This is our pre-trip report for our Make A Wish trip
Cast Of Characters:
Olivia: age 4 and star of this show. She is all princess, all the time. All about dresses, pink and anything girly. Loves to swim, dance and take gymnastics. Goes to preK and probably would have been ready for K last year but was too young. Was very much into Sleeping Beauty and now is all about Ariel.
Olivia has been through hell and back. This little girl technically shouldnt even be alive today. When I was 18 weeks pregnant with Olivia, we were told she had complex heart defects. They strongly suggested we not continue the pregnancy. Long story short, we ignored that advice and here we are! Olivias had three heart surgeries the most recent was March 24, 2008. We are technically done and she shouldnt need anymore surgeries!!!
Maddie: age 8 and the co-star. She is in third grade and very much my tomboy but starting to show interest in fashion, etc. Maddie plays basketball for her school team; sings in the chorus; a member of the Lego Team and is involved in Girl Scouts. She also LOVES to swim and just started taking a new swim class that is a pre-pre-pre swim team
to work on her swim strokes. She LOVES Disney and still sleeps with Classic Piglet that we got for her before she was born.
This trip is just as much about Maddie as it is Olivia. Maddie had a really hard time with Olivias last surgery. So much so that she passed out after seeing her sister in ICU. She acts tough but really has a sensitive soul. I have to remind her that I'm the mom and I'll do the worrying about her sister. When and if it's time to worry, I'll let her know. But in the meantime, she's to just enjoy life
Tricia: age 38 (gulp). Aka Mom. Im a Disney gal through and through. Would have named one of my children Disney if I could have gotten away with it and not been disowned by the family :lol. I work FT in IT for a bank. I also dabble as a Disney travel agent. I live and breathe Disney. My girls say that Mickey
is my boyfriend.
Arnie: age 39. Aka Dad. He became a huge Disney fan on our honeymoon. He works for a printer as a customer service rep. Well, theres a fancy schmancy title there but basically its customer service rep. He's the voice of reason and responsibility (booo ). He has no problem being silly and crazy with the kids and they love him for it! He's a big fan of Ariel and Jasmine ... for obvious reasons .
Background:
When Olivia was first born I would whisper in her ear we need to get you better so we can go to Disney World. That was my goal. Get that baby healthy enough to get to Disney World. After every surgery, wed start the same chant get better so we can go to Disney World!
Olivias been to Disney 3 times. The most recent trip was in August after the last surgery. We needed to live like normal people and so off we went. It was a birthday gift for both girls and a very magical trip.
Olivia went through a huge Sleeping Beauty phase starting last spring. After her surgery she was lying in ICU watching SB. The surgeon was concerned with how much bleeding she was having at the time and was hovering by her bedside. All of a sudden, Olivia was crying hysterically. Of course, Arnie and I were right there asking what was wrong. Was she in pain? What hurt? She said in the midst of her tears "I can't see the tv because HE IS IN THE WAY!" (finger pointing at the surgeon!) That right there is Olivia in a nutshell. We were all freaking out that she was going to go back into the OR ... and she was mad because the surgeon was interfering with her movie!
Make a Wish came about because of our pediatrician. She suggested we do this sooner than later for no other reason than to do it while Olivia is still young enough to thoroughly believe in the Magic.
We contacted MAW in early fall. Paperwork had to be filed by the cardiologist. By mid-November we received the packet stating Olivia had been accepted. It was a Saturday and I cried my eyes out. Because throughout it all I always thought it could be worse. MAW accepting us was a reality of everything weve been through.
November 21: Our wish granters, Louise and Mike, came out to meet with us and brought gifts for the girls. They asked Olivia what she wanted if she could wish for anything. She was coloring and without even looking up she said I want to be a princess in Disney World! We picked a range of dates starting the last week of April and ending the Friday before Mothers Day and said pick a week.
December 5: We got a call from Louise that our dates were booked: April 27 May 2.
January 7: We got flight confirmation. Surreal that this is actually happening!
So this is where we're at for today. I'll be posting more coming up with our actual park plans. I'm having a hard time planning the "non-Disney" days which I'll get into in the next post.
Cast Of Characters:
Olivia: age 4 and star of this show. She is all princess, all the time. All about dresses, pink and anything girly. Loves to swim, dance and take gymnastics. Goes to preK and probably would have been ready for K last year but was too young. Was very much into Sleeping Beauty and now is all about Ariel.
