Animal Kingdom

The Animal Kingdom was much less crowded than the Magic Kingdom, but super hot. We went out on the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch where Raul posed with Rafiki, got to pet a guinea pig, checked out an owl, walked through the petting zoo, explored in the air conditioned nature center, and met Chip and Dale. Again we were pleasantly surprised when a cast member asked us to come to the front of the line when we were meeting Chip and Dale (we had tried to see them before they went on a break). Then we rode the train back and went to meet with Mickey and Minnie. We had planned to do the safari too, but Raul was getting too hot and tired, so we opted to leave and head back to the hotel. Raul fell asleep on the bus again, but woke up back at the hotel ready to play! 

Magic Kingdom (part two)

We took a day off on Monday and hung out at the hotel recovering from our late night on Sunday. We relaxed, played games, and explored the hotel a bit more. Today we headed back to the parks, starting with Magic Kingdom. It was very hot today, so I was pleasantly surprised when an entire line of people waiting to get their bags checked told us to go ahead of them (without me asking). We had breakfast at Crystal Palace with the Winnie the Pooh characters. Raul was a bit fussy, but gave them some good cuddles! Then we went out to the dance party for a few minutes, but it was a bit loud. We went back to see the talking Mickey again, which Raul loved! I think he would spend all day in there if he could!

Epcot/Magic Kingdom

Sunday was a busy day! We switched hotels, took short naps, checked out all the Cars statues, and then headed to the parks around 6:30. It was semi-a comedy of errors, but Raul actually had a good time. We started at Epcot, and took pictures with the ball/globe (Raul really liked it for some reason), then wandered a bit. A few rides were closed, and I hadn't gotten a map, so we were wandering aimlessly. We ended up getting in line for the Nemo ride, but it stopped working for a while, so we got out of line and just checked out the aquarium area. Raul really liked that, and would have stayed longer, but we had gotten a late start and needed to get to MK for the parade. Then the monorail was broken, so we had to shlep by bus to the transportation center, and then by packed ferry to the MK.

Because of the transportation issues we were a bit behind schedule, but we made it in to see the talking Mickey and to grab a stroller tag before the parade! No time to get to the handicapped area, but we did get a front row spot. Raul was moderately interested in the electric parade; I think he will like the daytime one better. Then we went to meet Donald/Goofy and watched fireworks on our way to Small World. We were in the back of the park so the fireworks were loud; I had hoped to be back by the gate by that time, so Raul chose Small World instead of watching them. When we got out of the ride it was raining harder than I have seen in a long time! The puddles were higher than my feet within minutes. Thankfully I had stuck the stroller cover and a poncho under the stroller, though I still got soaked somehow. It poured the whole way back to the bus, which of course was the farthest possible stall. Raul fell asleep on the bus, and after grabbing something to eat quickly, we made it back to the room just before midnight! Despite a few issues, Raul actually had a really good day! The highlight was the talking Mickey; Raul loves him!

Art of Animation

Yesterday we moved over to the Art of Animation hotel, to a Cars themed room, which Raul was very excited about! We hadn't stayed here before, and I hadn't realized until recently that not only are the rooms themed, but they have a lot of full size sculptures of the Cars characters outside! Raul also thought the table that pulled out into a bed was pretty cool. I had him take a nap in the late afternoon, as we were planning on doing to Disney at night, and after nap time we explored the hotel. Raul loved seeing all the cars!

Travel/Animal Kingdom Lodge/Nick Hotel

I had not posted about our plans earlier as we were concerned we would have to cancel when Raul was in the hospital and it looked like he might need long term IV antibiotics. However, since he was discharged on oral antibiotics instead, and was improving, we were able to take our late-summer vacation as planned! We are trying to do as many fun things as we can with Raul leading up to going to MN. 

Friday morning Raul and I flew out to Orlando! The airport process and flight were easy, and thankfully the flight was quicker than predicted! Raul was very excited when we arrived, as we took Disney's Magical Express bus to our hotel, which he had never done before. He liked being able to watch the animated cartoons and videos about the parks while we rode. And he got to use the wheelchair lift, which was pretty cool since it goes up very high to get into a full size bus! 

We stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, and was Raul was excited to see all the animals he had missed since our last trip. He particularly likes the giraffes and zebras, but my favorite are the wild pigs that run to be put away for the night when they hear a kazoo sound (the other animals stay out overnight). We did some exploring around the hotel property, and had dinner at the buffet.

Today after breakfast, bandages, and some relaxing, we went to the Nick Hotel. We had never been there before, but Raul loves the Nick jr. characters, and really wanted to see them! We checked in around lunch time, and then explored while waiting for the character meet and greets. We had been given a schedule that included both the official meet and greets as well as some of the "surprise" ones that happen in the lobby to make sure Raul got to see everyone he was looking for! We also were given special passes that allowed us to go to the front of the lines, which was very helpful as the lines were pretty crazy for some of them and we did not want to risk Raul getting hurt or catching germs from standing in a large crowd. 

Raul was able to see Gil and Molly from Bubble Guppies, Chase and Marshall from Paw Patrol, Squidward from Spongebob (he doesn't like Spongebob, but there was no line for Squidward!), Milli and Geo from Team Umizoomi, and Diego. He opted out of seeing Spongebob and Dora (the Dora one happened late). He was very excited about all of the characters he saw, though unfortunately was overwhelmed during the Paw Patrol one as everyone cheered when they came up, which Raul doesn't like, and then he was first. The whole hotel was pretty loud and overwhelming, but we are glad we went to see all the characters!

Sprinkler Park Fun

Raul had a lot of fun at the sprinkler park today.  He loves doing what he calls "action", where he gets pushed through all the sprinklers in his stroller. He got completely soaked going through the sprinklers, then spent some time playing with his truck and bucket on the ground.

Minnesota Update

I know a lot of people are curious about how things are going with the BMT process, so I wanted to give an update! 

Shortly after Raul was approved for the trial, the hospital requested that three possible donors undergo further lab work to determine who the best match would be. Two of the potential donors did this in late June, and one in early July. Then those results were submitted to Dr. Tolar to choose the best match. All were 8/8 matches, and two had similar secondary results, which is good as that means we have a backup should something not work out with the first. 

Today, after a few days of insurance confusion, a request for donor work up was made! It will take at least 1-2 weeks for us to get a response to that request. Minnesota has requested a donor clearance date of 9/9, meaning the donor would need their physical a week prior to that. If the donor clears their physical, that would mean we would likely travel the following week! If not, then they would have to approach the next donor and go through the workup process again. Once we go out there Raul will have his own workup week, and if all is okay he would begin the BMT process after that (likely 5 day of chemo, one of radiation, and then transplant). Of course this timeline could still be pushed back if there are any delays either on the donor side or with Raul's health, but hopefully around mid-September we will be going to MN!