I asked the kids as I prepared this series of posts, “What were your favorite things about Disney?” And after hearing them say “everything!” repeatedly, I kind of forced them to drill down. But I will say, Disney is a daily constant in our house. Christmas was filled with Disney related gifts. They’re obsessed and they want to save every dollar they ever get to go back. I decided to recap a few of their favorite things here, along with some of my favorite pictures of each of them, in case you skipped the other posts! If you saw the other posts, you likely saw these pictures already….

Colten: All of it. (Which rides?) All the rides. (Which characters?) All the characters. I liked all of the Mickey Mouse characters! (What all did you buy there?) I bought a hat, keychain, stuffed Sorcerer Mickey, bubble wand to share with Sophia, and a light saber. (Anything else?) I liked the plane ride, not when we were taking off. I kind of liked the mine ride, but not that much. Momma, type that I got captured by First Order Storm Troopers and got to meet Kylo Ren, Chewbacca, and BB-8! TWO TIMES!

Parker: Everything! (Favorite ride?) Star Wars Star Tours and Test Track (Favorite character?) BB-8 (What did you buy?) Necklace at Animal Kingdom, BB-8 pin, light saber, Indiana Jones Mickey, Pezz dispenser, and a droid build.

Maxson: The dinosaur ride (Primeval Whirl) (Favorite character) BB-8 (What all did you buy?) Mickey Mouse, light saber, knife at Animal Kingdom, big Buzz Lightyear toy, a droid build, and a Pezz dispenser.

Sophia: Minnie and Mickey (Favorite ride?) Rocket ships (really?!) Yeah! (Favorite character) Minnie & Mickey! (What did you buy?) Lots of Minnie’s! (Minnie Mouse, Princess Minnie, light saber, bubble wand to share with Colten).

Richard: Hollywood Studios (Favorite ride or experiences?) That’s not easy to answer! I really enjoyed the Lion King show, Indiana Jones show, and Test Track at Epcot with Parker (Favorite character?) Kylo Ren (What did you buy?) I splurged and bought a custom Avatar action figure, a mini Kylo Ren lightsaber, a pin, and gifts for the family

Kate: Seeing how excited they got over everything and getting to experience something SO incredibly magical with them. My favorite rides were the Mine Ride (clearly from the picture of the boys!) and the Primeval Twirl because Parker and Max actually went on another roller coaster after the Mine Ride. I thought for sure I ruined them! My favorite characters were Mickey, and then (and I cannot believe I’m saying this) the Star Wars characters. They were so IN CHARACTER, it was amazing! It wasn’t just a stand-in-line-and-snap-a-picture sort of experience like most of the other characters – these guys interacted, said lines from the movies, and seemed so very authentic. What did I buy… OH, yes, a magnet. Yup, just a magnet that says “Disney” in a fun character font. I used the rest of my gift card to cover some extra food items here and there, tips at some of the sit-down meals, the groceries we had delivered to our room (we ate breakfast in our room each day), and a coffee at the park one morning. I’m not big on souvenirs and was happy to be able to have my card as “slush money” wherever we needed it.

And so here we are weeks later and Sophia STILL sings Disney songs. Almost EVERY DAY she packs her little backpack and says she’s going to Disney or to Magic Kingdom. She is obsessed with Minnie Mouse – so much so that I convinced her to potty train by giving her Minnie undies – and it worked! Our Christmas was full of Disney related items and the kids still want Mickey pancakes.

It was an incredible closeout to 2017. We know our struggles and the aftermath of this surgery will still be part of 2018, and that Spina Bifida/Hydrocephalus/etc, etc, never go away, but we are so glad we ended the year on this note and that Colten was chosen to get something this amazing. He deserved it!!

So thank you to the sponsors…

Kroger  /  Children’s Hospital of Michigan  /  Jersey Mike’s  /  Better Made  /  LaFontaine  /  Lear Corporation  /  Absopure  /  MASCO  /  Qwik Park  /  US Ice  /  Angels of Hope

Thank you to the 100.3 WNIC iHeartRadio team, especially Jay Towers, Allyson, Chelsea, and Cody.

Read more: Disney Intro / Day 1 / Day 2 / Day 3 / Day 4 / Day 5