Miss Lori believes in Disney magic

In five days my kids and I will fly to Disney World for the Disney Social Media Moms conference. It still seems unreal even as I type this. Here’s why…

A little background:
Last year my youngest daughter was very ill. The whole year was about fear. Fear for her health. Fear of the medical bills that were overwhelming us. Fear of what would befall us next. It was very hard. Through it all my daughter remained positive. She consistently had a sparkle in her eye and light in her heart. That’s the way she’s always been, truthfully. A bundle of hopeful, creative, inquisitive energy. The illness robbed her of much of her daily energy, but she never let it take her smile, at least not completely. I ached for her because she was robbed of so much, particularly the magic of Kindergarten, which she had looked so forward to. She lost most the year to doctors visits and procedures. It was a disappointment. She is better now, though we are always watchful since the Doctor’s never did figure out what it was that she had.

Now for my story:
Last November my kids earned some money and so I gave them each $100 of their check to spend as they saw fit. Thanksgiving weekend we went to the Old Orchard mall. (Something we very rarely do.) My elder two took off together to hit the trendy fashion stores, and JC and I explored on our own. We came across the Disney store and her eyes lit up like stars. We went into the store and her smile got even brighter. I have to admit. I have never been a big Disney TV/movie fan. I am troubled by the absence of mothers in so many of their programs, and the blatant lack of diversity in their characters. My children know my feelings well. But this was JC’s time. The store was actually filled with promotions for the then soon to be released Princess and the Frog, movie, so there was actually some color in the room. After carefully surveying the whole store, inspecting prices, most too steep for her to handle. JC found a display of Little Princess Tiana dolls. There she was, this beautiful ebony doll with wide inquisitive eyes, pigtails and a pale green dress. Not your typical Princess, but a doll filled with the hope and promise of a Princess, just like JC. She turned the box over to look at the price, $24.95. She asked me how much she would have left after buying it. I told her about $72.50 after tax, (an evil 10% here in Chicago). She nodded enthusiastically and said, “Yes!”. She proudly carried the doll to the register, handed her dollars to the cashier, asked me to hold her change and then embraced her new acquisition in a bear hug of triumph. If ever there was a pairing meant to be made it was this one. All of my discomfort with the Disney franchise took a backseat to the pure joy in my daughters’ face. This was the magic of childhood, no denying that. In that moment a wish came quietly to my lips, silent but true. I wished upon the star of Disney for the chance to take my little Princess and her royal siblings to Walt Disney World, somehow someway, while there was still fairy dust alive in their hearts. It was just a wish, because I had no possible way to finance such an expenditure, and no real prospect for that to change.

Fast forward to last month, when some fairy dust landed on me. I received a glorious missive in my email box. An invitation to participate in the Disney Social Media Moms conference. For $350 I, and up to three guest, could stay at the Polynesian resort in Orlando, Florida and experience the Disney Parks for 3 and a half days, (along with social media networking and instruction). My heart pounded with the prospect. $350! How could I say no. Well, I would have to if I couldn’t find a way there, because transportation was not included. I called my mother to seek her advice and she reminded me of all of my travel for PBS for the past 3 years. Hadn’t I accrued frequent flyer miles. I rushed off of the phone and dove into my United account. Sure enough, there, smiling back at me were 125,000 frequent flyer miles. More than enough for 4 saver fare tickets to Florida. It could happen. It would happen!

My wish for my children, for Princess JC and her court, is indeed coming true. We are going to Disney. Wishes on a star really do come true.

SMILE On!

ML

Miss Lori can be found Musing from her Minivan at MissLori.TV , Wearetherealdeal.com , YoungChicagonista , and ChicagoMomsBlog. She is also the new Chicago Family Entertainment Blogger for Examiner.com and a Discussion Leader for MomsLikeMeChicago. You can also see her Activating to Be Great at Miss Lori’s CAMPUS on Youtube, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

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