants since birth and I cook with them almost daily. They admit that garlic and onions smell good while they are stirring them in butter on the stove, but still refuse to taste, one sense at a time, I have appealed to their sense of smell, taste can not be far behind.
A huge excitement factor in our Disney trips is the dining. There is a massive misconception about Disney that there is no good food. People tend to think that if you go to Disney you better be prepared to eat, burgers and fries and chicken nuggets. WRONG! It is actually very difficult to find french fries on any menus including kids menus. Disney has made an effort to offer many healthy options for dining on kids menus. There are numerous restaurants on Disney property that are incredible. One of our favorite Disney Dining experiences can be found in our personal family favorite resort THE POLYNESIAN.
The Polynesian resort is Disney magic! It is themed to be a tropical paradise with an indoor waterfall, tiki torched lined paths and a white sandy beach with hammocks that overlook Cinderella's castle. All stresses melt away as soon as you hear the waterfall and soak in the tranquil ambiance of the Polynesian Resort.
Ohana is located on the second floor of the resort. In the center of the restaurant is the grill. Flames shoot from the open horse shoe shaped grill and the smells that come from the marinated meats and seafood on skewers are hypnotizing. The restaurant has a wall of windows, many of the windows, offer incredible views of the castle and the volcano pool. A center walkway which encircles many of the tables exists for the entertainment and the family parades. Ohana also hosts a character breakfast with Lilo and Stitch and friends for breakfast, but for dinner it hosts paradise for dining.
It is a family style all you care to eat type of meal, which I like to call the lazy buffet. Meaning, you can eat all you care to eat and you don't have to move a muscle. If you are going to dinner here to make the most of the experience, you want to eat a light breakfast and a light lunch. Save room for the many courses, each one more flavorful than the next.
When you are seated by your "cousin", you are greeted by name by a friendly server that will ask you if you know what Ohana means. They will explain that Ohana means family and here you are a part of the family. You will walk by a bar highlighting specialty drinks and the grand finale which I will save for the end of the story. Hint, it is one of the reasons you should save room all day for this meal.
After being seated in comfortable chairs and your drink order is taken, and the food will start to arrive. PACE YOURSELF! Delicious loafs of bread and a mixed green salad with a tantalizing citrus dressing will first arrive. We usually ask for more salad as the dressing is light and delicious and we love our greens. Ohana offers complimentary "off menu" selections for the children typically including macaroni and cheese, hot dogs and grilled cheese. Ask your server, they will often not offer, but this is free of charge for the kids.
Next the honey-coriander wings will arrive with the pork dumplings with sweet and sour sauce. It has just begun. You must be patient and pace yourself. You may want to eat three plates of wings and two of dumplings, but better things await. You are scaling the Ohana mountain of culinary pleasure, each step gets you closer to the finale awaiting you at the top of the delicious mountain.
Your server will next deliver a trio of tempting sauces, a peanut sauce, a spicy mustard and a sweet and sour sauce. Then finally, you will see your server approaching you with the heavenly skewers of meat delivered to your table straight from the open grill. The peel and eat shrimp are huge and perfectly cooked. I prefer the peanut sauce for dipping for the shrimp. Then you will be delivered grilled turkey, pork loin and grilled sirloin. They will keep coming back and offering you more and more and more. The meats are tender and juicy and hot and moist and delicious.
You will find yourself eating and eating and dipping. Asian noodles and stir fried vegetables are also delivered to your table. Just when you feel like this meal could not get any better you will begin hearing the lovely sounds of the live ukulele music from the center walkway inviting your children out to participate in a parade. Not only is the food incredible, but there are kids activities built into the meal. Hook, Tink, Cinder and Beast go running and we watch them as they happily parade with music makers and then play the limbo game while we are suddenly enjoying a 15 minute date! Hey, take any magical moments you can get!
The children return excited and ready to enjoy the top of the mountain, the finale, the reason for fasting through the day. The bread pudding served with mounds of vanilla ice cream and adorable carafes of banana caramel sauce served piping hot. This dessert inspires you to find nooks and crannies of available space in your stomach you swore did not exist just 15 minutes prior.
The bread pudding is served warm and by itself is good, but add to the warm bread pudding the cold rich vanilla ice cream and then drizzle the hot rich caramel sauce filled with real bananas and suddenly you start hallucinating with pleasure. This trip was free! There was no cost at least it was all justified in this one moment when you first tasted this luscious dessert! You find crazy things coming out of your mouth like, " Kids, when are we coming back to Disney next? Maybe should bring the whole family for Christmas next year!" The power of this dining experience does that. It makes you fall in love with the mystifying magic of the power and enjoyment of a Disney vacation.
I am surprised that they do not offer complimentary wheel barrow service to exit this restaurant, because after dining here you feel like you might need it. I always leave this dinner with the post Thanksgiving meal experience. Otherwise know as unbutton the top button on your pantzitis. We love this restaurant, because it is more than a restaurant, it is a dining experience Disney style and it is incredible and not to be missed.
The cost is Adults $30.99; Children 3-9 $14.99 or one credit off your dining plan. Advance reservations are strongly recommended.
