3 day Make a Wish trip

[abbyplustwins]

My son has just been given the OK for his wish of going to Disney World. Our trip will include 3-day park hopper passes. I'm clueless with how to spend those days. I've purchased the Unofficial Guide, but haven't had much chance to get far in it. My son is 5½. He will be in a manual wheelchair for the trip, but can get around on his own when needed. He's all boy and loves Cars and Power Rangers. His twin brother will also be with us, as will his 9yo sister (a real diva). What are the must-do attractions, and what should we skip?

Thanks for the help. I want to make this a most memorable trip for him. We want to see as much as possible, and have been told that we won't have to wait in any/many lines. Hopefully that will help with fitting all we want to see and do into those 3 days.

--Laurie

 

[dairyqueenmom]

We need some more information before we can help. When are you going? Where are you staying? You will probably have time to hit 3 out of the 4 parks so which ones are must visit for you? Will you be dining on property?

 

[gallafamily]

Just one suggestion...you may want to make sure you take him to see the Cars characters at Hollywood studios! It was the highlight of my DS (5) trip. He loves Cars & that was his favorite thing. He was standing in the line looking at them when the came out. He turned to me & said "I know they aren't real." I said "Why do you say that?" He turns at looks back at them & says "because their eyes don't move". Then all of a sudden he saw Mater's eye's move & his eyes got really big! I thought that was great!

Just know that you will not get everything done in 3 days. Go through all your info & know what things you must be able to do.

Good luck!

 

[connie1042]

My daughter went on at Starlight Trip years ago. Pretty much the same as Make A Wish. If at all possible, can you extent your trip? Thats what we did. We paid for the extra hotel days, and extra car rental days,and extra food, would not need a car with ME., but they gave us enough tickets for the whole week. We even went to Sea World for a day. It was a great trip and did the family alot of good. Put medical stuff on the back burner for a week. Our daughter as a a muscle diease, but is now an adult and doing great. It was the only trip we ever got to take to WDW as a family, a few years after that our son was killed in a car accident. You just never know how life is going to turn out. Have a great trip. They treat you like royalty!

 

[abbyplustwins]

More information:

The dates are June 8-14. My son will be just 2 months shy of 6 for our trip. He has Duchenne muscular dystrophy. He still gets around well, but can't do distances, hence the wheelchair. We'll be staying at Give Kids the World. MK is a must. I'm assuming MGM will be, too, since the Cars characters are there, and I think I heard that the Power Rangers are, too. Is AK an all day park or could it possibly be split with MGM? All my kids love roller coasters, but my wish-child is only 40" with not much chance for more than a 1/4-1/2" growth before our trip. I don't know about dining. GKTW serves meals, but we will also be given some money for eating and souvenirs.

Thanks!!

--Laurie

 

[Piper]

Go over to the disABILITIES! board--you will get lots and lots of information!!

 

[mjejj]

My son LOVES "Cars" also and he got a real kick out of the Tomorrowland Indy Speedway (little cars you can drive). Also, make sure to do Buzz Lightyear SpaceRanger Spin. Great ride for boys (and everyone else). Have a great trip!!

 

[Timon-n-Pumbaa Fan]

Your trip is during a SUPER DUPER busy time of the year. The Sunday that you arrive, is Gay Days at Epcot and a Star Wars Weekend at DHS. The Friday is also part of the Star Wars Weekends. If your kids are big into Star Wars, you might want to make that Friday your DHS day, if not, then you will want to avoid it like the plague. Also, you will want to avoid EMH parks during your stay, since they tend to become very crowded during the day. Do you have plans to visit other area theme parks while you are there? I would love to help you work out an itinerary, but without knowing what else you might be doing, I hesitate to say more than I already have.

 

[abbyplustwins]

Your trip is during a SUPER DUPER busy time of the year. The Sunday that you arrive, is Gay Days at Epcot and a Star Wars Weekend at DHS. The Friday is also part of the Star Wars Weekends. If your kids are big into Star Wars, you might want to make that Friday your DHS day, if not, then you will want to avoid it like the plague. Also, you will want to avoid EMH parks during your stay, since they tend to become very crowded during the day. Do you have plans to visit other area theme parks while you are there? I would love to help you work out an itinerary, but without knowing what else you might be doing, I hesitate to say more than I already have.

Our trip includes 3 day park hopper passes to DW, 2 days to Universal/Islands of Adventure, and 1 to Sea World. Sea World is the lowest on our priority list as we live in Texas and Sea World San Antonio isn't that far away.

 

[Timon-n-Pumbaa Fan]

Cool, are the 8th and the 14th travel days or a potential park days?

 

[Rodnegg]

Hey Laurie,
I recognize you from Parent Project boards. Yay, for your little man getting his wish trip. My son is 11 and he is "still" trying to figure out what he wants for his wish!!! I would also recommend the DISabilities board, there are many folks on there who have been on wish trips who can help you with all your questions.
Have Fun!!
~Carol

 

[abbyplustwins]

Cool, are the 8th and the 14th travel days or a potential park days?

They are both travel days, but I don't have our arrival/departure times yet. I was told we wouldn't get that information until 7-10 days before our trip.

 

[DebRMN]

I just wanted to say, how exciting for him to get this wish!

I know this is off topic, but out of curiosity, how long from your wish granters first visit, until you are granted with his wish?

Our wish granters have just been assigned to us, so I was just curious as to how long the whole proces can take.

I hope you have a wonderful time!!

 

[abbyplustwins]

I just wanted to say, how exciting for him to get this wish!

I know this is off topic, but out of curiosity, how long from your wish granters first visit, until you are granted with his wish?

Our wish granters have just been assigned to us, so I was just curious as to how long the whole proces can take.

I hope you have a wonderful time!!

It was very quick. We had our interview at the very end of December and received the OK late January. We got the date confirmation about a week ago.

 

[MousekaMaddi]

good for u pixiedust for a sunny trip
Can u extend it a bit? Time is everything!

 

[Mkrop]

Birnabuams Guide for Kids is great. You could let the kids look at that and figure out what you would really like to hit as far as attractions go since your time is limited

We are going to be there from Jun8 to the 12.

 

[tigger2on]

I believe as families granted wishes by the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Give the Kids the world.... you will be given passes that admit you pretty much immediately onto all rides... so it being busy will not matter to you. You would be able to do 2 parks in one day...
If you do AK, do it in the morning as a)the animals are more active in the early hours, b) the hours there are shorter.
If you can, try and take in a Pirates and Princess party... your kids would love it and the parade is great!

 

[abbyplustwins]

Thanks for the tips!!

 

[Beth E. (NJ)]

Welcome to the DIS!

Have fun planning the trip! I second or third the suggestion that you visit the DISabilities board. You will find some very knowledgeable folks over there.

I would do a full day at MK and a full day at Epcot. I don't think AK will need a full day and then you can go to MGM.