We arrived at Give Kids the World Village in Kissemee, Florida at about noon and we were amazed….  it’s like being in a storybook.  There’s a Gingerbread House where we eat breakfast and dinner – at least 20 volunteers at each meal greet, serve and do everything they can to make the kids feel special.  There’s also a breakfast cart that drives from villa to villa every morning with pastries, muffins and fruit in case we wanted to stay in for breakfast.  The Village mascots are Mayor Clayton and Ms. Merry who visit the Gingerbread House during every meal and were seen throughout the Village daily.  Characters from Nickelodeon (Spongebob, Patrick… ) and Disney (the Princesses, Mickey and Minnie…) came to the Village to meet the kids.  There were movies and entertainment nightly in Julie’s Safari Theatre where we all “pie’d” each other in the face (the kids loved that!).  The Theatre had snacks like popcorn, icee machines, candy machines and soft pretzels to eat while we were being entertained!  The Castle of Miracles is a grand castle with a carousel outside that runs all day long.  Inside the Castle you see hundreds of thousands of stars lining the ceiling, each signed by every child that has visited the Village.  Maddie made a wish and put her star in the Star Fairy’s box and that night while she was asleep, the Star Fairy placed it on the Castle ceiling.  The next day she found her star on the ceiling and knows that it will remain there forever…  There’s Amberville which is a train station in the middle of a pond that houses a train which transported us all over the Village to wherever we wanted to go — the driver let the kids sit in front with him and even gave them an engineers hat every time they did!  Amberville has a gigantic toy train city, a video arcade, remote control boats and even a Dinoland mini golf course for the kids to play to their hearts’ content.  There’s a pool with water sprays and a gazebo where we could fish.  Trevor caught a fish after a minute of casting his line but it was quickly closed due to lightning.  And ice cream…. we can’t forget the ice cream shop where we could eat as much ice cream as we wanted from morning til night.  The ice cream shop also served sandwiches and hot dogs during lunch in case you decide to stay in the Village for the day.  We could also order pizza til late at night delivered straight to our door… The kids were crowned honorary princesses and pirates of the Village after getting prettied up at the Princess and Pirates party where Shamu and his dolphin friend came dressed up too!  Even a Christmas parade which included Santa and Mrs. Clause who came to visit and brought them gifts… it’s extra special since there’s everything from lights and decorations to snow!  I would’ve truly believed it was Christmas if it wasn’t 90 degrees that night. 

Give Kids the World really does give kids the world… and more.  They go out of their way and have thought of everything possible to make these children who have gone through so much and their families feel like royalty.  But they have given us so much more… a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make memories that will last our lifetimes.

As for the weather — there were thunderstorms for the first 4 days we were there.  We were warned there would be short thunderstorms every afternoon, but this was 4 days of mostly rain, thunder and lightning.  The temperature was in the low 90’s during the day and 100% humidity dropping to about 85 degrees at night.  If you thought our summer in Hawaii was hot, come to Florida.  At 7am it’s already in the 80s and so humid that we could feel the sweat creeping out of our skin as soon as we stepped foot out of our centrally air conditioned villa early every morning.  We braved Disneyworld packed with ponchos and extra clothes, and successfully planned our outings according to the weather report that morning.  We were definitely being watched over since we did get rained on often, but many times it rained when we were in an indoor ride or show and had slowed or stopped by the time we came out.  We would take naps in our van in the afternoon with the engine running and the a/c on and it would usually rain during that time so, again, it would miss us.  We saved the Magic Kingdom for last, since I knew the kids would enjoy the Kingdom the most – but with this weather, we were taking a gamble on what day would be best.  Luckily, the weather turned out great for us that day.  It was the most beautiful day since we’ve been here with temps still in the 90s but a little less humidity since there was a slight breeze that day but – most importantly – it only rained once but it missed us again!  Maddie held up well for the first few days, but by that last day at Disney, she began to run out of gas.  She started taking Dexamethasone last Friday and it’s effects got the best of her at times, but she and Trevor still had a great time and so did we.

We put together a quick slide show of Give Kids the World Village but we have much more to add to it.  We have LOTS of pics and video from Disneyworld and Nickelodeon too that we’ll be sharing soon…. check the blog often, there’s more to come!  We’re on our way to Legoland in San Diego!

We miss you all and wish you could be here!

All our love,
The Komatsus

http://www.sportshawaii.com/video/gktw1.wmv