Ann Marie Paulie: Disney 2015 Day Four

This was our roller coaster day. Roller coaster of emotion I mean.

What is so great about Disney? Let me tell ya...

We were there celebrating my 29th birthday and Annie's 4th adoptionversary. This day was our special day and we had extra special plans. Annie loves elephants so we were going to go to the elephant ranch about 1.5 hours away.

We had just been to DW in December and so we would have planned to go to Disneyland (it is their 60th anniversary) and a cruise this year. The reason we chose DW was because of this elephant ranch. Our entire trip revolved around it.

With Annie's health, I have a running bucket list, (she is not terminal, but with multiple life threatening conditions it makes me feel better to have a list). There are always things that I know I can't scratch off, but then there are things that I scratch off asap in case something were to happen. Basically, if I lost her, I would grieve her not going to DW over not getting married. The first is something we can make happen now and the second is something that could possibly never happen anyway. So, the bucket list items I can control, I like to cross off asap.

Seeing elephants up close is one of those asap items.

On our way to the ranch, they called and said they couldn't have us today because of weather.

Now, let me say, I am not a crier. Not anymore. My sister was killed in a car accident in 2006. Before that I cried at every movie, even commercials. After the accident, I only cried when things were truly sad. I had experienced true sadness so other things didn't get to me anymore. That was until I became a mom. Annie has me crying all.the.time. Mostly for joy, and sometimes I lose it when I talk to people about how fast time is flying. True Story.

Back to the story...

I cried the whole way back to our resort. Not just a few tears, but I had to control myself from sobbing. I was mostly so upset about Annie not getting to scratch this off her bucket list. I was upset that we had planned this for months and that our entire trip revolved around this. I was also upset thinking this day would be spent hanging at the resort doing nothing. It was my birthday and Annie's adoptionversary after all. We wanted it to be special. Now, please don't judge me about my emotion. I was wrestling with myself the whole way back to the resort. The worst case scenario would be spending the day at the resort and Downtown Disney. Under most circumstances that would be a dream come true. I kept reminding myself to choose joy.

We considered going to Universal for Harry Potter world- that would cost us about $130 per person, (seriously y'all, you can't really complain about Disney prices when they are cheaper than Universal by quite a bit). We also considered adding a Disney day. We had bought tickets for 4 days, but buying one for just today would be pricey.

We were working up the courage to see if they'd allow us to buy the 5th ticket as if we'd planned it from day one to get the discounted price, (apparently they will allow this but we didn't know that). We went to the concierge to buy tickets. All Paul said was, "we had a bit of a monkey wrench in our vacation and we wanted to see about getting another ticket for today." The cast member stopped us right there and told us we'd get complimentary tickets for the day!

COMPLIMENTARY.

The elephant ranch is at fault, Disney had absolutely nothing to do with this! But they sure did save the day!

I would have been thrilled if they had allowed us too be grandfathered in to the 5 day discount, but complimentary?! Wow!

I couldn't even thank the cast member fully. I just said, (while choking up), "I can't even talk right now, but thank you!" And then came the tears! Remember I said I am not really a crier anymore? I cried quite a bit that day. And the day was just beginning. I was/am extremely grateful, but not at all surprised. That's Disney for ya!

Thankfully I had another costume planned for a trip to Downtown Disney so I grabbed it and we headed to Magic Kingdom. I was a little bummed that we had to arrive hours later to the park than we normally would have, but I had to keep reminding myself that these tickets were free and to be just thankful. :)

Remember from day 2 when we had to miss meeting Marie and Fairy Godmother? I was so excited that this day was super sunny so I knew we wouldn't miss them!

When we met Marie in December, it was a rainy day and she was under a covering. The pictures turned out kinda dark. These pics were taken under a bright, hot sun, but for some reason the photog's camera settings were off and they turned our dark. No worries, I can fix them, but it is still funny how nice and cloudy it looks. Just check out my hubs to see how really hot it was. We didn't have to wait in too many lines for characters, but we did have to wait for Marie and Fairy Godmother. It was extra hot this day- even if Marie's pictures don't initially show it. ;)

Marie

Yep, that is sweat y'all. Hot hot hot.

We were about to walk off and music started playing so Marie started dancing with Annie. I have it on video. :)

A kiss for the road!

