It’s a great day in Orlando Florida.  The sun is shining.  The temperatures are in the 70s. All of the families and volunteers are well-rested after a good night’s sleep.

We met for breakfast this morning and then had a counseling session, followed by lunch at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort.  The children had a wonderful time in their morning session and have already seemed to form some incredible friendships with the other children as well as the volunteers and staff.  There always seems to be a lot of noise coming from the children’s sessions as they laugh and joke and play together.  All the while they are learning some major lessons in anger management, how to handle fears, hurts and frustrations, and communication skills.  It is difficult to describe the bonds that these children feel with one another as they share these unique and difficult circumstances.

As I type this all of the families are in the parks having fun.  Some are in Magic Kingdom checking out the princesses, visiting Mickey’s house, or riding Space and Thunder Mountains.  Others went to Animal Kingdom to check out the fun safari ride and see all the wild animals up close.  Other families chose Epcot where they can go “Soarin” on a multi-sensory virtual hang-glider and visit many different countries in the World Showcase.  Still others chose to visit Hollywood Studios today where they can ride the wild Rock n Roller Coaster and experience Toy Story Mania.

Tonight at 6:00pm we are all meeting in front of the icon of Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park, a 122-foot-tall, blue and gold Sorcerer Mickey Hat.  There we will be taking a group picture and then we will all enjoy a dinner together at Toy Story’s Pizza Planet.

Before I go to sleep tonight I will post pictures and video clips of today’s fun in the parks on the Legacy Community, “Fans of 2011 Disney Legacy Retreat”.   Please go on there and check them out!