A huge excitement factor in our Disney trips is the dining. There is a massive misconception about Disney that there is no good food. People tend to think that if you go to Disney you better be prepared to eat, burgers and fries and chicken nuggets. WRONG! It is actually very difficult to find french fries on any menus including kids menus. Disney has made an effort to offer many healthy options for dining on kids menus. There are numerous restaurants on Disney property that are incredible. One of our favorite Disney Dining experiences can be found in our personal family favorite resort THE POLYNESIAN.
The Polynesian resort is Disney magic! It is themed to be a tropical paradise with an indoor waterfall, tiki torched lined paths and a white sandy beach with hammocks that overlook Cinderella's castle. All stresses melt away as soon as you hear the waterfall and soak in the tranquil ambiance of the Polynesian Resort.
Ohana is located on the second floor of the resort. In the center of the restaurant is the grill. Flames shoot from the open horse shoe shaped grill and the smells that come from the marinated meats and seafood on skewers are hypnotizing. The restaurant has a wall of windows, many of the windows, offer incredible views of the castle and the volcano pool. A center walkway which encircles many of the tables exists for the entertainment and the family parades. Ohana also hosts a character breakfast with Lilo and Stitch and friends for breakfast, but for dinner it hosts paradise for dining.
It is a family style all you care to eat type of meal, which I like to call the lazy buffet. Meaning, you can eat all you care to eat and you don't have to move a muscle. If you are going to dinner here to make the most of the experience, you want to eat a light breakfast and a light lunch. Save room for the many courses, each one more flavorful than the next.
When you are seated by your "cousin", you are greeted by name by a friendly server that will ask you if you know what Ohana means. They will explain that Ohana means family and here you are a part of the family. You will walk by a bar highlighting specialty drinks and the grand finale which I will save for the end of the story. Hint, it is one of the reasons you should save room all day for this meal.
After being seated in comfortable chairs and your drink order is taken, and the food will start to arrive. PACE YOURSELF! Delicious loafs of bread and a mixed green salad with a tantalizing citrus dressing will first arrive. We usually ask for more salad as the dressing is light and delicious and we love our greens. Ohana offers complimentary "off menu" selections for the children typically including macaroni and cheese, hot dogs and grilled cheese. Ask your server, they will often not offer, but this is free of charge for the kids.
Next the honey-coriander wings will arrive with the pork dumplings with sweet and sour sauce. It has just begun. You must be patient and pace yourself. You may want to eat three plates of wings and two of dumplings, but better things await. You are scaling the Ohana mountain of culinary pleasure, each step gets you closer to the finale awaiting you at the top of the delicious mountain.
Your server will next deliver a trio of tempting sauces, a peanut sauce, a spicy mustard and a sweet and sour sauce. Then finally, you will see your server approaching you with the heavenly skewers of meat delivered to your table straight from the open grill. The peel and eat shrimp are huge and perfectly cooked. I prefer the peanut sauce for dipping for the shrimp. Then you will be delivered grilled turkey, pork loin and grilled sirloin. They will keep coming back and offering you more and more and more. The meats are tender and juicy and hot and moist and delicious.
You will find yourself eating and eating and dipping. Asian noodles and stir fried vegetables are also delivered to your table. Just when you feel like this meal could not get any better you will begin hearing the lovely sounds of the live ukulele music from the center walkway inviting your children out to participate in a parade. Not only is the food incredible, but there are kids activities built into the meal. Hook, Tink, Cinder and Beast go running and we watch them as they happily parade with music makers and then play the limbo game while we are suddenly enjoying a 15 minute date! Hey, take any magical moments you can get!
The children return excited and ready to enjoy the top of the mountain, the finale, the reason for fasting through the day. The bread pudding served with mounds of vanilla ice cream and adorable carafes of banana caramel sauce served piping hot. This dessert inspires you to find nooks and crannies of available space in your stomach you swore did not exist just 15 minutes prior.
The bread pudding is served warm and by itself is good, but add to the warm bread pudding the cold rich vanilla ice cream and then drizzle the hot rich caramel sauce filled with real bananas and suddenly you start hallucinating with pleasure. This trip was free! There was no cost at least it was all justified in this one moment when you first tasted this luscious dessert! You find crazy things coming out of your mouth like, " Kids, when are we coming back to Disney next? Maybe should bring the whole family for Christmas next year!" The power of this dining experience does that. It makes you fall in love with the mystifying magic of the power and enjoyment of a Disney vacation.
I am surprised that they do not offer complimentary wheel barrow service to exit this restaurant, because after dining here you feel like you might need it. I always leave this dinner with the post Thanksgiving meal experience. Otherwise know as unbutton the top button on your pantzitis. We love this restaurant, because it is more than a restaurant, it is a dining experience Disney style and it is incredible and not to be missed.
The cost is Adults $30.99; Children 3-9 $14.99 or one credit off your dining plan. Advance reservations are strongly recommended.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
We Hoop De Doo, do you?
