Three weeks ago from today we were boarding
an airplane with Rayleigh for the first time.
Our destination? Disney World!
Make a Wish Oklahoma granted Rayleigh the most magical trip to Disney World. Better than we could have even dreamt up! Rayleigh, Michael and myself were sent to Orlando, FL to stay in the most exclusive resort you have ever heard of! It is called Give Kids the World Village and only families going on the Disney World trip can stay there. It is almost fully run by volunteers and everyone staying there has a big commonality - we have a child facing a life-threatening illness AND love Disney!
Rayleigh did wonderful on the flights - not a single seizure on the airplanes!
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| Rayleigh got to meet the pilot and see the cockpit! |
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| Enjoying a little Frozen on the flight :) |
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We were greeted at the airport by a GKTW volunteer who helped us get the
rental wheelchair van that Make a Wish arranged for us! |
So from here I will just share a bunch of pictures!
Day 1: Magic Kingdom
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| She was mesmerized by Mickey! |
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| We have arrived at Magic Kingdom! |
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| Rayleigh was loved on by so many princesses that week! |
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On the monorail back to the car at the end of Day 1
Can you tell that she enjoyed Magic Kingdom?!?? |
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Day 2: Animal Kingdom in the morning and afternoon & Hollywood Studios in the evening
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| Rayleigh with Mayor Clayton - the Mayor of GKTW Village |
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| She LOVED the Festival of the Lion King show! |
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| Excited to go on a safari ride! |
When we first arrived at Hollywood Studios we went to a Disney Jr. play and Rayleigh loved that! Then we got to meet all of her favorite Disney Jr. stars!
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| Doc McStuffins |
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| Jake from Neverland Pirates |
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| Sofia the First |
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| Daddy even got to Nerd Up in the Stars Wars Launch Bay |
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Day 3: Epcot in the morning, then back to Magic Kingdom!
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| Rayleigh got to pet a horse at our village before breakfast on Day 3! |
We didn't last long at Epcot. Rayleigh ended up having her first bad day, a cluster of seizures threatened to ruin the day starting at 10am. We quickly sought reprieve at the First Aid station in Epcot and because the seizures just kept coming hourly, we ended up staying in the station over 2 hours and had to give her a rescue medication while there. Luckily it is one that wears off fairly quickly, but it sedated her for almost 3 hours. After she started waking up we headed to Magic Kingdom. But we were able to see some neat things on the way out of Epcot ;)
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| Epcot's Flower & Garden Festival was going on while we were there |
Magic Kingdom Princesses:
On Day 3 at Magic Kingdom she went on the Dumbo ride, Peter Pan's Flight, It's a Small World, and the Magic Carpets. She really really enjoyed every single ride! After riding rides and meeting princesses we found spots near Cinderella's Castle for the nighttime show and fireworks. She really got a kick out of that, too! Our girl is definitely a Disney girl!!!
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Day 4 also turned out to be a pretty seizure-y day. We mostly explored all of the fun things to do at Give Kids the World village where we stayed! We also went out to visit Disney Springs for some shopping and lunch. We got back to the village in the afternoon and just in time for some very special visitors! Rayleigh's Grandma, Uncle and Aunt drove in to stay with us that night and go to SeaWorld with us the next day!!
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She rode the carousal at GKTW a couple times that week :)
Once in her wheelchair in this spot and once with Michael and I holding her on a pony |
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| Daddy showing Rayleigh a Chewy backpack - no, he didn't buy it ;) |
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| Rayleigh getting her nails painted at the La Ti Da Spa at the village |
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| She also got some light makeup and a dolphin tattoo! Mommy, Daddy and her Aunt also got aquatic tattoos so we could all wear them to Sea World the next morning! |
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Day 5: SeaWorld
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| Ready to see some penguins! |
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Good thing we bought a towel at the Shamu Show earlier that day! She needed it as her blanket
because it is literally 32 degrees in the penguin exhibit! |
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| Brr! After this we headed downstairs in the exhibit to watch the penguins swim under water, she liked that a lot! |
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| A penguin caretaker saw our Make a Wish shirts and asked if we'd like to go backstage and pet some penguins!!!! |
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| Rayleigh liked these loud guys! She even threw them a fish (with Mom's help of course)! |
It was such a super fun week! This trip was so magical and wonderful and stress-free! Everything was taken care of for us by Make a Wish and Give Kids the World! I know it's cliche but we really did make memories to last a lifetime. We can't think the team that made it possible enough!
