Thinking we will be staying at Aulani for dd MAW. Has anyone ever been there with MAW?? DD has ependymoma. It's a form of brain cancer. We thought we had beat it. We took a Disney cruise to celebrate last May. We leave for Hawaii June 4th. Our wish grantors do not want to tel us where we are staying until her surprise party at hurricane harbor. Not used to this " not planning a year in advance". Think I'm more stressed......
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Make a Wish (and other organizations) - Wish Trippers UNITE! Volume SIX!
- Thread starter maroo
- Start date
Hi Jackie!
My son (8) took us on his MAW trip to Disney this past October 2013. It was magical & we talk about it at least once a week
let me see if i can answer some of the questions you had:
1.) the money.. Disney IS expensive. BUT MAW will give you a stipend for your meals for each day per family member times the number of days there, even though you will most likely eat a majority of them at GKTW. I was terrified too as I am a single mom, but it all really worked out OK. We ate breakfast everyday at GKTW, then lunch at the park - sometimes this was just a simple snack we brought in, then dinner at GKTW or park. We splurged on a character dinner & I paid for that on my own.
Your MAW kid should also get some $ for souvenirs too, so that helps. Stop at the Walmart down the street & get some small portable snacks to bring into the park. Also that is a GREAT place to get your souvenirs!
2) Must See's depend on your family & what they want to see, really. We talked about what we all wanted to see beforehand & mapped out each day accordingly. You only get 3 days at Disney, you can go to multiple parks within those 3 days, but only 3 days. You get 2 days at Universal Studios/Islands of adventures (we went both days) and one day at Seaworld (we didn't use & returned to office). That's 5 full days of parks and you're only there for 7 days including travel. 2 Full days at Universal/Islands of adventure, they treat you like ROYALTY there.. We LOVED it! You NEVER wait in any line at Universal/Islands, with VIP lanyard they will escort or send you to the FRONT of every line. We loved Harry Potter world! We spent a full day at Magic Kingdom, a full day at Hollywood Studios, and a half day at Animal Kingdom. We never made it to Epcot. Your genie lanyard will get you into the Fast Pass lanes at Disney, but you will wind up waiting in those lines. That was fine, it was just not the 'magic VIP' experience everyone talked about. We did love it there, just not as much as Universal. I will also say be sure to look over the schedule of events at GKTW & see what you can do there. We loved Christmas, Halloween, the World's Largest Candyland game, horseback riding and every morning they had characters!
3) As for flying, just get some dollar store stuff to amuse the kids on the plane. I let mine pick out some candy, coloring books, etc.
4) The passes are 3-day park hoppers so you can come & go at all the parks, but it's only a 3-day pass. So once you go through the gates at a park that's the start of one day. Also, they give you parking passes for all the parks. be sure to factor in drive time to the parks each day, plus walking from the car to the park itself!
5) Talk before hand about what you want to do and put together a plan. We had a plan for each day to make sure we were all covered in what we wanted to see & do but were pretty flexible.
Please let me know if you have any more questions, I'd be more than happy o answer them!
Kathy
My son (8) took us on his MAW trip to Disney this past October 2013. It was magical & we talk about it at least once a week
let me see if i can answer some of the questions you had:
1.) the money.. Disney IS expensive. BUT MAW will give you a stipend for your meals for each day per family member times the number of days there, even though you will most likely eat a majority of them at GKTW. I was terrified too as I am a single mom, but it all really worked out OK. We ate breakfast everyday at GKTW, then lunch at the park - sometimes this was just a simple snack we brought in, then dinner at GKTW or park. We splurged on a character dinner & I paid for that on my own.
Your MAW kid should also get some $ for souvenirs too, so that helps. Stop at the Walmart down the street & get some small portable snacks to bring into the park. Also that is a GREAT place to get your souvenirs!
2) Must See's depend on your family & what they want to see, really. We talked about what we all wanted to see beforehand & mapped out each day accordingly. You only get 3 days at Disney, you can go to multiple parks within those 3 days, but only 3 days. You get 2 days at Universal Studios/Islands of adventures (we went both days) and one day at Seaworld (we didn't use & returned to office). That's 5 full days of parks and you're only there for 7 days including travel. 2 Full days at Universal/Islands of adventure, they treat you like ROYALTY there.. We LOVED it! You NEVER wait in any line at Universal/Islands, with VIP lanyard they will escort or send you to the FRONT of every line. We loved Harry Potter world! We spent a full day at Magic Kingdom, a full day at Hollywood Studios, and a half day at Animal Kingdom. We never made it to Epcot. Your genie lanyard will get you into the Fast Pass lanes at Disney, but you will wind up waiting in those lines. That was fine, it was just not the 'magic VIP' experience everyone talked about. We did love it there, just not as much as Universal. I will also say be sure to look over the schedule of events at GKTW & see what you can do there. We loved Christmas, Halloween, the World's Largest Candyland game, horseback riding and every morning they had characters!