Annie wanted to snuggle with her daddy, even though it was so.stinkin'.hot. lol Her body can't regulate temp because of her Spina Bifida so we were fanning her, forcing water and making her use her spray bottle. The heat is actually quite dangerous for her, so we were so thankful most of our days had rain to keep it cooler. We also used the DAS which helped keep her out of the sun. :)

Disney photogs do magic shots. They'll have you do certain poses and characters show up when you get home. Well, our photo pass person forgot to add Tink this time. I added these myself. I kinda like that they forgot since we already had a Tink one from day 2. :)

Because she was wearing Snow White, meeting SW was a high priority!

While waiting for SW, there was music playing so we danced a little. :)

Then "Shut up and Dance" came on and Annie jammed out:

Snow White with mini Snow White

Fairy Godmother

Riding the Train

When we arrived at the front of the park it was raining and there was a parade. We were stuck. After standing in the back for half the parade, I noticed a hole in the front and asked if Annie could squeeze in. Of course they obliged. Thankfully. :) I never would have allowed her to go in front of people, but the hole was Annie sized. ;)

Snow White waving at her dwarf friends. ;)

This CM spotted Annie from afar and came over...

This friend joined her too. Annie was so excited to see Pinocchio. Why can't he have a regular meet and greet?

High fives from Dale and a wave from another performer. :)

Riding the Mine Train for the third time- first time as Snow White. :)

I held her up for the first one, but wasn't successful for this pic! lol

This was our first time in the first car. She loved waving at SW and the dwarfs dancing.

We've always been in the back and so this is the first time we spotted the evil queen. Since Annie was dressed as SW I joked that the EQ would think she was actually SW. Then the EQ looked right at Annie! Lol She was a little freaked so I reminded her it was just pretend.

My favorite souvenir to get is a painting caricature of Annie.

2013, 2014, 2015, and an empty frame for 2016? ;) I also plan to add another set of frames above these for future trips.

Getting her painting done:

Every year she has sat still the whole time. This year she had a little fun. She stated making faces when she thought no one was looking:

Pretending to sleep- snores included.

She then leaned over like this and I thought she looked so cute.

Then she fell.

She flipped out of the chair and landed directly on her head on the brick ground below. It was a nightmare come true. I can't get the picture out of my head of her falling and Paul can't get the sound of her head smacking the bricks.

This would be scary for any parent, but even more so for us. Annie has had 5 brain surgeries with us, (7 total). I am no stranger to neurosurgery and ambulance rides. Was this really happening at Disney though?! At home I would have rushed her immediately to the hospital, but since we were at Disney I did play with the idea of not going. So for those who know me, know I was not being over reactive, and for those who don't know me, know I was not being selfish with staying. I know all about this and I knew exactly what the ER would say, (and they did in fact say that). The EMT at Disney said that a typical child could stay at the park unless symptoms arose, but with Annie's history it would be best to go. You don't have to tell me twice!

Disney's emergency team was as lovely as you would imagine. This is Disney after all. They gave Annie two Minnies to join her in the ambulance. Annie cried the whole way to the hospital and I fought tears. She did almost fall asleep in the ambulance and I was super worried this would not turn out well.

The second we got to the ER she perked and stated acting normally. This was about an hour after the fall. There is no way I could have waited at Disney for an hour with her crying. I would have freaked out and decided to go to the ER anyway. I am glad we went when we did. However, having her act normal upon arrival will never stop making me feel stupid. lol Special needs moms collectively said Amen to that!

They brought her many stickers which she sorted and placed in straight lines. Yeah, her head was just fine! lol

Soon after taking pics, I noticed the railing was down and jumped up to fix it. We didn't need another fall.

Thankfully she was 100% ok and we were getting released in time to make our dinner reservations. Leaving the park early was a bummer, but 1. the tickets were free and 2. we had accomplished everything we wanted. This roller coster day would be ending on a high note. :)

Dinner at Chef Mickey's

Pluto loved that they had matching hats :)

Fist bumps and kisses

Bowing as Donald left

bowing at Mickey

Multiple times a day Annie will say, "Mommy, I got a surpirse for you. Close your eyes!" I open them to find her telling me I love you in American Sign Language. :)