As I mentioned in a previous post, we always do the deluxe dining plan and and one of the many reasons is because we love to Hoop it up at the Hoop De Doo Show. The Hoop De Show is an entertaining dinner show held at Pioneer Hall located in Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort. It is not just a dinner show for us, but an entire experience. We actually love it so much that we typically do it twice a trip.
The Deluxe dining plan allows us to have this flexibility. The Hoop show uses 2 dining credits and one of the benefits of the tickets to this show is that the gratuity and alcoholic drinks (wine, sangria and draft beer) are included. So unlike at most other table credit restaurants, we do not have to worry about paying extra for the gratuity and alcoholic beverages.
We always do the 5pm show. They have 3 nightly shows, 5pm, 7:15pm and 9:30 and there are three categories of seating with a different price range.
Category 1 Adults (10 and up) $59.99 including tax and gratuity Children (3-9) $30.99 including tax and gratuity Infants (0-2) No charge and you are seated on the first floor nearest to the stage.
Category 2 Adults (10 and up) $54.99 including tax and gratuity Children (3-9) $26.99 including tax and gratuity Infants (0-2) No charge and you are seated either on the floor behind Cat 1 tables or center balcony on the second floor.
Category 3 Adults (10 and up) $50.99 including tax and gratuity Children (3-9) $25.99 including tax and gratuity Infants (0-2) No charge and you are seated on the balcony on the left or right sides.
The menu is simple and Delicious! When you are seated, you will find a delicious tossed salad with Italian style dressing and loafs of delicious bread with butter. You will be greeted by your server who will take your drink order.
A secret tip for picky children is to ask for the kid options, not listed on the menu and offered free of charge. They will bring your child a Smuckers uncrustable peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a bag of chips and an order of mac and cheese.
Next course slammed on your table in a metal bucket is a hefty serving of delicious fried chicken, BBQ ribs, mashed potatoes and baked beans, yum oh yum.
Shortly after your drink order is taken, the show begins with an arrival of the Pioneer hall players via stagecoach and they begin the slapstick comedy show.
The dessert is a delicious Strawberry Shortcake delivered to your table by your server after being paraded in a musical number on the stage.
Our children have been going to this show from infancy through the current ages of 8, 6, 4 and 1. The result is always the same. Pure joy, laughter and fun times. I will never forget when my son, age 4 at the time, literally fell off his chair from laughter. We have seen our children utterly engrossed in the romance, adventure and comedy of this show over the years.
We make the show an experience. We typically catch the relaxing boat ride from the Magic Kingdom no later than 3:30pm for the 5:00pm show. You enjoy a wonderful boat ride, listening to radio Disney and passing by the Contemporary and Wilderness Lodge on beautiful Bay Lake.
We enjoyed a special treat on our most recent boat ride. A cast member came to the back of the boat and asked us if we had ever met the hungry bear? I was intrigued and we all said no. He explained to us how the Wilderness Lodge was designed to be the body of the bear. If you look at the building from Bay Lake you can see the eyes under the two main triangles, the nose and the mouth . The wings on the side are his body. As you pass by, the eyeballs follow the boat moving from the right side to the left tracking your movement, he is the hungry bear tracking us. We were told his nostrils used to have lights at night, but no one has replaced the bulbs for a while. What an incredible insight to see his eyes tracking us and recognize meaning in a building I had been looking at for years without seeing.
We typically arrive at the beautiful and peaceful Fort Wilderness by 4pm and the kids sprint from the boat dock to the playground. A hidden secret is that a few steps away from the playground is Crocketts Tavern. The Tavern has an outdoor window from the wrap around porch that you can order drinks from. The beautiful porch with comfy rocking chairs is located steps from the playground. The porch has Connect Four games and tables for coloring so we can grab a drink and play with our kids or watch them on the playground while soaking in the relaxing ambiance of Fort Wilderness.
Before the show begins, you can be relaxing and let your children unwind and be ready to embrace the magic of the show. We often leave the show with that painful feeling in our cheeks that we have smiled too much. The entire show is interactive and filled with silly jokes and songs and slapstick comedy routines and corny jokes. You may be asked by a performer from which State you have traveled and they will then involve your table in a playful rhyming song about "Well they come from all over when they come" The players also choose participants from the audience to be on the stage in the show. The players are constantly moving through the audience asking for participation form the crowd. Participation ranges from being on stage to being involved in a song to clapping to the beat, waving your napkins above your head and rubbing your spoon against an old washboard in beat to the music.
This is a heartwarming, family loving inspired tradition that should never be missed when on vacation in Disney. The food in delicious, the show is fun and spirited and people of all ages from babies to grandparents will love this show. It is an incredible memory making experience not to be missed.
After the show you can also catch a horse drawn wagon ride around Fort Wilderness or just ride the boat back to the Magic Kingdom just in time to catch the fireworks show and the Electrical water parade.
The Deluxe dining plan allows us to have this flexibility. The Hoop show uses 2 dining credits and one of the benefits of the tickets to this show is that the gratuity and alcoholic drinks (wine, sangria and draft beer) are included. So unlike at most other table credit restaurants, we do not have to worry about paying extra for the gratuity and alcoholic beverages.
