Children See Their Fantasies Unfold

Jeremie McCary has limited vision, but there’s no way the 6-year-old boy could miss a life-size Mr. Potato Head that skated up to him and his mother Tuesday at the Pond of Anaheim.

“I like your hat!” exclaimed Jeremie as the comedic character wiggled a greeting and dropped his mustache.

The encounter came during a special party for McCary and his classmates at the Blind Children’s Learning Center of Santa Ana. The 20 preschoolers, some who are blind, others who have partial vision, were able to ice skate for the first time and play with characters of Disney on Ice--Toy Story.

They rode atop a big red wagon, sat inside Buzz Light-year’s capsule, played in the large-scale toy airplane and touched the gigantic “Binox” (binoculars) and giant-size hand. After the skating party, they stayed for a matinee performance of the Disney show.

“Most of the kids . . . don’t do a lot of things like this,” said Sandy Mosher, who teaches at the center. “This is great exposure for them. Even for the kids who don’t see, they’ll enjoy the music and everyone will take something with them.”

That was certainly the case for 2-year-old Andrew Skvarla, who had fun just patting the ice with his hands. “It’s something that he has never felt before,” said his mother, Bridget Skvarla of Santa Ana.