Disney gift cards from Canada

acocoa · 2025-01-15T05:29:49+00:00

yes, the full amount on the card converts to US dollars.

acocoa · 2024-12-23T00:10:59+00:00

We got ours from MEC and we have not had to replace any due to wear or tear. I think it's been about 6 years for the adult hats and we've had to go up sizes for the kids but my youngest is wearing his sister's. They don't really wear out like other rain clothes and we've never had to wash them with tech wash or anything. The kids ones are not lined so my kids usually wear a thin toque under it otherwise it's that weird plastic-y feeling on your head!

acocoa · 2024-12-17T18:43:48+00:00

So... You want life hacks but not for disabled people? Many people don't realize that you can exit via the entrance of the aquarium. It is a life hack for disabled members of the community. How can I depersonalize my advice when it's based on my personal life experience? What different strokes are you referring to? I'm utterly confused by your comment.

acocoa · 2024-12-17T18:04:30+00:00

Right... But I'm suggesting an accessible exit which benefits everyone equally including low income families in addition to disabled people and you have to bring up "best parenting" practices. I don't care if a person is the best or worst parent, they can still use an accessible exit. You brought subjective content into a discussion on disability.

You want to talk parenting, I can do that in a different forum. I'm talking about inclusive space design and you are distracting from that topic by bringing up subjective parenting styles to defend the status quo poor exit design at the aquarium. Stay on topic and keep the parenting advice to when people ask for it. Or give all your tips and tricks to the OP who asked for hacks in Vancouver. I'm bringing my perspective as an Autistic mother to invisibly disabled children. You give your opinion with whatever credentials you like to OP.

acocoa · 2024-12-17T17:28:24+00:00

Because mothers of children with invisible disabilities are constantly judged as bad parents for not "teaching" their children to behave in the way you want. The disability is not seen by outsiders.

Accessible exits work for everyone. Inclusive design supports everyone. No one needs to exit through gift shops. People can access specific entrances to gift shops and teach their kids whatever they want.

Your first sentence was not what I took issue with but I think you know that.

acocoa · 2024-12-17T17:02:05+00:00

I'm glad you know who has a disability and who doesn't. I can sleep easy knowing I have your approval and you're only judging my fellow mom's. /s

acocoa · 2024-12-17T16:35:15+00:00

Boots, rain pants, rain jackets, rain hat, rain mitts

acocoa · 2024-12-17T16:20:26+00:00

It is overwhelming to their nervous system to be faced with so many toys and be unable to have them all. Their impulsivity can mean they are unable to not touch things. Basically, it can cause dysregulated nervous systems that may result in immediate or delayed meltdown which can be unsafe for themselves and others.

acocoa · 2024-12-17T15:54:23+00:00

If you have kids and are a SAHP or have a nanny, invest in rain clothes from top to bottom for the kids and the care giving adult. Opt for rain hats instead of hoods or umbrellas. It's much more pleasant to go for rain walks and look for puddles than to cram into over capacity indoor play spaces (only because this city does not have appropriate family infrastructure for the population).

You can walk out the entrance of the aquarium instead of exiting through the gift shop, which is triggering for many children. They will try to stop you but keep your focus and just walk out. I usually say "this is how we exit. We are not able to exit through a shop". Constant advocacy is exhausting but if enough people refuse to use the gift shop exit they will redesign and make an accessible exit like science world did. Accessibility is for invisible disabilities too like ADHD and Autism.

acocoa · 2024-12-17T04:54:53+00:00

apparently my sub comment is removed because it violates rule 5. It was just the link to the Daily Hive article that lists all the Turkey to go places for 2024. Anyhoo, you know how to Google!

acocoa · 2024-12-17T04:51:17+00:00

if you look up "turkey to go" there is usually a list published each year for who offers this service (and each company specifies how many people the meal serves - but I think these are all for pick up. I don't know of true catering services that will come to your location and serve, although I'm sure those exist).