We always do the 5pm show. They have 3 nightly shows, 5pm, 7:15pm and 9:30 and there are three categories of seating with a different price range.
Category 1 Adults (10 and up) $59.99 including tax and gratuity Children (3-9) $30.99 including tax and gratuity Infants (0-2) No charge and you are seated on the first floor nearest to the stage.
Category 2 Adults (10 and up) $54.99 including tax and gratuity Children (3-9) $26.99 including tax and gratuity Infants (0-2) No charge and you are seated either on the floor behind Cat 1 tables or center balcony on the second floor.
Category 3 Adults (10 and up) $50.99 including tax and gratuity Children (3-9) $25.99 including tax and gratuity Infants (0-2) No charge and you are seated on the balcony on the left or right sides.
The menu is simple and Delicious! When you are seated, you will find a delicious tossed salad with Italian style dressing and loafs of delicious bread with butter. You will be greeted by your server who will take your drink order.
A secret tip for picky children is to ask for the kid options, not listed on the menu and offered free of charge. They will bring your child a Smuckers uncrustable peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a bag of chips and an order of mac and cheese.
Next course slammed on your table in a metal bucket is a hefty serving of delicious fried chicken, BBQ ribs, mashed potatoes and baked beans, yum oh yum.
Shortly after your drink order is taken, the show begins with an arrival of the Pioneer hall players via stagecoach and they begin the slapstick comedy show.
The dessert is a delicious Strawberry Shortcake delivered to your table by your server after being paraded in a musical number on the stage.
Our children have been going to this show from infancy through the current ages of 8, 6, 4 and 1. The result is always the same. Pure joy, laughter and fun times. I will never forget when my son, age 4 at the time, literally fell off his chair from laughter. We have seen our children utterly engrossed in the romance, adventure and comedy of this show over the years.
We make the show an experience. We typically catch the relaxing boat ride from the Magic Kingdom no later than 3:30pm for the 5:00pm show. You enjoy a wonderful boat ride, listening to radio Disney and passing by the Contemporary and Wilderness Lodge on beautiful Bay Lake.
We enjoyed a special treat on our most recent boat ride. A cast member came to the back of the boat and asked us if we had ever met the hungry bear? I was intrigued and we all said no. He explained to us how the Wilderness Lodge was designed to be the body of the bear. If you look at the building from Bay Lake you can see the eyes under the two main triangles, the nose and the mouth . The wings on the side are his body. As you pass by, the eyeballs follow the boat moving from the right side to the left tracking your movement, he is the hungry bear tracking us. We were told his nostrils used to have lights at night, but no one has replaced the bulbs for a while. What an incredible insight to see his eyes tracking us and recognize meaning in a building I had been looking at for years without seeing.
We typically arrive at the beautiful and peaceful Fort Wilderness by 4pm and the kids sprint from the boat dock to the playground. A hidden secret is that a few steps away from the playground is Crocketts Tavern. The Tavern has an outdoor window from the wrap around porch that you can order drinks from. The beautiful porch with comfy rocking chairs is located steps from the playground. The porch has Connect Four games and tables for coloring so we can grab a drink and play with our kids or watch them on the playground while soaking in the relaxing ambiance of Fort Wilderness.
Before the show begins, you can be relaxing and let your children unwind and be ready to embrace the magic of the show. We often leave the show with that painful feeling in our cheeks that we have smiled too much. The entire show is interactive and filled with silly jokes and songs and slapstick comedy routines and corny jokes. You may be asked by a performer from which State you have traveled and they will then involve your table in a playful rhyming song about "Well they come from all over when they come" The players also choose participants from the audience to be on the stage in the show. The players are constantly moving through the audience asking for participation form the crowd. Participation ranges from being on stage to being involved in a song to clapping to the beat, waving your napkins above your head and rubbing your spoon against an old washboard in beat to the music.
This is a heartwarming, family loving inspired tradition that should never be missed when on vacation in Disney. The food in delicious, the show is fun and spirited and people of all ages from babies to grandparents will love this show. It is an incredible memory making experience not to be missed.
After the show you can also catch a horse drawn wagon ride around Fort Wilderness or just ride the boat back to the Magic Kingdom just in time to catch the fireworks show and the Electrical water parade.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Pin Trading
What is Disney Pin Trading all about anyway? In our family, it has become a fun tradition that we look forward to every time we go on a Disney trip. Each person has a lanyard in our family. Although, some people use hats to hold their pins or special cases or vests, you can be creative! Everyone has their own lot of Disney pins. THEY MUST BE DISNEY PINS or no cast members will trade with you.
All of the cast members inside the grounds of the Walt Disney World wear lanyards with Disney pins to trade. The cast members with the green lanyards are only allowed to trade with children, but the other colors can trade with anyone. Pin trading is for adults and for children of all ages starting around age 3. You will find pin trading happening in the parks, in the hotels, outside of the parks, in the stores, in the restaurants, basically everywhere inside Disney.
