Make A Wish recap part 4 (the last one, I promise)

On Wednesday, we took advantage of our tickets to Universal Studios. The kids really enjoyed becoming Minions at the Despicable Me attraction as well as meeting Gru, a yellow minion, a purple minion, Agnes, Margo and Edith. We also went to see the Transformers attraction, and we were able to meet Optimus Prime and Bumblebee. Again, everyone was so nice and really made the experience special for us. The kids also enjoyed going on the Jurassic Park ride and almost getting eaten by a T-Rex! Of course, to the kids, it was all Disneyland, but we are also grateful to Universal for the tickets and the treatment.

On our last day in California, we were able to sleep in and then go down and have breakfast with Mickey and his friends. It was a really nice way to say good bye to Disneyland. After packing up our room, we headed to the beach. It was wonderful to be back at the beach and to share it with the kids. They loved it and played the whole day in the sand and water. It was a relaxing end to our action packed trip. We cannot say enough about Make A Wish, Disney, Universal, and everyone, including Cherokee Trail High School, who had a part in making Logan's Wish come true.

Make A Wish recap part 3

OK, where were we? On to Disneyland day 2. First we had a prearranged meet and greet at California Adventure with the Cars characters, so met in the park early to see Mater and McQueen together. This was pretty awesome because usually there is only one of them at a time to meet and take pictures, but they were together for our meeting. After all that excitement, we decided to go back over the the Disneyland side since we did not spend as much time there the previous day. We rode some rides, and then the kids decided to wait for the Star Wars Jedi Training show. Both kids were picked out of the audience to undergo Jedi training. It took Logan a little while to figure out what he was doing, but he had a great time. Then...there was a disturbance in the force. Out came Darth Vader, Darth Maul and a couple of Storm Troopers. The kids then got to defeat the Dark Side. Logan battled Darth Vader and the Storm Troopers, and Alexis battled Darth Maul. They then received their Jedi Training certificates after the epic battle. After the show, we were told to meet the cast members in an area off to the side for a meet and greet. With one other family, we were able to meet the Jedi Masters, Darth Vader, Storm Troopers and Darth Maul. Again, there was the speechless (for a short time) face of awe from Logan. He then recovered his voice, and only Logan would tell Darth Maul that he had something in his teeth (the makeup was pretty realistic and his teeth were yellow and black).

After that, we went on some rides, and met Tigger and Pooh. This was an extra special part of the trip for Alexis as Tigger has been her buddy since she was a baby. Then, back over to California Adventure for the Pixar Parade. We had to check in a little early because Make a Wish had arranged a special viewing area for us, and it gave us the perfect view and area to dance around. The kids loved seeing all their favorite characters going through and waving. That evening, we went back to Cars Land which is pretty spectacular at night with all the neon signs. We were able to ride the racers again and enjoyed DJ's dance party. We hit a few more rides, but by then we were pretty exhausted (and it was close to closing time) and went back to the hotel room.

I am going to skip a day here because we went to Universal on Wednesday, but I will talk about that in the next post. We knew that we would not be able to see Disney in just the two days, so we decided to purchase an extra day for the kids (and us). It was a great day to ride the rides that we had not gotten to on the other days as well as ride many rides again. We also had booked a Princess makeover for Alexis and a Knight makeover for Logan. They really enjoyed this special attention, and then meeting Princesses (Ariel, Cinderella, and Snow White) afterward. I had also learned during the makeover time, that we needed a pass to meet Anna and Elsa from Frozen, so we went over to see if they were giving out any more passes. They had handed out all the passes for the day, but they told us that our special pass from Make a Wish would get us in. Yahoo! After all these great times, we continued to revisit our favorite parts including Thor, Captain America (Logan wore his CA shirt and mask this time), Cars Land and all the rides (somewhere in there we had some great pizza for dinner). We were able to watch one more World of Color show from our room to cap off the great day.

Make A Wish recap part 2

Now, on to the Disney part of our trip. We got in for the "extra magic hour" for hotel guests which was for the California Adventure side on that day. We went straight to Cars Land and checked out the replica of Radiator Springs which really thrilled Logan. We explored and got to ride the Radiator Springs Racers which is a car ride that is super popular. Disney gives their Wish Kids a special pass that allows us to go to the front of the line. The cast member even made sure that we had a red "McQueen" racer, and let us go two times in a row. This was an overarching theme throughout the trip. Everyone was so nice and really tuned into the fact that Logan was on his wish trip, and they made an extra effort to make the experience special. From getting to go on the ride a couple times in a row, an extra meet and greet, getting picked out of the audience for a special privilege, or just an extra greeting, we were treated very well.

