Disney World really is "the most magical place on earth."
No one understands that better than Courtney Gilmour and Tom Gilmour of Portland, Pa., who had fostered 12-year-old Janielle Gilmour and 10-year-old Elijah Gilmour for the last three years. Unbeknownst to the kids, the couple had just finalized their adoption papers when they visited Florida in May. "It had originally been planned as a trip to the Star Wars Celebration in Orlando that they do every couple of years, but it was the kids' spring break and we decided to take them to Disney World, too," Courtney tells E! News. "We didn't want to be the people who took their kids to Orlando and didn't take them to Disney World. So, we found an extra 24 hours that we were able to do it. We did Disney World first, then the Star Wars Celebration."
When the Gilmour family checked into the Magic Kingdom park, each member was given a button to write down his or her reasons for celebrating. "We didn't have the adoption date until the Friday before our vacation, but once we got it I thought, 'How cool would it be to give a sign to Mickey?'" she says. "When we got down there we sent out pictures on Twitter of our buttons. Ours said, 'Adopting Our Kids.' Theirs said, 'Getting Adopted.' The people from Disney World's Twitter reached out to us and asked, 'How can we help make this extra special?'" She had no clue how special the moment would be: "I thought it meant we were getting a dessert!"
"We went to dinner, and by the time we got back they e-mailed me again to set up a private meet and greet with Mickey," says Courtney, who filmed the moment inside the Town Street Theater and shared the footage with friends via Facebook July 6. "The video shows the rest."
The video showed Mickey Mouse signing the children's autograph books and performing a silly card trick. The character then presented them with a sign with a date written across it: May 24, 2017, the day they would officially be adopted. Upon seeing it, both kids burst into tears of joy.
As Courtney wrote in her caption, Janielle and Elijah were over the moon. "This went better than we had hoped," she said. "They were beyond shocked and we were beyond emotional."
Since the video went viral—nearly 2 million people have watched it—the Gilmour family has received thousands of kind comments. "The response has been awesome and overwhelming," Courtney admits to E! News. "I was just sharing it to share it but it's taken on a life of its own."
Courtney adds, "Its put foster care in a positive light that doesn't always get shone."
Now that the adoption has been finalized, Courtney says, "It feels different in that you don't have to run things by other people, you can make those decisions as a family now. It's their first real summer and we're calling it their summer of freedom. It's amazing to see them live freely."