How does it work? You approach a cast member and as I always remind Hook, Tink and Cinder, (Beast has not started yet) to use good manners, we typically say "Hello, can we please check out your pins?" If no one finds a pin they are interested in trading for, we say " I like your pins, thank you" If you find one you are interested in, you ask "Can I please trade you for that pin?" and let them know which pin you would like and then select the pin you are giving them from your collection. The cast member must trade with you except, as I said if you are an adult trying to trade with a green lanyard, they will not trade with adults or if the cast member already has the pin you are trying to give them You must give the cast member a different pin than the one they already have.
It is that simple. My kids often pick a theme that they are aiming for on a trip and will hunt for pins that fit into that theme. For example, one trip, Hook focused on transportation, so he collected Different types of Disney buses, boats rides with cars or planes and monorails. Another trip Hook focused on Star Wars pins. Tink and Cinder have focused on princess themes, and Minnie themes. The options are endless for picking a theme based approach. When I trade, I typically will focus on searching for pins that hold a special memory for me. For example, I have a Dumbo, Splash Mountain and Goofy Barnstormer pin that reminds me of the first times, I took my children on those rides. I also will always buy a special pin if we are there for a special occasion. For example, I have an Easter 2006 pin for when we spent Easter in Disney that year, I have a pin for Mickey's Christmas party and Halloween party.
I have different categories of pins. The pins that I will trade and the pins that I will not trade, the event pins, I will not trade. I typically will leave these pins home when we go on a trip. When packing the pins, I always ask the children to look at their lanyard and if there are any pins they do not want to trade to take them off and leave them home.
How do I get started? Starting pin trading is a hobby and therefore, there is a small investment of money. Pins are a bit expensive and range in price from $4 a pin, up to $10 a pin. We typically stay in the $4 range. Lanyards you can buy at Disney or get anywhere, Walmart and Target are often a good place to look for a vest or a book or a hat for this. You can buy sets of pins when you arrive in Disney or you can often find sets of pins being sold online at eBay. This is how we got started. Please make sure that they are in fact Disney pins, look at the pictures of them and ask to verify this. You can buy a set of pins and save bundles.
My kids each have about 12 pins and typically we will only buy them one new pin on a trip. They just keep trading the pins they have as we go back for more vacations. Once you have made the initial investment, pin trading is free. I do on occasion buy a bag of replacement backs for $2.00 because inevitably some pins backings tend to fall off.
The benefits of pin trading are never ending. It is a fun hobby and can take care of the souvenir issue or dilemma of kids wanting to buy everything they see in store there and take home more junk you do not need. Your souvenir for the trip for the kids can be the pins! It helps build literacy and communication skills. Tink, the shy one in our family has mustered her courage to speak and approach cast members when she sees a pin she is motivated to trade for. Also, Tink had just started to read this past trip and she was very excited to try to read all of the words on pins she saw. A Disney trip can be educational! It also helps reinforce opportunities to teach your children manners while trading. Additionally, it is a fantastic way to deal with delays and waiting in line. If you are waiting for a dinner reservation, or waiting in line for a ride, the kids can pin trade and suddenly a 20 minute wait for Pooh Bear happens with no whining or boredom!
My kids will often trade with other children in the park as well and have made some nice friends and connections with children form all over the world while in Disney pin trading.
I know there are many doubters out there that think your kids won't do it or who say my kids will never let the pins go, but you would be surprised, there are so many interesting pins out there. The kids love this, the adults love it! To get started, just buy them a set if you are in Disney of pins you think they would trade, for example, don't start your 4 year old daughter out with a set of princess pins! Buy her the generic characters so she can search for fun princess ones to trade for.
Charming was sceptical about pin trading at first, but now he loves it! The Mickey baseball pins for the different teams and the star wars pins got him hooked!
Pin trading is another way to capture the magic of Disney and bring it home to keep those memories of your fantastic family vacation alive for years.
All of the cast members inside the grounds of the Walt Disney World wear lanyards with Disney pins to trade. The cast members with the green lanyards are only allowed to trade with children, but the other colors can trade with anyone. Pin trading is for adults and for children of all ages starting around age 3. You will find pin trading happening in the parks, in the hotels, outside of the parks, in the stores, in the restaurants, basically everywhere inside Disney.
How does it work? You approach a cast member and as I always remind Hook, Tink and Cinder, (Beast has not started yet) to use good manners, we typically say "Hello, can we please check out your pins?" If no one finds a pin they are interested in trading for, we say " I like your pins, thank you" If you find one you are interested in, you ask "Can I please trade you for that pin?" and let them know which pin you would like and then select the pin you are giving them from your collection. The cast member must trade with you except, as I said if you are an adult trying to trade with a green lanyard, they will not trade with adults or if the cast member already has the pin you are trying to give them You must give the cast member a different pin than the one they already have.
It is that simple. My kids often pick a theme that they are aiming for on a trip and will hunt for pins that fit into that theme. For example, one trip, Hook focused on transportation, so he collected Different types of Disney buses, boats rides with cars or planes and monorails. Another trip Hook focused on Star Wars pins. Tink and Cinder have focused on princess themes, and Minnie themes. The options are endless for picking a theme based approach. When I trade, I typically will focus on searching for pins that hold a special memory for me. For example, I have a Dumbo, Splash Mountain and Goofy Barnstormer pin that reminds me of the first times, I took my children on those rides. I also will always buy a special pin if we are there for a special occasion. For example, I have an Easter 2006 pin for when we spent Easter in Disney that year, I have a pin for Mickey's Christmas party and Halloween party.