3) As for flying, just get some dollar store stuff to amuse the kids on the plane. I let mine pick out some candy, coloring books, etc.
4) The passes are 3-day park hoppers so you can come & go at all the parks, but it's only a 3-day pass. So once you go through the gates at a park that's the start of one day. Also, they give you parking passes for all the parks. be sure to factor in drive time to the parks each day, plus walking from the car to the park itself!
5) Talk before hand about what you want to do and put together a plan. We had a plan for each day to make sure we were all covered in what we wanted to see & do but were pretty flexible.
Please let me know if you have any more questions, I'd be more than happy o answer them!
Kathy
Hi! I am a first time post-er. My youngest daughter was referred to MAW by her doctor. She is 7 and was diagnosed with ovarian cancer November of 2013. She won her battle! We were given a thumbs up by her doctor in May after her last scan! My daughter chose disney as her Make a Wish! We just found out our trip will be October 29 thru November 4th 2014. We will be staying at Give Kids the World. Yeah! We also asked if we could extend our trip (at our own expense). So we will return home on November 11th.
My husband and I have been married for 23 years and we have 3 daughters ages at the time of our trip will be 14, 12 & 8. We are so excited. I have been to Disney twice but my husband and children have not.
Here are my questions. There will be character meet and greets at GKTW and Disney. Are character meals worth it? I've been tossing it around and frankly I just don't know.
Where are the best places to view the parade and the fireworks?
We will be at disney on Halloween. Are the tickets for Mickey's no so scary Halloween worth the price? Or should we just spend that evening at GKTW?
Now my non disney related question. we are not Harry Potter fans so I am just thinking about skipping the Islands of Adventure portion of Universal Studios. Would that be a mistake?
Any suggestions where to stay around the Clearwater area when we extend our trip?
Thanks in advance for your advice!
My husband and I have been married for 23 years and we have 3 daughters ages at the time of our trip will be 14, 12 & 8. We are so excited. I have been to Disney twice but my husband and children have not.
Here are my questions. There will be character meet and greets at GKTW and Disney. Are character meals worth it? I've been tossing it around and frankly I just don't know.
Where are the best places to view the parade and the fireworks?
We will be at disney on Halloween. Are the tickets for Mickey's no so scary Halloween worth the price? Or should we just spend that evening at GKTW?
Now my non disney related question.
we are not Harry Potter fans so I am just thinking about skipping the Islands of Adventure portion of Universal Studios. Would that be a mistake?Any suggestions where to stay around the Clearwater area when we extend our trip?
Thanks in advance for your advice!
Hi! I am a first time post-er. My youngest daughter was referred to MAW by her doctor. She is 7 and was diagnosed with ovarian cancer November of 2013. She won her battle! We were given a thumbs up by her doctor in May after her last scan! My daughter chose disney as her Make a Wish! We just found out our trip will be October 29 thru November 4th 2014. We will be staying at Give Kids the World. Yeah! We also asked if we could extend our trip (at our own expense). So we will return home on November 11th.
My husband and I have been married for 23 years and we have 3 daughters ages at the time of our trip will be 14, 12 & 8. We are so excited. I have been to Disney twice but my husband and children have not.
Here are my questions. There will be character meet and greets at GKTW and Disney. Are character meals worth it? I've been tossing it around and frankly I just don't know.
Where are the best places to view the parade and the fireworks?
We will be at disney on Halloween. Are the tickets for Mickey's no so scary Halloween worth the price? Or should we just spend that evening at GKTW?
Now my non disney related question.
Any suggestions where to stay around the Clearwater area when we extend our trip?
Thanks in advance for your advice!
We find out our dates for my son's trip TOMORROW! I'm so excited. We requested the first week in October.
I've been tossing around the idea of the character meals, but I'm just not sure. With the characters coming to GKTW, I think that will probably be enough for my kiddos...but then, I have boys, and they want nothing to do with princesses.