Olivia has been through hell and back. This little girl technically shouldnt even be alive today. When I was 18 weeks pregnant with Olivia, we were told she had complex heart defects. They strongly suggested we not continue the pregnancy. Long story short, we ignored that advice and here we are! Olivias had three heart surgeries the most recent was March 24, 2008. We are technically done and she shouldnt need anymore surgeries!!!
Maddie: age 8 and the co-star. She is in third grade and very much my tomboy but starting to show interest in fashion, etc. Maddie plays basketball for her school team; sings in the chorus; a member of the Lego Team and is involved in Girl Scouts. She also LOVES to swim and just started taking a new swim class that is a pre-pre-pre swim team
to work on her swim strokes. She LOVES Disney and still sleeps with Classic Piglet that we got for her before she was born.This trip is just as much about Maddie as it is Olivia. Maddie had a really hard time with Olivias last surgery. So much so that she passed out after seeing her sister in ICU. She acts tough but really has a sensitive soul. I have to remind her that I'm the mom and I'll do the worrying about her sister. When and if it's time to worry, I'll let her know. But in the meantime, she's to just enjoy life
Tricia: age 38 (gulp). Aka Mom. Im a Disney gal through and through. Would have named one of my children Disney if I could have gotten away with it and not been disowned by the family :lol. I work FT in IT for a bank. I also dabble as a Disney travel agent. I live and breathe Disney. My girls say that Mickey
is my boyfriend. Arnie: age 39. Aka Dad. He became a huge Disney fan on our honeymoon. He works for a printer as a customer service rep. Well, theres a fancy schmancy title there but basically its customer service rep
. He's the voice of reason and responsibility (booo ). He has no problem being silly and crazy with the kids and they love him for it! He's a big fan of Ariel and Jasmine ... for obvious reasons . Background:
When Olivia was first born I would whisper in her ear we need to get you better so we can go to Disney World. That was my goal. Get that baby healthy enough to get to Disney World. After every surgery, wed start the same chant get better so we can go to Disney World!
Olivias been to Disney 3 times. The most recent trip was in August after the last surgery. We needed to live like normal people and so off we went. It was a birthday gift for both girls and a very magical trip.
Olivia went through a huge Sleeping Beauty phase starting last spring. After her surgery she was lying in ICU watching SB. The surgeon was concerned with how much bleeding she was having at the time and was hovering by her bedside. All of a sudden, Olivia was crying hysterically. Of course, Arnie and I were right there asking what was wrong. Was she in pain? What hurt? She said in the midst of her tears "I can't see the tv because HE IS IN THE WAY!" (finger pointing at the surgeon!) That right there is Olivia in a nutshell. We were all freaking out that she was going to go back into the OR ... and she was mad because the surgeon was interfering with her movie!
Make a Wish came about because of our pediatrician. She suggested we do this sooner than later for no other reason than to do it while Olivia is still young enough to thoroughly believe in the Magic.
We contacted MAW in early fall. Paperwork had to be filed by the cardiologist. By mid-November we received the packet stating Olivia had been accepted. It was a Saturday and I cried my eyes out. Because throughout it all I always thought it could be worse. MAW accepting us was a reality of everything weve been through.
November 21: Our wish granters, Louise and Mike, came out to meet with us and brought gifts for the girls. They asked Olivia what she wanted if she could wish for anything. She was coloring and without even looking up she said I want to be a princess in Disney World! We picked a range of dates starting the last week of April and ending the Friday before Mothers Day and said pick a week.
December 5: We got a call from Louise that our dates were booked: April 27 May 2.
January 7: We got flight confirmation. Surreal that this is actually happening!
So this is where we're at for today. I'll be posting more coming up with our actual park plans. I'm having a hard time planning the "non-Disney" days which I'll get into in the next post.
That sounds like FUN!!! 
It has to be tough on a sibling!! 
I am so glad she is better!! 
But there are very special wish trip things (VIP lounges, etc) at the other parks...so you should be good to skip AK! 
Strange how that works out, isn't it! The only thing that is different at Sea World for a wish family is feeding the dolphins. You get to do this for free and if you let them know you are a Wish Family then they usually do what they can to make sure you have a good experience. 
- and you get VIP seats for the Believe show, if you wanted to do that. I think that lunch is at 11:15 or something like that...if you are looking to try Sea World food again. But it is a pre-pay deal, you have to call and get ressies so that they plan for you.
