Our Life With Raymond

Our Life With Raymond

Friday, August 1, 2014

Incredible Adventures at Universal Studios

We really try our best to experience life together as a family.  Amusements parks are always fun, but not the easiest for Raymond’s numerous medical and physical needs.  We have tried Knott’s Berry Farm and of course Disneyland.  Last year we got a great deal on an annual pass to Universal Studios.  Not sure if it would be the best place to take Raymond, we decided to try anyway.  Last year as we ventured into the park our first encounter was with the character Beetle Juice.  We tried to get in line for a quick photo, but the crowd of people around Beetle Juice kept getting in front of Raymond, making it impossible to move to the front of the line.  We were about to give up as Beetle Juice saw Raymond and came over to him.  Not only did he take a picture with Raymond, but he knelt down to talk to him.  That kindness was appreciated more than we could fully express to him even though we were saying thank you over and over. We had a great trip last year and greatly anticipated returning.

July 22, 2014 
Last week we used our annual pass again for the last time.  We have experienced many of the shows and learned which rides Raymond can do, such as the Studio Tour which they can strap his wheelchair right onto the tram.  He loves the Studio Tour, especially the very interactive King Kong Adventure which you would think it would scare him, but he LOVES IT! We just have to hold on to him tightly as the tram rocks around.  They have some amazing rides at Universal Studios, but Raymond does not have the head or upper body control to be able to ride all of them.  But the park has a Child Switch policy which makes it possible for our family to experience the full park, and the staff is always so nice and accommodating, but we can't help but feel like we are leaving Raymond out of some experiences. 

But this trip was off the charts!!  They have a new ride, Despicable Me Minion Mayhem in 3D.  We did the Child Switch to test it and we thought with two of us holding Raymond he might be able to ride this one.  So we got back in line, but when we got to the top we were stopped and asked if he could hold on to the support bar, their policy for who can ride.  We tried to explain how we could hold him, but ultimately he cannot hold on to the bar.  We respect their rules and were getting ready to leave when the supervisor asked us to wait while she made a phone call.  Her name was Anna, she said…” Anna, like Banana, hehe.” If any of you have seen Despicable Me, you would totally get that. She quickly came back and said she would help Raymond to experience the Minion Mayhem, just not the ride simulation.  She escorted us all through the “minion training” and she took Raymond and I over to the Control Room Area in a safe location.  He watched the show in 3D from his wheelchair as I watched how intensely the ride moved, something he really could not have done.  We are so grateful for Anna allowing Raymond to safely participate and experience the ride in this way.  Then she informed us that she had set up a behind the scene tour of our favorite ride Transformers so that Raymond could safely experience some of that ride too!!!  In the picture below is Anna and another staff member as we were waiting to get on Minion Mayhem.  On this trip we were asking if they would do a “Thumbs Up” in the photos to support our friends who are battling Cancer, David Marcus and Naythan Bryant (thumbsupcancerdown.com). Thank you Anna!!

The park has a new water play area and we were able to role Raymond under a few of the water features to keep him cool on the hot summer day! 

As we ventured on through the park, we then met Brenda in the photo below, who wanted to give Raymond the opportunity to meet the characters and get some photos. Thank you Brenda for your loving kindness!

We had a blast meeting so many fun characters.  Spongebob said hi to Raymond, then ran over to big brother Roman for a humongous bear hug, wish we had taken a photo of that!


Woody Woodpecker’s girlfriend Winnie kept kissing Raymond with her beak.  So Sweet!


 The pictures below were taken on our behind the scene tour of the Transformers ride (Our Favorite ride, but one that Raymond cannot do).  Supervisor Julie was our incredible guide and we had a real learning experience in the control room with John Williams experiencing all of the cameras and security features!  We had so much fun with the crew in the maintenance bay and Ken gave Raymond his Transformer Dog Tags! Thank you for making this trip so wonderful!!


One the way back from the lower lot to the upper lot of the park, we met a friend on the handicapped accessible van who was also having a blast at Universal Studios! Look at his cute smile!

We stopped in Universal City Walk for a bite to eat on the way home and that was it for Raymond, he was wiped out and fell asleep after a very full day!


Sorry, I couldn't resist posting all of these pictures of this amazing trip to Universal Studios!