I am definitely considering Mickey's Halloween party, though, because I know the boys would LOVE it. Reviews seem worth it.As for places to stay in Clearwater, I highly recommend checking out vrbo.com for rental homes. Before we found out about D's MAW trip, we were planning a week in Clearwater in October. We went back and forth on extending our trip, and ultimately decided we want to just do a separate trip next February. I can give you links to the houses I'm obsessing over if you'd like, and if you stay in one of them, I'd love a report back, ha!
MrsMeow, I hope you got good news about the dates for your son's MAW trip!
Thank you for the advice about vrbo.com. I did check it out, however, most of the rentals require a 7 night stay and we will only be there for 3 nights. So we booked at the Pier House 60 hotel in Clearwater. It had good reviews so I hope we made the right choice.
Thank you for the advice about vrbo.com. I did check it out, however, most of the rentals require a 7 night stay and we will only be there for 3 nights. So we booked at the Pier House 60 hotel in Clearwater. It had good reviews so I hope we made the right choice.
Dmom2three
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2013
We just found out MAW is sending our family to Disney in Sept! The kids don't know yet. I promised not to tell them and let MAW do it at the reveal party.
We are going because meeting Anna and Elsa at Disney World was the wish of my 5 year old. She has pilocytic astrocytoma ( tumors on her optic nerves and in the chiasm) as well as neurofibromatosis type 1. She is near the middle of a one year long chemo regimen. It changed slightly recently due to an allergic reaction. So now she goes every other week.
We also have 2 more kids. We have been once before but it was in peak season. I have heard the crowds are better in Sept.
We are going because meeting Anna and Elsa at Disney World was the wish of my 5 year old. She has pilocytic astrocytoma ( tumors on her optic nerves and in the chiasm) as well as neurofibromatosis type 1. She is near the middle of a one year long chemo regimen. It changed slightly recently due to an allergic reaction. So now she goes every other week.
We also have 2 more kids. We have been once before but it was in peak season. I have heard the crowds are better in Sept.
Not sure if this is still open, but the Wish Trippers Site had amazing information.
I will start off telling you a little bit about us. My name is Kristi. I am a mom of three amazing kids. Alexis who is 16
Lillie who is 11 
and AJ who is 3.
My husband Rico and I have been together for 18 years 
Our son was born on October 14, 2010. We were told early on something wasn't right. At 22 weeks a mass on the umbilical cord formed causing turbulence which eventually caused a lack of oxygen to AJ's brain causing some pre mature issues (laryngomalacia) and causing white matter disease aka Periventricular leukomalacia of AJ's brain. He was developmental delayed and they believe he has auditory processing disorder and ADHD. Then this past February AJ was diagnosed with FOP. Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva is one of the rarest, most disabling genetic conditions known to medicine, it causes bone to form in muscles, tendons, ligaments and other connective tissues. Bridges of extra bone develop across joints, progressively restricting movement and forming a second skeleton that imprisons the body in bone. There are no other known examples in medicine of one normal organ system turning into another.
So AJ has had numerous flare ups and we were surprised by Make A wish, Apparently some family, friends and doctors have referred us. AJ choice was Disney, I know now we just wait but I found this amazing board and thought I would join. Thank you.
I will start off telling you a little bit about us. My name is Kristi. I am a mom of three amazing kids. Alexis who is 16
Lillie who is 11 and AJ who is 3. My husband Rico and I have been together for 18 years Our son was born on October 14, 2010. We were told early on something wasn't right. At 22 weeks a mass on the umbilical cord formed causing turbulence which eventually caused a lack of oxygen to AJ's brain causing some pre mature issues (laryngomalacia) and causing white matter disease aka Periventricular leukomalacia of AJ's brain. He was developmental delayed and they believe he has auditory processing disorder and ADHD. Then this past February AJ was diagnosed with FOP. Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva is one of the rarest, most disabling genetic conditions known to medicine, it causes bone to form in muscles, tendons, ligaments and other connective tissues. Bridges of extra bone develop across joints, progressively restricting movement and forming a second skeleton that imprisons the body in bone. There are no other known examples in medicine of one normal organ system turning into another.
So AJ has had numerous flare ups and we were surprised by Make A wish, Apparently some family, friends and doctors have referred us. AJ choice was Disney, I know now we just wait but I found this amazing board and thought I would join. Thank you.