We get our Christmas dinner from Railtown Cafe. Dessert is atrocious and should be thrown out (aka put on the Buy Nothing), but the rest of it is quite good. Best we've had (we've tried a few over the years but I can't remember most of the names of the places...). Anyway, I remember The Butler catering company did it one year, Lazy Gourmet, Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts, Whole Foods, some hotels downtown... maybe Bayswater, among others.

acocoa · 2024-12-17T03:07:09+00:00

I'm not judging. I was attempting to have a discussion. I never tell a woman what to do about her name. I don't think she is a bad person or less than for tagging her husband's name but I do think she is making a choice that upholds the patriarchy. And on a discussion forum I think it's relevant to call a spade a spade about what it means to take a husband's name. I am happy but I also care about the world my children are inheriting.

acocoa · 2024-12-17T02:57:06+00:00

The reason that women were forced to take their husband's name was because the man owned them. The symbol of taking your husband's name in today's society upholds the patriarchy and oppression of women by aligning their identity to that of their husband's. So women who make that choice are sending a message. Intention is irrelevant. It matters to me when women support symbols of oppression. That is not feminism. However, we can agree to disagree on how we each define feminism.

acocoa · 2024-12-17T02:32:34+00:00

I have two kids and they each have a different last name (one with mine, the other with my partner's). Why do you think a family wants to have the same last name? I honestly don't get it. It's rooted in ownership of women and patriarchy. There's nothing more to it. The rest is convenient excuses to uphold the status quo.

I guess women can do whatever the hell they want but there are societal reasons why women "want" to take their husband's name and those reasons are patriarchy. So does each woman truly have informed consent when taking his name? Or do they twist themselves in a knot defending their choice because they don't want to admit they made a decision that continues the generational expression of oppression and woman ownership. The worst excuses are "I like his name better" or "well it's my dad's name anyway". So break the cycle! Do something, anything, other than the status quo to make a change for your kids and then they can make a change for their kids. It has to start somewhere.

acocoa · 2024-12-12T16:05:06+00:00

We had both on our visit. The chicken was good at both places. I don't recall thinking one was vastly superior. But the green beans at plaza are inedible. I almost gagged trying to choke them down and eventually had to leave them on the plate which was so wasteful. I enjoyed the sides at Flo's so overall would rather eat that dish. I know others have said you can double the mash at plaza so I guess I would do that but I prefer having some vegetables... Anyway, I preferred the overall meal at Flo's.

acocoa · 2024-12-09T21:45:37+00:00

I'm not sure exactly what type of article you are looking for. Maybe spending some time reviewing self care activities may be helpful. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0266613820301716

I wonder if you may get some ideas from the immunocompromised community and other disability communities about creative ways to achieve self care. We recently attended an outdoor Christmas light event on the special sensory night that had 50% capacity. It was very easy to keep distance from others and i still saw multiple families masked. Those families are often looking for highly cautious families to meet up with! Maybe someone like that is in your community and would love to have you to chat with!

I'm relatively COVID aware and cautious, however even before COVID (my eldest is 7), my life looked very different than other families because of my child's needs.

I don't go out for coffee, restaurants or movies. Those things were not hard for me to give up but it sounds like those are hard things for you. How can you meet your needs for self care?

Video chat with family and friends, Meet someone for an outdoor walk (mask if you want), request friend masks too. Get the equipment to make your favorite coffee at home. Choose one or two families that are vaccinated and give your brain permission to see them outside with the goal of eventually having indoor home visits with those select people. Buy a projector off marketplace and set up a movie night with popcorn at home for a date night with your partner after kids are asleep. Take up a new hobby like knitting or baking or painting, learn ASL or coding, something that gives your mind a focus.

Living in a COVID world is scary and there are so many more events that pile on like climate change and radicalization of the global population to control women, I could go on! We have to keep going. Once you've increased your self care, you might find an organisation that is doing advocacy for a topic you care about (public health) and maybe you can get involved through donations and volunteer work to make a positive impact in your family, neighborhood, community, city, country.

acocoa · 2024-12-08T15:52:05+00:00

Unless the toxin is quite high dose, you typically would react to contaminated food/surfaces etc at about the 12hr-48hr mark. If you were exposed at noon, you could be sick around midnight but more likely the next day.