I have different categories of pins. The pins that I will trade and the pins that I will not trade, the event pins, I will not trade. I typically will leave these pins home when we go on a trip. When packing the pins, I always ask the children to look at their lanyard and if there are any pins they do not want to trade to take them off and leave them home.
How do I get started? Starting pin trading is a hobby and therefore, there is a small investment of money. Pins are a bit expensive and range in price from $4 a pin, up to $10 a pin. We typically stay in the $4 range. Lanyards you can buy at Disney or get anywhere, Walmart and Target are often a good place to look for a vest or a book or a hat for this. You can buy sets of pins when you arrive in Disney or you can often find sets of pins being sold online at eBay. This is how we got started. Please make sure that they are in fact Disney pins, look at the pictures of them and ask to verify this. You can buy a set of pins and save bundles.
My kids each have about 12 pins and typically we will only buy them one new pin on a trip. They just keep trading the pins they have as we go back for more vacations. Once you have made the initial investment, pin trading is free. I do on occasion buy a bag of replacement backs for $2.00 because inevitably some pins backings tend to fall off.
The benefits of pin trading are never ending. It is a fun hobby and can take care of the souvenir issue or dilemma of kids wanting to buy everything they see in store there and take home more junk you do not need. Your souvenir for the trip for the kids can be the pins! It helps build literacy and communication skills. Tink, the shy one in our family has mustered her courage to speak and approach cast members when she sees a pin she is motivated to trade for. Also, Tink had just started to read this past trip and she was very excited to try to read all of the words on pins she saw. A Disney trip can be educational! It also helps reinforce opportunities to teach your children manners while trading. Additionally, it is a fantastic way to deal with delays and waiting in line. If you are waiting for a dinner reservation, or waiting in line for a ride, the kids can pin trade and suddenly a 20 minute wait for Pooh Bear happens with no whining or boredom!
My kids will often trade with other children in the park as well and have made some nice friends and connections with children form all over the world while in Disney pin trading.
I know there are many doubters out there that think your kids won't do it or who say my kids will never let the pins go, but you would be surprised, there are so many interesting pins out there. The kids love this, the adults love it! To get started, just buy them a set if you are in Disney of pins you think they would trade, for example, don't start your 4 year old daughter out with a set of princess pins! Buy her the generic characters so she can search for fun princess ones to trade for.
Charming was sceptical about pin trading at first, but now he loves it! The Mickey baseball pins for the different teams and the star wars pins got him hooked!
Pin trading is another way to capture the magic of Disney and bring it home to keep those memories of your fantastic family vacation alive for years.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
It's a what's a kadoozie and other yummy cold treats
What is an itzakadoozie you might wonder? It is a topic of conversation that Hook, Tink, and Cinder often have when they are playing Disney World at home. As far as they are concerned it contains all major food groups and would be enough for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
It is a delicious twisted rainbow Popsicle that has a plastic straw in the middle. There is an art to eating these treats. One must open the packaging at the opposite end from the bottom of the straw. Then you start eating, being careful to leave the wrapping covering the bottom part of the Popsicle. As you eat, the straw top will slowly be revealed allowing you to eat the Popsicle and sip the melted juices through the straw at the same time. They are available in every park except the animal Kingdom which bans plastic straws due to the safety of the animals. The kids are aware of this fact and concede to another choice of treat when in the Animal Kingdom.
Hook will typically go for chocolate covered Mickey Ears
Tink often opts for the Frozen Pink Lemonade in a cup
Cinder usually enjoys the strawberry fruit bar
Charming often opts for the cookies and cream mickey cookie bar
Mommy Mouse always chooses popcorn
Beast takes leftovers of whatever she can get
My kids live for this treat when in WDW. Moments after arriving in the Orlando Airport they begin discussing where they will see the ice cream cart first and when will they first have the opportunity to start the itzakadoozie tango with Mommy Mouse and Charming. It often goes like this. Hook, "Mommy, I just saw an itzakadoozie cart and I think it was open." To which Mommy Mouse replies "Oh, really? That is interesting, you are very observant."
Since we always do the deluxe dining plan, a topic for a future post, we each have two snacks a day to use and the kids know this and utilize this in their side of the tango.
Tink being the calculating one will often start with "Mommy? Have we used any of our snack credits today?" To which I will respond with the number of snacks we have used and then turn it into a math problem for them to determine how many snack credits we all have left for the day. Why am I the only one that always has to use my fingers for this?
Cinder will them chime in, "Mommy is it snack time, my tummy is rumbling for an itzakadoozie!" At this point, Charming will often tell them that he heard that every snack cart is out of Itzakadoozie's because Goofy forgot to turn the freezer on and they all melted!
