Make a Wish (and other organizations) - Wish Trippers UNITE! Volume SIX!

[Lauraatz]

I am new to the board. It took me all day to figure it out. I think I get it now. I'm excited to be here. I love reading about all the other wish trips. I am so moved by hearing about the strength and resilience of these special kids! I made a pretrip report about my guy. It is called Zander's MAW/GKTW trip. I may or may not have the post correctly linked below. Hope everyone has a great evening! http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3221268

 

[Marsone1]

Hi,

Our daughter will be going on her MAW trip to GKTW in late March. I tried going to the link to make my initial first 10 posts but it says that thread has been closed. Is there somewhere else I'm supposed to go to take care of those first posts?

Laura

Welcome to the board Laura.. Im lost like you lol.. I still dont know how to add links..

 

[Bellerbunch]

Welcome to the board Laura.. Im lost like you lol.. I still dont know how to add links..

I do know how to add links. In the reply window, look for the little globe icon at the top near where you would choose formatting options. You can click on it to insert a link.

Laura

 

[Marsone1]

Hope this works..

Jaevhyn's face book page

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Helping-Jaevhyn-fight-his-battle-with-cancer/224161674270461?sk=photos_albums

Jaevhyn's Caring Bridge Site

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jaevhyn

Here is the Link to Jaevhyn's pretrip report. Hope I did it correctly

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3209013

 

[Marsone1]

I do know how to add links. In the reply window, look for the little globe icon at the top near where you would choose formatting options. You can click on it to insert a link.

Laura

Thanks Laura for your help !! I finally figured out how to add Links..

 

[Lauraatz]

Today I started a notebook for our pre-trip planning. So far I have reminded myself to bring sunscreen. I looked back at pictures from our last vacation from 4 years ago and we are all sunburned. I'm not going to make that mistake twice. I am having a hard time getting anything done around the house. My every waking thought is about our trip. I am just too excited.

 

[Marsone1]

Today I started a notebook for our pre-trip planning. So far I have reminded myself to bring sunscreen. I looked back at pictures from our last vacation from 4 years ago and we are all sunburned. I'm not going to make that mistake twice. I am having a hard time getting anything done around the house. My every waking thought is about our trip. I am just too excited.

Hahaha.. I'm like that too. It is hard to concentrate. All I do at work is planning our trip. Last night we went to walmart to look for my daughter's 3 inch sandal so she can make height requirement on the rides. Lol. Talking of sunblock, I bought that too. I also bought ponchos in case it rains in Florida.

 

[Lauraatz]

Hahaha.. I'm like that too. It is hard to concentrate. All I do at work is planning our trip. Last night we went to walmart to look for my daughter's 3 inch sandal so she can make height requirement on the rides. Lol. Talking of sunblock, I bought that too. I also bought ponchos in case it rains in Florida.

I love the 3 in. sandals comment. My oldest is tall enough to ride everything and wants to. I'm not sure about the Tower of Terror for her but she keeps begging to go. I didn't think about ponchos. I will have to add it to my list. It doesn't rain much in the AZ desert so I didn't think about it. Guess I should stop obsessing and get back to my housework

 

[jkread]

Hahaha.. I'm like that too. It is hard to concentrate. All I do at work is planning our trip. Last night we went to walmart to look for my daughter's 3 inch sandal so she can make height requirement on the rides. Lol. Talking of sunblock, I bought that too. I also bought ponchos in case it rains in Florida.

I could of wrote this... honestly all I do. LOL

 

[taliasmom]

Hahaha.. I'm like that too. It is hard to concentrate. All I do at work is planning our trip. Last night we went to walmart to look for my daughter's 3 inch sandal so she can make height requirement on the rides. Lol. Talking of sunblock, I bought that too. I also bought ponchos in case it rains in Florida.

Ponchos were great to have, we were given a lot of sunblock from the gift fairies, but we went in august, still have most of it.

 

[Gorechick]

Hi, my DS8 was diagnosed with leukemia last week and we have already started chemo and he's doing great. The social worker had us fill out initial paperwork for MAW already. We know we'll be visiting WDW in the future, had hoped to go back next year. I'm hopeful we can afford and plan a trip to the world on our own but thinking about wishing for a trip to DL/DCA or Aulani. We've never been and those would be once in a lifetime. Any advice appreciated.

 

[kritter47]

Does your son have developmental delays that would make it hard for him to conceptualize and/or verbalize his own wish?

If not, my advice would be to step back from the process. Let him decide on the wish by himself. He's old enough that it should be his choice and his alone. I totally respect that many parents, for the best possible reasons, want to suggest certain wishes. But part of the MaW mission is to make sure the wish comes from the child him or herself, not the best-intentioned suggestions of a brother, sister or parent. If that wish is to be the boss of the ice cream man and that's what the child really and truly wants, or if that's a new computer or shopping spree or meeting the Pope, the fact that it comes from nowhere but the child's own desire is all that matters.

If he does have developmental or verbal delays, make sure that you are concentrating on what he would want and not what would be best for your family. Think about what makes him happiest in the entire world, even if it's not Disney. And go in that direction. Disney wishes are awesome, but so are a huge variety of other options that may fit him better.

If he is able to verbalize his own wish but needs help understanding the concept, going through some of the stories on here might help: http://wish.org/wishes/wish-stories I went through a ton of those stories with a developmentally normal 11 year old to help her brainstorm, and she said it was extremely helpful.

