The Greatest Day

Oh boy oh boy this post is going to be exciting! ...and long...you have been warned!  As you all know, we've been preparing for a magnificent afternoon at the Magic Kingdom with Caleb. He's a very anxious little bug (newly diagnosed with Autism) and we wanted to do everything we could to help him enjoy the day (well...afternoon). We showed him a few videos on YouTube of the Monorail, Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters, It's A Small World, and even a video of himself riding the Carousel from about a year ago.

We decided to tell him about our afternoon trip about two days before so he could get excited about it and still have a close concept of when we were going. Tuesday came and let me tell you...it was SO stinking hot. It was one of the hottest days I've ever experienced at Disneyland. It was crazy humid and a storm passed over in the distant sky, which made for an amazing double rainbow that you ALL posted on Facebook/Instagram...why not, it was awesome.

We met our family hook-up at the Monorail at Downtown Disney (thank you thank you S & K!) but the Monorail was down! What a bummer, considering how much we talked it up to Caleb. Could've been a blessing in disguise...we just might have averted a possible tantrum if Caleb had been scared of it. No problem at all, we just walked all the way down to the main gates. The whole time we walked Caleb repeated "We're almost there! We're almost there!". It was so sweet, and as soon as we went through the turnstiles and were strolling down Main Street, he kept saying it still.

We didn't exactly have a plan of action as to what we did first (we like to go with the flow, and knowing our way around helps), but just as we crosse in front of Tomorrowland, the Rocket Rods were just about to take off. So we paused in the shade to show Caleb the "spaceships that spin around". If you know Caleb at all, you know that he loves things that spin and boy did he love watching the Rocket Rods.
"Caleb, do you want to go on a spaceship with Daddy?"
"NOOOO!"
Ah, nice try...and just to FYI all of you; quite often if you suggest something that Caleb doesn't want to do (even if it's a fun thing) it can turn into a "No...no spaceship for Caleb...NOOO...wanna GO HOME!" which is exactly what we didn't want to happen at Disneyland. And so, from that moment on, we didn't exactly tell him where we were going or what we were doing (sneaky parents).

We walked into Fantasyland, hoping to show Caleb the carousel, but as soon as he saw it he shouted "No merry-go-round!!" Offff course...all week he had been watching himself on that carousel (which he calls a merry-go-round -there is a difference, google it-) and the second he sees it, he runs in the other direction! See what I mean, seriously expect the unexpected with this kid.

After two NOs we decided to take a chance and do something he'd been watching online...It's A Small World. We just said "Come on, we're doing something fun! This way!". As soon as we stopped and stood in line I had him read the Small World sign, and remarkably he was excited (I'm pretty sure he thought standing in line WAS the ride since the clock struck 5pm and the little puppets came out for a quick 2 minutes). As we curved around the 20 minute queue we got closer and closer to the boats. "They're row row rowing your boats" he said with excitement. Yes!! He's still up for it! This is good...keep going. We decided I would get in first and pull out his infamous "square" (it's like a little lovey), and TJ would hoist him in. And that's pretty much what he had to do! As soon as he picked him up it was like trying to give a cat a bath!! Arms and legs flailing, lots of NO! NO! NO!s all with a smile on my face so he wouldn't freak out even more. We sat him down, held him down, and we were off! "Isn't this fun?! We're in a boat!" to which he replied "We're going in a tunnel!" YES!! It worked!! He's remembering from the video! He knows what's coming next and he's excited about it!! Praise GOD! From that moment on it was nothing but smiles and singing the whole way through! We let out HUGE sighs of relief and just sat in the air conditioned warehouse of dancing puppets and repetitive music...and couldn't have been happier. After it was over he wanted to do it again, but we wanted to wait a little bit and let him run around for a while.

We took a right and headed straight for Toontown, where Caleb made a bee line to a fountain (hello water obsession). He splashed and wandered around, we showed him the little play area (where he put Plex down the slide...yes Plexi came too), then I saw that Mickey's House had a quick wait time so we took off to the next thing with AC.

The sights and sounds inside Mickey's House are very exciting for kids; the queue itself is incredibly interactive and is very long -you get to see a LOT. Most of the time Caleb walked with his ears plugged due to his sensitivities to sounds (he plugs his ears whenever he enters surroundings that he isn't familiar with). We waited in the holding area for only a minute or two (seriously the crowds were SO minimal) and were whisked in to meet Mickey.

I can't say enough about how much I love what Disney's done with Mickey's House, and for a mom of a child with special needs...it's even more amazing. The room is small and so is Mickey (he is a mouse after all). The room is also quiet, and they only let a few families in at a time. It's not incredibly overstimulating; they want you to focus on Mickey, duh...and they let you take your time. The photopass cast member and the character host were both at times making little "bopbopbop!" sounds to get little babies to look at the camera, so when it was our turn I handed her my phone and politely requested no photopass pictures, and put my finger to my mouth in a hush. She understood exactly what I meant and snapped away photos on my iPhone. Caleb was anxious while he waited, but was grinning when he gave Mickey a highfive. When we were done he requested to go back to the fountain. Ahhh water, his fave.

Well, by that time dinner was rapidly approaching, and we felt it would be a good idea to slow it down and eat.  We thought about taking the train to New Orleans Square (we love eating at the French Market), but wanted to avoid possible train-terror and walked.  While we took the scenic route along the Big Thunder trail, Caleb got to see Big Thunder Mountain Railroad up and running.  As we walked by he said "They're catching some criminals!"  ...Toy Story 3, anyone??  In the first 5 minutes of Toy Story 3, after Woody and Buzz save a runaway train, Woody says "Now let's catch some criminals!".  I just thought it was so sweet that he was relating to that moment in the movie, and was able to use his language correctly; seriously so sweet.