2lovebugs
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2013
To start I want to say thank you for all of the information that is found on this thread. I love reading everyone's experiences, even through the tears. Our daughter CG 
was diagnosed with High Risk Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in July 2013 at age 3. CG has been so very brave through every surgery, port access, long days at clinic receiving her chemo and even having to have shots from home. I sometimes have a hard time remembering that she is 4 (now) because of everything she has been through and she still smiles and just says ok when she is faced with a new challenge in her treatments. CG is now 4 and Cancer Free! She started the Maintenance Stage of her treatments at the beginning of May and has done well. CG has an older brother LJ 
who is now almost 7. He never leaves her side even at that hospital. He is the best big brother a little sister could have! We are very excited about out next journey that we are soon going to start. CG has been accepted for Make a Wish and we have all of our paper work in. I received an email from Make a Wish and now we just need to wait to be assigned volunteers. We talked to CG and have written down several ideas for her MAW and she keeps coming back to going to Disney and meeting the Princesses. I am looking forward too sharing this new journey. Thank you!! 
was diagnosed with High Risk Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in July 2013 at age 3. CG has been so very brave through every surgery, port access, long days at clinic receiving her chemo and even having to have shots from home. I sometimes have a hard time remembering that she is 4 (now) because of everything she has been through and she still smiles and just says ok when she is faced with a new challenge in her treatments. CG is now 4 and Cancer Free! She started the Maintenance Stage of her treatments at the beginning of May and has done well. CG has an older brother LJ who is now almost 7. He never leaves her side even at that hospital. He is the best big brother a little sister could have! We are very excited about out next journey that we are soon going to start. CG has been accepted for Make a Wish and we have all of our paper work in. I received an email from Make a Wish and now we just need to wait to be assigned volunteers. We talked to CG and have written down several ideas for her MAW and she keeps coming back to going to Disney and meeting the Princesses. I am looking forward too sharing this new journey. Thank you!! Everything is FINALLY 100% confirmed. We fly out October 7 and get it a little after 6pm, and come home the night of the 13th. Our Wish chapter was going to schedule a breakfast, but instead I asked about Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, and they got us tickets to that instead - I'm so excited! D knows about it, but hasn't asked much. We will probably wait until early September to really talk to him and his brother about it more...otherwise we'll spend the next 3 months constantly being asked when we are going!
2lovebugs....I can't wait to hear about your daughters wish. We just meet our volunteers last week and they were great. Our son asked to go to Disney so just waiting now for us.
Mess meow ...congrats on your dates and that was such a awesome choice about the party.
Mess meow ...congrats on your dates and that was such a awesome choice about the party.
starearedkid
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2014
To start I want to say thank you for all of the information that is found on this thread. I love reading everyone's experiences, even through the tears. Our daughter CG
I am so glad to hear that your daughter is doing well. My daughter Reese was diagnosed with exactly the same thing (high risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia) this past January at 2.5. She is 3 now. She is so incredibly brave and strong as well. Her wish was to meet the lizard from tangled. Not tangled. Just the lizard.
Kristy77 we met with our volunteer the end of January. She told us then the wish would most likely be approved pending doctors clearance. She said that we would know dates closer to April as they don't like to book out more than six months. We pickex two weeks and she was confident one would work. In April we were informed by a maw staff person thAt our dates were confirmed and we talked about needed medical equipment and vehicle needs. It has been a smooth process.
2lovebugs
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2013
I was reading Reese's story just the other day on here. She is such a Cutie Pie! My little ones love Tangled too! That's just too cute how she wants to meet the lizard. I hope and pray that she is still handling the Chemo well. Cailyn's worst part of treatment, aside from her initial hospital/diagnoses stay was, Delayed Intensification. She spent more time at the hospital then at home through that stage. She had stayed fever free though all of the other stages until that one. Thank God it wasn't anything too serious. One time she spiked a fever during her blood/platelet transfusion and the other two times she had a bad cold. When that stage was over she started Maintenance and I can remember asking the Doc, Are you sure she is ready? Of course that just laughed and said yes. This journey has been hard but there is light and hope too. We will keep little Reese in our thoughts and Prayers along with all of the other Angles we have come to know along the way.
2lovebugs
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2013
Here are Pics of my 2lovebugs 
! Sorry so large, I am still learning 
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I was wondering if anyone can tell me what they did about booster car seats on their wish trip. (I'm and early planer) I have read several stories but have yet seen anything on them. LJ is 6 and CG is 4 so they both will need to have a booster for the car/van rides. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!
! Sorry so large, I am still learning
I was wondering if anyone can tell me what they did about booster car seats on their wish trip. (I'm and early planer) I have read several stories but have yet seen anything on them. LJ is 6 and CG is 4 so they both will need to have a booster for the car/van rides. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!
2lovebugs
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2013
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