This usually ends in a lot of giggles and the end of the Itzakadoozie tango with the reward of Itzakadoozies. The Disney Dining Plan has tremendous advantages, having a family of four children does not worry us when in Disney when we use the dining plan because we know that if our children want to experience the "magic" of an itzakadoozie, it is only one snack credit away.
No need for us to worry about how much money we are spending on Popsicles, it is all taken care of!
Mommy Mouse highly recommends the Disney Dining plan, just another advantage of staying on property when visiting Disney World.
It is a delicious twisted rainbow Popsicle that has a plastic straw in the middle. There is an art to eating these treats. One must open the packaging at the opposite end from the bottom of the straw. Then you start eating, being careful to leave the wrapping covering the bottom part of the Popsicle. As you eat, the straw top will slowly be revealed allowing you to eat the Popsicle and sip the melted juices through the straw at the same time. They are available in every park except the animal Kingdom which bans plastic straws due to the safety of the animals. The kids are aware of this fact and concede to another choice of treat when in the Animal Kingdom.
Hook will typically go for chocolate covered Mickey Ears
Tink often opts for the Frozen Pink Lemonade in a cup
Cinder usually enjoys the strawberry fruit bar
Charming often opts for the cookies and cream mickey cookie bar
Mommy Mouse always chooses popcorn
Beast takes leftovers of whatever she can get
My kids live for this treat when in WDW. Moments after arriving in the Orlando Airport they begin discussing where they will see the ice cream cart first and when will they first have the opportunity to start the itzakadoozie tango with Mommy Mouse and Charming. It often goes like this. Hook, "Mommy, I just saw an itzakadoozie cart and I think it was open." To which Mommy Mouse replies "Oh, really? That is interesting, you are very observant."
Since we always do the deluxe dining plan, a topic for a future post, we each have two snacks a day to use and the kids know this and utilize this in their side of the tango.
Tink being the calculating one will often start with "Mommy? Have we used any of our snack credits today?" To which I will respond with the number of snacks we have used and then turn it into a math problem for them to determine how many snack credits we all have left for the day. Why am I the only one that always has to use my fingers for this?
Cinder will them chime in, "Mommy is it snack time, my tummy is rumbling for an itzakadoozie!" At this point, Charming will often tell them that he heard that every snack cart is out of Itzakadoozie's because Goofy forgot to turn the freezer on and they all melted!
This usually ends in a lot of giggles and the end of the Itzakadoozie tango with the reward of Itzakadoozies. The Disney Dining Plan has tremendous advantages, having a family of four children does not worry us when in Disney when we use the dining plan because we know that if our children want to experience the "magic" of an itzakadoozie, it is only one snack credit away.
No need for us to worry about how much money we are spending on Popsicles, it is all taken care of!
Mommy Mouse highly recommends the Disney Dining plan, just another advantage of staying on property when visiting Disney World.
Magical Moments
I get asked the question frequently, What makes Disney so special? Why does everyone love going there, do not want to leave and never stop talking about when to go back? I could write volumes in answers to those questions, but one of the main reasons I believe is THE MAGIC!
When you are visiting Disney, the rest of the world melts away, everything inside a Disney park or resort is clean, smells good, looks beautiful and makes you feel comfortable, safe and excited at the same time.
You are always wondering what will happen next? Will a character appear from nowhere to visit with? Will a show or a parade start around you? Will you start smelling the intoxicating smell of fresh popcorn being popped as one of the food cart stands is being opened? Those are all magical moments in themselves aside from the regular stresses of life.
Disney is unique in a special way because they create MAGICAL MOMENTS for guests everyday, everywhere on the grounds. You never know when one might happen or how or why you are selected for one, but when you are the recipient of a MAGICAL MOMENT, it creates a memory, an experience that will last your family a lifetime.
I was recently in Disney for our family vacation and we received several magical moments, but my favorite moment took my breath away. We were in the Magic Kingdom and it was about 9:45am and we had just finished riding, Snow White, Dumbo, Peter Pan, It's a Small World and Pooh when we started heading toward the Teacups. My Son, age 8 who I will refer to as code name Hook was in fact dressed as Captain Hook and beginning his campaign for the daily Itzakadoozie dose. If you do not know what an Itzakadoozie is, do not worry, I will blog on that treat later. My oldest daughter age 6 whom I will refer to as Tink was in fact dressed as Tinkerbell that day and my daughter age 4 whom I will refer to as Cinder, was in fact dressed as Cinderella and then there is our one year old daughter whom I will refer to as Beast because if you know her, you know why.
Anyhow, the kids were looking festive and myself as always was strewn with pin necklaces, a camera and autograph books, juggling the stroller and navigating toward our next ride. I think you should be able to get a good visual from that. As I was mustering up the defense to the itzakadoozie tango, we see Alice in Wonderland appear from nowhere as the characters always have a knack of doing. She was beautiful with her long blond hair, perfect black headband, and neatly pressed blue dress with white apron. We expected her to be whisked away by her bodyguard to start signing autographs, but she appeared to have other ideas. She looked at us and began walking straight towards us, smiling. The kids froze.