Finally made it to the French Market, walked in (ahhh AC again and no one but us there), and had dinner (for those foodies out there, TJ had chicken & veggies, Caleb had chicken & rice & celery, and I had a roast beef sandwich au jeu...oh and GIANT diet Cokes...CC had choco milk).  Next, TJ had to go move the car (because we're cheaters and parked at Downtown Disney where you can get 3 hours free) so Caleb and I took a lovely stroll back to Small World.

We stopped by the Rivers of America to take some pictures and look at the Mark Twain.  And just as we were headed up to Fantasyland, the Soundsational Parade was starting.  HOLLA!  I LOVE a good parade and apparently Caleb does too!  It helped that the parade was lead by a drum-line *yeah* and Caleb danced in my arms as I held him up to see everything.  After a few minutes he was a little bored (sorry kid) and wanted to get to our destination.  Well, lucky for me you can see the rest of the parade while you stand in line for Small World!  And I'm not gonna lie...Caleb was pretty excited to see Rapunzel and her tower!  And off we went in our boat, under the tunnel, and back into the AC'd puppet show, with no struggle getting in this time...and Daddy was waiting for us right when we exited.

Next we decided it was time for dessert and made our way back down Main Street to the Grand Gibson for ice cream (foodies:  CC had chocolate, I had a rootbeer float, TJ had a crazy sundae with cookies on top).  Aaaand since I'm a Disney nut, I'll tell you that they recently remodeled the Grand Gibson and candy shop next door and I am in LOVE with it.  The old decor was very victorian turn-of-the-century, with lots of cream, teal, and peach colors.  It's now all dark and mahogany and has an old-world charm about it.  Looks like it was taken right out of It's A Wonderful Life ("George Bailey, I'll love you til the day I die").  And yeah, I forgot to take a picture of the inside...

We gobbled up our dessert and headed back to Fantasyland to tackle Peter Pan's Flight!  And NO we didn't clue Caleb in to what we were doing next...because he would've said no anyway.  The line was the longest we'd waited in all day (maybe 30 minutes -which is good for Peter Pan), but I had a trick up my sleeve and kept him occupied with a GIANT lollipop from home.

• Let me just take a minute and tell you that Caleb was absolutely WONDERFUL standing in line all afternoon.  He never complained, never cried, never asked to go home.  He was BETTER than most "typical" kids his age, who were whining and throwing fits...we were just so thankful and felt so blessed the whole time...we kept saying "I can't believe how well he's doing!"  That being said, having worked in Guest Relations, I know there are options for people with special needs, in regards to waiting in line at Disneyland.  If you need assistance, they can help you, but there isn't anything specific to ask for, you just need to tell them your needs, and they try and help.  One of the ways is with a special pass that generally lets you go through an attraction's exit, which cuts down on wait times.  We thought about this, thought about the benefit it would have to aiding his anxieties, and maybe one day we will take advantage of it, but for now we wanted to do things normally; one day Caleb *Lord willing* will be a contributing member of society, who won't always have advantages or shortcuts because of his disabilities, and he will have to learn how to navigate in this world.  And having worked with special needs children, I can tell you that there are MANY people out there who would benefit more from a special needs pass than we would, and we would be one less family to have to wait behind.  End soap box.

Back to Peter Pan! As we approached the pirate ships, we saw Caleb looking very interested in what was happening; people step in, sit down, and then they're whisked up into the air (but it's a boat...why are they going up??). I like to think I know what's going on in his head sometimes, if only I really knew! We got closer and he recognized the mural on the wall of Peter, Wendy, John and Michael, and said "It's Pixie dust!". A good sign! Closer and closer, and time for us to board. Once again it was like trying to give a cat a bath! We held down his arms and legs as she shouted NO, and the cast member looked at us with raised eyebrows as if to say "You wanna get off? Now's your chance...just say the word and you can leave..." but with determination and excitement we smiled back and said "go ahead!" and we went soaring above the rooftops of London! Caleb plugged his ears the whole time; I think the darkness and the suspension of the boats freaked him out a bit. But as we got off he was saying "Good job mom! Good job dad!" which means WE were to say it to HIM, and we did...over and over. We were SO proud of him, and honestly thought he would like it more than he did.

At that time we were going to hit up Small World one last time, but it was closed for fireworks, so we headed to...Pirates of the Caribbean. What?! How could you!! *sigh* we thought he would like it because it's a boat and is slow (aside from the 2 drops...). But pretty much the entire time he had his ears plugged he was saying "wanna go back to Disneyland??" And ps that ride is the longest ride at about 19 minutes long ; ) nice on a hot day. We got off and let him run around the Pieces of Eight store. He never cried, never tantrummed, survived the canon blasts, Davey Jones, and the drops (which he actually liked, ha)!

Lastly we stood by the Rivers of America for the fireworks. Caleb has never been afraid of the sounds of fireworks, and he was so excite about it. "It's like the fourth of July!" he said. We told him after the fireworks Disneyland closes, and eeeeeveryone has to go home. "After fireworks we go home to mommy and daddy's car." Way to go, kid. Time to go home and no whining or complaining came out of him.

It was such an exciting 5 hours for us. We were so unbelievably proud of what a good boy he was. Thanks again to S & K for making it possible and for Grandma who was watching Lilly Belle. Hope we can do it again soon, he was so incredibly wonderful, we are so blessed. And if you read this far...pat yourself on the back!!