Kaitlyn’s Make-A-Wish Trip to Disney World!!!

What can I say…this trip was truly a dream come true for Kaitlyn. I really can’t put into words just how grateful we are to the Make-A-Wish (“MAW”) Foundation for granting Kaitlyn’s wish! We had a truly magical week at Disney World, and Kaitlyn was treated with incredible kindness and compassion because she was there as a “Make-A-Wish Child”.

In an attempt to keep myself writing a mile-long post, I’ll try to just give you the highlights. When we arrived at the airport in Orlando, we were met by the cutest two MAW volunteers. They were retirees who moved to Florida from Chicago, and they volunteer one day a week for MAW. Imagine our surprise when the sweet little retried lady gathered a cart for our luggage, escorted us through the crowded airport, stopped an elevator for us, and moved us to the front of the rental car line with all of the tenacity and organization of a military drill sergeant! As she walked behind the rental car desk to help herself to two car seats, I turned to Chris and said “I love her”. With that we were off to start our vacation…

Kaitlyn’s wish was “To see Cinderella’s castle”. When we arrived at our hotel – the Hawaiian themed Polynesian Resort – we were greeted by a gorgeous Hawaiian lady who presented us all with brightly colored Hawaiian leis. We checked in at the front desk, and then made our way to the “Tahiti” building. As we entered our room, Kaitlyn nearly fainted on the spot when she realized that our room had an incredible view across a lagoon of Cinderella’s castle!!! She was able to wake up each morning and look at the castle, and we all enjoyed watching the fireworks over the castle each night from our room – amazing! The hotel was just gorgeous. My only complaint about the hotel is that we just didn’t have enough time to enjoy it!

Our favorite park by far was the Magic Kingdom. The kids had a blast! Connor’s favorite ride was Pirates of the Caribbean, while Kaitlyn’s was Splash Mountain. I have to say that Disney really makes an effort to accommodate people with disabilities. Kaitlyn received a special card that I wore on a lanyard around my neck along with her MAW pin. The card and pin served as indicators to all of the ride operators that she would be allowed to bypass the lines. Since fatigue and exhaustion are huge issues for Kaitlyn, this was just an awesome service that they provided. She handled the long days & nights like a trooper. However, I have to say that my heart went out to Chris. He really did the lion’s share of transfers in and out of Kaitlyn’s wheelchair. Of course he did this without complaint, but I know that lifting 50+ pounds on and off of every ride had to be exhausting for him. If he had to Chris would carry Kaitlyn on his back all day to make sure she didn’t miss out on something – I’m so grateful that Kaitlyn has such a dedicated dad!!!

After the Magic Kingdom, we made stops at Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Universal Studios and Sea World. The week was a whirlwind of fun, with the highlights being a lunch with the princesses, feeding the dolphins at Sea World, and hitting every ride their little hearts desired! At every park Kaitlyn was treated like the princess she believes she is, which was just awesome. Honestly, for all of us to have a break from doctors, physical therapy, and thinking about cerebral palsy was quite welcome.

In the interest of full disclosure, there was one part of this week that was difficult for me emotionally. In our everyday life, Kaitlyn enjoys a certain amount of physical independence. Most places she goes (school, the mall, dance class, running errands), she is able to walk – either independently or with her walker. Last year, after taking her to an air show on a 90 degree day that required a TON of walking, we realized that she simply couldn’t handle walking such long distances. So, we finally got her a wheelchair, which was emotionally a hard pill to swallow. We had hoped that this was something she would never need. We even toiled with what to call it…we went from “stroller”, which we all decided seemed to “babyish”, to “hot wheels” – Kaitlyn’s suggestion, and a few other options. It seemed that neither Chris nor I could deal with calling it a “wheelchair”. However, calling it a different name doesn’t change the fact that it is what it is, and that’s a wheelchair. Although we’ve used it a few times over the past year, for a trip to the mall or a local amusement park, she’s never been in it for more than a few hours, and certainly never two days in a row. Until now. Seeing her in her wheelchair for a week straight broke my heart a little bit. There really wasn’t another option. The crowds alone would crush Kaitlyn. She couldn’t handle even 5% of the distances we covered in a day. While part of me was so appreciative that we had this wheelchair for her, there was another side of me that hated seeing her lined up with all of the other wheelchairs in a cordoned off handicapped section to watch the fireworks. It’s amazing to me that 7 years into this diagnosis I still seem to be coming to grips with accepting the physical challenges that will always be part of Kaitlyn’s life. The funny part of all of this is that Kaitlyn told me that she really likes her wheelchair because it’s super comfortable. Her only complaint is that we haven’t blinged it out for her so we need to get on that! Once again it’s Kaitlyn who is teaching me an important life lesson…

Well, what can I say – we all enjoyed the trip of a lifetime! The level of appreciation and gratitude I have for MAW for granting Kaitlyn’s wish is impossible to convey. Hopefully the smiles on the kids’ faces will give you an indication of what a great time we all had!!!