 

[Gorechick]

My son does have delays, he is on the spectrum however he is close to typical and has great communication.The choices I mentioned are things we have talked about long before he was diagnosed with leukemia. We've been talking about more Disney since we got back from our 2012 trip, which was his first time visiting. He's very agreeable and will say " whatever you want " to me and his twin sister. I'll have to get him to sit down and make a list of all the things he wants to do. One thing he talks about often is staying in the Castle suite, but that's only reserved for contest winners and celebrities, right?

 

[mittensmommy]

My 4 year old son was recently diagnosed with dernatomyositis. His doctor is filling out the paperwork for the kids wish network but after reading some.of the threads on here I'm.concerned if they are as honest and good as make a wish?has anyone used them.for a wish before? They aren't scammers right? Do you stay at give kids the world with them as well or is this.just make a wish? Sorry for so many questions. I am very new to all of this and it's very scary and overwhelming.

 

[alstrommama]

When doing MAW, I've seen that some families stay at DW resorts instead of GKTW. Are they just too full or is that part of the childs wish to stay on property?

 

[shantra77]

Hey , Im new here, Trying to figure this out we are in the ver early stage of cambrias wish. She has tetrology of Fallott ( thats the big one) with a few little things along the way. Not that she lets anything keep her down
Here is a post I started that has a link to our Trip Blog http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3222465
Here is a question for those who have traveled with there nurses… how was it? 2 of our children have home nurses 16 and 20 hour per day. Just wondering thanks!

 

[Nellysg]

Hello this my absolute first thread (still trying to find my way around here) my son charlie was diagnosed with Hypoplastic Right Heart Syndrome in utero. Had the first open heart surgery with hours of birth, second surgery at 6 months when he suffered a stroke and the final surgery at 2years old. In the recovery room he watched a Disney commercial and said wanted to go someday and I promised him he would. We celebrated 2 milestones this year his 5th birthday and entering kindergarten. Once again wanted to go to Disney this time as a Pirate (thank you Jack Sparrow) we submitted a wish through Make a wish and they granted his wish to be a pirate in Disney on Halloween. sadly a day before our trip my son developed horribly large black and blue marks where through blood work we found he caught a virus and diagnosed him with ITP. We had to postpone our trip until his platelet levels are at a comfortable level. Our trip is rescheduled for his (and sisters) birthday Feb 25- march 3.

I have spent days reading everyone's awesome and heart warming stories and noticed a lot of people have the same autograph book. Can anyone guide me where I cand find them. Thank you all in advance.

 

[Lauraatz]

Hey , Im new here, Trying to figure this out we are in the ver early stage of cambrias wish. She has tetrology of Fallott ( thats the big one) with a few little things along the way. Not that she lets anything keep her down
Here is a post I started that has a link to our Trip Blog http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3222465
Here is a question for those who have traveled with there nurses… how was it? 2 of our children have home nurses 16 and 20 hour per day. Just wondering thanks!

Congratulations on Cambrias wish!! My family took a weekend trip with one of our nurses. It was a nurse that my son had before he turned one. In fact it was his first nurse. At that point he was four and we were very comfortable with our son's nurse. I'm not sure I would like to travel with anyone we weren't very comfortable with. We did have to get a suite so she could have her own room. She was incredibly helpful though. She took over all of our sons cares and that gave us the opportunity to spend time with our other kids. Hope that helps. Have a great day.

 

[mom2pixies]

Hi everyone! Long time, no write! Congrats to all of the new wishtrippers--you'll find this thread and the folks on here very helpful in planning your trip. They helped us--and made it even that more memorable! I have a question for former wishtrippers myself--my daughter had a wish trip in Sept 2011 and she and her sister have been asking to go back to Disney every week since then, so we are finally doing it! We are planning a trip this summer and we'd love to go back and visit Give Kids the World, as it is such a magical place. I know we are allowed to go back to see my daughters' star and ride the carousel--but are "alumni" allowed to use the rest of the GKTW facilities and take part in the activities--use the pool, play dino-putt, take photos with characters if there is no lineup, have ice cream at the palace, take part in the Winter Wonderland parade, etc.?

Also, are there any new attractions at GKTW that we should check out? I see that they are getting an Extreme Makeover right now, which will be featured on Good Morning America tomorrow, but I think that is strictly for villas and the administration building, no?

Thanks for any info!

 

[icecreamforbreakfast]

Hi everyone! Long time, no write! Congrats to all of the new wishtrippers--you'll find this thread and the folks on here very helpful in planning your trip. They helped us--and made it even that more memorable! I have a question for former wishtrippers myself--my daughter had a wish trip in Sept 2011 and she and her sister have been asking to go back to Disney every week since then, so we are finally doing it! We are planning a trip this summer and we'd love to go back and visit Give Kids the World, as it is such a magical place. I know we are allowed to go back to see my daughters' star and ride the carousel--but are "alumni" allowed to use the rest of the GKTW facilities and take part in the activities--use the pool, play dino-putt, take photos with characters if there is no lineup, have ice cream at the palace, take part in the Winter Wonderland parade, etc.?

Also, are there any new attractions at GKTW that we should check out? I see that they are getting an Extreme Makeover right now, which will be featured on Good Morning America tomorrow, but I think that is strictly for villas and the administration building, no?

Thanks for any info!

Don't know the answer to all your questions, but we are planning to stop in this summer, we were on a wish trip in 2010. Here's a link to some info I found on the GKTW site http://www.gktw.org/pdf/alumni/WelcomeBackFamily.pdf