Anyone who has been to Disney must know about the character bodyguards. They are usually no more than one step away and will dictate the line control. They will tell you if you are able to jump into the line or not and where you should stand and how you should hold your pen and your book and are some of most active pin traders in the parks. To see a character without their wrangler as I like to call them is a rare occasion. Part of me wanted to tell her "Run Alice, you are free, I don't see any of them around you!" OK, that was just my inner monologue for a brief moment. Back to the story.
Alice starts walking toward us, when she gets to the children she kneels down and greets them, they are all too shocked to speak. She tells them that she wants to ride the teacups, but has no one to ride with and wonders if they would come ride with her. MommyMouse is temporarily rescued from Itzakaddozie tango! The kids nod and I nudge trying to wake them from their catatonic states. My husband code name Charming heads with them because at this point, being the emotional, mushy Disney addicted person I am, tears are already flowing from my eyes at an alarming rate as I realize how Magical and special this moment is and how my children will remember this and be talking about this moment in time for years.
I am fumbling to grab the new handy flip camera recorder and my camera and begin trying to record and snap pictures at the same time. I can see out of the corner of my eyes the crowd starting to point and gather and stare at Alice and my brood wondering what is happening.
Alice holds Tink and Cinders hands and walks them all pass the line and straight into the ride where she politely asks them to choose a teacup. They all rode and Hook, Cinder and Tink report afterwards that Alice spun the teacup! After the ride, Alice marched them to a sunny spot by the trees and signed their autograph books and posed for pictures.
This was a Magical Moment and one of the countless reasons why Disney is so special.
When you are visiting Disney, the rest of the world melts away, everything inside a Disney park or resort is clean, smells good, looks beautiful and makes you feel comfortable, safe and excited at the same time.
You are always wondering what will happen next? Will a character appear from nowhere to visit with? Will a show or a parade start around you? Will you start smelling the intoxicating smell of fresh popcorn being popped as one of the food cart stands is being opened? Those are all magical moments in themselves aside from the regular stresses of life.
Disney is unique in a special way because they create MAGICAL MOMENTS for guests everyday, everywhere on the grounds. You never know when one might happen or how or why you are selected for one, but when you are the recipient of a MAGICAL MOMENT, it creates a memory, an experience that will last your family a lifetime.
I was recently in Disney for our family vacation and we received several magical moments, but my favorite moment took my breath away. We were in the Magic Kingdom and it was about 9:45am and we had just finished riding, Snow White, Dumbo, Peter Pan, It's a Small World and Pooh when we started heading toward the Teacups. My Son, age 8 who I will refer to as code name Hook was in fact dressed as Captain Hook and beginning his campaign for the daily Itzakadoozie dose. If you do not know what an Itzakadoozie is, do not worry, I will blog on that treat later. My oldest daughter age 6 whom I will refer to as Tink was in fact dressed as Tinkerbell that day and my daughter age 4 whom I will refer to as Cinder, was in fact dressed as Cinderella and then there is our one year old daughter whom I will refer to as Beast because if you know her, you know why.
Anyhow, the kids were looking festive and myself as always was strewn with pin necklaces, a camera and autograph books, juggling the stroller and navigating toward our next ride. I think you should be able to get a good visual from that. As I was mustering up the defense to the itzakadoozie tango, we see Alice in Wonderland appear from nowhere as the characters always have a knack of doing. She was beautiful with her long blond hair, perfect black headband, and neatly pressed blue dress with white apron. We expected her to be whisked away by her bodyguard to start signing autographs, but she appeared to have other ideas. She looked at us and began walking straight towards us, smiling. The kids froze.
Anyone who has been to Disney must know about the character bodyguards. They are usually no more than one step away and will dictate the line control. They will tell you if you are able to jump into the line or not and where you should stand and how you should hold your pen and your book and are some of most active pin traders in the parks. To see a character without their wrangler as I like to call them is a rare occasion. Part of me wanted to tell her "Run Alice, you are free, I don't see any of them around you!" OK, that was just my inner monologue for a brief moment. Back to the story.
Alice starts walking toward us, when she gets to the children she kneels down and greets them, they are all too shocked to speak. She tells them that she wants to ride the teacups, but has no one to ride with and wonders if they would come ride with her. MommyMouse is temporarily rescued from Itzakaddozie tango! The kids nod and I nudge trying to wake them from their catatonic states. My husband code name Charming heads with them because at this point, being the emotional, mushy Disney addicted person I am, tears are already flowing from my eyes at an alarming rate as I realize how Magical and special this moment is and how my children will remember this and be talking about this moment in time for years.
I am fumbling to grab the new handy flip camera recorder and my camera and begin trying to record and snap pictures at the same time. I can see out of the corner of my eyes the crowd starting to point and gather and stare at Alice and my brood wondering what is happening.
Alice holds Tink and Cinders hands and walks them all pass the line and straight into the ride where she politely asks them to choose a teacup. They all rode and Hook, Cinder and Tink report afterwards that Alice spun the teacup! After the ride, Alice marched them to a sunny spot by the trees and signed their autograph books and posed for pictures.
This was a Magical Moment and one of the countless reasons why Disney is so special.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)