After Cars Land, we explored California Adventure some more, riding rides, grabbing a quick lunch followed by more rides. After an ice cream snack, we decided to go over to Disneyland. It was pretty special watching the kids go through the front gates and the big Mickey in the flowers and then the giant Mickey pumpkin. We went straight to Tomorrowland, which we knew we would be spending a large chunk of our time during the week. They now have Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America attractions. A cast member grabbed us when we arrived and asked if we would like to go see Thor and Captain America. Of Course! So, they led us over to a little waiting area and we were able to then go in and have some time in a little room that had artifacts from the movies. Then we were transported via the Bifrost to Asgard with a group to meet Thor. Logan was in awe, and he was even picked out of the crowd to come and try to lift Thor's hammer. He was able to do it with Thor's help, and then we got to take pictures as a family with the superhero. After that, we went to meet Captain America, and Logan was again in awe. Once he found his ability to speak, he had a lot to say to the Captain and posed for more pictures. Logan got to explore Iron Man's Hall of Armor with many of the suits and a virtual experience where he could become Iron Man on a TV screen with him controlling the image. He really enjoyed that. This area was his favorite from the trip, and we actually went back a couple of days later.

After the excitement of Tomorrowland, we went on some rides, ate dinner and enjoyed some more rides. Then we found a spot for the parade and had a great time dancing and watching all the characters. After the parade, the kids were pretty exhausted, so we went back to the hotel and watched the World of Color show from our rooms and went to sleep. Too much excitement for one day, and we so much more to do the next...

 Sorry this one is sideways, I am having technical difficulties:

Make a Wish recap part 1

Question: How can Make A Wish ruin the Disney experience for our family for the rest of our lives?

Answer: By making it so far beyond amazing that you know the experience could never be replicated or topped.

From 5:30 am on Sunday morning when the limo picked us up to go to the airport until 2:15 am Saturday morning when it dropped us back on our doorstep, the time was packed with fun and memories of a lifetime. I do not know if I can do it justice in just one post, so I will do this in installments this week with lots of pictures.

I will skip ahead to our arrival in California. The first things the kids noticed: "coconut trees" and "the air feels different." It sure did feel different from the dry air of Colorado, and it felt like a  nice change. Once we had the rental car, we headed for the hotel. We checked in and were met with a representative from guest services who went over our packet and explained some of the procedures and benefits we would be receiving. After that, she made some suggestions for lunch, and we went on our way. We had a great lunch, and shopped around the Downtown Disney District including stops at the Lego store (for some Avengers legos of course) and Elsa and Anna's Boutique. After that we went to the pool at our hotel and relaxed a bit. That evening we dined at Goofy's Kitchen with lots of characters coming over to the tables and taking pictures with the kids. It was a great start to the trip.

 View from our room (the best view for the World of Color water/light show):

Ready...Set...

We have been having a busy week gearing up for our trip. Last night we went to the Make a Wish office and they had a send off party. They had an Avengers cupcake cake, balloons, candy, a bunch of Avengers goodies, and Captain America even showed up! Logan got to have his picture taken and even hold Captain America's shield. That was a pretty big responsibility! Logan was excited to share the evening with his friends Weston, Curran and Charlie, and he was also excited to have Alexis, Nene, Grandma, Grandpa, Seth, Candice, Jill and Olivia there. It was great to see Miss Nancy and Miss Dawn who are Logan's Wish granters and volunteers. Overall the kids had a great time, and they left all of the adults exhausted!

We were able to go over Logan's wish packet and see all the fun things that are in store for us next week. It will be action packed, and we can't wait. I am sure this will be such a special trip for Logan and our whole family.

Other than all that excitement, we are all doing well. Logan is tolerating his oral chemo nicely, and staying relatively healthy. He is actually due for his spinal chemo next week, but obviously that is being put off until the week afterward. This is nice, as he usually feels his best the last week before chemo, so he should be feeling great for the trip. Fingers crossed and knocking on all possible wood surfaces that we all stay healthy.

One week to go, and other fun stuff

We are exactly one week from leaving for Disneyland! Logan (and the whole family) is excitedly getting ready and counting down each day. We think we are pretty much ready, and are just making list after list of things to remember, pack, do, etc. We have a scheduled send off party at the Make a Wish office on Thursday. At that time we will get the Wish Packet (all of the details, etc that we need for our trip), and there will apparently be a "special guest" at the send off. They told us we could invite a couple of friends, and it is also exciting that we will have Nene, Grandma and Grandpa there too.

Other than that, we are staying busy. Logan loves playing soccer on Saturdays and going to his sister's soccer practices during the week. All I can say is that 3-4 year old soccer is great entertainment! We are very proud of him, though that he works hard and has fun. It is great to see him running around and feeling great.

We went to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Light the Night walk on Thursday, and had a great time seeing friends. Logan was excited to see Katie and some of the Craic Addict/Love Hope Strength crew. He had his face painted like a pirate, and had his very own white survivor lantern. The only sad part of the night was that he did not get to see "his" Delaney from the clinic. We just couldn't catch up to them before she had to perform her duties as honored hero. Logan was a bit sad about not seeing her, but he still had a great time.This is a great cause, and we were proud to be a part of the event.