Mickey Mouse Helps Parents Surprise Kids With Adoption News

Kids get an extra special message from Mickey Mouse

Spending the day in the Magic Kingdom is a memory that will last forever. But 10-year-old Elijah and his 12-year-old Janielle got an extra special surprise when they first met Mickey Mouse.

The siblings have been living with foster parents Courtney and Tom Gilmour for the last three years. When the Gilmours found out they would be able to adopt Elijah and Janielle, Courtney wanted to tell them in a special way. “They didn’t know at all it was coming,” she tells Scary Mommy. “I decided on Disney because they had never been there and because I’m one of those moms that try to do everything big. Some work, some don’t lol.” This was one big plan she definitely pulled off.

They booked a family vacation to Florida to visit the Disney World and attend a Star Wars convention. The parents’ plan was to have the children meet Mickey Mouse and have him hold up a sign showing the adoption date. When Courtney posted a photo of the special celebration pins she made online, Disney noticed and offered to help make sure her idea worked flawlessly.

Figuring out how to get the sign into the park without the kids noticing wasn’t easy, but Courtney was determined. “I thought it would add magic to the announcement of the date,” she explains. She enlisted the help of her husband, Tom, to make the sign and keep it a secret. “My poor husband had it in a backpack. He had to be very, very careful not to bend the sign.”

Courtney captured the moment on video and shared it on Facebook earlier this month, where it’s received over two million views. In the video the kids are all smiles as they talk with Mickey and get his autograph. They even help Mickey with a card trick.

Just as you think the meet and greet is winding down a cast member says, “I have a special message for you!” and shows them the sign with their adoption date. The kids cry, mom and dad cry, the photographer probably had to wipe their eyes and I am most definitely sobbing.

Courtney says the family continued celebrating after getting their good news. “The rest of the trip was incredible!” she says. “Shortly after the reveal Janielle got to meet her favorite princess, Snow White. I had them there for 15 and a half hours that day. We only had one day. We did everything and ate way too much!”

Courtney’s thrilled her kids will always have this special memory and that people love the video. She hopes it encourage others to learn more about foster care. “My hope sharing the video is that it brings foster care into a positive light. That it sparks that person thinking of becoming a foster parent to go check it out or go out and grant a foster child a wish. They get what they need, but not always what they want.”