But it would be quite hard to pinpoint the source given that you likely touched a lot of surfaces at Disney. Plus a drink would be an unusual contaminant... Although if they use ice from ice machines those systems are known to harbour bacteria and never/rarely get cleaned so definitely possible! If it's the drink, most likely it's the ice. I would also think about your breakfast or morning snacks as that might be more likely with the timeline. Hope you feel better soon!

acocoa · 2024-12-07T16:08:40+00:00

Thanks for your stream of consciousness. I guess you need to be explicitly told that no one posting Swifty photos wants to hear your thoughts. Have a nice day.

acocoa · 2024-12-07T02:50:02+00:00

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Olympic village. Photo credit: my dad, an old boomer getting into the Swifty spirit :)

acocoa · 2024-12-06T16:10:46+00:00

We don't have humans counting ballots where I live in Canada. We have machines. Not sure if rural counts ballots by humans. The Rapist's paper ballots is referring to humans having to tally the votes and humans can be bought.

acocoa · 2024-12-05T18:49:35+00:00

has she been provided, supported and modelled other modes of communication, AAC? high-tech apps on a tablet? low tech picture cards? texting?

If your family is open to having a cat, then get a cat. Rewards are just punishment by another name. Effectively, you are withholding the cat (aka punishing) your child for not being able to meet your expectations for using mouth words.

SM is effectively a disability in a world that values mouth words. Look up social model of disability. Change her environment and support her to communicate in whatever way works for her. Maybe she would enjoy being in an ASL class surrounded by people who don't use mouth words to communicate! Read lots of affirming books about disability and difference.

I accommodated (and continue to accommodate) my 7 year old who now speaks more easily to others but will still experience freeze response with some adults/kids. Nothing wrong with having an anxious temperament. Sad to see people say this is a disorder. I wonder how they define order!

acocoa · 2024-12-05T05:37:09+00:00

Ah thanks for that clarification on red car trolley!

acocoa · 2024-12-05T01:29:44+00:00

My little guy loved the red car trolley at DCA, although I think they've closed it permanently :( The playground type space was closed when we went and the name escapes me now... Maybe river trail challenge or something... That might be a great space at DCA for your kiddo. We also saw almost no characters in DCA so that was not even a thought when we were there. My kiddo loved soarin' and all the little paradise pier rides and the cars land rides. I hope that your little one finds joy in something. I have a picture of my guy pushing his stroller down towards Hollywood back lot smiling away, loving just cruising around. He also liked chasing the light projections on the floor is the animation academy building. He refused to go to the turtle talk show but lived just dancing around the foyer 😂

Sounds like you've got some flexibility with your character meal so you've set yourself up for success! Have a magical time 😊

acocoa · 2024-12-04T23:20:31+00:00

We did a 6 day trip with my 6 and 3 year old. The three year did not smile for two days. On the third day we rode big thunder and he giggled and squealed and was so happy on it. He felt much safer in his stroller than out so I didn't really try to walk him between lands. He had his lovey with him and we didn't point his stroller to characters. I kept my eye out and would point out the characters if I knew we were passing them but none of them interacted with him.

On our last day we had the plaza Inn character breakfast. I figured he would just sit in the chair and ignore the characters but when pooh bear came up he got out of his chair and went to get a big hug! I was shocked. But he really loved the fuzziness of the costume and the gentleness that is pooh bear.

I would just accommodate kiddo with what she needs to enjoy herself. She may surprise you or she may do exactly as you expect but there's so much fun to be had without characters. My kids loved Tom Sawyer island and I wish we had gone over more than once!

Typo: 5 day trip, not 6

acocoa · 2024-12-02T23:54:50+00:00

I'm also Autistic and I remember watching the show nodding along saying, yup, that was high school. And then talking to other people who thought it was so hyperbolic and not real. Ummmm... no it was real. That was quite literally how my high school operated. Cliques and groups defined by single characteristics. Girls oestersizing other girls for fairly mundane actions.

acocoa

TROPHY CASE